Table 2.
Summary of themes and comments produced by field study students regarding preparing for the field study.
| Number of responses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort | per theme categoriesa |
Comment | ||
| Read papers before | Develop projects more fully | Practice dolphin ID | ||
| 2016 (n = 13) | 8 | 1 | 2 | Read and summarize all the articles in advance so they can get to bed earlier. |
| If readings are not done for class, read far ahead. | ||||
| Take the time to read the summaries briefly and starts summaries before the trip. | ||||
| Read and summarize all your articles before the trip, be flexible and prepared to change your projects. | ||||
| It should be definitely a 3-h class. Having all the articles read beforehand will definitely make the Roatán trip more enjoyable. | ||||
| read a lot of background on the Island itself also on what you will chose to study. | ||||
| Do your homework before you come. | ||||
| Read and summarize all the articles in advance so they can get to bed earlier. | ||||
| 2018 (n = 14) | 4 | 6 | 2 | Along with reading academic articles on Roatán, look at social blogs and forums to learn more about Roatán to ensure you are prepared. |
| Bring copies of articles/notes of articles; paper and writing utensils. | ||||
| always have everything for the day prepared the night before. | ||||
| Read and brainstorm ideas more carefully. Most importantly, collaborate efficiently and effectively. | ||||
| I would say if they are planning to collect data on dolphin behavior it would be good to familiarize themselves with the different kinds of behavior that they display. | ||||
| refresh yourself on the articles and research methodology. | ||||
| Review video of the dolphins prior to research question. | ||||
| going to the lab and practice coding. | ||||
| going to the spring class and reading the articles. | ||||
| Take the articles with you on the trip so you can reference them at night or during the lectures. | ||||
| students make a detailed and specific ethogram so it’s less work once they start collecting data. | ||||
| Think of a few factors that may impact your project and think of back up plans for those factors. | ||||
Question (post-survey only): Cohort 1 – What would you recommend to help students prepare for the field study in the future?; Cohort 2 – What would you recommend to help students prepare for the field study in the future? aNot all students provided responses that fell into each theme. Also, theme categories were not mutually exclusive, and a student could contribute to multiple categories. The numbers will not add up to the sample totals for these reasons. Student responses were corrected for typographic errors only.