> it
>becomes a daunting exercise when faced with LARGE CLASSES, INDIFFERENT
>STUDENTS, AND EVERYBODY'S PROBLEM -- NO MONEY!
>So, does anybody out there have any ideas [about exercises]
Not about exercises per se, but there *are* things you can do to tailor the
required content to the interests of your students. At the beginning of the
semester, we ask our students to tell us what interests they have in
botany--medicine, gardening, wildlife, ecology, range science, etc.--or even
just eating salads. Then we tailor examples, slides, field trips, and exams
to hit these topics a little harder. Come up with any tie-in you can think of
to hit them where their interest lies--pocketbook, stomach, future career, or
whatever. (We teach systematics, but for example, if you were measuring
chlorophyll content of various leaves, you could talk about shade vs. sun
leaves (gardening) stratification in the forest (ecology) variegated cultivars
(horticulture), different strains of the same plant (plant breeding and
genetics) and chlorophyll as a harvestable chemical used in industry
(chemistry and business) )
We tally and post the results, as well as putting them on our website, with a
discussion of what they can do to get the most out of the course, a list of
books we have that would be of interest, and links to websites dealing with
their preferences.
And then there's always the kid who says he is taking the class to learn how
to take over the world with a brainwashing agent disguised as a harmless
flower....
Monique Reed
Lab Coordinator, BOTN 201
Texas A&M
