MITRA, MADHUMI. Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853. - Richer pedagogic outcomes in Marine Botany course through integration of service learning.
Service learning combines academic instruction with service that
addresses the needs of the community. This active learning was
integrated in Marine Botany course in Fall'99 at the University of
Maryland Eastern Shore. The community needs were identified following
partnerships with Eastern Shore parks. The service learning project
involved preparing brochures for Assateague Island National Park and
Pocomoke State Park (Maryland) respectively. These brochures were
designed to focus on the lists of both identified and unidentified
floras found in different marine and estuarine environments of the
parks.Through planning, action and reflection, the students were able
to hone some of their academic and life skills. At the end of the
project, a survey was conducted for evaluating this experience. Survey
results show that more than 90 percent of the students had a better
appreciation of plant science and its social impact.
Key words: Service Learning, Action, floras, Preparation, Reflection