BIOL 278L

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR LABORATORY

NOTES FOR TEACHING ASSISTANTS

GENERAL INFORMATION

Purchasing . . . Lab reports . . . Preparation for excercises . . . How students can contact you

Send suggestions to Haven Wiley.

The Animal Behavior Laboratory has traditionally had lots of input from Teaching Assistants. Many have suggested and developed entirely new or modified exercises, although this effort is of course not expected.

This lab also has a long tradition of involving students in all aspects of any biological study:

preparation and maintenance of equipment and animals,
design of experiments and observations
(including identifying hypotheses and preparing data sheets),
conducting the experiments or observations,
statistical analysis of the results,
interpreting the results,
and writing a report.

The gratification of seeing improvements in students' abilities to plan experiments and to explain themselves is one of the rewards of teaching this lab.

Partly because of these extra opportunities for Teaching Assistants, the Animal Behavior Laboratory can also become very time-consuming. This section is intended to help in damage control!

The time-consuming aspects of this laboratory come from purchasing and maintaining the animals and equipment and from grading lab reports.

PURCHASING

To make purchasing as smooth as possible, introduce yourself the department's accounting office (Coker 202). Paula Lloyd currently (2010) handles purchases for teaching. She or another accountant can solve almost any problem -- in fact, they can probably solve any problem.

There are two basic ways to purchase supplies for courses . . .

OPEN ACCOUNTS: Some stores in or near Chapel Hill maintain "open accounts with the General Storeroom". You must ask the salesperson to charge the items to the UNC General Storeroom account and give the salesperson the department's account number (see a departmental account in Coker 202 or ask a previous TA). You might be asked to show your driver's license to verify your identity. Bring the receipt back to the departmental accounting office (Coker 202) and label it "BIOL 278L".
PURCHASE ORDERS: At some stores and when ordering by telephone, you will need a "purchase order number". Ask a departmental accountant (Coker 202) for a number. Give that number to the salesperson. Obtain a receipt and label it "BIOL 278L", write the "purchase order number" on it, and give it to a departmental accountant.

If you need supplies, we can afford them. Consult faculty for more ambitious purchases -- suggestions appreciated!

LAB REPORTS

Lab reports have always been an important part of Animal Behavior Labs. They are extra effort, both for students (who get only one credit for this course) and for Teaching Assistants. To compensate for the extra time required, we do not schedule lab exercises for two of the weeks in the semester.

These weeks without exercises should compensate some for the time spent grading reports. They also compensate the students some for their time.

Many TAs have found it useful to make a standardized sheet for grading lab reports. Meet with other TAs to agree on a grading sheet. Remember that we want to emphasize . . .

understanding
content
form insofar as it contributes to understanding (which is often the case!).

See the instructions for students for preparing lab reports.

Usually we have required two lab reports in a semester, plus an opportunity to re-write the first one. The first lab reports are often astonishing! You will have to allow time to explain lab reports before the first one is due and after returning the first one. It is also a help to have clear-cut office hours in the weeks before and after lab reports are due. You might also open the labs at the regularly scheduled times on these weeks, for drop-in advice about lab reports, statistics, or references.

PREPARATION FOR EXERCISES

Make it a regular practice to have students contribute to maintenance and preparation at the end of each session. Students should take responsibility for all aspects of the exercises -- including maintaining the animals and preparing and checking the equipment.

You might consider offering extra credit for special kinds of assistance. Also do not hesitate to take off credit for failure to contribute. Many students taking Animal Behavior like animals and behavior and have responded enthusiastically to opportunities to participate.

Get together with other TAs at the beginning of the semester and devise a strategy for offering extra credit. For instance, post a sign-up sheet for two or three students to stay after lab for 30 minutes. Make it first-come first-served. That should encourage students to plan ahead, so you will know whom to expect.

HOW STUDENTS CAN CONTACT YOU

Outside of class, students usually contact instructors by email or during their office hours.

There really is no reason undergraduates should telephone you. Either they have a good excuse (in which case they can come to office hours) or they don't (in which case they shouldn't call in the first place).

In an emergency, students can leave a message for you with the departmental office (962-2077).

!ARRIBA ANIMAL BEHAVIOR!

Animal Behavior labs are tough. Live animals do not behave themselves like solutions and anatomical preparations usually do. It can be a challenge to get an Animal Behavior lab to work at all! But, without doubt, Animal Behavior labs are also fun!

They should be great fun! The Lab Manual and these notes for TAs are only guidelines and are not intended to restrict anybody's enthusiasm for experimentation and excitement. There are very few rules that absolutely have to be followed for these exercises -- in particular we have to follow University regulations, including those for safety, chemicals, animal care, and human research.

Enthusiasm and ingenuity has done a lot to improve these labs over the years. I have compiled this manual -- but the ideas have a collective origin over two decades. They belong to Animal Behavior at Carolina!

Haven Wiley