| Abstract |
- Providing students with the skills necessary to identify trees is an ongoing challenge at Oregon State University. Several colleges within the university offer courses that teach tree identification. In the College of Forestry alone, two courses are offered that emphasize identification of native and introduced trees. The content and format of these courses are dynamic, and change depending on variables such as the availability of live samples on or near campus, the seasonal attributes of trees, and frequently in Oregon, the willingness of both teacher and student to tolerate inclement weather in order to identify samples in their natural setting. There is currently significant interest in using state-of-the-art technology to provide educational programs within the tree identification curriculum. The College of Forestry, for example, has developed several slide-tape and video programs dealing with tree identification and related information. Slide-tapes and videotapes are considered low-cost to produce and are easily accessed by both faculty and students through the Forestry Media Center (FMC). These programs are, however, linear in format and therefore require repositioning of slides and rewinding of tapes based on the particular needs of specific audiences. In 1994 the FMC began working with a master's degree candidate emphasizing natural resource education who was interested in the application of multimedia technology to tree identification. The program to be developed, Conifers of the Pacific Northwest, was intended to be a CD-ROM prototype, designed to be used in conjunction with the College of Forestry's tree identification courses. The goals of this project were to improve instruction in tree identification for the College of Forestry at OSU, and, to allow a natural resources graduate student the opportunity to apply various teaching and learning principles in the design and development of technologically advanced teaching applications. It was the first attempt by this student, a professional forester by education, to examine the process of designing and developing educational programs to support forestry education. The resulting program, Conifers of the Pacific Northwest , includes information on 12 genera and 29 species of conifers native to the Pacific Northwest, and three common ornamental conifers. Information about these trees is accessible either through indices of tree names or through an identification key. Also included in the program is a glossary of dendrological terms, an interactive map describing the geologic history of Oregon, and a key with practice samples that can be used to learn the skills necessary for the process of tree identification. Accompanying the program is a written user's guide that describes the main components of the program, described above, and the buttons used to navigate through these components.
This paper contains two important themes. One of these themes is the pedagogical framework of the multimedia program development process, and how the process benefited me as an educator in-training. The other theme is that of the program itself, Conifers of the Pacific Northwest, and its design, development, evaluation, and implementation.
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