Joseph Wirgau, Bethany Bodo, Charles Manyara, Jeremy Wojdak, and Judith Guinan. Radford University, Radford, VA
This presentation will give details of the first two years of implementation and assessment of Radford University's multidiscipline Stormwater Wetland Project. The curriculum phase of the project was initiated to better prepare our science students for the complex, real-world problems they will encounter in academia, government, and industry. We have three objectives for accomplishing this goal. The first objective is for students to learn methods of data collection and analysis using industry standard technology while developing scientific research skills. The second objective is for students to learn about the interdisciplinary nature of ecosystem studies. The third objective is for students to gain real-world, hands-on experience in environmental science. Students are responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the water treatment ecosystem, and report findings to the University and state government. The overall project includes courses across four disciplines (biology, chemistry, geography, and geology) and culminates each year in the Radford University Wetland Symposium to facilitate interactions between students across different disciplines. The evaluation plan for the project employs multiple assessment measures for each objective, which includes student satisfaction/perception surveys, pre/post evaluations of student learning, faculty summaries for each course, and focus groups conducted annually by internal and external evaluators. The initial results of the assessment data will be presented, as well as, a summary of the chemical data collected thus far.
Web Page:
www.radford.edu/~biol-web/wetland%20website/index.htm