An Undergraduate Laboratory Program for Spatial Ecology

该项目提供了全球定位系统（GPS）实地调查站和地理信息系统（GIS）功能的计算机实验室，使生物系能够将新的仪器和当代分析方法集成到介绍性实验室系列中。 在景观和空间生态学的GPS/GIS为基础的课程，并结合GPS和GIS的发展是生物系和学院的高度优先事项。 在GPS/GIS为基础的生态研究表明学生的兴趣现在超过了通过夏季研究计划提供教学的能力。 在地理信息系统和全球定位系统的专业兴趣也非常强烈，以及在更大的范围内的生态界的学者，在使用全球定位系统和地理信息系统在外地生态研究是普遍的。 希望为求职者和研究生课程提供合格毕业生的本科生物学系必须提供这些工具。 为什么这种教育应该发生在文科背景下，而不是更多的技术或学科为基础的学术设置的重要原因。 文科观点的力量源于使用批判和自我批判的框架来发展知识。 文科的科学方法强调假设检验的效用，由一个熟练但持怀疑态度的实践者进行，并由一个有经验但自我批评的理论家进行评估。 这种文科方法是在包容性科学研究经验的基础上。 学生学习使用定量信息来评估数据的质量。 利用该项目的全球定位系统实地站和在新实验室进行的地理信息系统分析的调查活动可以采用这种方法。 全球定位系统数据包含质量指标，可用于制定任何项目的数据质量标准。 现有的地质统计程序可以评估地理信息系统地图的质量，并为跨主题进行的分析提供置信区间。 该项目的两步程序产生的学生谁知道如何评估GPS和GIS数据质量，并可以提供研究设计，实现高质量的结果。 *

This project provides global positioning system (GPS) field survey stations and a geographical information systems- (GIS) capable computer laboratory that allows the Biology Department to integrate new instrumentation and a contemporary analytical method into the introductory laboratory series. Development of a GPS/GIS-based curriculum in landscape and spatial ecology and incorporating GPS and GIS is a high priority of the Biology Department and the college. Demonstrated student interest in GPS/GIS-based ecological research now exceeds the ability to deliver instruction through the summer research program. Professional interest in GIS and GPS is also very strong locally as well as in the larger context of the ecological community of scholars, where use of GPS and GIS in field ecological study is pervasive. Undergraduate biology departments that expect to provide qualified graduates to job candidate pools and graduate programs must furnish access to these tools. There are significant reasons why this education should occur in a liberal arts context rather than more technical or discipline-based academic settings. The strength of the liberal arts perspective stems from use of a critical and self-critical framework for developing knowledge. A liberal arts approach to science emphasizes the utility of hypothesis testing performed by a skilled but skeptical practitioner and evaluated by an experienced but self-critical theoretician. This liberal arts approach is at the base of the Inclusive Science Research Experience. Students learn to use quantitative information to evaluate the quality of data. The investigative activities that use GPS field stations from this project and GIS analyses performed in the new laboratory can adopt this approach. GPS data contains within it indications of quality that can be used to develop data quality standards for any project. Geostatistical procedures exist that can evaluate the quality of GIS maps and provide confidence intervals for analyses performed across themes. This project's two-step program produces students who know how to assess GPS and GIS data quality and can provide research designs that achieve high-quality results. *