Non Technical Summary
The goal of this project is to develop a new approach to teaching forest health across the curriculum to natural resources majors and non-majors at a land-grant university that can serve as a model for similar programs at other universities. The supporting objectives of this project are to 1) develop a new course focused on forest health and ecosystem resiliency, 2) develop a new course for Environmental Conservation and Society majors which includes forest health content, 3) modify four existing courses to include new forest health lecture material and laboratory experiences, and 4) create a curriculum development community focused on forest health. To accomplish these goals faculty members will participate in three summer workshops to gain forest health expertise, develop forest health teaching materials, and evaluate the experience of participating in a curriculum development community. New and revised courses will be taught and student learning will be assessed with pre- and post-surveys. Evaluation results will be used to revise curriculum and continue to improve forest health education at Virginia Tech. The new forest health curriculum will prepare students to enter the workforce with the skills and training needed to successfully manage our nation's forests.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	0699	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
0699 - Trees, forests, and forest products, general;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to develop a new approach to teaching forest health across the curriculum to natural resources majors and non-majors at a land-grant university that can serve as a model for similar programs at other universities. The objectives of this project are to:1) develop a new course focused on forest health and ecosystem resiliency; 2) develop a new course for Environmental Conservation and Society majors that includes forest health content; 3) modify four existing courses to include new forest health lecture material and laboratory experiences; and 4) create a curriculum development community focused on forest health.

Project Methods
The proposed project plans to enhance the curriculum of four natural resource majors using two methods: 1) establishing a teaching community focused on forest health and 2) developing new and revising current courses to incorporate forest health content into lecture and lab components. Faculty members will participate in a two-week workshop during each summer of the project where they will learn forest health concepts that are pertinent to their respective classes and develop course curriculum, including technological learning tools, labs, and lecture material. The faculty members will work individually and as a team to ensure the new curriculum meets the needs of the students and the department. Faculty members will also participate in daily journal activities in order to evaluate the success of the teaching community. At the completion of the two-week workshop each year, the new and revised courses will be taught and students will be evaluated on their knowledge of forest health concepts. The results from the evaluation of student learning will be reviewed during the summer workshop in Year 2, and all necessary curriculum revisions will be developed and implemented.