The teaching methods and requirements of Field Parasitology are based on a number of assumptions, the first of these being that there is no way to make an individual a full- fledged parasitologist in five weeks (or five years). The second assumption is that it is quite possible to expose a person to all the tasks of a parasitologist in five weeks. The third assumption is that through proper choice of material, it is possible to incorporate a good deal of quantitative biology, as well as conceptual thinking, into a parasitology course. The exercises that have been developed are intended to be consistent with the above assumptions. Such exercises need to (1) illustrate principles, (2) involve large amounts of data which can be analyzed easily, (3) involve the entire class, (4) be quantitative whenever possible, (5) stimulate far-ranging class discussions and questions, and (6) be accomplished in a single day of about 200 person hours.

However, there are some parasitologist tasks which simply cannot be fitted into a single day because they demand too much individual work. Into this category fall independent research, specimen preparation and curation, preparation of formal oral presentations, and writing a scientific paper. Therefore you will be asked to begin these tasks early in the session and to work at them regularly during the course, usually on your own time.

In general, the course requirements include the following:

Obviously this list is a pretty long one, especially considering the fact that you only have five weeks to accomplish it. In several years of teaching Field Parasitology, however, no student has failed to do the overwhelming majority of these requirements in fine fashion. The major failing in recent years has been the artistic quality of permanent slides. In deference to the length of the requirement list, I am pretty tolerant of mistakes in detailed taxonomy, and of other kinds of failures that any experienced biologist knows are unavoidable, but I tend to be fairly intolerant of failure to seriously attempt all the requirements.

Students should expect to be asked to master, to the point of being able to use them in everyday classwork and project research, the following concepts and the methods of applying them to field data (see also Chapter 11):

Data to illustrate the above items are collected, analyzed by the class as a whole, and interpretations made insofar as possible within a parasitological context. You generally have a lot of help with the quantitative portions of the course. In fact, we usually end up doing most of the above as regular parts of the class exercises.

For certain exercises and for most if not all individual projects, you will either design or be provided with data sheets that will help you organize observations, make sure they are consistent from student to student, and to facilitate analysis at the end.

You will need the following, provided at your own expense:

You are also free to bring anything you want to in terms of your own books, cameras, binoculars, etc. Guns are not necessary and their possession is a violation of university policy. A back pack or field bag is very useful.

So much for the requirements, now for the expectations. I expect students to concentrate as much as possible on original field observations. I expect that if a student is inclined to be creative, scientifically or otherwise, that the student use that creativity to the utmost. I expect you to make as much use as humanly possible of the unique field opportunities at CPBS, leaving the intense book study for places like Lincoln, where anybody can study books any time. I expect that you will not be afraid to ask questions. I expect that you will have respect for the station library, to use the library materials to supplement, not replace, your field observations. I expect you to try everything you ever wanted to try intellectually back on city campus but were afraid to because of your grades. And, I expect you to share your knowledge, understanding, and insight with your fellow students during both formal and informal discussions.

Grading policy will vary depending on the summer, but generally grades are based not only on exams or quizzes, but also on specific performance goals. You will be given a sheet that indicates the specific graded items and their relative contribution to your grade. The independent research project is usually worth 35% of the grade, with points being awarded for early choices of projects and early observations, number and kinds of quantitative tools used, quality of oral presentation, and format and quality of written report. The collection when required must include a minimum number of slides of designated kinds of parasites, and has been worth 25% of the grade. I grade each slide in terms of when it is completed, collection data submitted with it, and artistic quality. I usually select the best collection and grade everyone else according to that standard, which generally reflects the most an average student can do with the material and chemicals available for a particular year. If a collection is not required, then I will adjust some other requirements accordingly. Daily written assignments and/or quizzes account for up to 30% of your grade. I reserve the right to award the remaining 10% on a subjective evaluation of your class participation, taking into account effort, attention paid to the exercises, care of equipment, animals, computers and library materials, and willingness to lead class discussions.

As you can tell from the above, the graded activities are mostly contract work; i.e., if you do the work satisfactorily, you will get full or almost full credit. I adopted this approach to grading many years ago, mainly as a result of watching students progress, or not progress, toward achieving the course goals. It quickly became obvious that if you do certain tasks seriously, you cannot help but come away from the experience educated (cf. some of the paper assignments in my city campus courses). The word "tasks," however, can be somewhat loaded! As a consequence of this pedagogical approach, grades in Field Parasitology generally have been reasonably high, and those who have had trouble with the course have been ones who spent too much time in the library and not enough time in the field and lab, have procrastinated on their project, and have not sought help early on use of the quantitative tools, and have been afraid to make their collection.