A common feature of ecological field and laboratory courses at the undergraduate level is a lack of appropriate field experiences. In particular, field experiences for the most part consists of mensurative habitat studies, e.g., making lists of species abundances from contrasting areas. However, much ecological research and some of the most important conceptual advances have arisen from manipulative experiments designed to meet rigorous statistical standards of replication, dispersion of treatments, and avoiding the pitfalls of pseudoreplication. To address this dichotomy between teaching and research, the establishment of a long-term field experiment to improve undergraduate teaching in ecology and environmental science is proposed. The long-term experiment is designed to address topics of ecological succession contrasting the effects of mowing and fertilizer treatments in upland and lowland abandoned farm fields. Elementary, Middle and High school pre-service and in-service teachers, and students taking courses in Southern Illinois University's Environmental Studies Program (as a minor for a wide range of major degree programs) will participate in the establishment, running, data collection and analysis of the field experiment. The student's participating in the experience will assess the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of field experiments, and be prepared to integrate research data and results in an understanding of ecology. Because of this intervention, students' will better appreciate the role of scientific research in understanding the natural world. An important corollary is that the students will be better able to describe and articulate one of the most important ecological processes, i.e., succession. The improvements to the SIUC undergraduate curriculum that will occur following the incorpora tion of the field experiment into appropriate courses will be a model for other programs nationally and internationally.
