Meeting Times, Location, & Course Delivery Details
- Animal behavior is a very diverse subject. This means that we should be open to unforeseen events and topics that capture our interests, giving us the flexibility to adjust discussion topics as necessary.
- If you have a particular topic you wish to discuss further, do speak up!
- Participation in class, which includes both speaking up and listening.
- Take ownership of your education and this course. Think about what you can do to foster your learning. Follow through. You have to put in the effort, if you want to succeed in this course. I can only meet you halfway – the rest is up to you. It is my personal experience that you get out of a course what you are willing to put into it.
- Completion of assignments - including the readings - on time! You cannot participate in a discussion if you have not first familiarized yourself on the topic, and your grade will be negatively impacted by a lack of preparation.
- College-level quality writing: legibility and proofreading are essential. If there are a significant number of errors or if it is difficult to read, the assignment will be returned to you prior to grading for changes. In most cases, your assignment will then be late and docked points. If you have difficulties with writing (and even if you think you do not), then I highly encourage you to contact the Writing Center. I cannot recommend this enough. There is always room for improvement!
- Honesty. I will ask you many questions throughout the semester. "I don't know" is acceptable
answer, though I may press you to try and work it out. - Courage. I ask you to have the courage to challenge what you read or hear (even from me), because animal behavior is a dynamic field and science demands criticism. I also ask you to have the courage to talk with me if there are concerns – before they become burdensome. I am ever your ally, and I would not want any misunderstanding to make you believe otherwise.
- Give you feedback – both written and oral. I take the assignments in this class seriously, and have made giving feedback a top priority so that you are able to learn and improve. This might mean that it takes me longer than I would like to return your assignments to you sometimes, but I give them a lot of attention for your benefit. I care greatly about your education.
- Bring my expertise into the classroom and to be honest with you when I do not know the answers to your questions. Education is a lifelong process, and I also look forward to learning a lot from you this semester.
- Provide clarity when you struggle with ideas and concepts. Please make sure that I know when you are struggling.
- Treat you, as adult learners, with the related style of respect. I do expect you to reciprocate by treating this course in a professional manner, as if we were colleagues at a job. After all, that is a part of what you are in college to learn.
- To do everything I can to provide you with a strong foundation within the diverse topic of animal behavior, and to do so in a way that makes this subject exciting.
Contact Information
Upon successful completion of this course…
1. The student will be able to Identify and analyze behaviors in a variety of animal taxa.
2. The student will be able to discuss the evolutionary origins and selective advantages of various
behaviors.
3. The student will be able to evaluate scientific papers concerning animal behavior.
4. The student will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method by generating
hypotheses related to animal behavior, designing an experiment, analyzing raw data, drawing appropriate
conclusions, and through oral and written communication of the experimental process
5. The student will be able to outline practical and ethical implications of scientifically derived knowledge of
animal behavior.
Textbook
Name: Animal Behavior
Edition: 12th
ISBN: 9780197564912
Author: Rubenstein, Dustin
Publisher: Sinauer Associates; Oxford University Press
Goals: We have all experienced the amazement of watching animals (including humans!) behaving in unexpected ways. During this course, I will endeavor to get you excited about animal behavior within the context of evolutionary biology. A major goal of this course is to provide you with an understanding of the differences between anecdotes and scientific interpretations of the motivations behind particular behaviors. The unifying themes of our discussions will be evolution by means of natural selection, with an emphasis on sexual selection. Therefore, lectures and activities will be designed to show you how survival and reproduction have impacted the behaviors of animals. I hope that this course will be both interesting and challenging, stimulating your curiosity about the living world around you and providing a foundation in which you can objectively evaluate behavior. The goal of the laboratory component of this course is to provide you with hands-on experiences in designing and implementing scientific experiments that concern a variety of behaviors.
Tentative Schedule
Subject to change during the semester. Adequate notice of changes will be given.
Week | Date | Assignment (readings due BEFORE class) and Topic |
1 | T, 8/25 R, 8/27 | Course Introduction; de Waal: Prologue; What makes us unique animals? What makes us unique, continued |
2 | T, 9/01 R, 9/03 | de Waal, Ch 1: Magic Wells; Rubenstein , Ch1; LAB Rubenstein , Ch1; de Waal, Ch2: A Tale of Two Schools |
3 | T, 9/08 R, 9/10 | de Waal, Ch2, Ch3: Cognitive Ripples; LAB de Waal Ch4: Talk to Me |
4 | T, 9/15 R, 9/17 | de Waal, Ch5: The Measure of All Things; Ch6: Social Skills; LAB de Waal, Ch7: Time Will Tell |
5 | T, 9/22 R, 9/24 | EXAM 1; LAB de Waal, Ch8: Of Mirrors and Jars |
6 | T, 9/29 R, 10/01 | de Waal, Ch9: Evolutionary Cognition; LAB Rubenstein, Ch2: The Integrative Study of Behavior |
7 | T, 10/06 R, 10/08 | WESTHEIMER; Rubenstein; LAB Rubenstein, Ch3: Development and Genetics of Behavior |
8 | T, 10/13 R, 10/15 | IN-SERVICE DEVELOPMENT DAY & FALL FEST (NO CLASS) Rubenstein, Ch4: Neural Basis of Behavior |
9 | T, 10/20 R, 10/22 | Rubenstein, Ch5: Physiological and Endocrine Basis of Behavior; LAB Rubenstein, Ch6: Avoiding Predators and Finding Food |
10 | T, 10/27 R, 10/29 | EXAM 2; LAB Rubenstein, Ch7: Territoriality and Movement |
11 | T, 11/03 R, 11/05 | Rubenstein, Ch8: Principles of Communication; LAB Rubenstein, Ch9: Reproductive Behavior |
12 | T, 11/10 R, 11/12 | Rubenstein, Ch10: Mating Systems; LAB Rubenstein, Ch11: Parental Care |
13 | T, 11/17 R, 11/19 | Rubenstein, Ch11: Parental Care; LAB EXAM 3 |
14 | T, 11/24 R, 11/26 | Rubenstein, Ch12: Principles of Social Evolution; LAB THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY |
15 | T, 12/01 R, 12/03 | Rubenstein, Ch13: Social Behavior and Sociality; LAB Rubenstein, Ch13: Social Behavior and Sociality |
16 | T, 12/08 | Rubenstein, Ch14: Human Behavior; LAB |
| FINAL EXAM: T, 12/05, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm | ||
Exams and Assignments: There will be 4 formal exams in this course. These exams will consist primarily of essay questions. These essay questions will be detailed, requiring you to integrate and apply information that you have encountered in the course. You will receive these essay questions about a week before the exam to give you preparation time. You are encouraged to form study sessions outside of class time and work on the essay questions as a group. Group learning provides a valuable tool to integrate people with similar interests and perhaps different expertise. It is also good practice for professional development. I will also be available for guidance, should you wish me to attend your study session or otherwise. Besides, the purpose of a formal education is not to
necessarily teach you WHAT to think, but to teach you HOW to think. Temporary rote memorization does not benefit your educational development in the ways that critical thinking and integration can.
The essay questions will allow you to develop skills for analyzing and contextualizing the data within the ‘big picture,’ which is invaluable for any field of expertise. After your group study, you should consider what you have learned during the session, make your own decisions, and prepare your own essays. Prepare your responses carefully, considering the time limits in which you will be able to answer them during the exam class period. You will be presented with the same essay questions during the exam. You will have to provide appropriate responses, without the help of notes.
Your homework assignments and participation points will consist primarily of activities necessary to
properly prepare for discussions or laboratory activities. This course also has a laboratory component, with additional activities and assignments to help you learn the materials in a more hands-on way.
The grading scale will be as follows:
Letter grade and percentage points:
A = 100-93.5, A- = 93.4-90.0
B+ = 89.9-86.6, B = 86.5-83.5, B- = 83.4-80.0
C+ = 79.9-76.6, C = 76.5-73.5, C- = 73.4-70.0
D+ = 69.9-66.6, D = 66.5-60.0
F = < 60.0
Instructor Course Policies
See the current Student Handbook for the college Attendance Policy especially as it pertains to excused absences. Attendance on examination days is absolutely required and no makeup exams will be allowed unless the student has contacted the instructor and the Office of Academic Affairs prior to the time of the exam. Unannounced in-class quizzes or writing assignments may be given as an incentive to attend class. Absence from class will result in a "0" for any in-class activity done during that session. All excused absences must be documented. The College accepts these four categories of excused absences:
- Activities in which the student serves as an official representative of the College (e.g., musical performances, athletic contests, field trips)
- Personal illness, with documentation by the College nurse or a physician.
- Family or personal emergencies
- When severe weather makes travel to campus dangerous
Attendance at the entire lab period is mandatory. Attendance at laboratory sessions will be recorded and students who fail to fully participate in the laboratory portion of the course risk a deduction from their final points. Promptness is very important, because announcements about each lab assignment will be given at the start of the lab period. Late arrival may result in a deduction of points from that lab period/assignment. Even if you know you are going to be very late, however, you should still show up to receive data necessary to do your lab assignments.
If you are unable to attend class due to illness, then your instructor will work with you by phone, email, or online to help you stay on track. It is your responsibility to contact your instructor to discuss your absence and make up missing assignments.
Students are responsible for getting information from other students or from the professor on what material they have missed from a lecture or laboratory, whether the absence is excused or unexcused. Assignments turned in late for any reason will have points deducted from them. The more days late, the higher the deduction. No points will be awarded after 5 late days.
Students are expected to actively participate in laboratory and lecture activities and will be graded on their level of participation and preparation for each class. Students are expected to exhibit appropriate classroom etiquette, including, but not limited to, listening attentively when the professor or another student is speaking, arriving to class on time, and turning off cell phones. In addition, students are expected to clean their laboratory area and return laboratory materials to the appropriate location prior to leaving lab. Points may be deducted from participation points for inadequate participation or improper classroom etiquette.
See the current Student Handbook for the college’s Academic Integrity policies as they pertain to examinations, plagiarism, classroom behavior, and the process of handling academic misconduct charges. If it is your first academic integrity offense at the College, you will receive a zero on the relevant assignment(s). If it is your second academic integrity offense at the College, you will receive an F in the entire course.
Students are expected to understand and adhere to the Academic Integrity Policy in the Student Handbook and will be reported to The Office of Academic Affairs if a violation occurs.
Plagiarism is defined as the representation of another’s words, ideas, concepts, research or creative production without proper attribution whether intentional or unintentional. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed about what constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism can occur in the submission of one’s own work or in work submitted by a group.
Examples of plagiarism include the following:
- The submission of a paper not one’s own, including turning in a paper that has been purchased from a commercial research firm or obtained from the internet
- Copying word for word information without quotation marks
- Paraphrasing information (that is, using only minor changes to the original, without giving due credit with a citation )
- Use of information not considered general knowledge without proper citation
- Listing of misleading or false sources on a reference page
- The use of a paper or project for one course that was previously submitted for another course, either at Wilmington or at any other institution
- The copying of any portion of another student’s written work
All work in this course should be independent unless specifically stated otherwise. Many projects will be group projects and group members share responsibility for such tasks as gathering and presenting data; however, any work that is turned in, such as laboratory reports or handouts, should be independently generated. Even though you may share information such as data with your lab partner, your written assignments should be done independently. Do not share laboratory reports or written information to avoid plagiarism. The best way for you to demonstrate mastery of the material is for you to write your own words.
A note about ChatGPT and other bots: All work (essays, test answers, homework answers, etc.) that you submit in this course must be originally produced by you and not by artificial intelligence. Failure to comply with this policy will result in penalties for academic dishonesty.
Institutional and Program-Level Policies
All exams will follow the Final Exam Schedule. Students scheduled to take three or more final examinations on one day may request to arrange their examination schedule, so no more than two exams occur on one day.
Requests for early or late exams are considered only under extreme circumstances. Prior to the exam period, the student must file a written request on the Early/Late Exam Form available in the Student One Stop Center, Academic Records, and on the WC portal. The form must be signed by the Instructor and the Academic Dean, approving the alternate exam time. This process must be completed prior to the scheduled exam period.
Undergraduate: FA26 Final Exam Schedule
Out-of-class Work Expectation A minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class student work is expected for each hour of in-class time for traditional face-to-face courses. For online and hybrid courses, the combination of face-to-face time and out-of-class work should be equal to 3 hours per credit hour per week. |
Instructional Course Delivery Definition of Courses |
Academic Integrity Policy The use of generative AI is prohibited except where expressly allowed in assignment instructions. Academic Integrity Policy |
Class Attendance Policy Institutional Class Attendance Policy |