Becky Barlow, PhD
forestry.management.enterprise.teaching
Involve students in real world applications
Students have classroom and field exercises where they
can relate critical thinking skills to situations they may
encounter during their career. Labs are used as a time to apply classroom theory and discussions to data collected in the field. Fieldwork is based on real-world scenarios such as timber theft, understory assessment for forage and fire management, and stand growth projections.
Engage students through active learning
In my work with learning disabled children I have found that most individuals, learning disabled or not, learn best by actively participating in their learning experience. One way this is achieved is through the physical act of writing. Therefore all in-class lectures notes are written out and students are expected to take notes while in class. PowerPoint presentations are rarely used. I also use interactive, daily in-class problem solving sessions so the students work together in groups of 2-3 on problem sets.
Integrate writing and public speaking into coursework
Using a “Writing Across Communities” model, writing is used to increase student’s depth of knowledge in forestry and improve their ability to write and speak to the general public.
Outside. The classroom.
As an Associate Professor, I want to incorporate teaching and learning strategies acquired during my prior experience as a trainer/coach in professional forestry settings and as a trained teacher of children and youth with learning disabilities. These skills and techniques are proven to work well when teaching all students in a college classroom setting. Using this experience as a basis, I have three goals with regard to teaching and learning in the classroom: