3,243 research outputs found
Complexity-based learning and teaching: a case study in higher education
This paper presents a learning and teaching strategy based on complexity science and explores its impacts on a higher education game design course. The strategy aimed at generating conditions fostering individual and collective learning in educational complex adaptive systems, and led the design of the course through an iterative and adaptive process informed by evidence emerging from course dynamics. The data collected indicate that collaboration was initially challenging for students, but collective learning emerged as the course developed, positively affecting individual and team performance. Even though challenged, students felt highly motivated and enjoyed working on course activities. Their perception of progress and expertise were always high, and the academic performance was on average very good. The strategy fostered collaboration and allowed students and tutors to deal with complex situations requiring adaptation
The role of inhibitory feedback for information processing in thalamocortical circuits
The information transfer in the thalamus is blocked dynamically during sleep,
in conjunction with the occurence of spindle waves. As the theoretical
understanding of the mechanism remains incomplete, we analyze two modeling
approaches for a recent experiment by Le Masson {\sl et al}. on the
thalamocortical loop. In a first step, we use a conductance-based neuron model
to reproduce the experiment computationally. In a second step, we model the
same system by using an extended Hindmarsh-Rose model, and compare the results
with the conductance-based model. In the framework of both models, we
investigate the influence of inhibitory feedback on the information transfer in
a typical thalamocortical oscillator. We find that our extended Hindmarsh-Rose
neuron model, which is computationally less costly and thus siutable for
large-scale simulations, reproduces the experiment better than the
conductance-based model. Further, in agreement with the experiment of Le Masson
{\sl et al}., inhibitory feedback leads to stable self-sustained oscillations
which mask the incoming input, and thereby reduce the information transfer
significantly.Comment: 16 pages, 15eps figures included. To appear in Physical Review
The reflective learning continuum: reflecting on reflection
The importance of reflection to marketing educators is increasingly recognized. However, there is a lack of empirical research which considers reflection within the context of both the marketing and general business education literature. This paper describes the use of an instrument which can be used to measure four identified levels of a reflection hierarchy: habitual action, understanding, reflection and intensive reflection and two conditions for reflection: instructor to student interaction and student to student interaction. Further we demonstrate the importance of reflective learning in predicting graduatesâ perception of program quality. Although the focus was on assessment of MBA level curricula, the findings have great importance to marketing education and educators
More than a cognitive experience: unfamiliarity, invalidation, and emotion in organizational learning
Literature on organizational learning (OL) lacks an integrative framework that captures the emotions involved as OL proceeds. Drawing on personal construct theory, we suggest that organizations learn where their members reconstrue meaning around questions of strategic significance for the organization. In this 5-year study of an electronics company, we explore the way in which emotions change as members perceive progress or a lack of progress around strategic themes. Our framework also takes into account whether OL involves experiences that are familiar or unfamiliar and the implications for emotions. We detected similar patterns of emotion arising over time for three different themes in our data, thereby adding to OL perspectives that are predominantly cognitive in orientation
Signatures of Chaos in Time Series Generated by Many-Spin Systems at High Temperatures
Extracting reliable indicators of chaos from a single experimental time
series is a challenging task, in particular, for systems with many degrees of
freedom. The techniques available for this purpose often require unachievably
long time series. In this paper, we explore a new method of discriminating
chaotic from multi-periodic integrable motion in many-particle systems. The
applicability of this method is supported by our numerical simulations of the
dynamics of classical spin lattices at high temperatures. We compared chaotic
and nonchaotic regimes of these lattices and investigated the transition
between the two. The method is based on analyzing higher-order time derivatives
of the time series of a macroscopic observable --- the total magnetization of
the spin lattice. We exploit the fact that power spectra of the magnetization
time series generated by chaotic spin lattices exhibit exponential
high-frequency tails, while, for the integrable spin lattices, the power
spectra are terminated in a non-exponential way. We have also demonstrated the
applicability limits of the above method by investigating the high-frequency
tails of the power spectra generated by quantum spin lattices and by the
classical Toda lattice.Comment: This is the final version accepted for publication: 12 pages, 14
figures. The article is significantly revised and extende
'Simultaneous Immersion' : How online postgraduate study contributes to the development of reflective practice among public service practitioners
This paper examines how the process of engaging simultaneously in study and work â through online distance-based study â affects studentsâ capacity to apply their learning in and for the workplace. The paper takes as its starting point the importance of extending notions of âeducational effectivenessâ beyond course-based attainment to encompass the impact of learning within the workplace. It explores the interface between study and work, focusing on the case of online postgraduate programmes in public management at the University of York. It finds that simultaneous immersion in study and work can create the conditions for âpublic reflectionâ that underpin work-based learning and that a key factor is the student-practitioner's ability to mobilise âepisodic power.â The paper suggests ways in which existing approaches to online postgraduate learning might be enhanced in order to capitalise on these conditions of simultaneous immersion
What lies beneath? The role of informal and hidden networks in the management of crises
Crisis management research traditionally focuses on the role of formal communication networks in the escalation and management of organisational crises. Here, we consider instead informal and unobservable networks. The paper explores how hidden informal exchanges can impact upon organisational decision-making and performance, particularly around inter-agency working, as knowledge distributed across organisations and shared between organisations is often shared through informal means and not captured effectively through the formal decision-making processes. Early warnings and weak signals about potential risks and crises are therefore often missed. We consider the implications of these dynamics in terms of crisis avoidance and crisis management
âThis is not a testâ:How do human resource development professionals use personality tests as tools of their professional practice?
Although human resource development (HRD) professionals enjoy the use of personality tests in their practice, the appeal of these tests to some is harshly criticized by others. Personality tests attract through optimistic descriptions and ease of use for individual and team development while often lacking predictive and discriminant validities. Despite those concerns, the personalityâtesting market can be characterized as a dynamic industry, with many professionals using assessments in developmental settings such as management training and executive coaching. The aim of this article is to explore how individual meaningâmaking and organizational sensemaking theories help to explain the widespread and sustained use of personality tests in developmental contexts among HRD professionals. Using grounded theory and inductive analysis, we distill meaning from semistructured interviews with 18 HRD professionals. Through pattern analysis, we establish six strategies that describe practical approaches in personality testing: 1. Ethicalâprotective, 2. Scientificâselective, 3. Cautiousâavoiding, 4. Cautiousâembracing, 5. User friendlyâpragmatic, and 6. Knowledgeableâaccommodating. We find that HRD professionals deal with cognitive dissonances and paradoxical situations in their professional personality test use practice on a regular basis. Research limitations and implications for practice and future research are discussed
Formulation and performance of variational integrators for rotating bodies
Variational integrators are obtained for two mechanical systems whose configuration spaces are, respectively, the rotation group and the unit sphere. In the first case, an integration algorithm is presented for Eulerâs equations of the free rigid body, following the ideas of Marsden et al. (Nonlinearity 12:1647â1662, 1999). In the second example, a variational time integrator is formulated for the rigid dumbbell. Both methods are formulated directly on their nonlinear configuration spaces, without using Lagrange multipliers. They are one-step, second order methods which show exact conservation of a discrete angular momentum which is identified in each case. Numerical examples illustrate their properties and compare them with existing integrators of the literature
Quantum correlations and synchronization measures
The phenomenon of spontaneous synchronization is universal and only recently
advances have been made in the quantum domain. Being synchronization a kind of
temporal correlation among systems, it is interesting to understand its
connection with other measures of quantum correlations. We review here what is
known in the field, putting emphasis on measures and indicators of
synchronization which have been proposed in the literature, and comparing their
validity for different dynamical systems, highlighting when they give similar
insights and when they seem to fail.Comment: book chapter, 18 pages, 7 figures, Fanchini F., Soares Pinto D.,
Adesso G. (eds) Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their
Applications. Quantum Science and Technology. Springer (2017
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