The Origins and Evolution of the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) One path to building a grassroots ecological research network Laurie Anderson

The Origins and Evolution of the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN)

One path to building a grassroots ecological research networkLaurie Anderson

Ohio Wesleyan University

Presentation Outline• What is EREN? • Where did it come from?• What does it do and how is it organized?– The heart and soul of EREN: Our collaborative projects

• One path to building a research network – successes and challenges

• EREN Evolving: What are students learning through participation in EREN projects?– Preliminary findings from a network-wide assessment

A Research Coordination Network (RCN)Funded by the NSF Research Coordination Network-

Undergraduate Biology Education ProgramAward # 0955344

The EREN Mission

• To create a model for collaborative ecological research that generates high-quality, publishable data involving undergraduate students and faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs).

That is, EREN works to bring “big” science to “small” institutions!

Coordinating undergraduate research across many sitesenhances the scientific and educational value of these activities.

CHIEF Acronym for EREN Research

CHIEF projects are:• Collaborative• High Impact science and education• Ecological or environmental research• Feasible for all kinds of institutions

– PUI Research Limitations: Time, financial resources – PUI Research Strengths: Labor, enthusiasm, low publication

pressure allows flexibility for long term work.• EREN leverages the research strengths of PUIs to

advance both science and education.

EREN – An idea whose time has come

• Inspiration for EREN- Steve Hubbell’s permanent plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama- The Long Term Ecological Research sites- The National Ecological Observatory Network- The Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed Studies (CAWS) and ROCA projects

• Anderson, Laurel - Ohio Wesleyan Univ., OH*• Bowne, David - Elizabethtown College, PA• Gartner, Tracy - Carthage College, WI*• Kuers, Karen - Sewanee: The Univ. of the South, TN*• Downing, Amy - Ohio Wesleyan Univ., OH• Dosch, Jerald - Macalester College, MN• Hoopes, Martha - Mount Holyoke College, MA• Hornbach, Dan - Macalester College, MN• Johnson, David - Ohio Wesleyan Univ., OH• Lindquist, Erin - Meredith College, NC*• Machado, Jose-Luis - Swarthmore College, PA*• O’Reilly, Catherine - Bard College, NY• Pohlad, Bob - Ferrum College, VA*• Simmons, Jeffrey - Mount St. Mary’s Univ., MD*• LoGiudice, Kathleen - Union College, NY• Shea, Kathy - St. Olaf College, MN• Thomas, Carolyn - Ferrum College, VA*• Woods, Kerry - Bennington College, VT

The EREN Founders are 18 scientist-educators from 14 PUI institutions.

* = RCN Grant PI

Some of EREN’s Founders meeting at Ohio Wesleyan University, March 2009

EREN now includes 187 institutions and 254 members!

How does EREN work?• EREN works by inviting people to propose project ideas

to the network through an e-mail call for participants.• Participants volunteer to join the project, and the group

organizes under a Lead Scientist to develop protocols, collect data, and seek funding.

• EREN funds and online tools provide opportunities for project participants to communicate, share data, post information and meet face-to-face annually.

• EREN also provides peer-to-peer training and access to experts to enhance professional development.

Stream Temperature Project (RBAST)

Lead Scientist: Dr. Jeffrey SimmonsMount St. Mary’s University

This project is now complete and one manuscript has just come out!

Permanent Forest Plot ProjectLead Scientists: Dr. Erin Lindquist,

Meredith College and Dr. Karen Kuers, Sewanee: The

University of the South

TurtlePopLead Scientist: Dr. David Bowne

Elizabethtown College

Decomposition of Aquatic and Terrestrial Invasive

Species (DATIS)Lead Scientists: Dr. Tracy Gartner,

Carthage College and Dr. Carolyn Thomas, Ferrum College

EREN Worm ProjectLead Scientist: Dr. Tim McCay

Colgate University

Emerald Ash Borer ProjectLead Scientists: Dr. Ben Dolan,

University of Findlay and Dr. Jason Kilgore,

Washington and Jefferson College

Bird-Window Collisions ProjectLead Scientists: Dr. Steve Hager,

Augustana College andDr. Bradley Cosentino, Hobart and

William Smith College

Oak Mast ProjectLead Scientists: Dr. Harmony Dalgleish,

College of William and Mary andDr. Michael Steele, Wilkes University

Stay tuned for up-and-coming projects: Edge Effects andLandscape Projects within the Permanent ForestPlot Network!

Building EREN – Success Strategies

• EREN meets a need and an interest for PUI scientists.

• EREN is built around a project concept, not a particular research problem, allowing flexibility.

• EREN has prioritized research ideas and let the teaching flow from these, so everyone in a project is motivated by the excitement of scientific discovery.

PUI scientists in EREN trading expertise in the field


• EREN has emphasized regular communication with its members and has had a consistent presence at various professional meetings.

• EREN has used a wide range of technological tools to keep people connected.

• EREN has held three annual meetings that have increased network collegiality and provided professional development.

Attendees at EREN’s First All Members MeetingMeredith College, Raleigh, NC– June 2012


• The EREN Leadership Team has worked well together to oversee EREN as a whole.

• The Lead Scientists have authority over their own projects and have been willing to put in a tremendous amount of work.

• EREN Members have been enthusiastic and collegial participants in the projects.

EREN Members Hard at Work!

Building EREN - Challenges

• Having an authorship policy for projects and clear communication about criteria for authorship is important.

• Not all research questions are appropriate for EREN. Not all project protocols are appropriate for EREN.

• Workload issues are a concern, particularly for those in leadership positions in EREN.

Building EREN - Challenges

• What is the appropriate role for students in EREN?

• Growing pains – EREN continues to increase in size and has only a part-time student assistant as paid staff.

• Funding concerns – RCN funding ends in 2015!

What do students learn from EREN?EREN Learning Goals

• Students will be able to apply scientific methodology (including hypothesis generation and experimental design) and recognize the importance of uncertainty for experiments at single and multiple sites.

• Students will be able to identify factors that vary among sites across geographic or temporal scales, describe how these factors interact, and how they may affect ecological processes.

• Students will be able to describe the value and techniques of scientific collaboration.

• Students will demonstrate best practices in the accurate collection, recording, and ethical management of multi-site, multi-participant datasets.

• Students will be able to analyze, interpret, and draw conclusions from data collected in multi-site studies.

EREN Pilot Assessment – Spring 2014• Seven EREN members administered an online pre- and post-

test to students in classes that included a range of EREN activities.

• The online test contained 10 questions (2 per learning goal), both open response (n=6) and multiple choice (n=4).

• A total of 124 students from seven institutions took both a pre- and post-test.

• A team of five EREN Leadership Team members scored the open response questions using a four point rubric (1 = novice, 4 = expert).

• Scores were compared within and across institutions using paired t-tests.

Institution Class Level

# Student responses

# EREN Lectures

# EREN Labs

Total ERENLect + Labs

Statistically significant improvements observed

in post testsSUNY Plattsburgh Lower 20 0 0 0 None

Carthage College Lower 10 1 1 2 None

Colgate University Lower 48 0 2 2 None

Macalester College Lower 20 0 4 4 Q1 and Q6

Sewanee: The University of the

South

Upper 15 0 5 5 Q6 and Q8

Ohio Wesleyan University

Upper 9 6 4 10 Q4, Q6 and Q8

All Institutions Combined*

*University of Findlay had 2 student responses

NA 124 7 16 23 Q6 and Q8

Take Home Message: EREN projects can have measurable effects on student learning.These effects increase as the emphasis on EREN projects increases in a course.

Open response questions that showed significant improvement across institutions

Q6: List three to six technological tools, approaches, protocols, or attitudes that are essential to successful scientific collaboration across multiple sites. Provide a one to two sentence description of each one.

Pre-test Mean: 1.73 + 0.06Post-test Mean: 2.08 + 0.09

Site 1 Acorn Data Site 2 Acorn Data

Tree Species Tree ID

Number of acorns/m2

Spe # Number of acorns/ft2

Quercus alba Qa1 31 Q. alba 1 28





Q8: Here is a list of data collected under oaks at different sites. These data should be put into the same central database. List any problems you see with (1) integrating these data into the same database, and (2) problems scientists who were not involved in collecting the data at that particular site might have in understanding or using it. Pre-test Mean: 1.37 + 0.05, Post-test Mean: 1.53 + 0.07

What do students learn from EREN?EREN Learning Goals

• Students will be able to apply scientific methodology (including hypothesis generation and experimental design) and recognize the importance of uncertainty for experiments at single and multiple sites. Significant improvement at one institution.

• Students will be able to identify factors that vary among sites across geographic or temporal scales, describe how these factors interact, and how they may affect ecological processes. Significant improvement at one institution.

• Students will be able to describe the value and techniques of scientific collaboration. Significant improvement at three institutions.

• Students will demonstrate best practices in the accurate collection, recording, and ethical management of multi-site, multi-participant datasets. Significant improvement at three institutions.

• Students will be able to analyze, interpret, and draw conclusions from data collected in multi-site studies. No significant improvement.

Multiple choice results and next steps in EREN Assessment

• Multiple choice questions across institutions showed no significant improvement: one question showed a significant decrease in post-test scores.

• Multiple choice analyses within institutions did not show a discernable pattern with EREN emphasis.

• These results will be used to – revise the pre/post-test for use at more institutions in

EREN.– help us consider how to improve teaching of EREN

concepts to further enhance student learning.

Summary

• EREN is a successful and thriving grassroots research network.

• Strong teamwork among EREN leaders and enthusiastic engagement among network members has been crucial to our success.

• Challenges include identifying future funding sources, workload management, and integration of students into the network interactions.

• Assessment data shows that EREN can enhance student learning, but suggests that teaching of EREN concepts can improve.

Long live EREN!

Documents

The Origins and Evolution of the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) One path to building a grassroots ecological research network Laurie Anderson