Using the recorded FINEs in Class
Recorded seminars can be used as a tool to generate student-led discussion during lectures. We encourage lecturers to use the recorded seminars in ways that best fit lecture goals. For example, an effective strategy for a small to mid-sized lecture would be to have students maintain a writing journal. The students could write summaries of a relevant paper in the journal and engage in discussion before watching the seminar.. We encourage lecturers to invite FINE speakers to join discussions and/or have the students watch the discussion among the FINE community after the seminar. The students could then complete a worksheet with questions about the seminar or write follow-up questions in a journal.
Recorded seminars can be found at the FINE YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClXFO1pLpCTBy7vSwLWH-GA/videos
Example: Undergraduate-level Behavioral Ecology lecture assignment
Journal instructions
Students will write journal entries for all FINE seminars watched during lab. All student journals should follow the same basic format. Please follow rules. Failure to do so will result in a 25% penalty in your journal grade.
Format: Type directly into this document. Please do not change format (11 Arial font, single space, 1.0 inch margins).
Saving the file: Biol4310journal_Lastname_Firstname.docx
Entries: Each WEEK should start on a new page. Insert a page break for each new week. Weekly entries should include the (i) week #, (ii) Reference information, (iii) Summary of paper (in your own words) including 2-3 questions (think Tinbergian!), (iv) Title of talk, (v) Name of speaker and affiliation, (vi) major themes from seminar/discussion, and (v) final comments and outstanding questions (50-100 words, open ended). A weekly entry will be ~1 page.
Synopsis: The final entry of the semester will be a 1-page synopsis identifying key principles or themes across FINE seminars.
Below, I provide an example based on a made-up paper.
Example: Week XX
1) Reading the paper
Reference information: Hayes, L.D. (2019). Reduced risk of aerial predation in degu foraging groups. Behavioral Biology Journal, 71), 122-128
Summary (200 words): This study tested the hypothesis that living in groups reduces individual risks in the social rodent, Octodon degus. The study was conducted in a naturally occurring occur degu population in central Chile and where aerial predators such as hawks, eagles, and owls are common. The researcher observed the frequency of aerial predator attacks and successful predation events in groups of varying size. Degus foraging in groups of 10 or more individuals were attacked less often and were less likely to be killed by aerial predators than degus foraging in smaller groups. One explanation of this result is that risk can be reduced simply because the probability of being attacked is lower than in small groups, an idea referred to as dilution. Another explanation discussed by the author is that individuals in large groups are more likely to give more alarm calls. Testing this hypothesis requires that we examine record alarm calls in groups of varying size and in response to varying levels of predation risk.
Question 1: Does group foraging increase risk of getting a parasite?
Question 2: How does group foraging reduce risk?
Question 3: Did the ancestral rodent forage alone or in groups?
2) Describe 2-3 major themes from the FINE seminar to a non-scientist
<Made-up example: not based on real data>
Seminar title: Social foraging in the Chilean rodent, Octodon degus
Speaker: Dr. Loren Hayes, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Theme 1: Degus foraging in large groups are more likely detect approaching predators than degus foraging in small groups.
Theme 2: Group-living also has costs. Degus foraging in large groups may be exposed to more ectoparasites that could in turn, make them ill and decrease survival.
Theme 3: Long-term studies can help us to answer questions that cannot be answered in short-term studies. Dr. Hayes’ long-term study of degu foraging has helped us understand that a changing climate can impact foraging behavior in degus and maybe, other small mammals.
3) Final comments and outstanding questions
Final comments: The seminar answered my question about costs of group living. Living in groups can increase transmission of parasites and conflict over resources and mates. I also learned that degu foraging groups may differ from social groups. Degus are plural breeders, meaning that multiple females breed in a group.
Outstanding questions: 1) Do degus forage with close relatives or animals they are familiar with? 2) Does group foraging improve food intake?
Photo credit: Leticia Aviles