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154 Natural Resources and Environmental Issues Volume VII habitat and population management plan for their assigned species - they are under no obligation to consider any other species including humans. The students have about five days to complete the assignment. They do not have access to computers or a library. Because we must pack light, students are essentially limited to a calculator, human resources, data they collect in the field, and their course packet. The lack of technical support and severe time restriction causes considerable stress in some students. All written reports must by necessity be hand written and visual aids for oral presentations are limited to colored magic markers and large sheets of paper. Despite repeated assurance by the instructors that while we expect high quality work, we do not expect the same level of performance that would be required back on campus for semester-long projects, few students believe this. We must be prepared to spend considerable time with each group helping them deal with the lack of technology and time. Following a short visit to Tsavo West National Park, the second major assignment is given upon arrival at Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru National Park is a relatively small park that is completely fenced, presenting a variety of unique management problems. Lake Nakuru National Park is completely bordered by farms and the town of Nakuru. For this assignment (25% of the total grade) each group must prepare and present a research proposal that focuses on a problem facing the entire Lake Nakuru ecosystem. Each proposal must include a statement of research objectives, methods of analysis, management implications, and a budget. Instructors grade the oral and written presentations, but KWS personnel are invited to the oral presentations and are asked to rank the proposals in terms of relevance, interest and “likelihood of funding”. The final assignment (25% of the final grade) is given at the Maasai Mara National Reserve and requires the students to incorporate the entirety of information they have received in the course. They must draw upon the lecture material presented by us, material presented by guest lecturers, informal discussions with KWS wardens and researchers and their own experiences. This assignment requires each group to develop a comprehensive management plan considering attributes of Maasai Mara’s wildlife populations and habitat and socioeconomic values of the ecosystem. In short, they must consider all of the animals, all of the habitats, the tourists, and the local peoples. Due to a lack of reference material in-country, we developed a course packet that serves as the student’s primary written reference for the course. It is made available to the students prior to departure for Kenya and is required reading. It contains: • the syllabus and travel itinerary • a detailed packing list of what to bring and what to leave behind • notes on collecting data and recording observations • lists of the avian and mammalian species most likely to be observed • descriptions of all of the course assignments • copies of each student’s Species Habitat Description and Africa/Kenya Topic papers • readings (book chapters, thesis summaries, papers from the primary literature). Grades are given on a straight percentage scale. The class is structured as an in-country experience and as such, all assignments are completed before we leave Kenya. Students usually receive their grades on the flight out of Kenya. The advantages of this are that we do not have to track down students in the United States for assignments and it provides students with immediate feedback. The 18 hour flight provides ample time to discuss grades. CONCLUDING REMARKS While we coordinate many of our efforts for developing an overseas study program with our Office of Study Abroad, we believe that similar courses can be developed and implemented in the absence of a main Study Abroad Office. For our program, we primarily rely on our Office of Study Abroad to produce brochures, accept applications, maintain student records, and wire funds. The remainder of coordination efforts are handled through the lead instructors of the course. As a final note on the course - be prepared to return exhausted. We have found that taking a group of students to a foreign country is a uniquely rewarding experience. However, conducting an overseas study course must be viewed as a labor of love. When we are in-country, we are essentially with the students every waking hour. It is difficult to find time to grade assignments, much less steal a little free time to simply relax. We must assume the role of teacher, tour guide and parent. Being responsible for a group of adventurous young adults for three weeks in a foreign country is extremely challenging. However, there are few times when a teacher has the opportunity to witness a student realize that his/her life has been forever changed by what they have experienced. An overseas study course provides such opportunities.
STUDENT AUTHORING, EDITING AND ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING Aaron N. Moen 1 , Spencer R. Hall 2 , and Thomas N. Moen 3 1 Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Department of Natural Resources, Fernow Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 2 Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University Biological Field Station, Shackelton Point Rd, Bridgeport, NY 13030 3 Institute of Water Research, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823 ABSTRACT: Millions of term papers have been written by college seniors who will be writing reports and publications as part of their professional responsibilities soon after graduation. While most term papers are graded and returned to student authors, a former student shared the observation that “nothing less than an ‘A’ is acceptable on the job.” Writing assignments can be made more meaningful by giving student authors responsibility for their writing similar to those professionals have; their work will be edited, read and used by others. Student papers were first published on the Department’s Cooperative Learning Center (CLC) local area network in 1991, after development of the Educators Software Package (ESP) for preparing hypertext information systems. Since then, over 2000 files have been published by CLC students in several courses. An immediate improvement in the quality of writing is observed when students know that the criterion for excellence is “acceptable for publication,” and their papers will be read by students for years to come. Editorial guidelines remind students that disciplined scientific writing is different from creative writing. Student editorial boards monitor the progress of successive drafts, and data document improvement in writing as a result of the comments of student editors. The student-authored information systems, complimented by professionally-authored files, are accessed through course, subject, and species menus. Search functions enable students to find information on our CLC network that others have written, and links to libraries and the World-Wide Web provide access to other publications. While the information on our CLC network is of significant value to the students, the greater long-term value lies in the development of professional responsibilities for writing and editing. Rather than writing a term paper and taking what they get for a grade, our students write and rewrite until their paper is accepted for publication. Student editors, graduate assistants, and course professors help the students reach that goal, and when it is reached, everyone benefits, including students in the future. INTRODUCTION Millions of term papers have been assigned by professors, written by college students, read and graded by their professor or a teaching assistant, and then returned to the student author. Many of these students will be writing reports and publications for their job supervisors as part of their professional responsibilities soon after graduation. While it is customary to return term papers to the student authors with a grade in the range of “A to F,” a former student commented that, on the job, “nothing less than an ‘A’ is acceptable.” Professors can make writing assignments more meaningful by giving student authors responsibility for their writing similar to those of professionals; their work will be edited, read and used by others. Professional-level writing should be the goal of all students when they are both learning to write and writing to learn. Writing should be an “authentic and natural activity” (Plevine 1982). Professors need to be patient with student authors; success should be measured in long-term cumulative benefits rather than in immediate success or failure (Etheridge 1995). Professional researchers edit each others work before it is accepted for publication, and authors must follow a journal’s publishing guidelines. Thus scientific writing should be thought of as a life-long learning experience by students and professionals alike. This paper describes student authoring and editing in the Cooperative Learning Center (CLC) in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University, and the organization of the electronic information systems for student publishing on the local area network in the CLC. Student papers were first published on the CLC network in 1991 after T.N. Moen developed hypertext information system software called the Educators Software Package (ESP). Since then, over 2000 files have been published on our CLC network by students in several wildlife-related courses. S.R. Hall, the senior editor spring term 1997, has quantified and graphed the number of editorial comments on successive drafts.
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Acknowledgments This publication re
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Teaching Methods: Collaborative Lea
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INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCE PLANNIN
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TEACHING CORE VALUES: SOME QUESTION
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WRITING AND FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE
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THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURAL RESOU
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