Pictures from the Course:
2008 class trip
Center for Marine Resource Studies
A. Role of the Course and the Instructor's Philosophy
1. Role of the course
Tropical Field Biology (TFB) is a broad spectrum
course, dealing with zoological, botanical, and ecological topics.
Because of its broad approach, TFB has historically fulfilled prerequisites
for a two of departmental “tags” (i.e., Ecology and Zoology). It
is one of only two courses offered in the Biology Department in which the
students stay for an extended time (~2 weeks) in a field station, this
case being in Cockburn Town, Caicos. TFB is an in-depth exploration of
tropical ecosystems. TFB is team-taught by Steve Weeks and Paco Moore.
The majority of the class deals with ecological
topics, using species and communities in the Caicos as examples of these ecological
processes. This orientation allows students to take away from the
course a general knowledge of the interactions and processes of animal
and plant communities that they can apply to other ecosystems, rather than
concentrating on in-depth knowledge of tropical organisms that they may
never see again.
2. Philosophy
TFB is a field-intensive course, and is designed
to excite students about biology and to get them asking questions about
the roles of animals and plants in a variety of communities. We introduce
the students to 4 communities (coral reefs, subtidal/sandy-bottom, rocky
intertidal, andmangrove swamps), and discuss the organisms
that play similar roles within each community. Therefore, our main
goal is to teach the students about broad-scale ecological concepts using
examples drawn from a tropical setting.
Additionally, the course is designed with the philosophy
of teaching the students about ecological processes in tropical habitas,
and then having them do a field project in the Caicos to better understand the ecological processes we learn in the class room. The
10-day trip to the Caicos is ideally suited for this approach to learning.
B. Instructional Design and Delivery
1. Instructional Techniques
The course is split into two components: lectures
in Akron and a student-designed field project in the Caicos. In Akron, we meet for
a few lectures before our trip. In these meetings, we present lecture material and cover
logistics for the trip to the Caicos. In the Caicos, we split the time between field trips and working on the students research projects.
The lectures cover a wide range of topics (from oceanography
to invertebrate zoology and ichthyology to ecology). For the “survey”
lectures (e.g., introducing the students to the major animal phyla that
they will see in the Caicos), we present the “facts” about each group (e.g.,
types of organ systems, etc.). Thus, the major objective
in this portion of the course is to introduce the students to many of the
“players” in the various communities we will experience.
For the “conceptual” lectures (e.g., oceanography
and ecology), we present an array of conceptual topics in community
ecology that combine to regulate communities (e.g., trophic webs, species
interactions, etc.). We always attempt to explain these concepts
in “understandable” language. We present the unique biotic and abiotic
factors that affect each of the 4 communities, but also emphasize the similar
factors across all habitats. For each community, we outline how these
factors combine to select for the types of species found in each habitat.
The overarching goal is to get the students to recognize categories of
“players” within each community, and to understand the roles of each “player.”
If this is accomplished, the students will be able to bring some level
of ecological understanding to virtually any community that they experience.
Testing is broken into two sections in this course.
First, we have a lecture test (40% of the total
grade) at the end of the Spring semester that tests understanding of the lecture material. Second, the students have a write up of the research projects (60% of their total grade) at the end of the trip that they
are required to complete within 3 weeks of returning from the Caicos. This write up is in the format of a scientific paper, and will outline the question(s) asked by the students, outline the methods used for their project, the resulting data collected, and a final discussion of these results.
Some of the actitivities on this trip include the following.
Snorkeling and SCUBA diving are a main part of the trip. The lab provides SCUBA tanks and weights for free, so students who bring their own gear can dive as much as possible!
We will also get a chance to camp on a small off-shore island, Long Cay, which will provide an interesting view of nightlife on a small island community:
We plan on doing several field sampling techniques, such as underwater behavioral observations, shoreline fish seining, and terrestrial field trips
