I enjoyed conducting a field research project throughout the course. The methods I used were straightforward so I had no issues implementing them. However, I did struggle when planning the field research project. The concepts of fieldwork were new to me so I had difficulty predicting the efficiency and success of my proposed methods. I felt that hands-on learning was most effective for developing field research skills.
Luckily, I did not have to make any severe changes to my study design, but as I worked through the tutorials in this course I realized slight improvements could be made. For example, I learned the importance of equal replicates when conducting stratified sampling.
Learning the abundant variables that must be considered when conducting ecological research has enhanced my respect for those who perform it. My project was simple and still required hours of commitment so those developing an ecological theory with complex experiments must have extreme dedication. My appreciation for the development of ecological theories has sparked my interest in how these theories are implemented in society.