Long-Term Field Studies for Undergraduate Education: A Snapshot in Time

生态领域和实验室课程的一个共同特点是， 本科 水平是缺乏适当的 实地经验。 特别是，实地经验在很大程度上包括测定性生境研究，例如，制作物种列表 从对比区的丰度。 然而，在这方面， 许多生态学研究和一些最重要的概念性进展都来自于操纵性实验，这些实验旨在满足严格的复制、分散治疗和避免伪复制陷阱的统计标准。 为了解决教学和研究之间的这种二分法， 建立长期田间试验 到 提出了改进生态学与环境科学本科教学的建议。 长期试验的目的是解决生态演替的主题，比较在高地和低地废弃农田割草和施肥处理的效果。 小学，初中和高中职前和在职教师，以及学生参加南伊利诺伊大学的环境研究计划课程（作为一个未成年人的广泛 主要学位课程）将参加 田间试验的建立、运行、数据收集和分析。 学生的参与经验将评估的优点，缺点和现场实验的局限性，并准备整合研究数据和结果在生态学的理解。 因为 通过这种干预，学生们将更好地理解科学研究在理解自然世界方面的作用。 一个重要的推论是，学生将能够更好地描述和阐明最重要的生态过程之一，即， 传承为 对SIUC本科生的改进 课程 将 发生 以下 将实地实验纳入适当的课程， 被 一 模型 为 其他 程序 全国 和国际上。

A common feature of ecological field and laboratory courses at the undergraduate level is a lack of appropriate field experiences. In particular, field experiences for the most part consists of mensurative habitat studies, e.g., making lists of species abundances from contrasting areas. However, much ecological research and some of the most important conceptual advances have arisen from manipulative experiments designed to meet rigorous statistical standards of replication, dispersion of treatments, and avoiding the pitfalls of pseudoreplication. To address this dichotomy between teaching and research, the establishment of a long-term field experiment to improve undergraduate teaching in ecology and environmental science is proposed. The long-term experiment is designed to address topics of ecological succession contrasting the effects of mowing and fertilizer treatments in upland and lowland abandoned farm fields. Elementary, Middle and High school pre-service and in-service teachers, and students taking courses in Southern Illinois University's Environmental Studies Program (as a minor for a wide range of major degree programs) will participate in the establishment, running, data collection and analysis of the field experiment. The student's participating in the experience will assess the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of field experiments, and be prepared to integrate research data and results in an understanding of ecology. Because of this intervention, students' will better appreciate the role of scientific research in understanding the natural world. An important corollary is that the students will be better able to describe and articulate one of the most important ecological processes, i.e., succession. The improvements to the SIUC undergraduate curriculum that will occur following the incorpora tion of the field experiment into appropriate courses will be a model for other programs nationally and internationally.