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

Bonnie J. Ploger (Author), Ken Yasukawa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0125583303 | ISBN-13: 978-0125583305 | Edition: 1

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

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

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.

About the Author

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (November 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0125583303
• ISBN-13: 978-0125583305
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,128,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for those teaching behavior labs, July 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field: An Hypothesis-testing Approach to the Development, Causation, Function, and Evolution of Animal Behavior (Paperback)

This is a fantastic and much-needed book. As a resource for someone setting up a laboratory course in animal behavior, this book is full of excellent ideas, and I would advise anyone to get a copy of this book. The problem with adopting it as a lab book for students is that there are over 30 labs presented here. As many are multiweek projects, the most that could reasonably be done in a semester is 7-10 labs. Anyone who has taught students knows that having them purchase a book ... for which they will only use 1/4 or 1/3 of the chapters is only inviting a tremendous amount of griping. This is my only complaint with this book, which the publisher was pushing as a lab manual for students, instead of a resource for instructors.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An assemblage of studious, college-level essays, December 8, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field: An Hypothesis-testing Approach to the Development, Causation, Function, and Evolution of Animal Behavior (Paperback)

Collaboratively assembled and edited by Bonnie J. Ploger (Hamline University) and Ken Yasukawa (Beloit College), Exploring Animal Behavior In Laboratory And Field is a scholarly compendium offering a variety of diverse approaches to the development, function, and evolution of animal behavior, with contribution each being grounded in the creation and careful testing of scientific hypotheses. An assemblage of studious, college-level essays on select topics ranging from the response of tree squirrels to different types of alarm calls, to human nonverbal communications, to chemoreception in lizards, and a great deal more, Exploring Animal Behavior In Laboratory And Field would make an especially welcome addition to Zoological Studies reference collections and Wildlife Studies reading lists.