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Auffret AG, Ekholm A, Hämäläinen A, et al. Can field botany be effectively taught as a distance course? Experiences and reflections from the COVID-19 pandemic. AoB Plants. 2021;14(1):plab079doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plab079.
Auffret, A. G., Ekholm, A., Hämäläinen, A., Jonsell, M., Lehto, C., Nordkvist, M., Öckinger, E., Torstensson, P., Viketoft, M., & Thor, G. (2022). Can field botany be effectively taught as a distance course? Experiences and reflections from the COVID-19 pandemic. AoB PLANTS, 14(1), plab079. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plab079
Auffret, Alistair G, et al. "Can field botany be effectively taught as a distance course? Experiences and reflections from the COVID-19 pandemic." AoB PLANTS vol. 14,1 (2022): plab079. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plab079
Auffret AG, Ekholm A, Hämäläinen A, Jonsell M, Lehto C, Nordkvist M, Öckinger E, Torstensson P, Viketoft M, Thor G. Can field botany be effectively taught as a distance course? Experiences and reflections from the COVID-19 pandemic. AoB Plants. 2021 Dec 23;14(1):plab079. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plab079. eCollection 2022 Feb. PMID: 35035870; PMCID: PMC8757578.
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AoB Plants. 2021 Dec 23;14(1):plab079. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plab079. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Can field botany be effectively taught as a distance course? Experiences and reflections from the COVID-19 pandemic.

AoB PLANTS

Alistair G Auffret, Adam Ekholm, Aino Hämäläinen, Mats Jonsell, Carl Lehto, Michelle Nordkvist, Erik Öckinger, Peter Torstensson, Maria Viketoft, Göran Thor

Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden.

PMID: 35035870 PMCID: PMC8757578 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plab079

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 forced a rapid change in university teaching, with large numbers of courses switching to distance learning with very little time for preparation. Courses involving many practical elements and field excursions required particular care if students were to fulfil planned learning outcomes. Here, we present our experiences in teaching field botany in 2020 and 2021. Using a range of methods and tools to introduce students to the subject, promote self-learning and reflection and give rapid and regular feedback, we were able to produce a course that allowed students to achieve the intended learning outcomes and that obtained similarly positive student evaluations to previous years. The course and its outcomes were further improved in 2021. We describe how we structured field botany as a distance course in order that we could give the best possible learning experience for the students. Finally, we reflect on how digital tools can aid teaching such subjects in the future, in a world where public knowledge of natural history is declining.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Keywords: Floristics; learning; online course; pedagogics; plant identification; teaching

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