Introduction

First Class Meeting Objectives

Note: The Fall 2009 offering of this course has changed a 3-times per week course to a 2-times per week course. As a result, there may be some unanticipated schedule changes as this new periodicity is tested.

The primary objectives of the first day of the course are listed below.

Present the course web site and show the different pages with content.

Discuss the Course Schedule which has a weekly repeating set of events:

  • Tuesdays: On most Tuesdays, a brief excerpt from Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac will be read aloud in class and then discussed. This will be examined for patterns of cultural, biological, and scientific ethics and dilemmas. It will also serve as an opportunity to learn through an hearing which is typically the way in which ethnobiologists receive information.
  • You will be expected to submit assignments on Tuesdays by posting them in your Web Site. The first assignment will be to submit the address of your web site.
  • Thursdays: You will watch a TED talk video in-class as a group and discuss the ethical and scientific implication. On some Thursdays an additional article will be assigned for reading in advance and discussion in class.
  • You will need to read an article (usually provided at the beginning of the course) that will be the topic of discussion. One student will volunteer in advance (at least a week before) to lead the discussion for about 10-15 minutes. On some Thursdays there will be discussions of methods to be used for conducting research while on others the discussion will be of ethnobotanical phenomena.

On some Tuesdays and Thursdays, the group will conduct an exercise or activity that is intended to illustrate a point about ethnobotanical research.

Discuss production of a personal, professional web site for this course:

  • BOT 440 is taught as a "portfolio" course. This means that all of the materials produced within the course contribute to a package of skills and deliverables that are presented to the instructor and the world throughout the process of the course.
  • You must make a new web site for the course using Google-Sites even if you already have a web site. Some basic directions are provided, but professional creativity is encouraged.
  • Instructions on web site production are provided at: Portfolio Web Site
  • A web site address must be e-mailed to the instructor by Thursday 5PM (August 27) and the site will be initially evaluated based on its content at that time.

Discuss the two-parted grading procedure:

  • Participation (no score but sets limit on top grade)
    • e.g., participate in 36 classes to get A (but need to also earn sufficient points from assignments for an A)
  • Assignments (provide basis of grade and many can be repeated for multiple credit)

Discuss course projects:

  • Most of the course assignments are part of the course project
  • A variety of course projects may be completed, but several kinds are encouraged. These will be discussed at the next class meeting.
    • Experiments established for the course.
    • Short research or education videos.
    • Ethnobotany experiments intended to learn more about family uses of plants.
  • Projects are not generally allowed that are only reviews of literature or that do not involve testing of hypotheses or other forms of inquiry.

Getting to know each other:

  • The class will be asked to quickly form into pairs. Each pair will be asked to share with each other their name, major, and favorite food. This will include the instructor.
  • As a group the pairs will then be asked to introduce each other to the class.
  • You will then be asked to discuss if there is a difference between introducing yourself to the group and having someone else introduce you. If there is, what it is it? If not, then why do we have people make introductions of other people?
  • Within this course an emphasis will be on ethics. In order to study ethics, we will all need to be honest and share with each other what we are thinking, trying to understand each other and learn why we each are thinking what we are thinking. This course needs to be an open forum that develops as a community for communication and learning.

Discuss any questions that people have about the course content or structure.