Dr. Mark C Gardener
Open University Associate Lecturer: S328 Ecology, S216 Environmental Science and U316 The Environmental Web
The Farriers,
Guscott,
Huntshaw Water,
Gt. Torrington,
Devon, EX38 7HE,
United Kingdom.
01 271 858751
Mark's Open University Student Page
Welcome:
If you are reading this then the chances are that you have been allocated me as your tutor for S328, S216 or U316. I have written this as a form of introduction and to give you a bit of background information about me. The Open University sends me very little information about you, generally name and address and scant details of past courses are all I get. So please drop me a note and tell me a little bit about yourself.
Link to my research page.
Link to the Open University Science pages.
A bit about me:
I started out as an Optician - trained in Bristol and the West Country - and had a variety of jobs in that industry. I was a Dispensing Optician and Practice Manager for many years before becoming a Contact Lens Consultant. I have also done stints as a sales rep and technician.
Then I decided upon a career change and began study with the Open University. I ended up with a degree in Biological Sciences and studied: S102 Science Foundation; S203 Biology: Form and Function; S236 Geology; S330 Oceanography; S327 Living Processes; S324 Animal Physiology; S365 Evolution and S328 Ecology. After that I worked in Conservation for a while as a Ranger for the London Borough of Sutton.
In 1999 I began a PhD at Walton Hall. I worked with Mike Gillman and Jonathan Silvertown. My research was entitled "The Role of Amino Acids in Floral Nectar". This involved looking at the composition of nectar from many species of plant as well as examining the responses of some animal species to differing nectar types. See My Research Page for more details. I have worked in many habitats in the UK as well as abroad. I have studied in the US and Australia. Most recently I worked on the pollination of some endangered plants in Hawaii.
Since returning to the UK I have been teaching with the Open University, as an Associate Lecturer and also at Residential Schools. I also work for Birmingham University and am involved in the MSc in Biological Recording (see my education page for more information).
The Field Studies Council promotes "environmental understanding for all" at its Field Centres.
Link to information on all Open University Residential Schools.
Book a place on SXR216 Residential School.
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Students at Nettlecombe, Field Centre, Somerset.
There's nothing like doing practical science to aid your understanding of it. The Open University has been running residential schools in collaboration with the FSC for over 20 years. I have been involved for a bit less than that but have still seen hundreds of students peering into quadrats and trays of freshwater invertebrates.
The S328 residential school is built-in to the course and is aimed at helping you with your Project. You will learn a variety of techniques for collecting data and doing the analysis. Whilst you are there you will have help in deciding upon your project from the FSC Tutors and the OU Staff. However, it's a good idea to talk to your tutor (in this case, me) about ideas at an early stage.
The SXR216 residential school is separate from the S216 course although it is closely linked to it. The emphasis is on practical methods; you will get to look at water flow, vegetation types, soil and landforms. At the end of the week you get to have a go a a small project in small groups. Many students find that the time they spend on this week helps enormously with their own environmental investigation as well as helping to consolidate understanding of S216. So, if you haven't booked yet, what are you waiting for? Book here.
Send TMAs to me:
Dr M C Gardener
The Farriers
Guscott
Huntshaw Water
Gt. Torrington
Devon, EX38 7HE
01 271 858751
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eTMAs must go to the OU via the eTMA system on your StudentHome page (you will need to login).
Make sure documents are in .doc format (or .xls), which is Word 97/XP type. If you use Open/Star Office then a native format is acceptable (.sxw or .odt)
Assignments:
Obviously you will use the address here to send your assignments to me. Most folks use a computer to do their assignments but I am happy enough with hand written TMAs. I hate to "lay down the law" but it seems appropriate to mention 1-2 things about TMAs right here; a few DOs and DON'Ts.
DO try to allow a couple of days for postage - mail doesn't
always arrive the following day.
DO put enough stamps on please - I have lost count of the number of times
that I have had to go to the sorting office.
DON'T use Special Delivery - this needs to be signed for and I am not always
in when the postman arrives.
DO start each question on a separate page - I am less likely to add up
the marks incorrectly!
DO leave plenty of space - between parts of questions and in the margins.
I try to give some feedback right on your answer but it's not always easy.
DO include a PT3 form (don't forget to sign it). I will make up my own
form for feedback (my handwriting is not brilliant so I type feedback these
days) but I need an original signature/PT3.
Mistakes/queries:
Of course I never make mistakes <ahem> but if you do have a query then please do not hesitate to contact me - is good. If something needs to be altered then you can send the assignment back to me (with a new PT3) and I will look at it again, no problem.
eTMAs:
From 2007 S216 students have the option of sending TMAs electronically via the OUs eTMA system. U316 students don't have the option - all TMAs are delivered in this way.
The default format for eTMAs is Word .doc format (that is Word 97/XP format). If you have a newer version of Word then your program may wish to save files as .docx format. This is not acceptable! Microsoft has produced a new document format that is not readable by previous versions of its own software and this should not be used for eTMAs. If you do not have M$ Office then you can use Star Office, which is provided by the OU. This is a version of Open Office that is freely available from the internet (so if you have OOo then there is no need to install Star Office as well). If you use Star Office or Open Office then you should save the document as .doc (i.e. Word 97/XP format) and I will be able to read it. Alternatively I will accept native Open office documents (.sxw or .odt format) but note that this is not OU policy so if you have other tutors then contact them first.
When the course is up and running you will have the opportunity to send a "test" TMA using the system. This is labelled TMA00. I will login from time to time and if I see any test TMAs I'll collect them and have a look. I will return them in the usual way and you will see the result. This will permit both of us to test that the system is working! If there are any problems then don't hesitate to contact me - is good.
You can get your First Class mail forwarded to your regular email account.
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Contact:
I am here to help! So, if you have a query then get in touch, is good as I am often teaching in the field and will be able to answer email sometime or other. It's a good idea to prefix the message title with your course code (makes it easier for me to prioritize). If that's not okay then give me a ring.
S216: It's a requirement of the course to have a computer and internet access. The OU provides all students with an email address that can be accessed via the First Class conferencing system. You can arrange for the messages to be forwarded to your 'regular' email account (very handy). There are a number of conferences set-up for S216 so go and have a look a them. If you are not already using First Class then contact the OU and get it sorted out! On your FC desktop there ought to be a 'special' conference for our Tutor Group - I will put messages in there from time to time so keep an eye on that.
Tutorials:
As soon as I have tutorial details I will post them here - check the dates carefully as last year's may still be listed!
The number of tutorials varies between courses. You should have been sent details of tutorials by the OU when they sent your tutor details out. However, here is a list of my tutorials. Anyone from other tutor groups/regions is welcome to attend. find details of the venue from your studenthome page (in the region section?).
S216 Region 13 South East
All tutorials are at Mid-Kent College, Horsted, Chatham from 10.00-12.00 (except the Field Trip 10.00-14.00)
Saturday, Feb. 23rd, 2008
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
Saturday, Jun 14th 2008 Field trip (see below).
Saturday, Sep. 20th, 2008 (Revision Tutorial)
U316 DaySchool Region 03 South West
The day shcool is held at Exeter College (CCI building) on Saturday March 8th 2008 and runs from 9.30-16.30.
Online activities:
S216 has a number of online activities. This is new for 2008 so I am just learning about them myself. However.. You will find that on your First Class desktop you should have a Tutor Group icon (it will appear late Jan). This is for the use of you and your tutor and the rest of the students in the tutor group (as the name implies). You can use this to introduce yourselves to me and each other (please); a little bit about who you are, what you've done in the past in the way of study and what you hope to get out of S216 would be handy. Your geographical location would be nice too. If you want to give out your address, phone number or whatever then feel free. The information will be seen only by me and the others of our tutor group.The TG forum will be used to introduce the online activities and to disseminate information/data and so on.
Field trips:
S216 has a field-trip allocated (sorry but S328 does not). The date will be Saturday Jun 14th at 10am (until 2pm). The location will be at Holborough Marshes, a Kent Wildlife Trust Nature reserve.This is a nice site as it's very varied, there are wet meadows, ponds, marsh (obviously) and woodland. I usually focus on ideas for projects. If you look at the KWT site you will see a map of where to park - we'll meet in the access road by the distribution centre and alongside the railway line. Due to Health and Safety reasons the OU requires participants to sign a waiver form. The regional office like this to be done in advance but that is not always easy to accomplish. I usually send forms to all students in my tutor group with their TMA01 so please return this asap. I will post a form on the First Class conference that can be printed and posted to me please (but here is a link to a Word file now). I will have some spares on the day but it would be nice to have all the forms back in advance if possible. The trip is open to other students so I will 'advertize' as appropriate (on First Class). However, it's not really suitable for partners, kids, dogs etc. (as they are not students).
This is where you get to collect some data for yourself and carry out a small investigation.
Click here to get help with choosing which stats test to use.
If you are doing S216 then you may decide to use secondary data, e.g. from the internet.
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Your Project/Investigation:
Both S328 and S216 require you to carry out a small project or investigation. Most students find this part the most rewarding element of the course as it allows you the freedom to do whatever you want (more or less)! I encourage everyone to think about their project as soon as possible, contact me with a few vague thoughts and we'll soon have you up to speed. I'd like to stress that this is supposed to be a small investigation. We are not after a major thesis here. If you are going to collect data from the field then aim for a solid 'day' out: 6 to 8 hrs is plenty. There are word limits (1500 words for S216 and 2000 words for S328). This project is also supposed to be 'fun' so don't get too worked up about it. Often the hardest part is deciding what to do - the world is your lobster so you will need to focus a little. I am here to help so please do contact me with your preliminary thoughts. As you progress through the course things will become easier. Selecting which statistical test to use is something you should plan right from the outset.
Deciding how you are going to analyze your data is important and should be part of the planning process. I will help you with that aspect of your project but there are materials sent out to you that will guide you. If you are doing S328 then you will have the OU Project Guide to help. For S216 we expect a smaller range of statistical tests and you will be sent information about these with your course materials.
S328: In this course you must collect some ecological data for a small investigation. This can be from the field or it could involve an experiment conducted in your greenhouse, garden or conservatory. There are 2 TMAs that are associated with this. In the first (TMA02) you write up a pilot study. The main write up comes in TMA04, where you set-out your investigation a bit like a scientific paper.
S216: In this course you collect some environmental data for a small investigation. Unlike S328 the data does not have to be your own - you can use information from the internet for example as secondary data. There are 2 main TMAs associated with this (in TMA03 you are asked to say what you are going to do, there are no marks for this and I'd hope to know from you already), in TMA04 you give a bit of an outline of what you are going to do (this is rather less formal than the 'pilot' in S328), this is just one part of the TMA. The main write-up comes in TMA05 when you present your findings. The format is broadly like a scientific paper but not quite so rigorous as in S328.
Course Links:
For general information about S216 Environmental Science
For general information about U316 The Environmental Web.
For general information about S328 Ecology (this course ended after 2006 but a replacement is planned).
For general information about SXR216 Environmental Science in the Field
U316 Course Website (you will need to login)
S328 Course Desktop (you will need to login)
S216 Course Desktop (you will need to login)
SXR216 Course Website (you will need to login)
Information on all Open University Residential Schools
Book a place on SXR216 Environmental Science in the Field