Learning EBIPM: Using the Learn by Doing Curriculum

Chris Call Utah State University

Education Objectives for EBIPM Program

• Develop and deliver curricula for land managers, university students, and high school students

• Provide ongoing consultation to land managers using EBIPM decision-support tools

• Provide education for policy makers, scientists, and the general public

Learn by Doing

• Invasive plant management is a complex myriad of issues, theories, facts, dimensions, perceptions, etc.

• Current/future decision makers need to reframe their mental representation of invasion and restoration to fit new knowledge and experiences.

• Individuals should be actively involved in the learning process.

Learn by Doing

• The learning environment should support and challenge the learner in becoming a more effective thinker.

• Instructors introduce the content and serve as facilitators to help learners arrive at their own understanding of the content in a realistic setting.

• Learners with different skills, backgrounds and perspectives should collaborate in tasks and discussions to construct an understanding together that wouldn’t be possible alone.

Managing vegetation is a complex endeavor

Walker (1993)

Process-based frameworks enhance understanding

Land Manager Curriculum

• Land manager understanding of ecological concepts and control methods

• Land manager perceptions of program complexity and cost, and short-term vs. long-term planning

• Linkages between science and management

Adoption of science-based programs influenced by:

Land Manager Curriculum

• Resource Handbook developed by EBIPM program scientists, land managers and outreach educators

• Lecture summaries, supplemental readings, user guidelines and videos, and field activities

EBIPM Field School

Introduce content Use/understand content

EBIPM Field Tours

EBIPM Website

www.ebipm.org

EBIPM Outreach Education Products

8 User Guidelines 3 Videos (DVDs)

University Student Curriculum

• Expose future NR managers and decision-makers to the EBIPM framework and philosophy in university courses

• Modular curriculum that allows integration of portions or all of the EBIPM framework into courses

• Integrates fact-based knowledge with concrete experiences, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation

University Student Curriculum

• M1: Introduction to EBIPM

• M2: Rangeland health assessment and EBIPM

• M3: Understanding the causes of succession

• M4: Using principles to guide decision making

• M5: Tools and strategies for managing vegetation

• M6: Adaptive management and EBIPM

• M7: Human dimensions of EBIPM

• M8: Climate forecasting/seedbed modeling

Modules align with the major steps in the EBIPM framework, plus some associated topics:

Module 2 Narrative

Module 2 Narrative

Module 2 Narrative

Module 2 Narrative

Module 2 Narrative

Module 2 Narrative

Module 2 Narrative

ASSESSMENT & EBIPM

•Provides necessary information to

identify ecological processes in

need of repair

•Successional weed management

and restoration require initial and

periodic assessment

Power Point slide in Module 2

EBIPM High School Curriculum

EBIPM Outreach Education Impacts

• 7 universities adopting EBIPM in curriculum

• 235 participants in field schools (2009-2011) – 70% adopting EBIPM practices

• 4,700 user guidelines distributed

• 1,300 DVDs distributed

• ~350 hits/month on website

Acknowledgements

• Halley Kartchner, USU, Logan, UT

• Brenda Smith, USDA-ARS, Burns, OR

• Ryan Steineckert, USDA-ARS, Burns, OR

• Jason Tuckness, All Saints School, Portland, OR