Sea-ing Change
Written by Karl Hennen
Lisa Parr is a 2014 - 2015 ALEX 'Applied Learning Experiences Excellence in Teaching Award' winner. This article provides insights into the efforts she takes to provide real world learning experiences for her students.
Famed Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist Dave Barry once said, “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you’ve been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.” If Barry’s words hold water, they can speak for Marine Science Professor Lisa Parr’s teaching philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Across field studies, labs, or lectures, Parr has shown how applied learning offers deeper understandings of marine science for pupils to “sea change” in terms of future success.
The enthusiastic words of former student Gwendolen Larrow reveal Parr’s gift of tailoring instruction to yield meaningful outcomes. “Lisa loves to do hands-on learning,” she writes. “These classes were not rigidly structured which allowed Lisa to personalize different teaching methods for each student.” Regardless of the assignments given, Parr’s dedication has been a constant. “Professor Parr went out of her way to ensure that each student was getting the best direction in order to secure a job in marine science,” continues Larrow. “She has a way of reaching out to every type of student.”
Parr acquired her Baccalaureate degree in Biology with an Oceanography emphasis from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. She then spent an additional year receiving a teaching credential in secondary life science before attending the University of Tasmania in Australia. While abroad, Parr obtained a Masters at its Center for Environmental Studies. She also took advantage of a unique opportunity to study Adélie penguins for credit towards her Masters.
Having an initial passion for avian biology, Parr’s interests soon grew to encompass biogeography, oceanography, seabirds, and shorebirds. With the subjects forming her Masters program’s studies, Parr began work on Antarctic seabirds. This entailed a solid foundation in marine ecology and oceanographic processes. Parr’s other passions of environmental and science education led her to instructing high school classrooms where she taught Advanced Placement biology, marine biology, and oceanography.
From the rigorous nature of Advanced Placement courses and University classes available to high-schoolers, Parr observed them doing college-level work, finding value in helping their start on higher education via applied learning. Parr herself soon transitioned to higher education instruction. She pursued her lifelong passion for teaching Marine Science to UH Hilo succeeding her arrival in the islands via sailing.
Parr’s offerings at UH Hilo include the Senior Internship in Marine Science (MARE 480), Teaching Marine Science (434), Marine Field Experience for Teachers (MARE 435), and Marine Option Program (MOP) courses (MARE 100, 103-105). Various applied learning opportunities constitute a significant portion of these classes, providing students with experiences beneficial to careers. In MARE 435, for example, pupils develop investigative lessons based on field labs they design. The real-world applications impart strategies for providing safe field labs to their own future students. Those enrolled in MARE 435 also collaborate with local teachers. Both parties adapt lessons and materials for classroom use or cooperate in data gathering.
Similarly, MARE 480 contextualizes knowledge learned in class, teaches skills required for career success, and establishes networking between potential employers for students. Prior to their internship, pupils develop learning objectives. They then compile evidence from work experiences to demonstrate reaching said goals. Coursework associated with the internship promotes marine science-related professional success, including applied learning of resume and grant writing techniques, communication skills, and workplace information.
Carrie Soo Hoo (left) with community member at Onizuka Science Day (Photo credit: Lisa Parr)
The Teaching Marine Science class, MARE 434, provides students with pedagogical theories and ideas to explore in regards to science. Its concentration is the instruction and philosophy of the subject, with topics ranging from readings to discussions. In addition, men and women enrolled within MARE 434 develop pupil assessments and lesson plans while applying instruction to real-life scenarios.
MARE 435 and MARE 480 student Katrina Peterson remarked positively on Parr’s teaching methods. Peterson used her field experiences within the former class in order to learn about marine science education. With MARE 480, the capstone internship course, she has realistically prepared for interviews and job-scouting that will follow graduation.
“Both classes I have taken with Parr have been great,” Peterson contends. “I am really interested in teaching in the future so I was able to absorb a lot of information from that class and from all of her experience[s] she has teaching. The internship class has already been insanely helpful and I think is really getting me into the mindset of entering the workforce and becoming a competitive candidate for positions I apply for. By doing mock interviews and other activities, I'm learning how to talk about myself to employers and present myself confidently.”
In addition to being a much-loved instructor at the Hilo campus, Parr serves as Site Coordinator for the Marine Option Program.
“The Marine Option Program is a certificate program open to University of Hawaiʻi students from any field of study [with] an interest in the ocean,” writes Parr. “Students in the MOP certificate program have the opportunity to take marine-related coursework, and to conduct an independent research project or participate in an internship in a marine-related field. The MOP certificate program provides students with experiential education, research opportunities, networking, job opportunities, field trips, and the opportunity to pursue their passion for marine studies.”
In all of her classrooms, Parr engages her students with direct, hands-on, and participatory experiences. She believes in authenticity, stressing its significance is universal. An equally firm believer in practical application being the best teacher, Parr encourages the real-world interaction between pupils and subjects, a view which has yielded positive outcomes, no matter which professional direction her students pursue.
Katrina Peterson (right) and others at the Onizuka Science Day (Photo credit: Lisa Parr)
“Applied learning means actually using the skills and content of a subject area in an authentic situation: working in a classroom, or an agency, or an organization,” she contends. “People don't learn to be artists just by sitting in a classroom listening to someone talk about being an artist; they need to DO art. Similarly, students learn to be scientists or policy makers or teachers, or anything else, in my opinion, by getting the opportunity to DO the work associated with those careers in an environment where they can try their hand at it with supervision and mentoring.”
Parr, whose interest in student applied learning is as far-reaching as her love of marine science, believes her courses give UH Hilo pupils frequent possibilities to utilize knowledge on marine science beyond the classroom as they pick up skills along the way. These lifelong skills may be something more conventional classes overlook.
“Students in 434 and 435 learn professional skills including writing lesson plans and curriculum, classroom management skills, and lesson presentation skills - and then apply those skills working in the schools, with students and teachers,” explains Parr. “In MARE 480, students do an internship in which they actually work in the field that they are interested in going into after graduation.”
The immediately relevant learning opportunities benefit marine science students seeking to stand out in various job settings. For pupils aspiring to obtain a MOP Certificate, they may prepare for real-world competition through organized platforms recognizing their work.
“Every spring, the MOP system holds a Symposium,” Parr continues. “Students compete in categories including best research project, best internship project, best use of technology in a marine-related project, and the John Craven … ‘Child of the Sea’ award, for a project that exhibits imagination, ingenuity, and passion for marine science.”
Beyond her classrooms and internships, Parr encourages her pupils to consider additional learning opportunities in realistic environments benefiting them. One notable example is the Onizuka Science Day, an annual event held in Januarys at UH Hilo. Marine Science and MOP students alike cooperate running a hands-on workshop for the occasion. Typically, her MARE 434 classes provide assistance so they, in turn, receive invaluable experience directly working with school children early in the semester. The workshop of the Science Day imparts a feel for the education-oriented lessons they later design.
Whether or not pupils are involved with the Onizuka Science Day, however, Parr hopes they see opportunities from applied learning are vast like the ocean. She cites one such example.
“I want students to be in a good position to compete for jobs immediately upon graduation,” she asserts. “I want them to have seen possibilities that they may not have even known existed. In MOP, students network with other current and previous MOP students around the state— many of whom work in marine science agencies and organizations, like NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and DAR (Division of Aquatic Resources).”
Junior Clifford Kow, Jr., who took Parr’s MARE 171, 201L, and 340 courses, readily acknowledges her commitment to students. “Professor Parr is a great model for any educator,” Kow, Jr. posits. “Her passion for the topics she teaches really shows and motivates the students. She keeps things interesting by making the hands-on activity's (sic) fun and exciting. Also, she expects the best of EVERYONE in class: she wants to see her students genuinely succeed.”
An influential professor at UH Hilo exemplifying a teaching paradigm incorporating real-life experiences alongside her lessons, Parr ensures her pupils will look beyond the surface of learning to “sea” a change academically, personally, and professionally for themselves. This change may cross oceans, but Parr supports classrooms wading into a bright future one step at a time. With several marine science-themed applied learning opportunities for students, the only question remains: “Water you waiting for?”
