An innovative approach to using an intensive field course to build scientific and professional skills

This paper reports on the design and evaluation of Field Studies in Functional Ecology (FSFE), a two-week intensive residential field course that enables students to master core content in functional ecology alongside skills that facilitate their transition from student to scientist. We provide an overview of the course structure, showing how the constituent elements have been designed and refined over successive iterations of the course. We detail how FSFE students: (1) Work closely with discipline specialists to develop a small group project that tests an hypothesis to answer a genuine scientific question in the field; (2) Learn critical skills of data management and communication; and (3) Analyze, interpret, and present their results in the format of a scientific symposium. This process is repeated in an iterative cognitive apprenticeship model, supported by a series of workshops that name and explicitly instruct the students in hard and soft skills (e.g., statistics and teamwork, respectively) critically relevant for research and other careers. FSFE students develop a coherent and nuanced understanding of how to approach and execute ecological studies. The sophisticated knowledge and ecological research skills that they develop during the course is demonstrated through high-quality presentations and peer-reviewed publications in an open-access, student-led journal. We outline our course structure and evaluate its efficacy to show how this novel combination of field course elements allows students to gain maximum value from their educational journey, and to develop cognitive, affective, and reflective tools to help apply their skills as scientists.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the design and evaluation of a two-week field course called Field Studies in Functional Ecology (FSFE). The course aims to help students master core content in functional ecology and develop skills necessary for their transition from student to scientist. The course structure includes group projects, data management and communication skills training, and scientific symposiums for result analysis and presentation. The course adopts an iterative cognitive apprenticeship model and incorporates workshops to teach students both hard and soft skills relevant to research and other careers. The effectiveness of the course is evaluated based on the students' understanding and application of ecological research skills, demonstrated through high-quality presentations and peer-reviewed publications. The authors outline the course structure and highlight its value in maximizing students' educational journey and developing tools for scientific application.