Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item The effect of the covid-19 pandemic on backyard bird feeding habits and populations using a citizen science approach(Montana State University, 2021) Rittner, Zachary FrancisCitizen science is an effort to engage the public in scientific practice and enhance the educational experience for science students. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced most residents to isolate themselves in an effort to control the spread of the disease. As a consequence, backyard birdwatching and feeding have become increasingly popular, but the ecological effects of increased supplemental feeding for backyard birds are largely unknown. Monitoring changes in the abundance of common backyard bird feeder species in the towns of Scotch Plains-Fanwood Ecosystem (SPFE), New Jersey through the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) could provide insights into motivating students through authentic, community-based learning and how changes in human behavior during the pandemic have contributed to population dynamics of the bird community of the SPFE through changes in resource availability. Students at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School participated in a minimum of 15 consecutive minutes of bird watching during the GBBC in 2020 and 2021 at locations within the SPFE. In addition, students were asked to complete a survey evaluating the effectiveness of the Great Backyard Bird Count in engaging the public through citizen science. The results indicated that fewer total individual backyard birds were reported during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to the count before the lockdown in 2020 within the SPFE. In contrast, the increases in adjusted Simpson and Shannon indices suggest an increase in species diversity by 9-21% from 2020 to 2021. The increase in diversity may be partly explained by the 25% increase in the number of feeding stations. However, the data potentially have considerable uncertainties associated with small sample size, inconsistencies in observation duration, available resources (training, equipment, available instructors, etc.), all of which are challenges typical of citizen science and working with teenagers during a global pandemic. Finally, participant feedback regarding the effectiveness of citizen science was overwhelmingly high and demonstrated clear public engagement in and admiration of the scientific process.Item Does peer review improve lab report quality in high school science students?(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2011) Acker, Melanie S.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.My students are, for the most part, potentially very good writers. However, when I get these students, their lab report writing skills are quite limited, and therefore, are very poor. Focus for doing labs thus far in their science career has been how well they can perform the lab from verbal instructions not written instructions. The students have a difficult time reading and understanding what the protocol wants them to do, and they have an even more difficult time explaining what they performed during the lab activity in a lab report. This project investigated how well the students discussed their course of action after performing the lab activity in a written report. The students were given written lab protocols and were expected to follow the procedure and make observations along the way. The labs were all completed in one 45 minute class period. The students were then given one day in class to work on their lab report following the lab report rubric (Appendix A). Data collection for this project not only included lab report writing, but what the students' comfort levels were in different elements of the lab, how well they reviewed their own work, how well they reviewed other peer's work, and how they felt about the whole lab report writing process throughout the year. Several teachers were also asked to evaluate how well these particular students processed and followed directions in their classrooms as well. The resulted indicated that by implementing a peer review session into the lab report writing process the report score significantly improved. The students who struggled at the beginning of the process were now completing quality lab reports in half the time and the peer review rubrics were being scored with the highest marks. Because of these positive outcomes, I know that peer review is an integral part of the learning process to produce quality lab reports and I will continue to conduct this practice in my classroom in years to come.