Concurrent Sessions at the 2002 UENR

Introduction to the Sustainable Forestry Virtual Tour

David D. Zahler et al. — Sat, 16 Mar 2002 13:00:00 PST

The Sustainable Forestry Partnership (SFP) began in 1995 as a diverse group of faculty from Oregon State University. With initial support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and later other foundations and governmental support, SFP grew to include faculty and staff at Auburn University School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences, Oregon State University College of Forestry, the Pennsylvania State University School of Forest Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (USDA CSREES). SFP has demonstration of sustainable forestry practices as one of its five principal programmatic foci. Working toward this effort, in January 2001 the Forestry Media Center at Oregon State University initiated development on a World-Wide-Web-based “sustainable forestry virtual tour.” When complete, the Web site will link sustainable forestry tours in Oregon, Alabama, and Pennsylvania. Currently, the Sustainable Forestry Virtual Tour prototype represents only Oregon; it is the prototype "virtual demonstration." We used the latest in Web site technology to develop the "virtual" electronic tour of a western Oregon forest. With the addition of video clips, panoramic photos, and interactive images, we attempted to bring the forest to the computer user. Our Web site content focuses on local forest management while applying the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forestry in temperate forests. This presentation will briefly explore the Web site content and structure; it will be the foundation for a follow-up discussion entitled, “Comparing the Effectiveness of Virtual and Traditional Forestry Field Tours.”

Comparing the Effectiveness of Virtual and Traditional Forestry Field Tours

Elissa C. Easley et al. — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 13:30:00 PST

Virtual tours are among the many new Internet-based tools with potential applications in natural resource education. While technology exists to create virtual tour Web sites, little is understood about how they meet educational objectives and whether they can be complementary alternatives for traditional field tours. The Sustainable Forestry Partnership and the Forestry Media Center at Oregon State University created parallel virtual and field tours to compare these teaching techniques. Both tours illustrate the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forestry and were offered to local members of the society of American Foresters, family forestland owners, and OSU faculty, staff, and students. Pre-tour and post-tour assessment forms were used to compare the effectiveness of each tour. The results of the evaluation have implications for utilizing virtual tours in university-level natural resource education.

Teaching Forest Economics as a Distance Learning Course

Sun Joseph D. Chang — Sat, 16 Mar 2002 14:00:00 PST

Teaching a Hardwood Silviculture and Management Course: Experience and Ideas Including Using Blackboard® Web-Based Courseware

Brian R. Lockhart — Sat, 16 Mar 2002 14:30:00 PST

FOR 4033: “Silviculture and Management of Hardwoods” is an optional, senior-level course taught in the School of Renewable Natural Resources at Louisiana State University. The primary goal of this course is to make students more knowledgeable and appreciative of hardwood resources. A secondary goal is to make students as competitive as possible for all hardwood employment opportunities. These goals are accomplished by assisting students in learning various aspects of the ecology, silviculture, and management of hardwood ecosystems. This knowledge is then integrated into a silviculture plan for a non-industrial private forest landowner based on his or her ownership objectives. Emphasis is placed on timber utilization, wildlife habitats, and recreation in bottomland hardwood ecosystems given the abundance of this resource in Louisiana and the southern United States.

Experiential Learning at California Polytechnic State University's Swanton Pacific Ranch

Samantha J. Gill — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 10:00:00 PST

Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR) is a 3,200-acre fully operational ranch, including forested lands, located 12 miles north of Santa Cruz, California, and 200 miles north of the California Polytechnic State university, San Luis Obispo main campus. Even though the property is 200 miles from the main campus, it is used extensively for experiential learning activities. SPR was first established as a Mexican land grant in 1843. Since that time, it has had several owners and has been a dairy, and had several agricultural operations including growing crops, such as artichokes, brussels sprouts, and also cattle operations. The area was logged from 1905-1923 to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake and fire in 1906. In the 1930's it was a boy scout camp. Albert Smith began buying what is now Swanton Pacific Ranch in 1943. In 1986 he entered a cooperative lease agreement with Cal Poly for use by College of Agriculture students for "learn by doing" activities. In 1993, when Al Smith passed away, he left the Ranch to Cal Poly. His goal was "to see this place kept intact and natural, a lab and a classroom for the college of Agriculture of 'learn by doing.'" For more information on the history of Swanton Pacific Ranch, please refer to their Web page (www.spranch.org) SPR is made up of approximately 125 acres of irrigated land, 1,900 acres of rangeland, and 500 acres of redwood and Douglas-fir forests.

Infusing Experiential Learning into a Wildlife Curriculum: Two Models for One Course

Kelly F. Millenbah et al. — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 11:00:00 PST

Experiential learning refers to contextually relevant knowledge acquired through problem solving, critical reflection and discussion, and decision making. It is not a new concept to academe; however, ways to incorporate experiential learning into our curriculum have been challenging as class size increases and student contact hours decrease. For wildlife students, learning experientially is an unwritten job requisite. Increasingly, students are exiting learning environments with little to no contact outside of formal lecture experiences. In this paper, we suggest ways to incorporate experiential learning into an undergraduate curriculum. Specifically, we focus on experiential learning in the wildlife curriculum with particular emphasis on the “Wildlife Techniques” course. This course is centered on teaching the practical application and limitations of various field, analytical, and management techniques. Consequently, this course is a perfect candidate to be taught using experiential learning techniques. We present two models for teaching this course that incorporates experiential learning throughout the duration of each program. One course is a two-week intensive program with little formal lecture periods, while the other is a semester-long course with a one-week intensive session at the beginning and more formal lecture, discussions, and case-study activities throughout the remainder of the semester. The pros and cons and lessons learned while teaching under these respective structures will be presented.

Undergraduate Student Internships in Natural Resources at Virginia 4-H Educational Centers

Jeff J. Kirwan et al. — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 10:30:00 PST

Virginia has six 4-H educational centers that provide residential camping experiences for over 22,000 youth per year, the second largest 4-H camping program in the United States. These children may have many learning opportunities in the areas of natural resources and outdoor living skills. Beginning in 1995, the Chesapeake Bay Program in cooperation with the Virginia Division of Soil and Water Conservation provided funds for water quality instructors at each of the 4-H Centers. In 1998, the Virginia Forestry Educational Foundation began supporting a similar internship program for undergraduate students to serve as forestry instructors. Nearly 50 undergraduate students have now served as natural resource interns at the 4-H Centers. A description of the two internship programs, the process followed, and future directions are discussed.

The Keystone Project: Training Watershed Professionals through Experiential Learning

L S. Sherwin et al. — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 11:30:00 PST

Finding Balance in the Educational System: A Problem-Based Learning Experience

Neville D. Peasley — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 13:00:00 PST

In the early 1990s the faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management became aware of the inability of students to integrate what they had learned and their inability to apply it (Zundel et al., 1994). Industry was telling them that they required graduates that were good problem solvers. At about the same time, faculty members were reading a book entitled Educating the Reflective Practitioner, by Donald Schon. The book suggests that professionals should be engaged in a process of thoughtfully doing things or reflection-in-action. As a result the faculty became interested in problem-based learning.

Distance Education in Fire Ecology

Mark D. Reed — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 14:00:00 PST

Oregon State University is developing a new distance education course in Wildland Fire Ecology. Professors from the departments of Forest Management, Forest Science, Rangeland Resources, and Fisheries and Wildlife are involved, as well as guest lecturers from BLM, Forest Service, and USGS. Course delivery will be via videotape and Blackboard Web pages. The six professors involved in designing the course initially were skeptical about the potential of distance education. However, they soon realized several advantages of this mode of education: being able to take students, via videotaped field trips, to many diverse biomes during any season of the year; bringing in a number of guest lecturers from different regions of the country; and developing case studies from different parts of the world. The instructors also realized some limitations, including the need to make text and graphics larger than usual so that they will be clear and legible on videotape. The course will initially be taught to a live class at Oregon State University during Winter quarter 2002. Students will be asked for constructive criticism of the video modules and Web pages. Feedback from this test group will be used to refine the course content for initial distance delivery in fall of 2002.