Spring Break
Oceanography class cruises S.F. Bay - with a catch
A sea for participation
Andrew Herndon
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: News
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Taught by Professor Don Reed, the online General Oceanography course takes students out onto the San Francisco Bay for a day of hands-on learning.
"The theme of the class is to have the students be the oceanographer," Reed said, "not sitting passively - to a lecturer - listening about oceanography."
The Geology 105 students embark from Redwood City aboard a 90-foot research vessel and spend about four hours on the bay, Reed said. Students have four opportunities to complete the trip, which is not mandatory.
The trip is conducted by the Marine Science Institute, and students collect data and examine specimens from the bay at four different stations situated on the ship, Reed said.
"They have three instructors onboard the ship that take the students through the various stations," Reed said.
The class analyzed water from the bay, examined microscopic organisms and mud, and collected fish using a trawl - a fishing net that is towed behind a boat, Reed said.
"We pulled up several (sting)rays, sharks and other fish, and took the time to identify what types of fish we had caught," wrote Dennis Stratford, a computer science major, in an e-mail.
Some students found the voyage interesting and informative.
"The field trip was fun," wrote Lisa Nagabhushan, a senior business administration major, in an e-mail. "It was interesting to see for myself how scientists do many of the things discussed in class."
The field trip, however, was not a sightseeing tour - it required hands-on activity.
"It was a lot more physical than I expected," wrote Nagabhushan, 28. "(We) were actually bringing in the nets and touching the animals. I was worried about the trip, because I don't do very well on the water, but it was fine."
The trip is funded by a fee that students pay when registering for the course, Reed said.
According to Reed, the fee varies, but currently it is about $40 or $50 in addition to the cost of the course.
"San Jose State needs to pay the Marine Science Institute for use of the ship and all costs associated with the four-hour voyage," Reed said.
Reed has taught the course almost 10 years since its inception in Fall 1998 as SJSU's first online class, Reed said.
According to Reed, the students must complete weekly assignments by logging into the course Web site.
"The class involves a good amount of discipline to log on and follow through with the weekly assignments," Stratford wrote. "The amount of work planned out for each week is equal to that which you would spend in a normal class."
Nagabhushan said she enjoys how Reed organizes the online course.
"The best part of this class, compared to other online classes, is that Don posts videos each week in which he reminds us of upcoming assignments and lays out the topics for the week," Nagabhushan wrote. "It's helpful to hear the information rather than just reading it on the syllabus."
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