Progress 09/15/03 to 09/14/04
Outputs
The Environmental Science Program at White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC) is specifically designed to train students for careers in natural resource management, but it can also serve as a gateway into other scientific or technical fields. The curriculum is based heavily on the work of Jon Young and takes the naturalist approach to learning science. The earliest curriculum development focused on Indigenous plant knowledge because of the expertise of the instructor. A major focus of this Equity grant has been to expand the instructor's knowledge of wildlife science and the skill of tracking, then to infuse this knowledge and skill into the Environmental Science curriculum. The model that has been created is the Tracking Curriculum, which consists of modules focused on learning about wildlife through their tracks and sign and on using tracking data to read and monitor the landscape as a whole. Curriculum development has been a multi-year process of designing these modules in collaboration with professional trackers and wildlife researchers/educators, then testing the modules in the curriculum and improving them based on assessment results. Grant funds have also been used for field guides, track casts, skulls, and other instructional materials useful to teaching wildlife science. The other major focus of activity has been to provide nutrition education opportunities at the college by designing a Wild Food Curriculum. The concept is to build on the highly successful Wild Food Summit sponsored each year by the WETCC Extension Service. The goal of the curriculum is to teach nutrition science within the context of traditional Anishinaabeg foodways. The current goal is to complete the development of an Anishinaabeg Nutrition course that will achieve these nutrition education goals, promote and sustain Anishinaabeg culture (part of the mission of the college), and meet the general education needs of students. PRODUCTS: Three environmental science courses were taught with a total enrollment of 36 students including: Environmental Science (ES) and a new course, Ornithology. The Environmental Science course has been taught previously with the new curriculum modules. Assessment results indicated positive student feedback from these modules and modest success in achieving the student learning outcomes. The biggest weakness was that the scope of the modules was too broad. Students were introduced to too many tracks and gait patterns. They did not develop enough competency with this range of material. This was addressed by decreasing the number of species and gait patterns covered in this course. The Ornithology course was developed in order to teach an important tracking skill referred to as "bird language" by Jon Young. One course goal was to collect data about the landscape through interpreting the behavior and vocalizations of birds. This requires that students first develop their awareness skills and knowledge of local birds. They are expected to be able to: 1) identify key bird species of the region by their physical and behavioral characteristics (including sounds), 2) use ecological markers to predict what birds should be found in specific locations or visa versa, and 3) interpret the behavior of birds and use these to make and test hypotheses about the environment. Topics of the Ornithology curriculum include: the mechanics of flight; avian physiology; mating, territoriality, feeding, and other behaviors; avian ecology; and the types and purpose of vocalizations. Students will then use this knowledge in the field to "read" and interpret the behavior of birds and create testable hypothesis about the landscape. The greater ones knowledge of each bird species, the deeper and more detailed these questions become. At the level of this course the main objective is to help students internalize the process and learn how to build on their knowledge and skill over time. There was also a new integrated course entitled Science, Art, and Sacred Places added to the curriculum and taught by adjunct instructors that was supported by Equity funds. This course focused on the art and biology of several ancient petroglyph sites in the region. Learning goals for the science portion of the course were parallel to those for the ES course minus the tracking curriculum components. Eight students completed the course. Steven Dahlberg has attended one tracking intensive in the fall of 2008. The Anishinaabeg Nutrition course curriculum was completed in November 2008. Extension staff members worked with a nutrition education consultant to finalize the syllabus, learning outcomes, laboratory activities, and other aspects of content. However, the initial offering of the course had to be postponed due to health issues. Five Traditional Practitioner presented during the grant period. Finally, harvesting, processing, and cooking equipment were purchased for the Wild Food Curriculum. OUTCOMES: Assessment results from the ES course indicated that student achievement is about the same as last year with the exception of one student who brought extensive experience to the course. It appears that tracking is a difficult skill to learn for students without previous experience and/or extensive motivation to learn the material. This course serves as both an introduction to the ES major and as a general education science requirement. Thus, student experience and motivation levels vary dramatically. Fortunately, with students who identify as Environmental Science majors, we have observed much higher levels of achievement and significant improvement. We will continue to monitor this pattern to determine its robustness over time. Assessment data from the Ornithology course, again, indicate that success is most strongly correlated with the student's prior knowledge and experience. All students demonstrated the ability to gather data on important avian characteristics and behaviors in the field and use those to identify species. The same student identified above was the only one able to exceed the baseline standards to successfully question and interpret bird behaviors. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: An overview of all of the USDA supported activities at WETCC was presented at the March 2008 First Americans Land Grant Consortium (FALCON) conference in Las Vegas. FUTURE INITIATIVES: We will continue to refine the Tracking Curriculum to make it more effective at achieving the goal of training naturalists capable of going on to further education and/or employment in the natural resource management field. The main goals are to find more effective ways of building tracking skill and to find other ways for students to read and analyze ecological communities. Curriculum modules based on the methodology for reading the forested landscape presented in the book of that title by Dr. Tom Wessels have been created for the Introduction to Ecology course. It will be tested and assessed in a future offering of that course. Finally, a new module on managing small woodlots will be designed for and incorporated into the Natural Resource Management course. Two foci for future improvement of the ES curriculum were identified: aquatic sciences and mycology. Collaborators for faculty development and the design/implementation of curricular components in aquatic sciences have been identified at St. Olaf College and Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Plans for collaborative activities are being developed. Mycological components and professional development will come from continued collaboration with an independent mushroom grower and consultant, and through courses offered by two companies, Fungi Perfecti and Soil Food Web, located in the Pacific Northwest. The Anishinaabeg Nutrition course is currently on hold. The proposed instructor is on indefinite medical leave. Attempts will be made to find a suitable replacement. Finally, we will continue to improve the collection of resources and course materials available for both programs and continue to expand the cohort of Traditional Practitioners available to present culturally relevant knowledge in these classes.
Impacts
The Tracking Curriculum approach continues to attract students and serve as a model for integrating science as practiced in both the Western and Anishinaabeg traditions. There are certainly other factors at play, but enrollment in ES courses has increased dramatically in recent semesters. This report only captured the beginning of this trend. The skills, approaches, and concepts presented in the curriculum are equally interesting, useful, and challenging to students regardless of their heritage or career goals. Students' lack of prior experience with this set of knowledge and competencies continues to be a challenge. However, our efforts to address this through tracker training activities for both youth and law enforcement officers continue to produce positive outcomes, particularly increased visibility for and interest in our ES programming.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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