6 EC
Semester 1, period 1
5042TREC6Y
The course consists of lectures, paper discussions, oral presentations, field excursions, a written report, and a final examination. Lectures will provide students a foundational understanding of tropical ecology, and will cover topics including: i) tropical forest structure and diversity, ii) forest and ecosystem dynamics, iii) biotic interactions and trophic cascades, iv) carbon and nutrient cycling in soils, v) past, present, and future climate change, vi) spatial patterns of tropical ecosystems, vii) human influence and biodiversity, viii) conservation strategies in tropical systems. Several interactive paper discussions will be held that relate to lecture topics. Students will also make several trips to the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam to learn about the tropical plants in their collection, and the role of those plants in tropical forests. If possible, excursions to the Wetlands Museum International and the Soil Museum in Wageningen will be organized. During the module, students will develop individual proposals related to a current topic in tropical ecology. Students will present this proposal to the class, and also write a written proposal. If possible, a symposium will organized so that PhD students studying tropical ecology in the Netherlands can come to UvA and share their work.
At the end of the course, the student is able to:
1) Describe tropical ecosystems, their ecology, and theories related to their ecology
2) Develop proposals that test hypotheses related to current research in tropical ecology
3) Articulate their proposal ideas in a concise oral presentation (3 minute thesis)
3) Discuss and debate current literature related to tropical ecology and conservation
Lectures will be given to introduce students to topics in tropical ecology. Werkcolleges will be focused on paper discussions and developing proposal ideas. A symposium will introduce students to current PhD projects and results from across the Netherlands. A second symposium will allow students to present their proposal ideas to their peers. The course will contain field excursions to the Hortus, which contains an array of tropical plants.
|
Activiteit |
Aantal uur |
|
Excursie |
6 |
|
Hoorcollege |
20 |
|
Presentatie |
4 |
|
Tentamen |
3 |
|
Vragenuur |
2 |
|
Werkcollege |
6 |
|
Zelfstudie |
42 |
|
Zelfstudie |
85 |
The learning outcomes of the course will be assessed by 1) participation in paper discussions, 2) peer-review of proposals. 3) generation of a proposal, 4) a presentation of the proposal, and 5) a final examination.
Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):
Additional requirements for this course:
Attendance at all werkcolleges, symposia, and excursions is required.
Attendance at lectures is highly recommended.
Without informing the coordinator of absence at obligatory components, exclusion of the course might be a consequence. When absence is reported in time and the reason is accepted by the coordinator, a replacement assignment has to be made. Not completing this assignment within two weeks after the end of the course, exclusion of the course will be the consequence.
| Item and weight | Details |
|
Final grade | |
|
45% Tentamen | Must be ≥ 5 |
|
25% Written proposal | Must be ≥ 5 |
|
15% Proposal presentation | |
|
10% Proposal peer review | |
|
5% Paper discussions |
The manner of inspection will be communicated via the digitial learning environment.
Students are expected to have read the paper before the paper discussion. The paper discussion may be assessed in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, writing a short summary of the paper or answering a series of questions regarding the paper. The assessment will take place before the paper discussion begins, so students must be on time for the paper discussion or they will miss the evaluation, which cannot be made up.
Students are not graded on Hortus excursions, but are asked to prepare a short talk on a plant of their interest to give to the other students.
Over the module, students will develop a proposal that tests ideas relating to tropical ecology or conservation. The final written proposal will be submitted at the end of the module. This proposal is an individual project.
Each student will present their own project idea (proposal) to the class in the form of a 3-minute thesis.
Each student will peer-review another students proposal (anonymously) to develop critical thinking, writing, and evaluation skills.
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
In the schedule below you will find the relation between the amount of ECTS and the study load. Students are expected to spend a lot of hour on self study outside the contact hours.
|
Classes (HC) |
20 |
|
Seminars (paper discussions - WC) |
6 hr (3 hr per student) |
|
Excursion: |
6 hr (3 hr per student) |
|
Minisymposium (conference): |
4 hr |
|
Symposium Tropical Ecology PhD research |
4 hr |
|
Self study |
134 hr |
|
Total ECS 6 x 28 |
168 hours |
The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.
It is assumed that students have background knowledge in Community Ecology.
In 2016 classes and Hortus excursion given by Hans Vester is facultative.