Integrating the use of RStudio in Field Based Courses: Creating Human Survivorship Curves

 

Allyson Degrassi

Advances in Biology Laboratory Education, 2022, Volume 42

https://doi.org/10.37590/able.v42.art26

Supplemental Materials: https://doi.org/10.37590/able.v42.sup26

Abstract

Many ecology courses are primarily field-based and students may miss an opportunity to learn the necessary data analysis, scripting, and manuscript writing skills used by many professional ecologists. The purpose of this laboratory exercise is to demonstrate the techniques needed to analyze changes in human survivorship as a tool to make critical observations regarding human demography. Students used vital statistics collected from tombstones to create Type I survivorship curves. Students incorporated age-structure models to calculate the generation time, intrinsic rate of increase, and net reproductive rate of the population using RStudio. Students learned to 1) collect and use data, 2) input data into a CSV file using Microsoft Excel, 3) analyze data and calculate the generation time, intrinsic rate of increase, and net reproductive rate in RStudio, and 4) produce graphs and tables reflecting a Type I survivorship curve. This 3-hour laboratory exercise was conducted by undergraduate Juniors and Seniors majoring in Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Studies after several ecology labs using RStudio.

Keywords:  human demography, R Statistical Software, R Markdown

Virtual ABLE (ViABLE) (2021)