Considerable effort went into the planning and running of the Field School. We expect to offer similar Field Schools in the future and will benefit from your observations and constructive criticism.
Please look at the following topics and provide your comments. We don't expect that you will address all of the aspects listed below. And there are likely some areas of concern that we have not covered. We treasure your input!
You can send your comments to the Botany Department secretary (pbedoya@hawaii.edu). Nothing that you say will influence your grades. The results of this survey will be released to the instructors only after the grades have been submitted.
1. The Field School has been designed to mimic aspects of field research situations encountered by ecological, conservation biology and ethnobiology researchers. These are all based upon staff experiences and the experiences of others working in real world jobs and not in academic positions. Please comment on your (a) experiences with, and (b) recommendations for future field schools with the following elements given that these are considered to be integral elements of a field school.
2. Consider the list of "things" that you were instructed to bring to the field school.
3. We know that having literature available for research work is critical. However, is it really hard to prepare for research in a limited time period.
4. Digital photography was one of the skills that was emphasized during the Field School.
5. Computers were used in many ways during the course. We provided small netbook computers equipped with free or open-source software so that your personal computer would not be at risk of theft or damage.
6. Ethnobiology researchers need to know about both natural history and cultural diversity. We chose to teach first about natural history and then to provide some cultural experiences because we felt it would be easier for students not from the Hawaiian islands to have some knowledge of the environment before interacting with people. The goal was for you to be familiar with the environment so that you could better understand some of the richness of cultural information.
7. The Field School is currently offered as a suite of courses in the regular semester. Would you have attended the Field School if it had been offered as a credit course in the summer? Would you have attended the Field School if you received no credit for courses?
8. Five Saturday missions were prepared so that you could practice the different skills that you learned. Each mission was framed around a different category of research that conservation ethnobiology researchers often conduct and are called upon to complete in a short period of time. Please provide your thoughts about the process of learning and how the missions worked out. Please be specific regarding the missions.
9. In addition to the four core instructors (Will McClatchey, Mark Merlin, Tamara Ticktin, and Katie Kamelamela), a series of supplementary instructors (Brian Yamamoto, Kim Bridges, David Reedy, Nat Bletter, Lan Truong, Rick Stepp, Carlos Andrade, Demitria , Gustavo de Pena, and others) participated as volunteers. Please comment on the value of the instructional staff, particularly as it compares to a regular set of semester courses within a university.
10. Do you believe that the benefits of the Field School were worth the cost? Has this Field School changed your perception of field work and/or science? If so, how?
11. Has this Field School generally met your expectations? Please explain.
Would you like to be a volunteer in a future offering of the Field School? If so, please contact Dave Reedy (reedy@hawaii.edu).