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 University of Idaho
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 Environmental Science
 University of Idaho
 Web Design - CTI

Office: TAB 311
Phone: (208) 282-7957
Email: medakins@if.uidaho.edu

This course is intended to provide an introduction to a wide range of methods for conducting research in the environmental field for graduate students in Environmental Science at the University of Idaho.  It is an interdisciplinary course and will introduce you to methods from the physical, biological, and social sciences. The course is designed for a first year Masters degree student although it may also be of help to second year and PhD students.

The course includes an introduction to interdisciplinary research, creating the research question, searching the literature, developing the methods, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and publishing and presenting the results. While it will not be possible to cover each of these areas in sufficient depth to ensure mastery, it will allow students to discuss approaches to, and results of, research outside their fields as well as provide an introduction to the methods used in the student’s core area.  It is anticipated that students will supplement this course with additional methods coursework directly applicable to their research.

Books

Watts, Simon and Lyndsay Halliwell. 1996. Essential Environmental Science: Methods and Techniques. Routledge, London, England. Garton, E.O., J.T. Ratti, and J.H. Giudice. 2005. Research and Experimental Design. Chapter 3 of Techniques for Wildlife Investigations and Management, Wildlife Society, Bethesda, MD. (On Electronic Reserve). Teitelbaum, Harry. 2003. How to Write a Thesis: Practical instruction for researching and writing a top-notch thesis or dissertation. Thomson/Arco, 5th Edition.

Papers

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). 1999. Sound Science Technical Issue Paper. Pensacola, FL, USA.  Read or download at: http://www.setac.org/htdocs/what_pubtip_sound.html McNeill, Desmond. 1999. On Interdisciplinary Research: with particular reference to the field of environment and development. Higher Education Quarterly 53(4):312-332. Electronic Reserve. Robertson, D. W., D. K. Martin, and P. A. Singer. 2003. Interdisciplinary Research: Putting the Methods Under the Microscope. BMC Medical Research Methodology 3:20. Access online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/3/20.

Other readings may be required as needed. 

There are two major goals for this course. First, the course will provide students with a broad based background in research methods in environmental science including methods both inside and outside of their research areas. Second, the semester-long project should directly support the student’s research and result in a project ranging from a research proposal to chapters of the thesis.

Students in the course are expected to:

1. Watch and listen to the learning modules associated with each week's topic.
    
2. Actively participate in the threaded discussion each week.
    
3. Complete all assignments on time and submit by the due dates.
    
4. Review the work of group members and give thoughtful and constructive feedback

The course will include a requirement that students engage in a semester long writing project related to their research. Outcomes of this project may vary depending on where the student is in the research process, it may be a research proposal, the background and methods chapters of the thesis, a draft of a paper suitable for submission to a journal, or a response to a call for proposals (for PhD students).  It is strongly encouraged that students use their thesis projects as the basis of this work since this project can be a useful tool for organizing the research process, reviewing the literature, beginning the writing process, and obtaining useful feedback.  Preparation of well-organized and well-written papers and presentations is an important aspect of the course.

The class will be broken up into a set of relatively small (3-4 person) study groups. Each group will meet online (either live or asynchronously) to discuss their research projects and will review each other’s work several times during the semester providing constructive feedback to each other.  In addition, students will prepare Powerpoint presentations on their research projects and review these with their study groups. Course instructors will also review draft papers and presentations and provide feedback during the semester. Each student will give two presentations to the entire class, one at mid-semester covering the research question and one at the end of the semester outlining their full project.

Evaluation will be based on participation in the online group discussions, feedback to group members on their projects and presentations, and the student’s own research project at each stage of preparation and presentation.   

Participation in Online Group Discussion	15%
Annotated Literature Review	10%
Presentation of the Research Question and Research Objectives	10%
Draft Project	15%
Quality of Feedback to Group Members and Classmates	15%
Final Presentation	15%
Final Project	20%