Independent study
WHY?
• Inquiry-based lab design encourages
independent thought.
• Has been shown to increase learning and
information retention.
• Working in groups of 3. You MUST work with
people from your lab day.
Timeline (4 weeks)
• Before October 2-3: Conduct a literature review.
• October 2-3: Come in for consultations. Hand in a well
thought out and researched proposal.
• October 9-24: Develop and carry out a 3-week
experiment.
• In class (Nov. 21, 24, 26, 28): Present your results orally
• Write a group paper on your experiment (due Nov. 3 by
4pm). You should be working on this over the next few
weeks...No extensions will be given.
Literature review
• Read peer reviewed papers
• Is there a gap in knowledge? What is
unknown?
• OR, what is debatable?
Project development
• Consultations
• Research question and hypotheses
– Hypothesis: a statement predicting the outcome
of your study.
• Methods developed to answer your question
Variables
• Dependent variable: what you measure
• Independent variable: what you control
• Extraneous variable: something that may
influence your results/dependent variable
– E.g. lighting, time of day, health status, etc…
Data collection
• Instantaneous/Scan sampling (e.g. Waterfowl
park lab)
• Focal animal sampling (e.g. Waterfowl park
lab)
• Behavioural scoring (e.g. Flour beetle lab)
• Create data sheets!
Your experiments!
What are your options?
Critters
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pillbugs
Snails
Flour beetles
Hermit crabs
Crickets
Worms
Daphnia
Amphipods
Ants?
Others?
What else is available?
• Think about what you have used in lab
– Plexiglass plates/chambers, lamps, tanks, critters…
• Get creative!
• Is there anything (within our means) that you
would like purchased?
Possible avenues of study
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
You have a lot of flexibility when
Trail following
it comes to experiment choice!
Light preference
Think outside the box!
Food preference
Mating behaviour
Aggressive behaviour
Moisture/humidity preference
Temperature preference
Pheromone detection
When can you work?
• You must come in at your regular lab time.
• No other afternoons are free in Rm 311.
• You may come in some mornings, but check
the schedule on the next slide to make sure
you do not interrupt a midterm.
• No work in the evening unless approved by
Danielle
Lab room schedule
Consultations
• Sign up for a consultation time using Doodle.
An email will circulate with the Doodle link
within the next few days.
• Sign up for a time slot during your regular lab
period.
Presentations
• Done in class Nov. 21-28, 15 min (12 min pres,
3 min questions)
• The presentation should consist of the
following:
– your purpose
– research question/hypothesis
– methods
– results and implications of your work
– future avenues…
This sounds like it might be a lot of
work…
This project is worth 15% of
your grade…
Your thoughts? Questions?