PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 13: Ecology Education I
Monday, August 8, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 520 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Enhancing ecological understanding: An evaluation of student perception and a case study.
Jordan, Rebecca*,1, Howe, David1, Rousch, Jeffrey 2, 1 Rutgers University, Cook College, New Brunswick2 Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City
ABSTRACT- Attrition from science and engineering majors with US colleges and Universities is highly evident. Biological sciencies, and in particular ecological disciplines are no exceptions. What are undergraduate perceptions of science and ecology and is this correlated to the marked decline in interest in these disciplines? We asked 239 of the undergraduates enrolled in biology courses at Elizabeth City State University, a small HBCU located in northeastern North Carolina, to comment on their perceptions of science and biology and we interviewed 47 of these students with regarding their career choice. In addition, we tracked student understanding of ecology and scientific inquiry in 3 case study students who participated in a year-long undergraduate research project. We found an overwhelming interest in medical and allied health careers that was related to the need to help people and to find employment. Most students interviewed stated they had little understanding of ecological careers, although a majority of students did not have a full notion of their stated career choice. It was noted by many of these students that there is little to recruit them to ecological careers. We also found students to have an incomplete understanding of science as a process and this was not entirely corrected among the three students who participated in the research project. When, however, two of these students were offered the opportunity to metacognitively reflect on their experiences and to teach others to do the same, we found a more complete understanding of science as a process. Based on our findings, we recommend other institutions consider how career options are presented to their undergraduates and consider opportunities for metacognitive reflection when preparing students to undertake ecological research.
Key words: education, ecology, science inquiry, career