Abstract
We currently face significant, anthropogenic, global environmental challenges and the role of ecologists in mitigating these challenges is arguably more important than ever. Consequently there is an urgent need to recruit and train future generations of ecologists, both those whose main area is ecology, but also those involved in the geological, biological and environmental sciences. Here we present the results of a horizon scanning exercise that identified current and future challenges facing the teaching of ecology, through surveys of teachers, students and employers of ecologists. Key challenges identified were grouped in terms of the perspectives of three groups: students, for example the increasing disconnect between people and nature; teachers, for example the challenges associated with teaching the quantitative skills that are inherent to the study of ecology; and society, for example poor societal perceptions of the field of ecology. In addition to the challenges identified, we propose a number of solutions developed at a workshop by a team of ecology teaching experts, with supporting evidence of their potential to address many of the problems raised. These proposed solutions include developing living labs, teaching students to be ecological entrepreneurs and influencers, embedding skills-based learning and coding in the curriculum, an increased role for learned societies in teaching and learning, and using new technology to enhance fieldwork studies including virtual reality, artificial intelligence and real-time spoken language translation. Our findings are focused towards UK higher education, but they should be informative for students and teachers of a wide range of educational levels, policy makers and professional ecologists worldwide.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 15-28 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Oikos |
Volume | 130 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 15 Sept 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:– The workshop was supported by the British Ecological Society and the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Science at The Open University. We thank Kelleigh Greene for her help with the workshop logistics. Acknowledgements
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Nordic Society Oikos. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Keywords
- ecology
- global challenges
- horizon scan
- teaching and learning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics