The Principles of Integrated Pest Management Course
Target Audience:
Learners in the Principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) course primarily will be US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service employees who have been tasked with duties related to IPM and the decision making process that reduces risk to natural resources, the public, and the environment from pests and pest management activities. Typically these employees will be IPM coordinators, site managers, biologists, environmental contaminant specialists, facility managers, natural and cultural resource managers, concession program managers and public health partners.
Course Scope/Relevant References and Policies
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Park Service (NPS) take an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to managing pests on their respective wildlife refuges and national parks. IPM is a science-based, decision making process that coordinates the use of pest biology, environmental information, and available technology to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage by most economical means, while posing the least possible risk to people, property, resources, and the environment. All pest management activity conducted by the FWS or NPS is required to comply with the Department of Interior 517 DM 1 Pest Management Policy, FWS 569 FW 1 IPM Policy and NPS IPM Policy, along with all relevant federal laws. The federal law which governs the use of pesticides is the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Learning Objectives and Student Activities:
Learning Objective #1: Review materials under Primary Resources and Additional Resources as necessary in determining site management objectives and establishing short and long term management objectives at the Antietam National Battlefield.
Instructions: Working independently, you are expected to reflect on the resources provided, and develop site management objectives and establish short and long term management objectives at the Antietam National Battlefield. You will post your project on the course Wiki site. You are encouraged to be as creative as you can to make your Wiki sections appealing to the reader. The project is due at the end of Week 2. During Week 3 each student is required to review and comment on at least three of their classmates Wiki.
Grading (40 total points):
- 10 pts – Visual appeal and creativity in the design and layout of the Wiki
- 20 pts – Assignment criteria met.
- 10 pts – Feedback to fellow students
Learning Objective # 2: Given a specific pest scenario, develop a pest management strategy to prevent damage to a specific resource, by the most economical means, while posing the least possible risk to people, property, resources, and the environment.
Instructions: Working with a partner (to be assigned by the instructor) select two pest scenarios from the list provided. Each team will be expected to develop sound pest management strategies which meet the criteria of the learning objective above. Additionally, information must be provided about the pest species, its biology, and conditions conducive to support the pest(s) (air, water, food, shelter, temperature, and light), the pests’ pathways, and human and environmental factors, including population levels and phenological data. You will post your project on the course Wiki site. You are encouraged to be as creative as you can to make your Wiki sections appealing to the reader. The project is due at the end of Week 5. During Week 6 each student is required to review and comment on at least three of the other teams Wikis.
Grading (50 total points): - 10 pts – The project is a collaborative effort in which each participant contributed to the overall success of the project
- 10 pts – Visual appeal and creativity in the design and layout of the Wiki
- 20 pts – Assignment criteria met.
- 10 pts – Feedback to fellow students
Learning Objective 3: Using the 11 Step Integrated Pest Management Planning Process, develop and implement an Integrated Pest Management Strategy for their National Park or National Wildlife Refuge which complies with all Department of Interior, National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service policies.
Instructions: In groups of 5 students who will work together for the rest of the term developing an IPM Plan. Each group will decide on the specific Management Area for which your group will take responsibility (Museum, Aquatic, Forest, Natural Areas, Structural or Cropland) After the group have chosen their area of focus, check with your instructor to get the topic approved. Your group task will be to produce an IPM Plan which address all of the 11 steps and which complies with DOI Policy. You will post your project on the course Wiki site. You are encouraged to be as creative as you can to make your Wiki sections appealing to the reader. The project is due at the START of Week 8. During Week 8 each student is required to review and comment on at least two of the other teams Wikis.
Grading (50 total points):
- 10 pts – The project is a collaborative effort in which each participant contributed to the overall success of the project
- 10 pts – Visual appeal and creativity in the design and layout of the Wiki
- 20 pts – Assignment criteria met.
- 10 pts – Feedback to fellow students
Primary Learning Activity Resources:
The Organic Act of 1914, http://planning.nps.gov/document/organic_act.pdf
Antietam National Battlefield Natural Resource Condition Assessment, 2011, Natural Resource Report NPS/NCRN/NRR—2011/413, http://ian.umces.edu/pdfs/ian_report_325.pdf
Antietam National Battlefield Website, 2013, Natural Science,
http://www.nps.gov/anti/naturescience/index.htm
Additional Resources:
National Park Service Management Policies 2006, http://www.nps.gov/policy/MP2006.pdf
NPS Park Protection, http://www.nps.gov/protect/
National Parks Traveler. (2012, February 12). Revisiting the Organic Act: Can It Meet the Next Century’s Conservation Challenges? Retrieved from http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/02/revisiting-organic-act-can-it-meet-next-century%E2%80%99s-conservation-challenges9441
Integrated pest management (IPM): Definition, historical development and implementation, and the other IPM, [Lester E Ehler, Pest Management Science, Vol. 62, 2006, pp 787–789]
Pesticide Related Resources, US Fish and Wildilife Service, National Conservation Training Center, Conservation Science and Policy Branch, 2013,
http://training.fws.gov/CSP/Resources/pesticides/cd_index.html#top
Additio
Pesticide Related Resources, US Fish and Wildilife Service, National Conservation Training Center, Conservation Science and Policy Branch, 2013,
http://training.fws.gov/CSP/Resources/pesticides/cd_index.html#top
Additio
Wow, Gary! Very interesting wiki projects! The IPM topic is quite large; I like how you chose 3 very different scenarios to address it. The students will learn a lot from each other at the end of this project. Did you consider having any hands-on experiences during this 8-week project? Perhaps visiting Antietam and learning about current pest control from their grounds manager? Or interviewing someone from the National Park Service about a pest management issue they face and including that video in their wiki? Again, there are so many scenarios and experiential activities you could incorporate into learning about IPM!
ReplyDeleteI actually kept up my Pesticide Applicator's License for a few years after college and could really see the benefit in a possible public wiki for IPM and those maintaining their licenses. Hey, they could even use online classes combined with wiki projects for applicator's to earn the credits they need to keep their license updated. Maybe they already do!??!
Janel,
DeleteI really like your idea about the hands on portion of the project. I could absolutely see that as an opportunity when this class actually goes live. It is actually my very first online endeavor and we are really in the very early stages of design. The course was seated and has not been taught for about 5 years. During the online portion participants did actually work in groups to develop a plan on one of the specific areas mentioned. We have all of those resources areas on our campus so they actually did have the opportunity to get information related to pest management issues by interviewing the responsible parties. I'll really have to think about how to pull that off in the online format, since participants will be from all over the country. I really like the idea of the video, that may be the next best thing to actually visiting Antietam. Since it is only about 6 miles from our campus that is something that could be done easily.
Thanks for the great suggestions; I think they will actually be able to be incorporated into the course!
Gary
Hi Gary,
ReplyDeleteGood job on your lesson plan! Like Janel, I thought it was great how you broke your project up into three different sections with different learning objectives in each part. When you were creating your lesson plan were there any certain parts of the information from the West and West (2009) reading that you wanted to incorporate in particular? Also, if you were to implement this lesson plan would you want to provide any specific background knowledge or training to your students about the development of a wiki?
Something which we all would need to consider when developing and implementing these projects is how much training and knowledge our students would need. West and West (2009) discussed that the use of scaffolding can be helpful until students are ready to engage in more self-directed learning. What are your thoughts on that in regards to the project you created?
Reference:
West, J.A, & West, M.L. (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-
write web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Amanda,
DeleteTo be honest I based the learning activities on my three previous experiences with wikis from my past three classes. I've talked a little about those experiences in the blogging activities here, but I sort of wanted to expand on them and incorporate them into this lesson plan. I think that each one of them have some very positive benefits and it also allows the students to experience those activities in a way that may fit their particular learning styles.
And yes, I think when this class goes live, we will absolutely need to incorporate the activates to introduce how to use the wikis. I felt like the task of creating this lesson plan was pretty big and complex that I focused on the meat, but also realize that there is a great deal that had to be left out. I just figured that if I made this blog post too much bigger, no one would have read it!
Thanks for the comments,
Gary
Gary,
DeleteI know what you mean. I had a hard time getting all of the information in that I wanted to include without feeling like I was putting too much information out there and overwhelming people. I thought your lesson plan was really well put together!
Gary,
ReplyDeleteI do not know anything about IPM, but your blog post did a good job of explaining it as well as providing some links that could further my knowledge. I really liked this integrated aspect of your design. Having the hyperlinks in context allowed me to jump out quickly and when it was relevant. I think for blogs, this is a better idea than including just a list of relevant links at the end of the post (something I have been guilty of before).
As for your plan, I found it to really involve the students. You did a good job laying out the grading structure as well as a timeframe. Overall you do a good job of providing scaffolding for even someone unknowledgeable in IPM to understand. Like my lesson plan, you used real-life scenarios to involve the students more and help them improve their critical thinking. My favorite part of your post was the encouragement to the students to make an aesthetically pleasing wiki page. Since wikis can be open to the internet, it will be helpful when anonymous readers access the page.
Great job!
Jacob,
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that last week I was really under a time crunch and simply was unable to provide the hyperlinks which I also believe adds to the post. This week I made sure that I got these in, primarily because I figured the people that would be reading this post would not have the expertise in IPM.
As this course is further developed we will have an opportunity to utilize many real-life scenarios. I am collaborating with some really amazing folks who have been working in IPM for a very long time. I could sit around for hours and listen to the stories that would honestly blow you away. You cannot even imagine the weird stuff that happens in the world of pests!
Thanks for the comments,
Gary