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Turning ecological research into engaging online modules for undergraduates through Gala/OCELOTS

Author(s): Ann E Russell1, Charles Willis2, Christopher Beck3, Suzanne Macey4

1. Iowa State University 2. University of Minnesota 3. Emory University 4. American Museum of Natural History

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Summary:
Learn how to create and implement online modules in tropical ecology for undergraduates. In an NSF-funded network, researchers and specialists in 4DEE, pedagogy, interactive data tools, and media create research-based modules on open-access Gala.

Licensed under CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International according to these terms

Version 2.0 - published on 23 Jul 2023 doi:10.25334/RVSJ-F436 - cite this

Keywords

  1. tropical biology
  2. OCELOTS
  3. LDC2023

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Description

The pandemic necessitated change and promoted opportunities for developing new instructional tools and ways to create them. The purpose of this workshop was to demonstrate and provide hands-on experience using a new tool and process that enables ecologists to translate their field-based research into online teaching resources for undergraduates. This workshop provided opportunities for participants to:

  1. Understand a process by which ecologists with no prior programming experience can turn their research into engaging, multimedia-enhanced, open-access modules.
  2. Engage with the module authoring process on a user-friendly, open-source platform: Gala (http://www.learngala.com).
  3. Apply the ESA’s 4DEE framework in creating a module.
  4. Explore prototype modules on tropical ecology that have already been created by researchers in the OCELOTS network (Online Content for Experiential Learning of Tropical Systems) and that are available for adaptation/implementation in the 

Despite the importance of tropical ecology in undergraduate biology education, many curricula and textbooks worldwide provide students with limited exposure to ecology in tropical and global contexts. Agile, easily accessible online open educational resources that immerse learners in real-world research in tropical ecosystems are thus urgently needed, especially in the context of providing transformative educational experiences that internationalize the undergraduate biology curriculum and broaden cultural perspectives. We also aim to increase participation in the OCELOTS network, which brings together a diverse community of tropical biology researchers and experts in active-learning pedagogy, interactive data tools, multimedia content creation, and the ESA’s 4DEE framework. By broadening the international involvement of tropical researchers, and engaging participants in this new network early on through a participatory process, the goal is to foster true co-construction of knowledge that promotes diversity in the creation and implementation of online modules in tropical ecology. The vision is to enrich the undergraduate biology experience for students in the U.S. and worldwide.

See attached slides from the workshop.

Intended Audience: Undergraduate Lower Division and Upper Division

Support was provided by: A grant from the United States National Science Foundation (DBI-RCN-UBE 2120141).

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