Teaching Biodiversity Conservation: The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners

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To address the problem of a lack of resources that capture the potential of Biodiversity conservation to serve as a base for interdisciplinary, inquiry-based learning, The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP-US), a partnership among the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and the University of Maine linking faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates with practicing conservation professionals, is generating a set of classroom-tested, inquiry-based learning materials to add to the 46 currently in preparation under a previous CCLI grant, DUE-0127506. The current project continues and expands this collaboration by: (1) developing and field-testing 25 additional modules in cooperation with a diverse group of faculty and students. (2) developing a new module component of "case studies," incorporating recent developments in research on active learning; (3) promoting classroom use of the modules, along with active learning and teaching techniques, through workshops at the meetings of professional societies associated with conservation and ecology; and (4) expanding current teacher-centered evaluation strategy to include student assessment of learning gains (SALG). Materials are being developed in a workshop setting. Intellectual merit: Biodiversity conservation is a globally significant issue, and the accelerated loss of plant and animal species brought on by human activities has heightened the need for well-trained environmental professionals. This project addresses this need by providing up-to-date, flexible resources for improving teaching in biodiversity conservation through inquiry-based exercises for laboratory, field, or classroom use. Broader impacts: While this project is directed primarily toward undergraduate faculty and students, the material developed as part of this project is useful to diverse audiences, including secondary school faculty and students, and professionals and managers working with biodiversity issues. Efforts are being made to include a significant number of faculty from minority-serving institutions.