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Title

Model of community of practice in environmental science education

Members

Name Department Principal Coordinator Professor Chris Wong Biology

Coordinator(s) Dr. Karen Lee Biology

Member(s) Associate Professor Jianwen Qiu Biology

Professor Xia Yiji Biology

Dr. Danny Ng Biology

Dr. Jill Chiu Biology

Associate Professor Lai Suk Yin Chemistry

Dr. Jean Hok Yin Lai Computer Science

Abstract

Environmental science is a multidisciplinary stream which combines scientific principles and technology to examine the relations between environmental processes and problems. It is urged to promote environmental science education to understand the interactions between environmental and resources problems, and hence, to resolve emerging challenges of environmental deterioration. As revealed by informal consultation with 60 students from general education and biology courses, it was suggested that the launch of practical components align with the formal classroom lecture is needed. This would enhance their understanding of the application of environmental science in their daily life and raise their awareness of the environmental impacts posed by humans. Thus, we were engaged to share our knowledge and experience in different aspects of environmental science and formed the community of practice (CoP). An integration of two major components, e-learning and experiential learning (both local and overseas) were included in this CoP. The outcomes of this project would foster the students in achieving the seven graduate attributes endorsed by the University, create more competitive and employable graduates, encourage the students to appreciate the nature and hence, to conserve and enhance the quality of our environment.

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Table 1. Schedule of the local field trips.

Date Title of the training workshop

Corresponding trainer/ organization

Number of staff

Number of students (present)

Number of students (absent)

29/3/2014 Northeast New Territories geological, cultural, and marine fisheries resources ecotour- Grass Island and Lai Chi Chong

Tai Po Geohreitage Centre1

3 25 4

12/4/2014 Marine Biodiversity- Site visit at Fish Marketing Organization and Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) Education Centre in Aberdeen

Independent specialist on marine fisheries resources- Dr. Allen To

3

8 0

17/4/2014 Northeast New Territories geological, cultural, and marine fisheries resources ecotour- Grass Island and Lai Chi Chong

Tai Po Geohreitage Centre

3 15 1

26/4/2014 Terrestrial Biodiversity- Plants and Animals in Hong Kong (lecture and field trip at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden)

Eco-Institute Ltd.2

3 27 1

27/5/2014 Biodiversity in Hong Kong- Hong Kong Amphibians and Reptiles (lecture and field trip at Tai Po Kau Special Area)

Eco-Institute Ltd.

4 12 2

1 Tai Po Geohreitage Centre- http://www.taipoea.org.hk/tpgeopark/index1.php?group=E4#2 2 Eco-Institute Ltd. - http://www.eco-institute.com.hk/

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Students were required to submit the evaluation form after each training workshop and in the end of their internship. Further, students were required to submit the weekly journal throughout their internship with our partnership organizations. In general, students were expected to learn something new outside the classroom, attain basic skills in environmental science, and recognize environmental problems and its relationship with human’s activities throughout the local field trips. Besides, our trainers had to submit the evaluation form after the workshop. Details of the student expectation forms are included in the electronic file.

There were a total of 95 students applied for the field trips, while a total of 87 students showed up in the trips. There were a total of 83 evaluation forms collected from the students joining the field trips (95.4%). There were 82 students (98.8%) who found that the field trip provided them with opportunity to acquire knowledge beyond the classroom. Further, 74 students (89.2%) found that the field trips motivated them for self-learning in environmental sciences. Besides, 65 students (78.3%) agree that the field trips provided opportunity to them and suggested what an environmental science graduate could do in the future career. This would help them to purse career in environment-related sector after graduation. There were a total of 82 students (98.2%) agreed that the trainers are professional and skillful, except 1 student had no opinion on that. Follow-up actions were conducted, by discussing with the students on their expectation in this CoP and their career development in environmental science after graduation. Further, our trainers also discussed the environmental issues with our students, including the conflicts of land use in Hong Kong and conservation of natural environment. All trainers for the local field trips satisfied with the performance of our students, and agreed that our students are eager to participate in the local field trips and asked sensible questions. Details of the evaluation forms are submitted in the electronic file.

E-learning

E-learning is a powerful tool in the transformation of education. It is crucial to improve learning outcomes and provides a mobile learning environment which trains the students to learn independently3. While the students have complained about the conventional way of learning biodiversity, i.e. memorizing the classification keys and description of the representatives of plant and animal groups, and drawing of specimens in the laboratory sessions, the classification keys and weekly-photograph corner of the website can provide an alternative and interactive way of learning. This would significantly raise the learning motivation of the students. Further, the case studies exercises of this CoP can raise the awareness of up-to-date environmental-related news of academic staff.

A functional website was built: http://envsci.hkbu.edu.hk. The website is composed of four major components: i) classification keys to distinguish and identify various plant and animal groups and introduce representative functional groups of plants and animals in Hong Kong; ii) case studies centralizing all local and international environmental-related latest news and information. Case studies is especially effective if that is paired with a reading 3 Tu, C.-H., Corry, M. (2002). eLearning communities. Quarterly review of distance education, 3: 207-218.

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assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case, and hence, greatly improve the critical thinking skills of the students4; iii) discussion forum for members of CoP to discuss hot-topics in environmental-related issues; and iv) weekly-photography corner, which encourage members of CoP to take photos, with brief description of interesting plants and/or animals that they encounter. The number of post in Case Studies and Photography Corner during 15 January to 27 May 2014 is summarized in Table 2. The access rates of the website formed part of the continual assessment (accounted for 10%) of GDSC 1006 You and Your Environment. In general, students found that the website is user-friendly and it is an interesting way for them to acquire knowledge in taxonomy and social-related environmental issues. The photography corner can raise their interest in living organisms. However, for another course BIOL 1004 Biodiversity Laboratory, access rate of the website did not contribute to students’ examination scores. Thus, students were not actively participated to the discussion in the Case Studies and Photography Corner sessions. Table 2. Number of post in Case Studies and Photography Corner written by staff and students.

Number of post Staff Student

Case Studies 123 3

Comment on case studies 2 176

Photography Corner 24 479

Comment on Photography Corner 14 36

Overseas field excursion- Madagascar

Madagascar was chosen as the overseas field excursion location. It is because Madagascar is recognized as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ in the world as it is a home to a remarkable source of living creatures in which many of them found are endemic. Further, Madagascar has diverse habitats, including tropical rainforest, alpine and transitional forest and savannah which make the region unique for various animal groups5. The government at Madagascar has put much effort to safeguard the remaining natural habitats on the island due to the rapid development and damage of the local habitats6.

A total of 10 outstanding students taking the above two courses joined the 14 days field excursion at Madagascar to widen their horizon and experience the stunning diversity of

4 National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (2013) at http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/about/ 5 Goodman, S.M., Benstead, J.P. (Eds.) (2004). The Natural History of Madagascar, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 1728. 6 Goodman, S.M., Patterson, B.D. (Eds.) (1997). Natural Change and Human Impact in Madagascar, Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, D.C., pp. 348.

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wildlife. The overseas field excursion was conducted during 5 July – 19 July 2014. There were a total of 10 students participated in the trip. Figure 1 showed the itinerary of the trip. There were a total of 6 National Parks in Madagascar being visited in the trip. Such experiential learning opportunity will provide our CoP students a unique hands-on experience in learning a balanced social- and environmental-science perspective on long-term conservation and the rapid development to meet the needs of local people. The experience gained from this oversea field excursion is crucial for educating the general public and promote conservation in Hong Kong.

Students had submitted a reflection report for this field excursion. Students were required to write 200-250 words in both Chinese and English to summarize the daily activities and their reflection. The reflection reports were attached in the Appendix A (in electronic version). The reflection reports showed that students have improved their communication skills (with the local people and among themselves), gain the knowledge in environmental science and conservation, sense of citizenship, and understanding of the poverty and social issues in the undeveloped country7. These outcomes met the aim of the expectations of students prior to joining the overseas field excursion and achieved the University Vision 2020.

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Geopark visit I, 29 Mar 2014 - Lai Chi Chong and surrounding areas

Group photo with trainer Rapheal and Samuel

Students are divided into 2 small groups to learn about geology in this Hong Kong Global Geopark

Students are exciting about weaving fish net

Fisherman is showing his treasure from the sea

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Fishery, 12 Apr 2014 – visit Fish Marketing Organization and AFCD

Students are paying attention in lecture “Hong Kong’s role in global seafood market, challenges ahead and reflections.”

Group photo with trainer Dr. Allen To

Surveying in fish market

Learning the logistic of Fish Marketing Organization

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Geopark visit II, 17 Apr 2014 - Lai Chi Chong and surrounding areas

Group photo with trainer Rapheal

Experiencing a direct contact with the seafood

Learning about sponges

Studying at the estuary

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KFBG visit, 26 Apr 2014

Studying about plants

Learning the ecosystem in a pond and its surroundings

Group photo with trainer Samson

10

Amphibians, 27 May 2014

Having lecture about herpetology before field trip

Group photo with trainer Samson - Field trip at Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve

Tracing the fogs