Teaching to Learn and Learning to Teach: Education in Rangeland Ecology and Management

Abstract

Teaching in our rangeland ecology and manage- ment discipline is continuously evolving to ad- dress emerging issues and meet the needs of our students and their potential employers. The core curriculum in many range science education programs is strongly in uenced by current accreditation standardsi set by the Society for Range Management (SRM). These are based upon the standards developed by the Range Science Educa- tion Council (RSEC) and federal Of ce of Personnel Man- agement (OPM) for employment as rangeland management specialists with federal land management agencies (GS-0454 seriesii). However, a recent survey of range professionals re- vealed some gaps between what our students are learning and what potential employers and other stakeholders need and value.1 These ndings prompted RSEC to begin a fresh ex- amination of the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by modern rangeland professionals, and our educational ap- proaches to address these needs. 

DOI: 10.2458/azu_rangelands_v34i3_tanaka