Teaching sustainable headwater land management through problem based field study

Increasingly, environmental agencies employ graduates with a broad-based educational training that allows relatively little time for practical fieldwork, so it is important to maximize the benefits from very limited fieldwork opportunities. This study evaluates a short, intensive, Problem-Based Learning exercise that aims to help learners connect textbook theory with field realities. It tackles the management of soils and drainage on reclaimed coal-lands in the headwaters of South Wales through a self-paced field trail that leads learners to examine land degradation problems, first in detail, then more holistically in terms of landscape sustainability. Findings highlight the problems that the learners encounter, which include difficulty understanding the motivations and intentions of either the land designers or land users and of evaluating hydrological processes in conditions other than those current during their visit. Despite this, learners value this first-hand experience and gain a realisation that real-world answers are not always simple, that prior learning is essential to effective field interpretation, that teamwork is a problem-solving tool, and that developing these skills requires 'practice'. Learners who score well in fieldwork also score well in class quizzes, spoken presentations, essays, other field projects and formal examinations.