Conservation Teaching and Learning Studios
As a part of our Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP) program, the CBC organizes Conservation Teaching and Learning Studios to promote opportunities for professional development. Using an action-oriented, participatory approach to conservation education, the studios bring together teams of conservation educators to exchange teaching strategies, train in evidence-based pedagogical approaches, and practice new techniques.
Upcoming Studios
Check back in early 2024 for more information about our next Studio.
Recent Studios
Starting Strong: Active Teaching for Early-Career Conservation Educators
In June 2023, the NCEP team hosted a group of post-secondary conservation educators for an interactive, online Conservation Teaching and Learning Studio tailored to early-career professionals. Focusing on the basics of active teaching, participants engaged with the principles of evidence-based teaching and connected with a community of practice. The sessions were infused with practical examples applicable to both online and in-person settings. The Studio provided space for educators to learn from each other and discuss opportunities—and challenges—with implementing evidence-based practices.
The Nuts and Bolts of Active Teaching
NCEP's 2022 interactive online Studio focused on the nuts and bolts of active teaching. Conservation educators engaged with the principles of evidence-based teaching and connected with a community of practice. The sessions were infused with practical examples applicable to both online and in-person teaching settings. This Studio session provided resources and space for educators to learn from each other and discuss opportunities—and challenges—with implementing evidence-based practices.
Learning and Creating Collaboratively
Over the course of four weeks in July 2021, 29 educators from 11 countries joined us virtually for our 8th annual Studio. Participants explored evidence-based tools and approaches of relevance to their teaching practice, applied these tools to the collaborative creation of active learning experiences, and connected to a community of practice to exchange experiences, resources, and lessons learned after a year of teaching virtually.
Retooling your Classroom: Active and Evidence-based Teaching for Conservation Educators
In July 2020, we held our 7th annual Studio in an online format. Through interactive online meetings and assignments over the course of four weeks, participants learned about effective teaching tools and approaches from facilitators and peers, discussed challenges, and practiced applying these techniques in their own lessons and curricula in both in-person and online scenarios.
Effective Teaching By Design
In June 2019, 18 educators and practitioners from the US and abroad convened at AMNH to work on integrating scientific and active teaching techniques into their own teaching practice, from designing a class session to planning an entire course. Individually and in groups, participants also evaluated how these techniques align with course objectives, goals, and intended outcomes, and considered multiple assessment strategies. Participants were able to learn from their peers and actively train on how small changes in teaching and course design that can have big results in student learning.
Walking the Walk: Implementing Active Teaching and Learning in the Classroom
The evidence is clear: for over three decades, research has shown that active teaching enhances students’ development of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to be effective scientists and professionals. For the 2018 Conservation Teaching and Learning Studio, 22 educators from the US, South America, and Southeast Asia gathered to train in and share strategies for integrating evidence-based active teaching techniques in the classroom, discuss and work through challenges to teaching actively, and practice applying these techniques in their own lessons and curricula.
Evidence, Evidence, Evidence! Developing and Assessing Critical Thinking in your Students
Scientific literacy and the ability to evaluate competing claims based on the available evidence is a critical skill in all students, regardless of major. In June 2017, 16 university educators convened at AMNH to train in scientific and evidence-based teaching practices that promote the development of critical thinking skills, as well as aligning assessment techniques to desired student learning outcomes. Studio participants learned about effective tools and approaches from peers and investigators leading NSF-funded research on education, and practiced applying these techniques working in teams and on topics relevant to their own teaching.
Developing and Assessing Student Skills in Conservation Teaching
Twenty-four educators from the United States, Latin America, and Southeast Asia gathered at AMNH in June 2016 to practice designing assessment approaches that develop and evaluate student professional skills, learn how to apply a variety of active and scientific teaching techniques in their own classrooms, and connect to a community of practice to exchange experiences and lessons learned in evidence-based teaching.
Teaching Tools and Techniques
Held at AMNH in July 2015, this studio convened 13 conservation educators and practitioners from 3 countries (USA, Canada, and Jamaica) to develop case study-based exercises. Participants were introduced to and practiced applying active teaching tools and techniques in the context of their own conservation teaching topics. The studio also focused on providing professional development on evidence-based approaches to teaching science, with an emphasis on civic engagement and developing critical thinking skills in students.
Assessing Student Learning of Socio-Economic Systems
This studio convened 18 conservation educators and researchers from 13 institutions at the NSF-funded National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center in Annapolis, MD, in June 2015. Participants shared insights, created new connections, and identified key questions for further work based on their own experiences, knowledge, and research in systems thinking.
Learn more about the Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP).