Engaging students in meaningful discussions can be a challenging task for science instructors, especially in introductory courses. The story-telling approach used in case studies can increase student participation by demonstrating the relevance of scientific inquiry to society. We developed an interrupted case study focused on a real-world example of a 40-acre native prairie restoration in an urban park in Austin, TX, for use in introductory undergraduate Ecology, Biology, or Environmental Science classes. The case study consists of five modules that challenge students to generate hypotheses, calculate summary statistics and generate graphs in Microsoft Excel, and discuss the challenges, costs, and benefits of ecological restoration in urban settings and the role of prescribed fire in land management. This lesson was tested in an introductory Environmental Science class at a liberal arts college, but it can be adapted for use in a variety of Biology courses over one to multiple class periods.

Primary Image: Student researchers surveying the plant community at a restored prairie outside of Austin, Texas. The data collected at this site is analyzed and interpreted by students during this lesson. 

Changing science education to foster greater equity and inclusion for Indigenous students will require effort from instructors and institutions. Instructors can help by including Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in their science classrooms. TEK refers to the many diverse knowledges, practices, and values regarding the environment that Indigenous peoples have acquired and passed down over many generations of living closely with the earth. TEK is practical and still in use today; in 2021, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality released federal guidance that TEK is to be considered alongside Western science when making federal policy decisions. Many have called for the inclusion of TEK in science classes and have provided guidance on how to do so thoughtfully. This lesson takes those suggestions into account and was developed and taught at an institution in Hawai‘i. During the lesson, students work to address an environmental phenomenon, in this case the degradation of water quality in Hawaiian fishponds, or loko i‘a. Students are required to review resources from four interest groups and knowledge systems (TEK, Western science, consumers, and the government) to create plans to address this problem. We found that this lesson helped students understand what TEK is, view TEK as a valuable and irreplaceable knowledge system, and view TEK and science as compatible ways of knowing. We also found that non-Indigenous and Indigenous students alike enjoyed and appreciated the inclusion of TEK in the class, and many of them asked for more TEK to be included in the future. This lesson is an important step for educators as we strive to repair misconceptions that science is exclusively for certain stereotypical groups. It opens the door to meaningful discussions on the relationship between various ways of knowing while exposing students to knowledge frameworks they may be unfamiliar with. Finally, it teaches students important systems thinking, communication, and collaboration skills while demonstrating that Western science is not the only way that humans learn about the earth.

Primary Image: Hawaiian fishpond. An illustration of a Hawaiian fishpond adjacent to a beach with some vegetation. Ocean currents are seen to one side.