Alpha in the classroom: how a four-legged friend can teach learning theory

A University of Queensland researcher’s loyal companion has made for an unlikely guest lecturer, helping criminology students understand theories behind human behaviour.

When Associate Professor Suzanna Fay addresses her first-year Introduction to Criminology students in week 6 of the course, she is accompanied by Alpha, her 6-year-old staffy Australian Cattle Dog cross.

“Something I have always been fascinated with as a criminologist is how those who are incarcerated approach their own rehabilitation when a program involves animals,” Dr Fay said.

“Often you see their demeanour change and they become more willing to do the work to ensure they don’t reoffend.

“I think my love of dog training stems from that – wanting to learn the best way we can work with dogs to benefit both them and us.”

Dr Fay uses Alpha to show how humans often respond to behavioural reinforcement or failure in the same way as their beloved pets.

The family pet, who doubles as an 'education dog', also helps demonstrate how dogs and humans can both struggle with a change of environment.

“The course explores the nature of crime in Australia and the different approaches to understanding criminal behaviour,” she said.

“The week 6 lecture focuses on learning theory, exploring the ways in which people learn and retain knowledge and actions.

“Learning theories used in criminology are based on the same principles of operant and classical conditioning which are used to understand how dogs learn best.

“By bringing Alpha along to the lecture I am able to demonstrate these theories in a tangible way that my students will understand.”

From beloved family pet to business partner

Dr Fay has been working towards her CERTIV in Animal Training and Behaviour and has had an interest in dog training for many years.

Alpha was incredibly anxious around other dogs when he first joined Dr Fay’s family. Even a simple trip to the vet or the groomer was an ordeal.

“Dog training had been a hobby for me, but Alpha’s temperament meant I needed to fully commit in order to train him to a high standard,” Dr Fay said. 

In 2022 she enrolled in a Certificate IV in Animal Behaviour and Training and Alpha became her study companion. They quickly developed a close bond.

“Studying alongside Alpha was a great way for me to learn the techniques of dog training in real time,” she said.

“I would use him as a case study for all my assignments; it was truly a lesson in patience.

“Though there are no regulations in Australia for what constitutes a Therapy dog, Alpha has now completed 3 levels of obedience training, which would be akin to any assistance dog working towards passing the Public Access Test.”

While studying a unit in learning theory for her certification, Dr Fay realised Alpha could play a role in demonstrating the concept to her students.

“The challenging part of teaching theory-based courses is that the theories can seem abstract to students who don’t have the opportunity to see learning in practice,” she said.

“The unit aligned perfectly with a unit I teach my students on how people engage in criminal behaviour, and I started to wonder how I could use Alpha to bring learning theory to life?”

From theory to practice

The week 6 lecture takes place in a large lecture theatre on UQ’s St Lucia campus.

Dr Fay begins with Alpha by her side and talks students through the quadrants of operant conditioning: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment.

“Evidence from criminological literature has shown that positive reinforcement is the most effective when we are wanting to change someone’s behaviour for the better,” Dr Fay said.

“We see this regularly with dogs: the more praise they receive from performing an action on command, the better they will become at that action.

“Each time I do the lecture I try to teach him a new trick that he hasn’t done before or doesn’t know how to do consistently well.

“I explain the mechanics of why the reward is important, why the timing of it is important, and then I relate it back to our criminal justice system and how punishment isn’t always the answer to improved behaviour.”

Dr Fay and Alpha then demonstrate how changes in environment can impact our ability to learn new behaviours.

“A question that my students often have is why can’t people who have spent time exhibiting good behaviour on the inside of the prison system maintain that same form of good behaviour when they re-enter society?” she said.  

“Generalisation explains why you can learn to perform one task in an environment really well, but the minute you are outside of that environment, your ability to perform that task can change.

“Alpha can do an excellent wait command, but if you change the environment around him sometimes it takes him longer to perform it accurately."

Dr Fay directs Alpha to the top of the tiered lecture theatre and asks him to wait. Sometimes he will get to the top of the stairs and run straight back down. Other times he will only make it halfway. He has never got it right on the first go.

“It allows us to have conversations about failure, whether it's failure in terms of university performance or failure in terms of life in general – how can we view our own failures and respond to them in a way that will help us move forward?”

 A new method of teaching

Dr Fay said the response to Alpha’s presence in the week 6 lecture has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I always find that by week 6, the quiet students who have been sitting at the back for most of semester are the ones who are down the front when Alpha comes in, asking questions, engaging with content,” Dr Fay said.  

“I remember after one of the earlier lectures I did with Alpha, a psychology student who was taking the course emailed me and said, ‘Oh my god I finally get it!'.

“It made me realise that what I was doing was working and that it could make a positive difference for students and their learning.”