Assignment 1 - Individual Practice Observing Animal Behavior
Assignment 2 - Behavioral Project Experimental Design
Assignment 3 - Group Project Observations
Assignment 4 - Behavioral Project Data Analysis
Assignment 5 - Behavioral Project Presentations
Introduction to the Animal Behavior Project
Introductory Biology Animal Behavior Project
Overview
Engaging introductory biology students in course-based undergraduate research (CURE), especially when they are not intending to major in the discipline, can feel challenging and at times, laborious for them. Studying animal behavior is highly accessible for this population because it allows opportunity to engage with animals within their lives, such as pets, or within the community, including native fauna. Designing experiments around animal behavior allows students to employ the scientific method while avoiding the complexity of techniques and skills more commonly found in molecular labs and also fosters connectivity to the world around them, with which they regularly interact, driving a degree of intrinsic motivation. In addition, creating this opportunity for students early on in their undergraduate career can build critical thinking, teamwork, and analytical skills applicable to other coursework. This CURE, highly adaptable and able to be completed in as little as six weeks, is readily implemented to courses at any level.
Citation
Hoffman, S., Najera, D., Studdach, L. (2023, October). A Non-Major Biology CURE Studying Animal Behavioral Patterns. OER Commons. Retrieved August 20, 2024 from https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/117525/
Introduction
Course-based undergraduate research has rich roots within the biology department at Green River College, found within the upper level majors series. However, until this point, there was no opportunity for non-major students to engage in authentic learning experiences. In order to receive the Associate in Arts Degree for direct transfer, students need at least 15 credits of natural sciences, five of which need to have a lab component. Of the eligible courses, BIOL&100, Survey of Biology, a foundational course for non-majors, has the largest enrollment (Green River College Data Dashboards, 2021-2023). As a result, implementation of a course-based undergraduate research experience, a high-impact practice, within this course will engage a large population of students at our college.
Using animal behavior as a basis for group research projects is accessible, as all students have some degree of familiarity with the subject. Students need not learn specialized techniques to engage in the project and interpretation of results can sometimes be more intuitive when placed into a lens of behavioral rationale. In addition, they can engage in this study using multiple modalities, observing wildlife in the community, pets at home, or zoo cameras.
Students will first be introduced to the concept of animal behavior and why it is useful to study. They will learn the methods via which behavioralists monitor their subjects, via the use of ethograms and creating behavioral sequences. Students will practice as a class and then individually, preparing them for the group project. As a group, they will design an experiment in which they seek to study how different conditions impact the behavioral patterns of animal subjects. After conducting observations, they will graph and interpret their data, ultimately presenting it in some form, giving them a whole picture of how the scientific method is applied.
Scientific Teaching Context
Learning Objectives
- Design a controlled, scientific study that involves data collection and analysis (Assignment 2,3)
- Work effectively in a team environment (Assignment 2)
- Learn how biologists utilize ethograms for behavioral analysis studies (Assignment 1)
- Draw meaningful conclusions and share them with a broader audience (Assignment 5)
Research Objectives
- Determine how animal behaviors alter in response to different external stimuli (Assignment 4)
Intended Audience
This material is designed to be accessible to non-major biology students at a community college, but can be adapted for introductory or upper-level biology students with modifications to details and expectations.
Required Learning Time
This material can be completed during a 10-week course term in as little as four-five weeks depending on how much class-time you would like to dedicate to learning activities and how much time you would like to give students to complete observations, process the data, and put together their final assessment.
Prerequisite Student Knowledge
Students should be familiar with components of the scientific method, including independent and dependent variables, forming hypotheses, designing a controlled experiment, data collection and analysis. Familiarity with Excel and graphing is desirable, but not necessary.
Lesson Plan
Overview
| Activity | Description | Estimated Time | Notes |
| Project Introduction | |||
| In-Class: Introduction to Animal Behavior & Ethograms | Discussion of why we study animal behavior and class practice creating ethograms and calculating behavioral practice | 60 minutes | File: Animal Behavior Introduction PowerpointFile: Animal Behavior Project OverviewSome of the slides will need to be updated by the instructor in real-time as they elicit student participation |
| Out-of-Class: Create and Analyze Behavioral Sequences for Different Species | Students independently practice the skills they learned in the in-class activity to solidify understanding of creating ethograms and behavioral sequences. | 60 minutes | File: Assignment 1This activity is conducted independently by students outside of class. |
| Behavioral Project Experimental Design - Done during two-hour in-class lab session | |||
| In-Class: Group Contracts | Provides a structure for groups to self-determine decision-making, meeting, and communication plans for the duration of the project | 30 minutes | File: Assignment 2 |
| In-Class: Experimental Design | Students are guided through developing a research question, a hypothesis, and the variables they will be manipulating or controlling. They will create a plan for observations. | 90 minutes | File: Assignment 2Students may need to finish this outside of class, but setting a deadline for the supply list is critical for instructional support staff.Dialog with students at this point is important to get them to think deeply and design experiments that will yield interesting results. |
| Behavioral Project Observations | |||
| Out-of-Class: | Students spend time outside of class conducting their experiments. | 1-2 weeks | File: Assignment 3 |
| Data Analysis | |||
| Out-of-Class: | Students use the data from their observations to create two figures. This assignment serves as a scaffolding assignment for feedback before the poster creation. | 1 week | File: Assignment 4While students complete this assignment in their groups, the instructor may choose to do an in-class presentation portion on using Excel and creating graphs as well as determining what graph type to use. |
| Poster Creation | |||
| In or Out-of-Class | The final stage of the scientific method is communicating the findings. This assignment asks students to use the information they put together in Assignments 2 & 4 to share and interpret their experimental design & results. | 1-2 weeks | File: Assignment 5You might reserve an open lab time for students to work on these with the support of the instructor. Or, you can ask them to find time to do the work outside of class. |
Project Introduction - Animal Behavior
See file: "Animal Behavior Introduction Powerpoint"
See file: "Introduction to Animal Behavior Project"
In this interactive lecture (Animal Behavior Introduction Powerpoint), students learn about animal behavior and why we study it. Some context related to the biological impulses that lead to behavior is also introduced. As a hook, students watch a 15-minute clip from the docuseries 60-minutes and learn about the work of an animal behaviorist studying African forest elephants, in particular how intense study can inform us as to how individuals and families interact and utilize distinct vocal cues during socialization.
The instructor introduces what ethograms are and how they are used to create behavioral sequences. These sequences can further be analyzed to determine the frequency of given behaviors and behavioral patterns, helping scientists better learn about a species.
As a class, the instructor will play a one-minute video clip of capuchin monkeys. Students will write down the behaviors they observe during the clip and the instructor will solicit responses to build an ethogram together.
Using the class-created ethogram, the instructor will play an additional 30-seconds of the clip, asking students to create a behavioral sequence from that clip. Using an example offered up by a student, the instructor will guide the class through how to calculate behavioral frequencies from that sequence. *This can be a good place to discuss the importance of repetition/iteration in scientific experimentation. It is likely that different students generated different behavioral sequences. This variation becomes neutralized with more repetition.
Student Assignment
Students will individually practice the skills learned in class related to creating ethograms and monitoring behaviors. They have the option of observing animals proximal to them or using Zoo Cam footage, but will record 25 behavioral sequences and calculate the behavioral frequencies.
Behavior Project Experimental Design
Students will form groups of 3-5 to develop a question related to animal behavior that they would like to answer.
Before beginning, they will complete a group contract (Assignment 2, pages 2-5) in which they will identify how they will communicate with one another, role delegation, expectations related to work quality, participation, and accountability, and how the group will self-manage infractions to the contract. It’s best if the instructor keeps a copy of this contract while a second copy belongs to the group.
Students will next work on designing an experiment that will answer the question they have created related to animal behavior. This could be a good time to review the components of the scientific method with students as well as controls and variables. In part I, while brainstorming, they are prompted to think about the variables to their experiment, their research question and hypothesis, and generally how they will conduct their experiment. The instructor will be talking with groups at this point, providing suggestions or insights that might strengthen their design, or ask questions to prompt students to reconsider the feasibility of their strategy. Once deemed satisfactory, the instructor will sign-off on the initial project proposal and students will develop a more comprehensive materials and methods section. The procedure is designed for them to plan out exactly who is doing what and when and to make sure the experiment is replicable. The materials list is especially crucial so that lab support staff can purchase needed equipment in a timely manner.
Behavior Project Observations
See file “Assignment 3 - Group Project Observations”.
Students will, as a group, set up their experiment and create ethograms for the species they are observing. A key difference from their individual ethogram creations is that they will need to capture photos of the behaviors, so that interpretation between group members can be as consistent as possible. Students will be asked to put together 75-100 behavioral sequences from their observations (encourage 25 observations per person) and calculate behavioral frequencies.
Data Analysis
See file “Assignment 4 - Group Data Analysis”
This aspect of the assignment is designed to scaffold student work on the project before they get to the final assessment. It can be removed if there isn’t sufficient time. As attached, it is an asynchronous assignment, wherein students view tutorials on how to use Excel and how to create and use different graph types. Alternatively, the instructor can prepare a lesson on this for in-class use.
Students use their behavioral data to create two charts or graphs to display interesting information. Challenge them to really dig into interesting questions and examine their data from all angles. Some suggestions are provided, but feel free to add more. Let them know that their data need not support their hypothesis. This is part of science!
This will also be a chance for them to receive feedback on their charts before adding them to their final poster or presentation, particularly with labels, correct chart selection, and whether or not the data they are displaying actually conveys meaning or something of interest.
Final Assessment
Choice for final assessment is flexible depending on the timing, resources, and instructor preference. Suggestions include a written report of their findings, creating a presentation for the class, or posters for campus symposiums. In this instance, an assessment containing parameters for poster creation is used.
Students can work on their final assessment during a time when there is instructor supervision and support, such as an empty lab period, or they can be asked to do it exclusively outside of class. A rubric is included that explicitly indicates to students what information should be included, as are templates and previous examples. You might take time to go through these elements with students, have them critique example posters of different qualities, or do a peer review of each others’ posters before final submission.
Teaching Discussion & Notes
Instructor Notes
IRB Approval
None needed. Students should not be using human subjects.
Materials Needed
This will depend on the lists created by the students. Feel free to prompt modifications to their experimental design if the cost for materials exceeds the departmental budget for the project.
Game Cameras, if available, are preferable for students so that they don’t have to constantly monitor a site. If used, you will need to make time for students to learn how to use them while also briefing them about the necessity to change the batteries and clear the memory card often. They will also need to be versed on how to observe the recordings made by the game camera.
For Instructional Support Staff
Coordinate with instructional support staff well in advance to find out how much time they will need to get supplies
DEI Connections
The formulaic approach to sharing out the results can be challenged. By allowing students the opportunity to decide how they will communicate their findings embraces concepts of Universal Design of Learning (UDL).
Extensions and Modifications
Modifications for an Online Format
The same assignments can readily be done in an online environment, utilizing Zoo and Aquarium cameras. Students will have less agency in experimental design and will need to familiarize themselves with the schedule of animals in the environment before deciding upon a research question or hypothesis.
Files
Attached are the files referenced in the resource.