Students enrolled in the Biology of the Marine Environment 
course will gain an understanding of marine organisms, their 
environments, the structure and functions of marine communities, 
how biological processes operate in marine environments, and the 
effects of human activities on sea life. There will be an 
emphasis on regional coastal ecosystems as the students enrolled 
in this course are not science majors and we want to help them 
gain an understanding of southeastern marine ecosystems and the 
impacts of human activity on these ecosystems. This is an online 
course so the structure of the course is modular to help 
students work through the course content and obtain feedback 
before moving to the next module. 

Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be asked to complete a pre-course survey that 
includes information on previous science courses (high school 
and college) and their course expectations. This information 
will be used to align module overviews and introductory course 
materials with students’ levels of preparation to help students 
get off to a great start in the course. All modules will have 
finite deadlines for completion to ensure timely instructor and 
peer feedback on their assessments, which will include (but not 
be limited to): online quizzes to guide understanding, brief 
summative or comparative writing assignments with online rubrics 
for peer and instructor evaluation, discussion posting with 
guidelines regarding instructor expectations for discussion 
posting, and some group projects (plotting tidal cycles, looking 
at databases for patterns in sea surface temperatures and 
coastal storm frequency and strength, and reading related 
scientific articles with guiding (focus) questions and 
summarizing content in small groups. Students will also be asked 
to complete a formative mid-semester course evaluation to help 
align instruction to student needs as a group.

The course will be subdivided into the following content modules:

Module 1: An Introduction to Biology of the Marine Environment
	1. Strategies for success for online learning
	2. Course overview
	3. How assessment works in an online course
	4. Interactive learning in the online learning platform
	5. Reflection - What is it and why is it important?
	
Module 2: Oceans and Ocean Basins
	1. Overview of Module 2
	2. Nature of Scientific Inquiry
	3. Structure of Ocean Basins
	4. Chemical and Physical Properties of Water
	5. Waves
	6. Tides
	7. Student Content Assessment - peer-reviewed (peer 
feedback using on-line rubric)
	8. Discussion posting module focus questions
	9. Student Reflection on Module 2 and instructor feedback

Module 3: How Living Organisms Work
	1. Overview of Module 3
	2. Building Blocks of Life - Biologically Important 
Molecules
	3. Energetic Cellular Processed
	4. Cell Structure and Function
	5. Reproduction and Basic Genetics
	6. Principles of Evolution
	7. Student Content Assessment - peer-reviewed (peer 
feedback using on-line rubric)
	8. Discussion posting module focus questions
	9. Student Reflection on Module 3 and instructor feedback

Module 4: Marine Autotrophs
	1. Overview of Module 4
	2. Energy Flow in Marine Ecosystems
	3. Adaptations to Ocean Life
	4. Single-Celled Marine Organisms
	5. Seaweeds
	6. Marine Plants and Fungi
	7. Student Content Assessment - peer-reviewed (peer 
feedback using on-line rubric)
	8. Discussion posting module focus questions
	9. Student Reflection on Module 4 and instructor feedback

Module 5: Marine Heterotrophs
	1. Overview of Module 5
	2. Marine Invertebrates
	3. Marine Fishes
	4. Marine Mammals
	5. Marine Birds and Reptiles
	6. Student Content Assessment - peer-reviewed (peer 
feedback using on-line rubric)
	7. Discussion posting module focus questions
	8. Student Reflection on Module 5 and instructor feedback

Module 6: Marine Ecosystems
	1. Overview of Module 6
	2. Introduction to Ecology - Energy Flow and Nutrient 
Cycling
	3. Vertical Zonation of Intertidal Communities
		A. Rocky Bottom Intertidal Communities
		B. Soft Bottom Intertidal Communities
	4. Estuaries - Salt Marsh and Mangrove Forests
	5. Subtidal Ecosystems
		A. Seagrasses
		B. Coral Reefs
	6. Deep Ocean
	7. Student Content Assessment - peer-reviewed (peer 
feedback using on-line rubric)
	8. Discussion posting module focus questions
	9. Student Reflection on Module 6 and instructor feedback

Module 7: Human Impacts on the Ocean
	1. Overview of Module 7
	2. Marine Pollution: Nutrients and Toxic Compounds
	3. Offshore Drilling and Environmental Implications 
(Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico)
	4. Climate/Ocean Interactions
		A. El Niño and ENSO 
		B. The Carbon Cycle and Implications for Climate 
and the World’s Oceans
	5. An Inconvenient Truth video
	6. Student Content Assessment - peer-reviewed (peer 
feedback using on-line rubric)
	7. Discussion posting module focus questions
	8. Student Reflection on Module 7 and instructor feedback