Hi Martha et al,
Great questions! For starters, have a look at the ASPB's page on the
matter, "Principles of Plant Biology, Concepts for Science Education" at
http://www.aspb.org/education/foundation/principles.cfm
Jon
mmphillips at stkate.edu wrote:
>>>Dear Plant-Ed,
>>Many months ago I queried the group about case studies for teaching plant
>biology - and got some good responses, although there still seems to be not
>much developed for teaching plant biology. In a similar vein, I'm
>wondering about your experiences in using problem-based learning (aka PBL)
>and competency-based education in plant biology.
>>I teach the second semester of our General Biology sequence, in which
>(theoretically) I teach our students something about ecology, evolution,
>and plant biology. I also teach an upper level plant biology course with
>juniors and seniors who have had the gen bio sequence plus both cell
>biology and genetics. I find so little evidence of long term retention
>and ability to transfer the knowledge supposedly acquired in the previous
>years that I'm really frustrated and feel a great need to make big changes
>in what I am doing - both in gen bio and in my plant bio course.
>>So, my questions to all of you are:
>1) What do you think are the key competencies that you would want all
>students who take plant bio to come away with? Maybe it's better phrased
>as what should every citizen know about plants and plant biology (even my
>bio major students are not going to pursue plant biology any further) Yes,
>there are lots of wonderful things to learn and come to appreciate about
>plants, but what knowledge, skills, and attitudes are really ESSENTIAL ?
>(Maybe the flip side of this is what are the key misconceptions we want to
>disabuse them of...?) The key to switching to competency-based learning
>is to determine the core competencies!
>>2) What's your experience with problem-based learning. Do you have good
>examples of problems you've used? (I must admit to struggling to design
>good ones) What are your "words to the wise?" Can one really do PBL
>well in a class of 50?
>>>thanks,
>Martha
>>Martha Phillips, Ph.D.
>Biology Department
>The College of St. Catherine
>2004 Randolph Avenue
>St. Paul, MN 55105
>>>---
>>
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Jonathan D. Monroe, Associate Professor
Department of Biology, MSC 7801
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807
office: 540-568-6649, fax: 540-568-3333
email: monroejd at jmu.eduhttp://csm.jmu.edu/biology/monroejd/jmonroe.html
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