The big question; what is known/understood about wildlife management?
1.
What does wildlife management mean to you?
2.
How do you think predatory species play a role
in current wildlife populations?
3.
What ecological components do you think need to
be addressed when constructing a wildlife management area?
4.
When managing an area inhabited by an endangered species what
precautions should be addressed?
5.
Why is population control important?
6.
Do you understand the importance of carrying
capacity?
7.
What constitutes a species to be known as
endangered?
8.
What is the difference between a protected
species and an endangered species?
9.
Can a species be managed improperly? If so what
could be negative impacts on the population as a whole?
10. Scenario: if breeding grounds for a population of
migratory birds is over populated what would the consequences be if not managed
properly? How would you manage this population in order to combat the over
population?
11. Scenario:
a breeding pair of bald eagles (protected species) has constructed a nest near
a river that is in close proximity to a ranch that has chickens and small farm
animals. The rancher is concerned about the eagles predating upon her animals
and seeks your professional advice as a wildlife manager. What would you say or
explain to the rancher?
12. When given a blank piece of paper the student
will construct a small wildlife management area and should show components of
basic needs for a species. The basic needs that could be shown would be
food, shelter, sustainable habitat, landscape etc.
I think you have a really good topic in an area of science that we interact with everyday, however few of us think about in much detail. In regards to the questions, I like how you positioned your questions to put the student's opinion as the center of a science question. Specifically questions #1 and #3 should tease out the students current understading of the topic. I also like how you set up the scenarios as well. I think #10 and #11 could give you some tremendous insight to a students comprehension of the situation. I'm not sure what to think of question #12 since it is so open ended, however it may give you some good insight to a students beliefs about what a wildlife management area should look like. In my opinion the only question that should be reworked would be #6, as it can be a yes/no answer, and therefore would be difficult for you to beneift from any other information the student has to tell you about carrying capacity.
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ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great topic that will provide a lot of insight into a student's thoughts and understanding. It looks like most of the questions will really tease out a student's understanding rather than just what they may have memorized for a class, especially if you are interviewing a student that has not taken a wildlife ecology or management course. I think that the scenarios you have presented will be really great at allowing your interviewee to demonstrate their level of understanding.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do agree with Jim that question 6 may be answered with a simple yes or no. Maybe you want to separate it into two questions - 1)What is a carrying capacity? and 2)Are carrying capacities important to wildlife management? Why or why not? Of course, this is just a suggestion. Overall, it looks like you have some really great questions planned.
Derek, first of all great questions. Being someone who has very little understanding of wildlife management, I found myself very intellectually challenged by these questions. Made me more conscious of my surroundings. I also think Brea and Jim made very good suggestions. One thing that I also like about your questions is how much discussion each question can lead into. I don't know how you plan to carry your interview, laid back where one question leads to the next in a conversational setting or quick exam kind of setting where the interviewee tries to answer a question as quick as they can. The reason why I am saying this is because given such great discussion questions you have, you might have to reduce the number of questions you have since most interviewees might think the interview is taking too much time. But, again, it all depends on how you will be carrying out the interview. Otherwise, I really think this will be a good interview to do
ReplyDeleteWhat a list of questions! Nice! I agree with many of the other comments; I would consider leaving out questions 6-8 as they can either be answered with a yes/no or they probe more "definition" type understanding. I very much like the scenarios, though for the sake of time I might choose do present just one.
ReplyDeleteNice questions! It will be very interesting to see the responses to these. The first six questions really reveal a very personal definition that ultimately demonstrates where a student's understanding of the science meets previous constructed meaning.
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