Making ecology easier to learn: Experiences of an ecology teacher and textbook author

Background/Question/Methods How can we make ecology easier to learn? Our challenge is to transform the diversity and complexity of ecology, including all of its subdisciplines, into a coherent synthesis that is both interesting and accessible to students. I propose that a starting point for such a synthesis can be found in the conventions of traditional narrative, which may be the result of a long process of cultural selection for summarizing and communicating complex information. Results/Conclusions In narrative, as in ecology, context, characters, and interactions are crucial. Building context, including historical, conceptual, and physical context, reduces the disorientation often experienced by ecology students by providing a “sense of place.” Developing characters, including species, physical forces, and the researchers that have created our discipline, engages students with the subject by adding “human interest.” Interactions, between species, between species and the physical environment, and between researchers and the systems they study, bring ecology to life. Ecology instructors at all levels know that student field research, combined with lectures and readings, adds a critical element to ecology teaching. Such exercises may be effective because they allow students to enter the “ecological theater” where they are, themselves, transformed into characters engaged in the practice of our discipline.