DesigningCurriculumfortheSER-UWNativePlantNursery

Mary-MargaretGreene,MasterofEnvironmentalHorticulture

BackgroundTheSocietyforEcologicalRestorationUW’s(SER-UW)nativeplantnursery began in 2013, aiming to grow native plants for studentrestorationprojects aswell as becomean educational resource tostudentsandthepublic.Forthelastyear,IhavewrittenandtaughtcurriculumtoimprovetheNursery’smissiontobecomeasourceofhorticultural, experiential education at the University ofWashington.

Tosupportourmissionofprovidingeducationtostudentsandthepublic, IwrotethreetypesofcurriculumfortheNursery:1.5hourclassesonnativeplanttopicsthatIthentaughttothepublic;mini-lessonstoteachbeforevolunteerworkparties;andaquarter-longcurriculum for Nursery managers to use to teach theirundergraduateinterns.

EducationalTheoryActive learning and experiential learning areboth loosely deSined as incorporating activitiesand interactive components to education.Studieshaveshownthatincorporatingactivities,discussions,andotherinteractivecomponentstolessonscanhelpstudents’overallperformanceinclass.1Experientiallearninghasalsobeenshownto particularly beneSit women, minorities, andlow-incomestudents.2 TheNursery isaperfectplace to implement active and experientiallearning, as it requires constanthands-onwork;alltheNurseryneededwascurriculumtoformatthosetasksinamoreeducationaldirection. Thecurriculum I wrote strives to incorporateexperiential learning components to increasestudent understanding of native plants andnativeplantproduction.

WorksCited1Freeman,S.,Eddy,S.L.,McDonough,M.,Smith,M.K.,Okoroafor,N.,Jordt,H.,&Wenderoth,M.P.(2014).Activelearningincreasesstudentperformanceinscience,engineering,andmathematics.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences,111(23),8410-8415.2Eddy,S.L.,&Hogan,K.A.(2014).Gettingunderthehood:howandforwhomdoesincreasingcoursestructurework?.CBE-LifeSciencesEducation,13(3),453-468.

WithspecialthankstotheUWBotanicGardensEducationDepartmentandtheCampusSustainabilityFundfororganizationalandGinancialsupport.

Studentsattendlecturecomponentofeveningclass,PhotoCreditCourtneyBobsin

VolunteershelpweedyoungseedlingsattheSER-UWNursery,PhotoCreditCeciHenderson

Studentspar?cipateininterac?veac?vityineveningclass,PhotoCreditAdamLeDoux