Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 Instructor: Susan Bertram, Ph.D. Contact Information: Office: 245 Nesbitt Phone: 613-520-2600 x1585 Email: WebCT course Email Teaching Assistant: Kathleen (Katie) Lucas Contact Information: Office: 225 Nesbitt (meetings will generally occur in the lobby of Nesbitt) Email: WebCT course Email Calendar Description: Contemporary issues in animal behaviour. Issues could include the relevance of animal behaviour to conservation biology, to new insights into human social behaviour, and will be selected through consultation between professor and students. Seminars: When: Monday and Wednesday 11:35 am – 12:55 pm Where: Minto 5050 Purpose: We will discuss peer-reviewed papers on advances in animal behaviour. We will identify the general problem that is being addressed in the paper and how the researchers investigated the problem. You will be asked to critique the presentation of the research problem, the experimental and observational approaches, whether the methods and analyses are appropriate and detailed enough to be replicated, and whether the conclusions reached by the author(s) are justified. Please note a critical assessment does not have to be negative. Office hours: When: Monday 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm or by appointment Where: Nesbitt 245 Prerequisite: BIOL 3802 (Animal Behaviour) or equivalent

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 Text: There is no text for this course. Instead, our readings and discussions will emphasize critical evaluation of peer-reviewed scientific literature on animal behaviour. Supplementary materials: Lectures will be short and few in number. They will be given by the instructor and the students. Goals and Objectives: Animal Behaviour is a rapidly growing area of scientific research in the biological sciences and psychology. This advanced animal behaviour course focuses on the scientific study of behaviour in animals, and will provide a fairly focused discussion of the field. Understanding animal behaviour has many practical applications. Aside from satisfying human curiosity and increasing our understanding of biodiversity, animals can serve as model organisms for understanding the behaviour, nervous system and brain function, and physiology of humans, as well as the evolution of human behaviour. Further, it is essential that we understand the behaviour of animals in the wild in order to conserve animal biodiversity and preserve the environment. The overall goal of the course is to introduce students to the diversity of animal behaviours, and to provide a framework in which to understand them from mechanistic, ecological and evolutionary perspectives. To do so, we will examine a variety of topics including the genetic, physiological, neural and developmental basis of behaviour, animal learning, foraging, habitat selection, predator-prey interaction, communication, reproduction and mating systems, parental care and social behaviour. The major focus of our discussions will be on the adaptive value of the behaviour – how the behaviour contributes to the animal’s survival and reproduction. We will also focus on the evolution of behaviour given environmental and phylogenetic constraints. Students will focus on the fundamental principles and theory underlying the subject, and become well acquainted with examples of contemporary literature. This advanced animal behaviour course has five objectives: 1. Integrate traditional and contemporary principles of animal behaviour. 2. Develop and strengthen your ability to utilize modern electronic resources for finding and obtaining relevant scientific literature. 3. Synthesize scientific literature to produce a comprehensive meta-analysis on a key current problem in animal behaviour. 4. Hone your discussion and debating skills through group discussions. 5. Hone your presentation skills through individual presentations.

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 My objective is to increase your appreciation for the complexity, diversity, and mysteries posed by animal behaviour. In addition, I wish to increase your personal involvement in your education. By now, you should have adopted a self-motivated (rather than an instructor-mandated) attitude towards your lifetime learning. This course should help hone your ability to synthesize ideas, and present them in both oral and written formats. Classroom Decorum: This class is NOT the place to hone your multi-tasking skills. No electronic devises are allowed to be turned on in lecture. Shut-off or do not bring the following: cell phones, headphones, PDAs, tape recorders, MP3 players, video cameras. Do not bring newspapers or magazines. Do not work on other projects while in class. Laptops are allowed, but only for note-taking related to this course. We strongly encourage you to speak up and participate in lecture, discussion sections, during office hours, and online – via WebCT. However, please participate in a respectful manner. Disrespectful behaviour toward the Professor, the graduate Teaching Assistants, or toward your fellow classmates will NOT be tolerated. Those exhibiting disrespectful behaviour will be asked to leave and further action may be taken. Students with Disabilities: Students with a disability requiring academic accommodations in this course are encouraged to contact a coordinator at the Paul Menton Centre: “At the start of each term, students must meet with their PMC coordinator to discuss accommodation needs and get their Letters of Accommodation. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with instructors, to get Letters of Accommodation signed and discuss how accommodations will be arranged.” After registering with the Paul Menton Centre, make an appointment to meet and discuss your needs with me by January 17th, 2007 (one week prior to the date the research project outline is due). This is necessary in order to ensure sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements. For Religious Obligations: Students requesting academic accommodation on the basis of religious obligation should make a formal, written request to me for alternate dates and/or means of satisfying academic requirements. Such requests should be made during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist, but no later than two weeks before the compulsory event. Accommodation is to be worked out directly and on an individual basis. We will make accommodations in a way that avoids academic disadvantage to the student.

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 Students who have questions or want to confirm accommodation eligibility of a religious event or practice may refer to the Equity Services website for a list of holy days and Carleton’s Academic Accommodation policies, or may contact an Equity Services Advisor in the Equity Services Department for assistance. For Pregnancy: Pregnant students requiring academic accommodations are encouraged to contact an Equity Advisor in Equity Services to complete a letter of accommodation. The student must then make an appointment to discuss her needs with me at least two weeks prior to the first academic event in which it is anticipated the accommodation will be required. Academic Integrity Policy: The University is committed to ensuring fairness and consistency in the completion of examinations, including quizzes. As part of this commitment, students are required to follow proper examinations procedures. A student who commits a violation of this policy on an examination or test, or obtains or produces an answer or unfair advantage by deceit, fraud, or trickery, or by an act contrary to the rules of the examination are subject to the sanction under this Policy. These rules include but are not limited to: • • • •

attempting to read any textbook, notebook, memorandum, other written material or mechanical or electronic device not authorized by the examiner writing an examination or part of it, or consulting any person or materials outside the confines of the examination room without permission to do so leaving answer papers exposed to view attempts to read other students' examination papers and/or speaking to another student (even if the subject matter is irrelevant to the test).

Plagiarism: “Plagiarism is the presentation, in any form, of another person's writings or ideas as your own work, without expressly giving credit to that person. Placing a sentence or paragraph from another person's work into your text, without a proper reference, is plagiarism. This is a serious offence and is subject to University policy regarding Instructional Offences (see the section on Academic Standing and Conduct in the front of the Undergraduate Calendar).” The ideas that follow about plagiarism have been adapted from guidelines prepared by Dr. Hans Damman and Dr. Naomi Cappuccino. Please read them – plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. Let's assume that you want to reference the following passage, taken from Howe & Westley (1988): "Horses (Equus caballus; 350 kg) and elephants (Loxodonta africana; 2,800-5,000 kg) digest slightly over 50% of relatively

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 lignified alfalfa fiber. By comparison, an omnivorous human (60 kg) with a much smaller fermentation chamber and a much less complex microbial farm in the intestines digests only 9% of alfalfa fiber eaten." A perfectly acceptable and appropriate use of this information would be: Humans cannot digest fibre as effectively as can large herbivores such as horses and elephants (Howe & Westley 1988). An unacceptable use of the paragraph quoted above in your essay would be: Horses (Equus caballus; 350 kg) and elephants (Loxodonta africana; 2,800-5,000 kg) digest slightly over 50% of relatively lignified alfalfa fiber (Howe & Westley 1988). Although you have correctly attributed the information to Howe & Westley, you have nonetheless committed two unacceptable acts. First, you were intellectually lazy and didn't bother to think of an appropriate wording yourself (i.e., one that fits smoothly into the flow of the rest of your paper). Second, you've missed the point of using the literature: the literature serves as a source of ideas rather than of wording or organization. Never directly lift wording from a source verbatim. Even if your choice of words is not as elegant as that in the source, your words better reflect your own thoughts. Another unacceptable use of the paragraph quoted would be: Horses (Equus caballus; 350 kg) and elephants (Loxodonta africana; 2,800-5,000 kg) digest slightly over 50% of relatively lignified alfalfa fiber. In this version you have passed off information from Howe & Westley as your own original thoughts. You have lifted the information without offering any clue about where it came from (thus, I would assume that it came from you). This is plagiarism in its most extreme form, which is cause for severe disciplinary action! A variant on this is to base whole chunks of your essay on single sources. This also reflects intellectual laziness…you may not be borrowing direct wording, but you are borrowing the organization of ideas. If you find yourself attributing an entire paragraph or several consecutive paragraphs to a single source, the chances are that you are guilty. In arts courses you may have learned that it is acceptable to use blocks of text from another author as long as the selection is put in quotation marks and cited appropriately. While that is true, this format is rarely seen in scientific writing. Scientists, unlike artsy folk, rarely express their thoughts so gracefully that their prose deserves to be highlighted in this way. Instead, THINK, and write your ideas in your own words.

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 The Bottom Line: Your research papers should be in your own words! I can easily recognise someone else's words in your text. I have been editing theses, scientific papers and books for many years and I find it extremely simple to detect a change of "voice" in a text. I typically catch 4-10 students per year involved in flagrant cases of plagiarism. Once caught, I don’t invite you to explain your behaviour. Instead, I follow Carleton University’s policy and immediately turn your case over to the Dean. In my experience, the Dean takes these academic integrity infraction cases extremely seriously. Trust me – you do not want to have to attend a one-on-one meeting with the Dean about your behaviour. It makes everyone involved very unhappy, and could result in your failing the course or being expelled from the University! WebCT – Electronic Communication: The BIOL4802 – Advanced Animal Behaviour course will be managed with Carleton University’s WebCT system: http://webct6.carleton.ca/ You must have a computing account to access the course webpage. We will be using the following WebCT options: 1. Announcements – I will post updates and information about the course, impending deadlines, etc. on the announcements tab, so be sure to check it every day. 2. Course e-mail – WebCT has an e-mail account specific to each course that is accessible only to students registered in the course. Access this by clicking on the mail tab. I will send individual messages and course notices using the WebCT e-mail, so check your account every day. Use this method for course-related e-mails and not my other Carleton e-mail accounts. 3. Course notes – All course notes will be posted under the “Learning Modules” option. 4. Papers for discussion – The publications that we will be discussing in class will NOT be made available on WebCT. Posting these papers goes against copyright laws. Each of the papers that you will read is either posted in the syllabus, or will be posted on the board in class and sent out via either an email or announcement. These papers are available at the library (online and hard-copy). It is your responsibility to locate and read each paper(s) prior to class. 5. Quizzes – You will take all of your on-line quizzes using WebCT quizzes tab. You will only be allowed to access each quiz once, and only for a short time period. 6. Discussions – You will have access to a discussion board that will allow you to post ideas, discussion topics, and response to your peers. I will be monitoring this board, so ensure that all your posts are respectful. 7. Grades – I will post grades for quizzes, exams, etc., as well as final grades. In order for your grades to be posted and for you to access the course WebCT webpage you must be registered for this course and have a computing account.

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 How do I get an account on Carleton WebCT? Usernames and passwords for your Carleton WebCT course(s) utilize your Student Computing Account information. Please note that your Student WebCT account can only be activated 1 hour after you have established your Student Computing Account. Courses will be added to your WebCT profile within a 24 hour period. To establish your Student Computing Account visit: http://www.carleton.ca/ccs/acct/student/scaccount.asp Select the link for requesting an account, and follow the instructions provided. If you already have an account on WebCT, the new course will simply show up in my WebCT. Assignments and Grade Distribution: Quizzes: Participation: Research Project: Final Take Home Examination: Total:

90 points 105 points 205 points 100 points 500 points

Quizzes [19 quizzes @ 5 points each (lowest score dropped) = 90 points]: There will be a quiz prior to each seminar period. Each quiz will be based on the paper we will discuss in the seminar. Each quiz will be available for a limited period and once started it must be completed within the time limit (approximately 15 minutes). I encourage you to be very familiar with the reading(s) BEFORE starting a quiz. The quiz does not allow for more than one session so you should think of it as a timed open-book test designed to assist you in preparing for the discussion. Missed quizzes receive a grade of zero – there will be no makeups! Quizzes will be taken on WebCT only. Participation [22 discussions @ 5 points each (lowest score dropped) = 105 points]: To obtain full participation points you must have read the paper we will be discussing, and ask or respond to questions each time we meet. You should plan to participate fully in every seminar including the seminars where your peers are discussing their research ideas at the end of the term. Given this is a fourth year seminar course I expect full participation from everyone. Participation includes having read the paper and supporting documentation, coming to class with several points to discuss, keeping an open mind during the discussion process, and participating in but not dominating the conversation. Research Paper (205 points): You will research a key problem in animal behaviour and write a formal paper on your findings. Your resolution of the problem should be made using data and/or information

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 from any organism(s). I will discuss some examples of worthy topics early in the course. I strongly encourage you to discuss your ideas with me, preferably during the scheduled office hours or by appointment. This will help you to more fully develop your research project. Discussing possible topics should also help you become more familiar with why some topics are better than others for critical assessment. Hint: novel ideas or topics surrounded in controversy tend to provide scope for critical assessment; those that report on subjects about which there is general agreement tend to get distilled into boring presentations that have very little room for you to demonstrate your problem solving abilities. Your research project should be written either as a review paper or as a paper on data that you have gathered (e.g., a meta-analysis based on the literature). Your research project should clearly identify the problem and indicate why understanding the problem is of central importance to animal behaviourists (and possibly others). It should also critically review the evidence about the problem, and broadly discuss the prospects for future research (think outside the box). Simple “vote counts” of the literature (this author says this but that author says that) will NOT receive high grades. I want to know what YOU have deduced about the problem, and I want you to substantiate your ideas and thoughts. The paper must be written in first person and in a format for submission to a scientific journal (samples will be provided). Possible Questions for Research Paper: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Are behaviours typically at adaptive equilibria? Does genetic architecture limit the rate or direction of evolutionary change? When is the phenotypic gambit safe? Does gene flow inhibit behavioural adaptation? Are genetic benefits of mate choice greater than direct benefits? Why are sexual ornaments often condition dependent? Why do species have multiple sexual ornaments? Is sexual selection important in speciation? Are life history tradeoffs due to genetic pleiotropy? Is phenotypic plasticity adaptive? What factors determine inter-specific variation in life histories? How common are transgeneration effects? Is senescence adaptive? What determines inter-specific variation in cooperative behaviour? Are kin benefits more important than direct benefits? Which individuals are in control in animal societies? Are explanations common across taxa, or across hierarchical levels of organisation? Do host–parasite interactions maintain genetic variation? Is it possible to measure overall host immunocompetence? Are there ‘good genes’ for parasite resistance? Are behavioural syndromes prevalent and important?

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 • •

Do audiences shape communication? Does communication shape audience behaviour? Could epigenetic effects influence behaviour?

Your research project will be divided into four parts: 1. Outline and Presentation (Due: January 30th, 2008; 20 points): You will provide a one-page outline of the topic of your research project to me and your peers. This onepage outline should clearly indicate the problem you are addressing, what specific question(s) you will be looking at, the alternative hypotheses (if any), and at least two of the most central references to your paper. It should be written in paragraph form (not point form). You will present a brief (5 minute) overview of your research problem to the class. Your peers will be asked to provide feedback. 2. Introduction (Due: February 27th, 2008; 30 points): You will produce an introduction to your research paper. This introduction should be approximately ten type-written double-spaced pages and include at least ten relevant references. The purpose is to ensure that you have chosen a problem that allows you to create a critical paper. The introduction, including grammar and spelling, should be written in a style that is consistent with scientific publishing. It should also written in first person. Note, you have seven weeks, I strongly encourage you to start early. 3. Research Paper (Due: March 24th, 2008; 125 points): You will produce a comprehensive research paper. It should be 25 to 30 type-written double-spaced pages of text and include your revised introduction. You should also provide tables and figures with your paper that provide supporting evidence. These tables and figures should be presented so that readers can understand what they indicate without reference to the text (i.e., have a full table or figure legend that is comprehensive). Tables and figures and citations should be referenced in the text in a straightforward manner, e.g., males show considerable variation in the signalling effort (Bertram 2006, see also Figure 1) or larger females were more likely to lay eggs than smaller ones (Figure 2). Late research papers will loose 10% per day (i.e., a B+ paper will receive a C+ grade if it is 1 day late, and it will receive a D+ grade if it is 2 days late)! (Look to the end of this syllabus for an example of the grading rubric). 4. Research Paper Presentation (Due: March 26th, 31st, or April 1st, 2008; 30 points): The presentation of your research project will be scheduled during the last thee days of classes. Your talk should be about 20 minutes in duration – which includes time for group discussion. You should introduce the general problem, what recent research reveals about the problem, what conclusions you have drawn, and a prospectus for future research (what questions are largely unanswered and how might they be addressed). You will be graded on your understanding of the problem you have researched. You will also be graded on your ability to present the problem and relevant information to your peers, and your ability to ask questions, answer questions, and lead a discussion about the problem (look to the end of this syllabus

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 for an example of the grading rubric). A typical research project presentation could take the following form: A. What is the significance of the work? • Introduce your topic briefly and clearly – i.e., why is the problem important? B. What is the main question or problem being addressed? • Clearly identify the main question(s) C. Hypotheses to answer the question • Clearly identify the hypotheses that have been proposed • Introduce the assumptions and predictions for the various hypotheses • Introduce the evidence supporting or refuting the various hypotheses • Consider using extra figures to facilitate explanations D. What are the central findings? • Introduce the evidence supporting or refuting the various hypotheses • Identify the major points • Understand the experimental details, but don’t explain them in detail E. Assessment of these findings to the field • How important do you think the research findings are? F. Strengths and weaknesses of the findings G. Suggestions for future work • There are still gaps in the literature dealing with specific problems that bear on one or more of the hypotheses H. Questions to be discussed by the group I. Prepare and use effective visual aids. • Use PowerPoint • Keep your slides simple (fancy backgrounds not recommended) • Don’t write everything on the slides (it’s too tempting to read from the slides) • In addition to the figures and schemes from the papers that you have evaluated you should consider using others sources or make your own. This will help to make your explanations more clear. I also recommend that you use the chalkboard or do a simple demonstration. J. Practice your talk so that you will be able to present the work confidently. • Do not read from a script or from your slides (keep the text on your slides to a minimum to avoid the temptation to read your slides while presenting) • Speak clearly, with intonation, and be conscious of your speed of delivery • Face the audience and make eye contact • Do not touch the screen as it is distracting for the audience

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 •

Consider using other media forms, such as the chalkboard

K. Provide a brief summary at the end of the presentation and state the conclusions. • Prepare a final slide that states the main conclusions briefly and clearly Final Take Home Examination (Due: April 29th, 2008; 100 points): You will be given the final examination on the last day of classes. The final exam will be several short essay questions that are based on our discussions and presentations. You will be asked to identify the problem that was addressed and how the researcher(s) investigated the problem. You will also be asked to critically evaluate the work, the experimental and observational approaches, whether the methods and analyses were appropriate and detailed enough to be replicated, and whether the conclusions reached by the authors were justified. NOTE: A critical assessment does NOT have to be negative. You will have to support your opinions, regardless of whether those opinions are positive or negative. You will be graded on your understanding of the material as based on your written answers in the exam: in particular, whether you have shown evidence of background preparation and clear thinking in response to questions posed by the researchers. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling will also be taken into consideration. I strongly encourage you to take notes during presentations and discussions. Decide what the theoretical underpinnings are that drive the research. Focus on the types of problems that were raised and what unresolved issues remain. Summarize your thoughts and the ideas that were discussed after each meeting. Justify all of your opinions with facts. If you are not able to complete the exam by its due-date then you must provide a valid medical note. In the absence of a valid medical note the grade for the final examination will be zero. Note that your valid medical note MUST be presented to me in writing within one week of the missed exam.

Course Schedule: January 7

Introductions and Discussion of Syllabus

January 9

Discussion 1: Kraaijeveld, Kraaijeveld-Smit, and Komdeur (2007) The evolution of mutual ornamentation. Animal Behaviour, 74: 657-677 ______________________________________________________________________________ January 14

Discussion 2: Lima and Rattenborg (2007) A behavioural shutdown can make sleeping safer: a strategic perspective on the function of sleep. Animal Behaviour, 74: 189-197

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 January 16

Discussion 3: Zedrosser, Stoen, Saebo, and Swenson (2007). Should I stay or should I go? Natal dispersal in the brown bear. Animal Behaviour, 74: 369-376 ______________________________________________________________________________ January 21

Discussion 4: Van Dyk and Evans (2007) Familiar – unfamiliar discrimination based on visual cues in the Jacky dragon, Amphibolurus muricatus. Animal Behaviour, 74: 33-44

January 23

Discussion 5: Swaddle and Page (2007) High levels of environmental noise erode pair preferences in zebra finches: implications for noise pollution. Animal Behaviour, 74: 363-368 ______________________________________________________________________________ January 28

Discussion 6: Edvardsson (2007) Female Callosobruchus maculatus mate when they are thirsty: resource-rich ejaculates as mating effort in a beetle. Animal Behaviour, 74: 183-188

January 30 Submit and Present Outlines for Research Paper ______________________________________________________________________________ February 4

Discussion 7: Reichard, Comber, and Smith (2007) Sneaking from a female perspective. Animal Behaviour, 74: 679-688

February 6

Discussion 8: Zulandt, Zulandt-Schneider and Moore (2007) Observing agonistic interactions alters subsequent fighting dynamics in the crayfish, Orconectes rusticus. Animal Behaviour, 75: 13-20; Plath, Blum, Schlupp and Tiedemann (2007) Audience effect alters mating preferences in a livebearing fish, the Atlantic molly, Poecilia mexicana. Animal Behaviour, 75: 21-29 ______________________________________________________________________________ February 11

Discussion 9: Roughgarden, Oishi, and Akcay (2006) Reproductive social behaviour: cooperative games to replace sexual selection. Science, 311: 965-969; Responses from peers and Response to peers. Science, 312: 689-697; Don’t forget to read supplemental material available online!

February 13

Discussion 10: Smiseth and Moore (2007) Signalling of hunger by senior and junior larvae in asynchronous broods of a burying beetle. Animal Behaviour, 74: 699-705 ______________________________________________________________________________ SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 ______________________________________________________________________________ February 25

Discussion 11: Magrath, Pitcher, and Dalziell (2007) How to be fed but not eaten: nestling response to parental food calls and the sound of a predator’s footsteps. Animal Behaviour, 74:1117-1129

February 27

Discussion 12: Johnson and Sih. (2007) Fear, food, sex and parental care: a syndrome of boldness in the fishing spider, Dolomedes triton. Animal Behaviour, 74:1131-1138; Submit Introduction to Research Paper ______________________________________________________________________________ March 3

Discussion 13: Wilson and McLaughlin (2007). Behavioural syndromes in brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis: prey-search in the field corresponds with space use in novel laboratory situations. Animal Behaviour, 74: 689-698

March 5

Discussion 14: Barnard (2007) Ethical regulation and animal science: why animal behaviour is special. Animal Behaviour, 74: 5-13; Cuthill (2007) Ethical regulation and animal science: why animal behaviour is not so special. Animal Behaviour, 74: 15-22 ______________________________________________________________________________ March 10

Discussion 15: To be determined (Grad Student)

March 12 Discussion 16: To be determined (Grad Student) ______________________________________________________________________________ March 17

Discussion 17: To be determined (Grad Student)

March 19 Discussion 18: To be determined (Grad Student) ______________________________________________________________________________ March 26

Discussion 19: To be determined (Grad Student); Submit Research Paper

March 28 Student Research Paper Presentations ______________________________________________________________________________ March 31

Student Research Paper Presentations

April 2 Student Research Paper Presentations; Receive take-home exam ______________________________________________________________________________ April 29

Exam Due by 1pm (my office)

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 What follows on this and the next few pages has been adapted (with permission) from the ideas and writings of Dr. Naomi Cappuccino and Dr. Hans Damman. Some common writing problems: It is difficult to distinguish sloppy writing from sloppy thinking when marking reports and essays, so poor writing inevitably translates into poor grades. You can alleviate this problem somewhat by editing each other’s papers before submitting them. You can get additional help with your writing by contacting Carleton’s Writing Tutorial Service http://www.carleton.ca/wts/. Don’t leave this until the last minute! Extra words: • The underlined words in the following sentences are not necessary: o In thinking about this problem it is evident that starlings were completely extinct by the year 2000. o This is very important because in order to conserve the environment that surrounds the alligator we must… o Horned lizards live and make their home in dry arid regions from Utah all the way down to Mexico. Nouns that cannot “do” the verb assigned to them: • This plan will capture 80 newts per year…(a plan cannot capture) Pronouns that can refer to more than one previously mentioned noun: • The rarity of golden-cheeked warblers concerns conservationists because it makes them vulnerable to changes in the political climate. (Who is made vulnerable, the warblers or the conservationists?) Plural pronouns to refer to singular nouns and vice versa: • Wrong: The grizzly bear is a rare species. Their populations never exceed 2000 individuals. • Right: The grizzly bear is a rare species. Its population never exceeds 2000 individuals. Faulty parallelism: • Wrong: Eating junk food, exercising too little and too much beer will cause your health to decline. • Right: Eating junk food, exercising too little and consuming too much beer will cause your health to decline. That • • •

Use “that” to introduce information that defines the noun Right: The conservation plan that went into effect in 1992 was endorsed by the Sierra Club. (That particular conservation plan, i.e., the one that went into effect in 1992, was endorsed by the Sierra Club. Other plans were not endorsed.) Wrong: The conservation plan which went into effect in 1992 was endorsed by the Sierra Club.

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 Which • “Which” is generally preceded by a comma and introduces a nondefining clause) • Right: The conservation plan, which went into effect in 1992, was endorsed by the Sierra Club. (Implies that we all know which conservation plan we’re talking about and, by the way, it went into effect in 1992.) Semicolons: • The clause following a semicolon must be able to stand alone as a complete sentence. Its and it’s: • “Its” is the possessive of “it”. The cat’s toy mouse is full of catnip. Its mouse is full of catnip. • “It’s” is the contraction of “it is”. It’s important to understand the difference. A word about diction (word choice): • Even though the conservation plan is a good one, I have a big problem with it. • Smith (1945) looked at wolf populations, which were then wiped out in 1960. • These sentences are fine for a letter to a friend but are much too casual and imprecise for scholarly writing. One last hint: • Spell-checking programs are great, but they are no substitute for a good dictionary. For example, I just used my Webster’s Unabridged because I couldn’t remember where to put the apostrophe in “each other’s” in the first paragraph. Microsoft Word didn’t seem to mind that I had left it out in my first draft. The writing tutorial service also provides a list of common writing problems: • http://www.carleton.ca/wts/docs/index.html Citing references: •

•

To document the state-of-the-art in your subject area, you will need to conduct an extensive literature review. That means at least 20 papers from the primary literature (i.e., scientific journals; not textbooks, not government reports, and definitely not web pages). Please use the format below and avoid formats that do not include the title of the article: References for all parts of a report/essay/grant proposal should be grouped together at the end. Aside from a few journals (such as Science) that promote a terse, almost telegraphic writing style, scientific writing rarely has footnotes, so do not use them. In the text, your citations should have the following format: “The role of autogenic successional processes in vegetation dynamics is still not clearly understood (Smith 1996, Jones et al. 1998).” (Note that the references are listed chronologically, not alphabetically.)

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 “In a seminal paper on phylogenetic relationships among the sauropods, Barney (1996) argued that purple dinosaurs were not the ancestors of modern birds.” •

In the References Cited section, use a format like this: For books: Sokal, R. R. and Rohlf, P. J. 1981. Biometry. Second Edition. W.H. Freeman, New York, New York, USA. For articles: Barney, B. D. 1996. Phylogenetic relationships among modern and extinct sauropods: a synthesis. Journal of Dinosaurology 34:15-45. Chapters in books: Westheimer, R. 1994. Loss of body hair in men following joint prozac-viagra therapy. Pages 85-95 in S. Freud and G. Seinfeld, editors. Interactions between drugs. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA. Do not list references that you do not cite in the body of the text. If you refer to a reference that you have not read, but that is cited in a paper that you have read, use the format, Notseen (1892, as cited in Seen 1992). You would include only the reference for Seen (1992) in your References section, because what you present is Seen's (1992) interpretation of the original information in Notseen (1892).

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 EVALUATION OF TERM PAPER Name:_______________________________________________

Final Grade:_____%

1. Clearly identifies and addresses a significant question in animal behaviour (5 points): Is the purpose of the paper stated clearly? Is the abstract clear and concise? poor (1) passable (2.5) good (3.75) very good (4.25) excellent (5)

2. Indicates why understanding the problem is centrally important to behaviour (5 points): Is the scientific justification for asking this question clearly expressed? Is it a compelling scientific question? Is it a novel question or one that is surrounded in controversy? poor (1) passable (2.5) good (3.75) very good (4.25) excellent (5) 3. Uses relevant, authoritative evidence to support assertions (20 points): Are 20+ peerreviewed studies discussed? Are they the most relevant? Are they referenced properly? poor (5) passable (10) good (15) very good (17) excellent (20) 4. Critically reviews and assesses the evidence about the problem (50 points): Are connections drawn between peer-reviewed studies being presented and the central question being addressed? Are the papers that are being discussed reviewed in a critical fashion? Are the good points of the study mentioned (i.e., studies are not just ripped apart)? Do we hear the student’s voice in this analysis? Are conclusions drawn and are they valid conclusions? Does the student fully comprehend the problem? poor (10) passable (25) good (36) very good (42) excellent (50) 5. Broadly discusses prospects for future research (10 points): Does the paper suggest future experiments that should be completed? Does the paper suggest other ways of tackling the central problem? poor (2) passable (5) good (6.5) very good (8.5) excellent (10) 6. Appropriate use of tables and figures (5 points): Are the figures and tables necessary? Did the student just lift them from elsewhere or did they really put time and effort into them and design their own? Are the figures properly labeled? poor (1) passable (2.5) good (3.75) very good (4.25) excellent (5) 7. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics (5 points): Is appropriate scientific language and style used? Is the paper free from spelling and grammatical errors? Is the style appropriate for a scientific review article? Is the paper written in first person (as requested in the syllabus)? poor (1) passable (2.5) good (3.75) very good (4.25) excellent (5) General Comments:

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Advanced Animal Behaviour – BIOL 4802 EVALUATION SCHEME FOR RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATION Presenter:

Date:

Paper:

Final Grade (out of 30):

1. The speaker’s knowledge of the topic was (10 points): poor (2) average (4) good (6) very good (8)

excellent (10)

2. Interpretation/critique of the work (5 points): poor (1) average (2) good (3)

very good (4)

excellent (5)

3. Organization of the presentation (5 points): poor (1) average (2) good (3)

very good (4)

excellent (5)

4. The effectiveness of the visual material was (2 points): poor (1) average (2) good (3) very good (4)

excellent (5)

5. The speed of the presentation was (2 points): too fast/slow (1) average (2) good (3)

excellent (5)

very good (4)

6. Interaction of the speaker with the audience was (2 points): poor (0) average (.5) good (1) very good (1.5)

excellent (2)

7. Ability of the speaker to interest the audience in the topic (2 points): poor (0) average (.5) good (1) very good (1.5)

excellent (2)

8. Speaker’s ability to get the entire group to participate in discussion (2 points): poor (0) average (.5) good (1) very good (1.5) excellent (2) General Comments:

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