Field courses in tropical ecology offer students exceptional hands-on opportunities both for scientific training and for nurturing self-efficacy. However, there is tremendous potential for such courses to diversify the field, via the inclusion of students from diverse backgrounds and especially participants from the tropical host country. Integration of in-country collaborations with local faculty, students, NGOs, and government agencies within courses fosters growth and mutual respect. Such experiences bring students beyond mere data collection in traditional field projects and set the stage for the wider recognition that Tropical Ecology and Conservation require the inclusion of tropical communities, local expertise, and interdisciplinary perspectives. We suggest that learning objectives in tropical field courses should include competency in cross-cultural collaboration with local students, faculty, and stakeholders, so that the next generation of tropical ecologists from diverse backgrounds can develop the tools needed to face forthcoming global socioecological challenges.
Evidence-based teaching approaches and active-learning online
Suzanne Macey, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), USA | @Suzanne_Macey
The evidence is clear: for over three decades, research has shown that active teaching enhances students’ development of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to be effective scientists and professionals. During this session, Dr. Macey will give an introduction to the principles behind evidence-based teaching, including topics related to inclusive teaching, alignment, and assessment. Additionally, this session will provide examples of strategies for integrating active teaching techniques in the classroom, with a particular emphasis to online scenarios.
Open access teaching modules and resources
Rebecca Hardin, University of Michigan, USA | @rebeccacademy
The current moment, characterized by resurgent indigenous knowledge and digital citizenship advocacy for underserved and/or mobile communities worldwide, offers crucial challenges and opportunities. The Learngala platform for multimodal, multilingual learning modules embodies a conceptual framework of socially embedded technological innovation. “Craft tech,” commensurate with the reach needed for teaching to global environmental challenges, is nonetheless anchored firmly in local relations of collaborative co-creation of content and features for classroom and community learning. With intuitive author tools open to all, branded libraries of reviewed content, and immersive, multimodal features it can complement conventional classroom teaching in crucial ways. Hardin walks through modules in the making, to show how that such responsively designed, adaptive software development offers crucial infrastructural and interactional support for decolonizing curricular processes. Further, it enables educators themselves, with a range of field partners, to “bootstrap” content relevant to ecological theory and management in this challenging period for field-based teaching and research.