Experiential Learning: Improving The Efficacy Of An Undergraduate Business Degree

This article deals with a subject that is extremely important to the success of future graduates of any college or University – specifically Critical Thinking and Decision Making. Our article explains the research results and observations of critical thinking research conducted at two different colleges in the fall semester of 2011. The research prompts were used at two different colleges (Wagner College and Monmouth University) with different student profiles during the same semester. The purpose of the research was to test how critical thinking skills were affected by two different experiential programs and how “Ex-Ed” is a critical part of a student’s total education. Experimental Education (Ex-Ed) is a very hot topic among academics these days and our research at Wagner College involved testing the improvement in critical thinking skills in a “marketing incubator” system during a Consumer Behavior class with 34 registered students in the fall semester in 2011. In this case, some of the students participated in the marketing incubator (18), while some did not (16), essentially providing a control groups for comparison. At Monmouth University, the research was testing the improvement in critical thinking skills in two entrepreneurial studies classes with a total of 67 students. Qualitative observations are included as the research is conducted, and suggestions for future related research are proposed. Our feeling is that to form a definitive conclusion, the subsequent research needs to be done in the area of both decision making and the creation of a value proposition

Qualitative Pedagogical Findings To Improve Critical Thinking Skills

The motivation for this paper comes from need - the need for our students to learn not only subject matter through traditional methods in a classroom, but foundational learning through experiences obtained directly in the workplace. The terminology used today for this student experience is referred to as experiential learning which comes in two forms, either learning 1) by yourself or 2) through experiential education (learning through programs established by others). You can kindly refer to learning by yourself as “nature’s way of learning” as it occurs as a direct participation in the life cycle. However, experiential education can be defined more succinctly as a structured approach, using experiences and the direction of others to create the learning curve. The issue at hand is simple - does participatory (experiential) education create critical thinkers among our students and make them more aware of and able to more easily solve the problem(s) at hand? Our diligence has focused on two distinctly different courses in two different semesters (fall 2011 and spring 2012) in two different business disciplines (business marketing and entrepreneurship) at two distinctly different universities (Wagner College and Monmouth University) with one similar problem - is there a significant benefit to experiential learning over traditional classroom pedagogy? Our findings are profound in the respect that both the participating subjects (students) and the participating businesses achieved significant benefits when this mode of education was used. Our conclusions in the paper signify that although more research is needed to further determine the significance of the impact of experiential learning, we have come away with a true picture of the educational benefits to the students and the productive benefits to the clients involved. An experiential educator's role is to organize and facilitate direct experiences of phenomenon under the assumption that this will lead to genuine (meaningful and long-lasting) learning. This often also requires preparatory and reflective exercises BOTH inside and outside the classroom

Optimizing at the Ergodic Edge

Using a simple, annealed model, some of the key features of the recently introduced extremal optimization heuristic are demonstrated. In particular, it is shown that the dynamics of local search possesses a generic critical point under the variation of its sole parameter, separating phases of too greedy (non-ergodic, jammed) and too random (ergodic) exploration. Comparison of various local search methods within this model suggests that the existence of the critical point is essential for the optimal performance of the heuristic.Comment: RevTex4, 17 pages, 3 ps-figures incl., for related information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/publications.htm

A micromechanical-based model of stimulus responsive liquid crystal elastomers

Stimulus responsive elastomers are advanced engineered materials that perform desired functionalities when triggered by external stimuli. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are one important example that exhibit reversible actuation when cycled above and below their nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature. Here, we propose a micromechanical-based model that is centered on the evolution of the chain distribution tensor of the LCE network. Our model, framed within the statistical model of the chain network, enables a mesoscale description of their mechanical response under an external thermal stimulus. We compare the model to prior experimental observations of the bending response of 3D printed LCE elements with controlled director alignment

The role of prediction and outcomes in adaptive cognitive control

Humans adaptively perform actions to achieve their goals. This flexible behaviour requires two core abilities: the ability to anticipate the outcomes of candidate actions and the ability to select and implement actions in a goal-directed manner. The ability to predict outcomes has been extensively researched in reinforcement learning paradigms, but this work has often focused on simple actions that are not embedded in hierarchical and sequential structures that are characteristic of goal-directed human behaviour. On the other hand, the ability to select actions in accordance with high-level task goals, particularly in the presence of alternative responses and salient distractors, has been widely researched in cognitive control paradigms. Cognitive control research, however, has often paid less attention to the role of action outcomes. The present review attempts to bridge these accounts by proposing an outcome-guided mechanism for selection of extended actions. Our proposal builds on constructs from the hierarchical reinforcement learning literature, which emphasises the concept of reaching and evaluating informative states, i.e., states that constitute subgoals in complex actions. We develop an account of the neural mechanisms that allow outcome-guided action selection to be achieved in a network that relies on projections from cortical areas to the basal ganglia and back-projections from the basal ganglia to the cortex. These cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical ‘loops’ allow convergence – and thus integration – of information from non-adjacent cortical areas (for example between sensory and motor representations). This integration is essential in action sequences, for which achieving an anticipated sensory state signals the successful completion of an action. We further describe how projection pathways within the basal ganglia allow selection between representations, which may pertain to movements, actions, or extended action plans. The model lastly envisages a role for hierarchical projections from the striatum to dopaminergic midbrain areas that enable more rostral frontal areas to bias the selection of inputs from more posterior frontal areas via their respective representations in the basal ganglia.This work is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Grant BB/I019847/1, awarded to NY and FW

Host Genes Related to Paneth Cells and Xenobiotic Metabolism Are Associated with Shifts in Human Ileum-Associated Microbial Composition

The aim of this study was to integrate human clinical, genotype, mRNA microarray and 16 S rRNA sequence data collected on 84 subjects with ileal Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or control patients without inflammatory bowel diseases in order to interrogate how host-microbial interactions are perturbed in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Ex-vivo ileal mucosal biopsies were collected from the disease unaffected proximal margin of the ileum resected from patients who were undergoing initial intestinal surgery. Both RNA and DNA were extracted from the mucosal biopsy samples. Patients were genotyped for the three major NOD2 variants (Leufs1007, R702W, and G908R) and the ATG16L1T300A variant. Whole human genome mRNA expression profiles were generated using Agilent microarrays. Microbial composition profiles were determined by 454 pyrosequencing of the V3–V5 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16 S rRNA gene. The results of permutation based multivariate analysis of variance and covariance (MANCOVA) support the hypothesis that host mucosal Paneth cell and xenobiotic metabolism genes play an important role in host microbial interactions

Integrin α5β1 Function Is Regulated by XGIPC/kermit2 Mediated Endocytosis during Xenopus laevis Gastrulation

During Xenopus gastrulation α5β1 integrin function is modulated in a temporally and spatially restricted manner, however, the regulatory mechanisms behind this regulation remain uncharacterized. Here we report that XGIPC/kermit2 binds to the cytoplasmic domain of the α5 subunit and regulates the activity of α5β1 integrin. The interaction of kermit2 with α5β1 is essential for fibronectin (FN) matrix assembly during the early stages of gastrulation. We further demonstrate that kermit2 regulates α5β1 integrin endocytosis downstream of activin signaling. Inhibition of kermit2 function impairs cell migration but not adhesion to FN substrates indicating that integrin recycling is essential for mesoderm cell migration. Furthermore, we find that the α5β1 integrin is colocalized with kermit2 and Rab 21 in embryonic and XTC cells. These data support a model where region specific mesoderm induction acts through kermit2 to regulate the temporally and spatially restricted changes in adhesive properties of the α5β1 integrin through receptor endocytosis

Evolvable Neuronal Paths: A Novel Basis for Information and Search in the Brain

We propose a previously unrecognized kind of informational entity in the brain that is capable of acting as the basis for unlimited hereditary variation in neuronal networks. This unit is a path of activity through a network of neurons, analogous to a path taken through a hidden Markov model. To prove in principle the capabilities of this new kind of informational substrate, we show how a population of paths can be used as the hereditary material for a neuronally implemented genetic algorithm, (the swiss-army knife of black-box optimization techniques) which we have proposed elsewhere could operate at somatic timescales in the brain. We compare this to the same genetic algorithm that uses a standard ‘genetic’ informational substrate, i.e. non-overlapping discrete genotypes, on a range of optimization problems. A path evolution algorithm (PEA) is defined as any algorithm that implements natural selection of paths in a network substrate. A PEA is a previously unrecognized type of natural selection that is well suited for implementation by biological neuronal networks with structural plasticity. The important similarities and differences between a standard genetic algorithm and a PEA are considered. Whilst most experiments are conducted on an abstract network model, at the conclusion of the paper a slightly more realistic neuronal implementation of a PEA is outlined based on Izhikevich spiking neurons. Finally, experimental predictions are made for the identification of such informational paths in the brain

Attention Enhances the Retrieval and Stability of Visuospatial and Olfactory Representations in the Dorsal Hippocampus

Attention enhances the encoding and retrieval of olfactory and visuospatial representations by modulating place field stability, firing rate, and neuronal synchronization of pyramidal cells in the hippocampus

A perspective on neural and cognitive mechanisms of error commission

Behavioral adaptation and cognitive control are crucial for goal-reaching behaviors. Every creature is ubiquitously faced with choices between behavioral alternatives. Common sense suggests that errors are an important source of information in the regulation of such processes. Several theories exist regarding cognitive control and the processing of undesired outcomes. However, most of these models focus on the consequences of an error, and less attention has been paid to the mechanisms that underlie the commissioning of an error. In this article, we present an integrative review of neuro-cognitive models that detail the determinants of the occurrence of response errors. The factors that may determine the likelihood of committing errors are likely related to the stability of task-representations in prefrontal networks, attentional selection mechanisms and mechanisms of action selection in basal ganglia circuits. An important conclusion is that the likelihood of committing an error is not stable over time but rather changes depending on the interplay of different functional neuro-anatomical and neuro-biological systems. We describe factors that might determine the time-course of cognitive control and the need to adapt behavior following response errors. Finally, we outline the mechanisms that may proof useful for predicting the outcomes of cognitive control and the emergence of response errors in future research