Sean’s teaching
I am a Senior Lecturer in the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, teaching on the BSc/MSci programmes in Biology, Zoology, and Plant Sciences. I normally teach a third year unit in Optimisation, Behaviour and Life Histories, a fourth-year statistics unit on Understanding Data, and co-run a fieldcourse on Measuring and Imaging Floral Cues, and a Behavioural Ecology fieldcourse to Lundy.
Over previous years, I have taught in the first year undergraduate unit on the Diversity of Life, the second year undergraduate units in Ecology and Behavioural Ecology, the fourth year units in Professional Development and Project Planning, as well as running third year projects and literature reviews, and co-running a fieldcourse on Behaviour and Ecology on Guernsey. I was the fourth year co-ordinator of the new MSci programmes in Biology and Zoology. I also gave a lecture on the Certificate in Companion Animal Welfare and Behavioural Rehabilitation, and taught a large amount of material on the now-discontinued BSc Animal Behaviour and Welfare in the School of Veterinary Sciences.
I have a PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the University of Bristol, and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). As part of the career development towards this goal, I published a few papers with an educational slant:
- Rands SA (2012). Using physical and computer simulations of collective behaviour as an introduction to modelling concepts for applied biologists. Bioscience Education 19: article 4 | abstract | article | pdf | zipped netlogo files | supplementary material
- Rands SA (2011). Using an animal group vigilance practical session to give learners a ‘heads-up’ to problems in experimental design. Bioscience Education 17: c1 | abstract | full text | pdf
- Rands SA (2010). Considering adaptation and the ‘function’ of traits in the classroom, using wiki tools. Evolution: Education and Outreach 3: 633-640 | abstract | full text | pdf
Interaction Biology 