Toads, Roads, and Nodes: Collaborative Course-Based Research on the Landscape Ecology of Amphibian Populations

该项目将本科生态学课程网络联系起来，开展一项协作性、实践性的研究项目，重点是对两栖动物栖息地需求的大规模分析。对于许多学生来说，这个项目是他们第一次接触大型数据集，项目的方法旨在提高在数字时代从事科学研究所必需的高度可转移的技能（即数据集成和分析）。每门课程的学生都将自己所在地区的美国地理服务局两栖动物种群数据与谷歌Earth的栖息地数据进行匹配。他们的数据被提交给一个共享数据库，该数据库被分析以确定两栖动物与栖息地的关系。知识价值：该项目为美国土地利用对两栖动物种群的影响提供了有用的信息。它还通过为每个两栖动物调查地点添加栖息地和景观数据，增加了一个重要的公共数据库。更广泛的影响：从教育的角度来看，该项目为来自不同学校的多达400名学生提供了真实的研究体验，这些学校包括两年制学院、公立研究型大学和历史上的少数民族大学。该项目的评估侧重于合作研究经验对学生对科学的兴趣、学生对科学的态度和学生对科学项目的保留的影响。该项目由生物科学理事会、生物基础设施司和教育和人力资源理事会、本科教育司共同资助，作为他们为实现本科生物学教育的愿景和变革所做努力的一部分。

This project links networks of undergraduate ecology courses to carry out a collaborative, hands-on research project focusing on a large-scale analysis of habitat requirements for amphibians. For many students, this project is their first experience working with large data sets, and the project's methods are designed to sharpen the highly transferable skills (i.e., data integration and analysis) necessary for doing science in the digital age. Students in each course match United States Geographical Service data on amphibian populations from their own region with habitat data from Google Earth. Their data are submitted to a shared database that is analyzed to determine amphibian-habitat associations. Intellectual merit: The project provides useful information on the effects of land use on amphibian populations in the U.S. It also augments an important public database by adding habitat and landscape data for each amphibian survey location. Broader impacts: From an educational perspective, this project provides an authentic research experience for up to 400 students from a diverse group of schools including two-year colleges, public research universities, and historically minority-serving universities. Assessment of the project focuses on the effects of a collaborative research experience on students' interest in science, student attitudes about science, and student retention in science programs.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts toward Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.