Foundations of form and function: A synthesis‐based curriculum for introductory‐level organismal biology

First‐year majors organismal biology courses are frequently taught as survey courses that promote memorization rather than synthesis of biological concepts. To address the shortcomings of this approach, we redesigned the organismal portion of our introductory biology curriculum to create a “Foundations of Form and Function” course. Foundations of Form and Function introduces different organismal forms and focuses on the relationship between those forms and the execution of key physiological functions. Goals of our new course include the following: developing student recognition of common characteristics that unite living organisms as well as features that distinguish taxonomic groups, facilitating student understanding of how organisms accomplish similar functions through different forms, and reinforcing course themes with independent student research. In this paper, we describe course learning outcomes, organization, content, assessment, and laboratory activities. We also present student perspectives and outcomes of our course design based on data from four years of student evaluations. Finally, we explain how we modified our course to meet remote learning and social‐distancing challenges presented by the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.     

“Liking” as an early and editable draft of long-run affective value

Psychological and neural distinctions between the technical concepts of “liking” and “wanting” pose important problems for motivated choice for goods. Why could we “want” something that we do not “like,” or “like” something but be unwilling to exert effort to acquire it? Here, we suggest a framework for answering these questions through the medium of reinforcement learning. We consider “liking” to provide immediate, but preliminary and ultimately cancellable, information about the true, long-run worth of a good. Such initial estimates, viewed through the lens of what is known as potential-based shaping, help solve the temporally complex learning problems faced by animals.

What is the distinction between ’liking’ and ’wanting’? Why could we ’want’ something that we do not ’like,’ or ’like’ something but be unwilling to exert effort to acquire it? This Essay argues that the primary hedonic phenomenon called ’liking’ might solve the temporal credit assignment problem for learning that arises when true reinforcement values are available slowly or late.     

The Effectiveness of the Problem-Based Learning Teaching Model for Use in Introductory Chinese Undergraduate Medical Courses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Although the problem-based learning (PBL) emerged in 1969 and was soon widely applied internationally, the rapid development in China only occurred in the last 10 years. This study aims to compare the effect of PBL and lecture-based learning (LBL) on student course examination results for introductory Chinese undergraduate medical courses.

Methods

Randomized and nonrandomized controlled trial studies on PBL use in Chinese undergraduate medical education were retrieved through PubMed, the Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and VIP China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP-CSTJ) with publication dates from 1st January 1966 till 31 August 2014. The pass rate, excellence rate and examination scores of course examination were collected. Methodological quality was evaluated based on the modified Jadad scale. The I-square statistic and Chi-square test of heterogeneity were used to assess the statistical heterogeneity. Overall RRs or SMDs with their 95% CIs were calculated in meta-analysis. Meta-regression and subgroup meta-analyses were also performed based on comparators and other confounding factors. Funnel plots and Egger’s tests were performed to assess degrees of publication bias.

Results

The meta-analysis included 31studies and 4,699 subjects. Fourteen studies were of high quality with modified Jadad scores of 4 to 6, and 17 studies were of low quality with scores of 1 to 3. Relative to the LBL model, the PBL model yielded higher course examination pass rates [RR = 1.09, 95%CI (1.03, 1.17)], excellence rates [RR = 1.66, 95%CI (1.33, 2.06)] and examination scores [SMD = 0.82, 95%CI (0.63, 1.01)]. The meta-regression results show that course type was the significant confounding factor that caused heterogeneity in the examination-score meta-analysis (t = 0.410, P<0.001). The examination score SMD in “laboratory course” subgroup [SMD = 2.01, 95% CI: (1.50, 2.52)] was higher than that in “theory course” subgroup [SMD = 0.72, 95% CI: (0.56, 0.89)].

Conclusions

PBL teaching model application in introductory undergraduate medical courses can increase course examination excellence rates and scores in Chinese medical education system. It is more effective when applied to laboratory courses than to theory-based courses.     

Memory for Expectation-Violating Concepts: The Effects of Agents and Cultural Familiarity

Previous research has shown that ideas which violate our expectations, such as schema-inconsistent concepts, enjoy privileged status in terms of memorability. In our study, memory for concepts that violate cultural (cultural schema-level) expectations (e.g., “illiterate teacher”, “wooden bottle”, or “thorny grass”) versus domain-level (ontological) expectations (e.g., “speaking cat”, “jumping maple”, or “melting teacher”) was examined. Concepts that violate cultural expectations, or counter-schematic, were remembered to a greater extent compared with concepts that violate ontological expectations and with intuitive concepts (e.g., “galloping pony”, “drying orchid”, or “convertible car”), in both immediate recall, and delayed recognition tests. Importantly, concepts related to agents showed a memory advantage over concepts not pertaining to agents, but this was true only for expectation-violating concepts. Our results imply that intuitive, everyday concepts are equally attractive and memorable regardless of the presence or absence of agents. However, concepts that violate our expectations (cultural-schema or domain-level) are more memorable when pertaining to agents (humans and animals) than to non-agents (plants or objects/artifacts). We conclude that due to their evolutionary salience, cultural ideas which combine expectancy violations and the involvement of an agent are especially memorable and thus have an enhanced probability of being successfully propagated.     

Integrating Interactive Computational Modeling in Biology Curricula

While the use of computer tools to simulate complex processes such as computer circuits is normal practice in fields like engineering, the majority of life sciences/biological sciences courses continue to rely on the traditional textbook and memorization approach. To address this issue, we explored the use of the Cell Collective platform as a novel, interactive, and evolving pedagogical tool to foster student engagement, creativity, and higher-level thinking. Cell Collective is a Web-based platform used to create and simulate dynamical models of various biological processes. Students can create models of cells, diseases, or pathways themselves or explore existing models. This technology was implemented in both undergraduate and graduate courses as a pilot study to determine the feasibility of such software at the university level. First, a new (In Silico Biology) class was developed to enable students to learn biology by “building and breaking it” via computer models and their simulations. This class and technology also provide a non-intimidating way to incorporate mathematical and computational concepts into a class with students who have a limited mathematical background. Second, we used the technology to mediate the use of simulations and modeling modules as a learning tool for traditional biological concepts, such as T cell differentiation or cell cycle regulation, in existing biology courses. Results of this pilot application suggest that there is promise in the use of computational modeling and software tools such as Cell Collective to provide new teaching methods in biology and contribute to the implementation of the “Vision and Change” call to action in undergraduate biology education by providing a hands-on approach to biology.     

Appraisal of Space Words and Allocation of Emotion Words in Bodily Space

The body-specificity hypothesis (BSH) predicts that right-handers and left-handers allocate positive and negative concepts differently on the horizontal plane, i.e., while left-handers allocate negative concepts on the right-hand side of their bodily space, right-handers allocate such concepts to the left-hand side. Similar research shows that people, in general, tend to allocate positive and negative concepts in upper and lower areas, respectively, in relation to the vertical plane. Further research shows a higher salience of the vertical plane over the horizontal plane in the performance of sensorimotor tasks. The aim of the paper is to examine whether there should be a dominance of the vertical plane over the horizontal plane, not only at a sensorimotor level but also at a conceptual level. In Experiment 1, various participants from diverse linguistic backgrounds were asked to rate the words “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right”. In Experiment 2, right-handed participants from two linguistic backgrounds were asked to allocate emotion words into a square grid divided into four boxes of equal areas. Results suggest that the vertical plane is more salient than the horizontal plane regarding the allocation of emotion words and positively-valenced words were placed in upper locations whereas negatively-valenced words were placed in lower locations. Together, the results lend support to the BSH while also suggesting a higher saliency of the vertical plane over the horizontal plane in the allocation of valenced words.     

Practitioner attitudes in the United States and United Kingdom toward decisions at the end of life: are medical ethicists out of touch?

Objective To assess whether UK and US health care professionals share the views of medical ethicists about medical futility, withdrawing or withholding treatment, ordinary or extraordinary interventions, and the doctrine of double effect. Design, subjects, and setting Answers to a 138-item attitudinal questionnaire completed by 469 UK nurses studying the Open University course on “Death and Dying” were compared with those of a similar questionnaire administered to 759 US nurses and 687 US physicians taking the Hastings Center course on “Decisions Near the End of Life.” Results Practitioners accept the relevance of concepts widely disparaged by bioethicists: double effect, medical futility, and the distinctions between heroic and ordinary interventions and withholding and withdrawing treatment. Within the UK nurses'' group, the responses of a “rationalist” axis of respondents who describe themselves as having “no religion” are closer to the bioethics consensus on withholding and withdrawing treatment. Conclusions Professionals'' beliefs differ substantially from the recommendations of their professional bodies and from majority opinion in bioethics. Bioethicists should be cautious about assuming that their opinions will be readily accepted by practitioners.     

Impact of specific training and competition on myocardial structure and function in different age ranges of male handball players

Handball activity involves cardiac changes and demands a mixture of both eccentric and concentric remodeling within the heart. This study seeks to explore heart performance and cardiac remodeling likely to define cardiac parameters which influence specific performance in male handball players across different age ranges. Forty three players, with a regular training and competitive background in handball separated into three groups aged on average 11.78±0.41 for youth players aka “schools”, “elite juniors” 15.99±0.81 and “elite adults” 24.46±2.63 years, underwent echocardiography and ECG examinations. Incremental ergocycle and specific field (SFT) tests have also been conducted. With age and regular training and competition, myocardial remodeling in different age ranges exhibit significant differences in dilatation’s parameters between “schools” and “juniors” players, such as the end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and the end-systolic diameter of the left ventricle (LVESD), the root of aorta (Ao) and left atrial (LA), while significant increase is observed between “juniors” and “adults” players in the interventricular septum (IVS), the posterior wall thicknesses (PWT) and LV mass index. ECG changes are also noted but NS differences were observed in studied parameters. For incremental maximal test, players demonstrate a significant increase in duration and total work between “schools” and “juniors” and, in total work only, between “juniors” and “seniors”. The SFT shows improvement in performance which ranged between 26.17±1.83 sec to 31.23±2.34 sec respectively from “seniors” to “schools”. The cross-sectional approach used to compare groups with prior hypothesis that there would be differences in exercise performance and cardiac parameters depending on duration of prior handball practice, leads to point out the early cardiac remodeling within the heart as adaptive change. Prevalence of cardiac chamber dilation with less hypertrophy remodeling was found from “schools” to “juniors” while a prevalence of cardiac hypertrophy with less pronounced chamber dilation remodeling was noted later.     

Same or different? Abstract relational concept use in juvenile bamboo sharks and Malawi cichlids

Sorting objects and events into categories and concepts is an important cognitive prerequisite that spares an individual the learning of every object or situation encountered in its daily life. Accordingly, specific items are classified in general groups that allow fast responses to novel situations. The present study assessed whether bamboo sharks Chiloscyllium griseum and Malawi cichlids Pseudotropheus zebra can distinguish sets of stimuli (each stimulus consisting of two abstract, geometric objects) that meet two conceptual preconditions, i.e., (1) “sameness” versus “difference” and (2) a certain spatial arrangement of both objects. In two alternative forced choice experiments, individuals were first trained to choose two different, vertically arranged objects from two different but horizontally arranged ones. Pair discriminations were followed by extensive transfer test experiments. Transfer tests using stimuli consisting of (a) black and gray circles and (b) squares with novel geometric patterns provided conflicting information with respect to the learnt rule “choose two different, vertically arranged objects”, thereby investigating (1) the individuals’ ability to transfer previously gained knowledge to novel stimuli and (2) the abstract relational concept(s) or rule(s) applied to categorize these novel objects. Present results suggest that the level of processing and usage of both abstract concepts differed considerably between bamboo sharks and Malawi cichlids. Bamboo sharks seemed to combine both concepts—although not with equal but hierarchical prominence—pointing to advanced cognitive capabilities. Conversely, Malawi cichlids had difficulties in discriminating between symbols and failed to apply the acquired training knowledge on new sets of geometric and, in particular, gray-level transfer stimuli.     

Relationship between Item Responses of Negative Affect Items and the Distribution of the Sum of the Item Scores in the General Population

BackgroundSeveral studies have shown that total depressive symptom scores in the general population approximate an exponential pattern, except for the lower end of the distribution. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) consists of 20 items, each of which may take on four scores: “rarely,” “some,” “occasionally,” and “most of the time.” Recently, we reported that the item responses for 16 negative affect items commonly exhibit exponential patterns, except for the level of “rarely,” leading us to hypothesize that the item responses at the level of “rarely” may be related to the non-exponential pattern typical of the lower end of the distribution. To verify this hypothesis, we investigated how the item responses contribute to the distribution of the sum of the item scores.MethodsData collected from 21,040 subjects who had completed the CES-D questionnaire as part of a Japanese national survey were analyzed. To assess the item responses of negative affect items, we used a parameter r, which denotes the ratio of “rarely” to “some” in each item response. The distributions of the sum of negative affect items in various combinations were analyzed using log-normal scales and curve fitting.ResultsThe sum of the item scores approximated an exponential pattern regardless of the combination of items, whereas, at the lower end of the distributions, there was a clear divergence between the actual data and the predicted exponential pattern. At the lower end of the distributions, the sum of the item scores with high values of r exhibited higher scores compared to those predicted from the exponential pattern, whereas the sum of the item scores with low values of r exhibited lower scores compared to those predicted.ConclusionsThe distributional pattern of the sum of the item scores could be predicted from the item responses of such items.     

A Biotic Game Design Project for Integrated Life Science and Engineering Education

Engaging, hands-on design experiences are key for formal and informal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Robotic and video game design challenges have been particularly effective in stimulating student interest, but equivalent experiences for the life sciences are not as developed. Here we present the concept of a "biotic game design project" to motivate student learning at the interface of life sciences and device engineering (as part of a cornerstone bioengineering devices course). We provide all course material and also present efforts in adapting the project''s complexity to serve other time frames, age groups, learning focuses, and budgets. Students self-reported that they found the biotic game project fun and motivating, resulting in increased effort. Hence this type of design project could generate excitement and educational impact similar to robotics and video games.

This Education article is part of the Education Series.

Hands-on robotic and video game design projects and competitions are widespread and have proven particularly effective at sparking interest and teaching K–12 and college students in mechatronics, computer science, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Furthermore, these projects foster teamwork, self-learning, design, and presentation skills [1,2]. Such playful and interactive media that provide fun, creative, open-ended learning experiences for all ages are arguably underdeveloped in the life sciences. Most hands-on education occurs in traditionally structured laboratory courses with a few exceptions like the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition [3]. Furthermore, there is an increasing need to bring the traditional engineering and life science disciplines together. In order to fill these gaps, we present the concept of a biotic game design project to foster student development in a broad set of engineering and life science skills in an integrated manner (Fig. 1). Though we primarily discuss our specific implementation as a cornerstone project-based class [4], alternative implementations are possible to motivate a variety of learning goals under various constraints such as student age and cost (see supplements for all course material).Open in a separate windowFig 1We developed a bioengineering devices course that employed biotic game design as a motivating project scheme. A: Biotic games enable human players to interact with cells. B: Conceptual overview of a biotic game setup. C: Students built and played biotic games. Image credits: A C64 joystick by Speed-link, 1984 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joystick_black_red_petri_01.svg); Euglena viridis by C. G. Ehrenberg, 1838; C Photo, N. J. C.Biotic games are games that operate on biological processes (Fig. 1) [5]. The biotic games we present here involve the single-celled phototactic eukaryote, Euglena gracilis. These microscopic organisms are housed in a microfluidic chip and are displayed in a magnified image on a video screen. Players interact with these cells by modulating the intensity and direction of light perpendicular to the microfluidic chip via a joystick, thereby influencing the cells’ phototactic motion. Software tracks the position of individual euglena with respect to virtual objects overlaid on the screen, creating myriad opportunities for creative game design and play. For example, in a simple game, points might be scored when a cell hits a virtual box (see S1 Video).The biotic game design project we developed was intended to motivate all the broad categories of theoretical and hands-on skills for creating any integrated instrument intended to house and to interface with biological materials, i.e., optics, electronics, sensing, actuation, microfluidics, fabrication, image processing, programming, and creative design. We termed the synthesis of these skills “biotics” in analogy to mechatronics. Our intended audience for this course was bioengineering undergraduate students at Stanford University who already had some programming experience but little to no experience in device design, fabrication, and integration. We also incorporated bioethics into the curriculum to emphasize the social responsibility of every engineer and demonstrate the potential for the biotic game project to motivate multiple fields. The course we taught spanned ten weeks, divided roughly equally into a set of technical units and the biotic game project, with two 4-hour lab sections and a single 1.5-hour lecture each week. For details and all course documents, please refer to the supplemental material.The technical section of the course focused on developing hands-on skills and theoretical understanding related to devices in a conventionally structured laboratory setting. We introduced students to fundamental electronics concepts and components such as voltage, current, resistors, capacitors, LEDs, filters, operational amplifiers, motors, microcontrollers (Arduino Uno), and breadboards. We followed a similar traditional approach in introducing optics, presenting the thin lens equation, ray tracing, conjugate planes, basic optical system design, and Köhler illumination. We covered additional topics in less detail: MATLAB programming, particle tracking, computer-aided design (CAD), fabrication, and microfluidics (learning objectives are provided at the beginning of each unit in the supplemental material).During the project-based section, students built their own biotic games. We left specific choices of implementation, architecture, and design to the students to encourage creativity and exploration but required students to revisit the technical skills they learned in the first section by integrating some specific requirements into their games (Fig. 2). Students built a bright field microscope with Köhler illumination and projected their images onto a webcam (optics). Glass and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) components comprised the microfluidic chip (microfluidics) and housed the euglena (microbiology). The holder for the chip and euglena-steering LEDs was designed in Solidworks (CAD) and 3-D printed (fabrication). The students constructed a polycarbonate housing for the game controller using a band saw and drill press (fabrication). The students revisited electronic breadboarding and soldering when creating the electronic circuits to communicate between the LEDs, joystick, microcontroller, and computer. Finally, they used MATLAB to program the microcontroller, implement real time image recognition, and provide the user interface for the game experience (image processing and programming).Open in a separate windowFig 2Biotic game-based courses encourage students to integrate a versatile set of relevant STEM topics.Image credits: Taken by N. J. C. (credit for the work and artifacts to the students who took the course).We challenged students to consider the ethical implications [6] of manipulating life in a game context before building their projects. Although phototaxis experiments with euglena are commonplace in education, and have hitherto raised no ethical concerns, the equivalent manipulation in the form of a game warrants its own ethical analysis as provided by Harvey et al. [7]. The students read and discussed this paper, then wrote a 200-word essay on whether they found it permissible or not to make and play biotic games. Students had the choice to switch to a nongame project of equivalent complexity. All students found euglena-based games permissible, pointing out that “they are nonsentient and cannot feel pain,” followed by a diverse range of considerations such as “the euglena are still free to act as they please,” “there needs to be an educational intention,” or “a pet…provides a way…to work on responsibility and caring.” Based on further student-initiated discussions that spontaneously emerged throughout the course, we believe that biotic games are effective in providing a stimulating, student-relevant, in-class context for bioethics.We motivated the game design project to the students as having educational potential at two levels, i.e., learning by building and learning by playing; we lectured them about the needs and opportunities for new approaches to K–12 STEM education [8,9]. The students were then asked to consider building a game that had educational value for the player. Educational value has many aspects, which was reflected in students’ statements regarding their intended educational outcomes for their games on their course project websites. These ranged from more factual learning objectives (“learn about…” “…inner working,” “…structural detail,” “… light responses,” “…euglena behavior”) to objectives affecting attitude (“spark interest,” “generate fascination,” “encourage to explore,” “respect for life”). We also had a game designer give a guest lecture to the students. For pragmatic reasons, we requested the students keep games very simple (ideally having just a single in-game objective) and cap game duration at one minute. Before, during, and after their projects, students received feedback from instructors as well as from their peers on their games from technical and user perspectives.The games that the students ultimately produced were diverse and creative (Fig. 2 and S1 Video), including single and multiplayer scenarios, games where euglena hit virtual targets, and games where euglena pushed virtual objects. Games that involved pushing objects across the screen (relying on collective motion of many organisms) were generally more consistent at correlating player strategy to scored points than those that involved hitting target objects. The quality and robustness of these integrated projects naturally varied, and individual groups placed more or less emphasis on different aspects based on personal preferences and learning goals (for example, fabricating a more elaborate housing for the game controller versus programming more complex game mechanics). A key point was that the students did not rely on prepared materials or platforms to develop their games but rather had to design, build, and test their game setups from scratch, thereby revisiting and deepening the primary learning goals of the course with some freedom to follow their own learning aspirations (Fig. 2). The final project deliverables were a two-minute project demonstration video, a website describing the elements of the project, and a game that all instructors and students played on the final day (Fig. 1B), which led to lots of laughter as well as in-depth discussions on technical details.Many students self-reported that they enjoyed the project and that it led to increased motivation and effort during the course. In response to the question “Do you think you were motivated to try harder or had more fun (and thereby learned more) during your final project because you were making a game (rather than just building a technical instrument, for example)? If so—please give some examples:” 15 out of 17 students responded “Very/definitely” on a five point scale. As examples, students listed: “wanted to make the best game,” “want to make it clever and cool in the eyes of classmates who are play testing,” “motivated during final push,” “willing to put in more time,” “was fun”/”made it fun,” “create a game that actually works,” “reinforced what was learned before,” and “provided room for creativity.” These comments reflect the overall excitement we saw for the biotic game project. While these responses do not constitute rigorous proof regarding course effectiveness (which will require more detailed and controlled assessments in the future), we consider this course a success based on our teaching experiences.45 students have now taken this class over the past three years, with 18 students in our most recent offering. We used each year to iterate and improve our implementation. For example, we changed the organism and stimulus from Paramecia galvanotaxis [5] to Euglena phototaxis, which gave more reliable long-term responses. We also added a simple microfluidics unit enabling students to build more robust organism housing chambers. We changed the microscope structure from LEGO to Thorlabs parts (essentially trading the emphasis on 3-D structural design, flexibility, and cost for a more in-depth focus on high-end optics and their alignment). Finally, we explicitly asked the students to design and fabricate a housing for the game controller to better incorporate fabrication skills like using a band saw and tapping screw threads. So far, we primarily used MATLAB as the programming component given its widespread use in education and research and the available Arduino interface. However, MATLAB is not particularly well-suited to support game design and is also not free, making translation into lower resource settings challenging. For the future, we are considering moving to smartphone-based control (such as Android) given that these mobile environments are very flexible and increasingly used for control of scientific and consumer instruments and are becoming more widespread in education. We also see the opportunity to better emphasize and teach the approach of iterative design; for example, by letting students prototype and test their game ideas on paper [10] and simple programming environments like Scratch [11] first, before attempting the full implementation. It would likely also be very rewarding for the students to be able to take their project home at the end of the course. In summary, many different course design decisions can be made based on specific intended educational outcomes. Not all of these can be fit into one course at the same time, and clear decisions should be made on how to balance covering a breadth of topics with depth on a selected few.As a preliminary test of another age range, time frame, and budget, we taught a greatly simplified 3-hour workshop where high school and middle school students assembled a low-cost microscope and microfluidics chamber, attached it to a smartphone, and stimulated euglena using a preprogrammed Arduino-based controller (see supplements). We had no game interface implemented yet on the phone, but the students could observe the euglena responses to the light stimuli. All students were able to complete the project and take their microscopes home. Over half of our undergraduate student teams also volunteered to present their game projects for this outreach event which took place multiple weeks after their class had ended. This separate experience suggests that the biotic game concept holds promise for reaching a wider age range in a shortened timespan and at a greatly reduced budget, and that completed games can be used in outreach activities. We are currently developing a kit modeled after this unit.In conclusion, we consider biotic games promising in motivating integrated, hands-on learning at the interface of life science and engineering. Our efforts so far indicate that this concept could be adapted to various age groups and learning goals with the potential for wider future impacts on education. We draw upon the analogy to robotics, where microcontrollers went from initially unfathomable as an educational tool to the vision of Papert and collaborators and their use of programmable robotics with children [12], eventually leading to multiple commercial realizations (LEGO mindstorm, Arduino, etc.), a large public following, and a major role in education both in the classroom and through competitions such as First Robotics [1]. We also see additional potential for integrating more creative and artistic aspects into STEM, i.e., leading to generalized Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) disciplines [13]. We invite others to join us in these endeavors—all instructional materials are available in the appendix for further adaptations and educational use.     

The Selection of Medical Students in Western Canada

The methods employed in the selection of medical students for the 1964-65 class of freshmen at the four Western medical schools are described and recommendations are made for improving the procedure. The structure and functions of the various selection committees varied from school to school but their prime purpose was the same—the selection of “good students” who would later become “good physicians”. Not surprisingly, academic achievement and confidence in estimating this ranked highest in importance, and while non-intellectual characteristics ranked almost as high, committee members had no confidence that they could evaluate these qualities.It is suggested that the ideal selection committee would be a “high-priority” committee consisting of six to eight members who would meet at least twice a year, have tenure of at least four years, be trained in interviewing applicants, consider Medical College Admission Test scores, review applications before each meeting, and establish research committees to investigate the students they choose.     

Evolution of Integrated Causal Structures in Animats Exposed to Environments of Increasing Complexity

Natural selection favors the evolution of brains that can capture fitness-relevant features of the environment''s causal structure. We investigated the evolution of small, adaptive logic-gate networks (“animats”) in task environments where falling blocks of different sizes have to be caught or avoided in a ‘Tetris-like’ game. Solving these tasks requires the integration of sensor inputs and memory. Evolved networks were evaluated using measures of information integration, including the number of evolved concepts and the total amount of integrated conceptual information. The results show that, over the course of the animats'' adaptation, i) the number of concepts grows; ii) integrated conceptual information increases; iii) this increase depends on the complexity of the environment, especially on the requirement for sequential memory. These results suggest that the need to capture the causal structure of a rich environment, given limited sensors and internal mechanisms, is an important driving force for organisms to develop highly integrated networks (“brains”) with many concepts, leading to an increase in their internal complexity.     

Human Collective Intelligence under Dual Exploration-Exploitation Dilemmas

The exploration-exploitation dilemma is a recurrent adaptive problem for humans as well as non-human animals. Given a fixed time/energy budget, every individual faces a fundamental trade-off between exploring for better resources and exploiting known resources to optimize overall performance under uncertainty. Colonies of eusocial insects are known to solve this dilemma successfully via evolved coordination mechanisms that function at the collective level. For humans and other non-eusocial species, however, this dilemma operates within individuals as well as between individuals, because group members may be motivated to take excessive advantage of others'' exploratory findings through social learning. Thus, even though social learning can reduce collective exploration costs, the emergence of disproportionate “information scroungers” may severely undermine its potential benefits. We investigated experimentally whether social learning opportunities might improve the performance of human participants working on a “multi-armed bandit” problem in groups, where they could learn about each other''s past choice behaviors. Results showed that, even though information scroungers emerged frequently in groups, social learning opportunities reduced total group exploration time while increasing harvesting from better options, and consequentially improved collective performance. Surprisingly, enriching social information by allowing participants to observe others'' evaluations of chosen options (e.g., Amazon''s 5-star rating system) in addition to choice-frequency information had a detrimental impact on performance compared to the simpler situation with only the choice-frequency information. These results indicate that humans groups can handle the fundamental “dual exploration-exploitation dilemmas” successfully, and that social learning about simple choice-frequencies can help produce collective intelligence.     

Pathological States and Criminal Responsibility

The doctor is embarrassed in court when asked to testify to the effects of illness on a defendant''s capability “of appreciating the nature and quality of an act or omission or of knowing that an act or omission is wrong”. The source of his difficulty is traced to the legal concepts of “guilt”, “crime” and “punishment” which imply a legal view of man at variance with our modern biological view. To abolish this discrepancy we need not accept a medical model for criminal law where “crime” is analogous to “disease”, and “punishment” to “treatment”. A pragmatic approach to the handling of the criminal could exclude the notions of “guilt” and “punishment” and yet fulfil the rational goals of protecting society from the criminal and of compensating his victims.     

The Effectiveness of a ‘Train the Trainer’ Model of Resuscitation Education for Rural Peripheral Hospital Doctors in Sri Lanka

Background

Sri Lankan rural doctors based in isolated peripheral hospitals routinely resuscitate critically ill patients but have difficulty accessing training. We tested a train-the-trainer model that could be utilised in isolated rural hospitals.

Methods

Eight selected rural hospital non-specialist doctors attended a 2-day instructor course. These “trained trainers” educated their colleagues in advanced cardiac life support at peripheral hospital workshops and we tested their students in resuscitation knowledge and skills pre and post training, and at 6- and 12-weeks. Knowledge was assessed through 30 multiple choice questions (MCQ), and resuscitation skills were assessed by performance in a video recorded simulated scenario of a cardiac arrest using a Resuci Anne Skill Trainer mannequin.

Results/Discussion/Conclusion

Fifty seven doctors were trained. Pre and post training assessment was possible in 51 participants, and 6-week and 12-week follow up was possible for 43, and 38 participants respectively. Mean MCQ scores significantly improved over time (p<0.001), and a significant improvement was noted in “average ventilation volume”, “compression count”, and “compressions with no error”, “adequate depth”, “average depth”, and “compression rate” (p<0.01). The proportion of participants with compression depth ≥40mm increased post intervention (p<0.05) and at 12-week follow up (p<0.05), and proportion of ventilation volumes between 400-1000mls increased post intervention (p<0.001). A significant increase in the proportion of participants who “checked for responsiveness”, “opened the airway”, “performed a breathing check”, who used the “correct compression ratio”, and who used an “appropriate facemask technique” was also noted (p<0.001). A train-the-trainer model of resuscitation education was effective in improving resuscitation knowledge and skills in Sri Lankan rural peripheral hospital doctors. Improvement was sustained to 12 weeks for most components of resuscitation knowledge and skills. Further research is needed to identify which components of training are most effective in leading to sustained improvement in resuscitation.     

Social Network Analysis Shows Direct Evidence for Social Transmission of Tool Use in Wild Chimpanzees

Social network analysis methods have made it possible to test whether novel behaviors in animals spread through individual or social learning. To date, however, social network analysis of wild populations has been limited to static models that cannot precisely reflect the dynamics of learning, for instance, the impact of multiple observations across time. Here, we present a novel dynamic version of network analysis that is capable of capturing temporal aspects of acquisition—that is, how successive observations by an individual influence its acquisition of the novel behavior. We apply this model to studying the spread of two novel tool-use variants, “moss-sponging” and “leaf-sponge re-use,” in the Sonso chimpanzee community of Budongo Forest, Uganda. Chimpanzees are widely considered the most “cultural” of all animal species, with 39 behaviors suspected as socially acquired, most of them in the domain of tool-use. The cultural hypothesis is supported by experimental data from captive chimpanzees and a range of observational data. However, for wild groups, there is still no direct experimental evidence for social learning, nor has there been any direct observation of social diffusion of behavioral innovations. Here, we tested both a static and a dynamic network model and found strong evidence that diffusion patterns of moss-sponging, but not leaf-sponge re-use, were significantly better explained by social than individual learning. The most conservative estimate of social transmission accounted for 85% of observed events, with an estimated 15-fold increase in learning rate for each time a novice observed an informed individual moss-sponging. We conclude that group-specific behavioral variants in wild chimpanzees can be socially learned, adding to the evidence that this prerequisite for culture originated in a common ancestor of great apes and humans, long before the advent of modern humans.     

Polysaccharide-degrading Enzymes are Unable to Attack Plant Cell Walls without Prior Action by a "Wall-modifying Enzyme"

A study of the degradation of plant cell walls by the mixture of enzymes present in Pectinol R-10 is described. A “wall-modifying enzyme” has been purified from this mixture by a combination of diethylaminoethyl cellulose, Bio Gel P-100, and carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography. Treatment of cell walls with the “wall-modifying enzyme” is shown to be a necessary prerequisite to wall degradation catalyzed by a mixture of polysaccharide-degrading enzymes prepared from Pectinol R-10 or by an α-galactosidase secreted by the pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. The action of the “wall-modifying enzyme” on cell walls is shown to result in both a release of water-soluble, 70% ethanol-insoluble polymers and an alteration of the residual cell wall. A purified preparation of the “wall-modifying enzyme” is unable to degrade a wide variety of polysaccharide, glycoside, and peptide substrates. However, the purified preparation of wall-modifying enzyme has a limited ability to degrade polygalacturonic acid. The fact that polygalacturonic acid inhibits the ability of the “wall-modifying enzyme” to affect cell walls suggests that the “wall-modifying enzyme” may be responsible for the limited polygalacturonic acid-degrading activity present in the purified preparation. The importance of a wall-modifying enzyme in developmental processes and in pathogenesis is discussed.     

Perspectives on facilitating dynamic ecology courses online using active learning

As education methodology has grown to incorporate online learning, disciplines with a field component, like ecology, may find themselves sidelined in this transition. In response to challenges posed by moving classes online, previous studies have assessed whether an online environment can be effective for student learning. This work has found that active learning structures, which maximize information processing and require critical thinking, best support student learning. All too commonly, online and active learning are perceived as mutually exclusive. We argue the success of online learning requires facilitating active learning in online spaces. To highlight this intersection in practice, we use a case study of an online, active, and synchronous ecology and conservation biology course from the College of Natural Sciences at Minerva Schools at KGI. We use our perspectives as curriculum designers, instructors, and students of this course to offer recommendations for creating active online ecology courses. Key components to effective course design and implementation are as follows: facilitating critical “thinking like a scientist”, integrating open‐ended assignments into class discussion, and creating active in‐class dialogues by minimizing lecturing. Based on our experience, we suggest that by employing active learning strategies, the future of ecology in higher education is not inhibited, but in fact supported, by opportunities for learning online.