Presenters:
- Mary Louise McAllister (Environment and Resource Studies)
- Steven Yessie (ERS grad student and former undergradute student and tutor)
- Martina Kusiak (ERS undergraduate student)
The presenters explained how an experiential learning component can engage and motivate students in a Qualitative Methods course. Students learned how to foster sustainable ‘green’ communities by taking the lessons learned in the classroom and applying them in the Region of Waterloo. This introductory course begins with a discussion of environmental and research ethics, epistemology and the biases of research. Building on this foundation, the students learn about the tools of qualitative and collaborative research and then undertake primary research in the community. The course concludes with a discussion about effective and appropriate methods of communicating research findings to various audiences using multi-media approaches. This integrative, blended course includes some class lectures, a field trip, peer teaching, tutorial-based project work, and the final production and presentation of a multi-media journal. The course is a companion to another core department offering where the students learn about quantitative methods and how to apply them to field work-based projects also located Waterloo.