User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Overall, my study went quite well, but of course not perfect. I ended up having quite different results than I had expected and found it difficult to find journal articles that supported my study. I do wish I had spread out my course load and did not have to rush my project at the end, as I think I could have done a better job. I did have to adjust my hypothesis while planning my study design but not at any point afterwards.
I really enjoyed this course. It did feel like a lot of work at times but I really appreciated having such a hands-on online course. It is often difficult to stay engaged during online courses, but the field research project made it a lot easier. I have a great appreciation for all of the work that ecologists do.
Glad you enjoyed the course! Remember you don’t have to change your hypothesis if it doesn’t work out, science is an iterative process and for the next study you might refine things but it is important to discuss why something did / did not work out the way you expect rather than change hypotheses. The field project is a hard one to rush if you are trying to finish in a short period of time. You certainly went through the course quite quickly!