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Everyone’s Got an Agenda

Championing a Topic Without Your Students Knowing

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  • Research and Educational Collaborative among public schools, colleges, and universities in multiple states in the Great Plains region
  • Objectives:
    • Promote understanding of sustainability of rangelands and ecosystem services
    • Conduct collaborative research in scholarship of teaching and learning

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  • Topics of interest:
    • Pyric Herbivory, mixed-species grazing, and fire as management tools in the prairie ecosystem
    • Teaching approaches for these topics in various educational environments

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College and Student Profile:

  • Blinn College: 2 Year College
    • ~20,000 students across multiple campuses
    • Largest campus in Bryan, Texas
    • Articulation agreements and inter-system programs with several regional universities

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  • Biology II for Science Majors
    • 2nd course in a sequenced pair of courses
    • Many majors represented but most are healthcare-oriented
    • Almost all students plan to matriculate to a 4-year university to complete a Bachelor of Science degree.

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My Own Goals:

  • Teach about the Prairie Ecosystem and human involvement in its health and maintenance
  • Positively influence student perspective on the value of the prairie ecosystem
  • *Do each of the above without my students ever knowing that’s what I did*

My Approaches:

  • Take topics I was already teaching and simply swap out the original resources or data used for prairie-centric material
  • Use the prairie ecosystem as an inclusive example for the various levels of ecology and how humans can/do interact with this system

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Biology 1407 Course Learning Outcomes

  • Evolutionary Theory
  • Ecology*
  • Organismal Diversity

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  • The ecology unit usually spans three chapters and covers up to three weeks of class time
    • Logical and only space where discussing the prairie ecosystem makes sense

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Approach: Swap “normal” material for “Prairie-centric” material

  • Interspecific interactions
    • Forest or Marine Environment → Prairie Environment

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  • Food Chain/Web
    • Marine Food Chain → Prairie Food Chain
    • Tundra Food Web → Prairie Food Web

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  • High-impact species
    • Example of the prairie dog as a “Keystone Engineer”

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  • Limiting Factors
    • Added discussion of limiting factors in an ecosystem using the prairie

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Original

Prairie Example

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Original

Prairie Example

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Slides added to facilitate discussion

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The Only “New” Stuff I Added

  • Comprehensive lecture over the Prairie ecosystem at all ecological levels (Population, Community, Ecosystem)
    • Also added human element as the only truly new concept I don’t regularly teach
    • Focused on human change associated with fire suppression or agricultural conversion
      • Disturbances
      • Succession
      • Microclimate concepts
      • Sunlight access
      • Seasonal cycles
      • Woody encroachment
      • Community stability
      • Invasive species
    • Also discussed ecosystem services associated with a healthy prairie ecosystem

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So What?

  • Assessment: Embedded prairie-centric questions in exam
    • Knowledge, understanding, analysis, synthesis questions
      • Not reporting on those…the students got them correct as rates similar to comparable non-prairie questions from previous semesters…not interesting!
    • Opinion questions (multi-select) offered as bonus points
      • Assessed student thoughts on two topics
        • Loss of prairie ecosystem
        • Fire as a tool to manage the prairie ecosystem

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Opinion Question Results

  • Fall 2020 – 58 Respondents; 1.8 responses/student
  • Spring 2021 – 78 Respondents; 2.1 responses/student

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  • Response rates extremely similar across semesters
    • Pooled responses

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Opinion: Which Statement Most Closely Matches Your Thoughts About the Loss of Prairie?

Responses

% of responses

It doesn’t affect me; I’m not worried

1.9%

I am really worried; We should protect it

32.6%

I don’t know enough; I need to learn more

15.3%

People need to eat; We should use it for cropland

3.4%

It’s a free country; Use it how you want

3.1%

We should protect any natural habitat

43.7%

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Opinion: Which Statement Most Closely Matches Your Thoughts About Fire as a Tool to Manage the Prairie?

Responses

% of Responses

Fire is dangerous; We should avoid it at all costs

5.5%

I had no idea fire was a natural, healthy process

15.4%

I am surprised something so destructive can be beneficial

27.8%

We shouldn’t use it; We could cause unexpected damage

12.1%

I am skeptical; I need to know more before I decide

17.2%

Burning prairies is great; We should do it when needed

18.3%

I like fire; We should burn things any time we can!

3.7%

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Conclusions: What do students think of the Prairie and Fire?

  • Students had positive opinions about prairies and fire use at a higher rate than expected if responses were random
  • Students very willing to admit they don’t know enough to make up their mind
    • Curiosity, willingness to learn, open-minded
  • Biases about fire being a negative process exist

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  • Students seem to recognize the value of the prairie ecosystem but don’t fully understand the role of fire in its health and preservation

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So did I succeed in positively influencing opinion?

  • Students are open-minded and willing to ask questions
  • While many students recognize the potential harm of fire or are skeptical, more students than expected are willing to consider fire as a management tool

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  • What are your thoughts?

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