Janette Bulkan is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. She has incorporated Open Educational Resources in courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr. Bulkan challenges her students to apply their learning beyond the walls of the lecture hall through the creation of case studies in which students are asked to evaluate real world issues in Forestry management and conservation.
Through support from UBC’s Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTLT) and the Open Case Studies Project, Dr. Bulkan’s students learned how to use the UBC Wiki as a platform to present their case studies. Each of the case studies includes a comprehensive overview of the problem in question and ends with students’ recommendations on how one might move forward sustainably.
Finally, the “Layering Perspectives” sections invite students, scholars, and industry professionals to expand the issues, thereby creating a living document that evolves alongside the issue it explores.
Assignment Details
The case study assignment in each of the courses below were part of a series of assignments students were expected to complete for course credit. Approximately two 60-minute lecture blocks were used to support students in learning how to use the UBC Wiki. Tutorial blocks were also allocated to create structured time for students to discuss their research with peers and Teaching Assistants.
As with more traditional assignments, students were expected to complete the majority of the work for this assignment outside of class time.