TY - JOUR
T1 - Wildfire research in an environmental hazards course
T2 - An active learning approach
AU - Wall, Tamara U.
AU - Halvorson, Sarah J.
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - Creating opportunities for students to actively apply hazards theory to reallife situations is often a challenge in hazards geography courses. This article presents a project, the Jocko Lakes Fire Project, that implemented learning strategies to encourage students to be active in wildfire hazards research.Wildfire hazards stand out as an increasing threat to communities in forested areas given current and projected rates of urbanization, the growing concentration of wealth in hazard-prone areas, the increasing costs of forest wildfire reduction, and climate change.Components of the project involved students in problem definition and the articulation of a research plan; identifying and collecting relevant data; and analyzing and documenting the wildfire hazard event. The student-based evaluation of the project and its outcomes highlights the ways in which this approach can increase understanding of local hazard scenarios, familiarity with relevant theory, geographical knowledge, and skills in research.
AB - Creating opportunities for students to actively apply hazards theory to reallife situations is often a challenge in hazards geography courses. This article presents a project, the Jocko Lakes Fire Project, that implemented learning strategies to encourage students to be active in wildfire hazards research.Wildfire hazards stand out as an increasing threat to communities in forested areas given current and projected rates of urbanization, the growing concentration of wealth in hazard-prone areas, the increasing costs of forest wildfire reduction, and climate change.Components of the project involved students in problem definition and the articulation of a research plan; identifying and collecting relevant data; and analyzing and documenting the wildfire hazard event. The student-based evaluation of the project and its outcomes highlights the ways in which this approach can increase understanding of local hazard scenarios, familiarity with relevant theory, geographical knowledge, and skills in research.
KW - Active learning
KW - Natural hazards
KW - Student research experience
KW - Wildfire education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79951502162&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00221341.2010.507776
DO - 10.1080/00221341.2010.507776
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79951502162
SN - 0022-1341
VL - 110
SP - 6
EP - 15
JO - Journal of Geography
JF - Journal of Geography
IS - 1
ER -