Presentation Review: Aqu@teach - an Aquaponics Curriculum for Higher Education
By Anh Quoc Nguyen
At the 2020 Aquaponics Conference, Cultivating the Future, Dr. Sarah Milliken from the University of Greenwich, UK discussed Aqu@teach, an open source curriculum which runs in the Moodle virtual learning environment.
As the world continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational institutions must transition their workflow onto a virtual platform. However, the sudden move to online classrooms often leaves students without an access for a quality learning environment. This requires educators to create curricula that tailor specifically for online learning wherein students can gain access to engaging activities through a virtual space. In this presentation for Run the World Conference, Sarah Milliken and Ed Tivnan showcased a virtual curriculum developed specifically for aquaponics that educators and students can utilize during this unprecedented time.
Aqu@teach is an open source curriculum that can run solely as an online class or can be blended together with a mixture of online learning and physical interaction. The first part of Aqu@teach is the Aquaponics Curriculum which is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of aquaponics to students. The Aquaponics Curriculum is composed of six types of learning - acquisition, inquiry, practice, production, discussion, and collaboration. The curriculum is 150 hours and consists of 15 modules that cover basic aspects of aquaponics such as fish anatomy, nutrient and water balance, food safety, and many more. The online course is hosted on Moodle online platform which provides videos for each topic covered, exercises, and quizzes. Moreover, there are also opportunities to collaborate virtually through discussion forums and student’s evaluation of each other’s work through the Moodle workshop. Additionally, students are also equipped with a free detailed textbook on aquaponics to aid their learning process.
After the completion of the Aquaponics Curriculum, students have an opportunity to pursue the Entrepreneurial Skills Curriculum which focuses on the business aspect of aquaponics. The Entrepreneurial Skills Curriculum consists of only 6 modules, totaling 60 hours overall; it encourages students to collaborate in teams and develop business models for their aquaponics project. Therefore, the Entrepreneurial Skills Curriculum is a perfect opportunity for anyone who wants to transform their aquaponics ideas into a business.
More information about the Aquaponics Curriculum and the Entrepreneurial Skills Curriculum can be found at www.aquateach.wordpress.com.
