Consequences of Habitat Fragmentation as a Model for Inquiry-Based Learning

技术评估办公室的报告以及由Sigma Xi、AAAS和美国医学会等不同组织赞助的会议一再表明，将实践研究经验与高质量教学联系起来的本科生、文科机构(即较小的师生比例，如威拉米特大学12.8：1的比例)在鼓励本科生在科学领域追求毕业和专业生涯方面尤其成功。目前，我们的项目吸引了越来越多的对保护生物学主题感兴趣的学生，甚至在非理科专业的学生中也是如此。随着一个新的综合体已经就位，我们建议扩展现有的以探究为导向的方法，要求学生提出问题，解决栖息地碎片化的遗传和生态后果。配备了视频成像系统和显微操纵器的新型显微镜将允许创造性地探索运动和功能以及形式。配备了足够内存来分析生物体和DNA条带图像的新计算机将在学生团队中共享，他们试图1)像科学家那样对动植物生物多样性进行分类；2)使用统计和保护相关软件检查其与栖息地减少的联系；3)在同行和导师小组中审查和交流他们的结果。最先进的分子工具将指导对珍稀和常见生物种群遗迹的遗传多样性的比较研究，并将扩大提出解决历史和当代人类问题的基础。一个独特的特点是，合作是可能的，通过配对的专业和非专业的课程。此外，未来的科学家将能够更好地阐明他们发起的实验的结果，感知生态和进化尺度上的差异，并将他们的理解应用于现实世界的情况。如果学生想要在一个环境和对它们的解释迅速变化的世界中取得成功，分子工具与生态和系统研究的结合是必不可少的。

Reports of the Office of Technology Assessment and conferences sponsored by organizations as diverse as Sigma Xi, AAAS, and the American Medical Association have shown repeatedly that undergraduate, liberal arts institutions that link hands-on research experiences to quality teaching(i.e., small student-faculty ratios such as Willamette University's 12.8:1 ratio) are particularly successful in encouraging undergraduates to pursue graduate and professional careers in the sciences. Presently our program is attracting an increasing number of students interested in conservation biology topics even among non-science majors. With a new complex now in place, we propose to expand an existing inquiry-oriented approach by asking students to pose questions that address both the genetic and ecological consequences of habitat fragmentation. New microscopes equipped with video-imaging systems and micromanipulators will allow creative exploration of movement & function as well as form. New computers equipped with sufficient memory to analyze images of organisms & DNA bands will be shared among student teams as they try to 1) classify plant & animal biodiversity as scientists do; 2) examine its connection to habitat reduction using statistical and conservation-related software; and 3) review and communicate their results in peer and mentor-based groups. State-of-the art molecular tools will guide comparative study of the genetic diversity of population relics of rare and common organisms, and will expand the basis for posing solutions to historical and contemporary anthropogenic problems. A unique feature is that collaboration is possible via pairing majors and non-majors courses. Also, future scientists will be able to better articulate the results of the experiments they initiate, to perceive differences in ecological and evolutionary scales, and apply their understanding to real-world situations. The wedding of molecular tools with ecological and systematic studies is essential if students are to be successful in a world where environments and interpretations of them are rapidly changing.