Implementing an online module on causes and consequences of herbivory defense in an undergraduate Tropical Biology course

The OCELOTS module by Orians et al. (2024) was adapted and implemented in an undergraduate Tropical Biology course. This activity allowed students to: describe patterns of herbivory in the tropics and explain the importance of herbivores as top-down selective pressures on plants; compare different types of plant defense and discuss why defenses are so diverse within and between species; and discuss the importance of natural enemies as agents promoting and maintaining species diversity in the tropics. Overview of Module: Causes and Consequences of Resisting Herbivory is an interactive module based on long-term research data by Dr. Lissy Coley and colleagues on several aspects of plant defenses and plant-herbivore interactions. Focusing on Inga, a hyper-speciose, tropical Legume genus of canopy trees, this module offers opportunities for students to discuss patterns of herbivory in the tropics, explore the diversity and trade-offs of different plant defense strategies, and explore evolutionary processes that promote tropical diversity. Summary of implementation plan and teaching notes. This case study was deployed during a unit on Animal-Plant Interactions. By then, we had already covered mutualistic interactions (e. g. , pollination, seed dispersal) and were transitioning to talk about antagonistic interactions (e. g. , seed predation, folivory). In preparation for the activity, students were asked to read Coley et al. (2018), the synthetic article on which the module is based on, and to listen to the short NPR podcast Scientists Glued Fake Caterpillars On Plants Worldwide. Heres What Happened, linked in the module. In class and prior to the activity, a short presentation was given introducing the concepts of top-down vs. bottom-up forces acting on populations and communities, and a short class discussion was held reviewing the different types of anti-herbivory strategies presented by plants. Students then organized themselves in small (~3) groups and proceeded to work on the case study for the remainder of the class period. This gave the instructor the opportunity to observe how students interacted with the material and to respond to any questions or technological issues. They were assigned to finish the case study outside of class time and submit the final product electronically. Supplemental files attached include: Implementation Plan Teaching Notes: Contains a detailed description of how the OCELOTS module was adapted and implemented in this course, along with a description of the students perceptions about the activity, based on an anonymous post-survey. Case Study Student Handout and Case Study Student Handoutₖey (2 files): Word document provided to students (plus a key for instructors) with instructions on how to navigate the different pages of the module (since not all pages were used in this activity) and with questions to be answered along the way. The questions in the handout were sometimes the same or similar to the questions posed by the authors in the module, and sometimes questions I prepared myself to better align with the learning objectives of the course and/or to offer an opportunity for students to synthesize the main points of the case study. Case Study Student Handout-Part 2: This is a handout with an adaptation of Activity 3 presented in the module as a potential activity to be used in the future. This activity focuses on experimental design and hypothesis testing and would be a great addition to the case study; however, due to time constraints, this activity was not assigned the first time this module was implemented. Support was provided by: Agrant from the United States National Science Foundation (DBI-RCN-UBE 2120141).