Multi-disciplinary, Integrative Approach in Wetland Delineation Training enhanced with Greenhouse Gas Assessments

Abstract

Using an expert-novice paradigm, an integrativeproject-based approach was used to team-teach a Wetland Soils course during 2023 after having been taught by a sole instructor in a non-integrative approach in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. The principles taught in 2023 were aimed to allow the students to develop a complete assessment of a potential wetland area through the evaluation of pedologic, hydrologic, botanical, biogeochemical and atmospheric data. At the end of each semester, course evaluations were administered. The ranked responses were used to determine if students’ overall comprehension of the class taught during 2023, which combined integrative, problembased techniques, greenhouse gas assessment, and biogeochmical and atmospheric cycles, was similar to the comprehension reports from the four previous years, which were taught without class enhancements. The majority of the course ratings did not differ (p > 0.05) among the five years considered in this study, confirming the idea that a more involved approach, even in presence of a heavier workload, did not negatively impact the students’ ability to acquire knowledge from various related disciplines by synthesizing course material applied to a real-life issue. The end-of-the semester written reports indicated that integrative approach additionally challenged the students to improve writing, presentation, and teamwork skills, while also expanding their knowledge of collaborative processes. In an academic environment, the single-discipline approach to teach scientific subjects often provides a powerful tool to organize knowledge according to the principle of reductionism, where larger systems are divided into smaller elements in order to facilitate concept comprehension and assimilation (Stichweh, 2003). However, recent developments reported by the National Science Education Standards (NSES) highlighted how multi-disciplinary approaches in teaching scientific matters can enhance deductive thinking, critical reasoning, and can lead to greater academic achievements (You, 2017). Within the interdisciplinary approach in research and education (IDRE) in academic environments, which often requires a high level of involvement among instructors specialized in different disciplines, many barriers have been identified, such as insufficient incentives and rewards for students and instructors, lack of cohesive frameworks, and lack of synergistic integration among scientific disciplines (Lin, 2008). However, funding agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), are progressively increasing demands for interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinary approaches that encompass not just different disciplines, but the involvement of different staff, equipment, and organizations (Lin, 2008). Multi-disciplinary methodologies in classrooms have been described as successful when a problem-based approach was implemented in contrast to theme-based approaches (Kotter and Balsiger, 1999). In problem-based research, the solution to the question being posed often cannot be achieved with the knowledge or skills developed and acquired from a single discipline (Kotter and Balsiger, 1999). Developed to address predominantly agricultural matters, soil science, and the teaching of soil science today, represent a clear example of an interdisciplinary approach (Sharma and Aulakh, 2009). Universities in the United States (US) and Canada that include environmental issues in soil science programs have experienced increased enrollment, highlighting how students are reflecting more interest in interdisciplinary material (Sharma and Aulakh, 2009). However, in a survey conducted among soil science courses and curricula in the US, more than 50% of the methodological approach was delivered in a standard lecture format and only 20% was delivered by alternative methods, such as problem-based or active learning (Jelinski et al., 2019). The combination of interdisciplinary and problem-based approaches can represent a challenging, but effective solution to enhance students’ skills and expand learning objectives in soil science curricula. The Soil Science Society of America highlighted how employers expressed the concerning lack of written and verbal communication skills and field experience shown by students with a soil science education (Amador, 2019). The active-learning method aims to increase the employability of students, while enhancing critical thinking (Amador, 2019). Active collaboration from the students that participate in the collection and observation of scientific evidence creates a more attractive teaching method (Hasni and Potvin, 2015). Within the active-learning methodology, the problem-based approach creates experiences for students that go well beyond a standardized lecture, more closely resembling actual research activity and field experience (Neaman et al., 2021). The topic of wetland science offers the unique opportunity to integrate soil, water, atmospheric, social science and botany and apply a problem-based, activelearning methodology to enhance student learning of a complex, interdisciplinary subject. Wetlands in Arkansas represent an important component of natural biomes and restorations and represent a fundamental environment for providing valuable ecosystem services (MEA, 2005). In the last several decades, major hydrologic alteration and agricultural expansion into wetland areas have occurred in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV), including eastern Arkansas and Louisiana and western Mississippi, which has resulted in large losses of wetland area (Jenkins et al., 2010). Consequently, socially and environmentally important ecosystem services have also been lost (Jenkins et al., 2010). To date, the US Army Corps of Engineers is acting to restore and utilize wetlands to prevent flood damage. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act recognized the importance of preserving and restoring wetland areas by establishing a regulatory process to delineate transitional zones and to mitigate the loss of existing wetland areas (i.e., swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar environments) to preserve, conserve, or re-establish the ecosystem services provided by transitional and riparian areas, such as wetlands (ANRC, 2012). However, wetland delineation requires specific, interdisciplinary knowledge and specialized skills to properly identify wetlands because of the subsequent potential political and economic ramifications of labeling an area as a wetland. Due to the complex nature of and multitude of ecosystem services provided by wetlands (ANRC, 2012), delineating and assessing wetlands are tasks that can be accomplished only through the use of knowledge and skills attained through the combination of several scientific disciplines. Anaerobic, reducing soil conditions, hydrophytic vegetation and specific hydrologic factors are recognized wetland indicators often used in a delineation process. Monitoring seasonal water movement can help to evaluate the effectiveness of a monitoring and/or restoration program. The biogeochemical characteristics of a wetland can be assessed through the evaluation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Differential soil moisture levels affect the metabolic rate of the microbial community, enhancing and/or limiting CO2, CH4, and/or N2O production and release depending on fluctuating soil conditions (Della Lunga et al., 2021). Furthermore, in a wetland delineation, gas chromatographic analyses can facilitate the coupling of soil biogeochemistry with atmospheric science. While the assessment of factors regulating GHG can be approached through the lens of biogeochemistry, the byproducts of microbial activity directly influence and encompass atmospheric science. However, although theory and application are often included in chemistry curricula, gas chromatography principles and techniques are often not addressed in soil science or environmental science majors (Giarikos et al., 2013). Gas chromatography, the knowledge of which is often requested by various industrial sectors, was recognized as a fundamental tool in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors (Griffin et al., 2024). The challenge of conveying the necessary knowledge and teaching the required observational skills to delineate and study wetlands arise from the multi-disciplinary nature of wetland science itself. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate an innovative, integrative, problem-based, multi-disciplinary approach as a teaching tool for wetland science aimed to enhance field skills and competences of undergraduate and graduate students. At the beginning of the semester, students in a combined upper-level undergraduate/graduate-level Wetland Soils course were tasked to evaluate an assigned study area and determine if a wetland was present. It was hypothesized that the inclusion of tools, such as gas chromatography, not typically part of soil science curricula for field assessment of GHG emissions, and complimentary field monitoring instrumentation would enhance student learning and competencies. It was also hypothesized the inclusion of additional novelty topics in the Wetland Soils class would not decrease end-of-the-semester student ratings for the course as obtained in the years when novelty topics were not taught.