Bishops College 3201 Biology Online Project

I. Briefly review the project proposal form. Discuss the project theme, outline and time line; review the project and curriculum objectives.

The main objective of this project was to increase student appreciation of local habitats, plants and animals. One of my own pet dislikes (P.Wells), is that people treat the local environment poorly (through littering, poor fishing habits and general mistreatment of natural areas). Without proper knowledge of local habitats and critters, it is difficult to appreciate our impact upon them (and how important they are to us). We decided that investigations of habitats and living things within Newfoundland would be the best method of increasing students appreciation of the living things they may find in their backyard.

As teachers who regularly use information technology, we also had some other minor objectives for this project:

1. To require students to produce a paper using proper APA style and formatting on a word processor and then submit using email.
2. To produce web pages students would have to use the following hardware Scanners, Video camera, Flexcam, VCR, ATI card and player, CD ROM's and Desktop Computers.
3. Students would have to use some of the following software for web page production - Netscape (Navigator and Composer), Corel Word Perfect 8 Suite, Microsoft Word, Paint Shop Pro 5.
4. Students would work in groups of two (to add the group dynamic to the project). With this project we were really trying to increase both Biological and IT knowledge of our students.

To keep this project within the Biology 3201 curriculum we had students produce term papers and then web pages of one of the following: Newfoundland Ecosystems, Newfoundland Invertebrates, Newfoundland Vertebrates and Newfoundland Plants. We were careful to outline our project objectives and expectations in great detail (knowing that too open ended a project could be a disaster and may reduce participation levels). We designed each project to be unique for each group, allowing for greater flexibility for students when generating a list sub topics to investigate (reducing project replication will allow this project to exist for several years).

Once the students had examined the topic selection page and selected a topic then the real work could begin using these posted project guidelines (these were also a great tool for student accountability; all needed information was posted and easily available, even to students without computer access at home) . Deadlines for the projects were posted after the projects were selected to keep students from jumping to the project which was due the latest. Here is an example of what was expected of students as part of the Unit I Ecology Newfoundland Ecosystems project (remember there are four other main choices and almost unlimited sub choices): First the students had to select an ecosystem (Fen, Swamp, Bog, Pond (lake), River, Evergreen Forest, Deciduous Forest).

For Part 1 of the project, students had to characterize the chosen ecosystem, outlining in detail what makes this ecosystem unique from others. This description was four to five pages long (not including photos and references, APA format was used). For the ecology projects any description included:

• Where these ecosystems are found
• What creatures inhabit the system and what plant life is dominant (a brief description of the dominant plants and animals is important, each description must include the niche of the organism)
• A complete food web must be created including as many organisms as possible (organisms must be identified by trophic level within the ecosystem).
• Within the ecosystem two examples of each type of symbiosis is to be presented and explained (mutualism, parasitism and commensalism).
• Finally, outline the most important relationships in your ecosystem (ones that are vital to the functioning of the ecosystem)

We made sure to inform the students that Web site information was acceptable, but that cutting and pasting was forbidden (and would result in a project score of 5/10 or lower).

Next was Part 2 - Students were to find the ecosystem they had chosen and collect 2-3 photos from it. The photos were digitized and then used with notes prepared in Part I as a web page (one page only). Some students opted to produce powerpoint presentations and save these as Html files (this later became the preferred method of project submission). Good projects were edited and placed on the "Biome Page" (emailing to collaborating schools was left to me for the summer). For more detailed instructions for each project (Ecosystems, Vertebrates, Invertebrates and Plants) and subsections, see the 3201 project instruction page (http://redbaron.bishops.ntc.nf.ca/science/Biology/3201PROJ.htm).

II. Show the audience the outcome of the project proposal.

Results and a tour of the project can be seen at: http://redbaron.bishops.ntc.nf.ca/science/Biology/3201PROJ.htm

III. Briefly comment on any successes or problems that were encountered throughout the life of the project.

We were very pleased with the quality of most of the projects. We were also pleased that project based learning, a very beneficial style of learning, could be fit into our busy curriculum. It is well known that this style of learning better suites some students. Additionally, these projects developed collaboration skills, increased software proficiency and increased the knowledge and confidence level of the students (see the feature article by Margaret Lloyd in Leading and Learning with Technology, November 1998, for more details). The group work dynamic was useful and it was nice to see the students learn about human nature along with Biology and Technology.

A number of students surprised us with the amount of pride they had in the quality their presentations. This was very rewarding from a teacher standpoint and helped to reinforce the importance of having a project based component within the curriculum of our course.

In retrospect, the requirement of the term paper before the creation of the web page was very important. We believe the knowledge base of the students must be developed before they can create a web document that will coherently explain their topic. We found this to be true for students who did poorly on the term paper; they often had difficulty producing a quality web page (these were often not posted on the project site). While many students did not like the paper, we feel it may serve them well later in life when they are writing papers. If the student attends a university of technical college he or she can fall back on their knowledge of a document format that is well structured and professional looking (and the standard at most universities).

IV. Comment on any aspects of the project that you would do differently.

We have four main fixes for next year's projects:

1. We plan on shortening the project to a paper and a web page. We initially asked for too much from the students, and found that many were unable to complete all parts of the project (we simply asked them to do too much in the amount of time we had to teach the course). Next year we will alter our project parameters to include only the paper and a web page.
2. Next year we will be setting up a better deadline schedule. Collecting disks from students in the exam room is not what we had in mind when we set up this project! Most students did submit on time but this still left us with too little time to edit the pages for posting. Our end date for next year's batch of projects will be shortly after the first set of exams (avoiding Science Fairs and Easter Break). This should also allow more time for students to read the posted projects and would better help others during exam preparation.
3. We found that email was the superior method of collecting student projects, however, we are still trying to convert some Mac created projects to HTML. We allowed many types of computers to be used to prevent any restriction that may hinder some students (but where do you draw the line?). Before students start next year, we will ensure our machines can connect so that the finished product can be posted.
4. Our project submission of choice for next year will be a PowerPoint presentation converted to HTML. We a currently building a large page of these presentations for students to use from a "Student Shared Folder" (on our network but not available to the outside world).

V. Comment on if and how the project can be expanded next year.

This project will not expand but will continue until we have over used all the topics related to it. There are many Newfoundland Plants, Invertebrates and Vertebrates and we expect these project topics to be viable for several years. The ecology projects are limited in number and may only be used for the next year (as once the topics are covered there is a greater chance for students to replicate the work of others). Our greatest task will be not to expand, but to concentrate on the paper and web page components of the project (these are most beneficial for generating our web resources and helping the students learn valuable skills - essay writing and web page construction).