Faculty International Programs Travel Report

Name: Kathy S. Williams

Faculty /Rank: Assoc. Professor

Department: Biology

College: Sciences

Office phone: 594-4358

E mail address: kwilliam@sunstroke.sdsu.edu

Proposal Title: Facilitation of International Team Teaching and Curriculum Development Between SDSU and CIBNOR, La Paz, B.C.S.

Country/ies visited: Baja Mexico

Institutions visited: in La Paz Baja UABC (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California), CIBNOR (Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C.), 4 middle schools, 1 normal school

Dates of travel: 4/24-4/29/01; 6/4-6/9/01; I was hoping to travel back in early August also, but that didn’t work out.

Number of student participants: I met with scores of elementary (K-8), normal school (college students), and college and graduate ecology students at UABC and at CIBNOR in La Paz. No students from SDSU traveled with me, but we did meet with one of our Ph.D. students in La Paz and 2 of our students have been essential in helping install the instruments that are the backbone of the collaboration.

Previous IP proposals submitted and grants awarded: None

Have all required reports been submitted: Yes

Other funding for this activity available/applied for: NSF CCLI and FSML funds are supporting instruments used by collaborations with these faculty.

Proposal abstract: (75 words)

This visit allowed me to meet with CIBNOR faculty to finalize installation of scientific instruments enabling us to enhance SDSU undergraduate education, in collaboration with CIBNOR colleagues. I also met with K-8 educators in La Paz and UABC faculty, and discussed possibilities of collaborating, using data from instruments in San Diego and La Paz in their classrooms. Additionally, I clarified how to obtain additional funds to bring SDSU undergraduates to La Paz for field courses.

I. Opening/overview of intentions/activity

I and colleagues are implementing major curriculum reforms in many of our Biology/Ecology classes to bring the process of scientific inquiry into the classroom. The goal is to provide biology majors and non-majors with a greater understanding of ecological concepts by fusing innovative teaching with cutting-edge technology. Funding from NSF is providing instrumentation at SDSU field stations with which students in large and small classes can ask questions about the relation of climate and geography to CO2 fluctuations and other aspects of global change, a topic of general interest and urgent concern. Recently we have been able to expand this project by installing the same state-of-the-art instrumentation at CIBNOR in La Paz, with whom SDSU has an established program. My colleague, Dr. Walt Oechel has been instrumental in fostering the relations with CIBNOR and facilitating the installation of the equipment through early visits to La Paz. This funding to visit and work with the faculty and administrators at CIBNOR was essential for ironing out details and finalizing the plans for installing and connecting the delicate CO2/micrometeterology instruments we have in La Paz for use in our undergraduate courses and educational activities. These activities are designed to enhance undergraduate science education at SDSU, in collaboration with our colleagues at CIBNOR. The visits also allowed me to interact in a rich environment with colleagues from UABC and with elementary and normal schools in La Paz.

II. In preparation for the trip abroad

I collaborated with Drs. Walt Oechel (Biology) and Donna Ross (School of Teacher Education) from SDSU, Ms. Nancy Taylor (Science Coordinator of SD County Office of Education), and with numerous faculty in La Paz, including Drs. Arturo Muhlia (CIBNOR - Head of Fisheries and Oceanography Program), Dr. Mario Martinez (CIBNOR’s General Director), and Oscar Arizpe (UABC). Dr. Arturo Muhlia arranged for us to meet with many K-12 faculty and with students and faculty of the Normal School in La Paz. The students and researchers involved with installation of our instruments in La Paz were Mr. Pablo Bryant, Steve Hastings, and SDSU Ph.D. students Hyojung Kwon, Yufu Cheng, and Irma Olguin (who now works at CIBNOR). Prior to my trips, they had done considerable work with ordering and starting the initial installations of instruments at CIBNOR.

Email contacts: "Dr. Arturo Muhlia" amuhlia@cibnor.mx was our main contact with CIBNOR before the visit, although I can now contact many more colleagues in La Paz, since the visits. Dr. Larry Miller <lmiller@cibnor.mx> was instrumental in supervising much of the installation activities.

The association between SDSU and the research institute CIBNOR was formalized a couple of years ago with the signing of a student exchange agreement in ceremonies here at SDSU. This is an Outbound Exchange Program for SDSU students who want to study in another country. The graduate students at CIBNOR are very high quality and the ecological research is outstanding. CIBNOR is recognized as a major academic institution in Mexico for ecology and fisheries biology. The educators at many levels in La Paz are very interested in enhancing science education and science literacy in general there, as we are here.

III. Upon arrival/specific activity

First trip – late May

On arrival, we made a presentation about our projects to a general assembly of faculty and students at CIBNOR. Specifically we met with faculty at CIBNOR, primarily Drs. Arturo Muhlia (CIBNOR - Head of Fisheries and Oceanography Program), Dr. Mario Martinez (CIBNOR’s General Director). We also met faculty from UABC who also attended the presentation, Drs. Oscar Arizpe (UABC), and Antonina Ivanova Boncheva (UABC Director of Interdisciplinary and Postgraduate Investigations).

Enhancing education through facilitating student activity in classrooms

Over the next days we visited 4 pubic and private schools (grades K through 8) in La Paz. At each school we met with a primary administrator and visited 3-4 classes to see how they were using student active learning in their classes. We met with teachers at each school too and had extensive dialogs with them to see how we might learn from them, as well as help them enhance science education in La Paz.

We also gave a formal presentation to faculty and administrators at UABC. At this time we explained our work in San Diego towards enhancing K-12 and undergraduate education, and expressed our desire to collaborate with educators at UABC. Our UABC visit was hosted by Drs. Oscar Arizpe (UABC) and Antonina Ivanova Boncheva (UABC Director of Interdisciplinary and Postgraduate Investigations). The discussion that followed was very promising about what we might be able to do in the near future.

Collaboration to install and operate instruments for education and education

Considerable work had been done towards getting the CO2/micrometeterology instruments carefully assembled and installed at the field site, including getting a small building built to house computers that run instruments and record data, and laying fiber optic lines for data communication from the site. However, at the time of this trip progress towards getting the instruments on line were somewhat stalled. We had several discussions with the administrators at CIBNOR, explaining the critical need to get the instruments on line. We discussed how we might help to pick up the pace a bit. At the time we left we felt considerable progress had been made toward getting the instrumentation assembled and functioning.

Second trip – mid June

Apparently due, in large part, to our first visit, the instrument installation was completed over the next weeks. This second trip was made to inspect the final connections and completion of basic installation of the complex instruments, as well as continue collaborating with out colleagues at CIBNOR and UABC.

To begin this visit, there was a presentation on types of activities teachers might use in their classrooms and how they might use graduate students to help facilitate learning in K-12 classrooms - as is done in SD County now. This was conducted primarily by Ms. Nancy Taylor of the SD County Education Office, and I helped facilitate the demonstration and presentation.

I then had two opportunities to visit the instrument site and collect data about the plant communities and photograph the site for use on our class web pages. I met with the essential administrators at CIBNOR to offer our sincere thanks and appreciation for all their hard work and help in getting as far as we have, in a relatively short time.

I also met with faculty colleagues at UABC and CIBNOR to continue discussing how we might collaborate in using the data from the instruments in our college and graduate classrooms to help students understand the biology of global climate change and plant physiology.

I was able to go into the field with one of the plant ecologists/botanists from CIBNOR who could identify plants making up the desert plant community around the instruments. This and the photos I took of the vegetation and the site will help tremendously in teaching.

Particular major items of interest

· The first trip was extremely valuable for meeting with tremendously dedicated and progressive science educators in La Paz to foster future interactions.

· The first trip was essential in getting instruments hooked up for fall semester classes.

· The second trip was especially valuable in that it a) allowed me to see the instruments functioning on site and collect data with a botanist from Baja for our classes, and b) to have the honor of expressing our deep appreciation for all the help and collegiality provided by our colleagues in La Paz. This I think will foster continued interaction with our partners at UABC and CIBNOR.

· Spending a day in the field with Dr. Oscar Arizpe (UABC) seeing more of Baja Sur and discussing how educational systems compared and our students might interact most effectively was tremendously educational for me.

IV. Conclusion, recommendation, and next step?

The collaborations with CIBNOR and UABC are extremely valuable for SDSU since we share a west coast geographical association that is perfect for collaboration for our students and for pursuing complementary research activities. Our students have a serious interest in interacting with outstanding Mexican scientists and students. The students and faculty at all the educational institutions I visited in La Paz shared the same enthusiasm about interactions. Already I have an undergraduate student from Brazil and one from Mexico who took the ecology class in Spring and got interested in the global change questions asked, that are continuing projects at our field stations here this summer.

Sustainability of project

There is a very strong likelihood that students in the our Biology Dept. will be interested in studying the ecology of Baja, using the instruments we’ve installed there. This is clear from the way the students in Spring class anxiously awaited getting data from Baja to compare with our sites in SD and AK. Unfortunately the visit in May is what really got the project moving, which was too late for the Spring class. We’ll be able to use the data in Fall however. Every one of the students and faculty in La Paz I spoke with was very excited about continuing the interaction as well. The fact that we are working with SD Super Computer personnel to archive data and establish a website for data delivery to any researcher or educator who wants to use it is evidence that this relationship should last and continue to grow.

How will this exchange program increase participation by students in international activities, or enhance international learning environments for students?

I continue to work with Dr. Bob Pozos, Biology, to try to set up a course, funded by a program like NSF’s MIRT, that would allow SDSU students to travel to La Paz and do research and learn about topics like human health effects of global climate change. After my last visit I recognize what we might have to do to be eligible for those funds, and identified faculty at CIBNOR with whom I might collaborate on this effort.

For many of our students in all our Biology classes for majors, Spanish is their native language and many have relatives living in Baja. With the ‘Baja connection,’ those students become even more engaged in learning about the science behind the data they are collecting. Students who have no idea about the excellent science that goes on in Mexico, learn what researchers are doing at CIBNOR and UABC, and gain a new perspective.

What students will benefit?

At SDSU, both undergraduate and graduate students are already benefiting from this international collaboration. In La Paz, students from elementary school to college and graduate programs are likely to benefit.

What will be their activities (course work, international internships, field research, etc.)?

Our undergraduates in Biology 354, 354L, 215, and upper division courses will use data from the instruments at CIBNOR to more deeply understand concepts of ecology and global climate change.

Graduate students are already using data from the instruments for their research.

We may be able to establish a field course, involving field research, for undergraduates in La Paz, if funding is acquired.

What will be your role in promoting and supporting these activities?

My role will be in teaching the main Ecology course using this equipment. I have just returned from making a presentation on this activity at the major Ecology professional meeting in the US. It was greeted with excitement and interest by educators and researchers from all over the country and I made direct contacts with faculty at 3 additional universities who want to share the class data and web sites associated with our Baja to AK sites.

I will be working with faculty at CIBNOR and UABC to collaborate with formal class design at their institutions as well as ours (using the data from La Paz instruments).