‘Alternative Fridays’ provide hands-on learning for UAF class

October 6, 2016

Meghan Murphy photo . Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, a term assistant professor of geography, looks on while graduate student Arlo Davis shows how to knot a rope in a fishnet.

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Thank goodness it’s Alternative Friday.

Not only do Fridays usher in the weekend, but they also provided an opportunity last month for an unorthodox lesson in Kevin Hilmer-Pegram’s polar geography class at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A diverse group of students learned to make fishnets, an example of experiential learning that the assistant professor of geography said can improve student performance.

“I thought, why not set aside one class period per week where we try new things?” he said of the practice, which he started in September. “Some things will likely work, some will likely fail, but experimentation is a key aspect of innovation. Alternative Fridays are my commitment to such innovation.”

The polar geography class within UAF’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics explores the ecosystems and people of the North and how they can adapt and thrive in the context of change. The class also explores the changing Antarctica.

“We’re always keeping an eye to the role of power within these transformations — meaning we care about who calls the shots, who profits from change, and who suffers,” Hilmer-Pegram said.

Meghan Murphy photo . Exchange students Steve Sharp and Malene Adamsen prepare the net needle for weaving a fishnet.

So far this semester, Alternative Fridays have focused on exploring current events in the Arctic and watching a film about boarding schools on the Russian tundra, but his highlight has been making fishnets with graduate student Arlo Davis.

The master’s student in the Arctic and northern studies program hails from the remote Arctic community of Selawik, Alaska, where the Selawik River empties into a lake.

His grandparents there, Ralph and Emma Ramoth, taught him the practical skill of knotting rope into fishnet and tailoring the mesh size to the desired prey, whether it’s a qalupaq (whitefish in English) or a beluga whale.

When Hilmer-Pegram asked who would like to teach a class for Alternative Friday, Davis immediately volunteered to teach the 13 other students in the class how to make a fishnet. The students are from around the world (Denmark, Scotland, Germany and France), around Alaska (Barrow, Chugiak and Fairbanks) and the Lower 48.

Davis said that learning how to subsist in the Arctic is an important skill to have.

“Food security is one of the basic components of keeping the Arctic peaceful and free from the disease of war,” he said. “This (is one of the reasons) I taught my classmates how to make a net. The more people that know how to make their own fish net the better, and safer, the Arctic will continue to be.”

Student Aspen Severns said the experiential learning extends the reach and relevancy of the class.

Meghan Murphy photo . Roberta Glenn is one of the students participating in a UAF polar geography class that has Alternative Fridays. A project last month taught students how to make fishnets.

“Alternative Fridays make it possible to bring skills like traditional knowledge to life in the classroom as well as look into different aspects of polar geography beyond the main course material,” she said.

By the end of the fishnet-making class, she and the other students had each formed a long chain of knots and loops. Davis bought net needles, an integral tool for weaving the net, for each of the students so they could continue the project at home.

Hillmer- Pegram offered students an additional incentive to complete the net.

“I've offered extra credit to anyone who finishes their net, and lot of extra credit to anyone who catches a fish with it,” he said.