Burning Man Values Examined: Gratitude as a Culturally-Driven and Value-Based Organizational Mainstay

Gratitude expression is examined as a culturally-derived principle that can be adopted as a best practices strategy that can make organizations more dynamic and human relationships more meaningful. Burning Man is presented as an exemplar of gratitude implementation by crafting the expression of gratitude into an elevated organizational phenomenon (including a cultural principal of unconditional gifting). Burning Man has also crafted a “Culture of Appreciation” as a set of organizationally-derived practices complementary to processes of gratitude implementation. The paper concludes with a discussion of gratitude and appreciation as an organizational mainstay

Assessing the Effectiveness of Whole Person Learning Pedagogy in Skill Acquisition

We describe a whole person learning experiential/behavioral skill pedagogy developed in an executive skills course. The pedagogy was designed to address recent criticisms of MBA education relative to program relevancy and the skill sets of students entering the workforce. We present an experiential learning model based on the concept of whole person learning, discuss how the model is used in the class, and provide an empirical assessment of skill improvement over a 5-year period. Using a pre–posttest with control group design to test student skill levels by way of an assessment center, the effectiveness of the pedagogy was supported. The skills assessed included communication, teamwork, leadership/initiative, decision making, and planning/organizing. Guidance is provided for implementing the pedagogy into MBA curricula. We describe a whole person learning experiential/behavioral skill pedagogy developed in an executive skills course. The pedagogy was designed to address recent criticisms of MBA education relative to program relevancy and the skill sets of students entering the workforce. We present an experiential learning model based on the concept of whole person learning, discuss how the model is used in the class, and provide an empirical assessment of skill improvement over a 5-year period. Using a pre–posttest with control group design to test student skill levels by way of an assessment center, the effectiveness of the pedagogy was supported. The skills assessed included communication, teamwork, leadership/initiative, decision making, and planning/organizing. Guidance is provided for implementing the pedagogy into MBA curricula

Genome of the Asian Longhorned Beetle (\u3cem\u3eAnoplophora glabripennis\u3c/em\u3e), a Globally Significant Invasive Species, Reveals Key Functional and Evolutionary Innovations at the Beetle-Plant Interface

Background: Relatively little is known about the genomic basis and evolution of wood-feeding in beetles. We undertook genome sequencing and annotation, gene expression assays, studies of plant cell wall degrading enzymes, and other functional and comparative studies of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, a globally significant invasive species capable of inflicting severe feeding damage on many important tree species. Complementary studies of genes encoding enzymes involved in digestion of woody plant tissues or detoxification of plant allelochemicals were undertaken with the genomes of 14 additional insects, including the newly sequenced emerald ash borer and bull-headed dung beetle. Results: The Asian longhorned beetle genome encodes a uniquely diverse arsenal of enzymes that can degrade the main polysaccharide networks in plant cell walls, detoxify plant allelochemicals, and otherwise facilitate feeding on woody plants. It has the metabolic plasticity needed to feed on diverse plant species, contributing to its highly invasive nature. Large expansions of chemosensory genes involved in the reception of pheromones and plant kairomones are consistent with the complexity of chemical cues it uses to find host plants and mates. Conclusions: Amplification and functional divergence of genes associated with specialized feeding on plants, including genes originally obtained via horizontal gene transfer from fungi and bacteria, contributed to the addition, expansion, and enhancement of the metabolic repertoire of the Asian longhorned beetle, certain other phytophagous beetles, and to a lesser degree, other phytophagous insects. Our results thus begin to establish a genomic basis for the evolutionary success of beetles on plants

Genome of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), a globally significant invasive species, reveals key functional and evolutionary innovations at the beetle–plant interface

Background Relatively little is known about the genomic basis and evolution of wood-feeding in beetles. We undertook genome sequencing and annotation, gene expression assays, studies of plant cell wall degrading enzymes, and other functional and comparative studies of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, a globally significant invasive species capable of inflicting severe feeding damage on many important tree species. Complementary studies of genes encoding enzymes involved in digestion of woody plant tissues or detoxification of plant allelochemicals were undertaken with the genomes of 14 additional insects, including the newly sequenced emerald ash borer and bull-headed dung beetle. Results The Asian longhorned beetle genome encodes a uniquely diverse arsenal of enzymes that can degrade the main polysaccharide networks in plant cell walls, detoxify plant allelochemicals, and otherwise facilitate feeding on woody plants. It has the metabolic plasticity needed to feed on diverse plant species, contributing to its highly invasive nature. Large expansions of chemosensory genes involved in the reception of pheromones and plant kairomones are consistent with the complexity of chemical cues it uses to find host plants and mates. Conclusions Amplification and functional divergence of genes associated with specialized feeding on plants, including genes originally obtained via horizontal gene transfer from fungi and bacteria, contributed to the addition, expansion, and enhancement of the metabolic repertoire of the Asian longhorned beetle, certain other phytophagous beetles, and to a lesser degree, other phytophagous insects. Our results thus begin to establish a genomic basis for the evolutionary success of beetles on plants

Experiential Learning in the 21st Century: Personal Reflections and Insights from Burning Man

"ABSEL scholars have been illuminating the path to effective experiential learning for over 40 years. This journey of intellectual and theoretical exploration, paired with a sound foundation focusing on effective application, continues into the 21st century. However, social and technological changes, coupled with cultural changes and the characteristics of Millennial Generation students, makes this 21st century task more challenging than ever. One possible source of insight relevant to this challenge comes from the 28 year-old socially innovative and culturally revolutionary Burning Man Project. Burning Man has become a unique cultural institution and a world-wide movement. It has spawned a set of guidelines called the 10 Principles of Burning Man, as well as generating numerous unique behavioral and social practices. This paper will begin with a history of whole-person experiential learning, followed by an explanation and analysis of several of the somewhat institutionalized aspects of Burning Man. The paper concludes with an integration of whole-person experiential learning and Burning Man practices with an eye towards implications relevant to 21st century education and the ABSEL mission therein. DISCLAIMER: The reader should note that the content of this paper is sourced in the individual opinions and experiences of the author. The descriptions and frameworks discussed herein are the sole product of the author’s insights and/or shortcomings, and are not to be interpreted as a position of the Burning Man Project or as a reflection of the educational and training programs conducted under the auspices and control of the Burning Man Project.

ABSEL Redux: Reflections after a 25 Year Hiatus

This paper is a collection of personalized reflections and observations about ABSEL and simulation and experiential learning after a 25 year hiatus. I begin by examining the genesis of ABSEL in its early years 1974 to 1982. Contrasts between ABSEL “then and now” are made relative to faculty, administration, students and ABSEL scholarship. The paper concludes with a celebration of “the ABSEL Style” as the factor that not only separated us from rest of the pack at ABSEL’s inception, but also gives us a competitive advantage going forward

A Situational Leadership Exercise Based on the Biology of a Starfish

An experiential group leadership exercise based on the biological characteristics of the starfish has been developed. This exercise utilizes a group leadership role that rotates through the group members as each round of the exercise unfolds. The experience component of this experiential learning exercise is distinct and produces excellent measurable student reports. Students report that there is a significant difference in the experience of being an Arm or a Leg and the experience of being the “person in charge” when they play the role of Head. This experiential differential is made more distinct in the Starfish Group Leadership exercise since the participants play the roles sequentially and have the advantage of anticipating the role of follower or leader in advance of their participation. It is the author’s opinion that this aspect of “experiential anticipation” not only enhances the intensity of the experience, but also allows participants to identify and enact chosen leadership behaviors. This exercise requires no prior preparation by the participants and can be conducted during a one-hour class period

A Triadic Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Enhancing the Efficacy of Experiential Learning

ABSEL scholars have been on a perpetual quest for ways to enhance simulation and experiential learning since 1974. Numerous techniques and perspectives have been tested and evaluated in order to achieve better implementation of simulation and experiential pedagogies. This paper, after a brief review of selected efforts by ABSEL scholars over the last three years, takes the position that a multi-disciplinary approach may now prove fruitful to not only integrate the diversity and variety of ABSEL scholarship, but also to move the field forward on a more inclusive and integrative basis. As a suggested step in this process, a triadic multi-disciplinary approach is introduced combining perspectives of: 1) educational processes as discourse (derived from the literature of qualitative research), 2) the dynamics of the state(s) of liminality (derived from the literature of sociology), and, 3) epideictic rhetoric (derived from the literature of rhetorical perspective). The paper concludes with suggestions for application and further model building

Experiential Learning is not just Experiential Teaching: Measurement of Student Skill Acquisition via Assessment Centers

This paper addresses a long running (1976 to 2007) debate in ABSEL questioning if experiential learning is possibly only a function of enthusiastic experiential teaching. Reacting to criticisms of ABSEL research designs lacking in the use of control groups and focused experimental designs, this study utilizes a pre-test/post-test design to assess MBA students’ measured behavioral skills demonstrated in objectively scored assessment centers. The research design is based on a whole person experiential learning model that theorizes that learning occurs when students are cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally involved in learning experiences. The study indicates that students are able to demonstrate both successful skill acquisition and skill retention at statistically significant levels

A "Live-Case" Approach to the Business and Society Course

Nearly every collegiate school of business has a course which generally revolves around business and society topics. In addition, an increasing number of schools are beginning to require a course in this field of all of its students, as well as beginning to expand their programs in this area with majors and minors at both the graduate and undergraduate level. All of these trends indicate that the faculty of our business schools are increasingly interested in exposing their students to the complex relationships of the business organization with its social environment