Canadian Botanical Association:
Teaching Section Abstracts
     Kelowna Meeting, June 2001

Co-operative learning and problem solving in upper year botany courses. 

Co-operative learning and problem solving in upper year botany courses. MAXWELL, C.D. Biology Department, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8 cmaxwell@trentu.ca

A method for learning co-operatively involving a problem-solving session has been used in two upper year botany courses, the Biology of Algae and Cyanobacteria, and Plant Population Biology. The problem solving session takes place towards the end of each course. The format is as follows. 1) Four weeks prior to the session, students sign up for a particular problem, with a maximum of five per problem, and carry out individual literature research. Examples of the problems will be provided. 2. At the start of a three hour session, students meet in their groups for about 90 minutes, during which they pool their information, and develop a 20 minute presentation outlining a solution or solutions to their specific problem. Following the presentation there is time for interaction with the audience. 3. Students write individual reports which are submitted for grading. Comments on course evaluations have been very positive. Students have enjoyed researching the literature for answers, the pooling of information and discussions with other group members. Of particular value is the realization that what they have learnt in the course has practical applications in the real world.

An integrated approach to scientific communication in 2nd-year botany. FREGO, K.A. Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, E2L 4L5. frego@unbsj.ca

Most second-year biology students use scientific publications to seek information, however few are aware of the role of scientific conferences, and most express extreme anxiety at the thought of oral presentations. If we aim to prepare students to be scientists, then explicit training in all aspects of scientific communication is essential. In Introductory Botany, 1 use a series of exercises to introduce these aspects and to model "what scientists do". First we analyze one botanical research paper in class, constructing a 4-5 sentence summary in lay terms. Each student then chooses a paper, prepares a written summary, and is evaluated on extraction of key components. Before they present their 10-min oral version of the paper in a mini-conference setting (with written summaries as conference abstracts), 1 attempt to lower their anxiety and help them to succeed by: (1) developing an evaluation rubric in class, based on a comic presentation loaded with common failings, (2) assembling conference groups of < 8 students, with 4 presenting per session, (3) providing structured, anonymous, (and vetted) written peer feedback, and (4) presenting combined peer and instructor feedback in a constructive one-on-one discussion setting. In anonymous voluntary evaluations, many students report increased confidence and lower anxiety concerning oral presentations, clearer understanding of scientific writing and the publication process, and awareness of the peer review process. Such evidence is neither objective nor repeatable, but the students' perceptions are worth considering!

Using rose galls for field exercises in community ecology and island biogeography. LALONDE, R.G.(l) and SHORTHOUSE, J.D. (2) (1) Department of Biology, Okanagan University College, 3333 College Way, Kelowna, B.C. (2) Department of Biology, Laurentian University, Sudbury Ontario bglalonde@ouc.bc.ca

The equilibrium theory of island biogeography proposes a balance between extinction and colonization to explain the general phenomenon whereby species diversity increases as a function of habitat area. This theory is frequently used as the conceptual basis for making habitat conservation and management decisions and is a major topic covered in any community ecology course. Consequently, a simple way of demonstrating the species-area phenomenon and its mechanistic basis during one university-level laboratory period has great pedagological value. We describe a simple laboratory exercise, using the community of cynipid gall-inducers associated with wild roses, which we developed to demonstrate species-area relationships. The process of sampling and data analysis can be accomplished in a single three hour period.

One approach to the undergraduate lecture: Outlines, semi-notes, slides and odds and ends. DAVIS, A.R. Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK. S7N 5E2 davisa@duke.usask.ca

After trying various teaching methods in lectures directed to undergraduate students, I have settled on a style that amalgamates techniques gleaned from Master Teachers, learned at Instructional Development workshops, and from certain professors whom I was fortunate enough to be instructed by, during my own undergraduate training. My main medium of presentation has become the overhead projector, and I use two of them if facilities permit. At the start of each class I project a lecture outline prepared to display the key topics for that day. In most lectures, students are also supplied with a handout that purposefully is only partially complete. This technique, known on our campus as "semi-notes", seems to help keep students attentive and enhances their interaction when the missing portions of the handout (projected as an overhead) are completed, normally with their input. Kodachrome slides are also a regular feature in my lectures, often used in a recapitulative role to help reinforce the material presented earlier in the class. The advantages and disadvantages to this approach are numerous and will be discussed.

*MATHIESON, K. A., FANG, Z. & POKORSKI, M. G.
Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, E2L 4L5. kmathies@unbsj.ca
A simple lab exercise on uses of Glycine max: Tofu and soy “milk”.
           Economic Botany, a 3rd-yr Biology course, considers relationships between humans and plants, and the importance of plants in shaping both human history and everyday lives.  Along with plants used for medicine, fibre, and other products, we discuss soy (Glycine max).  Domesticated since 2800 BC, it has been used as a nitrogen fixer, as well as for fibre, food, and even plastic. 
            We developed a short soy module.  The lecture component covered a broad range of topics - a historical timeline, food and non-food products, including a brief summary of techniques employed in preparing traditional soy foods, beneficial and possibly detrimental nutritional aspects, and an overview of agriculture, including annual yields and expansion of genetically modified soy.
            The lab exercise provided hands-on participation in the process of making edible soy products.  In the 3-hr lab period, students created soy “milk” from raw soy beans that had been soaked overnight. Students pureed and cooked the beans, then strained them through cheesecloth. Tofu was created by reheating the soymilk, adding a coagulant (magnesium chloride), then pressing the resultant curds through an easily constructed tofu press lined with cheesecloth. Variations include flavoured tofu, comparisons of common coagulants and comparisons with different purchased products.

ROSS, C.M., SUMNER, M.J. & †SHAW, M.P.
Department of Botany & †Biology Program, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2
Change the channel, Marge: the benefits and challenges of presenting videotaped lectures to first-year Biology students. 
For 30 years, the Biology Program at the University of Manitoba has been using a videotape format to deliver the lecture content for the first-year major Biology course; this course had an enrolment of over 1,700 students in 2004.  In the videos, the instructors, who are visibly onscreen for much of the lecture, employ a combination of handwritten notes, diagrams, PowerPoint© presentations, and field tours.  The video lecture for the day replays hourly at a number of lecture halls on campus.  We believe that instead of limiting interaction between student and teacher, we are facilitating communication: instructors become available to spend quality time in the laboratories, which have a maximum enrolment of 32 students per room.  Other advantages to the video lecture format include the of the videos in the library (and perhaps, in the future, online) for supplementary viewing.  While we do recognize that there are disadvantages with the format, including problems with classroom discipline, the advantages uniform presentation of course material, the flexibility students have in timetabling their Biology class, and the availability of video lectures in an era of increasing enrolment encourage us to look for ways to optimize this practice. 

HEYDON, P., EMERY, R.J.N. & *MAXWELL, C.D. Biology Department, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8. Opening the door to instruction in sterile culture biology: Low cost bench-top laminar flow hoods and their use in an asymbiotic orchid culture lab. The construction of a low cost portable bench-top laminar flow hood is described. The total cost for one unit including materials and labour is around $500.00, comparing favourably with the cost of a commercial unit. The low cost and portability permit us to build multiple units, for example 6 in a 24-place teaching lab. As a result, several small student groups can carry out sterile experiments simultaneously. The hood has been used in an asymbiotic orchid culture lab, in which all equipment used is readily available at the grocery store. The resultant orchid plants may be taken home by the students. Feedback has indicated that such take home products improve student interest in course content. Other uses for the hoods include giving the students hands-on experience of techniques used in biotechnology, sterile culture of organs and tissues, microbes and viruses.

Developing the Habits of the Mind and Heart in the Liberal Arts and Science Curriculum: A Place for Technology?
John Hoddinott, Augustana Faculty, University of Alberta, Camrose, Alberta, T4V 2R3. john.hoddinott@ualberta.ca
The core learning for a ‘Liberal’ post-secondary education is achieved in the Faculties of Arts and Science. During the four years of traditional undergraduate programs we strive to assist our learners to at least reach Perry’s developmental stage of relativism or procedural knowledge. This could also be regarded as developing ‘habits of the mind’ in learners. To achieve Perry’s final developmental stage we must encourage students to achieve a level of commitment in relativism or constructed knowledge. This stage could be characterized as developing learners’ ‘habits of the heart’. To fully realize this level requires that learners achieve an understanding of their own spirituality, but what does spirituality imply in the context of our largely secular institutions and in science disciplines in particular? How can blended learning facilitate this development when critics of the educational use of technology frequently comment on its dehumanizing effects? Will the appropriate instructional strategies vary between the high consensus disciplines in the Sciences compared to the low consensus disciplines in the Arts? If the ‘habits of the heart’ are an aspect of the attributes possessed by Liberal Arts/Science graduates, how is that articulated in our academic planning? Discussion will encourage participants to compare a large research-intensive university’s experience to other institutions.

Plants Rule: Supporting Botany Education in Schools
Elizabeth Straszynski
University of Toronto Schools, 371 Bloor St. W., Toronto ON M5S 2R8
Specific botanical facts, concepts, and techniques are only infrequently identified in school curricula, usually in specific years and courses. Curriculum documents can also be challenging to read, and can appear non-specific depending on the source and one’s point of view. Specific labs, activities, or projects may be only vaguely suggested, with adequate scaffolding (student support) and specific contexts or sub-tasks usually being left up to the individual classroom teacher. This lack of specificity and the teacher’s subject specialties may limit the range of activities that actually occur. Nevertheless, the documents’ supposed lack of specificity also means flexibility that can provide many opportunities for incorporating Botany into daily lessons if approached creatively.
Basic facts of life for teachers (Ministry expectations, curriculum documents, subject coverage responsibilities, scheduling) will be addressed in the context of designing Botany-content lessons that will be not only welcome when presented by an expert but easily repeated by the teachers themselves. Examples will be drawn from curricula from different provinces for a variety of grade levels and subjects. Furthermore, we will discuss other suggestions for enhancing the propagation of the use of plant materials, contexts, and problems beyond the level of volunteer talks at your local school.
 

Developing Scientific Writing Skills in Secondary Students
Straszynski, E.
University of Toronto Schools, 371 Bloor St. W., Toronto ON M5S 2R8
The development of higher order thinking required for the complexity of scientific writing requires patience and practice. After teaching skills and concepts about the nature of science on a yearly basis to a group of adolescents (Gr. 7 – 11), I devised a skill-development exercise to integrate experimental design, execution, and analysis, with an emphasis on scientific writing. This exercise would also be appropriate for undergraduates to develop skills in reading, interpreting, and writing scientific papers.
This classroom activity (3 –4 classes) was designed for high school Biology, as a bridge between two units of study (Genetics; Growth and Function of Plants). A comparative DNA extraction laboratory provides student-generated data. A short, easy-to-understand scientific article was then subjected to a systematic evaluation of its components and aspects of writing style. A collaborative writing exercise follows, where writing teams attempt to imitate scientific style based on paper they had just analyzed. Specific tasks are assigned within a writing team (e.g. editor, abstract, results section, etc.). These specialists from each team meet with members of other groups who have the same task, where they discuss their common challenge and possible solutions. Upon returning to their group, they bring the collective expertise and opinion of many others, including the teacher-facilitator.
The exercise is more about process than product, providing practice with peers in a collaborative - not competitive - atmosphere. The similarity between this and the real world experience of performing and writing up scientific research can be emphasized with older students as a way of understanding this aspect of a career in science.
Issues of brain function and development will be discussed in addition to methods for working with adolescent/young adult brains instead of against them. Instructor support materials will be provided.


Plant biology for non-believers.
Cass, D.D., Dept. of Biol. Sci., Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9
We need new approaches in our teaching to encourage undergraduate students to enter programs in plant biology.  This is based on the Univ. of Alberta, but the same situation may occur in other universities.  A big problem is that most of us no longer have an introductory 1st-year botany course.  What we probably have is a large introductory biology course that includes some plant biology.  At the Univ. of Alberta, we have 2 such courses (cell biology and biological diversity); there is plant biology in both, but more in the diversity course.  Our department now offers a 2nd-year course, Fundamentals of Plant Biology, but its enrollment is about 50 and most of the students are already in other programs.  We also offer courses specifically designed to attract students; they do not seem to work—most of the students in those courses (as well as the Fundamentals course) are “traffic” rather than students who might become plant biologists or are already in other programs.  We have to appeal to some of the students in the large (1st-year), introductory courses—this may be our only opportunity.  What can we do to capture their interest?  Here are some suggestions.  1)  Do not apologize for plants and plant biology.  2)  Recognize (but do not say it) that some of your students hate plants or are simply not interested in plants.  3)  Be clear and concise in your lectures.  4)  Try to exhibit enthusiasm.  5)  Use animated images to jazz up your lectures where appropriate.  6)  Try to make connections with the laboratory part of the course.  7)  Try to use physical models in your lectures (e.g., nucellus, tracheary element, carpel, endodermal cell).  8)  Try to avoid unnecessary discussion of plant life cycles during your lectures.  9)  Occasionally remind your students that there are many plants used for food, fibre, wood, and pharmaceutical drugs. 

  Botany, an eye-opener to adaptation and diversity.  F.C. Guinel, Department of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario.
I will be speaking about a 2nd year course, entitled “Comparative Botany- Terrestrial Plants”, which I am teaching to 25 students.  When asked by the Chair to prepare the course two years ago, I was summoned to “MAKE THE STUDENTS LIKE PLANTS”.  I relied on my knowledge of first-year students to build this course.  I was aware that in general students do not know how to observe, how to enjoy the use of a microscope, and how to communicate (at least in writing); in contrast, I knew that they are interested in evolution and that they do not like to be bored. So, I tried to sweeten the Botany pill (observation through microscope) by making it more fun (only live specimens from a florist or the supermarket; field-trips to Toronto Chinatown and the Royal Botanical Garden of Hamilton). 
To make them write, once per week in a log-book, I asked them to comment on any botanical topic they were interested in.  The log was to be handed in on Tuesdays and returned to them on Thursdays with corrections and chocolate.  This obliged them to come to every lecture, and very few missed more than one lecture.  I tried to use an evolutionary framework for the lectures.  In the first portion, we studied the basics of population genetics, speciation, the theory of endosymbiosis and the origin of eukaryotes; we then moved on to the Charophytes, thought to be the precursors of the terrestrial plants.  In the second portion, we moved from the Hepatophytes to the CAM plants, studying new features as they were acquired by plants.  The students then had a good idea of the consequences of the absence or presence of certain characteristics.  As we went along, we built a dichotomous tree displaying all groups of extinct and extant plants; the students especially liked to do this.
To make them observe, in the first lab, I gave each of them a different plant to take care of for the duration of the year.  They had to report on their specific plant in December in an oral presentation; each student had to study the taxonomy, the habitat, the growth requirements and to report on if and how the plant was used in science.  Then, during the 3 last lab sessions, the students dissected  their plants; they could do any sections they wanted as long as it helped them to correlate structure and function.  A microscope equipped with a camera was available at all times during these labs.  Most students were very careful to keep their plant alive because they hoped to keep it beyond the year.  For the lab exam (a report), at least three drawings were required with a discussion integrating what students had learned all along the year.    
Finally, I made the class challenging because, on the first day of lectures, with the outline, I distributed all the questions that could possibly be on any exam (mid-terms or final).  The same day, I told the students that they could prepare the questions ahead of time, bring the answers and any text-books to the exams.  I further emphasized that I did not believe in memorization, but was heavily relying on understanding, logics and deduction skills.  Furthermore, I do not use a lab book because I believe it restricts the imagination of students.  When there is a lab book, the students do not attempt to study for themselves; they just go through the motions.  When they are on their own, they move from one thing to another carried by their interest. The students are bewildered at first, but they adapt fast.   
Micrographs of sections, diagrams from students, pages from log books, names and pictures of plants interesting to study, samples of integrative questions for exams will be shared during this teaching session.