The jigsaw is a type of cooperative
groupwork in which students teach each other and then put together pieces of a puzzle.
Done well, it is a very effective method, but it does take a fair amount of time. In
this jigsaw there are 3 subsets of information. Using a class of 30 as an
example, divide the class into 6 subgroups of 5 students. Give 2 groups Figure 5A
plus accompanying information (below), 2 groups 5B, and 2 groups 5C. Allow
these students enough time to look at their figures and background information
individually and then with their team members. The goal is for each student to
understand their topic clearly enough so that they can teach it to another student.
Then, rearrange the groups so that there are 10 groups with an A, B, and C student
in each one. Again, give the second grouping time so that students can explain
their figure and questions they may have without feeling rushed. The final question
for this group is to use their combined knowledge to explain the phenomena. That's
what makes it a "jigsaw" - the pieces are reassembled to solve the puzzle.
This will be a challenging but fun puzzle for ecology students. You will need to decide
how much time they will need for the first and second grouping of the jigsaw. The first
groups will need a good amount of time just to read through all the information. You can
of course use the figures in class discussion and skip the jigsaw.
Jones et al. conclude that their data “… provide strong support for the idea that a
chain of events links acorns to gypsy moth outbreaks and Lyme disease risk. The
experiments demonstrate first that acorns determine overwinter survival,
reproduction, and the resulting density of mice. Second, that high or low mouse
density, at low gypsy moth population density, can respectively suppress or release
moth populations through altered pupae predation. Third, that acorns determine
larval tick densities by affecting the use of oak forests by deer, resulting in high
densities of both host-seeking uninfected ticks and ticks parasitizing mice at the
time when spirochaete-infected mice are most abundant…. Our studies clearly
demonstrate that both gypsy moth dynamics and Lyme disease risk have
contingent outcomes arising from a complex chain of strong pairwise interactions
among taxonomically diverse species that are all interconnected within an
ecosystem.” Said more simply 1) more acorns results in more mice (Figure 5A), 2) more
mice results in fewer gypsy moths (Figure 5B), and 3) more acorns lead to higher tick
densities (as a result of higher numbers of mice and deer). Therefore lower numbers of
gypsy moths may be a predictor of greater Lyme disease risk. Quite a set of interactions
for an introduced species!
Student Assessment: Diagram Quiz
Make a clear drawing or sketch of the interactions between
gypsy moths, acorns, mice, deer, deer ticks, and Lyme disease. Label each component.
Between components write a phrase or sentence that clearly describes the
interaction.
EVALUATING AN ISSUE: How do you know whether it is working?
On-going (also called formative) evaluation of the approaches your are using is critical to the success of student-active teaching. Why try out new
ideas if you don't know whether or not they are working? This is a brief overview of formative evaluation. For more information, go to the
Formative Evaluation essay in the Teaching Section.
Course Goals:
Formative evaluation only works if you have clearly described your course goals - because the purpose of the evaluation is to assess whether a
particular technique is helping students reach these goals. For instance, most of us have "learn important ecological concepts and information" as a
course goal. If I reviewed the nitrogen cycle in a class, for evaluation I might ask students to sketch out a nitrogen cycle for a particular habitat or system.
Each student could work alone in class. Alternatively, I might ask students to work in groups of 3 and give each group a different situation (e.g. a pond
receiving nitrate from septic systems, an organic agricultural field, an agricultural field receiving synthetic fertilizer). The students could draw their flows
on a large sheet of paper (or an overhead transparency) and present this to the rest of the class.
The Minute Paper:
Minute papers are very useful evaluative tools. If done well they give you good feedback quickly. Minute papers are done at the end of a class. The
students are asked to respond anonymously to a short question that you ask. They take a minute or so to write their response in a 3x5 card or a piece
of paper. You collect these and learn from common themes. In the next class it is important that you refer to one or two of these points so that students
recognize that their input matters to you. The UW - FLAG site (www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/flag/)
gives a good deal of information about using minute papers including their limitations, how to phrase your question, step-by-step instructions, modifications,
and the theory and research behind their use.