Teaching ecology at university—Inspiration for change

• Main Author: Lina Mtwana Nordlund
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2016-07-01
• Series: Global Ecology and Conservation
• Subjects: Active learning; Ideas for change; Education; Student-centred teaching; Learning activities; Higher education
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989416300452

How do you, as a university lecturer, change from teacher-centered teaching to a more student-centered, active teaching? This paper aims to inspire you to make a change, big or small, to increase your students’ engagement and learning, by presenting suggestions on what you can do. The ideas and suggestions synthesized here are based on several different teaching philosophies and methods, which are well tested and shown to be effective in the right setting. The selection of suggestions is believed to be specifically suitable for ecology. The paper includes suggestions on how to plan a course or a lecture by setting a good learning environment. Both pre-lecture activities and during lecture activities are included, with a focus on activities to engage students and encourage increased discussion and reflections, as well as what to think about when choosing learning activities and how and why it is important to teach students to think and act like professionals in ecology. While changing teaching methods takes investment of time, time that is limited for many researchers, even small changes in your teaching can make big differences in learning, and the investment will hopefully pay back by making teaching more fun and rewarding. The suggestions presented are understandable without being be conversant in the ‘education literature’, but will provide you with a vocabulary of teaching activities that will be useful if you are inspired to find more information and learn more about teaching.