Poster Presentation at the 2002 UENR

Looking Before We Leap: A Three-Part Study to Prepare for College Reorganization

Claudia L. Anderson et al. — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 15:30:00 PST

In Spring 2001 the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University voted on a plan for reorganization of departments and curricula that is intended to better reflect future natural resource science and management needs. To prepare for curriculum redesign we evaluated the career objectives and educational needs of undergraduate students in natural resources and related fields by means of a three-part study of relevant groups: current students, public agency professionals, and prospective students who chose nonnatural resources majors. Students typically seek traditional jobs with public agencies, but a large proportion also expect to attend graduate school. Comparison of seniors and underclassmen found that the latter were less pragmatic in their expressed career goals, and also showed greater appreciation for the human dimension of natural resources management. Agency professionals identified “people skills” as critical to success in public land management, and expressed a wish that they’d had more of those kinds of courses in college. About half reported that their jobs were quite different from what they’d anticipated as students. Focus groups with nonnatural resources majors found that these students had strikingly similar career goals but felt majors in natural resources are too narrow, too scientific, and/ or too unscientific to help them achieve those goals. Implications for the college as it undertakes reorganization is that curricula should continue to balance natural science and statistics courses with classes that provide understanding of people. Improved advisement could help students gain more realistic expectations about their futures. In addition the college may want to consider efforts to better market itself within the university.

Web-Based Technology in Undergraduate Instruction: A Primer for Moving Beyond Accessibility to Measures of Efficiency

Nick J. Balster et al. — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 16:00:00 PST

Inarguably, the Internet has revolutionized the manner and speed of information transfer. The Internet as a course supplement represents a new reality in higher education and has moved from a novelty to a near obligatory component in course instruction today. Arguments for and against the use of the Internet in pedagogy have been made. For example, in plant identification courses the Internet allows students to experience the visual component of flora that is often difficult to bring into the classroom. However, the Internet can also add a significant time sink to already overtaxed university instructors, who likely maintain research programs, outreach and service, and instruction, often without assistance from teaching assistants or office staff in preparing Internet materials. It is within the context of these tradeoffs that the questions of this poster were born: How do we measure the efficiency of the Internet in pedagogical scholarship in higher education when expectations for research, service, and outreach have not diminished? As educators, we must advance from the generic methods of course evaluations (e.g., student postclass reviews) to the development of metrics that critically and fairly evaluate the effectiveness and teaching/learning efficiency of Internet instruction, both from the student’s perspective (which we believe has already begun), as well as from the instructor's.

Characterizing Undergraduate Forestry Majors at Southern Illinois University

David D. Close et al. — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 16:30:00 PST

A survey administered to undergraduate students (n=74; 94% response rate) enrolled in Forestry 100: “Introduction to Forestry” contained questions addressing student background, early life experiences, exposure to natural resources, and goals and aspirations as a student in forestry at Southern Illinois University (SIU). Information from this questionnaire represents the first stage of data collection in an ongoing study tracking students over the course of their academic careers. Data collection will culminate in a senior exit interview. The purpose of the first stage is to better understand social, environmental, and familial influences that motivate students to pursue careers in natural resources. Preliminary analysis of students’ understanding of public valuation of natural resources exhibits a normal distribution slightly skewed toward negative perceptions. Students’ understanding of the public’s view of forestry elicits a similar mixed response. The majority of students report no previous family ties to the department. Initial results suggest that youthful experiences with natural resources may have more bearing on career choice by SIU forestry students than a family legacy.

Distance Education Courses in Natural Resources through the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University

Paula J. Minear et al. — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 17:00:00 PST

The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University offers seven courses for distance delivery: FW251. Principles of Wildlife Conservation FW303. Survey of Geographic Information Systems in Natural Resources (Internet) FW311. Biology of Birds FW323. Management Principles of Pacific Salmon in the Northwest FW340. Multicultural Perspectives in Natural Resources FW435/535. Wildlife in Agricultural Ecosystems FW470/570. Ecology and History: Landscapes of the Columbia Basin Two delivery methods are employed for these courses—video (6 courses) and Internet (1 course). Full course lectures are available on VHS video. Discussions, e-mail, and assignments are completed on the Internet. Enrollment in Fisheries and Wildlife distance courses has doubled nearly every year since the first course was designed in 1996, mirroring increased interest in distance education nationally. Students have been as far away as Namibia and Italy and from over 30 states. These fully accredited courses meet the needs of military personnel and others in pursuit of the OSU distance degrees in Natural Resources or Environmental Science, on-campus students with schedule conflicts, departmental majors with family responsibilities out of the local area, people exploring career changes, and professionals seeking advancement.

The Influence of Student Characteristics in Their Evaluation of a Park-Planning Course Web Site

Yu-Fai Leung et al. — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 17:30:00 PST

Course Web sites are increasingly used in university instruction, despite the fact that their effectiveness has not been adequately evaluated. This study examined students’ use of and perception about the official Web site of a park-planning course in the College of Natural Resources at NCSU. A questionnaire was administered to 56 students in 2000 and 2001. Results show that many students used the Web site often, and the majority of the students preferred Web sites in future courses. The perceptions of Web site utility and the preferences of Web-only courses vary among students by age, gender, level of computer experience, and learning style. These results are presented and the implications are discussed in this poster.

Recreation GPS as a Low-Cost Alternative for Introductory Courses in Natural Resources

Jason Payne et al. — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 18:00:00 PST

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proven reliable for collecting spatial data for integration into a computer-based Geographic Information System (GIS). However, high cost often prohibits the purchase of individual GPS units for each student in a class. Recent advances in technology coupled with decreasing prices have made recreational GPS a low-cost alternative for introductory courses in Natural Resource Management. These units utilize 12-channel receivers, range in price from $115 to $500, and exhibit a point-location accuracy within 14 meters 95% of the time (6.2m - 66% of the time). Although recreational units lack the capacity for differential correction through postprocessing, the addition of real-time differential correction can improve accuracy to less than 9 meters 95% of the time in areas where free differential correction signals are obtainable (4.2m - 66% of the time). Several free computer programs are available for retrieving data from a recreational GPS directly into a GIS. Still others exist as stand-alone software that allows image registration for GPS data overlay. Thus, it is now feasible for students to purchase their own GPS unit for use in introductory classes, in advanced courses, in their research, or in any endeavor requiring spatial data collection for computer-based mapping.

Development of a Graduate Specialization in Protected Areas Management

Dennis B. Propst — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 18:30:00 PST

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature defines a protected area as “an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.” IUCN has six protected area categories based on variations in management objectives. We see a growing demand for students who currently are managers of such areas, work for NGO’s or the government in some capacity and who want to intervene in order to cause some change in the way a given protected area is managed. Participation by local communities is a key component of such intervention. The demand comes primarily from protected areas managers in Southeast Asia, Latin/South America, and Africa, but the issues and lessons learned have wider geographic implications. Ecotourism is often advocated as an intervention strategy, but most managers do not understand how to apply the concept in practice or its potential impacts. The proposed graduate specialization is interdisciplinary, combining natural and social sciences (policy, law, park and wildlife management, GIS, conservation biology, community forestry and social/environmental/economic impacts). The poster presents the structure of the specialization as conceived by faculty from Forestry, Sociology, Fisheries and Wildlife, and Park Management.

Establishing a Learning Community in an Undergraduate Natural Resource-Based Recreation Program

Dennis B. Propst — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 19:00:00 PST

Island mentality is the rule in course and curriculum design. Faculty typically design courses based primarily on the instructor’s prior experience and perhaps, but all too rarely, communications with a few colleagues and managers. Key components of the educational system, including clients, students, and practitioners, are not at the table when such courses are designed and evaluated prior to being offered. Without attempting to develop such a “community of learners,” important educational opportunities are missed. Building on the works of Peter Senge (learning organizations) and Parker Palmer (learning communities), a small-scale “experiment” in building a learning community to guide the flow of content and assignments in a set of linked courses will be conducted before the conference in March. The conceptual framework for and results of this effort will be the topic of the poster. The immediate goal is to construct a learning community and have this group design “hands-on” assignments that are linked throughout a student’s program from the 200- to the 400-level. A long-range goal is to foster a lifelong perspective on learning that involves obtaining current knowledge quickly from diverse sources versus a one-way flow of information that discourages seeking additional knowledge.

A New Professional Development Course for Doctoral Students

J. Douglas Wellman — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 19:30:00 PST

As part of a new Ph.D. program in NC State's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, I designed a three-hour professional development course to help prepare students for positions on college and university faculties. One goal of the course is to cultivate students' interest and ability in reading books, both those directly in their area of specialty and others more tangentially related. During the course, students will read and discuss seven books, three about collegiate faculty roles and four offering various perspectives on a topic in natural resources-based recreation. The second goal of the course is to provoke and deepen students' thinking about faculty lives through readings and discussion with highly engaged faculty. Areas addressed will include the variety of institutional settings in which faculty work, teaching, research, engagement (outreach), and reappointment/promotion/tenure.