Reisman, Emily

Emily Reisman is a PhD student in the Department of Environmental Studies at University of California Santa Cruz where she focuses on food systems and sustainable agriculture. She hopes to bring the tools of inquiry-based learning and inclusive design to help students engage with complex environmental problems.   ereisman@ucsc.edu

Teaching Activity Summary

Name of Teaching Activity: Political Ecology of Yosemite National Park

Teaching Venue & Date: Summer 2016 field ecology course, Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program

Learners: 20 undergraduate students.

Reflection on how learners engaged with a STEM practice during the inquiry:

This activity aimed to encourage students to argue from evidence. In addition to using evidence, learners were expected to situate their evidence in its context and use their knowledge of the source to interpret its significance. The learners showed a high level of proficiency in using evidence but variable levels of critical engagement with the source materials (such as ability to distinguish opinion pieces from academic articles). Overall time served as a major constraint for learners in fully articulating their evidence based conclusions. In the future I would prompt learners more specifically to make notes or comments on the sources of their findings.