Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field: An Hypothesis-Testing Approach to the Development, Causation, Function, and Evolution of Animal Behavior

Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field is designed to provide a variety of exercises that engage students actively in all phases of scientific investigation, from formulating research questions through interpreting and presenting final results. It attempts to share the collective teaching expertise and experience of members of the Animal Behavior Society with all who are willing to benefit from their wisdom. Four types of exercises are presented: (1) traditional exercises in which students follow a pre-determined protocol to test particular hypotheses explicitly stated in the exercise, (2) traditional exercises that can easily be adapted to inquiry-based approaches, (3) combined pedagogy exercises that involve both traditional and inquiry approaches, and (4) inquiry exercises in which students first brainstorm to generate their own hypotheses, then design their own experiements to test their hypotheses.

* Supports a range of pedagogical styles and texts in animal behavior with active learning experiences that engage students
* Students and instructors benefit from knowledge and experience of members of the Animal Behavior Society
* Flexibility of design enables students and instrucotrs to tailor the exercises to their needs
* Can be used to support lab courses that are completely inquiry based as well as independent student research projects in animal behavior
* Consideration of animal care guidelines provides an excellent way to address and discuss concerns about the use of animals in teaching and research
* Emphasizes the hypothetico-deductive approach that students have difficulty understanding and implementing
* Supporting materials make additional required texts unnecessary and link study design considerations with real studies

By Dr. Bonnie J. Ploger and Dr. Ken Yasukawa