Ethnobotany final examination

Fall 2010 the field practical portion of the ethnobotany final examination had some academic integrity and honesty issues. Supervising twenty-five students in the field during a single examination period proved problematic. Spring 2011 I split the class of 28 into five groups of no more than seven students per group. The spring 2011  final also expanded the number of plants.

Peter and Vanessa in the field.

As the weather permitted, students completed page two in the field. This allowed the students to spread out, and echoed the outdoor nature of the course.

Plexiglass underwater clipboards were borrowed from the marine science program.

Although passing light sprinkles had chased a couple of groups up onto the classroom porch to complete page two, the deluge did not occur until 5:20, as the last group finished up in the field.

Elvira, Isabella, and Annjanette head for the shelter of the porch ahead of the downpour.

 The porch was pressed into service due to the lack of an available classroom. Groups were scheduled for 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:20, and 5:20 on Tuesday. 4:20 to 6:20 P.M. on Tuesday, the first day of final examinations, was the actual official time slot for the course.

Jasmine, Mallone, and Lewis

In general the one hour time slots worked well. Actual duration ran 45 to 50 minutes. The only complication was when the next group arrived early while a group was on the porch finishing up.

Had rain been a more significant factor, then a group could easily have exceeded one hour. One thought is to consider acquiring and using umbrellas in the field. The 3:00 to 4:20 break worked well as by 3:00 the slots were starting to slide a little, the extra 20 minutes was useful.

The downside to the above system is that the process requires five hours. There are also now five different field keys and no group duplicated another group in the plants chosen.