December 18, 2012
Nelson Institute Associate Professor Adrian Treves has received a Situated Learning Award from the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences International Programs and Engage, a program of the Division of Information Technology’s Department of Academic Technology, for his project “Wolf Hunt Simulation: The Wolf Policy Debate in Wisconsin and Sweden.”
The project enhances an existing wolf hunt simulation by ushering students through an interactive case scenario in Wisconsin and Sweden. Combining a place-based experience with simulations, the project has students make the management decisions about a public, regulated hunting season on gray wolves.
The project follows student decisions to their logical outcomes over ten years in simulated time. The case scenarios ask students to role-play various stakeholders in the wolf policy debate and to interact with other stakeholder groups as the students make decisions about wolf policy.
By grappling with a current issue that involves politics, law, science and practice, the exercise is meant to help students better develop a deep understanding of real-world problems through creative problem solving.
The awards program recognizes innovative instructors committed to internationalizing science education at UW-Madison with online learning tools. Treves was one of four UW-Madison science instructors to be recognized. Each will receive financial and technical support to develop and implement online tools that actively engage students while helping them to place scientific study and knowledge in its international context.