Concluding remarks
In the future there are a few things we would change to improve this lab. First, the guidelines for the discussion posts could be more detailed and constructive. The free-form responses were delightfully emotional and light-hearted, but the assignment could be improved by adding clearer expectations. Second, the conclusion of the lab could be reworked to allow more sharing of individual results. Possibly students could be asked to create a short PowerPoint or video explaining their answer to the research question and how they arrived at that conclusion. Third, the habitats the students sampled were not categorized. In the next version there will be a lab section about identifying the type of habitat and researching what plant species are common to those areas.
Our advice to other instructors is two-fold. One, be prepared for students in remote classes to be unsure of their work and need extra assurance that they are on the right track. Without being able to look over someone’s shoulder in the classroom it’s easy for students to feel lost and unguided. We’ve tried to mitigate this with frequent emails and class zoom meetings, but there still seems to be a high level of anxiety amongst the students that they will accidently do something wrong. The second piece of advice is to have an alternate assignment ready for anyone that is unable to leave home. Some of our students live in urban environments with little green space accessible to them under shelter-in-place requirements. For this lab the alternative assignments were to research different types of biodiversity sampling techniques and write a “how to” guide for five of them, or to write a literature review of two current peer-reviewed research articles based on biodiversity.
In summary, the theme of change as constant is ever present in our work as instructors. We see differences between class sections, between terms, and between years. We watch our students change over the course of the class, growing more confident and developing skills. We see ourselves change and grow as well, in our work and in our expectations for ourselves. When change is as startling and stark as is it has been lately it can be easy to feel alone, but we ecologists know a secret. We know that nothing in nature exists in isolation, especially not us, and especially not now. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ways that humans rely on each other. As we watch the world around us adjust to standing six feet apart, we know that human connection is immeasurable. We can still facilitate relationships through our instruction and foster community though digital interactions. And even though ecology class is different this term, it’s still a faculty favorite.