A Service Learning Course

Phone 773 325-2779, email: lhenegha@wppost.depaul.edu

Objectives of Course:

Ecosystem Ecology is being taught for the first time at DePaul University. It is offered to students as an experiential learning course. The experiential component of the course will be met through a service-oriented project. Service learning courses provide students with an opportunity to provide a service to a community agency and to reflect upon this in classroom discussions. In the case of Ecosystem Ecology the service being offered is a technical one. The technical context upon which we will build the project will be acquired during the lecture component of the course. Much of the learning will be done outside of the classroom setting while students work on an assignment that will benefit an off-campus organization. The partner for the course is the Lake Forest Open Lands Association.

The objective for the first time that this course is being help is to develop a comprehensive description of important ecosystem variables for Shaw Prairie and some other holdings in the Lake Forest area. These observations will be made in an effort to understand the functioning of an important Illinois tallgrass prairie remnant, and to initiate long-term monitoring of this site and others targeted for restoration. Over the years the data from this course will accumulate and will evolve, it is hoped, into an important resource for both the managing and the appreciation of Shaw prairie.

Schedule of Events

Texts

There is no required textbook for this course. Some reading will be assigned during the report development phase of the project. Those who would like systematic reading to accompany this course might consider purchasing one or all of these books:

Aber, John D. and Melillo, Jerry M. 1991 Terrestrial Ecosystems. Saunders College Publishing. (an advanced, but well written ecosystem ecology textbook). (Copies available in DePaul bookshop).

Golley, Frank B. 1998 A Primer for Environmental Science Yale University Press (a book written for those with a limited science background). (Copies available in DePaul bookshop).

Manning, Richard 1995 Grassland: the history, biology, politics, and promise of the American Prairie. Penguin. (A short, comprehensive account of American grasslands). (Available through most bookstores).

Attendance at lectures is expected. Since small-group work is integral to the success of the class service project it is imperative that you attend all the scheduled meeting of your scientific and administrative groups. Please inform me if you are not able to attend. Anyone who misses more than one lecture will be given extra-written assignments (one to cover each class missed).

This is a demanding course. The minimal expectation is that in addition to the scheduled time you will on average spend 3 hours per week working on the service component of the course. You must sign a time sheet each week, detailing how this time was spent. This, I stress, is the minimum expectation. A review of the responsibilities associated with each aspect of the project (Table 1) should indicate support the notion that this course is time consuming.

Plagiarism

Class policy with regards to the heinous academic crime of plagiarism conforms to the university policy on matters of academic honesty.

Grading

Midterm 20

Final 20

Weekly Log 20 (Time sheet and brief reflection on week's work)

Contribution to report* 20

Class Participation** 20

* Grades will be awarded based upon informed contribution to meetings, and upon evaluations from group members.

** The class participation grade will be based upon informed contribution to class discussion and to the effectiveness of your contribution within your group.

Committees

You must be a member of both a Scientific and an Administrative committee:

Table 1 List of committees and suggestion of associated responsibilities and skills required

* Many species of prairie plants are rare and should not be collected. Identification of plants from the site will be done directly at the site or from photographs.

Questionaire Name __________________ Major____________________

1. What attracted you to this course?

 

 

 

 

 

2. Were you aware that there is a large non-classroom component to the course?

 

 

3. What science courses have you taken (if any)

 

 

 

 

 

4. What level of familiarity have you with ecological concepts?

Very familiar Know show basics Unfamiliar

5. What skills do you think you can contribute to the class project (e.g. writing, graphics, organizational skill etc.)?

 

 

 

 

6. The minimal expectation of work outside the classroom is 3 hours. Field trips will generally be held on Monday and Fridays (depart DePaul University at 9:30, return by lunch time). You will probably (depending upon the team that you are on) need to visit the field site once every 2 weeks. Can you make that time commitment (if you can not you should think about postponing this class for a future date; at the very least you should talk to Dr Heneghan and explain how you might still fulfil your service contribution).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Indicate approximate times (indicate the day of the week and morning/afternoon) that you will be able to work on the project.

 

 

 

 

8. Put down your top 2 choices for

Science committee Administrative Committee

A_________________________ A._______________________

B____________________________ B.________________________