Western Michigan University will initiate a model problem-based undergraduate course that will help students to acquire important skills required for employment in the environmental industry. These include the ability to design statistically-significant field data collection protocols in temporally and spatially heterogeneous environmental systems and to recognize appropriate methodologies (and their limitations) for water, sediment and microbial sample collection, preservation and analysis. Additionally, students will learn to work effectively with their peers and communicate the results of their study to the general public. Currently, most geosciences and environmental studies students receive little to no hands-on training in environmental field and laboratory methods and have few opportunities to practice communication of science to the public. Initially, the course will focus on an urban lake undergoing cultural eutrophication. Students will work collaboratively to assess lake water quality and to consider appropriate remediation or pollution prevention strategies. Their results will be presented to area residents, local K-12 teachers, and other undergraduate students in an open house setting. Educational research utilizing a multi-case study approach will provide rigorous assessment of the efficacy of this problem-based, service-learning curriculum. Research will examine how students in the course conceptualize complex environmental problems, as well as how they acquire or refine essential research skills in the context of problem-based courses. This research will also provide insights into the novice-expert transition, which has seen little formal study and is still poorly understood with respect to how students gain field skills viewed as critical to the geoscience and environmental science professions.
