Mapping progress: The life and work of Teaching & Learning Inquiry

A report from the ISSOTL Publications Advisory Committee. &nbsp

Theory: The Elephant in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Room

Excerpt: November, 2006 marked the third annual meeting of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and it was another blockbuster, with 850 participants, a rich array of sessions, the “Commons@ISSoTL” for informal exchange and sharing of resources, and a true international feel. As in past years, the conference also provided a window into the character and progress of the work, and a chance to ask where we are, what has been accomplished, and where we’re going. These questions leave room for considerable disagreement, of course. As in the parable of the blind men and the elephant, the scholarship of teaching and learning can look quite different depending on which parts of the conference anatomy one grabbed hold of. Even so (and with apologies for shifting tropes), I doubt that I was alone in seeing the role of theory in the scholarship of teaching and learning as the elephant in the room

Redescription of Terebellides stroemii (Polychaeta, Trichobranchidae) and designation of a neotype

Terebellides stroemii Sars, 1835, the type species of the genus, was originally described from the south-west coast of Norway. Over the past 170 plus years this species has been reported from around the world often without a detailed description; in some cases, schematic illustrations of the anterior end with the distinctive branchiae were given. Identifications were likely based mainly on the branchiae consisting of 4-5 lobes but recent work has shown that this character alone has led to misidentifications and confusion of a number of morphologically similar species. Michael Sars (1835) did not designate type specimens for this species. In order to provide an accurate definition of the genus it is necessary to redescribe and characterize the type species including the designation of a neotype. This will provide a baseline against which the potentially undescribed sibling species in the area can be compared and fully described. A large collection of specimens identified as T. stroemii from locations along the coasts of Norway was studied in the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo. This has prompted us to locate material collected by M. Sars (1835) from the vicinity of the type locality and to designate a neotype and provide a comprehensive description of the type species of the genus

Opening the pathways to scholarly enhancements of teaching and learning

This short piece, written on behalf of the Publications Advisory Committee (PAC), celebrates Teaching & Learning Inquiry’s transition to open access and what that means for the future of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Members of the PAC are Pat Hutchings (US, chair), Sean Brawley (Australia), Mick Healey (UK), Margy MacMillan (Canada), Rebecca Nowacek (US), Tony Ciccone (US), and (ex officio) TLI co-editors Nancy Chick and Gary Poole

Science, biodiversity and Australian management of marine ecosystems

The United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (United Nations 1982) came into effect in 1994. Signatory nations have substantial management obligations for conservation of marine natural resource and ecosystems. In this paper we discuss the challenges of defining and monitoring biodiversity at scales required for management of marine ecosystems. Australia\u27s area of immediate responsibility under UNCLOS covers an area of 11 million sq km with further linked responsibilities for an estimated area of 5.1 million sq km of continental shelf. This presents substantial data challenges for development and implementation of management. Acoustic seabed mapping is providing substantial information on seabed surface geology and topography and provides a surrogate basis for describing benthic habitat and seabed communities that have critical roles in marine food chains. The development of the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA 4.0, 2006) has provided a basis for planning marine biodiversity and resource management but the biological habitat interpretation of geological data is based very largely on demersal fish data. It is recognised in IMCRA 4.0 (2006) that revision and refinement of regionalisation requires further work in the areas of data coverage, ecosystem understanding and ecosystem surrogates and conceptual classification models. In this paper we discuss Australian experience highlighting problems and issues of relevance for scientifically based management of marine natural resource and ecosystems elsewhere in the world

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as a subversive activity

One of the most serious challenges facing higher education today is the erosion of academic culture—a declining sense that faculty form a community whose members reflect, deliberate, and make decisions together in the name of a shared educational vision. Our experience with Gonzaga University’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Initiative suggests that SoTL can be a powerful counter force to this erosion. What became increasingly evident as the initiative unfolded was that its most important result was the creation of a kind of alternative academic community that stands in opposition to many of the dis-integrative, disempowering forces at work in higher education. The scholarly examination of practice, done in a collaborative context, changed participants’ perceptions of learning, of themselves as teachers, and of the larger endeavor of which they are a part. Thus, we came to see the SoTL initiative as a subversive activity in the sense used by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner in their 1969 book, Teaching as a Subversive Activity: one that invites critical questions about education’s purposes, practices, and underlying assumptions, and in so doing reanimates core values

Cryptic diversity, intraspecific phenetic plasticity and recent geographical translocations in Branchiomma (Sabellidae, Annelida)

The importance of identifying biological diversity accurately and efficiently is becoming more evident. It is therefore critical to determine the species boundaries between closely related taxa and to establish diagnostic characters that allow us to define species. This is not an easy task when species exhibit high intraspecific phenotypic plasticity or when distinct evolutionary lineages with an unusually large amount of genetic distinctiveness show no apparent morphological diversity (cryptic species). These phenomena appear to be common in the genus of fan worms Branchiomma (Sabellidae, Annelida), and consequently, taxonomic errors are widespread in the group. Moreover, some Branchiomma species have been unintentionally translocated outside the area where natural range extension is expected, increasing the taxonomic problems. We have performed a range of analytical methods including genetic distances, Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, statistical parsimony analyses and general mixed Yule coalescent model to clarify the taxonomic status and assess the species boundaries of Branchiomma in Australia. This study shows that the traditional diagnostic morphological features are greatly homoplastic. Results also indicate that the diversity of Branchiomma in Australia is higher than previously reported and evidence some cases of high phenetic plasticity (in features previously considered as stable within species), high intraspecific genetic variability, cryptic species and several unexpected cases of translocations.© 2013 The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.This project was funded by an Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS)/AM and Census of Marine Life (CReefs) grants to PH and MC. The authors also thank CReefs for providing funding for fieldwork to Heron Island and Lizard Island Research Stations and Ningaloo Reef. The CReefs Australian node is generously sponsored by BHP Billiton in partnership with the ABRS, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Alfred P. Sloan FoundationPeer Reviewe

Phylogeny of Oweniidae (Polychaeta) based on morphological data and taxonomic revision of Australian fauna

The family Oweniidae Rioja, 1917 is a small group of broadly distributed polychaetes whose relationships and position in the annelid tree are still poorly understood. A comprehensive revision of the group with reconsideration of character homologies and terminology under a phylogenetic framework was needed. We investigated the relationships of members of Oweniidae and other polychaetes by performing maximum parsimony analyses of 18 oweniid species of the five recognized genera to date and members of the families Siboglinidae, Sabellidae, Spionidae, Magelonidae, and Chaetopteridae. Phylogenetic hypotheses confirmed the monophyly of Oweniidae and suggested sister-group relationships with Magelonidae, although weakly supported. Analyses also recovered Oweniaand Myriowenia as monophyletic and allowed recognition of Myrioglobulaas a junior synonym of Myriochele based on the presence of acicular chaetae and the shape of the head. Implied weighting analyses supported these findings and recovered Galathowenia australis as sister group ofMyriochele. The presence of acicular chaetae justifies the consideration of this species as belonging to Myriochele. Nomenclatural changes are proposed for those species previously considered as members ofMyrioglobula, and these are: Myriochele antarcticacomb. nov., Myriochele japonicacomb. nov., Myriochele islandicacomb. nov., Myriochele malmgrenicomb. nov., and Myriochele australiscomb. nov. After analyses and definition of generic diagnostic features, other new combinations include Galathowenia eurystomacomb. nov. and Galathowenia haplosomacomb. nov., previously considered as members of Myriochele. Taxonomic revision of Australian collections revealed the presence ofMyriochele heruensis Gibbs, 1971, which is herein redescribed, and allowed the description of four new species: Galathowenia annae sp. nov.,Galathowenia arafurensissp. nov., Galathowenia quelissp. nov., andMyriochele australiensissp. nov., mostly from the east coast of Australia, in addition to the three recently well-documented species of Owenia. Australian species have been described, illustrated, and compared in detail with similar taxa. Distribution patterns and ecological notes have also been given. Keys to oweniid genera and Australian species are provided

\u3cb\u3eFeature Essays:\u3c/b\u3e Getting There: An Integrative Vision of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Excerpt: Over the last two decades, the scholarship of teaching and learning has made important strides. There are now many more teachers engaged in the study of their students\u27 learning, more outlets (like this journal) for what they discover, and a growing demand for what those outlets make available. Campus policies are evolving to create space and rewards for such work, disciplinary and professional fields have promoted it, and notions of inquiry and evidence are..

Five new species of Terebellides (Annelida, Polychaeta, Trichobranchidae) from Papua New Guinea (Bismarck and Solomon seas)

Five new species of Terebellides are described from coastal and deep waters of Papua New Guinea, using both morphology and molecular tools (for four species). Terebellides elenae n. sp. is characterized by the absence of both a glandular lateral region on TC3 and papillae on margins of the branchial lamellae and by the presence of partially fused branchial lobes with conspicuous fifth lobe and dorsal rounded projections until TC6. Terebellides fauchaldi n. sp. has a very large glandular lateral region on the third thoracic chaetiger (TC3), a fifth branchial lobe and partially fused branchial lobes, and conspicuous dorsal rounded projections on TC2–6. Terebellides madeep n. sp. is characterized by a thin glandular region on TC3 and by four free branchial lobes. Terebellides oculata n. sp. is one of the only two species in the world to have eyespots. Finally, T. papillosa n. sp. has geniculate chaetae on TC6 and TC7 and bears a large number of papillae. A majority-rule consensus tree using the 16S gene and an identification key for all Terebellides species described from the Central Indo-Pacific region are provided