Practicing Primatology

By Erin-Lee Halstad McGuire, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Canada

My first-year anthropology students are often surprised to learn they will be studying biology as part of their introduction to anthropology. Many students thought they were dodging science by taking a social sciences course. It is, therefore, important for me to get them engaged and my modified flipped classroom approach is key to this.

Primatology is one of our early course topics, following directly after an introduction to culture. This lets me lead students into the topic by way of discussing culture in non-human primates. Once I have them started, we get into the biological and evolutionary elements. The primate module is followed by one on core evolutionary concepts. I have taken to putting the flipped classroom activity between the units, after primates are covered and after students have read the evolution chapter, but not yet completed the lectures or modules. The idea is that we consolidate learning on the first elements and then challenge the students by asking them to think about less familiar material. When we return to that content later, students are able to recognise the relevant concepts. The timing also helps to connect lessons across topics, disrupting the idea that each unit is discrete, which I believe better enables students to do the same with assignments and exams.

Gorillas in the class

While the exercise could be adapted to any non-human primate species, I chose gorillas. We use chimpanzees and bonobos as our primary classroom examples, so gorillas give them a novel case study for their work. Gorillas are also highly relatable. Many students have seen them in captivity, nearly all will have seen some kind of documentary, and there are even a few who have seen them in the wild. It also helps that my department has casts of both male and female gorilla skulls that I bring to class, so that there is something tangible to engage with (I first brought them so a blind student could examine them and have kept up the practice).

I start the session with a micro-lecture, reminding students about some gorilla facts and relevant terminology. I reference the rubber ducks when we talk about how gorilla taxonomy has been redefined on the basis of new data. This is also an excellent starting point to talk about how science evolves as a discipline.

On our LMS¹, students have a page dedicated to the flipped classroom activity, containing photographs, diagrams, 3D models, and other useful resources, as well as the questions that are part of their worksheet. An example of what this resource page looks like can be viewed on my website.

The class is invited to work in teams so that they can share screens and collaborate on responses. As they talk, I circulate the lecture hall with the gorilla casts, allowing students to handle them and pass them around. This often generates additional interest. As I circulate, I witness widespread engagement as students compare images and even prod their own skulls with their fingers in search of answers.

The worksheet contains a mix of multiple choice and short answer questions, meant to be answered in groups. While paper versions are possible, I now use online worksheets, saving me paper and streamlining grading, especially with tools that integrate easily into my LMS (examples are available in the activity PDF below). Some questions have factual responses, while others are a matter of opinion. These really open the door to debate within the groups.

Extending the activity

From start to finish, the activity takes approximately 30 minutes. There are, therefore, options to extend it. One possibility is to review answers after the worksheets are submitted. This is useful for instant feedback, but because I allow delayed submission, it is not my preferred choice. Another option that can add value is to show one or more video clips of primates in the wild and poll students on the behaviours they are observing, such as locomotion, food strategies, and even elements of culture. I often use this one coupled with questions about which species are represented in the video, as it reviews prior learning and invites students to practice observational skills used in primatology.

Our midterm exam includes several questions about primates and evolution. While I have not correlated participation with scores on the relevant exam questions, some students report that doing the activity makes it easier to answer the questions weeks later. At the end of class, there are always students who come up to see the casts, sometimes because they didn’t see them during the activity and other times because they just want a second look. That willingness to ask questions and talk to me and each other is exactly what I am hoping for.

Resource: Primates Activity Plan for Partially Flipped Class

Practicing Primatology is number 2 of 4 resources Erin-Lee Halstad McGuire is sharing as part of their Flipped Classroom practice. This resource series includes an Introduction to the Flipped Classroom Method, an ice breaker activity, a virtual archaeology activity, and a globalization/sustainability activity.

Images:

• Gorilla header image by Marcel Langthim from Pixabay
• Gorilla Skull By Didier Descouens – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14655934

1. LMS stands for Learning Management System ↩︎