Sharks

Predators or Prey?

Welcome to my Professional Practice

For my Professional Practice, I worked alongside two other students on the development of an online course with the title “Sharks: Predators or Prey?”, in collaboration with the University of Western Brittany (Université de Bretagne Occidentale, UBO). My team and I designed a 5 week online course on various aspects of sharks. Here is a little intro to the designed course, including learning outcomes, syllabus and evaluation method.

QUIZ!

Our perception of sharks is often influenced by movies and media. What we see and hear through the media has a great influence on our views, shaping our beliefs, attitudes and opinions, particularly in areas where audiences do not possess any knowledge or experiences.

It is not new the tendency of movies and media to exploit human fear of sharks, aggravating news about shark attacks, and producing movies in which sharks are monsters or human-eaters. Consequently, human attidues towards sharks is often negative, doninated by myths and misconceptions about these animals.
Therefore, public shark education is needed, to help shark populations protection and spread awarness about the importance of sharks in marine ecosystems.

How do you perceive sharks?

This quiz was created for evaluating the initial perception of sharks that our participants have before enrolling the course. Participants will be asked to retake the same quiz at the end of the course to evaluate if their perception has changed.
This is a short version of the quiz, it will require only 2 minutes to complete. It will tell you if you have a positive or negative perception on sharks based on your score.

Start quiz!

Online course content

Lessons on e-learning platform

The material created for the online course has been uploaded on the e-learning platform of UBO. Working on the e-learning platform allowed me to create lessons and quizzes, as well as uploading resources and other typologies of content/activities. Here are some slides from the lessons I created for the course through the e-learning platform.

Sharks in Movies and Media

The lesson "Sharks in Movies and Media" (week 1) explores how movies and media can shape the public perception of sharks, through examples of popular sharks movies and TV programs. The slides included here show the movie "Jaws" and its impacts on the public.

Why sharks matter

Tn the lesson "Why shark matter" (week 2) the ecological importance of sharks in the ecosystem is explained using examples and case studies in which sharks are involved. The slides included here are about two vital roles that the sharks play in the ocean: to keep the ocean food web in balance and vital habitats healthy.

Original creations

When creating an online course, it is important to be aware of copyright in the context of online course development. Most of the material found on the web is protected by copyright, therefore it is recommended to produce creative and original work for your course to avoid copyright infringement. In order to create original content for this course, I learned how to create simple drawings, diagrams and basic animations with a software called TupiTube. These are some examples of the creations that I included in the lessons.

Drawings

Examples of simple drawings and diagrams that I realized from scratch, using TupiTube software. I used these creations to explain some characteristics of sharks, such as their sensory system, and to explain some ecological processes in which sharks are involved, such as top-down control and trophic cascade.

Basic animation

This is a basic animation created using the same software (TupiTube). The animation shows the sharks' view of a surfer. Sharks are often believed to intentionally attack humans and to prey on them. In reality, sharks attack humans, and surfers in particular, simply because they mistake their shape for their usual prey. This animation shows that a surfer can look very similar to a sea turtle or a sea lion (sharks' usual prey) from below.

How to design an online course

Click on the interactive image to find out more about the 5 key elements for designing an online course.

Tips for online course creation

do not be too ambitious! If you have a limited time frame try to be realistic and keep the plan simple.
think about the graphical aspect of your course since the beginnig. It is important to keep the course homogeneous and fixing the graphic design at the end can be too late.
ask for help and advice from experts/supervisors. Their experience is way more helpful than we think.
focus on a few original works you want to realize, rather than trying to create as much as you can.

Resources

Baum, J. K., Myers, R. A., Kehler, D. G., Worm, B., Harley, S. J., & Doherty, P. A. (2003). Collapse and conservation of shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic. Science, 299(5605), 389-392.

Heithaus, M. R., Frid, A., Wirsing, A. J., & Worm, B. (2008). Predicting ecological consequences of marine top predator declines. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23(4), 202-210.

Neff, C. (2014). Human perceptions and attitudes towards sharks. Sharks: Conservation, governance and management, 107-132.

Thank you!

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