A SEMESTER IN THE PARKS AT SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY

Southern Utah University partnered with Bryce Canyon National Park and Ruby’s Inn Resort to celebrate the National Park Service’s Centennial during the fall 2016 semester. The partnership resulted in the SUU Semester in the Parks initiative. A cohort of undergraduate students from a variety of majors live and work at Ruby’s Inn Resort throughout the fall semester while they are enrolled in six courses that include 16 credits. Faculty members teaching the six courses commute 1.5 hours to Bryce Canyon each week to teach the courses in the field and in the High Plateaus Institute, which is the original visitor center that has been converted to an educational classroom approximately 100 meters from the rim of Bryce Canyon. Additionally, students take educational field trips to several other southwestern national parks and monuments.

The geologically and biologically diverse setting of Bryce Canyon presents a unique experiential learning opportunity for students to immerse themselves in their two science courses, Geology of National Parks and Environmental Biology. Likewise, the important roles of persuasive rhetoric, nature writing, and other marketing efforts that contributed to the institution of the National Park Service 100 years ago are still necessary communication skills in today’s political climate. The Introduction to Communication course and the Americans in the Outdoors course address the importance of communication in the complicated arena of land management. Two additional courses, Interdisciplinary Engagement and Library Management, serve to support students’ cross-disciplinary learning.

The hypothesis is that teaching these courses in the national park environment will enhance student learning and faculty development. To assess the efficacy of the Semester in the Parks initiative, two strategies are employed. The first assesses student progress toward mastery of SUU’s Outdoor Engagement Center learning objectives. A pre- and post-experience assessment tool is used. The second assesses faculty development of specific teaching strategies. A post-experience survey asks participating faculty what high-impact teaching strategies they used during the Semester in the Parks initiative, and which of those strategies they will then implement in their typical classroom teaching.