Meeting Abstract

73.4  Thursday, Jan. 6  Taking learning to the extremes: The natural history of Chile as a biological case study. FURIMSKY, M.; Westminster College – Pennsylvania furimsmm@westminster.edu

In an effort to promote experiential learning in the biological sciences, faculty are devising new hands-on and practical ways to complement the material published in textbooks, as well as improving their delivery of information in the classroom, lab and field. At our liberal arts institution, administratively linked cluster courses have utilized special topics and case study approaches to teach major concepts in biology, while linking them to courses in the humanities. A course recently offered focused on the South American country of Chile, which provided excellent examples for teaching evolution, biodiversity, ecology and comparative physiology. The biology course was clustered with a Hispanic history and culture course offered by the Department of Modern Languages. From the peaks of the Andes to the depths of the Pacific Ocean and from the Antarctic Peninsula to the absolute desert in the north, students were provided with a unique opportunity to explore the natural history of this country by retracing the steps of Charles Darwin himself. One semester of in-class learning was followed by a field component involving three weeks of travel in Chile. The course components and field experience are outlined as a potential template for similar courses.