Dr. Shannon Hagerman (PI); Curtis Chance, Andrew Plowright (GTAs); Ricardo Pelai, Thomas Ikeda, Margot

Kimmel, Alice Miao and Michelle Tran (Student Advisory Committee)

Blending the Foundations: Pilot Testing a Blended Environment

for Foundations of Conservation (CONS 200)

This project was designed to enhance the learning experiences

of the ~250 students who take CONS 200 (Foundations of

Conservation) each year. Feedback from former CONS 200

students suggested emerging preferences for a case-based

and blended environment.

The project had three objectives:

1. Develop materials for a minimum of 2 new case-based

modules (two weeks each) designed for a blended learning

environment.

2. Pilot test new active, experiential and blended learning

approaches and novel forms of assessment through the

new cases.

3. Develop and implement a set of indicators to evaluate the

impact of the project on student preferences and views

about teaching and leaning

INTRODUCTION

APPROACH

CASE-BASED BLENDED MODULES IMPLEMENTATION AND

EVALUATION

REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this project

provided by UBC Vancouver students via the Teaching and

Learning Enhancement Fund, Adriana Briseno-Garzon from

CTLT for her help with survey development, VP Students

Office for their collaboration on the surveys, and Sophie Lewis

and Alice Henry for help moderating the debates.

Two case-based learning modules comprising two weeks each

were pilot-tested during the Fall 2015 term. Each module

involved a combination of in-class (e.g. debates) and out of class

(e.g. self-guided field-trip) activities.

We adopted a collaborative, team-based approach with a high

level of student involvement, and leadership to achieve our

objectives. In addition to the PI, our team included two

graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), 1 undergraduate

teaching assistant (UTA) and a 5-member undergraduate

student advisory committee (CONS SAC).

Project Team (from left to right, clock-

wise): Thomas, Ricardo, Michelle, Alice,

Margot (Student Advisory Committee);

Andrew and Curtis (TAs), PI Dr.

Shannon Hagerman (not shown).

Presentation of an international case

study by the CONS SAC.

Pilot-testing

Evaluation

Post-survey (N = 139)Pre-survey (N = 168)

16% of students viewed

reflective writing as “extremely”

or “very effective.”

Learning activities

For each case, we developed

active, experiential and flexible

learning activities including:

debates, self-guided field trips,

a public survey, and reflective

blogs.

0% 1%8% 9% 9%

18%

3% 7%15%

7%

24% 22% 19%

25%

25%13%

25%35%

33% 35%28%

25%

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29%

35% 34%

23% 26%

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27%

36%

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10% 9%17%

4%13% 15%

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Activity-basedlearning (out

of class)

Lecture Small group orpair

discussions (inclass)

Classdiscussions

(whole group)

In-classdebates

Online forumsand

discussions

Onlineassignments

(e.g. mini-quizzes,readingchecks)

Reflectivewriting

opportunities(e.g. blog-

posts)

Not applicable Not at all effective Not very effective Somewhat effective

Effective Very effective Extremely effective

28% 32%

36%40%

24%19%

11% 9%

0%

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Rouge Urban National Park Case South Okanagan-SimilkameenProposed National Park Case

Extremely effective Very effective Effective

Somewhat effective Not very effective Not at all effective

Cases

Our team developed five new case-based modules. Each case

describes the social and ecological dimensions of a specific

conservation dilemma. The cases were selected to represent

domestic and international contexts, as well as urban and

”traditional” conservation areas. Cases include detailed

summaries as well as links to multi-media materials including

video clips, news articles and policy documents.

Example Learning Activity: As

part of the South Okanagan

National Park Case, students

administered a public survey to

elicit public values about

protected areas (Figure 3). This

activity included 5 questions.

Results were discussed in

class.

Example Learning Activity:

As part of the Rouge Urban

Park Case, students

participated in a self-guided

field trip (Figure 2), followed

by a reflective blog post

that received peer-

comments, and TA

feedback.

We conducted a pre- and post-course survey to evaluate the

impact of the project. We were interested in student views about

preferences for, and perceived effectiveness of different methods

of teaching and learning. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the

project from the perspective of the CONS SAC through a

separate pre- and post project questionnaire (data not shown).

Please indicate your PREFERENCE for

each of the following teaching approaches

How EFFECTIVE do you think the following

approaches are for supporting your personal

learning?

Overall, how EFFECTIVE were the two case-based learning modules for

helping you learn new concepts about conservation?

SUSTAINABLE BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS

• Repository of five case studies, learning activities and new

forms of assessment that can be used with future CONS 200

students

• The creation of a network of engaged undergraduate

students who are keen to contribute to future CONS 200

cohorts (e.g. volunteering as debate facilitators)

• Graduate and undergraduate TAs had multiple opportunities

to reflect on their own teaching and learning throughout the

project. TAs indicated that these experiences would inform

their future work in other settings.

Based on the project evaluation reported above, we

recommend the continuation, and possible expansion of

blended case-based learning for CONS 200. We highlight two

key contributing factors for success:

1. Student involvement at all stages of the project. Students

took on leadership roles and reported a strong sense of

ownership that contributed to high quality outputs.

2. Resources for implementation. Blended case-based

learning activities require substantial TA feedback and

interaction. Additional TA support for case-based learning

was essential to this project, and will be to support future

efforts.

To what extent (if at all) did your

PREFERENCES for different teaching and

learning methods in this course change over

the term?

How EFFECTIVE were the following

experiences and activities for helping you

learn new concepts about conservation?

Extremely important

Somewhat important

Neutral

Not very important

Not at all important

Figure 3. Public responses (N= 799)

to the student administered survey

question: How important are national

parks, wildlife reserves, and other

forms of protected areas to you?

1%

13% 10%

24%

7%

14%

11%

20% 25%

25%

26%

32%

42%

30%

37%

24%

35%

27%32%

22%

14%7%

20%

11%14% 13% 11% 10% 8% 5%

0%

10%

20%

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100%

Lecture Small group orpair discussions

(in class)

Classdiscussions andin-class debates

(whole group)

Online forumsand discussions

Onlineassignments

(e.g. mini-quizzes, reading

checks)

Reflective writingopportunities

(e.g. blog-posts)

Not applicable Not at all effective Not very effective Somewhat effective

Effective Very effective Extremely effective

7%3%

14%9% 13%

14%

9%

17%

38%

25%

42% 52% 49% 35%

32%

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Lecture Activity-basedlearning (out

of class)

Small groupor pair

discussions(in class)

Onlineassignments

(e.g. mini-quizzes)

Classdiscussions

(whole group)

In Classdebates

Reflectivewriting

opportunities(e.g. blog-

posts)

Online forumsand

discussionthreads

Not applicable Prefer it a lot less Prefer it somewhat less

The same Prefer it somewhat more Prefer it a lot more

88-91% of students viewed

the two case-based

learning modules as

“extremely,” “very” or

“effective” for helping them

learn new concepts about

conservation.

73% of students preferred

out-of-class activity-based

teaching approaches “a lot”

or “somewhat more.”

Figure 1. Project phases and timelines

Collaboration occurred at all phases of the project (Figure 1).

Examples of student leadership and collaborative activities

included:

•Student-led development of cases and learning activities

•Frequent peer-peer collaboration, review and feedback of new

materials and proposed new forms of teaching

Figure 2. Sample student selfies from

self-guided field trip activity.

EFFECTIVENESS OF CASES

45% of students “strongly” or

“moderately preferred” out-of-

class activity-based teaching

approach.

51% of students viewed

reflective writing as

“extremely” or “very effective.”

1% 2% 4% 3% 6%

16% 15%

2%

10%13% 16%

16%

20% 27%

8%

17%

25% 21%

27%

29%29%

26%

26%

22% 25%

23%

18%16%

26%

19%

16% 19%

17%

10% 8%

38%

26%20% 17%

10%5% 5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Lecture Activity-basedlearning (out of

class)

Small group orpair

discussions (inclass)

Onlineassignments

(e.g. mini-quizzes,readingchecks)

Classdiscussionsand in-class

debates (wholegroup)

Reflectivewriting

opportunities(e.g. blog-

posts)

Online forumsand

discussions

Not applicable Not at all preferred Not preferred Somewhat preferred

Preferred Moderately preferred Strongly preferred