Forest Ecology
I was the teaching assistant for this Masters level course for the Spring semester in 2016. The objective of this course was the facilitate qualitative and quantitative understanding of forest ecosystem structure and function. 11 students took this class, including masters of environmental management students and and an undergraduate biology major. The course included an on-campus field trip to learn forest ecosystem measurement techniques, and 3 extensive assignments analyzing data collected by previous sections of the course to describe different ecological processes through an analytical framework. I led 5 class sections in which students learned how to transform raw data into useful ecological metrics. Data work in this class was performed in excel, and the students had a range of comfort using the software, as well as a wide range of data skills and scientific experience. I had the opportunity to work with many of them one-on-one outside of class, especially those without a scientific background, and by the end of the semester each student had a good command of excel and techniques such as unit conversion.
In addition to leading the class sections, I conducted extensive revisions to the assignments used in previous sections of the course to increase their clarity and alignment with course goals, and creating more scaffolding to assist with student learning.
A description of the course (which is now offered as Forest Ecosystems) is available here.
In addition to leading the class sections, I conducted extensive revisions to the assignments used in previous sections of the course to increase their clarity and alignment with course goals, and creating more scaffolding to assist with student learning.
A description of the course (which is now offered as Forest Ecosystems) is available here.
