INTERNATIONAL UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH TWO LINKED UPPER-LEVEL CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COURSES

Tropical Island Ecology & Geology, an upper-level cross-disciplinary 2-semester course, targets biology, environmental science and geology majors. The new extended format of the course improved student learning over past formats and provided much-needed research experience. Learning outcomes related to science concepts, critical thinking, communication, and the research process, were supported through diverse activities and assessment measures. The spring semester was spent teaching disciplinary and cross-disciplinary concepts to a diverse student cohort via lecture, laboratory and field experiences in a team-taught 3-credit course. In a 3-credit summer session, the class spent two weeks at Gerace Research Centre on San Salvador Island, a “family island” in easternmost Bahamas. First-week group activities familiarized students with biological, environmental and geological aspects of carbonate platforms in general and on San Salvador in particular. During the second week, small student groups developed a research proposal, gathered field data, and presented preliminary findings while on the island. Back on campus, each group wrote a scientific paper and presented a research poster to the campus community.

Assessments in these courses included traditional exams and lab reports, and a learning strategy where individual quizzes were followed immediately by group attempts, which resulted in effective cross-disciplinary peer instruction. Students kept both field notebooks and reflective journals, which were critiqued by instructors early in the process; this improved the quality of entries. A major theme of the reflections was that most students felt the group-based research project was a highlight of their University experience.

UTC’s International Student Services department funded faculty travel. Faculty salaries were paid at the adjunct level through the biology department. A $500 stipend for a TA was funded through student fees. Instructors received an internal grant for equipment from ThinkAchieve, UTC’s Quality Enhancement Plan, awarded to classes that develop critical thinking and/or involve experiential learning. Airfare and research-station costs (including room, board and transportation) pushed student expenses to about $2000 (not including tuition).