Category: Article Type

Exploring Interdisciplinary Co-Curriculum Service-Learning Through a Student-Formed Consulting Community

Guang Jin, Illinois State University and Pranshoo Solanki, Illinois State University
Abstract

A campus-wide student-formed consulting community provides an interdisciplinary co-curriculum service-learning opportunity that connects students from various disciplines across a Midwest university to work on sustainability challenges in the local community.  Projects include using waste glass in construction materials, cutting carbon footprint by a lighting retrofit, using a rain garden for stormwater runoff, and beneficial use of dredged materials. The real-world impact truly engages and excites students; taking action and serving the local community gives them a strong sense of connection to that community.  Students also gain in their professional skills development, particularly in the areas of taking initiative, collaborating in a teamwork environment, problem solving, and communication/presentation skills. Faculty mentors consider this not only as a great experiential learning and civic engagement opportunity, but also an opportunity to collaborate with faculty in other disciplines, and some have extended service-learning projects to interdisciplinary research and grant opportunities. Challenges and lessons learned are also discussed.

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Literacy Through Experiential Learning

Katherine Moccia, Wagner College; Matthew Holben, Tennessee Tech University; and Bernadette Ludwig, Wagner College
Abstract

Scholars have noted a dearth of experiential learning components in STEM. This study seeks to address that issue by assessing learning outcomes for students who participated in a class with an experiential learning element and those who did not. For the experiential learning component, students, in collaboration with a community organization, designed survey instruments that measured college students’ mental health concerns, analyzed the results, wrote papers and presented posters of the findings. Students in the experiential learning class (ELC) had statistically increased confidence levels in comprehending scientific ideas, creating graphs, and discussing results, while their peers did not. Students reported that the experiential learning component helped them understand topics in their STEM class better. Given that many students in the ELC aspire to pursue healthcare professions, the increased confidence in understanding data through hands-on experience should help prepare them for the interpretation of clinical data and thus potentially benefit their future patients.

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Extract Microplastics from Soil: Laying the Groundwork for a Citizen Science Project

Gustavo A. Salazar, Texas Woman’s University; Alana K. Taylor, Texas Woman’s University; and Liliana A. Driver, Texas Woman’s University
Abstract

The forming of microplastics in the environment continues be a global problem with damaging risks to ecosystems and human health. Currently, most microplastic studies concentrate on water and air, while research focus on terrestrial samples such as soil still lags behind. This project reports the first results of our effort to develop and implement a methodology to study microplastics in soil samples nested in a multidisciplinary teaching laboratory. Chemistry and non-chemistry students isolated and examined microplastics, typically finding blue microfibers, verified via optical microscopy. In addition, participants designed outreach activities to introduce microplastic concepts to younger students and helped refine the methodology for further use across multiple courses and community events. This project ultimately pursues the establishment of a citizen science initiative, where shipped soil samples will be processed in teaching sessions.

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Summer 2025 (Vol. 17, Issue 1)

 For the Summer 2025 issue of this journal, we are delighted to feature two project reports and a research article that highlight how civic engagement and experiential learning enhance student learning outcomes. 

In recent years, scientists and the public have been paying more attention to microplastics—their ubiquitous presence in our environment, food, and drinking water, along with growing evidence of their detrimental impact on ecosystems and human health. In order to study the parameters and composition of microplastics, it is necessary to extract and isolate them from various samples. In this issue, a professor (Gustavo Salazar), a lecturer (Alana P. Taylor), and a former undergraduate student (Liliana Driver) from Texas Woman’s University describe a novel chemical protocol to extract microplastics from soil samples, which greatly expands the scope of potential sample collection. This extraction procedure has been implemented by college students—both chemistry majors and non-majors—in a course that focuses on water in the environment from a global perspective. The authors also use their knowledge of microplastics as the foundation for outreach activities to younger students in K–12 education, with the goal of expanding the scope of the project to a full-scale citizen science initiative. 

Service-learning has been recognized for several decades as a high-impact educational practice with ripe potential for fostering civic engagement. However, it can be challenging to implement a service-learning project within the structural and logistical constraints of a standard academic course. Guang Jin and Pranshoo Solanki at Illinois State University propose a creative solution to this challenge by creating extracurricular opportunities for students to participate in service-learning projects through the framework of a consulting company. The authors draw upon their collective expertise in environmental health, sustainability, and construction management to establish a variety of practical service-learning opportunities, such as using waste glass in construction materials. Students who participate in these projects report gains in professional development, team collaboration, solving complex problems, and effective communication. In addition, participating as consultants for real-world projects provide students with a greater sense of agency and impact throughout their service-learning experiences. 

Continuing the theme of experiential learning, Katherine Moccia and Bernadette Ludwig at Wagner College have partnered with Matthew Holben at Tennessee Tech University to explore the impact of including an experiential learning component in a first-year college course that focuses on student mental health. The experiential activities included outreach to other students on campus to distribute mental health surveys, which were subjected to data analysis, visual display, and dissemination to the campus community. A cohort of 14 students participated in the experiential learning class, and their educational development was compared to 24 students in classes without an experiential component. Based on pre-post surveys for a variety of course learning objectives, students in the experiential learning class reported greater confidence gains for important skills in the realm of data literacy, such as creating graphs from data, comprehending the visual display of data, and communicating the interpretation of data to peers and professors. This research study demonstrates the value of using experiential learning as a real-world, civic context to enhance students’ acquisition of important analytical skills in their first year of college. 

We wish to thank all the authors for sharing their scholarly work with the readers of this journal. 

Matt Fisher Trace Jordan, Co-Editors-in-Chief 

Marcy Dubroff, Managing Editor 

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Fall 2024 (Vol. 16, Issue 2)

From the Editors

This special forum is a collection of interviews, research articles, project reports, and policy papers from members of the ‘IKE Alliance, a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators and leaders from Hawai‘i to the East Coast of Turtle Island (the continental United States) who support and facilitate increasing participation of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (NAAN-NHPI) students in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM). The ‘IKE Alliance is the outcome of a more than a decade-long collaboration among the editors and the contributors. As a collective, we have grappled with the challenges, barriers, and possibilities associated with transforming the Indigenous STEM student experience. ‘IKE, the acronym for this Alliance (The Indigenous Knowledges, Encouragements, Engagements, and Experiences), is the Hawaiian term for knowledge. It also means to know, understand, experience, and recognize. Its use grounds the ‘IKE Alliance in the distinct Indigenous worldviews of the NAAN-NHPI students it supports.

This project started in 2013 among members of the Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) reform project. When we began working together, we focused on increasing the participation of NAAN-NHPI students in STEM. Early on in our time together, our conversations moved from a focus on the kinds of pedagogical changes that could be made to individual STEM courses to one focused on the kinds of systemic changes needed to truly address ongoing under-representation of Indigenous students. Literature reviews supported this shift in direction, as others have shown that providing Indigenous students with clear learning pathways and a sense of belonging were essential for success (e.g., Cajete, 1999). As we dove deeper into the literature, conducted research on our campuses, and critically reflected on our collective experiences, we identified additional dimensions of institutional change needed to support Indigenous students. We also realized that we needed to expand our understanding of the student experience beyond existing models that focus on recruitment, retention, matriculation, and entry into the workforce. We needed to revise our thinking to harmonize with what our students were telling us was important to them: a holistic approach to the student life cycle (Figure 1). The ‘IKE approach attends to those activities that are focused on the right half of the student life cycle as depicted in Fig. 1; however, we contend that to achieve our goal, we must be mindful of the entire cycle. 

We developed a four-strand model that responds to Indigenous students’ needs across their full academic life cycle. The four strands of the model are: a Sense of Belonging, a Sense of Place, a Sense of Responsibility and Reciprocity, and a Sense of Becoming (i.e., having a vision of where one is headed in life) (Figure 2). View Figures 1 and 2 here. Studies in education highlight the importance that NAAN-NHPI students attribute to feeling that they belong to their chosen academic community and that they clearly envision the professional path in front of them. By establishing authentic and reciprocal relationships with Native communities, STEM education environments will be more inclusive and aligned with Indigenous communities, making NAAN-NHPI students feel that they belong there and helping them to be more confident in pursuing a career in their field of interest. Thus, our four-strand model attends to a process of Belonging and Becoming to take this journey. Belonging means students need to feel that they are legitimate members of the academic community, rather than strangers in a strange land (McClellan, 2018). Becoming means they need to have a clear vision of the path in front of them, so they know where they are going and how they will get there (Ward et al., 2019). While the means of creating a supportive culture will be dependent on individual institutional context, we start with a shared vision for integrating Indigenous knowledge, cultural practices, and cultural wealth with Western knowledge systems and frameworks in order to improve STEM success for NAAN-NHPI students. Reciprocity and responsibility are crucial values for many NAAN-NHPI communities, as their worldviews often emphasize the responsibility that individuals have towards others in their lives, their communities, their nations, and nature, as well as the value of both giving and receiving what their more-than-human kin have to offer. Due to the history of colonization in the US, Indigenous communities also feel a responsibility to protect and cultivate their heritage, which is deeply entrenched in the ‘IKE Alliance’s mission. These strands are sustained by establishing and maintaining long-lasting authentic relationships based on respect, humility, honesty, and trust.

The ‘IKE Forum

This special forum of SECEIJ intends to inspire and expand our work to support Indigenous STEM students. 

The forum begins with an introduction of the ‘IKE Alliance and its strategic plan, “The Indigenous Knowledges, Encouragements, Engagements, and Experiences (‘IKE) Alliance for Transforming STEM Education.”

This is followed by conversations between Native students and the Indigenous academics and elders who have guided us in this work.

Dr. Marty Matlock is a Cherokee scholar at the University of Arkansas, a tenured faculty member at the University of Arkansas in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department. He is also an advocate for Native American and Indigenous students. His interview offers insights into how institutions have changed and must continue to change, especially within STEM education and careers, to further encourage and support Indigenous scholars in these fields of study. 

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy is Hupa/Yurok/Karuk, an enrolled Hoopa Valley Tribal member, Associate Professor of Native American Studies at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt, and author of the award-winning book We Are Dancing For You: Native Feminisms & The Revitalization of Women’s Coming-of-Age Ceremonies (2018). In her interview, Dr. Risling Baldy discusses what it means to have Traditional Ecological Knowledge as a foundation for her work and her experience within STEM academia as an Indigenous person in universities that reside on stolen Native lands.

Anaya Barrera is an Apache elder and Road Man. He discusses the connection and disconnection to Indigenous cultures experienced by Kānaka Maoli (the indigenous people of Hawai‘i) as well as Indigenous peoples on the North American continent (also known as Turtle Island). We learn how Indigenous thinking can be respectfully brought into traditional (“Western”) academia, as well how to create and maintain reciprocal and authentic relationships with Indigenous peoples.  

The conversations are followed by four project reports that describe projects and activities designed to support the Indigenous student life cycle and transform STEM research and education.

The project report “Media Arts on a Marine Research Station: Reflections on a Storytelling Course in Support of Native Hawaiian Communities” describes a course aimed at guiding students in creating media content (filmmaking) rooted in Hawaiian epistemologies and praxis, bridging Indigenous knowledge with Western scientific perspectives through art, creativity, and visual communication to promote interdisciplinary dialogue.

“A Student Exploration on Advancing Multicultural Science through Ethical Indigenous Engagement” is a project report written by six students and a faculty member who spent a semester exploring how to move towards a multicultural scientific approach through the ethical, authentic inclusion of Indigenous Science.

The “Awakening Indigenuity at George Mason University” project report, written by three faculty members and a Chickahominy Environmental Director, addresses the urgent need to recognize the wisdom of Indigenous people to stem the tide of climate change, biodiversity loss, and deterioration of ecosystems. It specifically reports on an inspiring example of the collaborative project, “The Indigenous Environmental Mapping & Resilience Planning Project” with the Chickahominy Tribe, where faculty, Indigenous students, community members, and locally residing elders from many Indigenous communities promote mutual respect through knowledge and wisdom transfer unparalleled in previous university activities.

The final project report, written by authors living on the traditional territories of the Hasinal and Wichita, Caddo, Comanche, and Cherokee Nations, “From Land Acknowledgement to Place-Based Responsibilities: Enriching University Curriculum and Learning Communities through Indigenous Epistemologies,” summarizes an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to an integrated land acknowledgment through place-based activity for the whole learning community.

The impacts of the kinds of initiatives the ‘IKE Alliance supports are assessed in two research reports. 

“Listening to Learn: Using a Talking Circle Approach to Understand the Indigenous STEM Student Experience” describes the results and recommendations from a qualitative analysis of a series of online forums with Native STEM students and the staff who support them. The research questions were designed to better understand the experience of Indigenous STEM students. The method was modeled on the Indigenous tradition of Talking Circles.

The educational impacts of weaving cultural, civic, and social justice issues faced by the Native American people of California’s Klamath River into first year STEM student curriculum are described in the article “Integrating Indigenous Science, Culture, and Social Justice Concerns into First-Year STEM Curriculum: Improving Intellectual  Growth, Psychosocial Factors Associated with Retention, and Academic Achievement of Students from Racially Minoritized Groups Historically Underrepresented in STEM.” 

The forum concludes with a science education and public policy article.

“Centering Indigenous Knowledge in Undergraduate Student Research: Strengthening Cultural Resilience in Resilience Hub Planning on O‘ahu” describes the “Action 15 Resilience Hub Project,” launched in 2022 to establish a network of resilience hubs that include cultural resilience in disaster management. The exemplary large-scale and comprehensive public policy project supporting resilience is also a science education project. Aside from being local and Indigenous informants in their own right, the participating undergraduate students are active in both research, analysis, and implementation of the Resilience Hub Project. Their contributions to the article, their learning outcomes, and their reflections demonstrate the educational and change-making power of creating opportunities for students to participate in addressing capacious community issues linked to climate change. 

The ‘IKE Alliance hopes this forum will be useful to others interested in supporting Indigenous STEM students by establishing genuine, reciprocal, and long-lasting relationships with Indigenous communities. We look forward to future dialogues with you, the readers, and hope you will consider joining the ‘IKE Alliance.

Your Forum Editorial Team,

Hōkūlani Aikau   •   Ulla Hasager   •   Amy Shachter   •   Amy Sprowles

References
Aikau, H., Hasager, U., Shachter, A., & Sprowles, A. (2024). “The Indigenous Knowledges, Encouragements, Engagements, and Experiences ('IKE) Alliance for Transforming STEM Education.”  Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal (this issue).

Cajete, G. A. (1999). “The Native American Learner and bicultural science education.” In K. G. Swisher & J. W. Tippeconnic (Eds.), Next steps: Research and practice to advance Indian education (pp. 135-160). ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. 

McClellan, G. S. (2018). Beyond access: Indigenizing programs for Native American student success. Stylus Publishing.

Risling Baldy, C. (2018). We are dancing for you: Native feminisms and the revitalization of women’s coming-of-age ceremonies. University of Washington Press.

Ward, C., Demetropoulos, J., Horan, H., Rainock, M., Tatham, L., & Wixom, J. (2019). “Native college student STEM experiences.” In M. M. Jacob & S. Runninghawk Johnson (Eds.), On Indian Ground: The Northwest (pp. 179). Information Age Publishing.

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The STEM Gender Gap: Outreach Activities from Two Higher Education Institutions in Oklahoma

Susmita Hazra, Cameron University

Ann Nalley, Cameron University

Sheila Youngblood, Tulsa Community College

Abstract 

Studies have shown that one of the best ways to include a greater number of girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is to influence them from an early age, starting at the elementary or middle school level. In the past 15 years, the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering at Cameron University (CU) has been involved in several outreach activities, including the hosting of a one-week summer academy for middle school girls, Women in Leadership and STEM conferences, and several workshops involving middle and high school girls. Tulsa Community College (TCC) recently inaugurated its high school summer academy to encourage more girls to gravitate toward STEM and to provide positive reinforcement. We believe our outreach programs have been very helpful to female students, particularly to students who are in underserved rural and metropolitan schools throughout the state of Oklahoma. 

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Chemistry in the Museum: 
Elucidation of 1920s Medical Kits

Kerri L. Shelton Taylor, Columbus State University

Abstract

This project report describes the process of a team of undergraduate researchers (Chemistry and Nursing majors), who analyzed 20th-century medical kits housed at The Columbus Museum (Columbus, GA, USA). Curators and museum personnel were unfamiliar with the contents and needed assistance in identifying the various chemical contents. Items were identified by the Taylor Lab, which was followed by fully elucidating the chemical information in a chemical report and student-curated exhibit. The intent of this project was to help the museum be aware of how to properly curate and store the medical collections for an extended period. Laboratory analyses were executed to determine the composition of the aged items in the collections. The historical context of these kits and their contents provided knowledge of medicine to the community of Columbus, Georgia, in addition to explaining the use of medically related items in the 20th century. 

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Cultivating Sustainability Praxis on a Campus Farm

Grant A. Fore, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis
Brandon H. Sorge, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis
Francesca A. Williamson, University of Michigan Medical School
Julia L. Angstmann, Butler University

ABSTRACT

This mixed methods study investigates student learning outcomes from undergraduate STEM and non-STEM courses, employing farm-situated place-based experiential learning (PBEL) modules at a private liberal arts university in the Midwest. Given that these courses occurred during both COVID-19 and U.S. police brutality protests, this study critically interrogates the influence of this “dual pandemic” on student meaning-making. The study examines how student scores on environmental science literacy, civic-mindedness, sense of place, and scientific reasoning measures changed throughout the PBEL courses. With the exception of scientific reasoning, change in each measure was statistically significant (p<0.001). A stepwise linear regression determined whether any measures predicted civic-mindedness. Environmental science literacy and university place attachment were found to be predictive of civic-mindedness. Focus group data revealed how PBEL modules affected student learning outcomes and how the dual pandemic affected student civic-mindedness and place attachment.

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A Novel Course-Based Experience to Promote Ecological Field Skills During the COVID-19 Pandemic

R. Drew Sieg, Truman State University
Joanna K. Hubbard, Truman State University
Rachel M. Penczykowski, Washington University in St. Louis
Madison Williard, Truman State University
Zachary A. Dwyer, Truman State University

Abstract

Providing safe access to functional field experiences during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was a distinct challenge. However, these experiences are critical to train students in ecological methods and provide an opportunity for open-ended, authentic research. Here, we report on a multi-week lab designed for an introductory ecology course, which was adapted for hybrid instruction during the pandemic. In the lab sequence, students independently surveyed basic phenological, population, and community dynamics of easily identifiable, cosmopolitan plant species in the genus Plantago. Students used this crowd-sourced dataset to develop, analyze, and report on unique research questions regarding interactions between Plantago and the local environment. The new lab sequence effectively met course learning objectives in experimental design, field methods, statistics, and science communication, while being accessible to both in-person and online learners. We conclude by discussing the evolution of this design for other audiences.

Introduction

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) promote early and expanded student engagement in scientific research that improves science literacy, analytical skills, and inclusivity within STEM majors (e.g., Bangera & Brownell, 2014; Olimpo et al., 2018). Incorporating academic research interests and novel pedagogies benefits both student and faculty development (Shortlidge et al., 2016). However, the transition to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges to the implementation of such lab experiences (Tsang et al., 2021). 

Institutions adopted myriad strategies for course delivery early in the pandemic, including distanced labs, hybrid formats, and asynchronous learning. Purely online simulations or recordings of experiments did not maintain student engagement and led to a superficial understanding of lab methodology or purpose (Sansom, 2020). Several methods to promote active participation in remote labs were later adopted, including computer simulations and ecological field research (Abriata, 2022; Creech & Shriner 2020), although it was important to ensure equal accessibility for all students using hands-on modalities (Jawad et al., 2021; Kelley, 2020). These rapid shifts to new modalities and implementation of new technologies induced anxiety and revealed inequity among students (Tsang et al., 2021). Feelings of isolation were common, making it difficult for students to establish a routine and remain motivated from home (Feldman, 2020). The pandemic also triggered emotional stressors caused by direct illness, grief, financial instability, and loneliness and led to physical and mental health issues including disordered eating and depression (Flaudias et al., 2020; Mushquash & Grassia, 2020). Within a semester of teaching during COVID-19, it became clear that pedagogical modalities should acknowledge and accommodate evolving student needs.

Independent field experiences using cosmopolitan organisms are one option to combat accessibility and equity issues associated with remote learning. Organisms that are easy to find and identify can be used by students to crowd-source data collection, address ecological research questions, and connect to their local community (Penczykowski & Sieg, 2021). Having students or community members assist in the collection of observational data can generate robust datasets while promoting bioliteracy and data management skills in participants (Hitchcock et al., 2021; Jones et al., 2021; Putman et al., 2021). Hands-on exposure also tackles “plant awareness disparity” and “biodiversity naivety” problems (Niemiller et al., 2021; Parsley, 2020; Wandersee & Schussler, 1999), whereby students fail to recognize the identities or functions of floral and faunal community members (Schuttler et al., 2018; Soga & Gaston, 2016). Engaging in field work may also lead to greater student retention or interest in ecological careers.

In approaching our first hybrid academic year (2020-2021), we recognized that traditional labs would be rendered non-functional due to social distancing procedures, safety concerns, and unpredictable attendance. Many labs were reconfigured or condensed to accommodate these challenges, but we wanted to maintain a field experience despite the challenges with hybrid instruction. We elected to build a new experience based on an accessible plant genus (Plantago spp.) that could be observed by both in-person and remote students while promoting skills in experimental design, data management, statistics, and science communication. In this report, we outline the pilot project and preliminary outcomes, discuss its limitations within our changing institutional curriculum, and describe how the fundamentals of this project have led to “second-generation” projects for other audiences on campus.

Methodology

The Institution and Course

Truman State University is a rural public liberal arts university of under 4,000 undergraduate students located in Kirksville, MO. During this study (2020), Truman State had a 72% acceptance rate, the gender identity at Truman was 40:60 identifying male:female, and approximately 80% were white, in-state, and received financial aid. Truman has a long-standing reputation in the Midwest as an affordable, quality public college option. As at many universities across the United States, enrollment has been steadily declining at Truman; undergraduate enrollment is down approximately 35% in the past five years. Biology is a consistently popular major that accounts for 12% of incoming freshmen, but enrollment has declined more than 50% since 2017. Recently, the Biology department implemented a new curriculum for the major. Biology majors who started before fall 2019 were required to take Introduction to Ecology (BIOL 301); after the curriculum change, BIOL 301 was one of four organismal biology course options. With many Truman students pursuing careers in medicine or healthcare, microbiology has proven more popular than ecology or the other two organismal courses (evolutionary biology and eukaryotic diversity). Since the new curriculum has been implemented, student demand for ecology has steadily decreased from six 24-seat sections per year in 2017 to a single section in 2022.

  

Course Structure Amidst the Pandemic

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Truman transitioned to a fully remote modality to conclude the spring 2020 semester. During the 2020–2021 academic year, faculty could select from several delivery options, including fully asynchronous, online, or hybrid instruction. Four hybrid sections of BIOL 301 were offered during fall 2020, with two asynchronous recorded lectures and one synchronous Zoom activity per week. Lab sections were split into three groups (two in-person sections, one virtual) that each met for 50 minutes of the nearly three-hour period to accommodate social distancing. Excluding the new Plantago project, labs were modified from established protocols used in previous semesters.

Course instructors (Drew Sieg and Joanna Hubbard, hereafter RDS and JKH) collaborated extensively to develop materials for this model; they restructured the learning management system, co-developed asynchronous recorded lectures and lecture activities, and held weekly meetings to discuss how the hybrid course was supporting student success and wellness. A full comparison of course changes to accommodate a hybrid delivery are listed in Table 1. Pre- and post-surveys evaluating student skills in science communication, statistics, and graphical interpretation were issued, but IRB approval was not established until after implementation of this project. Thus, evaluative feedback on this study is limited to voluntary course evaluations administered for all Truman courses and reflects the pedagogy of the course as a whole, rather than just the new lab experience. As both instructors taught sections in 2019 and 2020, comparisons between years were made to evaluate changes in student perceptions due to both COVID-19 and the intervention.

Experimental Study System

In pre-COVID semesters, BIOL 301 students would survey water quality and macroinvertebrate diversity from local streams to acquire field experience (modified from Doherty et al., 2011). Sampling sites were located up to 30 minutes from campus, which required university transportation and longer lab periods, neither of which were feasible using a hybrid model. For the new field experience, we expanded on a survey protocol for Plantago lanceolata and P. rugelii used by Rachel Penczykowski (RMP) to train students in the Tyson Undergraduate Fellows program at Washington University in St. Louis. Plantago are short-lived perennials commonly found in human-disturbed habitats, including lawns, parks, paths, and pastures. The geographic distributions of these species span gradients in latitude, elevation, urbanization, and other environmental factors. They are easy to find and identify, are regionally abundant, of low conservation concern, and extremely accessible (Penczykowski & Sieg, 2021). They are suitable for addressing research questions at the population or community level, due to their distinct phenological stages and easily recognizable evidence of interactions with both herbivores and fungal pathogens (Penczykowski & Sieg, 2021).

Project Outline

Three labs interspersed throughout the semester were developed to encompass the Plantago field experience. In addition to the instructional goal of providing an effective hybrid learning experience, student outcomes from the experience included the ability to 

quantify the abundance and status of local plants to combat plant awareness disparity, 

develop novel research questions regarding local variation in Plantago dynamics, and 

analyze data, address challenges with crowd-sourcing data, and practice visual science communication. 

Activities and assessments for each lab session are summarized below and in Table 2.

Lab 1: Introducing the Study System and Tackling Plant Awareness Disparity

The first lab established the utility of Plantago as a model organism for ecological research. Students watched a 13-minute recorded video by RMP discussing how the species can be used to address questions at multiple spatial scales across varying environment types. Connections to climate change and urban development were stressed, along with the use of cosmopolitan Plantago species in global collaborations including PlantPopNet and HerbVar. This video also emphasized the value of community science engagement and collaborative research across universities.

Following the video, students were trained to identify focal species, their flowering status, types of herbivory damage, and evidence of infection by a fungal pathogen (powdery mildew). These skills were practiced as a group for in-person students, followed by an individual homework assignment. Remote students participated in the training, but practiced individually. Example images were provided via PowerPoint, so that students could participate in synchronous group work in person or via Zoom. Groups also brainstormed research questions and hypotheses, generally focusing on variation in herbivory or infection between species or survey locations.

Lab 2: Field Surveys

After completing a series of guided online tutorials and discussing a paper on common issues in data management (Broman & Woo, 2018), each student independently conducted a field survey of P. lanceolata and P. rugelii using a modified line transect protocol. Students identified a local site containing both Plantago species, noted environmental conditions, and then recorded observations regarding flowering phenology, neighbor density, and evidence of community interactions for a single Plantago individual (summarized in Table 3). Students advanced 2 m to another individual Plantago and repeated the process a total of 30 times for each focal species. 

Students could complete surveys at any accessible site in their vicinity on their own schedule within a one-week window. Most surveys were conducted in parks or neighborhoods in Kirksville, but remote students provided data from across Missouri. Students recorded data on a data collection sheet provided by the instructor, entered handwritten data into a spreadsheet, and uploaded the file as a homework assignment. A teaching assistant compiled each unedited dataset into a master “crowd-sourced” spreadsheet for use in lab 3.

Lab 3: Experimental Design, Analysis, and Reporting

For the final lab activity, students accessed the master spreadsheet and worked in teams either in person or via Zoom to analyze their research questions. Tutorials on statistics were provided, and each group framed questions as testable hypotheses with their instructor prior to analysis. Groups worked over two weeks to organize their data set, conduct analyses, and synthesize their findings into a graphical abstract. A major component of this assignment was recognizing the amount of time and effort associated with organizing large datasets.

Graphical abstracts were a novel concept for most students. Therefore, the class initially evaluated examples from scientific journals and discussed their use in comparison to written abstracts. Instructors then provided a tutorial on building graphical abstracts in PowerPoint. Student products were posted to Padlet (padlet.com), which allowed students to asynchronously provide and receive feedback on their research questions, analyses, and abstract designs. In practice, most products took on a form resembling a research poster, probably because students had greater familiarity with that medium and a fear of leaving information out.

 

Results and Discussion

Novel Research Outcomes from the Lab Activity

Via this lab activity, 3360 plants were surveyed by 55 students, primarily in Kirksville. A map displaying Plantago distributions in the city was generated from these data (Figure 1), which has subsequently been used by independent research students to conduct follow-up studies on Plantago community dynamics. Survey locations were clustered around Truman State, as it is primarily a residential campus. The majority of student-generated questions and hypotheses focused on comparisons of herbivory and/or fungal infection across plant species, sunny vs. shaded microhabitats, or location types (e.g., roadsides vs. parks). Primary findings included a significantly higher likelihood of infection on P. rugelii than P. lanceolata, particularly in shaded habitats, while infection frequency was not affected by mowing or herbivory.  Undergraduate research students (Madison Williard and Zachary Dwyer) working with RDS independently evaluated the dataset and confirmed these patterns, presenting their research at Truman State’s Student Research Conference (Dwyer et al., 2021).  

Due to restrictions on social gatherings, students in the course did not disseminate their findings in the broader Kirksville community. However, this pilot study demonstrated that data collection within the Plantago system is tractable for novices. Elements of this project have been incorporated into submitted research proposals that incorporate community science, public outreach, and civic engagement as broader impact objectives (RDS & RMP, personal communication).

Student Responses to the Course

Beyond the Plantago project, other activities were implemented to promote an active classroom amidst a hybrid redesign. These included weekly interactive case studies using Zoom and Google Docs, a semester-long “EcoPhoto” project on Flickr to document local ecological interactions, discussion board prompts that pushed students to reflect on their wellness or creatively discuss course concepts (such as a knockoff of “Dear Abby” called “Dear Ecology”), a month-long lab that used EPA datasets to estimate water quality in wadable streams (modified from Nuding & Hampton, 2012), and team-based problem sets instead of virtually proctored traditional exams. We communicated with students through consistently formatted weekly announcements on our course management software and email, aiming to keep students on track without bombarding them with disparate notices. Collectively, these activities made our redesign distinct from previous versions of BIOL 301, but also from other hybrid courses at Truman.

Evaluative Likert-scale data and representative free responses reported in Table 4 pertain to the fall 2020 hybrid course redesign, including the Plantago CURE. While some outcomes are likely driven by the Plantago experience, we acknowledge that other elements of our redesign influenced student perceptions of the course. Total responses to the course survey (n=48) represent approximately 85% of the class. Since submissions were anonymous, we cannot directly compare different demographic responses to the redesign, but we can assume that the makeup of students roughly matches that of Truman State as described in the methodology section.

 

Students valued the applicability of the course, with more than 97% of respondents agreeing that the course related concepts to real-world issues or everyday life (Table 4). Informally, students noted that they found themselves spotting Plantago between classes, and felt a sense of pride that they could better identify the plants around them. Extended engagement and sense of familiarity with focal plants is a key component to combat plant awareness disparity (Krosnick et al., 2018; Niemiller et al., 2021); thus this new lab experience appears to have promoted greater bioliteracy and plant awareness.

The general organization, approach, and transparency regarding expectations in BIOL 301 was viewed by students as exemplary in comparison to other courses that transitioned to hybrid instruction (Table 4). Whether the new approach led to long-term positive feelings about ecology is less clear, as 29% of respondents indicated that they would not want to take additional ecology courses (Table 4). This may be a product of the hybrid design: students viewed asynchronous assignments (quizzes, readings, discussion boards) as busy work. Hybrid courses require a distinct mindset from both the instructor and the student in order to be effective (Shea et al., 2015), and most of our students took hybrid courses out of necessity rather than desire. Animosity towards materials used to maintain asynchronous engagement makes sense considering the rapid transition to online modalities. However, lessons learned from similar experiences are leading to new evaluations of best practices in hybrid or online instruction in a post-COVID era (e.g., Singh et al., 2021).

Using course evaluations, we also statistically compared student responses to these questions in fall 2019 (the pre-pandemic version of the Plantago project) and fall 2020 (during the pandemic, with the hybrid changes described in this study; Table 5). However, there are extrinsic factors that should be accounted for, such as general stress and COVID fatigue, which make direct comparisons between these two student populations tenuous. 

For three of four questions, no significant difference between semesters was seen (Table 5), suggesting that students perceived equal course rigor and relevance with the traditional in-person delivery and hybrid instruction. It is encouraging that objectives related to real-world application of ecology were maintained in the hybrid delivery, despite the new format and disruptions to instruction during the pandemic. We also take this to mean that the course structure and activities were seen as equivalent to a non-disrupted semester by upper division students who had taken college courses both before and during the pandemic.

In contrast, there was a significant increase in student willingness to take other courses in ecology (Table 5, p=0.020). The new lab module, coupled with accommodations made for hybrid instruction, may have made ecology a more tangible sub-discipline for students relative to the traditional mechanism of instruction. As a result, several of the activities used to improve the use of learning management software, communicate with students, and check in on student wellness have been continued by RDS and JKH in other courses, and have been formally presented to other university faculty.

Current and Future Status of the Project

Despite the effort to restructure BIOL 301 as a hybrid course, reduced student enrollment, curricular changes, and interest in the topic remains low, such that the department now offers only a single, in-person section per year. That section is not scheduled to be taught by RDS or JKH in the near future, and thus many changes are not trackable beyond the pilot implementation. The Plantago field experiment continues to be offered by the current BIOL 301 instructor, but a lower number of participants reduces the crowd-sourcing project elements. Since our pilot delivery, the project has been conducted two more times, with minimal changes to the established protocol. The instructor has considered widening the project to tackle other core skills in ecology related to estimating other population dynamics.

We had previously used social media (e.g., Flickr) in observational ecology projects to connect our students with peers enrolled in similar courses across the country (RDS and JKH, personal communication) and intended to build out a similar network with this project that would allow students to compare Plantago demographics across wider urban-rural, latitudinal, climatic, or temporal gradients. While we encourage interested parties to reach out if the modules would fit their course needs, the restructuring of BIOL 301 has limited our ability to further develop broader community engagement aspects of this project. 

We recognized the benefit of using open-ended projects to promote observational and data management skills in students majoring in biology at Truman, and we have since modified the Plantago project for an introductory biology course (BIOL 104) that RDS and JKH regularly teach. Introductory courses are a wise target for open-ended inquiry, as it introduces bioliteracy, statistics, and communication skills needed to succeed academically and in STEM-related careers. Early exposure to authentic research eliminates “cookie-cutter” experiences that do not accurately reflect the challenges associated with research (Wood, 2009), providing students with a better representation of the scientific process. 

In the new introductory biology module, students mine iNaturalist (inaturalist.org) to quantify global images of infection or herbivory on Plantago and address questions that are thematically similar to those emphasized in BIOL 301. The pilot implementation of this version of the project occurred in spring 2022, resulting in 13,700 images processed by 105 students (RDS, personal communication). This new initiative has the potential to be expanded both at Truman and in the wider community and has been a core component of new grant proposals written by RDS and RMP. We intend to build this database annually and embrace iNaturalist as a tool for community science, while tracking student perceptions of effective science communication and assessing challenges associated with community-sourced data (e.g., Dickinson et al., 2010). Ultimately, this introductory version of the Plantago project is likely to be a more impactful initiative than the original pilot project outlined in this manuscript.

Conclusions

The transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for students and faculty alike, and we are now assessing which instructional approaches are most effective. The adjustments we made to maintain an accessible and rigorous field experience were largely successful within a hybrid undergraduate course. The pilot implementation of this project has evolved into a more robust project that targets new biology majors.

About the Authors

Drew Sieg is an assistant professor of biology at Truman State University. He is a SENCER Leadership Fellow whose traditional research examines chemically mediated ecological interactions among plants, fungi, algae, and herbivores. He is also involved in educational research, particularly examining how authentic research experiences and other novel pedagogies affect student engagement in STEM.

Joanna Hubbard is an assistant professor of biology at Truman State University. Her research interests include questions related to animal behavior, animal coloration, and evolutionary ecology in birds. She has conducted education research examining how different question formats provide insight into student misconceptions and understanding.

Rachel M. Penczykowski is an assistant professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on effects of climate change and urbanization on plant-pathogen interactions and food webs. She mentors graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in this work, including through summer field research programs at Washington University’s Tyson Research Center.

Madison Williard is currently a first-year student at Southern College of Optometry located in Memphis, TN. She graduated from Truman State University in 2021 with a BS in biology.

Zachary Dwyer is currently a first-year medical student at A.T. Still University, located in Kirksville, MO. He graduated from Truman State University in 2022 with a BS in biology and a minor in psychology.

 

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