"I found that I've been free all along": Knowledge, meaning, creativity and holistic science

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Science playtime

A cold Friday in December in Dublin…as it often is, the wind is biting, blowing in from the North East off the Irish Sea, across Dublin Bay and up the River Liffey. Blustering its busy way between the buildings of Trinity College. It’s 9:45 am. I’m heading towards the old Botany lecture theatre-a very traditional space…wooden benches for seats that seem to trap the history here within them. How many lecturers’ words have fallen on sleepy students’ deaf ears in this place

Goethean pedagogy a case in innovative science education and implications for work based learning

Purpose The purpose here is to highlight the profound learning associated with the Goethean methodology in the Holistic Science MSc at Schumacher College, Devon, U.K. This is presented as a case study in profound pedagogy and as an exploration of the implications for workplace learning. Some comparisons are also made with reflective practice. Design/ methodology/ approach Background is provided on Goethe’s ‘way of science’ and Barfield’s ‘participation’. Students were also interviewed about their learning and reflect on their experiences and challenges in learning the Goethean methodology, particularly regarding perceptions and participation, on their altered modes of thinking and feelings about learning, as well as on an ‘immediate’, corporeal and potentially co-operative mode of knowing in a ‘community of practice’, which can be extrapolated to the workplace. Findings The profoundness of the student experience and personal transformation presented in the interviews reveals that Goethean methodology has a place alongside the more specific analytical knowledge focus of Universities. While the method has challenges in reconciling existing modes of knowing with the new approach, the students are able to see and intuit the wholeness and dynamism of phenomena more easily, and they gain a different perspective and learn to participate more fully in the world. Individuality/ value The article asks that this template for educational practice be considered more widely relevant to today’s educational landscape in better providing skills and preparing students for the workplace in a world of ‘supercomplexit

Creative development of meaning in matter: reflections on a silent pilgrimage

Former Schumacher College lecturer, developmental biologist and complexity scientist Brian Goodwin had coined the term “Maximum freedom to the parts, maximum coherence to the whole”. This was our mantra as we began our teaching with the MSc Holistic Science students on the Chaos and Complexity module at Schumacher College in October of this year

The matter of meaning: an unfolding

The MSc class room at Schumacher College is a small room, fitted under the hundreds of years old beams of the sloping roof of the Old Postern. For almost twenty years, it has been the home of the inquiry into Holistic Science. Every year, 15 or 16 students (for no more will fit) take their place in this space to take up the inquiry (Franses and Wride, 2015). This year, 2015, is no different – there are 15 students and two teachers. Time seems to slow down into a process that has taken on the rhythm of years of study here. The space seems to empty out into a ‘cloud of un-knowing’ to use the term of an unknown 14th century English mystic (Underhill)

Examining large student cohorts - a question of questions

With pressure on academic courses worldwide to increase student numbers, the trends in exam marks distribution for subject modules become more meaningful, with more distinct pattern characteristics reflecting student choice, topic and exam question difficulty and lecturer marking severity, refinement and consistency. The practice of representing the overall exam results for a module through histograms enables Normality, skewness and randomness to be identified, interrogated and understood better. However, when dealing with large numbers of exam candidates (of the order of 1000 or more), an investigation of the averages and histograms for individual exam questions can further reveal refined explanations for unusual student performance. This paper investigates the outcomes of 1st and 2nd year examinations for modules on an engineering degree course in another jurisdiction, with class sizes of circa 2400 and 1700 students, respectively, in order to develop a deeper understanding of exam dynamics amongst students and academics setting and marking those papers. It can involve many tens of thousands of items of data in a histogram for just one module, in which trends are not random and have potential causes, intended or accidental. It emerges that at least four different question mark patterns may exist from a range of modules types investigated. These indicate the importance of examiners having a better appreciation, when delivering lectures, planning exam papers, question structure and marking scripts, of the different factors which give rise to unusual examination trend outcomes

How research institutions can foster innovation

Carrying out research—if done right—inherently means being innovative. We use ‘innovation’ in a broad sense, that is, as the creation of something new: an idea, a concept, way of looking at things, method or approach. We specifically do not use the term solely—as it often is— as the development of new technologies with practical applications, which can be marketed for commercial purposes. Naturally, in this sense, being innovative is intimately linked to being creative or imaginative. No-one wants to discover what others have already found. Innovation, by definition, requires novelty. Novelty is an important source of scientific breakthroughs and has great technological impact.[1] Such breakthroughs often come about when scientists combine disciplines, ideas, approaches, or tools in novel and unexpected ways. While clearly only very few scientific breakthroughs result in Nobel Prizes, we can all increase our impact by taking a more innovative approach. Importantly, research institutions stand to benefit from fostering innovation within their walls. A reputation for truly ground-breaking work attracts better scientists, students and more funding—all key success factors. But how can institutions promote innovative research? Various initiatives have been implemented to encourage researchers to collaborate across disciplines and embrace the ‘Third Mission’ of universities to promote relationships between public sector research and business.[2,3 ] However, dedicated institutional strategies aimed at fostering innovation at the level of their research units are still comparatively rare. Here, we try to briefly outline what, in our experience, academic research institutions can do to help their scientists become more innovative, followed by a brief example of a programme that implements these practices and approaches

Cellular inhibitor of apoptosis (cIAP1) is down-regulated during retinal ganglion cell (RGC) maturation

Apoptosis, is the main type of cell death that occurs in ageing and neurodegenerative disease, such as glaucoma. This study therefore characterises the expression profile of caspases (pro-apoptosis) and inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs; anti-apoptosis) during maturation of the Brown Norway rat retina between 6 weeks and >24 weeks and also examines concomitant changes in expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor associated factor 2 (TRAF2). The expression profiles of caspases (initiator caspases 8, 9 and effector caspases 6, 7, 3) and inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) (Neuronal IAP), cellular IAP1 and 2 (cIAP1/2), X-chromosome linked IAP (XIAP), Survivin, Bruce and Livin) were examined in retinae from 6 weeks and >24 weeks old BN rats using semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR, Western blotting and immunofluoroscence analysis. Caspase expression was not altered significantly during the study interval. IAP expression showed a general reduction during maturation of BN retina, which was statistically significant for cIAP1. cIAP1 reduction was confirmed by Western blotting and immunoflouroscence and was restricted to cells in the retinal ganglion cell layer (RGCL). Accumulation of TRAF2 was observed in the RGCL accompanying the down-regulation of cIAP1 observed. Our results suggest that cells in the mature RGCL may have a greater susceptibility to cell death compared to their younger counterparts and this may be due in part to a reduction in activation of survival pathways involving IAPs and TRAFs. Research highlights ► Caspase expression was not altered significantly during ageing of the Brown Norway rat retina. ► IAP expression showed a general reduction during maturation of BN retina, which was statistically significant for cIAP1. ► cIAP1 reduction was confirmed by Western blotting and immunoflouroscence and was restricted to cells in the retinal ganglion cell layer (RGCL). ► Accumulation of TRAF2 was observed in the RGCL accompanying the downregulation of cIAP1 observed. ► The results suggest that cells in the mature RGCL may have a greater susceptibility to cell death compared to their younger counterparts and this may be due in part to a reduction in activation of survival pathways involving IAPs and TRAFs

Survivin expression is associated with lens epithelial cell proliferation and fiber cell differentiation

Purpose: Survivin (Birc5) is the smallest member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) protein family, which regulates the cell cycle/apoptosis balance. The purpose of this study was to examine Survivin expression in the embryonic chick lens, in chick lens epithelial cell cultures, and in the postnatal mouse lens. Methods: Survivin expression was examined using a combination of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunocytochemistry. To correlate Survivin expression with the timing of proliferation, we determined the profile of cell proliferation in the developing lens using the cell cycle marker proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in quantitative western blotting and immunocytochemistry studies. We also examined the expression of PCNA and the extent of denucleation using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated biotin-dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) of lentoids (lens fiber-like cells) during chick lens epithelial cell differentiation in vitro. Results: At embryonic day (ED) 4, Survivin immunostaining was present in two pools in lens epithelial cells and fiber cells: cytoplasmic and nuclear. The nuclear staining became more pronounced as the lens epithelial cells differentiated into lens fiber cells. At ED12, Survivin staining was observed in lens fiber cell nuclei containing marginalized chroma tin, indicative of early denucleation events. Using western blotting, Survivin expression peaked at ED6, diminishing thereafter. This profile of expression correlated with the events in chick lens epithelial cell cultures: i) increased Survivin expression was associated with an increase in PCNA staining up to day 6 of culture and ii) downregulation of Survivin expression at day 8 of culture was coincident with a dramatic decrease in PCNA staining and an increase in TdT-mediated biotin-dUTP nick-end labeling in lentoids. In early postnatal mouse lenses, Survivin and PCNA were highly expressed and decreased thereafter during postnatal lens maturation. Conclusions: Survivin is expressed during chick and mouse lens development and in chick lens epithelial cell cultures. High levels of Survivin expression correlated with high rates of proliferation of lens epithelial cells at early stages of development. Downregulation of Survivin expression with development and its progressive localization to the nuclei of lens fiber cells was coincident with a decrease in cell proliferation and increased denucleation in differentiating lens fiber cells. These studies suggest an important role for Survivin as a dual regulator of lens epithelial cell proliferation and lens fiber cell differentiation

Identification of novel serum microRNAs in age-related macular degeneration

Purpose: To identify circulating microRNAs (miRNA) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Thus differentially expressed serum miRNA could be used as AMD biomarkers. Methods: This study involved total RNA isolation from sera from patients with atrophic AMD (n = 10), neovascular AMD (n = 10), and age- and sex-matched controls (n = 10). A total of 377 miRNAs were coanalyzed using array technologies, and differentially regulated miRNAs were determined. Extensive validation studies (n = 90) of serum from AMD patients and controls confirmed initial results. Total RNA isolation was carried out from sera from patients with atrophic AMD (n = 30), neovascular AMD (n = 30), and controls (n = 30). Fourteen miRNAs from the discovery dataset were coanalyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to validate their presence. Results: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering indicated that AMD serum specimens have a different miRNA profile to healthy controls. We successfully identified and validated the differentially regulated miRNAs in serum from AMD patients versus controls. The biomarker potential of three miRNAs (miR-126, miR-19a, and miR-410) was confirmed by qRT-PCR, with significantly increased quantities in serum of AMD patients compared with healthy controls. Conclusions: Increased quantities of miR-126, miR-410, and miR-19a in serum from AMD patients indicate that these miRNAs could potentially serve as diagnostic AMD biomarkers. All three miRNAs significantly correlated with AMD pathogenesis. Translational Relevance: The discovery of new AMD miRNA may act as biomarkers in evaluating AMD diagnosis and prognosis