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VOLUME 19 TEACHING ISSUES AND EXPERIMENTS IN ECOLOGY
PRACTICE

Figure Set update: An inquiry-based module aligned with the 4DEE framework for teaching about functional responses and biological control

Ladybug on a leaf (Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash)

AUTHORS

Rosny Jean1, Linda Auker2, Suann Yang3, and Jeremy Hsu4

1School of the Environment, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL 32307

2Department of Biology, Misericordia University, Dallas, PA 18612

3Department of Biology, State University of New York Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 14454

4Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866

Corresponding Author: Rosny Jean (rosny.jean@famu.edu)

THE ISSUE

Biological control agents are used in a wide range of contexts to limit damage from pests. However, the broader ecological consequences of such agents often are unclear before ecological risk assessments are performed. This Figure Set guides students to think through potential consequences of using biological control agents, and then uses a specific study to challenge students to interpret results from laboratory and caged field experiments. This Figure Set also introduces the concept of functional responses to students.

FOUR DIMENSIONAL ECOLOGY EDUCATION (4DEE) FRAMEWORK

  • Core Ecological Concepts:
    • Organisms
      • Resources and regulators
    • Communities
      • Predation
  • Ecology Practices:
    • Quantitative reasoning and computational thinking
      • Data analysis and interpretation
    • Designing and critiquing investigations
      • Study design, familiarity with basic modes of ecological inquiry (description, comparison, experimentation, modeling)
      • Evaluating claims
      • Argument from evidence
    • Working collaboratively
  • Human-Environment Interactions:
    • How humans shape and manage resources/ecosystems/the environment
      • Natural resource management (biological control agents, ecological risk assessments)
  • Cross-cutting Themes:
    • Systems
    • Biogeography
      • alien/invasive species

STUDENT-ACTIVE APPROACHES

Think-pair-share, drawing predicted results, designing experiments

STUDENT ASSESSMENTS

answering questions on a worksheet, sharing responses with the class, and completing post-class homework that assesses understanding of key concepts

CLASS TIME

This Figure Set is designed to span one 75-minute class, or split over two 50-minute class sessions.

COURSE CONTEXT

This Figure Set is designed for upper-division undergraduate ecology courses.

DOWNLOADS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is an adaptation of a figure set originally developed by Jeremy Hsu in 2018 (Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology, Vol. 13: Figure Set #1 [online]. https://tiee.esa.org/vol/v13/issues/figure_sets/hsu/abstract.html). We thank the Ecological Society of America for support of this project, as well as the leaders and participants of ESA's Transforming Ecology Education Faculty Mentoring Network. This network is funded by the National Science Foundation (DBI 2120678).

CITATION

Rosny Jean, Linda Auker, Suann Yang, and Jeremy Hsu. October 2023. Figure Set update: An inquiry-based module aligned with the 4DEE framework for teaching about functional responses and biological control. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology, Vol. 19: Practice #8. https://tiee.esa.org/vol/v19/issues/figure_sets/jean/abstract.html

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