Abstract Detail

Teaching Section

Castle, Lisa [1].

Worthwhile Frustration: Assessing Wild-Harvested Plants as a Teaching Tool.

Undergraduate students in four different plant science classes at two primarily undergraduate institutions scored wild-harvested medicinal herbs using the United Plant Savers’ At-Risk Assessment Tool and created posters documenting their results.   I report on the goals, successes, and failures of scoring plants as a class assignment from educational and conservation perspectives, and offer suggestions for adapting the assignment for other class settings. The goals of this “authentic experience” assignment were to introduce students to medicinal plants and plant conservation efforts, reinforce botanical terminology, and increase data retrieval and sorting skills. Responses from students suggest that the assignment succeeded over classroom exercises with similar educational objectives. Many students also reported frustration with hard-to-find and contradictory information, with the idea that the instructor could not tell them if they were correct, and with the group process of poster creation. Student scores were in the same range as scores from experts, but the compilation and documentation of available information have been more useful than the final scores both educationally and to the United Plant Savers end-users.

1 - Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Biology, 100 Campus Drive, Weatherford, OK, 73096-3098, USA

Keywords:
science education
Medicinal and aromatic plants
harvest
Conservation.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Eyrie/Boise Centre
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PTE008
Abstract ID:600
Candidate for Awards:None