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

技术评估办公室的报告和由Sigma Xi、美国科学促进会和美国医学协会等各种组织主办的会议一再表明，将实践研究经验与高质量教学（即：教育）联系起来的本科、文科院校。美国威拉米特大学（Willamette University）的师生比例（12.8:1）特别成功地鼓励了本科生在科学领域攻读研究生和职业生涯。目前，我们的课程吸引了越来越多的对保护生物学主题感兴趣的学生，甚至是非科学专业的学生。现在有了一个新的综合体，我们建议扩展现有的以探究为导向的方法，让学生提出问题，解决栖息地破碎化的遗传和生态后果。配备视频成像系统和微操纵器的新型显微镜将允许对运动、功能和形式进行创造性的探索。配备有足够内存来分析生物体DNA带图像的新计算机将在学生团队之间共享，因为他们试图1)像科学家一样对植物和动物的生物多样性进行分类；2)利用统计及保育相关软件，检视其与生境减少的关系；3)在以同伴和导师为基础的小组中审查和交流他们的结果。最先进的分子工具将指导稀有和常见生物种群遗迹遗传多样性的比较研究，并将扩大提出解决历史和当代人为问题的基础。一个独特的特点是可以通过配对专业和非专业课程进行协作。此外，未来的科学家将能够更好地阐明他们发起的实验结果，感知生态和进化尺度的差异，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环境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.