Athena Rayne Anderson

I redesigned the semester-long undergraduate ecology majors’ laboratory course for the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia in 2009. I converted the course from a cookbook-style lab to an innovative, authentic learning experience using team-based and inquiry-based methodologies.

Outcomes of the redesign include the following:

1. Decreased TA grading load by 93%
2. All TAs preferred the redesign to the original course design because:
   • Grading load was decreased
   • Students seemed more engaged
3. Individual student workload decreased drastically
4. Students reported:
   • Teamwork helped them learn lab material
   • Teamwork increased their motivation to learn lab material
   • An increase in their perceptions of how often teamwork was uesd in real-world science

Read the details of the redesign in the Journal of Ecology’s teaching column here: Can Team- and Inquiry-based Methodologies Work in a Field Laboratory?

Read an article about the redesign, published by the Odom School of Ecology here: Ecology Ph.D. student Athena Anderson redesigns field lab experience