BIOL/PSYC 290 - Animal Behavior with lab (Winter quarter, 2009)

		Instructor: Dr. Ann Fraser
		Office: Dow Science 314
		Phone: x7063 | Email: afraser "at" kzoo.edu
		Lecture: MWF 11:50 AM-1:05 PM, Dow 329
		Lab: Tues 12:30-4:00 PM, Dow 319
		Literature resources | Schedule

Course Description
Study of the behavior and social organization of a variety of animal groups ranging from insects to primates; analysis of general principles of behavior modes; observation of animal behavior in the field and laboratory.

NOTE: although this course can count as either a Natural Science (NS) and a Social Science (SS) Area of Study requirement, you may not double count the AOS requirement as NS and SS. Register the course as BIOL if you wish it to count as a NS, and PSYC if you wish it to count as SS.

Required texts

• Principals of Animal Behavior, Second edition, by Lee Dugatkin, W.W. Norton & Company, 2009
• Assigned outside reading from primary research literature and secondary sources
• NOTE: you will also need to have a small laboratory notebook in which you can record laboratory and experimental conditions and behavioral observations. This can be an unused portion of a notebook used in a previous class.

Course Goals

• to develop objective observation skills
• to gain an appreciation for the subtlety and complexity of animal behavior and its application to applied fields (e.g. animal welfare, conservation)
• to become proficient in field and laboratory methods used in observing, describing, and quantifying the behavior of organisms
• to gain experience in the design, implementation, analysis and interpretation of behavioral studies
• to gain proficiency in reading and critically evaluating primary scientific literature and secondary literature from the popular scientific press

Course Evaluation (2009)

Approximate Grading Scale

COURSE STRUCTURE

ATTENDANCE, PREPARATION AND EXPECTATIONS
You are expected to attend all lectures. Attendance is mandatory for all laboratory sessions. You are expected to come to class well prepared to critique and discuss assigned readings.

Lectures and the textbook provide grounding in the theoretical, conceptual and empirical approaches to animal behavior. Assigned readings, worksheets and discussions are designed to promote understanding of course concepts, the scientific method and communication of science, as well as to enhance critical thinking skills.

Skim assigned textbook reading before class and more thoroughly following class to supplement your notes. It is expected that you will read assigned articles carefully and thoroughly (and several times over) in preparation for class discussions. Guidelines will be in some cases to help direct your reading.

Laboratories provide an opportunity to understand better how animal behavior research is conducted. Labs involve working with live organisms, during which you will observe, describe and quantify behavior and employ the scientific method to test hypotheses. Through data analysis and reading of scientific literature you will acquire a better understanding of the use and interpretation of statistics.

You will keep a lab notebook to record information on experimental and animal rearing conditions, as well as experimental conditions, procedures, data and conclusions. The lab notebook will be handed in at the end of the course for evaluation (check – no grade) that assesses completeness of record keeping, summary conclusions, legibility and organization.

MASTERING COURSE CONCEPTS AND SCIENTIFIC LITERACY
You will complete a number of worksheets associated with lecture and laboratory (see syllabus schedule). Details for each worksheet will be provided separately from the syllabus. These worksheets are designed to promote learning and integration of material presented in lecture and lab. Through journal club presentations, additional course readings, videos and term projects we will explore the study of animal behavior, and in doing so, we will learn more about experimental methodologies and analyses used in behavioral studies and hone our critical thinking and analytical skills. There will be three tests that integrate lecture and laboratory material. Consult the course schedule for specific dates.

In the Journal Club you will work in pairs to select, present, critique and lead a short discussion of a paper on a selected theme we will be covering during the course. Each pair will choose a current paper (published in the last three years) from the primary research literature (a peer-reviewed journal) and prepare a 15-20 minute presentation that provides background and context for the paper (what are the larger questions that motivate the study, what background do we need to understand the importance of this study), an overview of how the study was conducted (the methods), the main results (you may focus on just one aspect of the paper and not all experiments and results if it is a multi-faceted paper), and some comments on the conclusions and broader implications of this study. At the end, the leaders will provide a critique of the paper, field questions and prompt discussion from class members. More detailed guidelines will be provided separately from the syllabus. Total time for presentation, critique and discussion limited to 30 minutes max.

Because animal behavior is a subject that often requires patient, repeated observations and animals are not always willing to cooperate in the brief time we have in lab for these observations, you will work individually or in pairs to complete a term project in which you design, conduct, analyze and present a study of your choosing. This project will help you appreciate the difficulty of conducting research that may sound easy from simply reading the scientific literature. Your topic and design must first be approved by your instructor. Details and feedback on term projects will be provided in lab Week 1 and on an ongoing basis during the course.

Finally, discussion of ideas, experimental methodology and data interpretation is a regular part of doing science, and an important component of this course. Everyone is expected to be an engaged, informed and active participant in discussions. You should prepare for class and lab by doing the assigned readings, paying attention to the speaker, being a good listener, and generating relevant questions that demonstrate critical thinking and insight. Note that quantity of questions or remarks made by an individual does not necessarily equate with the quality of remarks. You will be given a mid-quarter review of your participation performance.

As leaders and participants of a discussion, the following should be borne in mind:

• give others an opportunity to speak, and listen to what they have to say
• respect differences of opinion and try to come to an understanding of why such differences exist (rather than just saying more loudly what you think, or simply changing your stance to avoid conflict)
• your participation will be evaluated based on the relevance of your contributions to the readings and questions at hand, not on how long you spend talking
• your questions and comments should be informed, that is they should demonstrate that you have read, at least attempted to understand, and thought critically about the readings.
• some things that might demonstrate preparedness on a reader’s part:
  • suggest alternative interpretations for the authors findings
  • look up words you do not understand as you work through an article, ask yourself whether the authors present adequate background to understand and justify the proposed research
  • note elegant experimental designs, or alternatively, perceived flaws in experimental design or data analysis and suggest ways to improve on these
  • note whether the data presented seems “solid” or speculative; have the authors overstated or misrepresented their results?
  • suggest further research that would be interesting to pursue
  • discuss connections between the current paper and other work you have learned about or are curious
  • think about why the work being published is “novel” – and whether/why it is ground-breaking

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING POLICY
Graded assignments are due at the beginning of class/lab on the specified date, unless otherwise noted. Lecture and lab worksheets must be handed in on the specified date or receive a grade of zero. Late assignments will lose 5% per day (weekend days included) from the assigned value of the report. Reports more than 5 days overdue will not be accepted and will receive a grade of zero. Late assignments are to be delivered to Dr. Fraser’s office (Dow 314) with the date and time indicated on the front.

SPECIAL NEEDS
Please inform me of any documented disabilities or handicaps so that necessary alternate arrangements can be made if needed.

HONOR SYSTEM
This course operates under the Kalamazoo College Honor System, a statement of values and responsibilities central to our education. Group discussion of material is encouraged (except during a test), but written work is to be completed individually or in groups, as specified, with proper citation of all sources of ideas or other information that is not your own. You are responsible for learning how to cite appropriately works other than your own. Information for citing sources will be provided.

NOTE: The use of electronic devices or headphones is not permitted during tests

RESOURCES (literature databases, journals, societies)

To see if our libary has access to a specific journal online

Library instructions on finding articles

Online databases to use when searching for articles in various journals by keyword, title, etc. Some databases have direct links to full text access to articles

• BioDigest some full text links
• BioOne all citations linked to full text articles.
• General Science Abstracts
• Google Scholar can turn up literature and even links to free pdf copies of articles
• JSTOR (not as good for behavior as it is for ecology) Search General Science and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Collections; free access usually to articles 4 yrs and older
• HighWire Press Science and Medicine journals, many free full text.
• ProQuest Research Library many full text links - indexes some behavior journals
• PsycINFO citations to articles in Psychology and Behavior, *goes back to 1887; some links to full text articles
• ScienceDirect Academic Press online access to some journals
• Web of Science some articles linked to full text and pdfs of article; database allows forward searching to find articles cited by current article

Major journals with searchable contents and direct links to full text articles (dates in parentheses represent free access coverage through K)

• Animal Behaviour (articles 1993-present)
• Behavioral and Brain Sciences (articles > 1 yr old)
• Behavioral Ecology (1996-present)
• Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (1969-present)
• Current Biology (>1 yr old)
• Developmental Psychobiology (1996-present)
• Genes, Brain and Behavior (2002->2 yrs ago)
• Ethology (1999-present)
• Journal of Experimental Biology (articles > 6 months old)
• Learning and Behavior (2004-present)
• Nature (1997-present)
• Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
• PLoS Biology (2003-present)
• Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences (articles > 1 yr old; enter keywords in search area, after relevant issues come up, click "search" key again to bring up list of relevant articles; eyeglasses icon to left of citation indicate article is free full text)
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (articles > 6 mo old)
• Science (free access to articles 2005 and before)

Animal Behavior Web Sites

• Animal Behavior Society Web Site
• The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
• International Council of Ethologists
• Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior at Indiana University
• Behaviour, ecology and evolution journal sites hosted by Sean Rands, Dept. of Zoology, University of Cambridge
• Applied Ethology
• ABS Conservation Committee

SCHEDULE (Winter 2009)