teaching
with technology - 2006 recipients
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Teaching With Technology
The intent of the proposed modules is to allow students to learn on their own or with peers at their own pace outside of the normal class meeting and laboratory periods. The students will be able to revisit the modules as often as they wish to reinforce general concepts of the course. The modules will save class time that will be devoted now to inclusion of additional, more specialized topics in the course.
Modules are intended primarily to serve students in EPP 405/505 Mycology who have little or no experience with the subject of mycology. This is a new course that has been approved for undergraduate and graduate students. The course will be offered for the first time and team-taught by Drs. Ownley and Trigiano in Fall 2006. We anticipate that these modules will also be very useful to reinforce introductory material, or serve as a review for students enrolled in other plant pathology courses.
The first module (Mycology) will introduce general terminology used throughout the remaining five modules. Modules 2 – 5 will serve as the introductory material to a specific group of fungi, with emphasis on the sexual reproduction of these groups. Module 6 will describe asexual reproduction found primarily in organisms illustrated in Module 4 and a few fungi in Module 5, as well as fungi not known to have a sexual stage. Other than noted above, the modules are stand-alone instructional units. Additional details on the subjects included in the modules will be provided in face-to-face lectures and illustrated with laboratory experiences.
Module exams (15 questions randomly selected from a bank of 40 questions) will be developed that will allow students to gauge their learning success after completion of each unit. Students will need to demonstrate proficiency with module content (80% on the exams) to receive credit for the modules and will be able to take the exams as many times as needed to receive a passing grade.
Module 1: Mycology – General Overview
In this module students will explore “the basic biology and language” of Mycology. Like so many other disciplines, Mycology has its own terminology that describes the unique biology of the fungi and other organisms traditionally included in this course. This module will provide students with an elementary understanding of Mycology that they can apply to the remaining five modules.
Module 2: Lower Fungi and Other Interesting Organisms Studied by Mycologists
In this module the following groups of organisms will be introduced: acrasiomycota, myxomycota, chytridiomycota, hyphochrytridiomycota, labyrinthulomycota and oomycota. Students will learn the specific characteristics, life cycles, and details of reproduction, taxonomy, and ecology of these groups.
Module 3: Zygomycota – Common Black Molds and Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
Students will study this very interesting group of true fungi that produce zygospores by gametangial copulation (sexual reproduction) and sporangia and sporangiospores (asexual reproduction). Many of these fungi exhibit unique physical and physiological characteristics and run the range of saprophytes, to plant, animal and human pathogens. A specific subgroup of the Zygomycota has co-evolved with flowering plants and can exist only in a mutualistic relationship with their green partners. Some of these fungi have industrial applications.
Module 4: Ascomycota -- Yeasts and the Sac Fungi
All the fungi grouped in the Ascomycota characteristically reproduce sexually and produce asci containing ascospores. Additionally, they produce a very diverse array of asexual spores termed conidia (see Module 6). These fungi have unique characteristics and fill a variety of niches – some are pathogens and parasites of other organisms, whereas others obtain nutrition from dead materials. The yeasts, which are typically unicellular fungi, are included in this group and have a wide-range of industrial and experimental uses.
Module 5: Basidiomycota -- Rusts, Smuts, Mushrooms and Allies
This is a very heterogeneous group of organisms held together by the characteristic production of basidia and basidiospores during sexual reproduction. The Basidiomycota include a number of very important plant pathogens, edible and poisonous mushrooms, boletes, conks, and puffballs. The physical attributes and ecology of the various organisms are quite diverse and include many of the organisms that form ectomycorrhizae.
Link to Full Entomology and Plant Pathology Proposal (DOC)
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