BIOL2511: BEHAVIOUR

• Level 1 Organisms and Environment (BIOL1161)

• At least one other Level 2 Biological Sciences module.

• None

• To study the adaptive value of behaviours in helping animals to survive and reproduce successfully.
• To study why animals often live together in groups involving social interactions, and how complex social behaviour evolve.
• To study the underlying and interacting mechanisms that control behaviour, including sensory, neural, endocrine and cognitive (learning) processes, as well as the genetic basis of behaviour.

• Mechanisms that control behaviour, including sensory, neural, endocrine and cognitive processes.
• Habitat selection, and use.
• Foraging behaviour.
• Social interactions.
• Methods for studying behaviour.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Knowledge of how animals are able to find and defend resources, including food, shelter and mates.
• Knowledge of how animals avoid predators and care for their young.
• Understanding how social groups and social interactions evolves.
• Understanding how behaviour is initiated, organised and regulated in an evolutionary context.

Subject-specific Skills:

• To be able to analyse the adaptive significance of animal behaviours in an integrative manner considering all levels of biological organisation.
• To be able to understand observational techniques to quantify animal behaviour.
• To be able to apply problem-solving skills to quantitative problems in data collection and data analysis in behavioural studies at an intermediate level.

Key Skills:

• Numeracy, in data analysis, and calculations involved in data handling problems.
• Communication skills, using the written word and graphics, involved in behaviour practical reports.
• Team work.
• Self-motivation, in self-guided learning.

• Lectures deliver subject-specific knowledge.
• Workshops reinforce subject-specific knowledge and understanding gained from lectures and the development of key and subject-specific skills.
• Practical Exercises allow students to utilise subject-specific knowledge gained from lectures, and support the development of key and subject-specific skills.
• Tutorials give enhancement of the student learning experience, supporting attainment of all learning outcomes.
• Self-guided learning contributes to subject-specific knowledge and self-motivation.
• Practical Exercises are based on subject-specific knowledge and demonstrate subject-specific skills in understanding experimental work and data analysis.

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