Fisheries Education in the 21st

Fisheries Education in the 21^st Century: Accommodating Change

The process of educating fisheries professionals has greatly changed over the last century and has occurred in response to a myriad of factors – management philosophies; technologies; demographics; and socio-economic, political, and cultural shifts – that have directly or indirectly influenced education trends. Adapting to these needs has been problematic from a pedagological standpoint with ever-increasing demands on undergraduate natural resource curricula (credit limits), program limits (e.g., shrinking faculty numbers and increased workloads), and funding cuts. Moreover, the mission of many academic departments has moved away from traditional fisheries and wildlife curricula by broadening coursework (e.g., conservation biology, landscape ecology) to compensate for real or perceived changes attributed to student and employer expectations. Unfortunately, these issues are too often translated into the professional arena as students progress into the workforce. Recent advances in educational theory have improved our understanding of how to meet student learning needs in today’s environment. Specifically, this includes how to improve critical and creative thinking, communication skills, and facilitate retention of science-based information. In addition, the concept of strategically linking curricula objectives with employer needs requires movement away from traditional teaching methods and toward more novel approaches. Lastly, when considering the student-teacher interaction, we must consider the diversity and evolution of students as well as generational inequities between faculty and students entering fisheries programs.

The focus of this symposium, held at the 2009 annual AFS meeting in Nashville, TN was to highlight relevant educational techniques and approaches that facilitate learning with respect to fisheries education in today’s society. Below is the list of presenters with links to their presentations.

Lead author	Topic	Download
	Session I: Curricula and the Job Market -- Will We Meet the Demand?
K. Millenbah	Evolution of a curriculum: preparing fisheries professionals to thrive in a changing environment	pdf
D. Gabelhouse	Needs and proficiencies of fisheries hires by state agencies	pdf
S. Hudy	Federal marine personnel needs and perceptions of competency in management and research hires	pdf
J. Kosa	Federal inland personnel needs and perceptions of competency in management and research hires	pdf
S. McMullin	Are current curricula on target?	pdf

	Session II: Understanding Students -- Facilitating the Learning Process
B. Murphy	A 'C' change for fisheries education: from course content and coverage to curiosity, cognition, and constructivism	pdf
C. Moffitt	Globalization and fisheries management: what does it mean for educators?	pdf
K. Hunt	Considering changes in demographics and diversity	pdf
B. Graeb	Understanding student motivations to improve learning: bridging generational chasms	pdf

	Session III: Teaching Strategies -- Aligning Content Needs with Delivery Solutions
D. Orth	Managing course content: what is important?	pdf
M. Hansen	A model for teaching scientific writing in an undergraduate curriculum	pdf
T. Sutton	Distance learning in today's classroom: the good, the bad, and the ugly	pdf
G. Habron	Fishing for cases: learner and instructor approaches	pdf
B. Knuth	Experiential-based learning: student immersion in policy-making processes for fisheries resources	Not available
A. Danylchuck	Immersion and place-based learning	pdf
T. Lauer	Student assessments: are we doing it the right way?	pdf

Updated 16 January 2011

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