Feed Your Mind: Cultivating Ecological Community Literacies with Permaculture

This article proposes permaculture, an ecological alternative to industrial agriculture, as a way to design first-year composition and community literacy classes. First, the paper connects permaculture with post-humanism to describe ecological community literacies—the type of knowledge that ecological theorists say we need to navigate the end of the anthropocene. Next, it describes assignments that can lead college students to this knowledge, and finally, it describes actual community literacy projects where college students can lead elementary students through assignments to gain this knowledge

Effects of a metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 positive allosteric modulator, CDPPB, on spatial learning in rodents

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 13, 2013).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Todd R. SchachtmanIncludes bibliographical references.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."May 2012"Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5) has been implicated in a variety of learning processes and is important for aversive learning tasks. The present studies used an mGlu5 receptor positive allosteric modulator, 2-cyano-N-(1,3 diphenyl-1H-hyrazol-5-yl)benzamide (CDPPB) to characterize the importance of mGlu5 receptors in aversively- and appetitively-motivated spatial learning. CDPPB, administered prior to 5 daily training sessions in the Barnes maze (Experiment 1) did not significantly enhance acquisition of the task. However, in a second experiment CDPPB (30 mg/kg) significantly enhanced performance compared to vehicle-treated controls during 3 days of reversal learning and had a significant effect on proportion search strategy used. Additionally, CDPPB (30 mg/kg), delivered 20 min prior to 5 daily training sessions (of Experiment 3) enhanced the delay rats were able to withstand in the appetitively-motivated delayed alternation version of the T-maze. The present results emphasize the role of mGlu5 receptors in spatial learning tasks, and demonstrate mGlu5 receptors are important for learning in appetitive, as well as aversive, tasks.Includes bibliographical reference

CDPPB reverses an NMDA receptor antagonist-induced deficit in inhibitory avoidance and conditioned taste aversion learning in rats

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 3, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Todd Schachtman.M. A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.Rats administered a metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) positive allosteric modulator (PAM), CDPPB, and/or an NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801, were given inhibitory avoidance or conditioned taste aversion training. Three mg/kg CDPPB, delivered 20 min before the conditioning trial, immediately after MK-801 injection, reversed the antagonist-induced deficit in both tasks. These results are consistent with findings that mGluR5 PAMs reverse the effects of NMDA receptor antagonism and represent a novel class of potential pharmacotherapies for diseases such as schizophrenia.Includes bibliographical reference

Students, Universities and Employers: Why We All Win When We Promote Social Justice through SoTL

This essay discusses the benefits of promoting social justice through the scholarship of teaching and learning. We start by highlighting the prevalence of injustices and discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia, heteronormativity) experienced on college campuses in the US. We go on to highlight the (1) outcomes associated with social justice centered teaching and learning activities and (2) ways this approach makes students more valuable to potential employers upon graduation. We conclude with a call for campus wide promotion of social justice as both micro (classroom) and macro (university) level interventions are needed to truly create equitable learning spaces