Request for New Course
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
REQUEST FOR NEW COURSE
DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL: ________BIOLOGY_____________COLLEGE:
ARTS & SCIENCE
CONTACT PERSON: ________MARIANNE LAPORTE__________________________________________________________
CONTACT PHONE:
7-4242
CONTACT EMAIL:
MLAPORTE@EMICH.EDU
REQUESTED START DATE: TERM_WINTER____________YEAR_2012__________
A. Rationale/Justification for the Course
We have strong and consistent interest in studying animal behavior in nature but we do not have a class in this area for
biology majors. At the graduate level, we offer BIOT 502 but this class is restricted to teachers. We propose a course
that will serve both undergraduate and graduates. At the graduate level, this course will be a restricted elective in the
Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology program. At the undergraduate level, this course will be an elective in the
biology major and minor. Behavioral ecology is a vibrant and respected subfield of animal behavior. We choose to
focus on behavioral ecology rather than offer a broader course in animal behavior in order to build upon existing
faculty expertise, better utilize our field stations, and better integrate with other electives in ecology and organismal
biology.
B. Course Information
1. Subject Code and Course Number:
BIO 416
2. Course Title:
Behavioral Ecology
3. Credit Hours:
3
4. Repeatable for Credit? Yes_______
No___X___
If “Yes”, how many total credits may be earned?_______
5. Catalog Description (Limit to approximately 50 words.):
How animals use behavior to meet the demands of their lives in nature. We will examine behavioral aspects of survival, foraging, dispersal,
habitat selection, mating, and parenting within the life histories of organisms. Students will be expected to discuss primary scientific literature
and conduct original research in groups.
6. Method of Delivery (Check all that apply.)
a. Standard (lecture/lab) X
On Campus
X
Off Campus
X
b. Fully Online
c. Hybrid/ Web Enhanced
7. Grading Mode:
Normal (A-E)
X
Credit/No Credit
8. Prerequisites: Courses that MUST be completed before a student can take this course. (List by Subject Code, Number and Title.)
Miller, New Course
Sept. 09
New Course Form
BIO310 Ecology
9. Concurrent Prerequisites:
Code, Number and Title.)
Courses listed in #5 that MAY also be taken at the same time as a student is taking this course. (List by Subject
10. Corequisites: Courses that MUST be taken at the same time as a student in taking this course.
(List by Subject Code, Number and
Title.)
11. Equivalent Courses. A student may not earn credit for both a course and its equivalent. A course will count as a repeat if an equivalent
course has already been taken. (List by Subject Code, Number and Title)
12. Course Restrictions:
a. Restriction by College. Is admission to a specific College Required?
College of Business
Yes
No
X
College of Education
Yes
No
X
b. Restriction by Major/Program. Will only students in certain majors/programs be allowed to take this course?
Yes
No
X
If “Yes”, list the majors/programs
c. Restriction by Class Level Check all those who will be allowed to take the course:
Undergraduate
Graduate
All undergraduates_______
All graduate students____
Freshperson
Certificate
Sophomore
Masters
Junior
X
Specialist
Senior
X
Doctoral
Second Bachelor___X_____
UG Degree Pending_____
Post-Bac. Tchr. Cert.__X___
Low GPA Admit_______
Note: If this is a 400-level course to be offered for graduate credit, attach Approval Form for 400-level Course for Graduate
Credit. Only “Approved for Graduate Credit” undergraduate courses may be included on graduate programs of study.
Note: Only 500-level graduate courses can be taken by undergraduate students. Undergraduate students may not register for
600-level courses
d. Restriction by Permission. Will Departmental Permission be required?
Yes
No
(Note: Department permission requires the department to enter authorization for every student registering.)
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Sept. ‘09
X
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New Course Form
13. Will the course be offered as part of the General Education Program?
Yes
No
X
If “Yes”, attach Request for Inclusion of a Course in the General Education Program: Education for Participation in the Global Community
form. Note: All new courses proposed for inclusion in this program will be reviewed by the General Education Advisory Committee. If this
course is NOT approved for inclusion in the General Education program, will it still be offered? Yes
No
C. Relationship to Existing Courses
Within the Department:
14. Will this course will be a requirement or restricted elective in any existing program(s)? Yes
No
If “Yes”, list the programs and attach a copy of the programs that clearly shows the place the new course will have in the curriculum.
Program
Required
Restricted Elective
Program
Required
Restricted Elective
15. Will this course replace an existing course? Yes
No
X
16. (Complete only if the answer to #15 is “Yes.”)
a. Subject Code, Number and Title of course to be replaced:
b. Will the course to be replaced be deleted?
Yes
No
17. (Complete only if the answer #16b is “Yes.”) If the replaced course is to be deleted, it is not necessary to submit a Request for
Graduate and Undergraduate Course Deletion.
a. When is the last time it will be offered?
Term
Year
b. Is the course to be deleted required by programs in other departments?
Contact the Course and Program Development Office if necessary.
Yes
No
c. If “Yes”, do the affected departments support this change?
Yes
No
If “Yes”, attach letters of support. If “No”, attach letters from the affected department explaining the lack of support, if available.
Outside the Department: The following information must be provided. Contact the Course and Program Development office for
assistance if necessary.
18. Are there similar courses offered in other University Departments?
If “Yes”, list courses by Subject Code, Number and Title
Yes
No
X
19. If similar courses exist, do the departments in which they are offered support the proposed course?
Yes
No
If “Yes”, attach letters of support from the affected departments. If “No”, attach letters from the affected department explaining the lack of
support, if available.
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Sept. ‘09
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New Course Form
D. Course Requirements
20. Attach a detailed Sample Course Syllabus including:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Course goals, objectives and/or student learning outcomes
Outline of the content to be covered
Student assignments including presentations, research papers, exams, etc.
Method of evaluation
Grading scale (if a graduate course, include graduate grading scale)
Special requirements
Bibliography, supplemental reading list
Other pertinent information.
NOTE: COURSES BEING PROPOSED FOR INCLUSION IN THE EDUCATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE GLOBAL
COMMUNITY PROGRAM MUST USE THE SYLLABUS TEMPLATE PROVIDED BY THE GENERAL EDUCATION
ADVISORY COMMITTEE. THE TEMPLATE IS ATTACHED TO THE REQUEST FOR INCLUSION OF A COURSE IN THE
GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM: EDUCATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY FORM.
E. Cost Analysis (Complete only if the course will require additional University resources.
Fill in Estimated Resources for the
sponsoring department(s). Attach separate estimates for other affected departments.)
Estimated Resources:
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
Faculty / Staff
$_________
$_________
$_________
SS&M
$_________
$_________
$_________
Equipment
$_________
$_________
$_________
Total
$_________
$_________
$_________
F. Action of the Department/School and College
1. Department/School
Vote of faculty: For ____15______
Against _____0_____
Abstentions ____0______
(Enter the number of votes cast in each category.)
Department Head/School Director Signature
Date
2. College/Graduate School
A. College
College Dean Signature
Date
B. Graduate School (if Graduate Course)
Graduate Dean Signature
Date
G. Approval
Associate Vice-President for Academic Programming Signature
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Sept. ‘09
Date
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New Course Form
Master Syllabus BIOL 416/516 Behavioral Ecology: Fall 2009
CLASS TIME: (6 Contact Hours per Week)
MEETING PLACE:
INSTRUCTOR: Peter Bednekoff
Office: 405 Mark Jefferson
Email: peter.bednekoff@emich.edu
Phone: (734) 487-4394
Office hours: 1:00-2:00 M,W (Please make an appointment if you need to schedule a different time.)
TEXTBOOK: John Alcock, Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, 9th ed., Sinauer.
COURSE GOAL: To allow you to practice the functional analysis of behavior – that is making inferences about
functional consequences from observations of animal behavior.
EXPECTATIONS: To succeed in this class, you will need to come to class prepared and to participate during class.
Preparation will involve reading the textbook, consulting the scientific literature, and bringing questions to the start of
class. Participation involves all interactions with other members of the class. Any actions that contribute to learning
by others are positive participation. Actions that diminish the learning of others will lead to penalties and, if necessary,
expulsion from the class.
Grading:
A
B+
C+
D
≥93-100%
=87-90%
=77-80%
=63-67%
AB
C
D-
=90-93%
=83-87%
=70-77%
=60-63%
BCE
=80-83%
=67-70%
< 60%
Graduate students cannot receive credit for any grade lower than a C.
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Exams
Laboratory short reports
Student designed projects
Submission of questions
Group work during class
Participation
Total
250 pts.
90 pts.
90 pts.
24 pts.
12 pts.
36 pts.
500 pts.
(6 x 20 pts.)
(20, 20, 40, 10 pts)
(12 x 2 pts.)
(12 x 1 pts.)
(18 x 2 pts.)
Exams: This class will take a big exam on Oct. 22 (100 pts.) and a bigger cumulative final exam on Dec. 17 (150 pts.) Each exam
will consist of essays, problems, and some short answer questions. During each class period, you should be generating and
working on questions similar to those on the exam. Doing well on the exams will require both sustained thought throughout the
course and novel applications and connections of familiar work. You need strong math and writing skills in order to do well. For
full credit, answers should have all elements clearly understood and synthesized, and these should be precisely expressed in
standard written English. A clearly right answer deserves more credit than one that might be right. You may not take quizzes
early. You may make up missed exams within one week for 3/4 credit.
Laboratory short reports: Working in groups, you will have six short research exercises to complete during the first half of class.
For each, you will be required to report a set of observations, data summary, and synopsis. Further details will be provided with
each exercise. Each week’s exercise is worth 15 pts. Students who miss class may earn half credit by helping to complete the
data summary and synopsis. Graduate students are responsible for helping analyze the data from the class as a whole. Each
report is due at the start of class one week after the lab.
Student designed projects: Working in groups, you will design and complete research projects during the second half of the
course. Graduate students will be distributed among the groups and will be expected to take the leading role in organizing group
efforts and analyzing data from the project. The overall assignment has several components:
Research Proposal (20 pts): By Nov. 3 you should hand in a 2-3 page, type-written report stating a hypothesis (with null
or alternative hypotheses) and summarizing a procedure for getting data to test this hypothesis. Each report would ideally contain
all the information for another researcher to carry out the methods. Research proposals may follow up on laboratory exercises or
connect with other research on campus.
Annotated Bibliography (20pts): By Nov. 12 your group needs to submit an annotated bibliography of 10 peer-reviewed
references for your project, with primary reports being the majority and reviews being the minority. In addition to full citation
information, you need to summarize the most important points of each article and why it is important to your research.
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New Course Form
Final report (40pts): By Dec. 7 your group will submit a full report in the style of a scientific paper. In order to produce
this paper, you should submit your data to me in electronic format and meet with me at least twice to go over statistical analyses
and presentation of results.
Research Fair Presentation (10pts): On Dec. 10, each group will make a 12-15 min. presentation of their research
project. This class session will be open to other members the department. Each student should present some aspect of their
project, and each presentation should work as an integrated whole.
Late proposals, bibliographies, and reports will receive half credit. You cannot make up the presentation.
Submission of questions: At the start of each “lecture” period, each student will be asked to submit two questions based on the
reading for the day: 1) a short answer question about some important aspect of the chapter, and 2) a longer answer question that
requires application, analysis, or integration. Ideally all questions should require some amount of conceptual thinking but be
specific enough to point to a correct answer. We will discuss your questions during class and then they will become part of the
pool for the exams (2 points per period, one for each question. If you are late or absent, you will lose points.)
Group work during class: I will end each “lecture” period with group work on problems and questions. I expect all class
members to be actively involved in this work. (1 points per period: If you are absent or disengaged in a period, you will not
receive a point for that day.)
Participation: During each of the 12 lecture periods and 6 set lab periods, I will ask many questions and generally seek your help
in making the class work better. After each class, I will give 2 points to each student who was present and engaged throughout,
and spoke or helped at least twice (with partial credit for partially completing this list). At the end of the course, I will ask all
students for input on how other students affected their learning. Points will be earned for generally positive contributions to
learning by classmates and, if necessary, points will be deducted for negative contributions.
Proposed Schedule (The Lab exercises are likely to be revised):
Sept. 10
Ch. 1 An Evolutionary Approach to Animal Behavior; Tinbergen’s 4 questions
Sept. 15 Lab Inference & Observation
Sept. 17
Ch. 2 Understanding the Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Bird Song
Sept. 22 Lab Carolina wren song playback (lab report due)
Sept. 24
Ch. 6 Behavioral Adaptations for Survival
Sept. 29 Lab Squirrel flight initiation (lab report due)
Oct. 1
Ch. 7 The Evolution of Feeding Behavior
Oct. 6
Lab Sparrow flocking (lab report due)
Oct. 8
Ch. 8 Choosing Where to Live
Oct. 13 Lab Chickadees as nuclear species (lab report due)
Oct. 15
Ch. 9 The Evolution of Communication
Oct. 20 Lab Moving along Canada geese (lab report due)
Oct. 22
Mid-term exam
Oct. 27 Lab Student-designed projects (lab report due)
Oct. 29
Ch. 10 The Evolution of Reproductive Behavior
Nov. 3
Lab Student-designed projects (research proposals due)
Nov. 5
Ch. 11 The Evolution of Mating Systems
Nov. 10 Lab Student-designed projects
Nov. 12
Ch. 12 The Evolution of Parental Care (annotated bibliographies due)
Nov. 17 Lab Student-designed projects
Nov. 19
Ch. 13 The Evolution of Social Behavior
Nov. 24 Lab Student-designed projects
Dec. 1
Ch. 3 The Development of Behavior
Dec. 3
Lab Student-designed projects
Dec.7
Ch. 14 The Evolution of Human Behavior (final project report due)
Dec. 10 Lab Research Fair
Dec. 17
Final exam
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: If during any portion of this class, you engage in any activity that can be characterized as academically
dishonest, as defined by the EMU Undergraduate Catalog, you will receive a failing grade for the course. Although you will often work in
groups in this course, any work you turn in must be your own (unless the assignment is explicitly for a group).
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