Multimodal learning: An introductory ecology course case study

Background/Question/Methods

Introductory ecology courses provide a great forum for multimodal learning. In multimodal learning there are various combinations of strategies, such as visual, aural, reading, writing, and kinesthetic to engage the student. Multimodal learning provides students an opportunity to learn about the same concepts and principles in multiple formats. The premise of multimodal learning is, the more different ways you learn something, the more you will remember it and the more you will understand it. To encourage active learning in ecology, I dramatically revised the course structure to create a multimodal learning environment around lectures, labs, field work, and a capstone assignment, aiming to help students understand concepts and theories taught in the classroom by linking the observation in lab, in the field, and culminating in a capstone event. The capstone assignment was performed in teams of three students, and utilized a glass display case (117cm x 40cm x 178cm) to create a visual and informative synthesis of a lecture, lab, and field work unit. To assess the impact of the multimodal course modification, I conducted an online survey for students who took the ecology course last year.

Results/Conclusions

Preliminary results showed that most students (71.4%) enjoyed the ecology course in general and gained an appreciation for local ecological phenomenon through the field work. Most ecology students (78.6%) liked the pairing of labs and field work and they noted it helped them gain a better understanding of concepts and theories taught in lecture. Many students (85.7%) listed the field work as their most favorite experience within the ecology course. Among all the responses, 92.8% strongly agreed the capstone assignment helped them better understand the concepts and theories within the course. The results indicate the multimodal course curriculum modification did engage student learning within the course and also aided in students learning about local ecological phenomenon. However, due to a small sample size, the results might be biased. Future work will be done to modify the survey questions in order to minimize bias and to increase response rates among students.