Abstract This mixed‐methods research focused on the implementation of a coordinated distributed experiment (CDE) investigating local adaptation in common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), a host plant for the monarch butterfly population. Faculty participants were recruited from the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) who recruited their former undergraduate students. Quantitative data were drawn from the Milkweed Local Adaptation (MLA) CDE database across the three project years. Qualitative data included faculty survey responses, semi‐structured interviews of faculty and former undergraduates, and review of undergraduate research posters, papers, and curricula using rubrics aligned with 4DEE and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) benchmarks. Analysis of the MLA CDE database illustrates a decline in both participating institutions and in counts of milkweed stems over the project (2018–2020). Qualitative data analysis revealed that CDEs: (1) offer opportunities for higher education faculty and their students to be part of research including developing skills of data collection, analysis, and interpretation; (2) have unexpected challenges; and (3) can inspire undergraduate students to develop independent research projects or curricular modules for use in formal 6–12 classrooms. Broader ecological educational implications of our outcomes for higher education faculty and their undergraduate students include: (1) recommendation that faculty members involved ought to be proactively informed about potential challenges and provided with guidance on how to mitigate them; (2) mitigating challenges with model studies to try to estimate the sample size and redundancy likely to produce robust data; and (3) proactive use of the educational network to understand institutional use of the CDE project with undergraduates.
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Bringing Global Ecological Research to Undergraduate Students Through Citizen Science
Research integrated into higher education curricula has been shown by numerous studies to be beneficial to undergraduate students. Citizen science provides an alternative to research performed in a lab and is gaining traction as a good choice for integration into classes. The Undergraduate Student Experiences in Citizen Science (USE Cit Sci) research collaboration network is working to help more instructors in higher education adopt citizen science as part of their curriculum by providing training and educational materials. To date, the Network has identified areas of critical need for citizen science to be more readily used in higher education courses and created a clearinghouse of lessons for faculty to use freely. Forthcoming products of the USE Cit Sci network include direct partnerships between educators and citizen science projects in addition to a peer mentoring program. Given the preponderance of ecology citizen science projects available, bringing this educational opportunity to students opens new avenues of pedagogical experiences.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2120459
- PAR ID:
- 10536530
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Publishers on behalf of the Ecological Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
- Volume:
- 105
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0012-9623
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e02169
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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