Final Reflection

Overall, I had a very positive experience at my applied study site, and will take with me valuable lessons and information with respect to education in a zoological facility. I was looking forward to learning more about the educational programs at the zoo and what aspects of their curriculum work best. I was able to do just that as I observed the information sessions at the orangutan exhibit, the otter exhibit, and the squirrel monkey exhibit. I learned that hands-on, experiential learning really is the best and people gain much more from these unique opportunities than they would from watching a video or listening to a lecture. Experiential education is most successful at the zoo in their outreach program, in which zookeepers and educators bring animals to various schools, churches, and organizations in the area in order to give them an up-close understanding of these animals. I was also able to learn more about the informational signage throughout the zoo and the impact that narrative signs can have on a person’s visit to the zoo. We discovered which placements of the signs worked best and how much text to put on each sign. Something that I did not expect to experience during my internship was sitting in on important meetings about the progress of various projects throughout the zoo. The one which was the most interesting was learning about the new komodo dragon exhibit which is currently under construction at the zoo. I had the opportunity to sit in on meetings about concrete, lighting, sound systems, zoo keepers paths, plumbing, anything you could think of, that goes into building an exhibit of its magnitude. It was fascinating to learn about how much coordination is required for such an amazing exhibit. My favorite part of my internship, besides seeing areas behind-the-scenes and talking with the public, was working with the ZooTeen program. I had the opportunity to supervise ten high school aged students as they hosted various tables with animal artifacts and information. I was responsible for their behavior as well as the information they were giving to the public. It was great being able to work with these students and learn more about zoological education through them. Throughout this experience, I was able to build my skills in public speaking and relating to guests. I was also able to learn a tremendous amount of animal information and ways to talk about sensitive subjects such as captivity. Overall, it was a very positive experience and I had a great time this semester!

Positive Change

One area in my organization which could be improved is the volunteer coordination and management. Currently, there are six staff managers who manage their own individual areas throughout the week. Each day, the responsibility of volunteer coordinator rotates throughout each manager and their responsibilities for the day include managing the volunteers. This is a problem for multiple reasons. First, there is not one, go to person for volunteers to communicate with. If the manager that the volunteer normally works with is not in on a particular day, then they would need to contact a manager who they might never have even met before. Another issue arises when six people take on the same job – things get lost and communication becomes interrupted. Too many cooks in the kitchen, as some say. Lastly, because the managers have their own responsibilities with respect to their areas, they often are torn between their volunteer coordinating and their management responsibilities.
The type of management that I think is currently being utilized closely resembles the Laissez-faire model which places a great amount of pressure, freedom, and responsibility on all of the managers. Rather than utilizing one single “chairman” or supervisor, each area tends to run in an open, uncoordinated manner. This style of management can work very well in many situations. And, for the most part, I think it works very well for my organization. However, with respect to the volunteer team, I think it would be valuable to employ more of a Paternalistic management style. In this situation, one supervisor is responsible for making decisions and delegating tasks. The subordinates are still responsible and the environment is still open and courteous, however the greatest responsibility lies in the supervisor. This would work well in the volunteer team because all of the volunteers would have one supervisor with whom to communicate. Also, tasks can be well delegated and all of the volunteers would understand their responsibilities. Their duties would be the same everyday, rather than differ based on which manager was responsible for them on that particular day.
In order to integrate this plan, I would first need to appoint a volunteer supervisor whose job duties and responsibilities rest solely on coordinating and managing the volunteers. I would then have the current managers continue their jobs managing their own departments and have them spend a few weeks with the new supervisor, explaining how they managed the volunteers on their volunteer day. I would not want to cut out the managers completely, but rather allow them to place some of their responsibilities on the volunteer supervisor so that they could be sure to focus on their own responsibilities associated with their management position. I would inform the volunteers of the changes and have them sign in and out at the volunteer office and have the opportunity to speak with the new supervisor about any questions or concerns they might have. It would also be beneficial to have a workshop or meeting to get all of the volunteers on the same page about their responsibilities and answer any questions they have. I would instruct them to get any area-specific information from the managers, but make sure that they understand what is expected of them from the standpoint of the organization.

Interviewing

This week’s blog involved interviewing Jessica, who I was able to shadow last week and experience her position first hand. By interviewing her, I was able to ask questions about what I saw while shadowing her and get more information about her position at the zoo. The following are some of the questions I asked her and her responses to each:
1. What are some aspects of your job that you really like? What are some that you dislike?
Jessica: I really love working with people and educating them about the animals at the zoo, as well as the environments in which they live. My favorite days involve talking to children, especially when I am able to answer their questions and get them excited at Monkey Village. I dislike very busy days because I am not able to educate people and answer their questions, rather I am more focused on crowd control and supervision. I don’t like having to ask people to leave or disciplining children, if its necessary.
2. What are some challenges you face at work?
Jessica: The biggest challenge I face at work is dealing with unruly guests and people who seem to have a hard time understanding the rules. Protecting the safety of our animals is my biggest concern, which can be difficult while trying to provide the guest with appropriate customer service. Another challenge I face is dealing with volunteers that don’t show up to work. It is difficult when they decide to not show up or call and then I have to spend a large part of my day coordinating people who can cover their areas. This takes away from time I wish I could spend with guests and out in the park.
3. How has your education and experience helped you with your job?
Jessica: Earning a degree in biology has helped tremendously in my job because I am equipped with a great deal of knowledge that I would not have learned otherwise. Of course the training at the zoo is great, but there are many guest questions that I am able to answer really effectively that I could not answer without my educational background. Experience in customer service prior to this position also helped me deal with problems and complaints from our guests.
4. Did you have a mentor during your first months at the zoo and if so, how did the experience help you?
Jessica: I actually did not have a mentor when I first came to the zoo. Instead, I made sure to carefully observe the paid staff. I asked a lot of questions and often asked my seniors how I could improve my performance or what made them successful in their job. I think this approach worked well for me because I was able to borrow aspects of various people’s personalities and work ethics to create my own work approach. Rather than getting feedback from just one person, I was able to follow the guidance of many.
5. What do you feel can be done to make work go smoother?
Jessica: Unfortunately, the economy has affected us negatively as it has the rest of the country. Budget cuts have resulted in a hiring freeze which makes the jobs of the paid staff much more difficult. Relying on the help of volunteers is great for our zoo and it could not run without them. However, problems exist when volunteers don’t show up or do not really do their job. For things to go smoother, it would help to have a more reliable volunteer foundation or volunteer coordinators who are able to focus entirely on their volunteers. Right now, that is not possible because everyone is stretched a little bit thin.

Shadowing

In order to learn more about the Phoenix Zoo from the perspective of a paid employee, I chose to shadow Jessica, a trail guide, last week. I was able to follow her throughout her day on both Tuesday and Thursday, each day for four hours. While Jessica has certain responsibilities and duties that remain the same everyday, each of her days at the zoo is quite a bit different. On Tuesday, I met up with her at Monkey Village where she was working at the entrance, informing guests about the experience in which they are about to take part. Jessica’s responsibility is to inform guests of the rules as well as watch out for any problematic behavior or situations, such as guests with food or drinks that they might try and feed the animals. About an hour of her time at Monkey Village is spent at the door, until she rotates with other zoo trail guides in the enclosure. Next, she moves into the exhibit and monitors the behavior of the guests and monkeys as well as answers any questions the guests might have. Depending on how busy the zoo is, Jessica might spend as many as six hours at Monkey Village, or she moves to different exhibits when the zoo is less crowded. On Thursday, we spent time at Wallaby Walkabout, an exhibit much like Monkey Village, where guests walk through the wallaby exhibit. The responsibility of the trail guides at this exhibit is to monitor the behavior of the guests and ensure that they are respecting the wallabies and not feeding or teasing them. Jessica is also responsible for knowing information about the animals at the various zoo exhibits and will often do impromptu information sessions using a microphone and speaker so that the guests are able to learn about the animals in a more formal presentation. These are just a few of Jessica’s responsibilities as a trail guide. From shadowing her, I was able to learn more about guest and animal behavior, as well as animal information that I had not previously acquired. It was exciting to learn about her enthusiasm for her job, and her overall gratitude to her position. You can learn a lot about a company by asking their paid employees, and I was happy to learn that she really did enjoy her job and the company that she works for.

Week 9

In order to showcase my skills, I created an on-line resume with links to more information about various aspects of my resume. Below is a link to my resume:

https://sites.google.com/a/asu.edu/anna-russell/

Career

My applied study site reflects my future career goals appropriately, as I hope to teach science in many different ways than simply the traditional classroom experience. Experiential education is, in my opinion, the best way to learn and it involves learning by actually participating directly with the material. Rather than reading about otters in a textbook or watching videos about their social behavior, it is much more effective for children to, if possible, witness these lessons first hand. The Phoenix Zoo offers a multitude of opportunities for experiential education, which is exactly where I see my career heading in the future. I am currently in the process of applying to the graduate program here at ASU which integrates teacher certification with a Master’s degree in education. Ideally, I would love to learn more about classroom teaching by working with middle school students, teaching science for a few years. Then, I would like to study the difference hands on learning makes for middle school students by working with an organization such as the Phoenix Zoo in an outreach education program. The Phoenix Zoo would be a great place for me to begin as their outreach program is, in my opinion, one of the best in the area. Somewhere in the future, I would like to write a textbook for teachers involving ways to teach science, specifically biology, through hands on techniques beyond the classroom laboratory. My applied study site is providing me with great experience and knowledge about wildlife education and experiential learning. The skills I am beginning to learn involve public speaking, critical analysis of educational programs, and age appropriate lessons and concepts related to the animals at the zoo. Education is definitely where my future lies and I hope to make a difference in the way students learn science, as it has traditionally been a difficult subject for many – especially young girls. It is difficult to determine anything that I dislike about my study site, as I have had such a great experience so far. If anything, I would like more opportunity to work directly with children so that I can learn, for myself, which educational strategies work best at a zoological facility.

Week 5

The Phoenix Zoo incorporates various theories/concepts from both the biological sciences and education concentrations in their daily operations. Four theories which seem most influential are: operant conditioning and the scientific method, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and learning styles.
Operant conditioning, a concept from the field of psychology, describes a unique way in which an animal learns. The process involves consequences, whether positive or negative, to a behavior and the likelihood that that behavior will be strengthened or weakened. In other words, if an animal performs a specific behavior and receives a reinforcement immediately following the behavior, the likelihood that the animal will continue the behavior is strong. If the animal receives a punishment after performing a behavior, they will likely not participate further. At the Phoenix Zoo, this concept is utilized in animal husbandry and training. Animals are positively reinforced (that is presented with a desirable consequence) immediately following a desired behavior. When it comes time to do blood samples, for example, it is important for the animal to willingly present a part of its body. Operant conditioning allows the zoo keepers to train the animal for such circumstances.
From a biological sciences perspective comes the theory of the scientific method. The scientific method, put simply, involves several steps in scientific reasoning. To begin, one must make an observation of a puzzling phenomenon. Ideas are then generated and a tentative hypothesis (or many hypotheses) is formulated. The hypothesis is then tested and results obtained. From these results, conclusions can be drawn which either support or do not support the hypothesis. At the Zoo, the scientific method is utilized by researchers and guests alike. The signage throughout the Zoo takes on a scientific method approach. For example, a sign at Monkey Village explains what to do if you cannot see a monkey – to look in the trees. The puzzling observation of monkeys in trees is then explained – they spend about 98% of their time in the safety of the trees.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an educational theory which involves the needs of a child (or adult, for that matter) placed in a hierarchical fashion with respect to motivation to learn. Ranging from basic to advanced, the hierarchy begins with physiological needs (such as shelter, food, and water) and ends with self-actualization needs like creativity and problem solving. The Zoo utilizes this concept when it comes to learning because the basic needs of safety and love must be met before higher levels of learning can take place. For example, a child cannot grasp material about orangutans if they are in danger of overheating in the summer sun. Another example involves love and belonging, the second level of the hierarchy. If a child does not feel comfortable and accepted by a leader, he will likely not be motivated to learn.
Lastly, the concept of learning styles is utilized. Crucial to education, learning styles involves understanding different methods children use to learn. Some children might be visual learners, while others learn more effectively by using their hands (kinesthetic). The Phoenix Zoo attempts to accommodate various learning styles in many of its programs. Signage catering to visual learners can be found throughout the zoo, while videos with sound can be found at many exhibits for those who are auditory learners. Kinethetic learners can also benefit from the Zoo’s hands-on learning experiences such as the Monkey puzzle box where the child must maneuver letters around in a box with just their fingers. By understanding the various learning styles, the Zoo can be sure they are reaching out to all types of learners.