Using Learning Sets to Support UK Delivery of Off-Shore Learning in Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackburn, Michelle

2014-01-01

This account of practice focuses on the delivery of Action Learning Sets in Swaziland and Malawi as part of a UK university's remote Master's degree teaching programme. It draws upon the experience of an Academic delivering the programme and the efforts made to refine the approach to action learning given time, understanding and resource…

Action Learning. A Guide for Professional, Management and Educational Development. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGill, Ian; Beaty, Liz

Action learning is a process of learning and reflection that happens with the support of a group of colleagues ("set") working with real problems with the intention of getting things done. This guide is for those who want to practice action learning. It can be used to introduce the concepts of action learning to others and as a manual…

The Impact of Being Part of an Action Learning Set for New Lecturers: A Reflective Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haith, Mark P.; Whittingham, Katrina A.

2012-01-01

What is an action learning set (ALS)? An ALS is a regular, action focused peer discussion group, generally facilitated, to address work place issues. Methods of undertaking ALS: methods are flexible within a range of approaches according to the group's developing needs. Benefits of ALS: builds trust, professional development, enables action,…

Using Action Learning Sets to Support Students Managing Transition into the Clinical Learning Environment in a UK Medical School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKee, Anne; Markless, Sharon

2017-01-01

This paper reports on a Curriculum Innovation Project to empower third-year Undergraduate Medical students to recognise learning opportunities in their clinical placements and to proactively use them to develop their understanding and practice. The project created action learning sets (ALS) in response to the challenges students face when trying…

Promoting Shifts in Preservice Science Teachers' Thinking through Teaching and Action Research in Informal Science Settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, Carolyn S.

2013-08-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of an integrated experiential learning and action research project on preservice science teachers' developing ideas about science teaching, learning, and action research itself. The qualitative, interpretive study examined the action research of 10 master's degree students who were involved in service learning with children in informal education settings. Results indicated that all of the participants enhanced their knowledge of children as diverse learners and the importance of prior knowledge in science learning. In-depth case studies for three of the participants indicated that two developed deeper understandings of science learners and learning. However, one participant was resistant to learning and gained more limited understandings.

Steps to Leadership Action Learning Sets: "Make It Challenging but Not Too Challenging"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Derek

2010-01-01

This paper reviews how action learning was used as part of a regional leadership development programme involving a number of public sector organisations. It explores how the sets were designed and set up and the significant challenges that this particular approach brought. A number of positive tangible outcomes were produced from the sets and…

Learning and Teaching as Emergent Features of Informal Settings: An Ethnographic Study in an Environmental Action Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyer, Leanna; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2006-01-01

Around the world, many people concerned with the state of the environment participate in environmental action groups. Much of their learning occurs informally, simply by participating in the everyday, ongoing collective life of the chosen group. Such settings provide unique opportunities for studying how people learn science in complex settings…

Recognizing human actions by learning and matching shape-motion prototype trees.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhuolin; Lin, Zhe; Davis, Larry S

2012-03-01

A shape-motion prototype-based approach is introduced for action recognition. The approach represents an action as a sequence of prototypes for efficient and flexible action matching in long video sequences. During training, an action prototype tree is learned in a joint shape and motion space via hierarchical K-means clustering and each training sequence is represented as a labeled prototype sequence; then a look-up table of prototype-to-prototype distances is generated. During testing, based on a joint probability model of the actor location and action prototype, the actor is tracked while a frame-to-prototype correspondence is established by maximizing the joint probability, which is efficiently performed by searching the learned prototype tree; then actions are recognized using dynamic prototype sequence matching. Distance measures used for sequence matching are rapidly obtained by look-up table indexing, which is an order of magnitude faster than brute-force computation of frame-to-frame distances. Our approach enables robust action matching in challenging situations (such as moving cameras, dynamic backgrounds) and allows automatic alignment of action sequences. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach achieves recognition rates of 92.86 percent on a large gesture data set (with dynamic backgrounds), 100 percent on the Weizmann action data set, 95.77 percent on the KTH action data set, 88 percent on the UCF sports data set, and 87.27 percent on the CMU action data set.

Learning, Action and Solutions in Action Learning: Investigation of Facilitation Practice Using the Concept of Living Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanyal, Chandana

2018-01-01

This paper explores the practice of action learning (AL) facilitation in supporting AL set members to address their 'messy' problems through a self-reflexive approach using the concept of 'living theory' [Whitehead, J., and J. McNiff. 2006. "Action Research Living Theory." London: Sage]. The facilitation practice is investigated through…

Codifying Implementation Guidelines for a Collaborative Improvement Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coughlan, Paul; Coghlan, David

2008-01-01

The application of action learning in inter-organizational settings is largely undeveloped. This article presents a description of and reflection on an action learning approach to enabling collaborative improvement in the extended manufacturing enterprise. The article focuses in particular on implementing the action learning approach. However, the…

Assessing the Value of Action Learning for Social Enterprises and Charities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Sue; Smith, Laurie

2017-01-01

In this paper we evaluate action learning for leaders of social enterprises and charities. Based on ethnographic research including participant observation, facilitator reflective diary notes and in-depth, qualitative interviews with participants of two action learning sets undertaken over eight months, analysed using Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat…

Virtual Action Learning: Practices and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickenson, Mollie; Burgoyne, John; Pedler, Mike

2010-01-01

This paper reports findings from research that set out to explore virtual action learning (VAL) as an emerging variety of action learning (AL). In bringing together geographically dispersed individuals within and across organizations, and possibly across time, VAL has obvious potential in both educational and commercial contexts. Whilst there is…

To Act and Learn: A Bakhtinian Exploration of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gold, Jeff; Anderson, Lisa; Clarke, Jean; Thorpe, Richard

2009-01-01

This paper considers the work of the Russian social philosopher and cultural theorist, Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin as a source of understanding for those involved in action learning. Drawing upon data gathered over two years during the evaluation of 20 action learning sets in the north of England, we will seek to work with the ideas of Bakhtin to…

The Alchemy of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Penny; Choueke, Richard

2003-01-01

This paper examines the authors' experiences as action learning set facilitators within a public sector organisation undergoing change. Our objectives were to assist in the identification of internal and external drivers for change and to work with the set to explore how people's roles and responsibilities might be enhanced and developed in a…

Participating in a Collaborative Action Learning Set (CAL): Beginning the Journey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCormack, Brendan; Henderson, Elizabeth; Boomer, Christine; Collin, Ita; Robinson, David

2008-01-01

Action learning is being increasingly utilised as a strategy to underpin practitioner focused development and research projects in healthcare generally and nursing in particular. Whilst facilitators of and participants in action learning have a variety of resource materials to guide their practice and participation, there continue to be few…

Developing Results-Based Leadership Attributes and Team Cohesiveness through Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troupe, David

2010-01-01

Those who develop leaders in manufacturing settings have little data that describe the usefulness of action learning as a method of developing leaders' abilities to improve results-based leadership attributes or perceptions about their team's cohesiveness. The two purposes of this study were to evaluate an action learning program with regards to…

Supporting clinical leadership through action: The nurse consultant role.

PubMed

Rosser, Elizabeth; Grey, Rachael; Neal, Deborah; Reeve, Julie; Smith, Caroline; Valentine, Janine

2017-12-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of an action learning set to enhance clinical leadership and extend their scope and confidence more strategically. As the most senior clinical role in most healthcare systems, the consultant nurse role is a solitary one. They are required to develop personal resilience, commitment and a belief in their ability to lead, with new consultants needing a strong support network to succeed. Following a 2-year action learning set, four nurse consultants, one therapy consultant, and a university educationalist engaged in a cooperative inquiry approach using four cycles of discussion, reflection, analysis and action over an 18-month period from March 2015-July 2016, to learn how to change and enhance their working practices. Data were analysed thematically. Four themes emerged where the action learning set (i) offered structure and support, (ii) enabled a wider influence and (iii) empowered them to lead. The cooperative inquiry helped them realise how much they had gained from their collective learning and they felt empowered to lead. Their motivation to "make a difference" remains palpable. The outcomes of the cooperative inquiry included an enhanced understanding of the importance of openness and trust and a willingness to share and learn from each other in a respectful and confidential environment with a receptiveness to change. Self-leadership has clearly been accepted and embraced, and their collaboration has improved communication across the organisation, enhanced their strategic leadership capability and given confidence to disseminate externally. The action learning set offered structure to support these clinical leaders to keep them focused across the breadth of their role. Additionally, peer review with external facilitation has enabled these clinical leaders to gain a wider influence and empowered them to lead. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Engaging Students in a Simulated Collaborative Action Research Project: An Evaluation of a Participatory Approach to Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congdon, Graham John; Congdon, Shirley

2011-01-01

This article reports an action research project designed to develop and implement a new participatory learning and teaching approach to enable postgraduate healthcare students to develop skills and knowledge in preparation for undertaking an action research study within their practice setting. The learning and teaching approach was based upon the…

On the Nature of Problems in Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmonstone, John

2014-01-01

The article aims to explore the nature of problems in action learning. Beginning with Revans' distinction between problems and puzzles, it draws parallels with the notion of wicked and tame problems. It offers four means of considering problems in action learning--in terms of the locus of a set's work; from the viewpoint of an…

Action Learning in an SME: Appetite Comes with Eating

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hauser, Bernhard

2009-01-01

This account describes action learning in a small to medium-size enterprise (SME) that operates as a local power utility on an established market that is currently going through a process of radical transformation. The task of the action learning set was to improve the flow of information to employees about the evolving framework in which the…

Leadership Development through Virtual Action Learning: An Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aspinwall, Kath; Pedler, Mike; Radcliff, Phil

2018-01-01

This paper presents a case study based on the evaluation of the two VAL (virtual action learning) sets. We report participants learning both leadership and the VAL process based on the basis of telephone interviews. We conclude that what is learned about leadership is connected with how learning takes place and suggest that the content and process…

Implementing Action Research and Professional Learning Communities in a Professional Development School Setting to Support Teacher Candidate Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanks, Joyce

2016-01-01

The paper reviews teacher candidates' use of action research and the Professional Learning Community (PLC) concept to support their work in their pre-student teaching field experience. In this research study, teacher candidates are involved in a professional development school relationship that uses action research and PLCs to support candidate…

CLEANing the Reward: Counterfactual Actions to Remove Exploratory Action Noise in Multiagent Learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

HolmesParker, Chris; Taylor, Mathew E.; Tumer, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian

2014-01-01

Learning in multiagent systems can be slow because agents must learn both how to behave in a complex environment and how to account for the actions of other agents. The inability of an agent to distinguish between the true environmental dynamics and those caused by the stochastic exploratory actions of other agents creates noise in each agent's reward signal. This learning noise can have unforeseen and often undesirable effects on the resultant system performance. We define such noise as exploratory action noise, demonstrate the critical impact it can have on the learning process in multiagent settings, and introduce a reward structure to effectively remove such noise from each agent's reward signal. In particular, we introduce Coordinated Learning without Exploratory Action Noise (CLEAN) rewards and empirically demonstrate their benefits

Interplay of Entrepreneurial Learning Forms: A Case Study of Experiential Learning Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramsgaard, Michael Breum; Christensen, Marie Ernst

2018-01-01

This paper explores the concept of learning in a setting of experiential knowledge acquisition. The main focus is how facilitators of learning processes can design learning spaces, where the boundaries of what is expected from the learner are challenged. The aim is to explore the action-based learning processes occurring in experiential learning…

Learning through Action: Parallel Learning Processes in Children and Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ethridge, Elizabeth A.; Branscomb, Kathryn R.

2009-01-01

Experiential learning has become an essential part of many educational settings from infancy through adulthood. While the effectiveness of active learning has been evaluated in youth and adult settings, few known studies have compared the learning processes of children and adults within the same project. This article contrasts the active learning…

Learning Initiatives in the Residential Setting. The First-Year Experience Monograph Series No. 48

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luna, Gene, Ed.; Gahagan, Jimmie, Ed.

2008-01-01

In 2004, "Learning Reconsidered" urged educators to think more holistically about student learning and development. "Learning Initiatives in the Residential Setting" provides a framework for putting this call into action at large universities and small colleges alike. Chapters trace the history of learning in residence halls, discuss academic and…

Using an Action Learning Set (ALS) to Support the Nurse and Allied Health Professional Consultant Role

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Janet; Ainsworth, Roberta; Allison, Rhoda; Billyard, Jo; Corley, Reine; Viner, Jane

2008-01-01

Advanced clinical practice roles are now an integral feature of many healthcare services and have been adopted in a diversity of areas. However, mentoring of these roles is not well documented in the literature and formal mechanisms of support are limited. An action learning set (ALS) was developed to provide support for consultants currently in…

Action Learning Sets and Social Capital: Ameliorating the Burden of Clergy Isolation in One Rural Diocese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muskett, Judith A.; Village, Andrew

2016-01-01

Rural clergy often lack colleagues and may struggle with isolation, especially if over-extended in multi-parish benefices. Theory suggests that this sense of isolation could be addressed by launching clergy action learning sets, which have the potential to establish a peer support network through the formation of social capital as a by-product of…

Using Action Verbs as Learning Outcomes: Applying Bloom's Taxonomy in Measuring Instructional Objectives in Introductory Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nevid, Jeffrey S.; McClelland, Nate

2013-01-01

We used a set of action verbs based on Bloom's taxonomy to assess learning outcomes in two college-level introductory psychology courses. The action verbs represented an acronym, IDEA, comprising skills relating to identifying, defining or describing, evaluating or explaining, and applying psychological knowledge. Exam performance demonstrated…

Developing Deep Group Reflection within a Critical Reflection Action Learning Set

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepherd, Gary

2016-01-01

This account of practice describes how a manufacturing company in the North of England transformed their approach to problem-solving and action through the use of a Critical Reflection Action Learning (CRAL) methodology. The company, who had been in business for over 25 years, experienced problems due to a diminishing customer base and substantial…

Action Learning on the Edge: Contributing to a Master's Programme in Human Resources for Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmonstone, John; Robson, Jean

2014-01-01

This account of practice describes the introduction of an accredited postgraduate management qualification which used action learning as a major contribution to a blended learning approach in a fragile cross-border setting on the edge of Europe. Conventional management education has frequently been challenged on the grounds of relevance, efficacy…

Defining and comparing learning actions in two simulation modalities: students training on a latex arm and each other's arms.

PubMed

Ravik, Monika; Havnes, Anton; Bjørk, Ida Torunn

2017-12-01

To explore, describe and compare learning actions that nursing students used during peripheral vein cannulation training on a latex arm or each other's arms in a clinical skills centre. Simulation-based training is thought to enhance learning and transfer of learning from simulation to the clinical setting and is commonly recommended in nursing education. What students actually are doing during simulation-based training is, however, less explored. The analysis of learning actions used during simulation-based training could contribute to development and improvement of simulation as a learning strategy in nursing education. A qualitative explorative and descriptive research design, involving content analysis of video recordings, was used. Video-supported observation of nine nursing students practicing vein cannulation was conducted in a clinical skills centre in late 2012. The students engaged in various learning actions. Students training on a latex arm used a considerably higher number of learning actions relative to those training on each other's arms. In both groups, students' learning actions consisted mainly of seeking and giving support. The teacher provided students training on each other's arms with detailed feedback regarding insertion of the cannula into the vein, while those training on a latex arm received sparse feedback from the teacher and fellow students. The teacher played an important role in facilitating nursing students' practical skill learning during simulation. The provision of support from both teachers and students should be emphasised to ensure that nursing students' learning needs are met. This study suggest that student nurses may be differently and inadequately prepared in peripheral vein cannulation in two simulation modalities used in the academic setting; training on a latex arm and on each other's arms. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Agent Reward Shaping for Alleviating Traffic Congestion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tumer, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian

2006-01-01

Traffic congestion problems provide a unique environment to study how multi-agent systems promote desired system level behavior. What is particularly interesting in this class of problems is that no individual action is intrinsically "bad" for the system but that combinations of actions among agents lead to undesirable outcomes, As a consequence, agents need to learn how to coordinate their actions with those of other agents, rather than learn a particular set of "good" actions. This problem is ubiquitous in various traffic problems, including selecting departure times for commuters, routes for airlines, and paths for data routers. In this paper we present a multi-agent approach to two traffic problems, where far each driver, an agent selects the most suitable action using reinforcement learning. The agent rewards are based on concepts from collectives and aim to provide the agents with rewards that are both easy to learn and that if learned, lead to good system level behavior. In the first problem, we study how agents learn the best departure times of drivers in a daily commuting environment and how following those departure times alleviates congestion. In the second problem, we study how agents learn to select desirable routes to improve traffic flow and minimize delays for. all drivers.. In both sets of experiments,. agents using collective-based rewards produced near optimal performance (93-96% of optimal) whereas agents using system rewards (63-68%) barely outperformed random action selection (62-64%) and agents using local rewards (48-72%) performed worse than random in some instances.

Implementing Blended Self-Managed Action Learning for Digital Entrepreneurs in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shurville, Simon; Rospigliosi, Asher

2009-01-01

We report upon implementing blended self-managed action learning (SMAL) within graduate and postgraduate courses in digital entrepreneurship. In four out of five cases, we found that SMAL was highly motivating to our learners and integrated well with a blended and flexible approach to learning. We report a case where a SMAL set broke down due to…

Insider Research as Part of a Master's Programme: Opportunities Lost and Found within Action Learning Sets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milano, Chloe; Lawless, Aileen; Eades, Elaine

2015-01-01

This account explores the role of action learning during and after an educational programme. We focus on the final stage of a master's programme and the insider research that is a key feature in many UK universities. Researching within one's own organization should lead to individual and organizational learning. However, there is relatively little…

Theoractive Learning towards Academic Endeavour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajbhandari, Mani Man Singh

2018-01-01

Theoractive learning is an essential ingredient that can complement various academic theories, making them easier to apply to a learning environment. Although it appears that theoractive learning is the effect of the beneficial causes of teaching and learning in certain contextual settings; theoractive learning is, however, actions-oriented and…

LEAD at Lunch: Inquiry, Learning, and Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Cynthia

2012-01-01

This account of practice discusses the author's experience in facilitating a small group of managers in health care over lunchtime utilizing an action learning approach. This was part of a larger leadership development initiative which took place in the organization and the intention was to create a more intimate, informal and safe setting whereby…

Action Learning for Strategic Innovation in Mature Organizations: Key Cognitive, Design and Contextual Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Jeffrey S.; Marsick, Victoria J.

2005-01-01

This article lays out a model of action learning for catalyzing strategic innovation in mature organizations that are faced with a new competitive playing field. Central to this model is the development of a set of sophisticated cognitive capabilities--sensemaking, strategic thinking, critical thinking, divergent thinking, conceptual capacity and…

Leaders Behaving Badly: Using Power to Generate Undiscussables in Action Learning Sets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donovan, Paul Jeffrey

2014-01-01

"Undiscussables" are topics associated with threat or embarrassment that are avoided by groups, where that avoidance is also not discussed. Their deleterious effect on executive groups has been a point of discussion for several decades. More recently critical action learning (AL) has brought a welcome focus to power relations within AL…

Action Learning in Postgraduate Research Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchand, Trevor

2017-01-01

This account of practice explores the benefits and challenges of using Action Learning (AL) with junior researchers. Findings are grounded in an AL set of six doctoral students, organised and convened by the author. The case study reveals the range of emotional and structural hurdles that Ph.D. candidates typically face in completing their…

Can we (control) Engineer the degree learning process?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, A. S.; Censlive, M.; Neilsen, D.

2014-07-01

This paper investigates how control theory could be applied to learning processes in engineering education. The initial point for the analysis is White's Double Loop learning model of human automation control modified for the education process where a set of governing principals is chosen, probably by the course designer. After initial training the student decides unknowingly on a mental map or model. After observing how the real world is behaving, a strategy to achieve the governing variables is chosen and a set of actions chosen. This may not be a conscious operation, it maybe completely instinctive. These actions will cause some consequences but not until a certain time delay. The current model is compared with the work of Hollenbeck on goal setting, Nelson's model of self-regulation and that of Abdulwahed, Nagy and Blanchard at Loughborough who investigated control methods applied to the learning process.

Action methods in the classroom: creative strategies for nursing education.

PubMed

McLaughlin, Dorcas E; Freed, Patricia E; Tadych, Rita A

2006-01-01

Nursing education recognizes the need for a framework of experiential learning that supports the development of professional roles. Action methods, originated by Jacob L. Moreno (1953), can be readily adapted to any nursing classroom to create the conditions under which students learn and practice professional nursing roles. While nurse faculty can learn to use action methods, they may not fully comprehend their theoretical underpinnings or may believe they are only used in therapy. This article explores Moreno's ideas related to psychodrama and sociodrama applied in classroom settings, and presents many examples and tips for classroom teachers who wish to incorporate action methods into their classes.

Learning to Be Interdisciplinary: An Action Research Approach to Boundary Spanning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Munoz, Karen; Jeris, Laurel

2005-01-01

Objective: This study explored challenges and barriers that need to be addressed in a preprofessional educational setting to provide opportunities for boundary spanning that leads to family-centred interdisciplinary service provision. Design: The design employed in this study was participatory action research, an inductive approach. Setting: The…

Beyond SMART? A New Framework for Goal Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Trevor; Tosey, Paul

2011-01-01

This article extends currently reported theory and practice in the use of learning goals or targets with students in secondary and further education. Goal-setting and action-planning constructs are employed in personal development plans (PDPs) and personal learning plans (PLPs) and are advocated as practice within the English national policy…

Multi-task learning with group information for human action recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Li; Wu, Song; Pu, Nan; Xu, Shulin; Xiao, Guoqiang

2018-04-01

Human action recognition is an important and challenging task in computer vision research, due to the variations in human motion performance, interpersonal differences and recording settings. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-task learning framework with group information (MTL-GI) for accurate and efficient human action recognition. Specifically, we firstly obtain group information through calculating the mutual information according to the latent relationship between Gaussian components and action categories, and clustering similar action categories into the same group by affinity propagation clustering. Additionally, in order to explore the relationships of related tasks, we incorporate group information into multi-task learning. Experimental results evaluated on two popular benchmarks (UCF50 and HMDB51 datasets) demonstrate the superiority of our proposed MTL-GI framework.

After-Action Reviews - who conducts them?

Treesearch

Anne E. Black; Kathleen Sutcliffe; Michelle Barton

2009-01-01

Reflecting on the links between intentions and outcomes is a key practice of a learning organization (Garvin 2000). The After-Action Review (AAR) is a formal reflection process intended to assist groups in capturing lessons learned from a task. AARs typically ask four questions regarding fire-response operations: (1) what did we set out to do, (2) what actually...

Uncertainty in action-value estimation affects both action choice and learning rate of the choice behaviors of rats

PubMed Central

Funamizu, Akihiro; Ito, Makoto; Doya, Kenji; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

2012-01-01

The estimation of reward outcomes for action candidates is essential for decision making. In this study, we examined whether and how the uncertainty in reward outcome estimation affects the action choice and learning rate. We designed a choice task in which rats selected either the left-poking or right-poking hole and received a reward of a food pellet stochastically. The reward probabilities of the left and right holes were chosen from six settings (high, 100% vs. 66%; mid, 66% vs. 33%; low, 33% vs. 0% for the left vs. right holes, and the opposites) in every 20–549 trials. We used Bayesian Q-learning models to estimate the time course of the probability distribution of action values and tested if they better explain the behaviors of rats than standard Q-learning models that estimate only the mean of action values. Model comparison by cross-validation revealed that a Bayesian Q-learning model with an asymmetric update for reward and non-reward outcomes fit the choice time course of the rats best. In the action-choice equation of the Bayesian Q-learning model, the estimated coefficient for the variance of action value was positive, meaning that rats were uncertainty seeking. Further analysis of the Bayesian Q-learning model suggested that the uncertainty facilitated the effective learning rate. These results suggest that the rats consider uncertainty in action-value estimation and that they have an uncertainty-seeking action policy and uncertainty-dependent modulation of the effective learning rate. PMID:22487046

Wavefront cellular learning automata.

PubMed

Moradabadi, Behnaz; Meybodi, Mohammad Reza

2018-02-01

This paper proposes a new cellular learning automaton, called a wavefront cellular learning automaton (WCLA). The proposed WCLA has a set of learning automata mapped to a connected structure and uses this structure to propagate the state changes of the learning automata over the structure using waves. In the WCLA, after one learning automaton chooses its action, if this chosen action is different from the previous action, it can send a wave to its neighbors and activate them. Each neighbor receiving the wave is activated and must choose a new action. This structure for the WCLA is necessary in many dynamic areas such as social networks, computer networks, grid computing, and web mining. In this paper, we introduce the WCLA framework as an optimization tool with diffusion capability, study its behavior over time using ordinary differential equation solutions, and present its accuracy using expediency analysis. To show the superiority of the proposed WCLA, we compare the proposed method with some other types of cellular learning automata using two benchmark problems.

Wavefront cellular learning automata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradabadi, Behnaz; Meybodi, Mohammad Reza

2018-02-01

This paper proposes a new cellular learning automaton, called a wavefront cellular learning automaton (WCLA). The proposed WCLA has a set of learning automata mapped to a connected structure and uses this structure to propagate the state changes of the learning automata over the structure using waves. In the WCLA, after one learning automaton chooses its action, if this chosen action is different from the previous action, it can send a wave to its neighbors and activate them. Each neighbor receiving the wave is activated and must choose a new action. This structure for the WCLA is necessary in many dynamic areas such as social networks, computer networks, grid computing, and web mining. In this paper, we introduce the WCLA framework as an optimization tool with diffusion capability, study its behavior over time using ordinary differential equation solutions, and present its accuracy using expediency analysis. To show the superiority of the proposed WCLA, we compare the proposed method with some other types of cellular learning automata using two benchmark problems.

Soft Systems Methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Checkland, Peter; Poulter, John

Soft systems methodology (SSM) is an approach for tackling problematical, messy situations of all kinds. It is an action-oriented process of inquiry into problematic situations in which users learn their way from finding out about the situation, to taking action to improve it. The learning emerges via an organised process in which the situation is explored using a set of models of purposeful action (each built to encapsulate a single worldview) as intellectual devices, or tools, to inform and structure discussion about a situation and how it might be improved. This paper, written by the original developer Peter Checkland and practitioner John Poulter, gives a clear and concise account of the approach that covers SSM's specific techniques, the learning cycle process of the methodology and the craft skills which practitioners develop. This concise but theoretically robust account nevertheless includes the fundamental concepts, techniques, core tenets described through a wide range of settings.

Exploration and Exploitation During Sequential Search

PubMed Central

Dam, Gregory; Körding, Konrad

2012-01-01

When we learn how to throw darts we adjust how we throw based on where the darts stick. Much of skill learning is computationally similar in that we learn using feedback obtained after the completion of individual actions. We can formalize such tasks as a search problem; among the set of all possible actions, find the action that leads to the highest reward. In such cases our actions have two objectives: we want to best utilize what we already know (exploitation), but we also want to learn to be more successful in the future (exploration). Here we tested how participants learn movement trajectories where feedback is provided as a monetary reward that depends on the chosen trajectory. We mathematically derived the optimal search policy for our experiment using decision theory. The search behavior of participants is well predicted by an ideal searcher model that optimally combines exploration and exploitation. PMID:21585479

Cooperative Learning in a Community College Setting: Developmental Coursework in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera, Natalie

2013-01-01

This action research study, set in a community college in the southwestern United States, was designed to investigate the effects of implementing cooperative learning strategies in a developmental mathematics course. Introductory algebra was formerly taught in a lecture based format, and as such regularly had a low course completion rate. To…

Enabling the Journey from Experienced Practitioner to Para-Professional: Using Reflective Dialogue in Action Learning Triads

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graves, Susan; Jones, Marion

2008-01-01

This article explores whether using reflective dialogue in action learning sets on a foundation degree (FD) in educational support can develop the capacity for reflective practice of the students. Developing a reflective stance in relation to professional practice is a central theme of the programme, which is reinforced by the work-based learning…

Critical Action Learning: A Method or Strategy for Peer Supervision of Coaching Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Arthur; Tee, David; Crompton, Sally

2017-01-01

This paper deals with the on-going practice of a critical action learning set who come together to meet their needs for coaching supervision as a group of executive coaches working from, and within, the University sector in South Wales. The reasons for the successes of, and the challenges around, this practice of four years standing have been…

Closing the Professional Development, Learning Outcome and Budget Proposal Gap at a Two-Year Eduational Institution: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Eric L.

2014-01-01

Two-year community colleges are commissioned to close the assessment-outcome loop, which includes the research site for this study. This action research study, which utilized quantitative and qualitative data sets, was designed to close the assessments, learning outcomes and the professional development budget proposal process gap. The developed…

Exploring Action Learning for Academic Development in Research Intensive Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stocks, Claire; Trevitt, Chris; Hughes, Joseph

2018-01-01

The potential of action learning (AL) for academic development has not received a lot of attention. Building from two case studies in which AL has been used in different ways in research-intensive universities in Australia and the UK, we suggest that the approach may be of benefit to developers in the changing landscape in which they are expected…

Action Research Monographs. Complete Set. Pennsylvania Action Research Network, 1998-99. A Section 353 Project of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education. A Learning from Practice Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pennsylvania State Univ., McKeesport.

This publication consists of the complete set of 23 monographs developed by the Pennsylvania Action Research Network to supplement the 67 monographs produced over the past 3 years. The specific audience are literacy, General Educational Development (GED), and English-as-a Second Language (ESL) practitioners. The titles are: "Use of…

Synchronized practice helps bearded capuchin monkeys learn to extend attention while learning a tradition

PubMed Central

Eshchar, Yonat; Visalberghi, Elisabetta; Resende, Briseida; Laity, Kellie; Izar, Patrícia

2017-01-01

Culture extends biology in that the setting of development shapes the traditions that individuals learn, and over time, traditions evolve as occasional variations are learned by others. In humans, interactions with others impact the development of cognitive processes, such as sustained attention, that shape how individuals learn as well as what they learn. Thus, learning itself is impacted by culture. Here, we explore how social partners might shape the development of psychological processes impacting learning a tradition. We studied bearded capuchin monkeys learning a traditional tool-using skill, cracking nuts using stone hammers. Young monkeys practice components of cracking nuts with stones for years before achieving proficiency. We examined the time course of young monkeys’ activity with nuts before, during, and following others’ cracking nuts. Results demonstrate that the onset of others’ cracking nuts immediately prompts young monkeys to start handling and percussing nuts, and they continue these activities while others are cracking. When others stop cracking nuts, young monkeys sustain the uncommon actions of percussing and striking nuts for shorter periods than the more common actions of handling nuts. We conclude that nut-cracking by adults can promote the development of sustained attention for the critical but less common actions that young monkeys must practice to learn this traditional skill. This work suggests that in nonhuman species, as in humans, socially specified settings of development impact learning processes as well as learning outcomes. Nonhumans, like humans, may be culturally variable learners. PMID:28739944

Uncertainty in action-value estimation affects both action choice and learning rate of the choice behaviors of rats.

PubMed

Funamizu, Akihiro; Ito, Makoto; Doya, Kenji; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

2012-04-01

The estimation of reward outcomes for action candidates is essential for decision making. In this study, we examined whether and how the uncertainty in reward outcome estimation affects the action choice and learning rate. We designed a choice task in which rats selected either the left-poking or right-poking hole and received a reward of a food pellet stochastically. The reward probabilities of the left and right holes were chosen from six settings (high, 100% vs. 66%; mid, 66% vs. 33%; low, 33% vs. 0% for the left vs. right holes, and the opposites) in every 20-549 trials. We used Bayesian Q-learning models to estimate the time course of the probability distribution of action values and tested if they better explain the behaviors of rats than standard Q-learning models that estimate only the mean of action values. Model comparison by cross-validation revealed that a Bayesian Q-learning model with an asymmetric update for reward and non-reward outcomes fit the choice time course of the rats best. In the action-choice equation of the Bayesian Q-learning model, the estimated coefficient for the variance of action value was positive, meaning that rats were uncertainty seeking. Further analysis of the Bayesian Q-learning model suggested that the uncertainty facilitated the effective learning rate. These results suggest that the rats consider uncertainty in action-value estimation and that they have an uncertainty-seeking action policy and uncertainty-dependent modulation of the effective learning rate. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

[Use of nondeclarative and automatic memory processes in motor learning: how to mitigate the effects of aging].

PubMed

Chauvel, Guillaume; Maquestiaux, François; Didierjean, André; Joubert, Sven; Dieudonné, Bénédicte; Verny, Marc

2011-12-01

Does normal aging inexorably lead to diminished motor learning abilities? This article provides an overview of the literature on the question, with particular emphasis on the functional dissociation between two sets of memory processes: declarative, effortful processes, and non-declarative, automatic processes. There is abundant evidence suggesting that aging does impair learning when past memories of former actions are required (episodic memory) and recollected through controlled processing (working memory). However, other studies have shown that aging does not impair learning when motor actions are performed non verbally and automatically (tapping procedural memory). These findings led us to hypothesize that one can minimize the impact of aging on the ability to learn new motor actions by favouring procedural learning. Recent data validating this hypothesis are presented. Our findings underline the importance of developing new motor learning strategies, which "bypass" declarative, effortful memory processes.

Lifelong learning of human actions with deep neural network self-organization.

PubMed

Parisi, German I; Tani, Jun; Weber, Cornelius; Wermter, Stefan

2017-12-01

Lifelong learning is fundamental in autonomous robotics for the acquisition and fine-tuning of knowledge through experience. However, conventional deep neural models for action recognition from videos do not account for lifelong learning but rather learn a batch of training data with a predefined number of action classes and samples. Thus, there is the need to develop learning systems with the ability to incrementally process available perceptual cues and to adapt their responses over time. We propose a self-organizing neural architecture for incrementally learning to classify human actions from video sequences. The architecture comprises growing self-organizing networks equipped with recurrent neurons for processing time-varying patterns. We use a set of hierarchically arranged recurrent networks for the unsupervised learning of action representations with increasingly large spatiotemporal receptive fields. Lifelong learning is achieved in terms of prediction-driven neural dynamics in which the growth and the adaptation of the recurrent networks are driven by their capability to reconstruct temporally ordered input sequences. Experimental results on a classification task using two action benchmark datasets show that our model is competitive with state-of-the-art methods for batch learning also when a significant number of sample labels are missing or corrupted during training sessions. Additional experiments show the ability of our model to adapt to non-stationary input avoiding catastrophic interference. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Ongoing Development of an Effective Model of Action Learning for Use by the Busy GP Veterinary Surgeon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shuttleworth, Sue

2005-01-01

I passionately believe that reflective practice is an essential competency for the busy GP veterinary surgeon to develop throughout their career. Action learning sets would appear to offer a way of promoting this while at the same time helping the GP veterinary surgeon find a way forward with professional issues. In this article I reflect on my…

Impressions of Action and Critical Action Learning: Exploring the Leadership Development of Senior Doctors in an English Healthcare Organization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCray, Janet; Warwick, Rob; Palmer, Adam

2018-01-01

This paper aims to explore the influence of one cycle of a learning set experience in a postgraduate medical leadership development programme. It does so from two perspectives: first, from the self-reports of nine senior doctors working in leadership roles in England in the National Health Service; and second from a researcher perspective as we…

Enhancing the Practice of Social Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Ruth

2016-01-01

This account of practice focuses on my learning and development as a new Action Learning Facilitator. It reflects on my thoughts and feelings as I began to facilitate my own sets a year or so ago. It will discuss and reflect on topics such as communication, feedback, expectations (both mine, the set members and the organisations), values, ethics,…

Lifelong Learning in Challenging Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomson, Alastair

2010-01-01

In the wake of the general election, the new government--and the United Kingdom--face a range of pressing challenges. In this article, the author sets out what he believes to be the principal challenges and calls for action to create a learning society. The agenda set out would, if followed by the new government, pave the way to a genuine learning…

The Logic of Data-Sense: Thinking through Learning Personalisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Greg; Cook, Ian

2017-01-01

Big Data and Learning Analytics' promise to revolutionise educational institutions, endeavours, and actions through more and better data is now compelling. Multiple, and continually updating, data sets produce a new sense of "personalised learning." A crucial attribute of the datafication, and subsequent profiling, of learner behaviour…

Neural Control of a Tracking Task via Attention-Gated Reinforcement Learning for Brain-Machine Interfaces.

PubMed

Wang, Yiwen; Wang, Fang; Xu, Kai; Zhang, Qiaosheng; Zhang, Shaomin; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2015-05-01

Reinforcement learning (RL)-based brain machine interfaces (BMIs) enable the user to learn from the environment through interactions to complete the task without desired signals, which is promising for clinical applications. Previous studies exploited Q-learning techniques to discriminate neural states into simple directional actions providing the trial initial timing. However, the movements in BMI applications can be quite complicated, and the action timing explicitly shows the intention when to move. The rich actions and the corresponding neural states form a large state-action space, imposing generalization difficulty on Q-learning. In this paper, we propose to adopt attention-gated reinforcement learning (AGREL) as a new learning scheme for BMIs to adaptively decode high-dimensional neural activities into seven distinct movements (directional moves, holdings and resting) due to the efficient weight-updating. We apply AGREL on neural data recorded from M1 of a monkey to directly predict a seven-action set in a time sequence to reconstruct the trajectory of a center-out task. Compared to Q-learning techniques, AGREL could improve the target acquisition rate to 90.16% in average with faster convergence and more stability to follow neural activity over multiple days, indicating the potential to achieve better online decoding performance for more complicated BMI tasks.

Supporting new graduate professional development: a clinical learning framework.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Cate; Moores, Alis; Coleman, Allison; Fleming, Jennifer

2015-02-01

New graduate occupational therapists are required to competently deliver health-care practices within complex care environments. An occupational therapy clinical education programme within a large public sector health service sought to investigate methods to support new graduates in their clinical learning and professional development. Three cycles of an insider action research approach each using the steps of planning, action, critical observation and reflection were undertaken to investigate new graduate learning strategies, develop a learning framework and pilot its utility. Qualitative research methods were used to analyse data gathered during the action research cycles. Action research identified variations in current practices to support new graduate learning and to the development of the Occupational Therapy Clinical Learning Framework (OTCLF). Investigation into the utility of the OTCLF revealed two themes associated with its implementation namely (i) contribution to learning goal development and (ii) compatibility with existing learning supports. The action research cycles aimed to review current practices to support new graduate learning. The learning framework developed encourages reflection to identify learning needs and the review, discussion of, and engagement in, goal setting and learning strategies. Preliminary evidence indicates that the OTCLF has potential as an approach to guide new graduate goal development supported by supervision. Future opportunity to implement a similar learning framework in other allied health professions was identified, enabling a continuation of the cyclical nature of enquiry, integral to this research approach within the workplace. © 2014 Occupational Therapy Australia.

How a Small Family Run Business Adopted Critical Reflection Action Learning Using Hand Drawn Images to Initiate Organisational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepherd, Gary

2016-01-01

In this account of practice I would like to share my experiences of facilitating a Critical Reflection Action Learning (CRAL) set with a small family run business, struggling to make change and expand their services due to the problems they encountered in separating their business lives from their family lives. The account I present here is based…

Improving Governance, Leadership, and Learning in New Jersey. State Action for Education Leadership Project (SAELP) Forum, January 28-29, 2003. Field Notes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleistein, Stacey, Ed.

2004-01-01

New Jersey is one of fifteen states selected by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund to receive a planning and implementation grant for setting a reform agenda for a series of state policies that are designed to improve educational leadership and student learning. Under this grant, the State Action for Education Leadership Project (SAELP)…

Learning Faults Detection by AIS Techniques in CSCL Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zedadra, Amina; Lafifi, Yacine

2015-01-01

By the increase of e-learning platforms, huge data sets are made from different kinds of the collected traces. These traces differ from one learner to another according to their characteristics (learning styles, preferences, performed actions, etc.). Learners' traces are very heterogeneous and voluminous, so their treatments and exploitations are…

An Approach to Improving the Learning Experience for First Year Accounting Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkham, Ross

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical model to address design and assessment of accounting practice sets that will enhance learning and provide clearer learning outcomes for first year accounting students. The paper explores extant literature in developing an action plan that can be followed to maximise learning outcomes for first…

Learning to generate combinatorial action sequences utilizing the initial sensitivity of deterministic dynamical systems.

PubMed

Nishimoto, Ryu; Tani, Jun

2004-09-01

This study shows how sensory-action sequences of imitating finite state machines (FSMs) can be learned by utilizing the deterministic dynamics of recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Our experiments indicated that each possible combinatorial sequence can be recalled by specifying its respective initial state value and also that fractal structures appear in this initial state mapping after the learning converges. We also observed that the sequences of mimicking FSMs are encoded utilizing the transient regions rather than the invariant sets of the evolved dynamical systems of the RNNs.

Cross-Situational Learning with Bayesian Generative Models for Multimodal Category and Word Learning in Robots

PubMed Central

Taniguchi, Akira; Taniguchi, Tadahiro; Cangelosi, Angelo

2017-01-01

In this paper, we propose a Bayesian generative model that can form multiple categories based on each sensory-channel and can associate words with any of the four sensory-channels (action, position, object, and color). This paper focuses on cross-situational learning using the co-occurrence between words and information of sensory-channels in complex situations rather than conventional situations of cross-situational learning. We conducted a learning scenario using a simulator and a real humanoid iCub robot. In the scenario, a human tutor provided a sentence that describes an object of visual attention and an accompanying action to the robot. The scenario was set as follows: the number of words per sensory-channel was three or four, and the number of trials for learning was 20 and 40 for the simulator and 25 and 40 for the real robot. The experimental results showed that the proposed method was able to estimate the multiple categorizations and to learn the relationships between multiple sensory-channels and words accurately. In addition, we conducted an action generation task and an action description task based on word meanings learned in the cross-situational learning scenario. The experimental results showed that the robot could successfully use the word meanings learned by using the proposed method. PMID:29311888

Pest Control in the School Environment:Adopting Integrated Pest Management

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn about establishing a school IPM program, including developing an official IPM policy statement, setting roles for participants and pest management objectives, inspecting sites, setting action threshold, applying IPM strategies and evaluating results.

A spiking neural network based on the basal ganglia functional anatomy.

PubMed

Baladron, Javier; Hamker, Fred H

2015-07-01

We introduce a spiking neural network of the basal ganglia capable of learning stimulus-action associations. We model learning in the three major basal ganglia pathways, direct, indirect and hyperdirect, by spike time dependent learning and considering the amount of dopamine available (reward). Moreover, we allow to learn a cortico-thalamic pathway that bypasses the basal ganglia. As a result the system develops new functionalities for the different basal ganglia pathways: The direct pathway selects actions by disinhibiting the thalamus, the hyperdirect one suppresses alternatives and the indirect pathway learns to inhibit common mistakes. Numerical experiments show that the system is capable of learning sets of either deterministic or stochastic rules. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Describing and Analyzing Learning in Action: An Empirical Study of the Importance of Misconceptions in Learning Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamza, Karim M.; Wickman, Per-Olof

2008-01-01

Although misconceptions in science have been established in interview studies, their role during the learning process is poorly examined. In this paper, we use results from a classroom study to analyze to what extent nonscientific ideas in electrochemistry that students report in interviews enter into their learning in a more authentic setting. We…

Supporting Safe, Secure and Caring Schools in Alberta.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMullen, Dean

Alberta Learning expects all schools to have a safe and caring teaching and learning environment to ensure students have the opportunity to meet the standards of education set by the Minister of Learning. The primary objectives of this manual are to facilitate action that is legally, professionally, and educationally sound; identify and support…

Open Educational Practices and Resources. OLCOS Roadmap, 2012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geser, Guntram, Ed.

2007-01-01

As a Transversal Action under the European eLearning Programme, the Open e-Learning Content Observatory Services (OLCOS) project carries out a set of activities that aim at fostering the creation, sharing and re-use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in Europe and beyond. OER are understood to comprise content for teaching and learning,…

Designing for Discovery Learning of Complexity Principles of Congestion by Driving Together in the TrafficJams Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Sharona T.; Peleg, Ran; Ofeck, Eyal; Tabor, Naamit; Dubovi, Ilana; Bluestein, Shiri; Ben-Zur, Hadar

2018-01-01

We propose and evaluate a framework supporting collaborative discovery learning of complex systems. The framework blends five design principles: (1) individual action: amidst (2) social interactions; challenged with (3) multiple tasks; set in (4) a constrained interactive learning environment that draws attention to (5) highlighted target…

Structure learning in action

PubMed Central

Braun, Daniel A.; Mehring, Carsten; Wolpert, Daniel M.

2010-01-01

‘Learning to learn’ phenomena have been widely investigated in cognition, perception and more recently also in action. During concept learning tasks, for example, it has been suggested that characteristic features are abstracted from a set of examples with the consequence that learning of similar tasks is facilitated—a process termed ‘learning to learn’. From a computational point of view such an extraction of invariants can be regarded as learning of an underlying structure. Here we review the evidence for structure learning as a ‘learning to learn’ mechanism, especially in sensorimotor control where the motor system has to adapt to variable environments. We review studies demonstrating that common features of variable environments are extracted during sensorimotor learning and exploited for efficient adaptation in novel tasks. We conclude that structure learning plays a fundamental role in skill learning and may underlie the unsurpassed flexibility and adaptability of the motor system. PMID:19720086

Organic Chemistry in Action! What Is the Reaction?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Dwyer, Anne; Childs, Peter

2015-01-01

The "Organic Chemistry in Action!" ("OCIA!") program is a set of teaching resources designed to facilitate the teaching and learning of introductory level organic chemistry. The "OCIA!" program was developed in collaboration with practicing and experienced chemistry teachers, using findings from Chemistry Education…

Process of Implementing Critical Reading Strategies in an Iranian EFL Classroom: An Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasrollahi, Mohammad Ali; Krishnasamy, Pramela Krish N.; Noor, Noorizah Mohd

2015-01-01

Action research designs are systematic procedures used by teachers to gather quantitative and qualitative data to address improvements in their educational setting, their teaching, and the learning of their students. Action research enables teachers to keep track and take account of the many aspects of their work with students through a systematic…

Making Sense of Students' Actions in an Open-Ended Virtual Laboratory Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gal, Ya'akov; Uzan, Oriel; Belford, Robert; Karabinos, Michael; Yaron, David

2015-01-01

A process for analyzing log files collected from open-ended learning environments is developed and tested on a virtual lab problem involving reaction stoichiometry. The process utilizes a set of visualization tools that, by grouping student actions in a hierarchical manner, helps experts make sense of the linear list of student actions recorded in…

Using Art Installations as Action Research to Engage Children and Communities in Evaluating and Redesigning City Centre Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Percy-Smith, Barry; Carney, Clare

2011-01-01

This paper discusses learning from a project that set out to explore how the general public perceived the value of public art in the context of urban regeneration of a city centre space. Whilst not set up explicitly as an action research project, the paper discusses the way in which participatory public art projects of this kind can be understood…

Supporting the development of interpersonal skills in nursing, in an undergraduate mental health curriculum: reaching the parts other strategies do not reach through action learning.

PubMed

Waugh, Anna; McNay, Lisa; Dewar, Belinda; McCaig, Marie

2014-09-01

The centrality of therapeutic relationships is considered to be the cornerstone of effective mental health nursing practice. Strategies that support the development of these skills and the emotional aspects of learning need to be developed. Action learning is one such strategy. This article reports on a qualitative research study on the introduction of Action Learning Sets (ALS) into a Pre-registration Mental Health Nursing Programme. This teaching and learning methodology was chosen to support the emotional aspects of learning and mental health nursing skills. Four themes were identified: developing skills of listening and questioning in 'real time', enhanced self-awareness, being with someone in the moment--there is no rehearsal and doing things differently in practice. Students and lecturers found the experience positive and advocate for other Pre-registration Mental Health Nursing Programmes to consider the use of ALS within the curriculum. © 2013.

Quantum reinforcement learning.

PubMed

Dong, Daoyi; Chen, Chunlin; Li, Hanxiong; Tarn, Tzyh-Jong

2008-10-01

The key approaches for machine learning, particularly learning in unknown probabilistic environments, are new representations and computation mechanisms. In this paper, a novel quantum reinforcement learning (QRL) method is proposed by combining quantum theory and reinforcement learning (RL). Inspired by the state superposition principle and quantum parallelism, a framework of a value-updating algorithm is introduced. The state (action) in traditional RL is identified as the eigen state (eigen action) in QRL. The state (action) set can be represented with a quantum superposition state, and the eigen state (eigen action) can be obtained by randomly observing the simulated quantum state according to the collapse postulate of quantum measurement. The probability of the eigen action is determined by the probability amplitude, which is updated in parallel according to rewards. Some related characteristics of QRL such as convergence, optimality, and balancing between exploration and exploitation are also analyzed, which shows that this approach makes a good tradeoff between exploration and exploitation using the probability amplitude and can speedup learning through the quantum parallelism. To evaluate the performance and practicability of QRL, several simulated experiments are given, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the QRL algorithm for some complex problems. This paper is also an effective exploration on the application of quantum computation to artificial intelligence.

Using Science to Take a Stand: Action-Oriented Learning in an Afterschool Science Club

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagenah, Sara

This dissertation study investigates what happens when students participate in an afterschool science club designed around action-oriented science instruction, a set of curriculum design principles based on social justice pedagogy. Comprised of three manuscripts written for journal publication, the dissertation includes 1) Negotiating community-based action-oriented science teaching and learning: Articulating curriculum design principles, 2) Middle school girls' socio-scientific participation pathways in an afterschool science club, and 3) Laughing and learning together: Productive science learning spaces for middle school girls. By investigating how action-oriented science design principles get negotiated, female identity development in and with science, and the role of everyday social interactions as students do productive science, this research fills gaps in the understanding of how social justice pedagogy gets enacted and negotiated among multiple stakeholders including students, teachers, and community members along what identity development looks like across social and scientific activity. This study will be of interest to educators thinking about how to enact social justice pedagogy in science learning spaces and those interested in identity development in science.

Managerial Action and Sensemaking in E-Learning Implementation in Brazilian Business Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Freitas, Angilberto Sabino; Bandeira-de-Mello, Rodrigo

2012-01-01

The existing literature on e-learning implementation is either descriptive or normative and falls short on explaining how managers act in introducing and disseminating e-learning projects in school settings. In this paper, we follow a symbolic approach in order to offer a grounded model for explaining how managerial framing of the introduction of…

Cognitive Presence in Virtual Collaborative Learning: Assessing and Improving Critical Thinking in Online Discussion Forums

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckmann, Jennifer; Weber, Peter

2015-01-01

The paper introduces a virtual collaborative learning setting called "Net Economy," which we established as part of an international learning network of currently seven universities. Using the Community of Inquiry framework as guidance and Canonical Action Research (CAR) as the chosen research design, the discussion forum of the online…

Neurons in primary motor cortex engaged during action observation.

PubMed

Dushanova, Juliana; Donoghue, John

2010-01-01

Neurons in higher cortical areas appear to become active during action observation, either by mirroring observed actions (termed mirror neurons) or by eliciting mental rehearsal of observed motor acts. We report the existence of neurons in the primary motor cortex (M1), an area that is generally considered to initiate and guide movement performance, responding to viewed actions. Multielectrode recordings in monkeys performing or observing a well-learned step-tracking task showed that approximately half of the M1 neurons that were active when monkeys performed the task were also active when they observed the action being performed by a human. These 'view' neurons were spatially intermingled with 'do' neurons, which are active only during movement performance. Simultaneously recorded 'view' neurons comprised two groups: approximately 38% retained the same preferred direction (PD) and timing during performance and viewing, and the remainder (62%) changed their PDs and time lag during viewing as compared with performance. Nevertheless, population activity during viewing was sufficient to predict the direction and trajectory of viewed movements as action unfolded, although less accurately than during performance. 'View' neurons became less active and contained poorer representations of action when only subcomponents of the task were being viewed. M1 'view' neurons thus appear to reflect aspects of a learned movement when observed in others, and form part of a broadly engaged set of cortical areas routinely responding to learned behaviors. These findings suggest that viewing a learned action elicits replay of aspects of M1 activity needed to perform the observed action, and could additionally reflect processing related to understanding, learning or mentally rehearsing action.

Development of models for classification of action between heat-clearing herbs and blood-activating stasis-resolving herbs based on theory of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Chen, Zhao; Cao, Yanfeng; He, Shuaibing; Qiao, Yanjiang

2018-01-01

Action (" gongxiao " in Chinese) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the high recapitulation for therapeutic and health-preserving effects under the guidance of TCM theory. TCM-defined herbal properties (" yaoxing " in Chinese) had been used in this research. TCM herbal property (TCM-HP) is the high generalization and summary for actions, both of which come from long-term effective clinical practice in two thousands of years in China. However, the specific relationship between TCM-HP and action of TCM is complex and unclear from a scientific perspective. The research about this is conducive to expound the connotation of TCM-HP theory and is of important significance for the development of the TCM-HP theory. One hundred and thirty-three herbs including 88 heat-clearing herbs (HCHs) and 45 blood-activating stasis-resolving herbs (BAHRHs) were collected from reputable TCM literatures, and their corresponding TCM-HPs/actions information were collected from Chinese pharmacopoeia (2015 edition). The Kennard-Stone (K-S) algorithm was used to split 133 herbs into 100 calibration samples and 33 validation samples. Then, machine learning methods including supported vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (kNN) and deep learning methods including deep belief network (DBN), convolutional neutral network (CNN) were adopted to develop action classification models based on TCM-HP theory, respectively. In order to ensure robustness, these four classification methods were evaluated by using the method of tenfold cross validation and 20 external validation samples for prediction. As results, 72.7-100% of 33 validation samples including 17 HCHs and 16 BASRHs were correctly predicted by these four types of methods. Both of the DBN and CNN methods gave out the best results and their sensitivity, specificity, precision, accuracy were all 100.00%. Especially, the predicted results of external validation set showed that the performance of deep learning methods (DBN, CNN) were better than traditional machine learning methods (kNN, SVM) in terms of their sensitivity, specificity, precision, accuracy. Moreover, the distribution patterns of TCM-HPs of HCHs and BASRHs were also analyzed to detect the featured TCM-HPs of these two types of herbs. The result showed that the featured TCM-HPs of HCHs were cold, bitter, liver and stomach meridians entered, while those of BASRHs were warm, bitter and pungent, liver meridian entered. The performance on validation set and external validation set of deep learning methods (DBN, CNN) were better than machine learning models (kNN, SVM) in sensitivity, specificity, precision, accuracy when predicting the actions of heat-clearing and blood-activating stasis-resolving based on TCM-HP theory. The deep learning classification methods owned better generalization ability and accuracy when predicting the actions of heat-clearing and blood-activating stasis-resolving based on TCM-HP theory. Besides, the methods of deep learning would help us to improve our understanding about the relationship between herbal property and action, as well as to enrich and develop the theory of TCM-HP scientifically.

Action Learning: Cultural Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Gillian; de Vera, Manuel

2015-01-01

The article describes the experience of forming a set in a higher education institution and offers some observations and insights gained from the perspectives of the role of the set adviser, cultural differences and the challenges of attempting to align theory, practice and experience.

From Awareness to Action: Determining the climate sensitivities that influence decision makers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, C.

2017-12-01

Through the growth of computing power and analytical methods, a range of valuable and innovative tools allow the exhaustive exploration of a water system's response to a limitless set of scenarios. Similarly, possible adaptive actions can be evaluated across this broad set of possible futures. Finally, an ever increasing set of performance indicators is available to judge the relative value of a particular action over others. However, it's unclear whether this is improving the flow of actionable information or further cluttering it. This presentation will share lessons learned and other intuitions from a set of experiences engaging with public and private water managers and investors in the use of robustness-based climate vulnerability and adaptation analysis. Based on this background, a case for reductionism and focus on financial vulnerability will be forwarded. In addition, considerations for simpler, practical approaches for smaller water utilities will be discussed.

Context transfer in reinforcement learning using action-value functions.

PubMed

Mousavi, Amin; Nadjar Araabi, Babak; Nili Ahmadabadi, Majid

2014-01-01

This paper discusses the notion of context transfer in reinforcement learning tasks. Context transfer, as defined in this paper, implies knowledge transfer between source and target tasks that share the same environment dynamics and reward function but have different states or action spaces. In other words, the agents learn the same task while using different sensors and actuators. This requires the existence of an underlying common Markov decision process (MDP) to which all the agents' MDPs can be mapped. This is formulated in terms of the notion of MDP homomorphism. The learning framework is Q-learning. To transfer the knowledge between these tasks, the feature space is used as a translator and is expressed as a partial mapping between the state-action spaces of different tasks. The Q-values learned during the learning process of the source tasks are mapped to the sets of Q-values for the target task. These transferred Q-values are merged together and used to initialize the learning process of the target task. An interval-based approach is used to represent and merge the knowledge of the source tasks. Empirical results show that the transferred initialization can be beneficial to the learning process of the target task.

Context Transfer in Reinforcement Learning Using Action-Value Functions

PubMed Central

Mousavi, Amin; Nadjar Araabi, Babak; Nili Ahmadabadi, Majid

2014-01-01

This paper discusses the notion of context transfer in reinforcement learning tasks. Context transfer, as defined in this paper, implies knowledge transfer between source and target tasks that share the same environment dynamics and reward function but have different states or action spaces. In other words, the agents learn the same task while using different sensors and actuators. This requires the existence of an underlying common Markov decision process (MDP) to which all the agents' MDPs can be mapped. This is formulated in terms of the notion of MDP homomorphism. The learning framework is Q-learning. To transfer the knowledge between these tasks, the feature space is used as a translator and is expressed as a partial mapping between the state-action spaces of different tasks. The Q-values learned during the learning process of the source tasks are mapped to the sets of Q-values for the target task. These transferred Q-values are merged together and used to initialize the learning process of the target task. An interval-based approach is used to represent and merge the knowledge of the source tasks. Empirical results show that the transferred initialization can be beneficial to the learning process of the target task. PMID:25610457

Responsibility and Reciprocity: Social Organization of Mazahua Learning Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paradise, Ruth; de Haan, Mariette

2009-01-01

This article describes Mazahua children's participation in learning interactions that take place when they collaborate with more knowledgeable others in everyday activities in family and community settings. During these interactions they coordinate their actions with those of other participants, switching between the roles of "knowledgeable…

Analyzing Student-Level Disciplinary Data: A Guide for Districts. REL 2017-263

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrosino, Anthony; Fronius, Trevor; Goold, Cailean C.; Losen, Daniel J.; Turner, Herbert M.

2017-01-01

Discipline in schools can be categorized as exclusionary actions, which remove students from their normal learning setting (for example, out-of-school suspension), or inclusionary actions, which do not (for example, afterschool detention). The relationship of exclusionary discipline to negative outcomes for students, particularly racial/ethnic…

Experiences of Action Leaning in Two SME Business Support Programmes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Laurie

2009-01-01

Action learning sets are used by Lancaster University Management School's Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development to provide business support to owner managers of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper compares the experiences of participants and facilitator of two programmes: one part of a wider programme of…

Action-Driven Visual Object Tracking With Deep Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Yun, Sangdoo; Choi, Jongwon; Yoo, Youngjoon; Yun, Kimin; Choi, Jin Young

2018-06-01

In this paper, we propose an efficient visual tracker, which directly captures a bounding box containing the target object in a video by means of sequential actions learned using deep neural networks. The proposed deep neural network to control tracking actions is pretrained using various training video sequences and fine-tuned during actual tracking for online adaptation to a change of target and background. The pretraining is done by utilizing deep reinforcement learning (RL) as well as supervised learning. The use of RL enables even partially labeled data to be successfully utilized for semisupervised learning. Through the evaluation of the object tracking benchmark data set, the proposed tracker is validated to achieve a competitive performance at three times the speed of existing deep network-based trackers. The fast version of the proposed method, which operates in real time on graphics processing unit, outperforms the state-of-the-art real-time trackers with an accuracy improvement of more than 8%.

Too Good to be True? Ideomotor Theory from a Computational Perspective

PubMed Central

Herbort, Oliver; Butz, Martin V.

2012-01-01

In recent years, Ideomotor Theory has regained widespread attention and sparked the development of a number of theories on goal-directed behavior and learning. However, there are two issues with previous studies’ use of Ideomotor Theory. Although Ideomotor Theory is seen as very general, it is often studied in settings that are considerably more simplistic than most natural situations. Moreover, Ideomotor Theory’s claim that effect anticipations directly trigger actions and that action-effect learning is based on the formation of direct action-effect associations is hard to address empirically. We address these points from a computational perspective. A simple computational model of Ideomotor Theory was tested in tasks with different degrees of complexity. The model evaluation showed that Ideomotor Theory is a computationally feasible approach for understanding efficient action-effect learning for goal-directed behavior if the following preconditions are met: (1) The range of potential actions and effects has to be restricted. (2) Effects have to follow actions within a short time window. (3) Actions have to be simple and may not require sequencing. The first two preconditions also limit human performance and thus support Ideomotor Theory. The last precondition can be circumvented by extending the model with more complex, indirect action generation processes. In conclusion, we suggest that Ideomotor Theory offers a comprehensive framework to understand action-effect learning. However, we also suggest that additional processes may mediate the conversion of effect anticipations into actions in many situations. PMID:23162524

Learning Center Ideas in Action. A How-to Handbook for Starting an Individualized Adult Learning Center. Revised Edition 1973.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Los Angeles City Schools, CA. Div. of Career and Continuing Education.

This handbook provides guidelines for administrators and teachers for establishing classes that emphasize individualized programed learning. The suggestions are primarily for use in community adult school classrooms of standard size. Some of the "hows" of setting up the program are: (1) the utilization of the classroom (space, size, and…

Multilingualism in Action: A Conversation Analytic View on How Children Are Re-Voicing a Story in a French Second Language Learning Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arend, Béatrice; Sunnen, Patrick

2017-01-01

Our paper provides an empirically based perspective on the contribution of Conversation Analysis (CA) to our understanding of children's second language learning practices in a multilingual classroom setting. While exploring the interactional configuration of a French second language learning activity, we focus our analytic lens on how five…

Adaptivity in Agent-Based Routing for Data Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolpert, David H.; Kirshner, Sergey; Merz, Chris J.; Turner, Kagan

2000-01-01

Adaptivity, both of the individual agents and of the interaction structure among the agents, seems indispensable for scaling up multi-agent systems (MAS s) in noisy environments. One important consideration in designing adaptive agents is choosing their action spaces to be as amenable as possible to machine learning techniques, especially to reinforcement learning (RL) techniques. One important way to have the interaction structure connecting agents itself be adaptive is to have the intentions and/or actions of the agents be in the input spaces of the other agents, much as in Stackelberg games. We consider both kinds of adaptivity in the design of a MAS to control network packet routing. We demonstrate on the OPNET event-driven network simulator the perhaps surprising fact that simply changing the action space of the agents to be better suited to RL can result in very large improvements in their potential performance: at their best settings, our learning-amenable router agents achieve throughputs up to three and one half times better than that of the standard Bellman-Ford routing algorithm, even when the Bellman-Ford protocol traffic is maintained. We then demonstrate that much of that potential improvement can be realized by having the agents learn their settings when the agent interaction structure is itself adaptive.

What Builds Student Capacity in an Alternative High School Setting?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lind, Candace

2013-01-01

Good mental health is a learning enabler for adolescents, demonstrating a reciprocal relationship between mental health and learning outcomes. This article describes a Canadian participatory action research partnership between students, staff and a nurse researcher working together to explore student capacity-building experiences at an alternative…

Building up STEM education professional learning community in school setting: Case of Khon Kaen Wittayayon School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thana, Aduldej; Siripun, Kulpatsorn; Yuenyong, Chokchai

2018-01-01

The STEM education is new issue of teaching and learning in school setting. Building up STEM education professional learning community may provide some suggestions for further collaborative work of STEM Education from grounded up. This paper aimed to clarify the building up STEM education learning community in Khon Kaen Wittayayon (KKW) School setting. Participants included Khon Kaen University researchers, Khon Kaen Wittayayon School administrators and teachers. Methodology regarded interpretative paradigm. The tools of interpretation included participant observation, interview and document analysis. Data was analyzed to categories of condition for building up STEM education professional learning community. The findings revealed that the actions of developing STEM learning activities and research showed some issues of KKW STEM community of inquiry and improvement. The paper will discuss what and how the community learns about sharing vision of STEM Education, supportive physical and social conditions of KKW, sharing activities of STEM, and good things from some key STEM teachers' ambition. The paper may has implication of supporting STEM education in Thailand school setting.

Enhancing Job Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Devlin, Patricia

2011-01-01

The impact of the Self-Determined Career Development Model (hereafter called the Self-Determined Career Model) on the job performance of four adults with moderate intellectual disability employed in competitive work settings was examined. Employees learned to set work-related goals, develop an action plan, implement the plan, and adjust their…

A Novel Task for the Investigation of Action Acquisition

PubMed Central

Stafford, Tom; Thirkettle, Martin; Walton, Tom; Vautrelle, Nicolas; Hetherington, Len; Port, Michael; Gurney, Kevin; Redgrave, Pete

2012-01-01

We present a behavioural task designed for the investigation of how novel instrumental actions are discovered and learnt. The task consists of free movement with a manipulandum, during which the full range of possible movements can be explored by the participant and recorded. A subset of these movements, the ‘target’, is set to trigger a reinforcing signal. The task is to discover what movements of the manipulandum evoke the reinforcement signal. Targets can be defined in spatial, temporal, or kinematic terms, can be a combination of these aspects, or can represent the concatenation of actions into a larger gesture. The task allows the study of how the specific elements of behaviour which cause the reinforcing signal are identified, refined and stored by the participant. The task provides a paradigm where the exploratory motive drives learning and as such we view it as in the tradition of Thorndike [1]. Most importantly it allows for repeated measures, since when a novel action is acquired the criterion for triggering reinforcement can be changed requiring a new action to be discovered. Here, we present data using both humans and rats as subjects, showing that our task is easily scalable in difficulty, adaptable across species, and produces a rich set of behavioural measures offering new and valuable insight into the action learning process. PMID:22675490

Nurse practitioner preferences for distance education methods related to learning style, course content, and achievement.

PubMed

Andrusyszyn, M A; Cragg, C E; Humbert, J

2001-04-01

The relationships among multiple distance delivery methods, preferred learning style, content, and achievement was sought for primary care nurse practitioner students. A researcher-designed questionnaire was completed by 86 (71%) participants, while 6 engaged in follow-up interviews. The results of the study included: participants preferred learning by "considering the big picture"; "setting own learning plans"; and "focusing on concrete examples." Several positive associations were found: learning on own with learning by reading, and setting own learning plans; small group with learning through discussion; large group with learning new things through hearing and with having learning plans set by others. The most preferred method was print-based material and the least preferred method was audio tape. The most suited method for content included video teleconferencing for counseling, political action, and transcultural issues; and video tape for physical assessment. Convenience, self-direction, and timing of learning were more important than delivery method or learning style. Preferred order of learning was reading, discussing, observing, doing, and reflecting. Recommended considerations when designing distance courses include a mix of delivery methods, specific content, outcomes, learner characteristics, and state of technology.

A Framework for Hierarchical Perception-Action Learning Utilizing Fuzzy Reasoning.

PubMed

Windridge, David; Felsberg, Michael; Shaukat, Affan

2013-02-01

Perception-action (P-A) learning is an approach to cognitive system building that seeks to reduce the complexity associated with conventional environment-representation/action-planning approaches. Instead, actions are directly mapped onto the perceptual transitions that they bring about, eliminating the need for intermediate representation and significantly reducing training requirements. We here set out a very general learning framework for cognitive systems in which online learning of the P-A mapping may be conducted within a symbolic processing context, so that complex contextual reasoning can influence the P-A mapping. In utilizing a variational calculus approach to define a suitable objective function, the P-A mapping can be treated as an online learning problem via gradient descent using partial derivatives. Our central theoretical result is to demonstrate top-down modulation of low-level perceptual confidences via the Jacobian of the higher levels of a subsumptive P-A hierarchy. Thus, the separation of the Jacobian as a multiplying factor between levels within the objective function naturally enables the integration of abstract symbolic manipulation in the form of fuzzy deductive logic into the P-A mapping learning. We experimentally demonstrate that the resulting framework achieves significantly better accuracy than using P-A learning without top-down modulation. We also demonstrate that it permits novel forms of context-dependent multilevel P-A mapping, applying the mechanism in the context of an intelligent driver assistance system.

An Inquiry into Flipped Learning in Fourth Grade Math Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'addato, Teresa; Miller, Libbi R.

2016-01-01

The objective of this action research project was to better understand the impact of flipped learning on fourth grade math students in a socioeconomically disadvantaged setting. A flipped instructional model was implemented with the group of students enrolled in the researcher's class. Data was collected in the form of classroom observations,…

Incorporating Learning Outcomes into an Introductory Geotechnical Engineering Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fiegel, Gregg L.

2013-01-01

The article describes the process of incorporating a set of learning outcomes into a geotechnical engineering course. The outcomes were developed using Bloom's taxonomy and define the knowledge, skills, and abilities the students are expected to achieve upon completion of the course. Each outcome begins with an action-oriented verb corresponding…

Instructional Models in Methods Courses. Occasional Paper No. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clubok, Arthur, Ed.

Instructional models are distinct sets of sequenced teaching actions created to promote student achievement of selected learning outcomes. They identify: (1) the type of information to be presented to students; (2) the sequence in which it should be presented; (3) the teaching tactics that stimulate necessary cognitive learning processes; and (4)…

Applying Universal Design for Learning in Online Courses: Pedagogical and Practical Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dell, Cindy Ann; Dell, Thomas F.; Blackwell, Terry L.

2015-01-01

Inclusion of the universal design for learning (UDL) model as a guiding set of principles for online curriculum development in higher education is discussed. Fundamentally, UDL provides the student with multiple means of accessing the course based on three overarching principles: presentation; action and expression; and engagement and interaction.…

Why Evaluations Fail: To Achieve Meaningful Results, Address These Common Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killion, Joellen

2017-01-01

Evaluation of professional learning illuminates the interactions that occur in the implementation of planned learning experiences and the necessary supports designed to improve professional practice and its effects on students. It investigates how a set of actions designed to achieve defined short- and long-term outcomes occur over time and how…

Learning in/through Everyday Resistance: A Cultural-Historical Perspective on Community Resources and Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pacheco, Mariana

2012-01-01

This essay addresses the value of leveraging the unique learning, thinking, and knowledge students develop in home-community spaces for school curriculum. The author explores "everyday resistance" to highlight a particular set of enacted political actions and practices in which students, families, and communities participate to negotiate the…

Tips for Teaching: Using Cognitive and Metacognitive Learning Strategies in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, Monica A.

2000-01-01

This article describes three cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies for students with disabilities, including the CAST (character, action, setting, the end) reading strategy, the PLEASE writing strategy, and the LISTEN (look, idle your motor, sit up straight, turn to me, engage your brain, now.) social skills strategy. (Contains…

Action Research Using Entomological Research to Promote Hands-On Science Inquiry in a High-Poverty, Midwest Urban High School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stockmann, Dustin

The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study was to examine to what extent entomological research can promote students' hands-on learning in a high-poverty, urban, secondary setting. In reviewing the literature, the researcher was not able to find a specific study that investigated how entomological research could promote the hands-on learning of students. The researcher did find evidence that research on learning in a secondary setting was important to student growth. It should also be noted that support was established for the implementation of hands-on science inquiry in the classroom setting. The study's purpose was to aid educators in their instruction by combining research-based strategies and hands-on science inquiry. The surveys asked 30 students to rate their understanding of three basic ideas. These core ideas were entomological research, hands-on science inquiry, and urban studies. These core ideas provided the foundation for the study. The questionnaires were based on follow-up ideas from the surveys. Two interview sessions were used to facilitate this one-on-one focus. Because the study included only 30 student participants, its findings may not be totally replicable. Further study investigating the links between entomological research and hands-on science learning in an urban environment is needed.

Action Recognition Using Nonnegative Action Component Representation and Sparse Basis Selection.

PubMed

Wang, Haoran; Yuan, Chunfeng; Hu, Weiming; Ling, Haibin; Yang, Wankou; Sun, Changyin

2014-02-01

In this paper, we propose using high-level action units to represent human actions in videos and, based on such units, a novel sparse model is developed for human action recognition. There are three interconnected components in our approach. First, we propose a new context-aware spatial-temporal descriptor, named locally weighted word context, to improve the discriminability of the traditionally used local spatial-temporal descriptors. Second, from the statistics of the context-aware descriptors, we learn action units using the graph regularized nonnegative matrix factorization, which leads to a part-based representation and encodes the geometrical information. These units effectively bridge the semantic gap in action recognition. Third, we propose a sparse model based on a joint l2,1-norm to preserve the representative items and suppress noise in the action units. Intuitively, when learning the dictionary for action representation, the sparse model captures the fact that actions from the same class share similar units. The proposed approach is evaluated on several publicly available data sets. The experimental results and analysis clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Learning ESL Literacy among Indo-Canadian Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cumming, Alister; Gill, Jaswinder

1991-01-01

Reports findings from an action research project that set up an instructional program for Punjabi-speaking women immigrants and traced their English and literacy development in classroom and home settings. Data indicate that efforts to teach and acquire literacy focused on language code; self-control strategies and schematic representations for…

New Evaluation Vector through the Stanford Mobile Inquiry-Based Learning Environment (SMILE) for Participatory Action Research

PubMed Central

An, Ji-Young

2016-01-01

Objectives This article reviews an evaluation vector model driven from a participatory action research leveraging a collective inquiry system named SMILE (Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Learning Environment). Methods SMILE has been implemented in a diverse set of collective inquiry generation and analysis scenarios including community health care-specific professional development sessions and community-based participatory action research projects. In each scenario, participants are given opportunities to construct inquiries around physical and emotional health-related phenomena in their own community. Results Participants formulated inquiries as well as potential clinical treatments and hypothetical scenarios to address health concerns or clarify misunderstandings or misdiagnoses often found in their community practices. From medical universities to rural village health promotion organizations, all participatory inquiries and potential solutions can be collected and analyzed. The inquiry and solution sets represent an evaluation vector which helps educators better understand community health issues at a much deeper level. Conclusions SMILE helps collect problems that are most important and central to their community health concerns. The evaluation vector, consisting participatory and collective inquiries and potential solutions, helps the researchers assess the participants' level of understanding on issues around health concerns and practices while helping the community adequately formulate follow-up action plans. The method used in SMILE requires much further enhancement with machine learning and advanced data visualization. PMID:27525157

National Advisory Commission on Work-Based Learning. Minutes of Full Commission Meeting (5th, Washington, District of Columbia, April 7, 1992).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Commission on Work-Based Learning (DOL), Washington, DC.

This document contains minutes of the fifth meeting of the National Advisory Commission on Work-Based Learning. The meeting's stated objective was to produce a set of specific action steps for the U.S. Department of Labor to promote work-based learning. A summary of introductory remarks (Jack MacAllister) is followed by a description of the…

Turning the Table on Professional Development in Mathematics by Setting the Stage for Teacher-Led Inquiry: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCullough, Sabrina D.

2016-01-01

This action research study investigated the change in professional development model in the acquisition of content knowledge for fourth-grade math teachers. The current professional development atmosphere is a traditional "sit and get" opportunity. However, research offers that teachers should be active participants in their learning.…

Tackling Work Related Stress in a National Health Service Trust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vick, Donna; Whyatt, Hilary

2004-01-01

The challenge of tackling the problem of coping with work related stress in a National Health Service (NHS) Trust was undertaken. Ideas were developed within the context of two different action learning sets and led to actions resulting in a large therapy Taster Session event and the establishment of a centre offering alternative therapies and…

Critical Issues in Research Design in Action Research in an SME Development Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrath, Helen; O'Toole, Thomas

2012-01-01

Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to develop guidelines on the critical issues to consider in research design in an action research (AR) environment for SME network capability development. Design/methodology/approach: The issues in research design for AR studies are developed from the authors' experience in running learning sets but, in…

Movement rehabilitation: are the principles of re-learning in the recovery of function the same as those of original learning?

PubMed

Newell, Karl M; Verhoeven, F Martijn

2017-01-01

This paper addresses the change in movement dynamics in rehabilitation through discussing issues that pertain to the question as to whether the principles of re-learning in functional recovery are the same as those of original learning. The many varieties of disease and injury states lead to significant differences in the constraints to action and these impairments in turn influence the pathway of change in re-learning and/or recovery of function. These altered constraints channel the effectiveness of many conditions and strategies of practice that influence learning and performance. Nevertheless, it is proposed that there is a small set of principles for the change in dynamics of motor learning, which drive the continuously evolving stability and instability of movement forms through the lifespan. However, this common set of dynamical principles is realized in individual pathways of change in the movement dynamics of learning, re-learning and recovery of function. The inherent individual differences of humans and environments insure that the coordination, control and skill of movement rehabilitation are challenged in distinct ways by the changing constraints arising from the many manifestations of disease and injury. Implications for rehabilitation The many varieties of disease and injury states lead to significant differences in the constraints to action that in turn influence the pathway of change in re-learning and/or recovery of function, and the effectiveness of the many conditions/strategies of practice to influence learning and performance. There are a small set of principles for the change in dynamics of motor learning that drive the continuously evolving ebb and flow of stability and instability of movement forms through the lifespan. The inherent individual differences of humans and environments insure that the coordination, control and skill of movement rehabilitation are uniquely challenged by the changing constraints arising from the many manifestations of disease and injury.

Learning Spatio-Temporal Representations for Action Recognition: A Genetic Programming Approach.

PubMed

Liu, Li; Shao, Ling; Li, Xuelong; Lu, Ke

2016-01-01

Extracting discriminative and robust features from video sequences is the first and most critical step in human action recognition. In this paper, instead of using handcrafted features, we automatically learn spatio-temporal motion features for action recognition. This is achieved via an evolutionary method, i.e., genetic programming (GP), which evolves the motion feature descriptor on a population of primitive 3D operators (e.g., 3D-Gabor and wavelet). In this way, the scale and shift invariant features can be effectively extracted from both color and optical flow sequences. We intend to learn data adaptive descriptors for different datasets with multiple layers, which makes fully use of the knowledge to mimic the physical structure of the human visual cortex for action recognition and simultaneously reduce the GP searching space to effectively accelerate the convergence of optimal solutions. In our evolutionary architecture, the average cross-validation classification error, which is calculated by an support-vector-machine classifier on the training set, is adopted as the evaluation criterion for the GP fitness function. After the entire evolution procedure finishes, the best-so-far solution selected by GP is regarded as the (near-)optimal action descriptor obtained. The GP-evolving feature extraction method is evaluated on four popular action datasets, namely KTH, HMDB51, UCF YouTube, and Hollywood2. Experimental results show that our method significantly outperforms other types of features, either hand-designed or machine-learned.

Hierarchically organized behavior and its neural foundations: A reinforcement-learning perspective

PubMed Central

Botvinick, Matthew M.; Niv, Yael; Barto, Andrew C.

2009-01-01

Research on human and animal behavior has long emphasized its hierarchical structure — the divisibility of ongoing behavior into discrete tasks, which are comprised of subtask sequences, which in turn are built of simple actions. The hierarchical structure of behavior has also been of enduring interest within neuroscience, where it has been widely considered to reflect prefrontal cortical functions. In this paper, we reexamine behavioral hierarchy and its neural substrates from the point of view of recent developments in computational reinforcement learning. Specifically, we consider a set of approaches known collectively as hierarchical reinforcement learning, which extend the reinforcement learning paradigm by allowing the learning agent to aggregate actions into reusable subroutines or skills. A close look at the components of hierarchical reinforcement learning suggests how they might map onto neural structures, in particular regions within the dorsolateral and orbital prefrontal cortex. It also suggests specific ways in which hierarchical reinforcement learning might provide a complement to existing psychological models of hierarchically structured behavior. A particularly important question that hierarchical reinforcement learning brings to the fore is that of how learning identifies new action routines that are likely to provide useful building blocks in solving a wide range of future problems. Here and at many other points, hierarchical reinforcement learning offers an appealing framework for investigating the computational and neural underpinnings of hierarchically structured behavior. PMID:18926527

Supporting Teachers in Designing CSCL Activities: A Case Study of Principle-Based Pedagogical Patterns in Networked Second Language Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wen, Yun; Looi, Chee-Kit; Chen, Wenli

2012-01-01

This paper proposes the identification and use of principle-based pedagogical patterns to help teachers to translate design principles into actionable teaching activities, and to scaffold student learning with sufficient flexibility and creativity. A set of pedagogical patterns for networked Second language (L2) learning, categorized and…

Increasing the Social Studies Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryski, Crystal

2009-01-01

This action research project sets out to identify which component of multi-text instruction is most effective in increasing the reading comprehension level of middle school students with learning disabilities. The research is going to be conducted over a two-week time period during the Spring 2009 with three male middle school students with…

Teachers' Understanding of the Role of Executive Functions in Mathematics Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilmore, Camilla; Cragg, Lucy

2014-01-01

Cognitive psychology research has suggested an important role for executive functions, the set of skills that monitor and control thought and action, in learning mathematics. However, there is currently little evidence about whether teachers are aware of the importance of these skills and, if so, how they come by this information. We conducted an…

Behavioral Cusps: A Person-Centered Concept for Establishing Pivotal Individual, Family, and Community Behaviors and Repertoires

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Garnett J.; McDougall, Dennis; Edelen-Smith, Patricia

2006-01-01

Cumulative-hierarchical learning (CHL) and behavior, a premise first introduced by Staats in 1975, describes how higher-level behavioral patterns and structures can emerge from interactions among a set of lower-level actions. Proponents of CHL emphasize the importance of pivotal response interventions, behavior repertoires, generative learning,…

Courageous Voices: Using Text Sets to Inspire Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tracy, Kelly N.; Menickelli, Kristin; Scales, Roya Q.

2017-01-01

This article describes how one teacher immersed her sixth graders in an intensive three-week thematic text set unit centered on courage. Her aim was to help students discover and take action on issues that mattered to them as they learned important literacy skills and strategies. Students engaged in significant reading, writing, and discussion as…

Student Attitudes within Education: Making Self-Regulation a Practical Habit in Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Mark

2014-01-01

This action research project on "Self-Regulation" uses the understanding of self-regulation to help students set goals through metacognition so that they may monitor their goals effectively. Being biological and cognitive beings, students are given opportunities to reflect on the process required to set effective goals so that they may…

An Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action for Relating Attitude, Social Support and Behavioral Intention in an EFL Setting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livesey, Daniel J.; And Others

A study investigated use of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) for relating learner attitude toward engagement in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learning behaviors, perceived social support for engagement in those behaviors, and behavioral intention. TRA proposes a sequence of dependencies underlying behavior. The model also relates attitude…

Leading School-Wide Improvement in Low-Performing Schools Facing Conditions of Accountability: Key Actions and Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cosner, Shelby; Jones, Mary F.

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance a framework that identifies three key domains of work and a set of more nuanced considerations and actions within each domain for school leaders seeking to improve school-wide student learning in low-performing schools facing conditions of accountability. Design/methodology/approach: Review of…

Engaging novice teachers in semiotic inquiry: considering the environmental messages of school learning settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, Bonnie

2014-12-01

Katherine Fogelberg's insightful study of the messages of zoo signs describes the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of the messages they communicate. The construction and content of signs are influenced by institutional power. Fogelberg argues that the creation of zoo signage designed to inform the public can, through its messages, silence a perspective of care and compassion for animals. The research presented in the following article extends discussion about the value of critical considerations of cultural and institutional messages created and read in another type of setting designed to educate and inform, the school learning setting. The article reports on a project that engaged novice teachers in explorations of the nature and types of environmental messages found in learning settings. During our inquiry work together, novice teachers suggested areas of particular concern to them, and began to construct ideas about aspects of their work in which they plan to take action or engage in future inquiry. The research also reveals some of the challenges involved when novice educators first begin the process of engaging in semiotic interpretive readings of learning settings.

Family Involvement as a Priority Element for an Educational Action Based on Dialogic Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valls, Mercè Pañellas; de Nicolás, Montserrat Alguacil; Torremorell, Maria Carme Boqué

In our society, there is a need for a critical reflection on education and the tasks to be developed by every agent. The family and school are the two main socializing settings of children and adolescents and, therefore, their joint responsibility in their education is a commitment that should be established in an atmosphere of confidence and harmony in order to tend towards a learning community model based on dialogic learning.

Student Achievement Goal Setting: Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stronge, James H.; Grant, Leslie W.

2009-01-01

The first book in the James H. Stronge Research-to-Practice series focuses on improving student achievement through academic goal setting. It offers the tools and plan of action to use performance data to improve instructional practice and increase student achievement. The book is divided into three parts: (1) How Student Achievement Data Can Be…

Action without Action Planning: The Potential of the Career Thinking Session in Enabling Transformational Career Learning and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bassot, Barbara

2017-01-01

This paper examines the potential of the Career Thinking Session (CTS) model to career guidance and counselling practice with young people. A qualitative research study is presented, focusing on the case study of a client involved in the transition to higher education. The setting for the research is described and the origins of the CTS are…

Is Inquiry the Answer?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Booth, Gregory

2001-01-01

Conducts an action research investigation to determine which type of student benefits more from inquiry-based science laboratories. Designs two labs on diffusion and osmosis using both traditional and inquiry-based approaches and assesses student learning in these settings. (YDS)

Deferred imitation in 18-month-olds from two cultural contexts: the case of Cameroonian Nso farmer and German-middle class infants.

PubMed

Borchert, Sonja; Lamm, Bettina; Graf, Frauke; Knopf, Monika

2013-12-01

Imitative learning has been described in naturalistic studies for different cultures, but lab-based research studying imitative learning across different cultural contexts is almost missing. Therefore, imitative learning was assessed with 18-month-old German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer infants - representing two highly different eco-cultural contexts associated with different cultural models, the psychological autonomy and the hierarchical relatedness - by using the deferred imitation paradigm. Study 1 revealed that the infants from both cultural contexts performed a higher number of target actions in the deferred imitation than in the baseline phase. Moreover, it was found that German middle-class infants showed a higher mean imitation rate as they performed more target actions in the deferred imitation phase compared with Cameroonian Nso farmer infants. It was speculated that the opportunity to manipulate the test objects directly after the demonstration of the target actions could enhance the mean deferred imitation rate of the Cameroonian Nso farmer infants which was confirmed in Study 2. Possible explanations for the differences in the amount of imitated target actions of German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer infants are discussed considering the object-related, dyadic setting of the imitation paradigm with respect to the different learning contexts underlying the different cultural models of learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negotiating energy dynamics through embodied action in a materially structured environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherr, Rachel E.; Close, Hunter G.; Close, Eleanor W.; Flood, Virginia J.; McKagan, Sarah B.; Robertson, Amy D.; Seeley, Lane; Wittmann, Michael C.; Vokos, Stamatis

2013-12-01

We provide evidence that a learning activity called Energy Theater engages learners with key conceptual issues in the learning of energy, including disambiguating matter flow and energy flow and theorizing mechanisms for energy transformation. A participationist theory of learning, in which learning is indicated by changes in speech and behavior, supports ethnographic analysis of learners’ embodied interactions with each other and the material setting. We conduct detailed analysis to build plausible causal links between specific features of Energy Theater and the conceptual engagement that we observe. Disambiguation of matter and energy appears to be promoted especially by the material structure of the Energy Theater environment, in which energy is represented by participants, while objects are represented by areas demarcated by loops of rope. Theorizing mechanisms of energy transformation is promoted especially by Energy Theater’s embodied action, which necessitates modeling the time ordering of energy transformations.

Focusing on learning through constructive alignment with task-oriented portfolio assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cain, A.; Grundy, J.; Woodward, C. J.

2018-07-01

Approaches to learning have been shown to have a significant impact on student success in technical units. This paper reports on an action research study that applied the principles of constructive alignment to improve student learning outcomes in programming units. The proposed model uses frequent formative feedback to engage students with unit material, and encourage them to adopt deep approaches to learning. Our results provide a set of guiding principles and a structured teaching approach that focuses students on meeting unit learning objectives, the goal of constructive alignment. The results are demonstrated via descriptions of the resulting teaching and learning environment, student results, and staff and student reflections.

Educational Videos: A Didactic Tool for Strengthening English Vocabulary through the Development of Affective Learning in Kids

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celis Nova, Jonnathan; Onatra Chavarro, Clara Isabel; Zubieta Córdoba, Any Tatiana

2017-01-01

The following paper seeks to develop a proposal, observing to what extent educational videos and affective learning can strengthen vocabulary in an EFL setting. This action research study was done with fifth grade students belonging to a public school, who showed a low degree of motivation in the English class, making it difficult to acquire the…

A Constructivist Approach to Game-Based Language Learning: Student Perceptions in a Beginner-Level EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

York, James; deHaan, Jonathan William

2018-01-01

This article provides information on an action research project in a low-level EFL setting in Japan. The project aims were to (1) foster spoken communication skills and (2) help students engage with their own learning. The project investigated the applicability of board games as a mediating tool for authentic communication as part of a wider TBLT…

Online Pedagogical Tutorial Tactics Optimization Using Genetic-Based Reinforcement Learning

PubMed Central

Lin, Hsuan-Ta; Lee, Po-Ming; Hsiao, Tzu-Chien

2015-01-01

Tutorial tactics are policies for an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to decide the next action when there are multiple actions available. Recent research has demonstrated that when the learning contents were controlled so as to be the same, different tutorial tactics would make difference in students' learning gains. However, the Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques that were used in previous studies to induce tutorial tactics are insufficient when encountering large problems and hence were used in offline manners. Therefore, we introduced a Genetic-Based Reinforcement Learning (GBML) approach to induce tutorial tactics in an online-learning manner without basing on any preexisting dataset. The introduced method can learn a set of rules from the environment in a manner similar to RL. It includes a genetic-based optimizer for rule discovery task by generating new rules from the old ones. This increases the scalability of a RL learner for larger problems. The results support our hypothesis about the capability of the GBML method to induce tutorial tactics. This suggests that the GBML method should be favorable in developing real-world ITS applications in the domain of tutorial tactics induction. PMID:26065018

Online Pedagogical Tutorial Tactics Optimization Using Genetic-Based Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Lin, Hsuan-Ta; Lee, Po-Ming; Hsiao, Tzu-Chien

2015-01-01

Tutorial tactics are policies for an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to decide the next action when there are multiple actions available. Recent research has demonstrated that when the learning contents were controlled so as to be the same, different tutorial tactics would make difference in students' learning gains. However, the Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques that were used in previous studies to induce tutorial tactics are insufficient when encountering large problems and hence were used in offline manners. Therefore, we introduced a Genetic-Based Reinforcement Learning (GBML) approach to induce tutorial tactics in an online-learning manner without basing on any preexisting dataset. The introduced method can learn a set of rules from the environment in a manner similar to RL. It includes a genetic-based optimizer for rule discovery task by generating new rules from the old ones. This increases the scalability of a RL learner for larger problems. The results support our hypothesis about the capability of the GBML method to induce tutorial tactics. This suggests that the GBML method should be favorable in developing real-world ITS applications in the domain of tutorial tactics induction.

Robot Behavior Acquisition Superposition and Composting of Behaviors Learned through Teleoperation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters, Richard Alan, II

2004-01-01

Superposition of a small set of behaviors, learned via teleoperation, can lead to robust completion of a simple articulated reach-and-grasp task. Results support the hypothesis that a set of learned behaviors can be combined to generate new behaviors of a similar type. This supports the hypothesis that a robot can learn to interact purposefully with its environment through a developmental acquisition of sensory-motor coordination. Teleoperation bootstraps the process by enabling the robot to observe its own sensory responses to actions that lead to specific outcomes. A reach-and-grasp task, learned by an articulated robot through a small number of teleoperated trials, can be performed autonomously with success in the face of significant variations in the environment and perturbations of the goal. Superpositioning was performed using the Verbs and Adverbs algorithm that was developed originally for the graphical animation of articulated characters. Work was performed on Robonaut at NASA-JSC.

Parents' Metacognitive Knowledge: Influences on Parent-Child Interactions in a Science Museum Setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Gregory P.; Anderson, David

2013-06-01

Despite science learning in settings such as science museums being recognized as important and given increasing attention in science education circles, the investigation of parents' and their children's metacognition in such settings is still in its infancy. This is despite an individual's metacognition being acknowledged as an important influence on their learning within and across contexts. This research investigated parents' metacognitive procedural and conditional knowledge, a key element of their metacognition, related to (a) what they knew about how they and their children thought and learned, and (b) whether this metacognitive knowledge influenced their interactions with their children during their interaction with a moderately complex simulation in a science museum. Parents reported metacognitive procedural and conditional knowledge regarding their own and their children's thinking and learning processes. Further, parents were aware that this metacognitive knowledge influenced their interactions with their children, seeing this as appropriate pedagogical action for them within the context of the particular exhibit and its task requirements at the science museum, and for the child involved. These findings have implications for exhibit and activity development within science museum settings.

Setting priorities for EU healthcare workforce IT skills competence improvement.

PubMed

Li, Sisi; Bamidis, Panagiotis D; Konstantinidis, Stathis Th; Traver, Vicente; Car, Josip; Zary, Nabil

2017-04-01

A major challenge for healthcare quality improvement is the lack of IT skills and knowledge of healthcare workforce, as well as their ambivalent attitudes toward IT. This article identifies and prioritizes actions needed to improve the IT skills of healthcare workforce across the EU. A total of 46 experts, representing different fields of expertise in healthcare and geolocations, systematically listed and scored actions that would improve IT skills among healthcare workforce. The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative methodology was used for research priority-setting. The participants evaluated the actions using the following criteria: feasibility, effectiveness, deliverability, and maximum impact on IT skills improvement. The leading priority actions were related to appropriate training, integrating eHealth in curricula, involving healthcare workforce in the eHealth solution development, improving awareness of eHealth, and learning arrangement. As the different professionals' needs are prioritized, healthcare workforce should be actively and continuously included in the development of eHealth solutions.

Intercultural Action Learning within a Business Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sand, Gregory A.

1996-01-01

Describes an intercultural program adapted to international marketing requirements by GLOBALTEAM, a marketing consultancy. GLOBALTEAM aims to increase sales by introducing corporate managers and workers to merchandising principles and standards. Training stresses goal setting, appropriate change atmosphere, task-force organization, operational…

What is the optimal task difficulty for reinforcement learning of brain self-regulation?

PubMed

Bauer, Robert; Vukelić, Mathias; Gharabaghi, Alireza

2016-09-01

The balance between action and reward during neurofeedback may influence reinforcement learning of brain self-regulation. Eleven healthy volunteers participated in three runs of motor imagery-based brain-machine interface feedback where a robot passively opened the hand contingent to β-band modulation. For each run, the β-desynchronization threshold to initiate the hand robot movement increased in difficulty (low, moderate, and demanding). In this context, the incentive to learn was estimated by the change of reward per action, operationalized as the change in reward duration per movement onset. Variance analysis revealed a significant interaction between threshold difficulty and the relationship between reward duration and number of movement onsets (p<0.001), indicating a negative learning incentive for low difficulty, but a positive learning incentive for moderate and demanding runs. Exploration of different thresholds in the same data set indicated that the learning incentive peaked at higher thresholds than the threshold which resulted in maximum classification accuracy. Specificity is more important than sensitivity of neurofeedback for reinforcement learning of brain self-regulation. Learning efficiency requires adequate challenge by neurofeedback interventions. Copyright © 2016 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Six characteristics of nutrition education videos that support learning and motivation to learn.

PubMed

Ramsay, Samantha A; Holyoke, Laura; Branen, Laurel J; Fletcher, Janice

2012-01-01

To identify characteristics in nutrition education video vignettes that support learning and motivation to learn about feeding children. Nine focus group interviews were conducted with child care providers in child care settings from 4 states in the western United States: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. At each focus group interview, 3-8 participants (n = 37) viewed video vignettes and participated in a facilitated focus group discussion that was audiorecorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Primary characteristics of video vignettes child care providers perceived as supporting learning and motivation to learn about feeding young children were identified: (1) use real scenarios; (2) provide short segments; (3) present simple, single messages; (4) convey a skill-in-action; (5) develop the videos so participants can relate to the settings; and (6) support participants' ability to conceptualize the information. These 6 characteristics can be used by nutrition educators in selecting and developing videos in nutrition education. Copyright © 2012 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performative Intra-Action of a Paper Plane and a Child: Exploring Scientific Concepts as Agentic Playmates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haus, Jana Maria

2018-05-01

This work uses new materialist perspectives (Barad 2007; Lenz Taguchi 2014; Rautio in Children's Geographies, 11(4), 394-408, 2013) to examine an exploration of concepts as agents and the question how intra-action of human and non-human bodies lead to the investigation of scientific concepts, relying on an article by de Freitas and Palmer (Cultural Studies of Science Education, 11(4), 1201-1222, 2016). Through an analysis of video stills of a case study, a focus on classroom assemblages shows how the intra-actions of human and non-human bodies (one 5-year-old boy, a piece of paper that becomes a paper plane and the concepts of force and flight) lead to an intertwining and intersecting of play, learning, and becoming. Video recordings were used to qualitatively analyze three questions, which emerged through and resulted from the intra-action of researcher and data. This paper aims at addressing a prevalent gap in the research literature on science learning from a materialist view. Findings of the analysis show that human and non-human bodies together become through and for another to jointly and agentically intra-act in exploring and learning about science. Implications for learning and teaching science are that teachers could attempt to focus on setting up the learning environment differently, so that children have time and access to materials that matter to them and that, as "Hultman (2011) claims […] `whisper, answer, demand and offer'" (Areljung forthcoming, p. 77) themselves to children in the learning and teaching environment.

REsearch into implementation STrategies to support patients of different ORigins and language background in a variety of European primary care settings (RESTORE): study protocol.

PubMed

MacFarlane, Anne; O'Donnell, Catherine; Mair, Frances; O'Reilly-de Brún, Mary; de Brún, Tomas; Spiegel, Wolfgang; van den Muijsenbergh, Maria; van Weel-Baumgarten, Evelyn; Lionis, Christos; Burns, Nicola; Gravenhorst, Katja; Princz, Christine; Teunissen, Erik; van den Driessen Mareeuw, Francine; Saridaki, Aristoula; Papadakaki, Maria; Vlahadi, Maria; Dowrick, Christopher

2012-11-20

The implementation of guidelines and training initiatives to support communication in cross-cultural primary care consultations is ad hoc across a range of international settings with negative consequences particularly for migrants. This situation reflects a well-documented translational gap between evidence and practice and is part of the wider problem of implementing guidelines and the broader range of professional educational and quality interventions in routine practice. In this paper, we describe our use of a contemporary social theory, Normalization Process Theory and participatory research methodology--Participatory Learning and Action--to investigate and support implementation of such guidelines and training initiatives in routine practice. This is a qualitative case study, using multiple primary care sites across Europe. Purposive and maximum variation sampling approaches will be used to identify and recruit stakeholders-migrant service users, general practitioners, primary care nurses, practice managers and administrative staff, interpreters, cultural mediators, service planners, and policy makers. We are conducting a mapping exercise to identify relevant guidelines and training initiatives. We will then initiate a PLA-brokered dialogue with stakeholders around Normalization Process Theory's four constructs--coherence, cognitive participation, collective action, and reflexive monitoring. Through this, we will enable stakeholders in each setting to select a single guideline or training initiative for implementation in their local setting. We will prospectively investigate and support the implementation journeys for the five selected interventions. Data will be generated using a Participatory Learning and Action approach to interviews and focus groups. Data analysis will follow the principles of thematic analysis, will occur in iterative cycles throughout the project and will involve participatory co-analysis with key stakeholders to enhance the authenticity and veracity of findings. This research employs a unique combination of Normalization Process Theory and Participatory Learning and Action, which will provide a novel approach to the analysis of implementation journeys. The findings will advance knowledge in the field of implementation science because we are using and testing theoretical and methodological approaches so that we can critically appraise their scope to mediate barriers and improve the implementation processes.

Dynamic Sensorimotor Planning during Long-Term Sequence Learning: The Role of Variability, Response Chunking and Planning Errors

PubMed Central

Verstynen, Timothy; Phillips, Jeff; Braun, Emily; Workman, Brett; Schunn, Christian; Schneider, Walter

2012-01-01

Many everyday skills are learned by binding otherwise independent actions into a unified sequence of responses across days or weeks of practice. Here we looked at how the dynamics of action planning and response binding change across such long timescales. Subjects (N = 23) were trained on a bimanual version of the serial reaction time task (32-item sequence) for two weeks (10 days total). Response times and accuracy both showed improvement with time, but appeared to be learned at different rates. Changes in response speed across training were associated with dynamic changes in response time variability, with faster learners expanding their variability during the early training days and then contracting response variability late in training. Using a novel measure of response chunking, we found that individual responses became temporally correlated across trials and asymptoted to set sizes of approximately 7 bound responses at the end of the first week of training. Finally, we used a state-space model of the response planning process to look at how predictive (i.e., response anticipation) and error-corrective (i.e., post-error slowing) processes correlated with learning rates for speed, accuracy and chunking. This analysis yielded non-monotonic association patterns between the state-space model parameters and learning rates, suggesting that different parts of the response planning process are relevant at different stages of long-term learning. These findings highlight the dynamic modulation of response speed, variability, accuracy and chunking as multiple movements become bound together into a larger set of responses during sequence learning. PMID:23056630

Space: the final frontier in the learning of science?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milne, Catherine

2014-03-01

In Space, relations, and the learning of science, Wolff-Michael Roth and Pei-Ling Hsu use ethnomethodology to explore high school interns learning shopwork and shoptalk in a research lab that is located in a world class facility for water quality analysis. Using interaction analysis they identify how spaces, like a research laboratory, can be structured as smart spaces to create a workflow (learning flow) so that shoptalk and shopwork can projectively organize the actions of interns even in new and unfamiliar settings. Using these findings they explore implications for the design of curriculum and learning spaces more broadly. The Forum papers of Erica Blatt and Cassie Quigley complement this analysis. Blatt expands the discussion on space as an active component of learning with an examination of teaching settings, beyond laboratory spaces, as active participants of education. Quigley examines smart spaces as authentic learning spaces while acknowledging how internship experiences all empirical elements of authentic learning including open-ended inquiry and empowerment. In this paper I synthesize these ideas and propose that a narrative structure might better support workflow, student agency and democratic decision making.

Learning Human Actions by Combining Global Dynamics and Local Appearance.

PubMed

Luo, Guan; Yang, Shuang; Tian, Guodong; Yuan, Chunfeng; Hu, Weiming; Maybank, Stephen J

2014-12-01

In this paper, we address the problem of human action recognition through combining global temporal dynamics and local visual spatio-temporal appearance features. For this purpose, in the global temporal dimension, we propose to model the motion dynamics with robust linear dynamical systems (LDSs) and use the model parameters as motion descriptors. Since LDSs live in a non-Euclidean space and the descriptors are in non-vector form, we propose a shift invariant subspace angles based distance to measure the similarity between LDSs. In the local visual dimension, we construct curved spatio-temporal cuboids along the trajectories of densely sampled feature points and describe them using histograms of oriented gradients (HOG). The distance between motion sequences is computed with the Chi-Squared histogram distance in the bag-of-words framework. Finally we perform classification using the maximum margin distance learning method by combining the global dynamic distances and the local visual distances. We evaluate our approach for action recognition on five short clips data sets, namely Weizmann, KTH, UCF sports, Hollywood2 and UCF50, as well as three long continuous data sets, namely VIRAT, ADL and CRIM13. We show competitive results as compared with current state-of-the-art methods.

Action Learning: Avoiding Conflict or Enabling Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corley, Aileen; Thorne, Ann

2006-01-01

Action learning is based on the premise that action and learning are inextricably entwined and it is this potential, to enable action, which has contributed to the growth of action learning within education and management development programmes. However has this growth in action learning lead to an evolution or a dilution of Revan's classical…

Towards tailored teaching: using participatory action research to enhance the learning experience of Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship students in a South African rural district hospital.

PubMed

von Pressentin, Klaus B; Waggie, Firdouza; Conradie, Hoffie

2016-03-08

The introduction of Stellenbosch University's Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) model as part of the undergraduate medical curriculum offers a unique and exciting training model to develop generalist doctors for the changing South African health landscape. At one of these LIC sites, the need for an improvement of the local learning experience became evident. This paper explores how to identify and implement a tailored teaching and learning intervention to improve workplace-based learning for LIC students. A participatory action research approach was used in a co-operative inquiry group (ten participants), consisting of the students, clinician educators and researchers, who met over a period of 5 months. Through a cyclical process of action and reflection this group identified a teaching intervention. The results demonstrate the gaps and challenges identified when implementing a LIC model of medical education. A structured learning programme for the final 6 weeks of the students' placement at the district hospital was designed by the co-operative inquiry group as an agreed intervention. The post-intervention group reflection highlighted a need to create a structured programme in the spirit of local collaboration and learning across disciplines. The results also enhance our understanding of both students and clinician educators' perceptions of this new model of workplace-based training. This paper provides practical strategies to enhance teaching and learning in a new educational context. These strategies illuminate three paradigm shifts: (1) from the traditional medical education approach towards a transformative learning approach advocated for the 21(st) century health professional; (2) from the teaching hospital context to the district hospital context; and (3) from block-based teaching towards a longitudinal integrated learning model. A programme based on balancing structured and tailored learning activities is recommended in order to address the local learning needs of students in the LIC model. We recommend that action learning sets should be developed at these LIC sites, where the relevant aspects of work-place based learning are negotiated.

An Urban Resilience to Extreme Weather Events Framework for Development of Post Event Learning and Transformative Adaptation in Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solecki, W. D.; Friedman, E. S.; Breitzer, R.

2016-12-01

Increasingly frequent extreme weather events are becoming an immediate priority for urban coastal practitioners and stakeholders, adding complexity to decisions concerning risk management for short-term action and long-term needs of city climate stakeholders. The conflict between the prioritization of short versus long-term events by decision-makers creates disconnect between climate science and its applications. The Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), a NOAA RISA team, is developing a set of mechanisms to help bridge this gap. The mechanisms are designed to promote the application of climate science on extreme weather events and their aftermath. It is in the post event policy window where significant opportunities for science-policy linkages exist. In particular, CCRUN is interested in producing actionable and useful information for city managers to use in decision-making processes surrounding extreme weather events and climate change. These processes include a sector specific needs assessment survey instrument and two tools for urban coastal practitioners and stakeholders. The tools focus on post event learning and connections between resilience and transformative adaptation. Elements of the two tools are presented. Post extreme event learning supports urban coastal practitioners and decision-makers concerned about maximizing opportunities for knowledge transfer and assimilation, and policy initiation and development following an extreme weather event. For the urban U.S. Northeast, post event learning helps coastal stakeholders build the capacity to adapt to extreme weather events, and inform and develop their planning capacity through analysis of past actions and steps taken in response to Hurricane Sandy. Connecting resilience with transformative adaptation is intended to promote resilience in urban Northeast coastal settings to the long-term negative consequences of extreme weather events. This is done through a knowledge co-production engagement process that links innovative and flexible adaptation pathways that can address requirements for short-term action and long-term needs.

"Learning-in-Action" and "Learning Inaction": Advancing the Theory and Practice of Critical Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vince, Russ

2008-01-01

This paper seeks to improve our understanding of the emotional and political dynamics that are generated (and too often avoided) in action learning. The idea at the centre of the paper is a distinction between "learning-in-action" and "learning inaction". The phrase "learning-in-action" represents the value of action…

Sub-millisecond closed-loop feedback stimulation between arbitrary sets of individual neurons

PubMed Central

Müller, Jan; Bakkum, Douglas J.; Hierlemann, Andreas

2012-01-01

We present a system to artificially correlate the spike timing between sets of arbitrary neurons that were interfaced to a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) high-density microelectrode array (MEA). The system features a novel reprogrammable and flexible event engine unit to detect arbitrary spatio-temporal patterns of recorded action potentials and is capable of delivering sub-millisecond closed-loop feedback of electrical stimulation upon trigger events in real-time. The relative timing between action potentials of individual neurons as well as the temporal pattern among multiple neurons, or neuronal assemblies, is considered an important factor governing memory and learning in the brain. Artificially changing timings between arbitrary sets of spiking neurons with our system could provide a “knob” to tune information processing in the network. PMID:23335887

Neural correlates of the divergence of instrumental probability distributions.

PubMed

Liljeholm, Mimi; Wang, Shuo; Zhang, June; O'Doherty, John P

2013-07-24

Flexible action selection requires knowledge about how alternative actions impact the environment: a "cognitive map" of instrumental contingencies. Reinforcement learning theories formalize this map as a set of stochastic relationships between actions and states, such that for any given action considered in a current state, a probability distribution is specified over possible outcome states. Here, we show that activity in the human inferior parietal lobule correlates with the divergence of such outcome distributions-a measure that reflects whether discrimination between alternative actions increases the controllability of the future-and, further, that this effect is dissociable from those of other information theoretic and motivational variables, such as outcome entropy, action values, and outcome utilities. Our results suggest that, although ultimately combined with reward estimates to generate action values, outcome probability distributions associated with alternative actions may be contrasted independently of valence computations, to narrow the scope of the action selection problem.

Neural Correlates of the Divergence of Instrumental Probability Distributions

PubMed Central

Wang, Shuo; Zhang, June; O'Doherty, John P.

2013-01-01

Flexible action selection requires knowledge about how alternative actions impact the environment: a “cognitive map” of instrumental contingencies. Reinforcement learning theories formalize this map as a set of stochastic relationships between actions and states, such that for any given action considered in a current state, a probability distribution is specified over possible outcome states. Here, we show that activity in the human inferior parietal lobule correlates with the divergence of such outcome distributions–a measure that reflects whether discrimination between alternative actions increases the controllability of the future–and, further, that this effect is dissociable from those of other information theoretic and motivational variables, such as outcome entropy, action values, and outcome utilities. Our results suggest that, although ultimately combined with reward estimates to generate action values, outcome probability distributions associated with alternative actions may be contrasted independently of valence computations, to narrow the scope of the action selection problem. PMID:23884955

General cognitive principles for learning structure in time and space.

PubMed

Goldstein, Michael H; Waterfall, Heidi R; Lotem, Arnon; Halpern, Joseph Y; Schwade, Jennifer A; Onnis, Luca; Edelman, Shimon

2010-06-01

How are hierarchically structured sequences of objects, events or actions learned from experience and represented in the brain? When several streams of regularities present themselves, which will be learned and which ignored? Can statistical regularities take effect on their own, or are additional factors such as behavioral outcomes expected to influence statistical learning? Answers to these questions are starting to emerge through a convergence of findings from naturalistic observations, behavioral experiments, neurobiological studies, and computational analyses and simulations. We propose that a small set of principles are at work in every situation that involves learning of structure from patterns of experience and outline a general framework that accounts for such learning. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Leading interprofessional practice: a conceptual framework to support practitioners in the field of learning disability.

PubMed

McCray, Janet

2003-11-01

One of the key challenges for practitioners in present day health and social care has been responding effectively in the interprofessional teamwork setting, where collaboration is at the centre of professional activity. For whilst practitioners are expected to work interprofessionally there often remains limited attention to the actual process of interprofessional practice itself, within organizational strategy, local workforce development planning and individual continuing professional development. These concerns were a driver for this research with practitioners in the field of learning disability which resulted in the development of a conceptual framework for interprofessional practice. This paper sets out the process of conceptual framework development, underpinned by the concepts of knowledge of learning disabilities, contextual socialisation, empowerment, conflict management, transforming capability and interprofessional reflection on action. The researcher suggests that the framework may offer clinical leaders in learning disabilities and a range of other practice settings a tool to facilitate individual practitioner development, enabling as it does, the identification of a range of critical factors which impact on the outcomes of interprofessional practice intervention.

Congratulating the six-time Defending Mid-American Conference Champion Bowling Green State University women's basketball team on another outstanding and record-setting season.

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Rep. Latta, Robert E. [R-OH-5

2010-03-25

House - 04/30/2010 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Extreme Trust Region Policy Optimization for Active Object Recognition.

PubMed

Liu, Huaping; Wu, Yupei; Sun, Fuchun; Huaping Liu; Yupei Wu; Fuchun Sun; Sun, Fuchun; Liu, Huaping; Wu, Yupei

2018-06-01

In this brief, we develop a deep reinforcement learning method to actively recognize objects by choosing a sequence of actions for an active camera that helps to discriminate between the objects. The method is realized using trust region policy optimization, in which the policy is realized by an extreme learning machine and, therefore, leads to efficient optimization algorithm. The experimental results on the publicly available data set show the advantages of the developed extreme trust region optimization method.

Action Learning at Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mumford, Alan, Ed.

This book contains 34 papers examining the theory, process, and outcomes of action learning at work. The following papers are included: "An Introduction to the Text" (Alan Mumford); "The Learning Equation" (Reg Revans); "Action Learning as a Vehicle for Learning" (Alan Mumford); "Placing Action Learning and…

Adaptive planning for applications with dynamic objectives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hadavi, Khosrow; Hsu, Wen-Ling; Pinedo, Michael

1992-01-01

We devise a qualitative control layer to be integrated into a real-time multi-agent reactive planner. The reactive planning system consists of distributed planning agents attending to various perspectives of the task environment. Each perspective corresponds to an objective. The set of objectives considered are sometimes in conflict with each other. Each agent receives information about events as they occur, and a set of actions based on heuristics can be taken by the agents. Within the qualitative control scheme, we use a set of qualitative feature vectors to describe the effects of applying actions. A qualitative transition vector is used to denote the qualitative distance between the current state and the target state. We will then apply on-line learning at the qualitative control level to achieve adaptive planning. Our goal is to design a mechanism to refine the heuristics used by the reactive planner every time an action is taken toward achieving the objectives, using feedback from the results of the actions. When the outcome is compared with expectations, our prior objectives may be modified and a new set of objectives (or a new assessment of the relative importance of the different objectives) can be introduced. Because we are able to obtain better estimates of the time-varying objectives, the reactive strategies can be improved and better prediction can be achieved.

Feedback in action within bedside teaching encounters: a video ethnographic study.

PubMed

Rizan, Chantelle; Elsey, Christopher; Lemon, Thomas; Grant, Andrew; Monrouxe, Lynn V

2014-09-01

Feedback associated with teaching activities is often synonymous with reflection on action, which comprises the evaluative assessment of performance out of its original context. Feedback in action (as correction during clinical encounters) is an underexplored, complementary resource facilitating students' understanding and learning. The purpose of this study was to explore the interactional patterns and correction modalities utilised in feedback sequences between doctors and students within general practice-based bedside teaching encounters (BTEs). A qualitative video ethnographic approach was used. Participants were recorded in their natural settings to allow interactional practices to be contextually explored. We examined 12 BTEs recorded across four general practices and involving 12 patients, four general practitioners and four medical students (209 minutes and 20 seconds of data) taken from a larger corpus. Data analysis was facilitated by Transana video analysis software and informed by previous conversation analysis research in ordinary conversation, classrooms and health care settings. A range of correction strategies across a spectrum of underlying explicitness were identified. Correction strategies classified at extreme poles of this scale (high or low explicitness) were believed to be less interactionally effective. For example, those using abrupt closing of topics (high explicitness) or interactional ambiguity (low explicitness) were thought to be less effective than embedded correction strategies that enabled the student to reach the correct answer with support. We believe that educators who are explicitly taught linguistic strategies for how to manage feedback in BTEs might manage learning more effectively. For example, clinicians might maximise learning moments during BTEs by avoiding abrupt or ambiguous feedback practices. Embedded correction strategies can enhance student participation by guiding students towards the correct answer. Clinician corrections can sensitively manage student face-saving by minimising the exposure of student error to patients. Furthermore, we believe that the effective practices highlighted by our analysis might facilitate successful transformation of feedback in action into feedback for action. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Notes toward a Philosophy of Action Learning Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coghlan, David; Coughlan, Paul

2010-01-01

The philosophical foundations of action learning research have not received a great deal of attention. In the context of action learning postgraduate and professional programmes in universities, articulation of a philosophy of action learning research seems timely and appropriate. This article explores a philosophy of action learning research,…

Popular Education for the Environment: Building Interest in the Educational Dimension of Social Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whelan, James

2005-01-01

Community-based environmental education is an important part of the sustainability project. Along with regulation and market-based instruments, adult learning and education in non-formal settings consistently features in the sustainability strategies advocated and implemented by government, community and industry entities. Community-situated…

Playing To Learn: A Community Outreach Framework in Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganzert, Robin; Helms, Allen

1998-01-01

Describes a partnership between Wake Forest University's graduate school of management and an elementary school that resulted in the development of a computer simulation game that integrated technology into the fifth-grade curriculum via a business simulation where players set up and run their own dinosaur amusement park. (LRW)

Young Children's Block Play and Mathematical Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Boyoung; Chae, Jeong-Lim; Boyd, Barbara Foulks

2008-01-01

This qualitative study investigated young children's mathematical engagement in play with wooden unit blocks. Two boys, ages 6 and 7, were independently observed completing the task of filling outlined regions with the various sets of blocks. Three major mathematical actions were observed: categorizing geometric shapes, composing a larger shape…

Teachers' Plans for Managing Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittman, Sherry I.

A study of three first grade teachers, who were interviewed and observed in the classroom setting, demonstrates a link between teachers' plans for action that they have developed over years of teaching and their routine management of students during reading. Both management and instructional goals, embedded in teacher beliefs about learning and…

Ode to Sparklepony: Gamification in Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sierra, Wendi; Stedman, Kyle D.

2012-01-01

Games are becoming increasingly prevalent in education, both in traditional school settings and beyond. In this Disputatio webtext, we look specifically at one application of games for pedagogical use: gamification. Rather than introducing a pre-existing game into the learning spaces, gamification adds elements of games into educational (or other)…

Assisting Learners with Special Needs in a Regular Classroom at a Parochial School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehens, Cynthia; Gates, Jill

This action research study was designed to improve the academic performance of students with special needs in two elementary school classrooms in a parochial school setting. Cooperative learning and curriculum modifications were selected as interventions. Cooperative groups were formed which emphasized teamwork and communication with assigned…

How Can Action Learning Contribute to Social Capital?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedler, Mike; Attwood, Margaret

2011-01-01

This paper explores the contribution that action learning can make to the formation of social capital via experiences of action learning projects in NHS Pathology Services in the UK. The paper describes the development of action learning practice in recent years, reviews the notion of social capital and considers how action learning might…

Changing practice in residential aged care using participatory methods.

PubMed

Lindeman, M A; Black, K; Smith, R; Gough, J; Bryce, A; Gilsenan, B; Hill, K; Stewart, A

2003-03-01

Residential aged care staff play a significant role in the day-to-day lives of residents yet are faced with many barriers to providing care that promotes resident wellbeing. Action research is a useful approach for clarifying issues, identifying education and training needs, and identifying, and in some cases overcoming, organizational barriers to change. The Well for Life project aimed to enhance the social and physical health and well being of residents of aged care settings by empowering the staff of facilities to make change. The project had a particular focus on nutrition and physical activity. This paper reports on the action research group process undertaken during Phase I of the Well for Life project. Five residential aged care settings participated in the action research process facilitated by project staff independent of the facilities. The action plan and outcomes from one of these settings is used to illustrate the process and outcomes. The main findings of the project indicate that using a process that encourages staff involvement in identification of issues and actions can facilitate change in the practice of resident care. The action research groups identified specific gaps in knowledge and skill leading to targeted education that addressed areas of need. The importance of presenting information and learning opportunities for staff in a variety of formats was also recognized, as was the importance of organizational context, management support and empowerment of staff to make change.

Learning models of Human-Robot Interaction from small data

PubMed Central

Zehfroosh, Ashkan; Kokkoni, Elena; Tanner, Herbert G.; Heinz, Jeffrey

2018-01-01

This paper offers a new approach to learning discrete models for human-robot interaction (HRI) from small data. In the motivating application, HRI is an integral part of a pediatric rehabilitation paradigm that involves a play-based, social environment aiming at improving mobility for infants with mobility impairments. Designing interfaces in this setting is challenging, because in order to harness, and eventually automate, the social interaction between children and robots, a behavioral model capturing the causality between robot actions and child reactions is needed. The paper adopts a Markov decision process (MDP) as such a model, and selects the transition probabilities through an empirical approximation procedure called smoothing. Smoothing has been successfully applied in natural language processing (NLP) and identification where, similarly to the current paradigm, learning from small data sets is crucial. The goal of this paper is two-fold: (i) to describe our application of HRI, and (ii) to provide evidence that supports the application of smoothing for small data sets. PMID:29492408

Learning models of Human-Robot Interaction from small data.

PubMed

Zehfroosh, Ashkan; Kokkoni, Elena; Tanner, Herbert G; Heinz, Jeffrey

2017-07-01

This paper offers a new approach to learning discrete models for human-robot interaction (HRI) from small data. In the motivating application, HRI is an integral part of a pediatric rehabilitation paradigm that involves a play-based, social environment aiming at improving mobility for infants with mobility impairments. Designing interfaces in this setting is challenging, because in order to harness, and eventually automate, the social interaction between children and robots, a behavioral model capturing the causality between robot actions and child reactions is needed. The paper adopts a Markov decision process (MDP) as such a model, and selects the transition probabilities through an empirical approximation procedure called smoothing. Smoothing has been successfully applied in natural language processing (NLP) and identification where, similarly to the current paradigm, learning from small data sets is crucial. The goal of this paper is two-fold: (i) to describe our application of HRI, and (ii) to provide evidence that supports the application of smoothing for small data sets.

Setting strategy for system change: using concept mapping to prioritise national action for chronic disease prevention.

PubMed

Wutzke, Sonia; Roberts, Nick; Willis, Cameron; Best, Allan; Wilson, Andrew; Trochim, William

2017-08-08

Chronic diseases are a serious and urgent problem, requiring at-scale, multi-component, multi-stakeholder action and cooperation. Despite numerous national frameworks and agenda-setting documents to coordinate prevention efforts, Australia, like many countries internationally, is yet to substantively impact the burden from chronic disease. Improved evidence on effective strategies for the prevention of chronic disease is required. This research sought to articulate a priority set of important and feasible action domains to inform future discussion and debate regarding priority areas for chronic disease prevention policy and strategy. Using concept mapping, a mixed-methods approach to making use of the best available tacit knowledge of recognised, diverse and well-experienced actors, and national actions to improve the prevention of chronic disease in Australia were identified and then mapped. Participants (ranging from 58 to 78 in the various stages of the research) included a national sample of academics, policymakers and practitioners. Data collection involved the generation and sorting of statements by participants. A series of visual representations of the data were then developed. A total of 95 statements were distilled into 12 clusters for action, namely Inter-Sectoral Partnerships; Systems Perspective/Action; Governance; Roles and Responsibilities; Evidence, Feedback and Learning; Funding and Incentive; Creating Demand; Primary Prevention; Social Determinants and Equity; Healthy Environments; Food and Nutrition; and Regulation and Policy. Specific areas for more immediate national action included refocusing the health system to prevention over cure, raising the profile of public health with health decision-makers, funding policy- and practice-relevant research, improving communication about prevention, learning from both global best-practice and domestic successes and failures, increasing the focus on primary prevention, and developing a long-term prevention strategy with an explicit funding commitment. Preventing chronic diseases and their risk factors will require at-scale, multi-component, multi-stakeholder action and cooperation. The concept mapping procedures used in this research have enabled the synthesis of views across different stakeholders, bringing both divergent and convergent perspectives to light, and collectively creating signals for where to prioritise national action. Previous national strategies for chronic disease prevention have not collated the tacit knowledge of diverse actors in the prevention of chronic disease in this structured way.

Incorporating gender, equity, and human rights into the action planning process: moving from rhetoric to action

PubMed Central

Sridharan, Sanjeev; Maplazi, Joanna; Shirodkar, Apurva; Richardson, Emma; Nakaima, April

2016-01-01

Background Mainstreaming of gender, equity, and human rights (GER) is an important focus of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN organizations. This paper explores the role of action plans in mainstreaming GER. This paper is informed by a theory-driven evaluation lens. Design A theory of change framework explored the following seven dimensions of how action plans can implement mainstreaming of GER: awareness of the foundations of GER; understanding of context; planning to impact GER; implementation for GER; monitoring, evaluation, and learning; planning for sustainability; agenda setting and buy-in. The seven dimensions were used to analyze the action plans. Reviewers also explored innovations within each of the action plans for the seven dimensions. Results GER mainstreaming is more prominent in the foundation, background, and planning components of the plan but becomes less so along the theory of change including implementation; monitoring and evaluation; sustainability; and agenda setting and buy-in. Conclusions Our analysis demonstrates that much more can be done to incorporate GER considerations into the action planning process. Nine specific recommendations are identified for WHO and other organizations. A theory-driven approach as described in the paper is potentially helpful for developing clarity by which action plans can help with mainstreaming GER considerations. PMID:27606968

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, Carrie; LaRue, Anna; Pigman, Margaret

As more and more zero net energy (ZNE) buildings are built and monitored, we can learn from both careful case studies of individual projects as well as a broader perspective of trends over time. In a forum sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), eight expert speakers discussed: results and lessons from monitoring occupied ZNE buildings; best practices for setting performance targets and getting actionable performance information, and; things that have surprised them about monitored ZNE buildings. This paper distills the content of the forum by laying out the most common hurdles that are encountered in setting up monitoringmore » projects, frequent performance issues that the monitoring uncovers, and lessons learned that can be applied to future projects.« less

Aboriginal parent support: A partnership approach.

PubMed

Munns, Ailsa; Toye, Christine; Hegney, Desley; Kickett, Marion; Marriott, Rhonda; Walker, Roz

2018-02-01

This study was positioned within a larger action research study relating to a peer-led Aboriginal home visiting parent support program in an urban Western Australian setting. The aims for this study component were to identify program elements, exploring participants' perceptions of the program's suitability, feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness to inform program model recommendations and add to the body of knowledge on effective Aboriginal peer-led program models. The ability of Aboriginal parents to develop positive family environments is crucial, with parent support needing to be reflexive to local needs and sociocultural influences. Culturally appropriate service provision needs meaningful and acceptable strategies. This study was situated within a critical paradigm supporting Participatory Action Research methodology, using Action Learning Sets as the participant engagement and data collection setting. Within ten Action Learning Sets, focus group interviews were carried out with Aboriginal peer support workers, a non-Aboriginal parent support worker, an Aboriginal program coordinator, an Aboriginal education support officer and non-Aboriginal program managers (n = 8), and individual interviews with parents (n = 2) and community agencies (n = 4). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Five themes were derived from peer support worker and community agency cohorts: peer support worker home visiting skills; responding to impacts of social determinants of health; client support and engagement; interagency collaboration; and issues addressing program sustainability. Parent responses augmented these themes. Participants identified five key elements relating to peer-led home visiting support for Aboriginal parents. These are uniquely placed to inform ongoing program development as there is little additional evidence in wider national and international contexts. Engagement with communities and peer support workers to develop culturally relevant partnerships with Aboriginal families is integral to contemporary child health practice. Ongoing nurse support is needed for peer support worker role development. Indigenous Australian peoples are people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Respectfully, throughout this paper, they will be described as Aboriginal. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Action observation as a tool for neurorehabilitation to moderate motor deficits and aphasia following stroke

PubMed Central

Ertelt, Denis; Binkofski, Ferdinand

2012-01-01

The mirror neuron system consists of a set of brain areas capable of matching action observation with action execution. One core feature of the mirror neuron system is the activation of motor areas by action observation alone. This unique capacity of the mirror neuron system to match action perception and action execution stimulated the idea that mirror neuron system plays a crucial role in the understanding of the content of observed actions and may participate in procedural learning. These features bear a high potential for neurorehabilitation of motor deficits and of aphasia following stroke. Since the first articles exploring this principle were published, a growing number of follow-up studies have been conducted in the last decade. Though, the combination of action observation with practice of the observed actions seems to constitute the most powerful approach. In the present review, we present the existing studies analyzing the effects of this neurorehabilitative approach in clinical settings especially in the rehabilitation of stroke associated motor deficits and give a perspective on the ongoing trials by our research group. The data obtained up to date showed significant positive effect of action observation on recovery of motor functions of the upper limbs even in the chronic state after stroke, indicating that our approach might become a new standardized add-on feature of modern neurorehabilitative treatment schemes. PMID:25624838

Good Practices for Learning to Recognize Actions Using FV and VLAD.

PubMed

Wu, Jianxin; Zhang, Yu; Lin, Weiyao

2016-12-01

High dimensional representations such as Fisher vectors (FV) and vectors of locally aggregated descriptors (VLAD) have shown state-of-the-art accuracy for action recognition in videos. The high dimensionality, on the other hand, also causes computational difficulties when scaling up to large-scale video data. This paper makes three lines of contributions to learning to recognize actions using high dimensional representations. First, we reviewed several existing techniques that improve upon FV or VLAD in image classification, and performed extensive empirical evaluations to assess their applicability for action recognition. Our analyses of these empirical results show that normality and bimodality are essential to achieve high accuracy. Second, we proposed a new pooling strategy for VLAD and three simple, efficient, and effective transformations for both FV and VLAD. Both proposed methods have shown higher accuracy than the original FV/VLAD method in extensive evaluations. Third, we proposed and evaluated new feature selection and compression methods for the FV and VLAD representations. This strategy uses only 4% of the storage of the original representation, but achieves comparable or even higher accuracy. Based on these contributions, we recommend a set of good practices for action recognition in videos for practitioners in this field.

Gaining a Competitive Edge through Action Design Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexa, L.; Alexa, M.; Avasilcăi, S.

2016-08-01

The current business environment is characterized by increased competition and highly innovative approach, in order to create products and services to better respond to the costumers’ needs and expectations. In this specific context, the research approaches need to be more flexible and business oriented and so, throughout the paper we have used a research method that combines design research and action research, named Action Design Research which is a research method used for generating prescriptive design knowledge through building and evaluating IT artifacts in an organizational setting [1]. Following the Action Design Research stages and principles: problem identification, building, intervention and evaluation, reflection and learning and formalization of learning, the research team has developed an online instrument used to actively involve the consumer in the product development process, in order to generate a better consumers insight regarding their needs and desires and to design and/or adjust the product accordingly. The customer engagement IT tool created and tested by using Action Design Research, E-PICUS, has been developed within the framework of the research project „E-solutions for innovation through customer pro-active involvement in value creation to increase organisational competitiveness (E-PICUS)”, PN- II-PT-PCCA-2013-4-1811, currently undergoing.

Action learning across the decades.

PubMed

Eason, Ken

2017-05-02

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how action learning concepts were used in two healthcare projects undertaken many decades apart. The specific purpose in both cases was to examine how action learning can contribute to shared learning across key stakeholders in a complex socio-technical system. In each case study, action learning supported joint design programmes and the sharing of perspectives about the complex system under investigation. Design/methodology/approach Two action learning projects are described: first, the Hospital Internal Communications (HIC) project led by Reg Revans in the 1960s. Senior staff in ten London hospitals formed action learning teams to address communication issues. Second, in the Better Outcomes for People with Learning Disabilities: Transforming Care (BOLDTC) project, videoconferencing equipment enabled people with learning disabilities to increase their opportunities to communicate. A mutual learning process was established to enable stakeholders to explore the potential of the technical system to improve individual care. Findings The HIC project demonstrated the importance of evidence being shared between team members and that action had to engage the larger healthcare system outside the hospital. The BOLDTC project confirmed the continuing relevance of action learning to healthcare today. Mutual learning was achieved between health and social care specialists and technologists. Originality/value This work draws together the socio-technical systems tradition (considering both social and technical issues in organisations) and action learning to demonstrate that complex systems development needs to be undertaken as a learning process in which action provides the fuel for learning and design.

Children's Representation and Imitation of Events: How Goal Organization Influences 3-Year-Old Children's Memory for Action Sequences.

PubMed

Loucks, Jeff; Mutschler, Christina; Meltzoff, Andrew N

2017-09-01

Children's imitation of adults plays a prominent role in human cognitive development. However, few studies have investigated how children represent the complex structure of observed actions which underlies their imitation. We integrate theories of action segmentation, memory, and imitation to investigate whether children's event representation is organized according to veridical serial order or a higher level goal structure. Children were randomly assigned to learn novel event sequences either through interactive hands-on experience (Study 1) or via storybook (Study 2). Results demonstrate that children's representation of observed actions is organized according to higher level goals, even at the cost of representing the veridical temporal ordering of the sequence. We argue that prioritizing goal structure enhances event memory, and that this mental organization is a key mechanism of social-cognitive development in real-world, dynamic environments. It supports cultural learning and imitation in ecologically valid settings when social agents are multitasking and not demonstrating one isolated goal at a time. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Implementing service improvement projects within pre-registration nursing education: a multi-method case study evaluation.

PubMed

Baillie, Lesley; Bromley, Barbara; Walker, Moira; Jones, Rebecca; Mhlanga, Fortune

2014-01-01

Preparing healthcare students for quality and service improvement is important internationally. A United Kingdom (UK) initiative aims to embed service improvement in pre-registration education. A UK university implemented service improvement teaching for all nursing students. In addition, the degree pathway students conducted service improvement projects as the basis for their dissertations. The study aimed to evaluate the implementation of service improvement projects within a pre-registration nursing curriculum. A multi-method case study was conducted, using student questionnaires, focus groups with students and academic staff, and observation of action learning sets. Questionnaire data were analysed using SPSS v19. Qualitative data were analysed using Ritchie and Spencer's (1994) Framework Approach. Students were very positive about service improvement. The degree students, who conducted service improvement projects in practice, felt more knowledgeable than advanced diploma students. Selecting the project focus was a key issue and students encountered some challenges in practice. Support for student service improvement projects came from action learning sets, placement staff, and academic staff. Service improvement projects had a positive effect on students' learning. An effective partnership between the university and partner healthcare organisations, and support for students in practice, is essential. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-organizing neural integration of pose-motion features for human action recognition

PubMed Central

Parisi, German I.; Weber, Cornelius; Wermter, Stefan

2015-01-01

The visual recognition of complex, articulated human movements is fundamental for a wide range of artificial systems oriented toward human-robot communication, action classification, and action-driven perception. These challenging tasks may generally involve the processing of a huge amount of visual information and learning-based mechanisms for generalizing a set of training actions and classifying new samples. To operate in natural environments, a crucial property is the efficient and robust recognition of actions, also under noisy conditions caused by, for instance, systematic sensor errors and temporarily occluded persons. Studies of the mammalian visual system and its outperforming ability to process biological motion information suggest separate neural pathways for the distinct processing of pose and motion features at multiple levels and the subsequent integration of these visual cues for action perception. We present a neurobiologically-motivated approach to achieve noise-tolerant action recognition in real time. Our model consists of self-organizing Growing When Required (GWR) networks that obtain progressively generalized representations of sensory inputs and learn inherent spatio-temporal dependencies. During the training, the GWR networks dynamically change their topological structure to better match the input space. We first extract pose and motion features from video sequences and then cluster actions in terms of prototypical pose-motion trajectories. Multi-cue trajectories from matching action frames are subsequently combined to provide action dynamics in the joint feature space. Reported experiments show that our approach outperforms previous results on a dataset of full-body actions captured with a depth sensor, and ranks among the best results for a public benchmark of domestic daily actions. PMID:26106323

Gesture as Representational Action: A paper about function

PubMed Central

Novack, Miriam A.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2016-01-01

A great deal of attention has recently been paid to gesture and its effects on thinking and learning. It is well established that the hand movements that accompany speech are an integral part of communication, ubiquitous across cultures, and a unique feature of human behavior. In an attempt to understand this intriguing phenomenon, researchers have focused on pinpointing the mechanisms that underlie gesture production. One proposal—that gesture arises from simulated action (see Hostetter & Alibali, 2008)—has opened up discussions about action, gesture, and the relation between the two. However, there is another side to understanding a phenomenon, and that is to understand its function. A phenomenon’s function is its purpose rather than its precipitating cause—the why rather than the how. This paper sets forth a theoretical framework for exploring why gesture serves the functions that it does, and reviews where the current literature fits, and fails to fit, this proposal. Our framework proposes that whether or not gesture is simulated action in terms of its mechanism—it is clearly not reducible to action in terms of its function. Most notably, because gestures are abstracted representations and are not actions tied to particular events and objects, they can play a powerful role in thinking and learning beyond the particular, specifically, in supporting generalization and transfer of knowledge. PMID:27604493

Building a community of practice for sustainability: strengthening learning and collective action of Canadian biosphere reserves through a national partnership.

PubMed

Reed, Maureen G; Godmaire, Hélène; Abernethy, Paivi; Guertin, Marc-André

2014-12-01

Deliberation, dialogue and systematic learning are now considered attributes of good practice for organizations seeking to advance sustainability. Yet we do not know whether organizations that span spatial scales and governance responsibilities can establish effective communities of practice to facilitate learning and action. The purpose of this paper is to generate a framework that specifies actions and processes of a community of practice designed to instill collective learning and action strategies across a multi-level, multi-partner network. The framework is then used to describe and analyze a partnership among practitioners of Canada's 16 UNESCO biosphere reserves, and additional researchers and government representatives from across Canada. The framework is a cycle of seven action steps, beginning and ending with reflecting on and evaluating present practice. It is supported by seven characteristics of collaborative environmental management that are used to gauge the success of the partnership. Our results show that the partnership successfully built trust, established shared norms and common interest, created incentives to participate, generated value in information sharing and willingness to engage, demonstrated effective flow of information, and provided leadership and facilitation. Key to success was the presence of a multi-lingual facilitator who could bridge cultural differences across regions and academia-practitioner expectations. The project succeeded in establishing common goals, setting mutual expectations and building relations of trust and respect, and co-creating knowledge. It is too soon to determine whether changes in practices that support sustainability will be maintained over the long term and without the help of an outside facilitator. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dance experience sculpts aesthetic perception and related brain circuits

PubMed Central

Kirsch, Louise P; Dawson, Kelvin; Cross, Emily S

2015-01-01

Previous research on aesthetic preferences demonstrates that people are more likely to judge a stimulus as pleasing if it is familiar. Although general familiarity and liking are related, it is less clear how motor familiarity, or embodiment, relates to a viewer's aesthetic appraisal. This study directly compared how learning to embody an action impacts the neural response when watching and aesthetically evaluating the same action. Twenty-two participants trained for 4 days on dance sequences. Each day they physically rehearsed one set of sequences, passively watched a second set, listened to the music of a third set, and a fourth set remained untrained. Functional MRI was obtained prior to and immediately following the training period, as were affective and physical ability ratings for each dance sequence. This approach enabled precise comparison of self-report methods of embodiment with nonbiased, empirical measures of action performance. Results suggest that after experience, participants most enjoy watching those dance sequences they danced or observed. Moreover, brain regions involved in mediating the aesthetic response shift from subcortical regions associated with dopaminergic reward processing to posterior temporal regions involved in processing multisensory integration, emotion, and biological motion. PMID:25773627

Bringing Action Reflection Learning into Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rimanoczy, Isabel; Brown, Carole

2008-01-01

This paper introduces Action Reflection Learning (ARL) as a learning methodology that can contribute to, and enrich, the practice of action learning programs. It describes the Swedish constructivist origins of the model, its evolution and the coded responses that resulted from researching the practice. The paper presents the resulting sixteen ARL…

Development of hierarchical structures for actions and motor imagery: a constructivist view from synthetic neuro-robotics study.

PubMed

Nishimoto, Ryunosuke; Tani, Jun

2009-07-01

The current paper shows a neuro-robotics experiment on developmental learning of goal-directed actions. The robot was trained to predict visuo-proprioceptive flow of achieving a set of goal-directed behaviors through iterative tutor training processes. The learning was conducted by employing a dynamic neural network model which is characterized by their multiple time-scale dynamics. The experimental results showed that functional hierarchical structures emerge through stages of developments where behavior primitives are generated in earlier stages and their sequences of achieving goals appear in later stages. It was also observed that motor imagery is generated in earlier stages compared to actual behaviors. Our claim that manipulatable inner representation should emerge through the sensory-motor interactions is corresponded to Piaget's constructivist view.

Beyond adaptive-critic creative learning for intelligent mobile robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Xiaoqun; Cao, Ming; Hall, Ernest L.

2001-10-01

Intelligent industrial and mobile robots may be considered proven technology in structured environments. Teach programming and supervised learning methods permit solutions to a variety of applications. However, we believe that to extend the operation of these machines to more unstructured environments requires a new learning method. Both unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning are potential candidates for these new tasks. The adaptive critic method has been shown to provide useful approximations or even optimal control policies to non-linear systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of new learning methods that goes beyond the adaptive critic method for unstructured environments. The adaptive critic is a form of reinforcement learning. A critic element provides only high level grading corrections to a cognition module that controls the action module. In the proposed system the critic's grades are modeled and forecasted, so that an anticipated set of sub-grades are available to the cognition model. The forecasting grades are interpolated and are available on the time scale needed by the action model. The success of the system is highly dependent on the accuracy of the forecasted grades and adaptability of the action module. Examples from the guidance of a mobile robot are provided to illustrate the method for simple line following and for the more complex navigation and control in an unstructured environment. The theory presented that is beyond the adaptive critic may be called creative theory. Creative theory is a form of learning that models the highest level of human learning - imagination. The application of the creative theory appears to not only be to mobile robots but also to many other forms of human endeavor such as educational learning and business forecasting. Reinforcement learning such as the adaptive critic may be applied to known problems to aid in the discovery of their solutions. The significance of creative theory is that it permits the discovery of the unknown problems, ones that are not yet recognized but may be critical to survival or success.

Research-based active-learning instruction in physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meltzer, David E.; Thornton, Ronald K.

2013-04-01

The development of research-based active-learning instructional methods in physics has significantly altered the landscape of U.S. physics education during the past 20 years. Based on a recent review [D.E. Meltzer and R.K. Thornton, Am. J. Phys. 80, 478 (2012)], we define these methods as those (1) explicitly based on research in the learning and teaching of physics, (2) that incorporate classroom and/or laboratory activities that require students to express their thinking through speaking, writing, or other actions that go beyond listening and the copying of notes, or execution of prescribed procedures, and (3) that have been tested repeatedly in actual classroom settings and have yielded objective evidence of improved student learning. We describe some key features common to methods in current use. These features focus on (a) recognizing and addressing students' physics ideas, and (b) guiding students to solve problems in realistic physical settings, in novel and diverse contexts, and to justify or explain the reasoning they have used.

The Scene of the Crime: Classroom Integration of Biosafety, Microscopy & Forensics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Michelle L.; Novakofski, Jan; Green, Ryan W.; Manjerovic, Mary Beth; Mateus-Pinilla, Nohra

2014-01-01

Providing both introductory information and biosecurity protocols in laboratory, farm, and field settings is central to student learning and safety. However, even when clear protocols are provided, students do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. We present a crime scene that requires evidence investigation to improve basic…

Plays Well with Others: A Study of EFL Learner Reciprocity in Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozkose-Biyik, Cagri; Meskill, Carla

2015-01-01

Classroom observation studies suggest that the teacher-calculus is complex and sensitive to learner behaviors. In language education, this becomes particularly important due to strong emphasis on productive interpersonal interaction. This study set out to understand what constitutes positive learning behaviors in an EFL context. The construct of…

Negligence Liability of K-12 Chemistry Teachers: The Need for Legal Balance and Responsible Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zirkel, Perry A.; Barnes, Marianne B.

2011-01-01

The science education community promotes inquiry teaching and learning enhanced by the school laboratory experience, and this emphasis is reflected in state and national science education standards. However, science teachers, especially those in chemistry settings, have been known to avoid laboratory activities because of fear of legal liability…

Leveraging Lighting Color, Temperature and Luminosity for Improving Classroom Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mott, Michael Seth; Thomas, Teresa R.; Burnette, Jodie L.

2013-01-01

This short article addresses a preliminary exploration of a third grade teachers' action research applied to the use of a dynamic lighting system for improving educational performance in the classroom. Dynamic lighting offers teachers' four light settings: focus, energy, calm, and normal. Prior research has revealed a positive relationship between…

Partial and Incomplete Voices: The Political and Three Early Childhood Teachers' Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Linda

2014-01-01

The early childhood-school relationship is reported as having points of separation and difference. In particular, early childhood teachers located in a school setting report experiencing a push-down effect. This paper reports on a participatory action research project involving three early childhood teachers working within an independent school.…

Implementing Constructivist Approach into Online Course Designs in Distance Education Institute at Eastern Mediterranean University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gazi, Zehra A.

2009-01-01

Change and development in work settings for better working practice through projects has become essential. And, in this context, learning through working practice is constructed by participatory action research. This work-based research has a significant role to contribute innovative practice of Distance Education Institute at Eastern…

Training Transfer: A Suggested Course of Action for Local Authorities to Leverage Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ascher, Jacques

2013-01-01

Maximization of training influence on individual performance through changes in employee knowledge, skills, and abilities is a paramount concern of organizations. However, training without implementation in a work setting cannot achieve its goals. In this article, the author maps the primary factors that influence transfer of what is learned in…

Strategies to Increase Participation in Cooperative Learning Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maher, Laura

2010-01-01

This action research examines how focused organization, group roles, and gender grouping impact student participation when working in a cooperative group setting. Fifty-two sixth graders were studied for a period of nine weeks. Results show when students are organized in their cooperative groups, there will be an increase in student participation.…

Empirical grounding of the nature of scientific inquiry: A study of developing researchers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stucky, Amy Preece

This work uses grounded theory methodology for developing theory about the nature of authentic scientific inquiry that occurs on a day-to-day basis in an academic research laboratory. Symbolic interaction and situated learning provide a theoretical framework. Data were collected from field notes, over 100 hours of videotape of researchers working in a chemical research laboratory, and interviews with participants. The phenomena of a research laboratory suggest that authentic daily work stretches scientists in three learning modalities: cognitive, affective and motivational beliefs and goals, which influence action to promote learning. A laboratory's line of research is divided into individual, thematic projects. Researchers are enabled in a specialized laboratory environment with sets of unique artifacts, substances, people and theoretical concepts to facilitate production of significant research goals. The work itself consists of chemical and mechanical processes facilitated by human actions, appropriate mental states, and theoretical explanations. The cognitive, affective (emotional), and conative (motivational) stretching then leads to explicit learning as well as implicit learning in the gain of experience and tacit knowledge. Implications of these findings about the nature of authentic scientific research on a day-to-day basis are applied to inquiry in science education in undergraduate and graduate education.

Experimental evidence for action imitation in killer whales (Orcinus orca).

PubMed

Abramson, José Z; Hernández-Lloreda, Victoria; Call, Josep; Colmenares, Fernando

2013-01-01

Comparative experimental studies of imitative learning have focused mainly on primates and birds. However, cetaceans are promising candidates to display imitative learning as they have evolved in socioecological settings that have selected for large brains, complex sociality, and coordinated predatory tactics. Here we tested imitative learning in killer whales, Orcinus orca. We used a 'do-as-other-does' paradigm in which 3 subjects witnessed a conspecific demonstrator's performance that included 15 familiar and 4 novel behaviours. The three subjects (1) learned the copy command signal 'Do that' very quickly, that is, 20 trials on average; (2) copied 100 % of the demonstrator's familiar and novel actions; (3) achieved full matches in the first attempt for 8-13 familiar behaviours (out of 15) and for the 2 novel behaviours (out of 2) in one subject; and (4) took no longer than 8 trials to accurately copy any familiar behaviour, and no longer than 16 trials to copy any novel behaviour. This study provides experimental evidence for body imitation, including production imitation, in killer whales that is comparable to that observed in dolphins tested under similar conditions. These findings suggest that imitative learning may underpin some of the group-specific traditions reported in killer whales in the field.

Entrepreneurial Learning through Action: A Case Study of the Six-Squared Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittaway, Luke; Missing, Caroline; Hudson, Nigel; Maragh, Dean

2009-01-01

This paper explores the role of "action" in entrepreneurial learning and illustrates how programs designed to support action learning can enhance management development in entrepreneurial businesses. The paper begins by exploring action learning and the way "action" is conceived in different types of program. In the second part, the paper details…

Enhancing Postgraduate Learning and Development: A Participatory Action Learning and Action Research Approach through Conferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Lesley; Louw, Ina; Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun

2017-01-01

As supervisors who advocate the transformational potential of research both to generate theory and practical and emancipatory outcomes, we practice participatory action learning and action research (PALAR). This paper offers an illustrative case of how supervision practices based on action learning can foster emancipatory and lifelong learning…

Dual learning processes underlying human decision-making in reversal learning tasks: functional significance and evidence from the model fit to human behavior

PubMed Central

Bai, Yu; Katahira, Kentaro; Ohira, Hideki

2014-01-01

Humans are capable of correcting their actions based on actions performed in the past, and this ability enables them to adapt to a changing environment. The computational field of reinforcement learning (RL) has provided a powerful explanation for understanding such processes. Recently, the dual learning system, modeled as a hybrid model that incorporates value update based on reward-prediction error and learning rate modulation based on the surprise signal, has gained attention as a model for explaining various neural signals. However, the functional significance of the hybrid model has not been established. In the present study, we used computer simulation in a reversal learning task to address functional significance in a probabilistic reversal learning task. The hybrid model was found to perform better than the standard RL model in a large parameter setting. These results suggest that the hybrid model is more robust against the mistuning of parameters compared with the standard RL model when decision-makers continue to learn stimulus-reward contingencies, which can create abrupt changes. The parameter fitting results also indicated that the hybrid model fit better than the standard RL model for more than 50% of the participants, which suggests that the hybrid model has more explanatory power for the behavioral data than the standard RL model. PMID:25161635

Serendipitous Offline Learning in a Neuromorphic Robot.

PubMed

Stewart, Terrence C; Kleinhans, Ashley; Mundy, Andrew; Conradt, Jörg

2016-01-01

We demonstrate a hybrid neuromorphic learning paradigm that learns complex sensorimotor mappings based on a small set of hard-coded reflex behaviors. A mobile robot is first controlled by a basic set of reflexive hand-designed behaviors. All sensor data is provided via a spike-based silicon retina camera (eDVS), and all control is implemented via spiking neurons simulated on neuromorphic hardware (SpiNNaker). Given this control system, the robot is capable of simple obstacle avoidance and random exploration. To train the robot to perform more complex tasks, we observe the robot and find instances where the robot accidentally performs the desired action. Data recorded from the robot during these times is then used to update the neural control system, increasing the likelihood of the robot performing that task in the future, given a similar sensor state. As an example application of this general-purpose method of training, we demonstrate the robot learning to respond to novel sensory stimuli (a mirror) by turning right if it is present at an intersection, and otherwise turning left. In general, this system can learn arbitrary relations between sensory input and motor behavior.

Action recognition using mined hierarchical compound features.

PubMed

Gilbert, Andrew; Illingworth, John; Bowden, Richard

2011-05-01

The field of Action Recognition has seen a large increase in activity in recent years. Much of the progress has been through incorporating ideas from single-frame object recognition and adapting them for temporal-based action recognition. Inspired by the success of interest points in the 2D spatial domain, their 3D (space-time) counterparts typically form the basic components used to describe actions, and in action recognition the features used are often engineered to fire sparsely. This is to ensure that the problem is tractable; however, this can sacrifice recognition accuracy as it cannot be assumed that the optimum features in terms of class discrimination are obtained from this approach. In contrast, we propose to initially use an overcomplete set of simple 2D corners in both space and time. These are grouped spatially and temporally using a hierarchical process, with an increasing search area. At each stage of the hierarchy, the most distinctive and descriptive features are learned efficiently through data mining. This allows large amounts of data to be searched for frequently reoccurring patterns of features. At each level of the hierarchy, the mined compound features become more complex, discriminative, and sparse. This results in fast, accurate recognition with real-time performance on high-resolution video. As the compound features are constructed and selected based upon their ability to discriminate, their speed and accuracy increase at each level of the hierarchy. The approach is tested on four state-of-the-art data sets, the popular KTH data set to provide a comparison with other state-of-the-art approaches, the Multi-KTH data set to illustrate performance at simultaneous multiaction classification, despite no explicit localization information provided during training. Finally, the recent Hollywood and Hollywood2 data sets provide challenging complex actions taken from commercial movie sequences. For all four data sets, the proposed hierarchical approach outperforms all other methods reported thus far in the literature and can achieve real-time operation.

Refining Linear Fuzzy Rules by Reinforcement Learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berenji, Hamid R.; Khedkar, Pratap S.; Malkani, Anil

1996-01-01

Linear fuzzy rules are increasingly being used in the development of fuzzy logic systems. Radial basis functions have also been used in the antecedents of the rules for clustering in product space which can automatically generate a set of linear fuzzy rules from an input/output data set. Manual methods are usually used in refining these rules. This paper presents a method for refining the parameters of these rules using reinforcement learning which can be applied in domains where supervised input-output data is not available and reinforcements are received only after a long sequence of actions. This is shown for a generalization of radial basis functions. The formation of fuzzy rules from data and their automatic refinement is an important step in closing the gap between the application of reinforcement learning methods in the domains where only some limited input-output data is available.

Linking Immersive Virtual Field Trips with an Adaptive Learning Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruce, G.; Taylor, W.; Anbar, A. D.; Semken, S. C.; Buxner, S.; Mead, C.; El-Moujaber, E.; Summons, R. E.; Oliver, C.

2016-12-01

The use of virtual environments in science education has been constrained by the difficulty of guiding a learner's actions within the those environments. In this work, we demonstrate how advances in education software technology allow educators to create interactive learning experiences that respond and adapt intelligently to learner input within the virtual environment. This innovative technology provides a far greater capacity for delivering authentic inquiry-driven educational experiences in unique settings from around the world. Our immersive virtual field trips (iVFT) bring students virtually to geologically significant but inaccessible environments, where they learn through authentic practices of scientific inquiry. In one recent example, students explore the fossil beds in Nilpena, South Australia to learn about the Ediacaran fauna. Students interactively engage in 360° recreations of the environment, uncover the nature of the historical ecosystem by identifying fossils with a dichotomous key, explore actual fossil beds in high resolution imagery, and reconstruct what an ecosystem might have looked like millions of years ago in an interactive simulation. With the new capacity to connect actions within the iVFT to an intelligent tutoring system, these learning experiences can be tracked, guided, and tailored individually to the immediate actions of the student. This new capacity also has great potential for learning designers to take a data-driven approach to lesson improvement and for education researchers to study learning in virtual environments. Thus, we expect iVFT will be fertile ground for novel research. Such iVFT are currently in use in several introductory classes offered online at Arizona State University in anthropology, introductory biology, and astrobiology, reaching thousands of students to date. Drawing from these experiences, we are designing a curriculum for historical geology that will be built around iVFT-based exploration of Earth history.

The Representation of Motor (Inter)action, States of Action, and Learning: Three Perspectives on Motor Learning by Way of Imagery and Execution

PubMed Central

Frank, Cornelia; Schack, Thomas

2017-01-01

Learning in intelligent systems is a result of direct and indirect interaction with the environment. While humans can learn by way of different states of (inter)action such as the execution or the imagery of an action, their unique potential to induce brain- and mind-related changes in the motor action system is still being debated. The systematic repetition of different states of action (e.g., physical and/or mental practice) and their contribution to the learning of complex motor actions has traditionally been approached by way of performance improvements. More recently, approaches highlighting the role of action representation in the learning of complex motor actions have evolved and may provide additional insight into the learning process. In the present perspective paper, we build on brain-related findings and sketch recent research on learning by way of imagery and execution from a hierarchical, perceptual-cognitive approach to motor control and learning. These findings provide insights into the learning of intelligent systems from a perceptual-cognitive, representation-based perspective and as such add to our current understanding of action representation in memory and its changes with practice. Future research should build bridges between approaches in order to more thoroughly understand functional changes throughout the learning process and to facilitate motor learning, which may have particular importance for cognitive systems research in robotics, rehabilitation, and sports. PMID:28588510

An action research study of secondary science assessment praxes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryan, Thomas Gerald

This practical participatory action research study illuminates the assessment praxes of four Ontario secondary level science teachers at one school using a facilitative approach. Participants were joined by a thematic concern, that is, a commitment to inform and improve assessment. Hence, two distinct sets of research questions emerged. The first involves the nature of assessment as we asked, what was the current state of assessment practice in secondary science? What were participants' initial understandings of assessment and actual practices at the onset of this research? To what extent did these initial understandings and actual practices change due to the illumination of assessment praxes through action research involvement? What was their level of awareness of current Ontario government pronouncements and in what ways did they implement this knowledge? The second theme, concerning the nature of action research, was realised by asking what did participants learn about action research? What other learning and professional gains were realised during this study? And, what did I learn about action research and assessment through my involvement in this study? Data were collected via supportive discussion groups, individual interviews, classroom visitations, journals and documentation. This professional development experience facilitated 'interactive professionalism' as teachers worked in a small group and interacted frequently in the course of planning, testing new ideas, attempting to solve different problems, and assess the effectiveness of those ideas. In addition, this action research effort was strategic and systematic, to attain a high degree of specific interactions, (personal interviews, group meetings, classroom observations, evidence collection). This series of deliberate and planned intentions helped participants solve assessment dilemmas. We developed an awareness and understanding of the need for more preservice and inservice assessment training. Participants realised the extent, and need to overcome their compartmentalisation, individualism and isolation. This reality was due to the design of their schedules, their school building and lack of common preparation times. Yet, in spite of the aforementioned, this inquiry supported and facilitated the transformation, improvement and enhanced understanding of assessment praxes. Participants learned how to professionally develop themselves using an action research mode of inquiry that supported teacher growth and development.

A Learning Organization Born in the Crucible of Combat: The 3rd Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division, in World War I

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-10

killed in action ( KIA ), with thousands of wounded in action (WIA), in nine months of fighting in Europe.4 However, the ability to overcome these... KIA , WIA, or captured. Of these numbers the 9th Infantry suffered most heavily, losing 44 officers and 1469 enlisted.155 Captain Burress of the 9th...Infantry Brigade reported only eighty-six men KIA , and 285 men WIA.188 The set-piece battle maneuver that was practiced at the division and brigade

Action Learning and Constructivist Grounded Theory: Powerfully Overlapping Fields of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rand, Jane

2013-01-01

This paper considers the shared characteristics between action learning (AL) and the research methodology constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Mirroring Edmonstone's [2011. "Action Learning and Organisation Development: Overlapping Fields of Practice." "Action Learning: Research and Practice" 8 (2): 93-102] article, which…

Robotic action acquisition with cognitive biases in coarse-grained state space.

PubMed

Uragami, Daisuke; Kohno, Yu; Takahashi, Tatsuji

2016-07-01

Some of the authors have previously proposed a cognitively inspired reinforcement learning architecture (LS-Q) that mimics cognitive biases in humans. LS-Q adaptively learns under uniform, coarse-grained state division and performs well without parameter tuning in a giant-swing robot task. However, these results were shown only in simulations. In this study, we test the validity of the LS-Q implemented in a robot in a real environment. In addition, we analyze the learning process to elucidate the mechanism by which the LS-Q adaptively learns under the partially observable environment. We argue that the LS-Q may be a versatile reinforcement learning architecture, which is, despite its simplicity, easily applicable and does not require well-prepared settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Developing team reflexivity as a learning and working tool for medical teams].

PubMed

Riskin, Arieh; Bamberger, Peter

2014-01-01

Team reflexivity is a collective activity in which team members review their previous work, and develop ideas on how to modify their work behavior in order to achieve better future results. It is an important learning tool and a key factor in explaining the varying effectiveness of teams. Team reflexivity encompasses both self-awareness and agency, and includes three main activities: reflection, planning, and adaptation. The model of briefing-debriefing cycles promotes team reflexivity. Its key elements include: Pre-action briefing--setting objectives, roles, and strategies the mission, as well as proposing adaptations based on what was previously learnt from similar procedures; Post-action debriefing--reflecting on the procedure performed and reviewing the extent to which objectives were met, and what can be learnt for future tasks. Given the widespread attention to team-based work systems and organizational learning, efforts should be made toward ntroducing team reflexivity in health administration systems. Implementation could be difficult because most teams in hospitals are short-lived action teams formed for a particular event, with limited time and opportunity to consciously reflect upon their actions. But it is precisely in these contexts that reflexive processes have the most to offer instead of the natural impulsive collective logics. Team reflexivity suggests a potential solution to the major problems of iatorgenesis--avoidable medical errors, as it forces all team members to participate in a reflexive process together. Briefing-debriefing technology was studied mainly in surgical teams and was shown to enhance team-based learning and to improve quality-related outcomes and safety.

Developing support for remote nursing education through workplace culture that values learning.

PubMed

Gibb, Heather; Anderson, Judith; Forsyth, Katreena

2004-10-01

The present study presents the cultural challenges of introducing workplace learning associated with a nursing educational pathway into small rural hospitals. Focus groups were conducted before and after an action research intervention to determine whether changes in understanding and values on learning had occurred. Eight multipurpose services or small rural hospitals across rural New South Wales were involved in the intervention. Nursing staff from eight rural health facilities participated voluntarily in the present study. Two outcomes were achieved: The development of mentoring, locally tailored to the needs and expectations of nursing participants; Values and understanding of learning were enhanced, with advanced levels of learning being identified and demonstrated by staff in the practice setting. Small rural hospitals can provide opportunities for advanced clinical learning. Forms of major mentoring are, however, critical to this process.

Cortical regions recruited for complex active-learning strategies and action planning exhibit rapid reactivation during memory retrieval.

PubMed

Voss, Joel L; Galvan, Ashley; Gonsalves, Brian D

2011-12-01

Memory retrieval can involve activity in the same sensory cortical regions involved in perception of the original event, and this neural "reactivation" has been suggested as an important mechanism of memory retrieval. However, it is still unclear if fragments of experience other than sensory information are retained and later reactivated during retrieval. For example, learning in non-laboratory settings generally involves active exploration of memoranda, thus requiring the generation of action plans for behavior and the use of strategies deployed to improve subsequent memory performance. Is information pertaining to action planning and strategic processing retained and reactivated during retrieval? To address this question, we compared ERP correlates of memory retrieval for objects that had been studied in an active manner involving action planning and strategic processing to those for objects that had been studied passively. Memory performance was superior for actively studied objects, and unique ERP retrieval correlates for these objects were identified when subjects remembered the specific spatial locations at which objects were studied. Early-onset frontal shifts in ERP correlates of retrieval were noted for these objects, which parallel the recruitment of frontal cortex during learning object locations previously identified using fMRI with the same paradigm. Notably, ERPs during recall for items studied with a specific viewing strategy localized to the same supplementary motor cortex region previously identified with fMRI when this strategy was implemented during study, suggesting rapid reactivation of regions directly involved in strategic action planning. Collectively, these results implicate neural populations involved in learning in important retrieval functions, even for those populations involved in strategic control and action planning. Notably, these episodic features are not generally reported during recollective experiences, suggesting that reactivation is a more general property of memory retrieval that extends beyond those fragments of perceptual information that might be needed to re-live the past. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of action-effect associations acquired by ideomotor learning on imitation.

PubMed

Bunlon, Frédérique; Marshall, Peter J; Quandt, Lorna C; Bouquet, Cedric A

2015-01-01

According to the ideomotor theory, actions are represented in terms of their perceptual effects, offering a solution for the correspondence problem of imitation (how to translate the observed action into a corresponding motor output). This effect-based coding of action is assumed to be acquired through action-effect learning. Accordingly, performing an action leads to the integration of the perceptual codes of the action effects with the motor commands that brought them about. While ideomotor theory is invoked to account for imitation, the influence of action-effect learning on imitative behavior remains unexplored. In two experiments, imitative performance was measured in a reaction time task following a phase of action-effect acquisition. During action-effect acquisition, participants freely executed a finger movement (index or little finger lifting), and then observed a similar (compatible learning) or a different (incompatible learning) movement. In Experiment 1, finger movements of left and right hands were presented as action-effects during acquisition. In Experiment 2, only right-hand finger movements were presented during action-effect acquisition and in the imitation task the observed hands were oriented orthogonally to participants' hands in order to avoid spatial congruency effects. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that imitative performance was improved after compatible learning, compared to incompatible learning. In Experiment 2, although action-effect learning involved perception of finger movements of right hand only, imitative capabilities of right- and left-hand finger movements were equally affected. These results indicate that an observed movement stimulus processed as the effect of an action can later prime execution of that action, confirming the ideomotor approach to imitation. We further discuss these findings in relation to previous studies of action-effect learning and in the framework of current ideomotor approaches to imitation.

Influence of Action-Effect Associations Acquired by Ideomotor Learning on Imitation

PubMed Central

Bunlon, Frédérique; Marshall, Peter J.; Quandt, Lorna C.; Bouquet, Cedric A.

2015-01-01

According to the ideomotor theory, actions are represented in terms of their perceptual effects, offering a solution for the correspondence problem of imitation (how to translate the observed action into a corresponding motor output). This effect-based coding of action is assumed to be acquired through action-effect learning. Accordingly, performing an action leads to the integration of the perceptual codes of the action effects with the motor commands that brought them about. While ideomotor theory is invoked to account for imitation, the influence of action-effect learning on imitative behavior remains unexplored. In two experiments, imitative performance was measured in a reaction time task following a phase of action-effect acquisition. During action-effect acquisition, participants freely executed a finger movement (index or little finger lifting), and then observed a similar (compatible learning) or a different (incompatible learning) movement. In Experiment 1, finger movements of left and right hands were presented as action-effects during acquisition. In Experiment 2, only right-hand finger movements were presented during action-effect acquisition and in the imitation task the observed hands were oriented orthogonally to participants’ hands in order to avoid spatial congruency effects. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that imitative performance was improved after compatible learning, compared to incompatible learning. In Experiment 2, although action-effect learning involved perception of finger movements of right hand only, imitative capabilities of right- and left-hand finger movements were equally affected. These results indicate that an observed movement stimulus processed as the effect of an action can later prime execution of that action, confirming the ideomotor approach to imitation. We further discuss these findings in relation to previous studies of action-effect learning and in the framework of current ideomotor approaches to imitation. PMID:25793755

Inquiring into the Dilemmas of Implementing Action Learning. Innovative Session 6. [Concurrent Innovative Session at AHRD Annual Conference, 2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yorks, Lyle; Dilworth, Robert L.; Marquardt, Michael J.; Marsick, Victoria; O'Neil, Judy

Action learning is receiving increasing attention from human resource development (HRD) practitioners and the HRD management literature. Action learning has been characterized as follows: (1) working in small groups to take action on meaningful problems while seeking to learn from having taken the specified action lies at the foundation of action…

Linking Language with Embodied and Teleological Representations of Action for Humanoid Cognition

PubMed Central

Lallee, Stephane; Madden, Carol; Hoen, Michel; Dominey, Peter Ford

2010-01-01

The current research extends our framework for embodied language and action comprehension to include a teleological representation that allows goal-based reasoning for novel actions. The objective of this work is to implement and demonstrate the advantages of a hybrid, embodied-teleological approach to action–language interaction, both from a theoretical perspective, and via results from human–robot interaction experiments with the iCub robot. We first demonstrate how a framework for embodied language comprehension allows the system to develop a baseline set of representations for processing goal-directed actions such as “take,” “cover,” and “give.” Spoken language and visual perception are input modes for these representations, and the generation of spoken language is the output mode. Moving toward a teleological (goal-based reasoning) approach, a crucial component of the new system is the representation of the subcomponents of these actions, which includes relations between initial enabling states, and final resulting states for these actions. We demonstrate how grammatical categories including causal connectives (e.g., because, if–then) can allow spoken language to enrich the learned set of state-action-state (SAS) representations. We then examine how this enriched SAS inventory enhances the robot's ability to represent perceived actions in which the environment inhibits goal achievement. The paper addresses how language comes to reflect the structure of action, and how it can subsequently be used as an input and output vector for embodied and teleological aspects of action. PMID:20577629

Action Learning for Professionals: A New Approach to Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Christine; Mayes, Cathy

2014-01-01

Following on from the article "Building Capacity in Social Care: An Evaluation of a National Programme of Action Learning Facilitator Development" (Abbott, C., L. Burtney, and C. Wall. 2013. "Action Learning: Research & Practice" 10 (2): 168--177), this article describes how action learning is being introduced in Cornwall…

Hierarchical extreme learning machine based reinforcement learning for goal localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

AlDahoul, Nouar; Zaw Htike, Zaw; Akmeliawati, Rini

2017-03-01

The objective of goal localization is to find the location of goals in noisy environments. Simple actions are performed to move the agent towards the goal. The goal detector should be capable of minimizing the error between the predicted locations and the true ones. Few regions need to be processed by the agent to reduce the computational effort and increase the speed of convergence. In this paper, reinforcement learning (RL) method was utilized to find optimal series of actions to localize the goal region. The visual data, a set of images, is high dimensional unstructured data and needs to be represented efficiently to get a robust detector. Different deep Reinforcement models have already been used to localize a goal but most of them take long time to learn the model. This long learning time results from the weights fine tuning stage that is applied iteratively to find an accurate model. Hierarchical Extreme Learning Machine (H-ELM) was used as a fast deep model that doesn’t fine tune the weights. In other words, hidden weights are generated randomly and output weights are calculated analytically. H-ELM algorithm was used in this work to find good features for effective representation. This paper proposes a combination of Hierarchical Extreme learning machine and Reinforcement learning to find an optimal policy directly from visual input. This combination outperforms other methods in terms of accuracy and learning speed. The simulations and results were analysed by using MATLAB.

Dissociable contribution of prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic genes to learning in economic games

PubMed Central

Set, Eric; Saez, Ignacio; Zhu, Lusha; Houser, Daniel E.; Myung, Noah; Zhong, Songfa; Ebstein, Richard P.; Chew, Soo Hong; Hsu, Ming

2014-01-01

Game theory describes strategic interactions where success of players’ actions depends on those of coplayers. In humans, substantial progress has been made at the neural level in characterizing the dopaminergic and frontostriatal mechanisms mediating such behavior. Here we combined computational modeling of strategic learning with a pathway approach to characterize association of strategic behavior with variations in the dopamine pathway. Specifically, using gene-set analysis, we systematically examined contribution of different dopamine genes to variation in a multistrategy competitive game captured by (i) the degree players anticipate and respond to actions of others (belief learning) and (ii) the speed with which such adaptations take place (learning rate). We found that variation in genes that primarily regulate prefrontal dopamine clearance—catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) and two isoforms of monoamine oxidase—modulated degree of belief learning across individuals. In contrast, we did not find significant association for other genes in the dopamine pathway. Furthermore, variation in genes that primarily regulate striatal dopamine function—dopamine transporter and D2 receptors—was significantly associated with the learning rate. We found that this was also the case with COMT, but not for other dopaminergic genes. Together, these findings highlight dissociable roles of frontostriatal systems in strategic learning and support the notion that genetic variation, organized along specific pathways, forms an important source of variation in complex phenotypes such as strategic behavior. PMID:24979760

Dissociable contribution of prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic genes to learning in economic games.

PubMed

Set, Eric; Saez, Ignacio; Zhu, Lusha; Houser, Daniel E; Myung, Noah; Zhong, Songfa; Ebstein, Richard P; Chew, Soo Hong; Hsu, Ming

2014-07-01

Game theory describes strategic interactions where success of players' actions depends on those of coplayers. In humans, substantial progress has been made at the neural level in characterizing the dopaminergic and frontostriatal mechanisms mediating such behavior. Here we combined computational modeling of strategic learning with a pathway approach to characterize association of strategic behavior with variations in the dopamine pathway. Specifically, using gene-set analysis, we systematically examined contribution of different dopamine genes to variation in a multistrategy competitive game captured by (i) the degree players anticipate and respond to actions of others (belief learning) and (ii) the speed with which such adaptations take place (learning rate). We found that variation in genes that primarily regulate prefrontal dopamine clearance--catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) and two isoforms of monoamine oxidase--modulated degree of belief learning across individuals. In contrast, we did not find significant association for other genes in the dopamine pathway. Furthermore, variation in genes that primarily regulate striatal dopamine function--dopamine transporter and D2 receptors--was significantly associated with the learning rate. We found that this was also the case with COMT, but not for other dopaminergic genes. Together, these findings highlight dissociable roles of frontostriatal systems in strategic learning and support the notion that genetic variation, organized along specific pathways, forms an important source of variation in complex phenotypes such as strategic behavior.

Effects of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure on orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex-dependent behaviors in mice

PubMed Central

Badanich, Kimberly A.; Becker, Howard C.; Woodward, John J.

2011-01-01

In humans, stroke or trauma-induced damage to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) or medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) results in impaired cognitive flexibility. Alcoholics also exhibit similar deficits in cognitive flexibility suggesting that the OFC and mPFC are susceptible to alcohol-induced dysfunction. The present experiments investigated this issue using an attention set-shifting assay in ethanol dependent adult male C57BL/6J mice. Ethanol dependence was induced by exposing mice to repeated cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) vapor inhalation. Behavioral testing was conducted 72 hours or 10 days following CIE exposure to determine whether ethanol-induced changes in OFC-dependent (reversal learning) and mPFC-dependent (set-shifting) behaviors are long-lasting. During early ethanol abstinence (72 hrs), CIE mice showed reduced reversal learning performance as compared to controls. Reversal learning deficits were revealed as greater number of trials to criterion, more errors made and a greater difficulty in performing a reversal learning task relative to baseline performance. Furthermore, the magnitude of the impairment was greater during reversal of a simple discrimination rather than reversal of an intradimensional shift. Reversal learning deficits were no longer present when mice were tested 10 days after CIE exposure suggesting that ethanol-induced changes in OFC function can recover. Unexpectedly, performance on the set-shifting task was not impaired during abstinence from ethanol. These data suggest reversal learning, but not attention set-shifting, is transiently disrupted during short-term abstinence from CIE. Given that reversal learning requires an intact OFC, these findings support the idea that the OFC may be vulnerable to the cognitive impairing actions of ethanol. PMID:22122149

How to Set Up Simulations for Designing Light-Weight Personalised Recommender Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nadolski, Rob; van den Berg, Bert; Berlanga, Adriana; Hummel, Hans; Drachsler, Hendrik; Koper, Rob; Sloep, Peter

For effective competence acquisition, professionals should have a clear overview of what learning actions (LAs) are relevant to them. LAs can use any type of learning resource or events (like a course, assignment, discussion, lesson, website, blog) that intends to help learners to acquire a certain competence when participating in a LN. Such learners need advice in choosing from a large and dynamic collection of LAs those that best fit their current needs and accomplishments. In short, they need support to find their way in a LN.

Impact Assessment and Forecasts of Information and Telecommunications Technologies Applied to Education and Training. R&D in Information and Communication Based Learning Technology. Analysis of Key Issues for the Orientation of the Work of Sector Actors in the Framework of DELTA. Volume I--Executive Summary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium).

This report, the first volume in a three volume set, summarizes the results of a study performed by the DELTA (Developing European Learning through Technological Advance) Unit in parallel with the projects underway in the research and development Exploratory Action. The report identifies the key issues, associated requirements and options, and…

Children's Reasoning as Collective Social Action through Problem Solving in Grade 2/3 Science Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Mijung

2016-01-01

Research on young children's reasoning show the complex relationships of knowledge, theories, and evidence in their decision-making and problem solving. Most of the research on children's reasoning skills has been done in individualized and formal research settings, not collective classroom environments where children often engage in learning and…

Psychological Knowledge for Teaching Critical Thinking: The Agency of Epistemic Activity, Metacognitive Regulative Behaviour and (Student-Centred) Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maclellan, Effie; Soden, Rebecca

2012-01-01

This study considers the case of a tutor whose students repeatedly evidenced significantly superior critical thinking in summative assessment. For the purpose of surfacing appropriate pedagogical action to promote critical thinking (Bassey, "Case Study Research in Educational Settings," 1999), the singularity of one tutor's reported pedagogical…

Teachers' Perceptions of and Responses to Student Evaluation of Teaching: Purposes and Uses in Clinical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Wai Yee; Moni, Karen

2014-01-01

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) only becomes an effective tool for improving teaching and learning when the relevant stakeholders seriously consider and plan appropriate actions according to student feedback. It is common practice in medical education to provide clinical teachers with student feedback. However, there is limited evidence about…

Context Based Learning: A Role for Cinema in Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arroio, Agnaldo

2010-01-01

This paper discusses the role of cinema as a tool for science education. Based on the socio-cultural approach put forward by Vygotsky, it draws attention to the fact that an audience can interact with the characters and share their emotions and actions showed in an audiovisual setting. Experiences come from an interaction with a learning…

The Effect of Formal Policies and Informal Social Learning on Perceptions of Corporate Ethics: Actions Speak Louder than Codes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kronzon, Shirit

2002-01-01

Discusses unethical business conduct and corporate crime, focusing on workers who bend rules to achieve satisfactory performance and organizational goals. Describes research that investigated how two cues in an organizational setting, one legal (codes of conduct) and one social (company responses to ethical transgressions), affect how individuals…

Critical Literacy Finds a "Place": Writing and Social Action in a Low-Income Australian Grade 2/3 Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Comber, Barbara; Thomson, Pat; Wells, Marg

2001-01-01

Draws on a study of socioeconomically disadvantaged children's acquisition of school literacies to investigate how children's writing and drawing might be key elements in developing critical literacies in elementary school settings. Focuses on how such classroom writing can be a mediator of emotions, intellectual and academic learning, social…

Reducing Stress in Young Children's Lives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCracken, Janet Brown, Ed.

Few adults deliberately set out to cause children stress or to teach them how to deal with it, yet adults do just that with every word, action, and reaction. This book collects work in the field of human development on how adults can help children learn to cope with stress. Each of the 30 chapters previously appeared in "Young Children,"…

Major Language Theorists influencing Learning of Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nath, Baiju K.

2010-01-01

Language is one attribute that sets humans apart from all other creatures and binds humans together across all geographic barriers. A word can cause a person to sink into the deepest despair or lift us to inspired action. Language can be the tool for great achievement in any discipline. Good understanding of the capabilities and needs of the…

Exploring Formative Assessment in Primary School Classrooms: Developing a Framework of Actions and Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antoniou, Panayiotis; James, Mary

2014-01-01

The importance of formative assessment in facilitating student learning has been well established in the literature. However, defining and implementing formative assessment in classroom settings is a rather complicated task. The aim of this study is to explore formative assessment, as implemented in primary classrooms in Cyprus, and develop a…

Goal-Setting and Self-Reflection to Enhance Learners' Interaction in an ESP Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lozano Velandia, Sergio Andrés

2015-01-01

This qualitative action research study explored the interactions of young-adult learners carrying out self-reflection on their learning processes in an ESP (English for special purposes) course at an airline training-center in Bogotá, Colombia. Needs analysis revealed that learners had poor knowledge of technical English, and lacked strong…

An Action Research Study of Intellectual Disabilities, Inappropriate Behaviors and Learned Helplessness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luper, Elizabeth P. S.; Lockley, Jeannie

2008-01-01

This study focused on a population of 36 female patients, aged 25 to 65, who were diagnosed with intellectual disabilities, all of whom had long-standing patterns of inappropriate behaviors. In an attempt to increase more appropriate behaviors in these patients, a set of standardized contingency rules were established. These rules were implemented…

Action Learning Research? Reflections from the Colloquium at the Third International Conference on Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coghlan, David

2013-01-01

The case for the notion of action learning research has been posed and explored in several publications over the past few years. There is no tradition within action learning of understanding it as an approach to research. Within some academic circles, there has been a focus on the "action turn," the development of the notion of actionable…

Understanding the Causal Path between Action, Learning, and Solutions: Maximizing the Power of Action Learning to Achieve Great Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, H. Skipton

2015-01-01

Clients and practitioners alike are often confused about the ultimate purpose of action learning (AL). Because of the title of the method, many believe the primary goal of AL is to generate learning. This article clarifies the relationship between action, learning, and solutions. It also provides historical evidence to support the conclusion that…

Women's groups practising participatory learning and action to improve maternal and newborn health in low-resource settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Prost, Audrey; Colbourn, Tim; Seward, Nadine; Azad, Kishwar; Coomarasamy, Arri; Copas, Andrew; Houweling, Tanja A J; Fottrell, Edward; Kuddus, Abdul; Lewycka, Sonia; MacArthur, Christine; Manandhar, Dharma; Morrison, Joanna; Mwansambo, Charles; Nair, Nirmala; Nambiar, Bejoy; Osrin, David; Pagel, Christina; Phiri, Tambosi; Pulkki-Brännström, Anni-Maria; Rosato, Mikey; Skordis-Worrall, Jolene; Saville, Naomi; More, Neena Shah; Shrestha, Bhim; Tripathy, Prasanta; Wilson, Amie; Costello, Anthony

2013-05-18

Maternal and neonatal mortality rates remain high in many low-income and middle-income countries. Different approaches for the improvement of birth outcomes have been used in community-based interventions, with heterogeneous effects on survival. We assessed the effects of women's groups practising participatory learning and action, compared with usual care, on birth outcomes in low-resource settings. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials undertaken in Bangladesh, India, Malawi, and Nepal in which the effects of women's groups practising participatory learning and action were assessed to identify population-level predictors of effect on maternal mortality, neonatal mortality, and stillbirths. We also reviewed the cost-effectiveness of the women's group intervention and estimated its potential effect at scale in Countdown countries. Seven trials (119,428 births) met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses of all trials showed that exposure to women's groups was associated with a 37% reduction in maternal mortality (odds ratio 0.63, 95% CI 0.32-0.94), a 23% reduction in neonatal mortality (0.77, 0.65-0.90), and a 9% non-significant reduction in stillbirths (0.91, 0.79-1.03), with high heterogeneity for maternal (I(2)=58.8%, p=0.024) and neonatal results (I(2)=64.7%, p=0.009). In the meta-regression analyses, the proportion of pregnant women in groups was linearly associated with reduction in both maternal and neonatal mortality (p=0.026 and p=0.011, respectively). A subgroup analysis of the four studies in which at least 30% of pregnant women participated in groups showed a 55% reduction in maternal mortality (0.45, 0.17-0.73) and a 33% reduction in neonatal mortality (0.67, 0.59-0.74). The intervention was cost effective by WHO standards and could save an estimated 283,000 newborn infants and 41,100 mothers per year if implemented in rural areas of 74 Countdown countries. With the participation of at least a third of pregnant women and adequate population coverage, women's groups practising participatory learning and action are a cost-effective strategy to improve maternal and neonatal survival in low-resource settings. Wellcome Trust, Ammalife, and National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Birmingham and the Black Country programme. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impairments in action-outcome learning in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Morris, Richard W; Cyrzon, Chad; Green, Melissa J; Le Pelley, Mike E; Balleine, Bernard W

2018-03-03

Learning the causal relation between actions and their outcomes (AO learning) is critical for goal-directed behavior when actions are guided by desire for the outcome. This can be contrasted with habits that are acquired by reinforcement and primed by prevailing stimuli, in which causal learning plays no part. Recently, we demonstrated that goal-directed actions are impaired in schizophrenia; however, whether this deficit exists alongside impairments in habit or reinforcement learning is unknown. The present study distinguished deficits in causal learning from reinforcement learning in schizophrenia. We tested people with schizophrenia (SZ, n = 25) and healthy adults (HA, n = 25) in a vending machine task. Participants learned two action-outcome contingencies (e.g., push left to get a chocolate M&M, push right to get a cracker), and they also learned one contingency was degraded by delivery of noncontingent outcomes (e.g., free M&Ms), as well as changes in value by outcome devaluation. Both groups learned the best action to obtain rewards; however, SZ did not distinguish the more causal action when one AO contingency was degraded. Moreover, action selection in SZ was insensitive to changes in outcome value unless feedback was provided, and this was related to the deficit in AO learning. The failure to encode the causal relation between action and outcome in schizophrenia occurred without any apparent deficit in reinforcement learning. This implies that poor goal-directed behavior in schizophrenia cannot be explained by a more primary deficit in reward learning such as insensitivity to reward value or reward prediction errors.

Statistical learning in social action contexts.

PubMed

Monroy, Claire; Meyer, Marlene; Gerson, Sarah; Hunnius, Sabine

2017-01-01

Sensitivity to the regularities and structure contained within sequential, goal-directed actions is an important building block for generating expectations about the actions we observe. Until now, research on statistical learning for actions has solely focused on individual action sequences, but many actions in daily life involve multiple actors in various interaction contexts. The current study is the first to investigate the role of statistical learning in tracking regularities between actions performed by different actors, and whether the social context characterizing their interaction influences learning. That is, are observers more likely to track regularities across actors if they are perceived as acting jointly as opposed to in parallel? We tested adults and toddlers to explore whether social context guides statistical learning and-if so-whether it does so from early in development. In a between-subjects eye-tracking experiment, participants were primed with a social context cue between two actors who either shared a goal of playing together ('Joint' condition) or stated the intention to act alone ('Parallel' condition). In subsequent videos, the actors performed sequential actions in which, for certain action pairs, the first actor's action reliably predicted the second actor's action. We analyzed predictive eye movements to upcoming actions as a measure of learning, and found that both adults and toddlers learned the statistical regularities across actors when their actions caused an effect. Further, adults with high statistical learning performance were sensitive to social context: those who observed actors with a shared goal were more likely to correctly predict upcoming actions. In contrast, there was no effect of social context in the toddler group, regardless of learning performance. These findings shed light on how adults and toddlers perceive statistical regularities across actors depending on the nature of the observed social situation and the resulting effects.

Statistical learning in social action contexts

PubMed Central

Meyer, Marlene; Gerson, Sarah; Hunnius, Sabine

2017-01-01

Sensitivity to the regularities and structure contained within sequential, goal-directed actions is an important building block for generating expectations about the actions we observe. Until now, research on statistical learning for actions has solely focused on individual action sequences, but many actions in daily life involve multiple actors in various interaction contexts. The current study is the first to investigate the role of statistical learning in tracking regularities between actions performed by different actors, and whether the social context characterizing their interaction influences learning. That is, are observers more likely to track regularities across actors if they are perceived as acting jointly as opposed to in parallel? We tested adults and toddlers to explore whether social context guides statistical learning and—if so—whether it does so from early in development. In a between-subjects eye-tracking experiment, participants were primed with a social context cue between two actors who either shared a goal of playing together (‘Joint’ condition) or stated the intention to act alone (‘Parallel’ condition). In subsequent videos, the actors performed sequential actions in which, for certain action pairs, the first actor’s action reliably predicted the second actor’s action. We analyzed predictive eye movements to upcoming actions as a measure of learning, and found that both adults and toddlers learned the statistical regularities across actors when their actions caused an effect. Further, adults with high statistical learning performance were sensitive to social context: those who observed actors with a shared goal were more likely to correctly predict upcoming actions. In contrast, there was no effect of social context in the toddler group, regardless of learning performance. These findings shed light on how adults and toddlers perceive statistical regularities across actors depending on the nature of the observed social situation and the resulting effects. PMID:28475619

Global structure–activity relationship model for nonmutagenic carcinogens using virtual ligand-protein interactions as model descriptors

PubMed Central

Cunningham, Albert R.; Trent, John O.

2012-01-01

Structure–activity relationship (SAR) models are powerful tools to investigate the mechanisms of action of chemical carcinogens and to predict the potential carcinogenicity of untested compounds. We describe the use of a traditional fragment-based SAR approach along with a new virtual ligand-protein interaction-based approach for modeling of nonmutagenic carcinogens. The ligand-based SAR models used descriptors derived from computationally calculated ligand-binding affinities for learning set agents to 5495 proteins. Two learning sets were developed. One set was from the Carcinogenic Potency Database, where chemicals tested for rat carcinogenesis along with Salmonella mutagenicity data were provided. The second was from Malacarne et al. who developed a learning set of nonalerting compounds based on rodent cancer bioassay data and Ashby’s structural alerts. When the rat cancer models were categorized based on mutagenicity, the traditional fragment model outperformed the ligand-based model. However, when the learning sets were composed solely of nonmutagenic or nonalerting carcinogens and noncarcinogens, the fragment model demonstrated a concordance of near 50%, whereas the ligand-based models demonstrated a concordance of 71% for nonmutagenic carcinogens and 74% for nonalerting carcinogens. Overall, these findings suggest that expert system analysis of virtual chemical protein interactions may be useful for developing predictive SAR models for nonmutagenic carcinogens. Moreover, a more practical approach for developing SAR models for carcinogenesis may include fragment-based models for chemicals testing positive for mutagenicity and ligand-based models for chemicals devoid of DNA reactivity. PMID:22678118

Global structure-activity relationship model for nonmutagenic carcinogens using virtual ligand-protein interactions as model descriptors.

PubMed

Cunningham, Albert R; Carrasquer, C Alex; Qamar, Shahid; Maguire, Jon M; Cunningham, Suzanne L; Trent, John O

2012-10-01

Structure-activity relationship (SAR) models are powerful tools to investigate the mechanisms of action of chemical carcinogens and to predict the potential carcinogenicity of untested compounds. We describe the use of a traditional fragment-based SAR approach along with a new virtual ligand-protein interaction-based approach for modeling of nonmutagenic carcinogens. The ligand-based SAR models used descriptors derived from computationally calculated ligand-binding affinities for learning set agents to 5495 proteins. Two learning sets were developed. One set was from the Carcinogenic Potency Database, where chemicals tested for rat carcinogenesis along with Salmonella mutagenicity data were provided. The second was from Malacarne et al. who developed a learning set of nonalerting compounds based on rodent cancer bioassay data and Ashby's structural alerts. When the rat cancer models were categorized based on mutagenicity, the traditional fragment model outperformed the ligand-based model. However, when the learning sets were composed solely of nonmutagenic or nonalerting carcinogens and noncarcinogens, the fragment model demonstrated a concordance of near 50%, whereas the ligand-based models demonstrated a concordance of 71% for nonmutagenic carcinogens and 74% for nonalerting carcinogens. Overall, these findings suggest that expert system analysis of virtual chemical protein interactions may be useful for developing predictive SAR models for nonmutagenic carcinogens. Moreover, a more practical approach for developing SAR models for carcinogenesis may include fragment-based models for chemicals testing positive for mutagenicity and ligand-based models for chemicals devoid of DNA reactivity.

Action Learning. Symposium 21. [Concurrent Symposium Session at AHRD Annual Conference, 2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2000

This document contains three papers from a symposium on action learning that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Searching for Meaning in Complex Action Learning Data: What Environments, Acts, and Words Reveal" (Verna J. Willis) analyzes complex action learning documents produced as course…

Transitioning to a More Sustainable Society: Unpacking the Role of the Learning-Action Nexus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moyer, Joanne M.; Sinclair, A. John; Quinn, Lisa

2016-01-01

In recent years, action on sustainability has been highly influential around the globe and many now recognize the importance of individual and social learning for inspiring action and achieving sustainability outcomes. Transformative learning theory has been criticized, however, for insufficient development of the link between learning and action.…

Practicing What We Teach: Using Action Research to Learn about Teaching Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Barb; Dressler, Roswita; Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Jacobsen, Michele

2015-01-01

In this article, action research is explored as a process for instructor reflection, professional learning and collaboration. The context for the professional learning was the teaching of graduate level education courses in which action research, in conjunction with a cohort-based, collaboratory approach to learning, was used to facilitate…

The Refinement of The Preliminary Genetic Decomposition of Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wijayanti, K.

2017-04-01

Mathematics proof is one of the characteristics of advanced mathematics thinking, and proof plays an important role in learning the abstract algebra included group theory. The depth and complexity of individual’s understanding of a concept depend on his/her ability to establish connections among the mental structure that constitute it. One of the cognitive styles is field dependent/independent. Field independent (FI) and field dependent (FD) learners have different characteristics. Our research question is (1)How is the proposed refinement of preliminary genetic decomposition of group that is designed with a preliminary study of the learning with APOS works; (2) What understanding about group that is generated by student (Field Independent, Field Neutral, and Field Dependent) when learning through designed material. This study was a descriptive qualitative. The participants of this study were nine (9) undergraduate students who were taking Introduction of Algebraic Structure 1, which included group, in the even semester of academic year 2015/2016 at Universitas Negeri Semarang. Each of type of cognitive styles consisted of 3 participants. There were two instruments used to gather data: written examination in the course and a set of the interview. The FD and FN participants generated Action for a binary operation. The FI participant generated Action and Process for a binary operation. The FD, FN and FI participants generated Action, Process, Object, and Scheme for the set. The FD and FN participant did not generate mental structure for axiom. The FI participant generated Scheme for axiom. The FD, FN and FI participants tend to have no Coherence of Scheme of the group. Not all mental structure on the refinement of the preliminary genetic decomposition can be constructed by participants so well that there are still obstacles in the process of proving.

Action and Organizational Learning in an Elevator Company

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Loo, Ivo

2006-01-01

Purpose: To highlight the relevance of management control in action learning programs that aim to foster organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: Literature review plus case study. The latter consists of archival analysis and multiple interviews. Findings: When action learning programs are built around singular learning experiences,…

Exploring teacher's perceptions of concept mapping as a teaching strategy in science: An action research approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marks Krpan, Catherine Anne

In order to promote science literacy in the classroom, students need opportunities in which they can personalize their understanding of the concepts they are learning. Current literature supports the use of concept maps in enabling students to make personal connections in their learning of science. Because they involve creating explicit connections between concepts, concept maps can assist students in developing metacognitive strategies and assist educators in identifying misconceptions in students' thinking. The literature also notes that concept maps can improve student achievement and recall. Much of the current literature focuses primarily on concept mapping at the secondary and university levels, with limited focus on the elementary panel. The research rarely considers teachers' thoughts and ideas about the concept mapping process. In order to effectively explore concept mapping from the perspective of elementary teachers, I felt that an action research approach would be appropriate. Action research enabled educators to debate issues about concept mapping and test out ideas in their classrooms. It also afforded the participants opportunities to explore their own thinking, reflect on their personal journeys as educators and play an active role in their professional development. In an effort to explore concept mapping from the perspective of elementary educators, an action research group of 5 educators and myself was established and met regularly from September 1999 until June 2000. All of the educators taught in the Toronto area. These teachers were interested in exploring how concept mapping could be used as a learning tool in their science classrooms. In summary, this study explores the journey of five educators and myself as we engaged in collaborative action research. This study sets out to: (1) Explore how educators believe concept mapping can facilitate teaching and student learning in the science classroom. (2) Explore how educators implement concept mapping in their classrooms. (3) Identify challenges educators experience when they implement concept mapping. (4) Explore factors that impact on facilitating collaborative action research. (5) Provide insight into my growth as an action research facilitator.

Issues in Action Learning: A Critical Realist Interpretation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burgoyne, John

2009-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the perspective of "critical realism" has considerable potential for moving forward the theory and practice of action learning. The paper addresses three questions: (1) Does action learning emphasise the individual or the collective? (2) Can action learning be thought of as critical, but should it also be…

Defining Success in Action Learning: An International Comparison

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bong, Hyeon-Cheol; Cho, Yonjoo

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore how the two groups of action learning experts (Korean and non-Korean experts) define success of action learning to see whether there are any cultural differences. To this end, the authors conducted a total of 44 interviews with action learning experts around the world. Research questions guiding…

Obstinate Actions-Oriented Behaviour towards Applying Theoractive Learning: An Ontology of Educational Learning and Leadership Theories in Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajbhandari, Mani Man Singh

2018-01-01

Obstinate actions-oriented behaviour is the study of learning and practicing behaviour theoractively, which is acquired from the content based, process based learning and spawning critical reflexivity to the learnt theoretical phenomena into practical actions. Obstinate actions-oriented behaviour is a multi-faceted behaviour that is generally…

Safe or Unsafe? The Paradox of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Jane; Bell, Diane

2017-01-01

Business Driven Action Learning (BDAL), as a learning philosophy that attempts to create real value for business is often used by executive education providers in their management development programmes. As the action learning facilitator, I found that the learning that took place during such a management development programme resulted in…

Dissociable neural representations of reinforcement and belief prediction errors underlie strategic learning

PubMed Central

Zhu, Lusha; Mathewson, Kyle E.; Hsu, Ming

2012-01-01

Decision-making in the presence of other competitive intelligent agents is fundamental for social and economic behavior. Such decisions require agents to behave strategically, where in addition to learning about the rewards and punishments available in the environment, they also need to anticipate and respond to actions of others competing for the same rewards. However, whereas we know much about strategic learning at both theoretical and behavioral levels, we know relatively little about the underlying neural mechanisms. Here, we show using a multi-strategy competitive learning paradigm that strategic choices can be characterized by extending the reinforcement learning (RL) framework to incorporate agents’ beliefs about the actions of their opponents. Furthermore, using this characterization to generate putative internal values, we used model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neural computations underlying strategic learning. We found that the distinct notions of prediction errors derived from our computational model are processed in a partially overlapping but distinct set of brain regions. Specifically, we found that the RL prediction error was correlated with activity in the ventral striatum. In contrast, activity in the ventral striatum, as well as the rostral anterior cingulate (rACC), was correlated with a previously uncharacterized belief-based prediction error. Furthermore, activity in rACC reflected individual differences in degree of engagement in belief learning. These results suggest a model of strategic behavior where learning arises from interaction of dissociable reinforcement and belief-based inputs. PMID:22307594

Dissociable neural representations of reinforcement and belief prediction errors underlie strategic learning.

PubMed

Zhu, Lusha; Mathewson, Kyle E; Hsu, Ming

2012-01-31

Decision-making in the presence of other competitive intelligent agents is fundamental for social and economic behavior. Such decisions require agents to behave strategically, where in addition to learning about the rewards and punishments available in the environment, they also need to anticipate and respond to actions of others competing for the same rewards. However, whereas we know much about strategic learning at both theoretical and behavioral levels, we know relatively little about the underlying neural mechanisms. Here, we show using a multi-strategy competitive learning paradigm that strategic choices can be characterized by extending the reinforcement learning (RL) framework to incorporate agents' beliefs about the actions of their opponents. Furthermore, using this characterization to generate putative internal values, we used model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neural computations underlying strategic learning. We found that the distinct notions of prediction errors derived from our computational model are processed in a partially overlapping but distinct set of brain regions. Specifically, we found that the RL prediction error was correlated with activity in the ventral striatum. In contrast, activity in the ventral striatum, as well as the rostral anterior cingulate (rACC), was correlated with a previously uncharacterized belief-based prediction error. Furthermore, activity in rACC reflected individual differences in degree of engagement in belief learning. These results suggest a model of strategic behavior where learning arises from interaction of dissociable reinforcement and belief-based inputs.

How to facilitate freshmen learning and support their transition to a university study environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kangas, Jari; Rantanen, Elisa; Kettunen, Lauri

2017-11-01

Most freshmen enter universities with high expectations and with good motivation, but too many are driven into performing instead of true learning. The issues are not only related to the challenge of comprehending the substance, social and other factors have an impact as well. All these multifaceted needs should be accounted for to facilitate student learning. Learning is an individual process and remarkable improvement in the learning practices is possible, if proper actions are addressed early enough. We motivate and describe a study of the experience obtained from a set of tailor-made courses that were given alongside standard curriculum. The courses aimed to provide a 'safe community' to address the multifaceted needs. Such support was integrated into regular coursework where active learning techniques, e.g. interactive small groups were incorporated. To assess impact of the courses we employ the feedback obtained during the courses and longitudinal statistical data about students' success.

'Proactive' use of cue-context congruence for building reinforcement learning's reward function.

PubMed

Zsuga, Judit; Biro, Klara; Tajti, Gabor; Szilasi, Magdolna Emma; Papp, Csaba; Juhasz, Bela; Gesztelyi, Rudolf

2016-10-28

Reinforcement learning is a fundamental form of learning that may be formalized using the Bellman equation. Accordingly an agent determines the state value as the sum of immediate reward and of the discounted value of future states. Thus the value of state is determined by agent related attributes (action set, policy, discount factor) and the agent's knowledge of the environment embodied by the reward function and hidden environmental factors given by the transition probability. The central objective of reinforcement learning is to solve these two functions outside the agent's control either using, or not using a model. In the present paper, using the proactive model of reinforcement learning we offer insight on how the brain creates simplified representations of the environment, and how these representations are organized to support the identification of relevant stimuli and action. Furthermore, we identify neurobiological correlates of our model by suggesting that the reward and policy functions, attributes of the Bellman equitation, are built by the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), respectively. Based on this we propose that the OFC assesses cue-context congruence to activate the most context frame. Furthermore given the bidirectional neuroanatomical link between the OFC and model-free structures, we suggest that model-based input is incorporated into the reward prediction error (RPE) signal, and conversely RPE signal may be used to update the reward-related information of context frames and the policy underlying action selection in the OFC and ACC, respectively. Furthermore clinical implications for cognitive behavioral interventions are discussed.

Utilizing an Artificial Outcrop to Scaffold Learning Between Laboratory and Field Experiences in a College-Level Introductory Geology Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Meredith

Geologic field trips are among the most beneficial learning experiences for students as they engage the topic of geology, but they are also difficult environments to maximize learning. This action research study explored one facet of the problems associated with teaching geology in the field by attempting to improve the transition of undergraduate students from a traditional laboratory setting to an authentic field environment. Utilizing an artificial outcrop, called the GeoScene, during an introductory college-level non-majors geology course, the transition was studied. The GeoScene was utilized in this study as an intermediary between laboratory and authentic field based experiences, allowing students to apply traditional laboratory learning in an outdoor environment. The GeoScene represented a faux field environment; outside, more complex and tangible than a laboratory, but also simplified geologically and located safely within the confines of an educational setting. This exploratory study employed a mixed-methods action research design. The action research design allowed for systematic inquiry by the teacher/researcher into how the students learned. The mixed-methods approach garnered several types of qualitative and quantitative data to explore phenomena and support conclusions. Several types of data were collected and analyzed, including: visual recordings of the intervention, interviews, analytic memos, student reflections, field practical exams, and a pre/post knowledge and skills survey, to determine whether the intervention affected student comprehension and interpretation of geologic phenomena in an authentic field environment, and if so, how. Students enrolled in two different sections of the same laboratory course, sharing a common lecture, participated in laboratory exercises implementing experiential learning and constructivist pedagogies that focused on learning the basic geological skills necessary for work in a field environment. These laboratory activities were followed by an approximate 15 minute intervention at the GeoScene for a treatment group of students (n=13) to attempt to mitigate potential barriers, such as: self-efficacy, novelty space, and spatial skills, which hinder student performance in an authentic field environment. Comparisons were made to a control group (n=12), who did not participate in GeoScene activities, but completed additional exercises and applications in the laboratory setting. Qualitative data sources suggested that the GeoScene treatment was a positive addition to the laboratory studies and improved the student transition to the field environment by: (1) reducing anxiety and decreasing heightened stimulus associated with the novelty of the authentic field environment, (2) allowing a physical transition between the laboratory and field that shifted concepts learned in the lab to the field environment, and (3) improving critical analysis of geologic phenomena. This was corroborated by the quantitative data that suggested the treatment group may have outperformed the control group in geology content related skills taught in the laboratory, and supported by the GeoScene, while in an authentic field environment (p≤0.01, delta=0.507).

Joint object and action recognition via fusion of partially observable surveillance imagery data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirkhodaie, Amir; Chan, Alex L.

2017-05-01

Partially observable group activities (POGA) occurring in confined spaces are epitomized by their limited observability of the objects and actions involved. In many POGA scenarios, different objects are being used by human operators for the conduct of various operations. In this paper, we describe the ontology of such as POGA in the context of In-Vehicle Group Activity (IVGA) recognition. Initially, we describe the virtue of ontology modeling in the context of IVGA and show how such an ontology and a priori knowledge about the classes of in-vehicle activities can be fused for inference of human actions that consequentially leads to understanding of human activity inside the confined space of a vehicle. In this paper, we treat the problem of "action-object" as a duality problem. We postulate a correlation between observed human actions and the object that is being utilized within those actions, and conversely, if an object being handled is recognized, we may be able to expect a number of actions that are likely to be performed on that object. In this study, we use partially observable human postural sequences to recognition actions. Inspired by convolutional neural networks (CNNs) learning capability, we present an architecture design using a new CNN model to learn "action-object" perception from surveillance videos. In this study, we apply a sequential Deep Hidden Markov Model (DHMM) as a post-processor to CNN to decode realized observations into recognized actions and activities. To generate the needed imagery data set for the training and testing of these new methods, we use the IRIS virtual simulation software to generate high-fidelity and dynamic animated scenarios that depict in-vehicle group activities under different operational contexts. The results of our comparative investigation are discussed and presented in detail.

Effects of constructivist teaching methods on bioethics education for nursing students: a quasi-experimental study.

PubMed

Choe, Kwisoon; Park, Sunghee; Yoo, So Yeon

2014-05-01

In order to help nurses advocate for the patient's human rights and ensure respect for life in clinical situations, it is of utmost importance to improve nursing students' capacity to make ethical decisions. This study compares the effects of two constructivist teaching strategies (action learning and cross-examination debate) on nursing students' recognition of bioethical issues, experience of bioethical issues, and attainment of ethical competence. This study used a quasi-experimental (two-group pretest-posttest) design. A nursing college in South Korea. A total of 93 Korean nursing students participated in the study (46 in the action learning group and 47 in the cross-examination debate group). Participants took a bioethics class employing one or the other of the strategies mentioned, 2h a week for 15 weeks. All participants responded twice to a set of questionnaires, at the beginning of the first session and at the end of the last session. After their bioethics education, the students' recognition of bioethical issues improved for both classes; however, the knowledge of students who had participated in action learning improved more than that of the students in the debate-based class. Students in both groups reported more experience of bioethics and exposure to better-quality instruction in bioethics after their classes than previously. Students in both groups also reported improved ethical competency after this education. Positive effects of action learning and cross-examination debate implemented as teaching strategies on nursing students' understanding of bioethical issues and their ethical competency were identified; these findings will be important in the essential task of teaching bioethics to nursing students in order to foster more ethical decision-making and other ethical behavior. © 2013.

Education Research in Physical Therapy: Visions of the Possible.

PubMed

Jensen, Gail M; Nordstrom, Terrence; Segal, Richard L; McCallum, Christine; Graham, Cecilia; Greenfield, Bruce

2016-12-01

Education research has been labeled the "hardest science" of all, given the challenges of teaching and learning in an environment encompassing a mixture of social interactions, events, and problems coupled with a persistent belief that education depends more on common sense than on disciplined knowledge and skill. The American Educational Research Association specifies that education research-as a scientific field of study-examines teaching and learning processes that shape educational outcomes across settings and that a learning process takes place throughout a person's life. The complexity of learning and learning environments requires not only a diverse array of research methods but also a community of education researchers committed to exploring critical questions in the education of physical therapists. Although basic science research and clinical research in physical therapy have continued to expand through growth in the numbers of funded physical therapist researchers, the profession still lacks a robust and vibrant community of education researchers. In this perspective article, the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Task Force on Education Research proposes a compelling rationale for building a much-needed foundation for education research in physical therapy, including a set of recommendations for immediate action. © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association.

Transferring Learning to the Workplace. Seventeen Case Studies from the Real World of Training. In Action Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broad, Mary L., Ed.

Organized in three parts, this book contains an introductory chapter and 17 case studies selected to show transfer applications in a wide range of organizational settings. In part 1, two chapters review the rationale, context, and research relating to transfer: "Transfer Concepts and Research Overview" (Mary Broad); and "Success Factors in…

The "Push-Pull" Approach to Fast-Track Management Development: A Case Study in Scientific Publishing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fojt, Martin; Parkinson, Stephen; Peters, John; Sandelands, Eric

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how a medium sized business has addressed what it has termed a "push-pull" method of management and organization development, based around an action learning approach. Design/methodology/approach: The paper sets out a methodology that other SMEs might look to replicate in their management and…

Challenges in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Elementary Settings with Math Instruction Using Learning Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganesh, Tirupalavanam G.; Middleton, James A.

2006-01-01

This research effort reports the findings of an empirical study focusing on the ways in which technological tools are implemented specifically in mathematics education in a Title I school. The purpose was to identify the perspectives and actions of the school's mathematics specialist and the multi-graded (grades 2-3) classroom teacher as they…

The Power, and Dilemma, of Honesty: Action Learning for Social Entrepreneurs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinstein, Krystyna

2005-01-01

This is an account of one particular set meeting during a year long programme for social entrepreneurs. It triggered a number of questions and insights for me about the amazing value of honesty, and its power. It released a great deal of energy, ownership and "control". I realized how important it was to highlight, discuss and reflect on…

Health in Action: A Program Approach to Fighting Obesity in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sorte, Joanne M.; Daeschel, Inge

2006-01-01

Early childhood educators must realize that children are in their care at a critical time. Children learn to make decisions and develop the foundation for a healthy lifestyle during their early years. Many children spend a large number of their waking hours in early childhood settings. Family lives are very busy, and it is understandable that some…

Understanding Candidates' Learning Relationships with Their Cooperating Teachers: A Call to Reframe My Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bullock, Shawn Michael

2017-01-01

This self-study frames the influences of cooperating (or mentor) teachers on teacher candidates in my teacher education classroom as an action-at-a-distance on my pedagogy of teacher education; that is, a tacit set of influences and expectations that teacher candidates develop about my course before it even begins. Interviews with teacher…

Social Justice Education in a Diverse Classroom: Examining High School Discussions about Race, Power, and Privilege

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welton, Anjalé D.; Harris, Tiffany Octavia; La Londe, Priya G.; Moyer, Rachel T.

2015-01-01

High school students who participate in social justice education have a greater awareness of inequities that impact their school, community, and society, and learn tools for taking action to address these inequities. Also, a classroom that consist of students with a diverse set of identities creates an ideal circumstance in which a teacher can…

Exploring the Use of Video-Clips for Motivation Building in a Secondary School EFL Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Yujong; Jung, Eunsu

2016-01-01

By employing an action research framework, this study evaluated the effectiveness of a video-based curriculum in motivating EFL learners to learn English. Fifteen Korean EFL students at the secondary school context participated in an 8-week English program, which employed video clips including TED talk replays, sitcoms, TV news reports and movies…

Self-Regulated Learning Interventions with At-Risk Youth: Enhancing Adaptability, Performance, and Well-Being. Applying Psychology in the Schools Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cleary, Timothy J., Ed.

2015-01-01

At-risk students dealing with cognitive, physical, mental health, and environmental challenges often have poor self-regulatory skills. They may struggle with tasks such as planning, goal-setting, and monitoring their own thoughts and actions. This volume describes how teachers, healthcare professionals, and others who work with young people can…

Towards Inclusive Learning Environments (TILE): Developing the "Roadmap for the Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs in Vocational Education and Workplace Settings"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Andy; Bell, Sheena

2015-01-01

Twenty years after UNESCO's Salamanca Statement enshrined international action for provision for children, youth and adults with special educational needs within the regular educational system, this article presents the current underpinning international and national UK context for developing inclusion in vocational education and training and…

The Implementation of Research-Based Instructional Strategies Using Technology: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoff, Paula

2014-01-01

Students are entering a suburban middle school with significant achievement gaps. The skill deficits that students bring to the school setting must be addressed based on data that reflect their greatest area of need. At the middle school level, it is critical to address the learning gaps and prepare students for success at the high school level.…

Formal Developmental Relationships: A Survey of Organizational Practices. [and] Invited Reaction: Setting the Stage for Further Study of Developmental Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Christina A.; McCauley, Cynthia D.; Bierema, Laura L.

1999-01-01

Douglas and McCauley report on a survey of 246 managers about the management-development strategies used in their organizations. Results show that initiatives include mentoring, apprenticeships, coaching, and action learning. Bierema's reaction concurs in the need to widen the definition of relationships but suggests that methodological issues…

Action Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1996

These four papers were presented at a symposium on action learning moderated by Lex Dilworth at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Developing an Infrastructure for Individual and Organizational Change: Transfer of Learning from an Action Reflection Learning (ARL) Program" (ARL Inquiry) reports findings…

Concepts of peace education: A view of western experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, Robin; Aspeslagh, Robert

1983-09-01

Approaches to the theory and practice of peace education are as varied as the situations across the world in which it is undertaken. Against a framework established by the Peace Education Commission of IPRA, current trends in the conceptualization and experience of peace education (from a Western view-point) are considered and reveal (1) acceptance of `development' with `justice' and `human rights' as integral to the concept of peace; (2) emphasis on the psychological as well as socio-political, economic and structural conditions that maintain present injustices and oppressions; (3) renewed efforts to try out innovative educational approaches to a variety of learning situations, from the pre-school to adult formal and non-formal settings; (4) new concern about the materials, content and techniques of learning; and (5) fresh examination of the inter-relationships between theory and practice, research and action. Analyzing a number of conceptual approaches to peace and disarmament education, the authors support a political, participatory strategy and set it in a historical context. Hence, its connection with development education and the significance and implications of a global perspective are demonstrated. The global perspective is seen as a growing-point for peace education today, providing the potential for political consciousness and action.

Education in Environmental Chemistry: Setting the Agenda and Recommending Action. A Workshop Report Summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoller, Uri

2005-08-01

Worldwide, the essence of the current reform in science education is a paradigm shift from algorithmic, lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS) teaching to higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) learning. In the context of education in environmental chemistry (EEC), the ultimate goal is to educate students to be science technology environment society (STES)-literate, capable of evaluative thinking, decision making, problem solving and taking responsible action accordingly. Educators need to translate this goal into effective courses that can be implemented: this includes developing teaching strategies and assessment methodologies that are consonant with the goal of HOCS learning. An international workshop—"Environmental Chemistry Education in Europe: Setting the Agenda"—yielded two main recommendations for those undertaking educational reform in science education, particularly to promote meaningful EEC. The first recommendation concerns integration of environmental sciences into core chemistry courses as well as the development and implementation of HOCS-promoting teaching strategies and assessment methodologies in chemical education. The second emphasizes the development of students' HOCS for transfer, followed by performance assessment of HOCS. This requires changing the way environmental chemistry is typically taught, moving from a narrowly focused approach (applied analytical, ecotoxicological, or environmental engineering chemistry) to an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach.

Development and initial validation of the interprofessional team learning profiling questionnaire.

PubMed

Nisbet, Gillian; Dunn, Stewart; Lincoln, Michelle; Shaw, Joanne

2016-05-01

Informal workplace interprofessional learning occurs as health professionals interact with each other as part of everyday work practice. Participation in interprofessional team meetings is a practical way to foster learning. However, a gap exists in the availability of a reliable and valid instrument that adequately captures the nuances of informal workplace interprofessional learning in this setting. The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire to measure the different components of interprofessional learning that contribute to the quality of interprofessional learning within the interprofessional team meeting. Questionnaire items were developed from a review of the literature and interviews with health professionals. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the underlying factor structure. Two hundred and eighty-five health professionals completed a 98-item questionnaire. After elimination of unreliable items, the remaining items (n = 41) loaded onto four factors named personal and professional capacity; turning words into action-"walk the talk"; the rhetoric of interprofessional learning-"talk the talk"; and inclusiveness. Internal consistency was high for all sub-scales (Cronbach's alpha 0.91, 0.87, 0.83, and 0.83, respectively). Content, construct, and concurrent validity were assessed. The instrument developed in this study indicated consistency and robust psychometric properties. Future studies that further test the psychometric properties of the questionnaire will help to establish the usefulness of this measure in establishing evidence for the perceived effectiveness of interprofessional learning in a healthcare setting.

Developing accreditation for community based surgery: the Irish experience.

PubMed

Ní Riain, Ailís; Collins, Claire; O'Sullivan, Tony

2018-02-05

Purpose Carrying out minor surgery procedures in the primary care setting is popular with patients, cost effective and delivers at least as good outcomes as those performed in the hospital setting. This paper aims to describe the central role of clinical leadership in developing an accreditation system for general practitioners (GPs) undertaking community-based surgery in the Irish national setting where no mandatory accreditation process currently exists. Design/methodology/approach In all, 24 GPs were recruited to the GP network. Ten pilot standards were developed addressing GPs' experience and training, clinical activity and practice supporting infrastructure and tested, using information and document review, prospective collection of clinical data and a practice inspection visit. Two additional components were incorporated into the project (patient satisfaction survey and self-audit). A multi-modal evaluation was undertaken. A majority of GPs was included at all stages of the project, in line with the principles of action learning. The steering group had a majority of GPs with relevant expertise and representation of all other actors in the minor surgery arena. The GP research network contributed to each stage of the project. The project lead was a GP with minor surgery experience. Quantitative data collected were analysed using Predictive Analytic SoftWare. Krueger's framework analysis approach was used to analyse the qualitative data. Findings A total of 9 GPs achieved all standards at initial review, 14 successfully completed corrective actions and 1 GP did not achieve the required standard. Standards were then amended to reflect findings and a supporting framework was developed. Originality/value The flexibility of the action-learning approach and the clinical leadership design allowed for the development of robust quality standards in a short timeframe.

Action Learning: Images and Pathways. Professional Practices in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilworth, Robert L.; Willis, Verna J.

This book provides information and strategies on how adult educators can integrate action learning concepts in their teaching practice. The book defines action learning as going beyond the traditional idea of "learn by doing" and applies it to various organizational cultures and educational contexts. Chapter 1 introduces the origins of action…

Improving Pedagogy through Action Learning and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albers, Cheryl

2008-01-01

This ASA Teaching Workshop explored the potential of Action Learning to use teachers' tacit knowledge to collaboratively confront pedagogical issues. The Action Learning model grows out of industrial management and is based on the notion that peers are a valuable resource for learning about how to solve the problems encountered in the workplace.…

Its All Action, Its All Learning: Action Learning in SMEs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, Jean; Thorpe, Richard; Anderson, Lisa; Gold, Jeff

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that action learning (AL) may provide a means of successfully developing small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: The literature around SME learning suggests a number of processes are important for SME learning which similarity, it is argued, are encompassed in AL. AL may…

Variation and adaptation: learning from success in patient safety-oriented simulation training.

PubMed

Dieckmann, Peter; Patterson, Mary; Lahlou, Saadi; Mesman, Jessica; Nyström, Patrik; Krage, Ralf

2017-01-01

Simulation is traditionally used to reduce errors and their negative consequences. But according to modern safety theories, this focus overlooks the learning potential of the positive performance, which is much more common than errors. Therefore, a supplementary approach to simulation is needed to unfold its full potential. In our commentary, we describe the learning from success (LFS) approach to simulation and debriefing. Drawing on several theoretical frameworks, we suggest supplementing the widespread deficit-oriented, corrective approach to simulation with an approach that focusses on systematically understanding how good performance is produced in frequent (mundane) simulation scenarios. We advocate to investigate and optimize human activity based on the connected layers of any setting: the embodied competences of the healthcare professionals, the social and organizational rules that guide their actions, and the material aspects of the setting. We discuss implications of these theoretical perspectives for the design and conduct of simulation scenarios, post-simulation debriefings, and faculty development programs.

Behavioral Modeling Based on Probabilistic Finite Automata: An Empirical Study.

PubMed

Tîrnăucă, Cristina; Montaña, José L; Ontañón, Santiago; González, Avelino J; Pardo, Luis M

2016-06-24

Imagine an agent that performs tasks according to different strategies. The goal of Behavioral Recognition (BR) is to identify which of the available strategies is the one being used by the agent, by simply observing the agent's actions and the environmental conditions during a certain period of time. The goal of Behavioral Cloning (BC) is more ambitious. In this last case, the learner must be able to build a model of the behavior of the agent. In both settings, the only assumption is that the learner has access to a training set that contains instances of observed behavioral traces for each available strategy. This paper studies a machine learning approach based on Probabilistic Finite Automata (PFAs), capable of achieving both the recognition and cloning tasks. We evaluate the performance of PFAs in the context of a simulated learning environment (in this case, a virtual Roomba vacuum cleaner robot), and compare it with a collection of other machine learning approaches.

Action Learning in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marquardt, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Action learning was introduced into China less than 20 years ago, but has rapidly become a valuable tool for organizations seeking to solve problems, develop their leaders, and become learning organizations. This article provides an historical overview of action learning in China, its cultural underpinnings, and five case studies. It concludes…

Designing and Implementing Collaborative Improvement in the Extended Manufacturing Enterprise: Action Learning and Action Research (ALAR) in CO-IMPROVE

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coghlan, David; Coughlan, Paul

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a design and implementation framework for ALAR (action learning action research) programme which aims to address collaborative improvement in the extended manufacturing enterprise. Design/methodology/approach: This article demonstrates the design of a programme in which action learning and action…

Staying Mindful in Action: The Challenge of "Double Awareness" on Task and Process in an Action Lab

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Svalgaard, Lotte

2016-01-01

Action Learning is a well-proven method to integrate "task" and "process", as learning about team and self (process) takes place while delivering on a task or business challenge of real importance (task). An Action Lab® is an intensive Action Learning programme lasting for 5 days, which aims at balancing and integrating…

Translating visual information into action predictions: Statistical learning in action and nonaction contexts.

PubMed

Monroy, Claire D; Gerson, Sarah A; Hunnius, Sabine

2018-05-01

Humans are sensitive to the statistical regularities in action sequences carried out by others. In the present eyetracking study, we investigated whether this sensitivity can support the prediction of upcoming actions when observing unfamiliar action sequences. In two between-subjects conditions, we examined whether observers would be more sensitive to statistical regularities in sequences performed by a human agent versus self-propelled 'ghost' events. Secondly, we investigated whether regularities are learned better when they are associated with contingent effects. Both implicit and explicit measures of learning were compared between agent and ghost conditions. Implicit learning was measured via predictive eye movements to upcoming actions or events, and explicit learning was measured via both uninstructed reproduction of the action sequences and verbal reports of the regularities. The findings revealed that participants, regardless of condition, readily learned the regularities and made correct predictive eye movements to upcoming events during online observation. However, different patterns of explicit-learning outcomes emerged following observation: Participants were most likely to re-create the sequence regularities and to verbally report them when they had observed an actor create a contingent effect. These results suggest that the shift from implicit predictions to explicit knowledge of what has been learned is facilitated when observers perceive another agent's actions and when these actions cause effects. These findings are discussed with respect to the potential role of the motor system in modulating how statistical regularities are learned and used to modify behavior.

Effects of Ventral Striatum Lesions on Stimulus-Based versus Action-Based Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Rothenhoefer, Kathryn M; Costa, Vincent D; Bartolo, Ramón; Vicario-Feliciano, Raquel; Murray, Elisabeth A; Averbeck, Bruno B

2017-07-19

Learning the values of actions versus stimuli may depend on separable neural circuits. In the current study, we evaluated the performance of rhesus macaques with ventral striatum (VS) lesions on a two-arm bandit task that had randomly interleaved blocks of stimulus-based and action-based reinforcement learning (RL). Compared with controls, monkeys with VS lesions had deficits in learning to select rewarding images but not rewarding actions. We used a RL model to quantify learning and choice consistency and found that, in stimulus-based RL, the VS lesion monkeys were more influenced by negative feedback and had lower choice consistency than controls. Using a Bayesian model to parse the groups' learning strategies, we also found that VS lesion monkeys defaulted to an action-based choice strategy. Therefore, the VS is involved specifically in learning the value of stimuli, not actions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reinforcement learning models of the ventral striatum (VS) often assume that it maintains an estimate of state value. This suggests that it plays a general role in learning whether rewards are assigned based on a chosen action or stimulus. In the present experiment, we examined the effects of VS lesions on monkeys' ability to learn that choosing a particular action or stimulus was more likely to lead to reward. We found that VS lesions caused a specific deficit in the monkeys' ability to discriminate between images with different values, whereas their ability to discriminate between actions with different values remained intact. Our results therefore suggest that the VS plays a specific role in learning to select rewarded stimuli. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/376902-13$15.00/0.

Action-outcome learning and prediction shape the window of simultaneity of audiovisual outcomes.

PubMed

Desantis, Andrea; Haggard, Patrick

2016-08-01

To form a coherent representation of the objects around us, the brain must group the different sensory features composing these objects. Here, we investigated whether actions contribute in this grouping process. In particular, we assessed whether action-outcome learning and prediction contribute to audiovisual temporal binding. Participants were presented with two audiovisual pairs: one pair was triggered by a left action, and the other by a right action. In a later test phase, the audio and visual components of these pairs were presented at different onset times. Participants judged whether they were simultaneous or not. To assess the role of action-outcome prediction on audiovisual simultaneity, each action triggered either the same audiovisual pair as in the learning phase ('predicted' pair), or the pair that had previously been associated with the other action ('unpredicted' pair). We found the time window within which auditory and visual events appeared simultaneous increased for predicted compared to unpredicted pairs. However, no change in audiovisual simultaneity was observed when audiovisual pairs followed visual cues, rather than voluntary actions. This suggests that only action-outcome learning promotes temporal grouping of audio and visual effects. In a second experiment we observed that changes in audiovisual simultaneity do not only depend on our ability to predict what outcomes our actions generate, but also on learning the delay between the action and the multisensory outcome. When participants learned that the delay between action and audiovisual pair was variable, the window of audiovisual simultaneity for predicted pairs increased, relative to a fixed action-outcome pair delay. This suggests that participants learn action-based predictions of audiovisual outcome, and adapt their temporal perception of outcome events based on such predictions. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Critical Action Learning: Extending Its Reach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ram, Monder

2012-01-01

The trend to imbue action learning with an explicit conception of criticality appears to be gathering momentum. The idea of critical action learning (CAL) foregrounds the connection between power, emotion and organizing. How this triumvirate of forces relate to each other fundamentally shapes the scope for learning. Theoretical and empirical…

Action Learning and Executive Education: Achieving Credible Personal, Practitioner and Organisational Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Simon; Margey, Michael

2015-01-01

Action learning involves balancing the often conflicting forces between working knowledge and academic knowledge. This paper explores the experience of executive learners; academics and external contributors involved in action learning at the postgraduate level. The executive learners are members of cohorts on two masters programmes based in…

Microstimulation of the human substantia nigra alters reinforcement learning.

PubMed

Ramayya, Ashwin G; Misra, Amrit; Baltuch, Gordon H; Kahana, Michael J

2014-05-14

Animal studies have shown that substantia nigra (SN) dopaminergic (DA) neurons strengthen action-reward associations during reinforcement learning, but their role in human learning is not known. Here, we applied microstimulation in the SN of 11 patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery for the treatment of Parkinson's disease as they performed a two-alternative probability learning task in which rewards were contingent on stimuli, rather than actions. Subjects demonstrated decreased learning from reward trials that were accompanied by phasic SN microstimulation compared with reward trials without stimulation. Subjects who showed large decreases in learning also showed an increased bias toward repeating actions after stimulation trials; therefore, stimulation may have decreased learning by strengthening action-reward associations rather than stimulus-reward associations. Our findings build on previous studies implicating SN DA neurons in preferentially strengthening action-reward associations during reinforcement learning. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/346887-09$15.00/0.

Discovery of Predicate-Oriented Relations among Named Entities Extracted from Thai Texts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tongtep, Nattapong; Theeramunkong, Thanaruk

Extracting named entities (NEs) and their relations is more difficult in Thai than in other languages due to several Thai specific characteristics, including no explicit boundaries for words, phrases and sentences; few case markers and modifier clues; high ambiguity in compound words and serial verbs; and flexible word orders. Unlike most previous works which focused on NE relations of specific actions, such as work_for, live_in, located_in, and kill, this paper proposes more general types of NE relations, called predicate-oriented relation (PoR), where an extracted action part (verb) is used as a core component to associate related named entities extracted from Thai Texts. Lacking a practical parser for the Thai language, we present three types of surface features, i.e. punctuation marks (such as token spaces), entity types and the number of entities and then apply five alternative commonly used learning schemes to investigate their performance on predicate-oriented relation extraction. The experimental results show that our approach achieves the F-measure of 97.76%, 99.19%, 95.00% and 93.50% on four different types of predicate-oriented relation (action-location, location-action, action-person and person-action) in crime-related news documents using a data set of 1,736 entity pairs. The effects of NE extraction techniques, feature sets and class unbalance on the performance of relation extraction are explored.

Visual variability affects early verb learning.

PubMed

Twomey, Katherine E; Lush, Lauren; Pearce, Ruth; Horst, Jessica S

2014-09-01

Research demonstrates that within-category visual variability facilitates noun learning; however, the effect of visual variability on verb learning is unknown. We habituated 24-month-old children to a novel verb paired with an animated star-shaped actor. Across multiple trials, children saw either a single action from an action category (identical actions condition, for example, travelling while repeatedly changing into a circle shape) or multiple actions from that action category (variable actions condition, for example, travelling while changing into a circle shape, then a square shape, then a triangle shape). Four test trials followed habituation. One paired the habituated verb with a new action from the habituated category (e.g., 'dacking' + pentagon shape) and one with a completely novel action (e.g., 'dacking' + leg movement). The others paired a new verb with a new same-category action (e.g., 'keefing' + pentagon shape), or a completely novel category action (e.g., 'keefing' + leg movement). Although all children discriminated novel verb/action pairs, children in the identical actions condition discriminated trials that included the completely novel verb, while children in the variable actions condition discriminated the out-of-category action. These data suggest that - as in noun learning - visual variability affects verb learning and children's ability to form action categories. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Rank-order-selective neurons form a temporal basis set for the generation of motor sequences.

PubMed

Salinas, Emilio

2009-04-08

Many behaviors are composed of a series of elementary motor actions that must occur in a specific order, but the neuronal mechanisms by which such motor sequences are generated are poorly understood. In particular, if a sequence consists of a few motor actions, a primate can learn to replicate it from memory after practicing it for just a few trials. How do the motor and premotor areas of the brain assemble motor sequences so fast? The network model presented here reveals part of the solution to this problem. The model is based on experiments showing that, during the performance of motor sequences, some cortical neurons are always activated at specific times, regardless of which motor action is being executed. In the model, a population of such rank-order-selective (ROS) cells drives a layer of downstream motor neurons so that these generate specific movements at different times in different sequences. A key ingredient of the model is that the amplitude of the ROS responses must be modulated by sequence identity. Because of this modulation, which is consistent with experimental reports, the network is able not only to produce multiple sequences accurately but also to learn a new sequence with minimal changes in connectivity. The ROS neurons modulated by sequence identity thus serve as a basis set for constructing arbitrary sequences of motor responses downstream. The underlying mechanism is analogous to the mechanism described in parietal areas for generating coordinate transformations in the spatial domain.

RANK-ORDER-SELECTIVE NEURONS FORM A TEMPORAL BASIS SET FOR THE GENERATION OF MOTOR SEQUENCES

PubMed Central

Salinas, Emilio

2009-01-01

Many behaviors are composed of a series of elementary motor actions that must occur in a specific order, but the neuronal mechanisms by which such motor sequences are generated are poorly understood. In particular, if a sequence consists of a few motor actions, a primate can learn to replicate it from memory after practicing it for just a few trials. How do the motor and premotor areas of the brain assemble motor sequences so fast? The network model presented here reveals part of the solution to this problem. The model is based on experiments showing that, during the performance of motor sequences, some cortical neurons are always activated at specific times, regardless of which motor action is being executed. In the model, a population of such rank-order-selective (ROS) cells drives a layer of downstream motor neurons so that these generate specific movements at different times in different sequences. A key ingredient of the model is that the amplitude of the ROS responses must be modulated by sequence identity. Because of this modulation, which is consistent with experimental reports, the network is able not only to produce multiple sequences accurately but also to learn a new sequence with minimal changes in connectivity. The ROS neurons modulated by sequence identity thus serve as a basis set for constructing arbitrary sequences of motor responses downstream. The underlying mechanism is analogous to the mechanism described in parietal areas for generating coordinate transformations in the spatial domain. PMID:19357265

Learning and change in a community mental health setting.

PubMed

Mancini, Michael A; Miner, Craig S

2013-10-01

This article offers methodological reflections and lessons learned from a three-year university-community partnership that used participatory action research methods to develop and evaluate a model for learning and change. Communities of practice were used to facilitate the translation of recovery-oriented and evidence-based programs into everyday practice at a community mental health agency. Four lessons were drawn from this project. First, the processes of learning and organizational change are complex, slow, and multifaceted. Second, development of leaders and champions is vital to sustained implementation in an era of restricted resources. Third, it is important to have the agency's values, mission, policies, and procedures align with the principles and practices of recovery and integrated treatment. And fourth, effective learning of evidence-based practices is influenced by organizational culture and climate. These four lessons are expanded upon and situated within the broader literature and implications for future research are discussed.

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task.

PubMed

Sargent, Barbara; Reimann, Hendrik; Kubo, Masayoshi; Fetters, Linda

2015-06-01

Task-specific actions emerge from spontaneous movement during infancy. It has been proposed that task-specific actions emerge through a discovery-learning process. Here a method is described in which 3-4 month old infants learn a task by discovery and their leg movements are captured to quantify the learning process. This discovery-learning task uses an infant activated mobile that rotates and plays music based on specified leg action of infants. Supine infants activate the mobile by moving their feet vertically across a virtual threshold. This paradigm is unique in that as infants independently discover that their leg actions activate the mobile, the infants' leg movements are tracked using a motion capture system allowing for the quantification of the learning process. Specifically, learning is quantified in terms of the duration of mobile activation, the position variance of the end effectors (feet) that activate the mobile, changes in hip-knee coordination patterns, and changes in hip and knee muscle torque. This information describes infant exploration and exploitation at the interplay of person and environmental constraints that support task-specific action. Subsequent research using this method can investigate how specific impairments of different populations of infants at risk for movement disorders influence the discovery-learning process for task-specific action.

Solving multiconstraint assignment problems using learning automata.

PubMed

Horn, Geir; Oommen, B John

2010-02-01

This paper considers the NP-hard problem of object assignment with respect to multiple constraints: assigning a set of elements (or objects) into mutually exclusive classes (or groups), where the elements which are "similar" to each other are hopefully located in the same class. The literature reports solutions in which the similarity constraint consists of a single index that is inappropriate for the type of multiconstraint problems considered here and where the constraints could simultaneously be contradictory. This feature, where we permit possibly contradictory constraints, distinguishes this paper from the state of the art. Indeed, we are aware of no learning automata (or other heuristic) solutions which solve this problem in its most general setting. Such a scenario is illustrated with the static mapping problem, which consists of distributing the processes of a parallel application onto a set of computing nodes. This is a classical and yet very important problem within the areas of parallel computing, grid computing, and cloud computing. We have developed four learning-automata (LA)-based algorithms to solve this problem: First, a fixed-structure stochastic automata algorithm is presented, where the processes try to form pairs to go onto the same node. This algorithm solves the problem, although it requires some centralized coordination. As it is desirable to avoid centralized control, we subsequently present three different variable-structure stochastic automata (VSSA) algorithms, which have superior partitioning properties in certain settings, although they forfeit some of the scalability features of the fixed-structure algorithm. All three VSSA algorithms model the processes as automata having first the hosting nodes as possible actions; second, the processes as possible actions; and, third, attempting to estimate the process communication digraph prior to probabilistically mapping the processes. This paper, which, we believe, comprehensively reports the pioneering LA solutions to this problem, unequivocally demonstrates that LA can play an important role in solving complex combinatorial and integer optimization problems.

Space, relations, and the learning of science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roth, Wolff-Michael; Hsu, Pei-Ling

2014-03-01

In the literature on the situated and distributed nature of cognition, the coordination of spatial organization and the structure of human practices and relations is accepted as a fact. To date, science educators have yet to build on such research. Drawing on an ethnographic study of high school students during an internship in a scientific research laboratory, which we understand as a "perspicuous setting" and a "smart setting," in which otherwise invisible dimensions of human practices become evident, we analyze the relationship between spatial configurations of the setting and the nature and temporal organization of knowing and learning in science. Our analyses show that spatial aspects of the laboratory projectively organize how participants act and can serve as resources to help the novices to participate in difficult and unfamiliar tasks. First, existing spatial relations projectively organize the language involving interns and lab members. In particular, spatial relations projectively organize where and when pedagogical language should happen; and there are specific discursive mechanisms that produce cohesion in language across different places in the laboratory. Second, the spatial arrangements projectively organize the temporal dimensions of action. These findings allow science educators to think explicitly about organizing "smart contexts" that help learners participate in and learn complex scientific laboratory practices.

Using Collaborative Action Learning Projects to Increase the Impact of Management Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyso, Ingunn Hybertsen; Mjoen, Kristian; Levin, Morten

2011-01-01

This article aims to contribute to the field of human resource development by exploring the conditions that influence the organizational impact of action learning projects. Many organizations use such projects as an integral part of their management development programs. Past research on action learning projects has shown how balancing action and…

Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning Model for Effective Action Selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Youk, Sang Jo; Lee, Bong Keun

Reinforcement learning is a sub area of machine learning concerned with how an agent ought to take actions in an environment so as to maximize some notion of long-term reward. In the case of multi-agent, especially, which state space and action space gets very enormous in compared to single agent, so it needs to take most effective measure available select the action strategy for effective reinforcement learning. This paper proposes a multi-agent reinforcement learning model based on fuzzy inference system in order to improve learning collect speed and select an effective action in multi-agent. This paper verifies an effective action select strategy through evaluation tests based on Robocop Keep away which is one of useful test-beds for multi-agent. Our proposed model can apply to evaluate efficiency of the various intelligent multi-agents and also can apply to strategy and tactics of robot soccer system.

A Bayesian Developmental Approach to Robotic Goal-Based Imitation Learning.

PubMed

Chung, Michael Jae-Yoon; Friesen, Abram L; Fox, Dieter; Meltzoff, Andrew N; Rao, Rajesh P N

2015-01-01

A fundamental challenge in robotics today is building robots that can learn new skills by observing humans and imitating human actions. We propose a new Bayesian approach to robotic learning by imitation inspired by the developmental hypothesis that children use self-experience to bootstrap the process of intention recognition and goal-based imitation. Our approach allows an autonomous agent to: (i) learn probabilistic models of actions through self-discovery and experience, (ii) utilize these learned models for inferring the goals of human actions, and (iii) perform goal-based imitation for robotic learning and human-robot collaboration. Such an approach allows a robot to leverage its increasing repertoire of learned behaviors to interpret increasingly complex human actions and use the inferred goals for imitation, even when the robot has very different actuators from humans. We demonstrate our approach using two different scenarios: (i) a simulated robot that learns human-like gaze following behavior, and (ii) a robot that learns to imitate human actions in a tabletop organization task. In both cases, the agent learns a probabilistic model of its own actions, and uses this model for goal inference and goal-based imitation. We also show that the robotic agent can use its probabilistic model to seek human assistance when it recognizes that its inferred actions are too uncertain, risky, or impossible to perform, thereby opening the door to human-robot collaboration.

A Bayesian Developmental Approach to Robotic Goal-Based Imitation Learning

PubMed Central

Chung, Michael Jae-Yoon; Friesen, Abram L.; Fox, Dieter; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Rao, Rajesh P. N.

2015-01-01

A fundamental challenge in robotics today is building robots that can learn new skills by observing humans and imitating human actions. We propose a new Bayesian approach to robotic learning by imitation inspired by the developmental hypothesis that children use self-experience to bootstrap the process of intention recognition and goal-based imitation. Our approach allows an autonomous agent to: (i) learn probabilistic models of actions through self-discovery and experience, (ii) utilize these learned models for inferring the goals of human actions, and (iii) perform goal-based imitation for robotic learning and human-robot collaboration. Such an approach allows a robot to leverage its increasing repertoire of learned behaviors to interpret increasingly complex human actions and use the inferred goals for imitation, even when the robot has very different actuators from humans. We demonstrate our approach using two different scenarios: (i) a simulated robot that learns human-like gaze following behavior, and (ii) a robot that learns to imitate human actions in a tabletop organization task. In both cases, the agent learns a probabilistic model of its own actions, and uses this model for goal inference and goal-based imitation. We also show that the robotic agent can use its probabilistic model to seek human assistance when it recognizes that its inferred actions are too uncertain, risky, or impossible to perform, thereby opening the door to human-robot collaboration. PMID:26536366

Exploring the potential of a multi-level approach to improve capability for continuous organizational improvement and learning in a Swedish healthcare region.

PubMed

Nyström, M E; Höög, E; Garvare, R; Andersson Bäck, M; Terris, D D; Hansson, J

2018-05-24

Eldercare and care of people with functional impairments is organized by the municipalities in Sweden. Improving care in these areas is complex, with multiple stakeholders and organizations. Appropriate strategies to develop capability for continuing organizational improvement and learning (COIL) are needed. The purpose of our study was to develop and pilot-test a flexible, multilevel approach for COIL capability building and to identify what it takes to achieve changes in key actors' approaches to COIL. The approach, named "Sustainable Improvement and Development through Strategic and Systematic Approaches" (SIDSSA), was applied through an action-research and action-learning intervention. The SIDSSA approach was tested in a regional research and development (R&D) unit, and in two municipalities handling care of the elderly and people with functional impairments. Our approach included a multilevel strategy, development loops of five flexible phases, and an action-learning loop. The approach was designed to support systems understanding, strategic focus, methodological practices, and change process knowledge - all of which required double-loop learning. Multiple qualitative methods, i.e., repeated interviews, process diaries, and documents, provided data for conventional content analyses. The new approach was successfully tested on all cases and adopted and sustained by the R&D unit. Participants reported new insights and skills. The development loop facilitated a sense of coherence and control during uncertainty, improved planning and problem analysis, enhanced mapping of context and conditions, and supported problem-solving at both the individual and unit levels. The systems-level view and structured approach helped participants to explain, motivate, and implement change initiatives, especially after working more systematically with mapping, analyses, and goal setting. An easily understood and generalizable model internalized by key organizational actors is an important step before more complex development models can be implemented. SIDSSA facilitated individual and group learning through action-learning and supported systems-level views and structured approaches across multiple organizational levels. Active involvement of diverse organizational functions and levels in the learning process was facilitated. However, the time frame was too short to fully test all aspects of the approach, specifically in reaching beyond the involved managers to front-line staff and patients.

Collaborative learning of clinical skills in health professions education: the why, how, when and for whom.

PubMed

Tolsgaard, Martin G; Kulasegaram, Kulamakan M; Ringsted, Charlotte V

2016-01-01

This study is designed to provide an overview of why, how, when and for whom collaborative learning of clinical skills may work in health professions education. Collaborative learning of clinical skills may influence learning positively according to the non-medical literature. Training efficiency may therefore be improved if the outcomes of collaborative learning of clinical skills are superior or equivalent to those attained through individual learning. According to a social interaction perspective, collaborative learning of clinical skills mediates its effects through social interaction, motivation, accountability and positive interdependence between learners. Motor skills learning theory suggests that positive effects rely on observational learning and action imitation, and negative effects may include decreased hands-on experience. Finally, a cognitive perspective suggests that learning is dependent on cognitive co-construction, shared knowledge and reduced cognitive load. The literature on the collaborative learning of clinical skills in health science education is reviewed to support or contradict the hypotheses provided by the theories outlined above. Collaborative learning of clinical skills leads to improvements in self-efficacy, confidence and performance when task processing is observable or communicable. However, the effects of collaborative learning of clinical skills may decrease over time as benefits in terms of shared cognition, scaffolding and cognitive co-construction are outweighed by reductions in hands-on experience and time on task. Collaborative learning of clinical skills has demonstrated promising results in the simulated setting. However, further research into how collaborative learning of clinical skills may work in clinical settings, as well as into the role of social dynamics between learners, is required. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Advanced Parkinson's disease effect on goal-directed and habitual processes involved in visuomotor associative learning

PubMed Central

Hadj-Bouziane, Fadila; Benatru, Isabelle; Brovelli, Andrea; Klinger, Hélène; Thobois, Stéphane; Broussolle, Emmanuel; Boussaoud, Driss; Meunier, Martine

2013-01-01

The present behavioral study re-addresses the question of habit learning in Parkinson's disease (PD). Patients were early onset, non-demented, dopa-responsive, candidates for surgical treatment, similar to those we found earlier as suffering greater dopamine depletion in the putamen than in the caudate nucleus. The task was the same conditional associative learning task as that used previously in monkeys and healthy humans to unveil the striatum involvement in habit learning. Sixteen patients and 20 age- and education-matched healthy control subjects learned sets of 3 visuo-motor associations between complex patterns and joystick displacements during two testing sessions separated by a few hours. We distinguished errors preceding vs. following the first correct response to compare patients' performance during the earliest phase of learning dominated by goal-directed actions with that observed later on, when responses start to become habitual. The disease significantly retarded both learning phases, especially in patients under 60 years of age. However, only the late phase deficit was disease severity-dependent and persisted on the second testing session. These findings provide the first corroboration in Parkinson patients of two ideas well-established in the animal literature. The first is the idea that associating visual stimuli to motor acts is a form of habit learning that engages the striatum. It is confirmed here by the global impairment in visuo-motor learning induced by PD. The second idea is that goal-directed behaviors are predominantly caudate-dependent whereas habitual responses are primarily putamen-dependent. At the advanced PD stages tested here, dopamine depletion is greater in the putamen than in the caudate nucleus. Accordingly, the late phase of learning corresponding to the emergence of habitual responses was more vulnerable to the disease than the early phase dominated by goal-directed actions. PMID:23386815

The Effects of Stimulus Writing Modality To Produce Writing Fluency in the Primary Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duross, Christine; And Others

An action research project set out to increase students' writing fluency and investigate whether writing fluency varies as a function of writing prompts and directions given to students. Subjects were 62 students in a first-grade class, a second-grade class, and a fifth/sixth-grade Special Day class (all in this class are learning disabled) in a…

Co-Educational Tutorial Classes and Their Significance on Gendered Test Scores of Wollo University Students: A Before-After Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gidey, Mu'uz

2015-01-01

This action research is carried out in a practical class room setting to devise an innovative way of administering tutorial classes to improve students' learning competence with particular reference to gendered test scores. A before-after test score analyses of mean and standard deviations along with t-statistical tests of hypotheses of second…

"I Think We Should Take This Offline...": Conversational Patterns that Undermine Effective Decision Making in Action Learning Sets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donovan, Paul

2011-01-01

Collective decision making is an increasing requirement in organizations where the emphasis is on team work at every level. It is, however, very complex and difficult to achieve in practice. Too frequently, important discussions are bypassed or, while the majority of the meeting participants remain mute, decisions are being made by a vocal few. In…

Recording single neurons' action potentials from freely moving pigeons across three stages of learning.

PubMed

Starosta, Sarah; Stüttgen, Maik C; Güntürkün, Onur

2014-06-02

While the subject of learning has attracted immense interest from both behavioral and neural scientists, only relatively few investigators have observed single-neuron activity while animals are acquiring an operantly conditioned response, or when that response is extinguished. But even in these cases, observation periods usually encompass only a single stage of learning, i.e. acquisition or extinction, but not both (exceptions include protocols employing reversal learning; see Bingman et al.(1) for an example). However, acquisition and extinction entail different learning mechanisms and are therefore expected to be accompanied by different types and/or loci of neural plasticity. Accordingly, we developed a behavioral paradigm which institutes three stages of learning in a single behavioral session and which is well suited for the simultaneous recording of single neurons' action potentials. Animals are trained on a single-interval forced choice task which requires mapping each of two possible choice responses to the presentation of different novel visual stimuli (acquisition). After having reached a predefined performance criterion, one of the two choice responses is no longer reinforced (extinction). Following a certain decrement in performance level, correct responses are reinforced again (reacquisition). By using a new set of stimuli in every session, animals can undergo the acquisition-extinction-reacquisition process repeatedly. Because all three stages of learning occur in a single behavioral session, the paradigm is ideal for the simultaneous observation of the spiking output of multiple single neurons. We use pigeons as model systems, but the task can easily be adapted to any other species capable of conditioned discrimination learning.

Action Learning in Postgraduate Executive Management Education: An Account of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruane, Meadbh

2016-01-01

The merits of action learning as a change tool and enabler of deep learning are well recognised. However, there is a gap in the literature of participants' stories regarding their experiences on accredited postgraduate executive programmes underpinned by an action learning philosophy. The following account of practice addresses this gap and…

Action Learning, Team Learning and Co-Operation in the Czech Republic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kubatova, Slava

2012-01-01

This account of practice presents two cases of the application of Action Learning (AL) communication methodology as described by Marquardt [2004. "Optimising the power of action learning". Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing]. The teams were Czech and international top management teams. The AL methodology was used to improve…

Action Learning--An Experiential Tool for Solving Organizational Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinsey, Sharon B.

2011-01-01

Action Learning can be effectively used in both large and small businesses and organizations by employees, stakeholders, or volunteers through this "learning by doing" approach to evaluate an issue or issues of importance to the organization. First developed in the 1940s, Action Learning has increasingly been used as a method to explore questions…

Enabling Team Learning in Healthcare

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boak, George

2016-01-01

This paper is based on a study of learning processes within 35 healthcare therapy teams that took action to improve their services. The published research on team learning is introduced, and the paper suggests it is an activity that has similarities with action research and with those forms of action learning where teams address collective…

Extending the Peak Bandwidth of Parameters for Softmax Selection in Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Iwata, Kazunori

2016-05-11

Softmax selection is one of the most popular methods for action selection in reinforcement learning. Although various recently proposed methods may be more effective with full parameter tuning, implementing a complicated method that requires the tuning of many parameters can be difficult. Thus, softmax selection is still worth revisiting, considering the cost savings of its implementation and tuning. In fact, this method works adequately in practice with only one parameter appropriately set for the environment. The aim of this paper is to improve the variable setting of this method to extend the bandwidth of good parameters, thereby reducing the cost of implementation and parameter tuning. To achieve this, we take advantage of the asymptotic equipartition property in a Markov decision process to extend the peak bandwidth of softmax selection. Using a variety of episodic tasks, we show that our setting is effective in extending the bandwidth and that it yields a better policy in terms of stability. The bandwidth is quantitatively assessed in a series of statistical tests.

A rejoinder to Jrène Rahm's "Stories of learning, identity, navigations and boundary crossings in STEM in non-dominant communities: new imaginaries for research and action"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Civil, Marta

2016-03-01

This article presents my rejoinder to Jrène Rahm's response to my article "STEM learning research through a funds of knowledge lens." I focus on four themes that emerged from my reading of her commentary: the importance of the histories of youth of immigrant origin; her comments on globality; the theoretical lens that she brings to my research; and the methodological issues she discusses. I highlight Rahm's humanizing component and the need to understand the complexity of immigration. What are we doing in our global settings to build on the diversity of experiences and backgrounds among the youth as a resource towards STEM learning?

The theory of reasoned action as parallel constraint satisfaction: towards a dynamic computational model of health behavior.

PubMed

Orr, Mark G; Thrush, Roxanne; Plaut, David C

2013-01-01

The reasoned action approach, although ubiquitous in health behavior theory (e.g., Theory of Reasoned Action/Planned Behavior), does not adequately address two key dynamical aspects of health behavior: learning and the effect of immediate social context (i.e., social influence). To remedy this, we put forth a computational implementation of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) using artificial-neural networks. Our model re-conceptualized behavioral intention as arising from a dynamic constraint satisfaction mechanism among a set of beliefs. In two simulations, we show that constraint satisfaction can simultaneously incorporate the effects of past experience (via learning) with the effects of immediate social context to yield behavioral intention, i.e., intention is dynamically constructed from both an individual's pre-existing belief structure and the beliefs of others in the individual's social context. In a third simulation, we illustrate the predictive ability of the model with respect to empirically derived behavioral intention. As the first known computational model of health behavior, it represents a significant advance in theory towards understanding the dynamics of health behavior. Furthermore, our approach may inform the development of population-level agent-based models of health behavior that aim to incorporate psychological theory into models of population dynamics.

The Theory of Reasoned Action as Parallel Constraint Satisfaction: Towards a Dynamic Computational Model of Health Behavior

PubMed Central

Orr, Mark G.; Thrush, Roxanne; Plaut, David C.

2013-01-01

The reasoned action approach, although ubiquitous in health behavior theory (e.g., Theory of Reasoned Action/Planned Behavior), does not adequately address two key dynamical aspects of health behavior: learning and the effect of immediate social context (i.e., social influence). To remedy this, we put forth a computational implementation of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) using artificial-neural networks. Our model re-conceptualized behavioral intention as arising from a dynamic constraint satisfaction mechanism among a set of beliefs. In two simulations, we show that constraint satisfaction can simultaneously incorporate the effects of past experience (via learning) with the effects of immediate social context to yield behavioral intention, i.e., intention is dynamically constructed from both an individual’s pre-existing belief structure and the beliefs of others in the individual’s social context. In a third simulation, we illustrate the predictive ability of the model with respect to empirically derived behavioral intention. As the first known computational model of health behavior, it represents a significant advance in theory towards understanding the dynamics of health behavior. Furthermore, our approach may inform the development of population-level agent-based models of health behavior that aim to incorporate psychological theory into models of population dynamics. PMID:23671603

A developmental approach to learning causal models for cyber security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mugan, Jonathan

2013-05-01

To keep pace with our adversaries, we must expand the scope of machine learning and reasoning to address the breadth of possible attacks. One approach is to employ an algorithm to learn a set of causal models that describes the entire cyber network and each host end node. Such a learning algorithm would run continuously on the system and monitor activity in real time. With a set of causal models, the algorithm could anticipate novel attacks, take actions to thwart them, and predict the second-order effects flood of information, and the algorithm would have to determine which streams of that flood were relevant in which situations. This paper will present the results of efforts toward the application of a developmental learning algorithm to the problem of cyber security. The algorithm is modeled on the principles of human developmental learning and is designed to allow an agent to learn about the computer system in which it resides through active exploration. Children are flexible learners who acquire knowledge by actively exploring their environment and making predictions about what they will find,1, 2 and our algorithm is inspired by the work of the developmental psychologist Jean Piaget.3 Piaget described how children construct knowledge in stages and learn new concepts on top of those they already know. Developmental learning allows our algorithm to focus on subsets of the environment that are most helpful for learning given its current knowledge. In experiments, the algorithm was able to learn the conditions for file exfiltration and use that knowledge to protect sensitive files.

Robots show us how to teach them: feedback from robots shapes tutoring behavior during action learning.

PubMed

Vollmer, Anna-Lisa; Mühlig, Manuel; Steil, Jochen J; Pitsch, Karola; Fritsch, Jannik; Rohlfing, Katharina J; Wrede, Britta

2014-01-01

Robot learning by imitation requires the detection of a tutor's action demonstration and its relevant parts. Current approaches implicitly assume a unidirectional transfer of knowledge from tutor to learner. The presented work challenges this predominant assumption based on an extensive user study with an autonomously interacting robot. We show that by providing feedback, a robot learner influences the human tutor's movement demonstrations in the process of action learning. We argue that the robot's feedback strongly shapes how tutors signal what is relevant to an action and thus advocate a paradigm shift in robot action learning research toward truly interactive systems learning in and benefiting from interaction.

Robots Show Us How to Teach Them: Feedback from Robots Shapes Tutoring Behavior during Action Learning

PubMed Central

Vollmer, Anna-Lisa; Mühlig, Manuel; Steil, Jochen J.; Pitsch, Karola; Fritsch, Jannik; Rohlfing, Katharina J.; Wrede, Britta

2014-01-01

Robot learning by imitation requires the detection of a tutor's action demonstration and its relevant parts. Current approaches implicitly assume a unidirectional transfer of knowledge from tutor to learner. The presented work challenges this predominant assumption based on an extensive user study with an autonomously interacting robot. We show that by providing feedback, a robot learner influences the human tutor's movement demonstrations in the process of action learning. We argue that the robot's feedback strongly shapes how tutors signal what is relevant to an action and thus advocate a paradigm shift in robot action learning research toward truly interactive systems learning in and benefiting from interaction. PMID:24646510

Putting program evaluation to work: a framework for creating actionable knowledge for suicide prevention practice.

PubMed

Wilkins, Natalie; Thigpen, Sally; Lockman, Jennifer; Mackin, Juliette; Madden, Mary; Perkins, Tamara; Schut, James; Van Regenmorter, Christina; Williams, Lygia; Donovan, John

2013-06-01

The economic and human cost of suicidal behavior to individuals, families, communities, and society makes suicide a serious public health concern, both in the US and around the world. As research and evaluation continue to identify strategies that have the potential to reduce or ultimately prevent suicidal behavior, the need for translating these findings into practice grows. The development of actionable knowledge is an emerging process for translating important research and evaluation findings into action to benefit practice settings. In an effort to apply evaluation findings to strengthen suicide prevention practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) supported the development of three actionable knowledge products that make key findings and lessons learned from youth suicide prevention program evaluations accessible and useable for action. This paper describes the actionable knowledge framework (adapted from the knowledge transfer literature), the three products that resulted, and recommendations for further research into this emerging method for translating research and evaluation findings and bridging the knowledge-action gap.

Balancing Bologna: opportunities for university teaching that integrates academic and practical learning outcomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Probst, Lorenz; Pflug, Verena; Brandenburg, Christiane; Guggenberger, Thomas; Mentler, Axel; Wurzinger, Maria

2014-05-01

In the course of the Bologna Process, the quality of university teaching has become more prominent in the discourse on higher education. More attention is now paid to didactics and methods and learner-oriented modes of teaching are introduced. The application of knowledge, practical skills and in consequence the employability of university graduates have become requirements for university teaching. Yet, the lecture-style approach still dominates European universities, although empirical evidence confirms that student-centred, interdisciplinary and experiential learning is more effective. Referring to the learning taxonomy introduced by Bloom, we argue that standard approaches rarely move beyond the learning level of comprehension and fail to reach the levels of application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Considering the rapid changes and multiple challenges society faces today, responsible practitioners and scientists who can improve the current management of natural resources are urgently needed. Universities are expected to equip their graduates with the necessary skills to reflect and evaluate their actions when addressing 'real world' problems in order to improve impact and relevance of their work. Higher education thus faces the challenge of providing multi-level learning opportunities for students with diverse practical and theoretical learning needs. In this study, we reflect on three cases of university teaching attempting to bridge theory and practice and based on the principles of systemic, problem based learning. The described courses focus on organic farming, rural development and landscape planning and take place in Uganda, Nicaragua and Italy. We show that being part of a real-world community of stakeholders requires hands-on learning and the reflection and evaluation of actions. This prepares students in a more effective and realistic way for their future roles as responsible decision makers in complex social, economic and ecological systems. We thus conclude that in order (1) to meet the goals of the Bologna process; and (2) to bridge the gap between theory and practice in higher education, university teaching needs to radically reconsider its standard forms of teaching. We propose a fundamental shift towards action learning in real-world settings, empowering students to become responsible actors.

Does Lean Production Sacrifice Learning in a Manufacturing Environment? An Action Learning Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Fiona M.; Butler, Jim; Edwards, John

2001-01-01

An action learning program was implemented by a manufacturer using lean production practices. Action learning practices were accommodated during times of stability, but abandoned in times of crisis. The meaning of work in this organizational culture excluded all practices, such as reflection, that were not visible and targeted at immediate…

Enacting Critical Learning: Power, Politics and Emotions at Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trehan, Kiran; Rigg, Clare

2015-01-01

This article seeks to develop the understanding of critical action learning (CAL) and to make a contribution to its theory and practice. The article begins by conceptualising critical action learning and builds on the work of Revans (1982) to stimulate fresh thinking. It provides a different calibration of his coupling of action and learning. An…

Action Learning, the Tool for Problem-Solving in Universities; Uganda Martyrs Nkozi, Makerere and Nkumba Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bwegyeme, Jacinta; Munene, John C.

2015-01-01

The article presents an account of how action learning principles were implemented to alleviate complex problems in universities. It focuses on the registrars and administrators under the academic Registrar's department. The Marquardt model of action learning was used in combination with the constructivist theories of learning, namely community of…

Integration of Temporal and Ordinal Information During Serial Interception Sequence Learning

PubMed Central

Gobel, Eric W.; Sanchez, Daniel J.; Reber, Paul J.

2011-01-01

The expression of expert motor skills typically involves learning to perform a precisely timed sequence of movements (e.g., language production, music performance, athletic skills). Research examining incidental sequence learning has previously relied on a perceptually-cued task that gives participants exposure to repeating motor sequences but does not require timing of responses for accuracy. Using a novel perceptual-motor sequence learning task, learning a precisely timed cued sequence of motor actions is shown to occur without explicit instruction. Participants learned a repeating sequence through practice and showed sequence-specific knowledge via a performance decrement when switched to an unfamiliar sequence. In a second experiment, the integration of representation of action order and timing sequence knowledge was examined. When either action order or timing sequence information was selectively disrupted, performance was reduced to levels similar to completely novel sequences. Unlike prior sequence-learning research that has found timing information to be secondary to learning action sequences, when the task demands require accurate action and timing information, an integrated representation of these types of information is acquired. These results provide the first evidence for incidental learning of fully integrated action and timing sequence information in the absence of an independent representation of action order, and suggest that this integrative mechanism may play a material role in the acquisition of complex motor skills. PMID:21417511

How to use coaching and action learning to support mentors in the workplace.

PubMed

Nash, Sue; Scammell, Janet

Using the example of mentoring preregistration student nurses, this article explores facilitation of learning in the workplace and examines the use of coaching and action learning to support mentors and the wider clinical team. A case study, where a mentor has difficulties with an underperforming student, is considered. Action learning and coaching are then explored, with the aim of maximising personal and team learning. These strategies can be easily transferred to other work based learning situations.

Associative vocabulary learning: development and testing of two paradigms for the (re-) acquisition of action- and object-related words.

PubMed

Freundlieb, Nils; Ridder, Volker; Dobel, Christian; Enriquez-Geppert, Stefanie; Baumgaertner, Annette; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Gerloff, Christian; Hummel, Friedhelm C; Liuzzi, Gianpiero

2012-01-01

Despite a growing number of studies, the neurophysiology of adult vocabulary acquisition is still poorly understood. One reason is that paradigms that can easily be combined with neuroscientfic methods are rare. Here, we tested the efficiency of two paradigms for vocabulary (re-) acquisition, and compared the learning of novel words for actions and objects. Cortical networks involved in adult native-language word processing are widespread, with differences postulated between words for objects and actions. Words and what they stand for are supposed to be grounded in perceptual and sensorimotor brain circuits depending on their meaning. If there are specific brain representations for different word categories, we hypothesized behavioural differences in the learning of action-related and object-related words. Paradigm A, with the learning of novel words for body-related actions spread out over a number of days, revealed fast learning of these new action words, and stable retention up to 4 weeks after training. The single-session Paradigm B employed objects and actions. Performance during acquisition did not differ between action-related and object-related words (time*word category: p = 0.01), but the translation rate was clearly better for object-related (79%) than for action-related words (53%, p = 0.002). Both paradigms yielded robust associative learning of novel action-related words, as previously demonstrated for object-related words. Translation success differed for action- and object-related words, which may indicate different neural mechanisms. The paradigms tested here are well suited to investigate such differences with neuroscientific means. Given the stable retention and minimal requirements for conscious effort, these learning paradigms are promising for vocabulary re-learning in brain-lesioned people. In combination with neuroimaging, neuro-stimulation or pharmacological intervention, they may well advance the understanding of language learning to optimize therapeutic strategies.

Project Management Framework to Organizational Transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kotnour, Tim; Barton, Saul

1996-01-01

This paper describes a project management framework and associated models for organizational transitions. The framework contains an integrated set of steps an organization can take to lead an organizational transition such as downsizing and change in mission or role. The framework is designed to help an organization do the right work the right way with the right people at the right time. The underlying rationale for the steps in the framework is based on a set of findings which include: defining a transition as containing both near-term and long-term actions, designing actions which respond to drivers and achieve desired results, aligning the organization with the external environment, and aligning the internal components of the organization. The framework was developed based on best practices found in the literature, lessons learned from heads of organizations who have completed large-scale organizational changes, and concerns from employees at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The framework is described using KSC.

The Challenge of Evaluating Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmonstone, John

2015-01-01

The paper examines the benefits claimed for action learning at individual, organisational and inter-organisational levels. It goes on to identify both generic difficulties in evaluating development programmes and action learning specifically. The distinction between formative and summative evaluation is considered and a summative evaluation…

The Educational Situation Quality Model: Recent Advances.

PubMed

Doménech-Betoret, Fernando

2018-01-01

The purpose of this work was to present an educational model developed in recent years entitled the "The Educational Situation Quality Model" (MOCSE, acronym in Spanish). MOCSE can be defined as an instructional model that simultaneously considers the teaching-learning process, where motivation plays a central role. It explains the functioning of an educational setting by organizing and relating the most important variables which, according to the literature, contribute to student learning. Besides being a conceptual framework, this model also provides a methodological procedure to guide research and to promote reflection in the classroom. It allows teachers to implement effective research-action programs to improve teacher-students satisfaction and learning outcomes in the classroom context. This work explains the model's characteristics and functioning, recent advances, and how teachers can use it in an educational setting with a specific subject. This proposal integrates approaches from several relevant psycho-educational theories and introduces a new perspective into the existing literature that will allow researchers to make progress in studying educational setting functioning. The initial MOCSE configuration has been refined over time in accordance with the empirical results obtained from previous research, carried out within the MOCSE framework and with the subsequent reflections that derived from these results. Finally, the contribution of the model to improve learning outcomes and satisfaction, and its applicability in the classroom, are also discussed.

The Educational Situation Quality Model: Recent Advances

PubMed Central

Doménech-Betoret, Fernando

2018-01-01

The purpose of this work was to present an educational model developed in recent years entitled the “The Educational Situation Quality Model” (MOCSE, acronym in Spanish). MOCSE can be defined as an instructional model that simultaneously considers the teaching-learning process, where motivation plays a central role. It explains the functioning of an educational setting by organizing and relating the most important variables which, according to the literature, contribute to student learning. Besides being a conceptual framework, this model also provides a methodological procedure to guide research and to promote reflection in the classroom. It allows teachers to implement effective research-action programs to improve teacher–students satisfaction and learning outcomes in the classroom context. This work explains the model’s characteristics and functioning, recent advances, and how teachers can use it in an educational setting with a specific subject. This proposal integrates approaches from several relevant psycho-educational theories and introduces a new perspective into the existing literature that will allow researchers to make progress in studying educational setting functioning. The initial MOCSE configuration has been refined over time in accordance with the empirical results obtained from previous research, carried out within the MOCSE framework and with the subsequent reflections that derived from these results. Finally, the contribution of the model to improve learning outcomes and satisfaction, and its applicability in the classroom, are also discussed. PMID:29593623

Smart food policies for obesity prevention.

PubMed

Hawkes, Corinna; Smith, Trenton G; Jewell, Jo; Wardle, Jane; Hammond, Ross A; Friel, Sharon; Thow, Anne Marie; Kain, Juliana

2015-06-13

Prevention of obesity requires policies that work. In this Series paper, we propose a new way to understand how food policies could be made to work more effectively for obesity prevention. Our approach draws on evidence from a range of disciplines (psychology, economics, and public health nutrition) to develop a theory of change to understand how food policies work. We focus on one of the key determinants of obesity: diet. The evidence we review suggests that the interaction between human food preferences and the environment in which those preferences are learned, expressed, and reassessed has a central role. We identify four mechanisms through which food policies can affect diet: providing an enabling environment for learning of healthy preferences, overcoming barriers to the expression of healthy preferences, encouraging people to reassess existing unhealthy preferences at the point-of-purchase, and stimulating a food-systems response. We explore how actions in three specific policy areas (school settings, economic instruments, and nutrition labelling) work through these mechanisms, and draw implications for more effective policy design. We find that effective food-policy actions are those that lead to positive changes to food, social, and information environments and the systems that underpin them. Effective food-policy actions are tailored to the preference, behavioural, socioeconomic, and demographic characteristics of the people they seek to support, are designed to work through the mechanisms through which they have greatest effect, and are implemented as part of a combination of mutually reinforcing actions. Moving forward, priorities should include comprehensive policy actions that create an enabling environment for infants and children to learn healthy food preferences and targeted actions that enable disadvantaged populations to overcome barriers to meeting healthy preferences. Policy assessments should be carefully designed on the basis of a theory of change, using indicators of progress along the various pathways towards the long-term goal of reducing obesity rates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Action learning for health system governance: the reward and challenge of co-production.

PubMed

Lehmann, Uta; Gilson, Lucy

2015-10-01

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is centrally concerned with people, their relationships and the actions and practices they can implement towards better health systems. These concerns suggest that HPS researchers must work in direct engagement with the practitioners and practice central to the inquiry, acknowledging their tacit knowledge and drawing it into generating new insights into health system functioning. Social science perspectives are of particular importance in this field because health policies and health systems are themselves social and political constructs. However, how can social science methodologies such as action research and narrative and appreciative enquiry enable such research, and how can methodologies from different disciplines be woven together to construct and make meaning of evidence for 'this' field? This article seeks to present 'methodological musings' on these points, to prompt wider discussion on the practice of HPSR. It draws on one long-term collaborative action learning research project being undertaken in Cape Town, South Africa. The District Innovation and Action Learning for Health System Development project is an action research partnership between two South African academic institutions and two health authorities focused, ultimately, on strengthening governance in primary health care.Drawing on this experience, the article considers three interrelated issues: The diversity and complexities of practitioner and research actors involved in co-producing HPSR; The nature of co-production and the importance of providing space to grapple across different systems of meaning;The character of evidence and data in co-production. There is much to be learnt from research traditions outside the health sector, but HPSR must work out its own practices--through collaboration and innovation among researchers and practitioners. In this article, we provide one set of experiences to prompt wider reflection and stimulate engagement on the practice of HPSR for people-centred health systems. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

How actions shape perception: learning action-outcome relations and predicting sensory outcomes promote audio-visual temporal binding

PubMed Central

Desantis, Andrea; Haggard, Patrick

2016-01-01

To maintain a temporally-unified representation of audio and visual features of objects in our environment, the brain recalibrates audio-visual simultaneity. This process allows adjustment for both differences in time of transmission and time for processing of audio and visual signals. In four experiments, we show that the cognitive processes for controlling instrumental actions also have strong influence on audio-visual recalibration. Participants learned that right and left hand button-presses each produced a specific audio-visual stimulus. Following one action the audio preceded the visual stimulus, while for the other action audio lagged vision. In a subsequent test phase, left and right button-press generated either the same audio-visual stimulus as learned initially, or the pair associated with the other action. We observed recalibration of simultaneity only for previously-learned audio-visual outcomes. Thus, learning an action-outcome relation promotes temporal grouping of the audio and visual events within the outcome pair, contributing to the creation of a temporally unified multisensory object. This suggests that learning action-outcome relations and the prediction of perceptual outcomes can provide an integrative temporal structure for our experiences of external events. PMID:27982063

How actions shape perception: learning action-outcome relations and predicting sensory outcomes promote audio-visual temporal binding.

PubMed

Desantis, Andrea; Haggard, Patrick

2016-12-16

To maintain a temporally-unified representation of audio and visual features of objects in our environment, the brain recalibrates audio-visual simultaneity. This process allows adjustment for both differences in time of transmission and time for processing of audio and visual signals. In four experiments, we show that the cognitive processes for controlling instrumental actions also have strong influence on audio-visual recalibration. Participants learned that right and left hand button-presses each produced a specific audio-visual stimulus. Following one action the audio preceded the visual stimulus, while for the other action audio lagged vision. In a subsequent test phase, left and right button-press generated either the same audio-visual stimulus as learned initially, or the pair associated with the other action. We observed recalibration of simultaneity only for previously-learned audio-visual outcomes. Thus, learning an action-outcome relation promotes temporal grouping of the audio and visual events within the outcome pair, contributing to the creation of a temporally unified multisensory object. This suggests that learning action-outcome relations and the prediction of perceptual outcomes can provide an integrative temporal structure for our experiences of external events.

Learning a commonsense moral theory.

PubMed

Kleiman-Weiner, Max; Saxe, Rebecca; Tenenbaum, Joshua B

2017-10-01

We introduce a computational framework for understanding the structure and dynamics of moral learning, with a focus on how people learn to trade off the interests and welfare of different individuals in their social groups and the larger society. We posit a minimal set of cognitive capacities that together can solve this learning problem: (1) an abstract and recursive utility calculus to quantitatively represent welfare trade-offs; (2) hierarchical Bayesian inference to understand the actions and judgments of others; and (3) meta-values for learning by value alignment both externally to the values of others and internally to make moral theories consistent with one's own attachments and feelings. Our model explains how children can build from sparse noisy observations of how a small set of individuals make moral decisions to a broad moral competence, able to support an infinite range of judgments and decisions that generalizes even to people they have never met and situations they have not been in or observed. It also provides insight into the causes and dynamics of moral change across time, including cases when moral change can be rapidly progressive, changing values significantly in just a few generations, and cases when it is likely to move more slowly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Challenges in Scaling up the Delivery of Action Learning Facilitator Training within a Global Organisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antell, Sonja; Heywood, John

2015-01-01

Action learning is often used as an element of leadership development programmes. The intention is to support classroom learning with an experiential thread which runs throughout the life of the programme. Action Learning Associates (ALA) has been working with an international organisation for three years to deliver the global "First Line…

Join Us in a Participatory Approach to Training, Learning & Production. A Practical Guide to the Action Training Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frings, A.; And Others

This handbook is intended to help trainers and development workers plan and conduct training programs based on the Action Training Model (ATM). The ATM combines training with action and learning with production by building upon participants' knowledge and learning needs and involving participants in a process of active learning and cooperative…

Review of sports-related concussion: Potential for application in military settings.

PubMed

Lew, Henry L; Thomander, Darryl; Chew, Kelvin T L; Bleiberg, Joseph

2007-01-01

This article reviews current issues and practices in the assessment and clinical management of sports-related concussion. An estimated 300,000 sports-related concussions occur annually in the United States. Much of what has been learned about concussion in the sports arena can be applied to the diagnosis and management of concussion in military settings. Current military guidelines for assessing and managing concussion in war zones incorporate information and methods developed through sports-concussion research. We discuss the incidence, definition, and diagnosis of concussion; concussion grading scales; sideline evaluation tools; neuropsychological assessment; return-to-action criteria; and complications of concussion.

Civil Society, Adult Learning and Action in India.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tandon, Rajesh

2000-01-01

Five case studies of individual and collective learning projects in India demonstrate that (1) the impetus for civic action arises from local conditions; (2) transformative action requires sustained adult learning; and (3) civil society is a complex concept reflecting diverse priorities and perspectives. (SK)

Measuring Cognitive Load in Embodied Learning Settings.

PubMed

Skulmowski, Alexander; Rey, Günter Daniel

2017-01-01

In recent years, research on embodied cognition has inspired a number of studies on multimedia learning and instructional psychology. However, in contrast to traditional research on education and multimedia learning, studies on embodied learning (i.e., focusing on bodily action and perception in the context of education) in some cases pose new problems for the measurement of cognitive load. This review provides an overview over recent studies on embodied learning in which cognitive load was measured using surveys, behavioral data, or physiological measures. The different methods are assessed in terms of their success in finding differences of cognitive load in embodied learning scenarios. At the same time, we highlight the most important challenges for researchers aiming to include these measures into their study designs. The main issues we identified are: (1) Subjective measures must be appropriately phrased to be useful for embodied learning; (2) recent findings indicate potentials as well as problematic aspects of dual-task measures; (3) the use of physiological measures offers great potential, but may require mobile equipment in the context of embodied scenarios; (4) meta-cognitive measures can be useful extensions of cognitive load measurement for embodied learning.

Power in clinical teachers' discourses of a curriculum-in-action. Critical discourse analysis.

PubMed

Graham, Jennifer; Dornan, Tim

2013-12-01

"Curricula-in-action" generally differ from "official" curricula. That is particularly true of clerkship curricula because the practising doctors who supervise medical students' clinical activities are only secondarily educators. Clerkship education is evaluated, however, according to benchmarks set by official curricula. As a result, clerkship evaluations are important points of contact between clinical teachers and medical schools. We reasoned that an evaluation instrument is part of a medical school's official curriculum discourse and clinical teachers' reactions to it are a discourse of curriculum-in-action. We set out to answer the questions: What are clinical teachers' discourses of curriculum-in-action and how do they relate to an official curriculum discourse? Nineteen clerkship placement leads from two hospitals contributing to a single undergraduate medical programme participated. The evaluation instrument was the Manchester Clinical Placement Index, for which validity evidence has been published. Respondents were asked to say how they would react to junior students giving their placements low or high scores for each of 12 items from the Index. After transcription, we conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of their audio-recorded answers. We purposefully selected the six items that elicited the widest spectrum of responses for analysis because quantity of material can compromise the quality of CDA. A dominant discourse of curriculum-in-action defined how teachers should "really" teach and junior students should learn. It deconstructed the need for teachers to be present when students performed clinical tasks because teachers' role was to give critical feedback on case presentations that were coincidental to clinical care. It positioned students at the bottom of a power hierarchy so they had to "struggle" to be taught. It placed respondents in a powerful position relative to "the hospital" and "the university", though there were tensions between respondents, patients, and nurses. Respondents dismissed criticism that was invalid according to their curriculum-in-action, which included most items in an evaluation instrument. There was a contrasting, non-dominant discourse of responding reflectively to feedback, which generated realistic ways of improving students' learning. The strength of respondents' emotions shows just how committed doctors are to students' learning. The strength of their expressions of power, however, explains why many of them teach in their own way rather than according to official curricula. Changes to clinical curricula, our findings suggest, will not be successful unless they are carefully negotiated with practising doctors.

How and why do infants imitate? An ideomotor approach to social and imitative learning in infancy (and beyond).

PubMed

Paulus, Markus

2014-10-01

It has been proposed that already in infancy, imitative learning plays a pivotal role in the acquisition of knowledge and abilities. Yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying the acquisition of novel action knowledge through social learning have remained unclear. The present contribution presents an ideomotor approach to imitative learning (IMAIL) in infancy (and beyond) that draws on the ideomotor theory of action control and on recent findings of perception-action matching. According to IMAIL, the central mechanism of imitative and social learning is the acquisition of cascading bidirectional action-effect associations through observation of own and others' actions. First, the observation of the visual effect of own actions leads to the acquisition of first-order action-effect associations, linking motor codes to the action's typical visual effects. Second, observing another person's action leads to motor activation (i.e., motor resonance) due to the first-order associations. This activated motor code then becomes linked to the other salient effects produced by the observed action, leading to the acquisition of (second-order) action-effect associations. These novel action-effect associations enable later imitation of the observed actions. The article reviews recent behavioral and neurophysiological studies with infants and adults that provide empirical support for the model. Furthermore, it is discussed how the model relates to other approaches on social-cognitive development and how developmental changes in imitative abilities can be conceptualized.

Linking Action Learning and Inter-Organisational Learning: The Learning Journey Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schumacher, Thomas

2015-01-01

The article presents and illustrates the learning journey (LJ)--a new management development approach to inter-organisational learning based on observation, reflection and problem-solving. The LJ involves managers from different organisations and applies key concepts of action learning and systemic organisational development. Made up of…

Building High Performance Learning: A Focus on Career Results and the Bottom Line.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingram, Hadyn; Sandelands, Eric; Teare, Richard

2001-01-01

Discusses how action learning can be targeted to business objectives and how electronically enabled action learning can increase productivity. Provides examples of personal learning aligned with organizational goals, including a certificate of management studies course, prior learning experiences, and an advanced diploma in virtual learning. (SK)

Attitudes Regarding Action Learning: Undergraduate vs. Graduate Business Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenstein, Alvin; Ashley, Allan; Gupta, Rakesh; Ulin, Kristin

2008-01-01

Previous research in our Action Learning Program demonstrated that although undergraduates preferred the Action Learning mode to the traditional lecture and discussion mode of instruction, they missed the familiar structure of the more traditional pedagogy. Consequently increased structure was implemented in both an undergraduate and graduate…

Procuring a Sustainable Future: An Action Learning Approach to the Development and Modelling of Ethical and Sustainable Procurement Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boak, George; Watt, Peter; Gold, Jeff; Devins, David; Garvey, Robert

2016-01-01

This paper contributes to an understanding of the processes by which organisational actors learn how to affect positive and sustainable social change in their local region through action learning, action research and appreciative inquiry. The paper is based on a critically reflective account of key findings from an ongoing action research project,…

From feedback- to response-based performance monitoring in active and observational learning.

PubMed

Bellebaum, Christian; Colosio, Marco

2014-09-01

Humans can adapt their behavior by learning from the consequences of their own actions or by observing others. Gradual active learning of action-outcome contingencies is accompanied by a shift from feedback- to response-based performance monitoring. This shift is reflected by complementary learning-related changes of two ACC-driven ERP components, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the error-related negativity (ERN), which have both been suggested to signal events "worse than expected," that is, a negative prediction error. Although recent research has identified comparable components for observed behavior and outcomes (observational ERN and FRN), it is as yet unknown, whether these components are similarly modulated by prediction errors and thus also reflect behavioral adaptation. In this study, two groups of 15 participants learned action-outcome contingencies either actively or by observation. In active learners, FRN amplitude for negative feedback decreased and ERN amplitude in response to erroneous actions increased with learning, whereas observational ERN and FRN in observational learners did not exhibit learning-related changes. Learning performance, assessed in test trials without feedback, was comparable between groups, as was the ERN following actively performed errors during test trials. In summary, the results show that action-outcome associations can be learned similarly well actively and by observation. The mechanisms involved appear to differ, with the FRN in active learning reflecting the integration of information about own actions and the accompanying outcomes.

Defining Learning Space in a Serious Game in Terms of Operative and Resultant Actions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Michael W.; Shen, Yuzhong

2012-01-01

This paper explores the distinction between operative and resultant actions in games, and proposes that the learning space created by a serious game is a function of these actions. Further, it suggests a possible relationship between these actions and the forms of cognitive load imposed upon the game player. Association of specific types of cognitive load with respective forms of actions in game mechanics also presents some heuristics for integrating learning content into serious games. Research indicates that different balances of these types of actions are more suitable for novice or experienced learners. By examining these relationships, we can develop a few basic principles of game design which have an increased potential to promote positive learning outcomes.

Capturing a Commander's decision making style

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Eugene; Nguyen, Hien; Russell, Jacob; Kim, Keumjoo; Veenhuis, Luke; Boparai, Ramnjit; Stautland, Thomas Kristoffer

2017-05-01

A Commander's decision making style represents how he weighs his choices and evaluates possible solutions with regards to his goals. Specifically, in the naval warfare domain, it relates the way he processes a large amount of information in dynamic, uncertain environments, allocates resources, and chooses appropriate actions to pursue. In this paper, we describe an approach to capture a Commander's decision style by creating a cognitive model that captures his decisionmaking process and evaluate this model using a set of scenarios using an online naval warfare simulation game. In this model, we use the Commander's past behaviors and generalize Commander's actions across multiple problems and multiple decision making sequences in order to recommend actions to a Commander in a manner that he may have taken. Our approach builds upon the Double Transition Model to represent the Commander's focus and beliefs to estimate his cognitive state. Each cognitive state reflects a stage in a Commander's decision making process, each action reflects the tasks that he has taken to move himself closer to a final decision, and the reward reflects how close he is to achieving his goal. We then use inverse reinforcement learning to compute a reward for each of the Commander's actions. These rewards and cognitive states are used to compare between different styles of decision making. We construct a set of scenarios in the game where rational, intuitive and spontaneous decision making styles will be evaluated.

Advancing working and learning through critical action research: creativity and constraints.

PubMed

Bellman, Loretta; Bywood, Catherine; Dale, Susan

2003-12-01

Continuous professional development is an essential component within many health care 'Learning Organisations'. The paper describes the first phase of an initiative to develop a professional practice development framework for nurses in an NHS general hospital. The project was undertaken within a critical action research methodology. A tripartite arrangement between the hospital, a university and professional nursing organisation enabled clinical, educational and research support for the nurses (co-researchers) engaged in the project. Initial challenges were from some managers, educationalists and the ethics committee who did not appear to understand the action research process. A multi-method approach to data collection was undertaken to capture the change process from different stakeholders' perceptions. Triangulation of the data was undertaken. Despite organisational constraints, transformational leadership and peer support enabled the co-researchers to identify and initiate three patient-focused initiatives. The change process for the co-researchers included: enlightening personal journey, exploring the research-practice gap, enhancing personal and professional knowledge, evolving cultural change and collaborative working, empowering and disempowering messages. A hospital merger and corporate staff changes directly impacted on the project. A more flexible time-scale and longer term funding are required to enable continuity for trust-wide projects undertaken in dynamic clinical settings.

Action observation versus motor imagery in learning a complex motor task: a short review of literature and a kinematics study.

PubMed

Gatti, R; Tettamanti, A; Gough, P M; Riboldi, E; Marinoni, L; Buccino, G

2013-04-12

Both motor imagery and action observation have been shown to play a role in learning or re-learning complex motor tasks. According to a well accepted view they share a common neurophysiological basis in the mirror neuron system. Neurons within this system discharge when individuals perform a specific action and when they look at another individual performing the same or a motorically related action. In the present paper, after a short review of literature on the role of action observation and motor imagery in motor learning, we report the results of a kinematics study where we directly compared motor imagery and action observation in learning a novel complex motor task. This involved movement of the right hand and foot in the same angular direction (in-phase movement), while at the same time moving the left hand and foot in an opposite angular direction (anti-phase movement), all at a frequency of 1Hz. Motor learning was assessed through kinematics recording of wrists and ankles. The results showed that action observation is better than motor imagery as a strategy for learning a novel complex motor task, at least in the fast early phase of motor learning. We forward that these results may have important implications in educational activities, sport training and neurorehabilitation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

After-Action Reports: Capturing Lessons Learned and Identifying Areas for Improvement. Lessons Learned from School Crises and Emergencies. Volume 2, Issue 1, 2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2007

2007-01-01

"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This issue of "Lessons Learned" addresses after-action reports, which are an integral part of the emergency preparedness planning continuum and support effective crisis response. After-action reports have a threefold purpose. They…

Parallel, but Dissociable, Processing in Discrete Corticostriatal Inputs Encodes Skill Learning.

PubMed

Kupferschmidt, David A; Juczewski, Konrad; Cui, Guohong; Johnson, Kari A; Lovinger, David M

2017-10-11

Changes in cortical and striatal function underlie the transition from novel actions to refined motor skills. How discrete, anatomically defined corticostriatal projections function in vivo to encode skill learning remains unclear. Using novel fiber photometry approaches to assess real-time activity of associative inputs from medial prefrontal cortex to dorsomedial striatum and sensorimotor inputs from motor cortex to dorsolateral striatum, we show that associative and sensorimotor inputs co-engage early in action learning and disengage in a dissociable manner as actions are refined. Disengagement of associative, but not sensorimotor, inputs predicts individual differences in subsequent skill learning. Divergent somatic and presynaptic engagement in both projections during early action learning suggests potential learning-related in vivo modulation of presynaptic corticostriatal function. These findings reveal parallel processing within associative and sensorimotor circuits that challenges and refines existing views of corticostriatal function and expose neuronal projection- and compartment-specific activity dynamics that encode and predict action learning. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Economic evaluation of participatory learning and action with women's groups facilitated by Accredited Social Health Activists to improve birth outcomes in rural eastern India.

PubMed

Sinha, Rajesh Kumar; Haghparast-Bidgoli, Hassan; Tripathy, Prasanta Kishore; Nair, Nirmala; Gope, Rajkumar; Rath, Shibanand; Prost, Audrey

2017-01-01

Neonatal mortality remains unacceptably high in many low and middle-income countries, including India. A community mobilisation intervention using participatory learning and action with women's groups facilitated by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) was conducted to improve maternal and newborn health. The intervention was evaluated through a cluster-randomised controlled trial conducted in Jharkhand and Odisha, eastern India. This aims to assess the cost-effectiveness this intervention. Costs were estimated from the provider's perspective and calculated separately for the women's group intervention and for activities to strengthen Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHNSC) conducted in all trial areas. Costs were estimated at 2017 prices and converted to US dollar (USD). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated with respect to a do-nothing alternative and compared with the WHO thresholds for cost-effective interventions. ICERs were calculated for cases of neonatal mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. The incremental cost of the intervention was USD 83 per averted DALY (USD 99 inclusive of VHSNC strengthening costs), and the incremental cost per newborn death averted was USD 2545 (USD 3046 inclusive of VHSNC strengthening costs). The intervention was highly cost-effective according to WHO threshold, as the cost per life year saved or DALY averted was less than India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. The robustness of the findings to assumptions was tested using a series of one-way sensitivity analyses. The sensitivity analysis does not change the conclusion that the intervention is highly cost-effective. Participatory learning and action with women's groups facilitated by ASHAs was highly cost-effective to reduce neonatal mortality in rural settings with low literacy levels and high neonatal mortality rates. This approach could effectively complement facility-based care in India and can be scaled up in comparable high mortality settings.

Studying primate learning in group contexts: Tests of social foraging, response to novelty, and cooperative problem solving.

PubMed

Drea, Christine M

2006-03-01

Learning commonly refers to the modification of behavior through experience, whereby an animal gains information about stimulus-response contingencies from interacting with its physical environment. Social learning, on the other hand, occurs when the same information originates, not from the animal's personal experience, but from the actions of others. Socially biased learning is the 'collective outcome of interacting physical, social, and individual factors' [D. Fragaszy, E. Visalberghi, Learn. Behav. 32 (2004) 24-35.] (see p. 24). Mounting interest in animal social learning has brought with it certain innovations in animal testing procedures. Variants of the observer-demonstrator and cooperation paradigms, for instance, have been used widely in captive settings to examine the transmission or coordination of behavior, respectively, between two animals. Relatively few studies, however, have examined social learning in more complex group settings and even fewer have manipulated the social environment to empirically test the effect of group dynamics on problem solving. The present paper outlines procedures for group testing captive non-human primates, in spacious arenas, to evaluate the social modulation of learning and performance. These methods are illustrated in the context of (1) naturalistic social foraging problems, modeled after traditional visual discrimination paradigms, (2) response to novel objects and novel extractive foraging tasks, and (3) cooperative problem solving. Each example showcases the benefits of experimentally manipulating social context to compare an animal's performance in intact groups (or even pairs) against its performance under different social circumstances. Broader application of group testing procedures and manipulation of group composition promise to provide meaningful insight into socially biased learning.

The Evidence for the Effectiveness of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, H. Skipton; Marquardt, Michael J.

2010-01-01

For the past 50 years, organizations and individuals around the world have reported success in their use of action learning programs to solve problems, develop leaders, build teams and transform their corporate cultures. However, very little rigorous research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of action learning. The authors…

Participatory Action Research and Environmental Learning: Implications for Resilient Forests and Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballard, Heidi L.; Belsky, Jill M.

2010-01-01

How can a participatory approach to research promote environmental learning and enhance social-ecological systems resilience? Participatory action research (PAR) is an approach to research that its' supporters claim can foster new knowledge, learning, and action to support positive social and environmental change through reorienting the standard…

Perspective Taking Promotes Action Understanding and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lozano, Sandra C.; Martin Hard, Bridgette; Tversky, Barbara

2006-01-01

People often learn actions by watching others. The authors propose and test the hypothesis that perspective taking promotes encoding a hierarchical representation of an actor's goals and subgoals-a key process for observational learning. Observers segmented videos of an object assembly task into coarse and fine action units. They described what…

Transformative and Restorative Learning: A Vital Dialectic for Sustainable Societies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lange, Elizabeth A.

2004-01-01

This study explores the potential of critical transformative learning for revitalizing citizen action, particularly action toward a sustainable society. Through an action research process with 14 university extension participants, it was found that a dialectic of transformative and restorative learning is vital for fostering active citizenship.…

Action Learning in Virtual Higher Education: Applying Leadership Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curtin, Joseph

2016-01-01

This paper reports the historical foundation of Northeastern University's course, LDR 6100: Developing Your Leadership Capability, a partial literature review of action learning (AL) and virtual action learning (VAL), a course methodology of LDR 6100 requiring students to apply leadership perspectives using VAL as instructed by the author,…

Business Action Learning Tasmania (BALT)--An Account of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cother, Genevieve; Cother, Robert F.

2017-01-01

Business Action Learning Tasmania's (BALT) mission is self-reliant industry development, with diverse companies co-operating to improve their profitability, develop their people and grow the local economy. This is achieved through collaborative action learning, with companies working together on projects of vital importance and sharing the…

A Framework for the Ethical Practice of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Craig

2010-01-01

By tradition the action learning community has encouraged an eclectic view of practice. This involves a number of different permutations around a kernel of nebulous ideas. However, the disadvantages of such an open philosophy have never been considered. In particular consumer protection against inauthentic action learning experiences has been…

25 Action Learning Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of Secondary School Principals, Reston, VA.

This booklet on action-learning reflects an interest in preparing youth for the world of real experiences. Arranged in two major parts, the first offers information on the background and development of action-learning. Included in this section are the conclusions of the Panel on Youth of the President's Science Advisory Committee, the National…

Community action research track: Community-based participatory research and service-learning experiences for medical students.

PubMed

Gimpel, Nora; Kindratt, Tiffany; Dawson, Alvin; Pagels, Patti

2018-04-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and service-learning are unique experiential approaches designed to train medical students how to provide individualized patient care from a population perspective. Medical schools in the US are required to provide support for service-learning and community projects. Despite this requirement, few medical schools offer structured service-learning. We developed the Community Action Research Track (CART) to integrate population medicine, health promotion/disease prevention and the social determinants of health into the medical school curriculum through CBPR and service-learning experiences. This article provides an overview of CART and reports the program impact based on students' participation, preliminary evaluations and accomplishments. CART is an optional 4‑year service-learning experience for medical students interested in community health. The curriculum includes a coordinated longitudinal program of electives, community service-learning and lecture-based instruction. From 2009-2015, 146 CART students participated. Interests in public health (93%), community service (73%), primary care (73%), CBPR (60%) and community medicine (60%) were the top reasons for enrolment. Significant improvements in mean knowledge were found when measuring the principles of CBPR, levels of prevention, determining health literacy and patient communication strategies (all p's < 0.05). Most students (73%) were satisfied with CART. Projects were disseminated by at least 65 posters and four oral presentations at local, national and international professional meetings. Six manuscripts were published in peer-reviewed journals. CART is an innovative curriculum for training future physicians to be community-responsive physicians. CART can be replicated by other medical schools interested in offering a longitudinal CBPR and service-learning track in an urban metropolitan setting.

Action errors, error management, and learning in organizations.

PubMed

Frese, Michael; Keith, Nina

2015-01-03

Every organization is confronted with errors. Most errors are corrected easily, but some may lead to negative consequences. Organizations often focus on error prevention as a single strategy for dealing with errors. Our review suggests that error prevention needs to be supplemented by error management--an approach directed at effectively dealing with errors after they have occurred, with the goal of minimizing negative and maximizing positive error consequences (examples of the latter are learning and innovations). After defining errors and related concepts, we review research on error-related processes affected by error management (error detection, damage control). Empirical evidence on positive effects of error management in individuals and organizations is then discussed, along with emotional, motivational, cognitive, and behavioral pathways of these effects. Learning from errors is central, but like other positive consequences, learning occurs under certain circumstances--one being the development of a mind-set of acceptance of human error.

Genotoxic Mode of Action Predictions from a Multiplexed Flow Cytometric Assay and a Machine Learning Approach

PubMed Central

Bryce, Steven M.; Bernacki, Derek T.; Bemis, Jeffrey C.; Dertinger, Stephen D.

2015-01-01

Several endpoints associated with cellular responses to DNA damage as well as overt cytotoxicity were multiplexed into a miniaturized, “add and read” type flow cytometric assay. Reagents included a detergent to liberate nuclei, propidium iodide and RNase to serve as a pan-DNA dye, fluorescent antibodies against γH2AX, phospho-histone H3, and p53, and fluorescent microspheres for absolute nuclei counts. The assay was applied to TK6 cells and 67 diverse reference chemicals that served as a training set. Exposure was for 24 hrs in 96 well plates, and unless precipitation or foreknowledge about cytotoxicity suggested otherwise, the highest concentration was 1 mM. At 4 and 24 hrs aliquots were removed and added to microtiter plates containing the reagent mix. Following a brief incubation period robotic sampling facilitated walk-away data acquisition. Univariate analyses identified biomarkers and time points that were valuable for classifying agents into one of three groups: clastogenic, aneugenic, or non-genotoxic. These mode of action predictions were optimized with a forward-stepping process that considered Wald test p-values, receiver operator characteristic curves, and pseudo R2 values, among others. A particularly high performing multinomial logistic regression model was comprised of four factors: 4hr γH2AX and phospho-histone H3 values, and 24 hr p53 and polyploidy values. For the training set chemicals, the four-factor model resulted in 94% concordance with our a priori classifications. Cross validation occurred via a leave-one-out approach, and in this case 91% concordance was observed. A test set of 17 chemicals that were not used to construct the model were evaluated, some of which utilized a short-term treatment in the presence of a metabolic activation system, and in 16 cases mode of action was correctly predicted. These initial results are encouraging as they suggest a machine learning strategy can be used to rapidly and reliably predict new chemicals’ genotoxic mode of action based on data from an efficient and highly scalable multiplexed assay. PMID:26764165

Genotoxic mode of action predictions from a multiplexed flow cytometric assay and a machine learning approach.

PubMed

Bryce, Steven M; Bernacki, Derek T; Bemis, Jeffrey C; Dertinger, Stephen D

2016-04-01

Several endpoints associated with cellular responses to DNA damage as well as overt cytotoxicity were multiplexed into a miniaturized, "add and read" type flow cytometric assay. Reagents included a detergent to liberate nuclei, RNase and propidium iodide to serve as a pan-DNA dye, fluorescent antibodies against γH2AX, phospho-histone H3, and p53, and fluorescent microspheres for absolute nuclei counts. The assay was applied to TK6 cells and 67 diverse reference chemicals that served as a training set. Exposure was for 24 hrs in 96-well plates, and unless precipitation or foreknowledge about cytotoxicity suggested otherwise, the highest concentration was 1 mM. At 4- and 24-hrs aliquots were removed and added to microtiter plates containing the reagent mix. Following a brief incubation period robotic sampling facilitated walk-away data acquisition. Univariate analyses identified biomarkers and time points that were valuable for classifying agents into one of three groups: clastogenic, aneugenic, or non-genotoxic. These mode of action predictions were optimized with a forward-stepping process that considered Wald test p-values, receiver operator characteristic curves, and pseudo R(2) values, among others. A particularly high performing multinomial logistic regression model was comprised of four factors: 4 hr γH2AX and phospho-histone H3 values, and 24 hr p53 and polyploidy values. For the training set chemicals, the four-factor model resulted in 94% concordance with our a priori classifications. Cross validation occurred via a leave-one-out approach, and in this case 91% concordance was observed. A test set of 17 chemicals that were not used to construct the model were evaluated, some of which utilized a short-term treatment in the presence of a metabolic activation system, and in 16 cases mode of action was correctly predicted. These initial results are encouraging as they suggest a machine learning strategy can be used to rapidly and reliably predict new chemicals' genotoxic mode of action based on data from an efficient and highly scalable multiplexed assay. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Playbook for Data: Real-Life Scenario Demonstrates Learning Forward's Data Standard in Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsh, Stephanie; Hord, Shirley

2012-01-01

This article is an excerpt from "A Playbook for Professional Learning: Putting the Standards Into Action" (Learning Forward, 2012). Written by Learning Forward Executive Director Stephanie Hirsh and Scholar Laureate Shirley Hord, "A Playbook for Professional Learning" provides those who work in professional learning with readily accessible…

A model of human motor sequence learning explains facilitation and interference effects based on spike-timing dependent plasticity.

PubMed

Wang, Quan; Rothkopf, Constantin A; Triesch, Jochen

2017-08-01

The ability to learn sequential behaviors is a fundamental property of our brains. Yet a long stream of studies including recent experiments investigating motor sequence learning in adult human subjects have produced a number of puzzling and seemingly contradictory results. In particular, when subjects have to learn multiple action sequences, learning is sometimes impaired by proactive and retroactive interference effects. In other situations, however, learning is accelerated as reflected in facilitation and transfer effects. At present it is unclear what the underlying neural mechanism are that give rise to these diverse findings. Here we show that a recently developed recurrent neural network model readily reproduces this diverse set of findings. The self-organizing recurrent neural network (SORN) model is a network of recurrently connected threshold units that combines a simplified form of spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) with homeostatic plasticity mechanisms ensuring network stability, namely intrinsic plasticity (IP) and synaptic normalization (SN). When trained on sequence learning tasks modeled after recent experiments we find that it reproduces the full range of interference, facilitation, and transfer effects. We show how these effects are rooted in the network's changing internal representation of the different sequences across learning and how they depend on an interaction of training schedule and task similarity. Furthermore, since learning in the model is based on fundamental neuronal plasticity mechanisms, the model reveals how these plasticity mechanisms are ultimately responsible for the network's sequence learning abilities. In particular, we find that all three plasticity mechanisms are essential for the network to learn effective internal models of the different training sequences. This ability to form effective internal models is also the basis for the observed interference and facilitation effects. This suggests that STDP, IP, and SN may be the driving forces behind our ability to learn complex action sequences.

Actively learning to distinguish suspicious from innocuous anomalies in a batch of vehicle tracks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Zhicong; Miller, David J.; Stieber, Brian; Fair, Tim

2014-06-01

We investigate the problem of actively learning to distinguish between two sets of anomalous vehicle tracks, innocuous" and suspicious", starting from scratch, without any initial examples of suspicious" and with no prior knowledge of what an operator would deem suspicious. This two-class problem is challenging because it is a priori unknown which track features may characterize the suspicious class. Furthermore, there is inherent imbalance in the sizes of the labeled innocuous" and suspicious" sets, even after some suspicious examples are identified. We present a comprehensive solution wherein a classifier learns to discriminate suspicious from innocuous based on derived p-value track features. Through active learning, our classifier thus learns the types of anomalies on which to base its discrimination. Our solution encompasses: i) judicious choice of kinematic p-value based features conditioned on the road of origin, along with more explicit features that capture unique vehicle behavior (e.g. U-turns); ii) novel semi-supervised learning that exploits information in the unlabeled (test batch) tracks, and iii) evaluation of several classifier models (logistic regression, SVMs). We find that two active labeling streams are necessary in practice in order to have efficient classifier learning while also forwarding (for labeling) the most actionable tracks. Experiments on wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) tracks, extracted via a system developed by Toyon Research Corporation, demonstrate the strong ROC AUC performance of our system, with sparing use of operator-based active labeling.

Differentiating Visual from Response Sequencing during Long-term Skill Learning.

PubMed

Lynch, Brighid; Beukema, Patrick; Verstynen, Timothy

2017-01-01

The dual-system model of sequence learning posits that during early learning there is an advantage for encoding sequences in sensory frames; however, it remains unclear whether this advantage extends to long-term consolidation. Using the serial RT task, we set out to distinguish the dynamics of learning sequential orders of visual cues from learning sequential responses. On each day, most participants learned a new mapping between a set of symbolic cues and responses made with one of four fingers, after which they were exposed to trial blocks of either randomly ordered cues or deterministic ordered cues (12-item sequence). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n = 15 per group): Visual sequences (same sequence of visual cues across training days), Response sequences (same order of key presses across training days), Combined (same serial order of cues and responses on all training days), and a Control group (a novel sequence each training day). Across 5 days of training, sequence-specific measures of response speed and accuracy improved faster in the Visual group than any of the other three groups, despite no group differences in explicit awareness of the sequence. The two groups that were exposed to the same visual sequence across days showed a marginal improvement in response binding that was not found in the other groups. These results indicate that there is an advantage, in terms of rate of consolidation across multiple days of training, for learning sequences of actions in a sensory representational space, rather than as motoric representations.

Reverse engineering a social agent-based hidden markov model--visage.

PubMed

Chen, Hung-Ching Justin; Goldberg, Mark; Magdon-Ismail, Malik; Wallace, William A

2008-12-01

We present a machine learning approach to discover the agent dynamics that drives the evolution of the social groups in a community. We set up the problem by introducing an agent-based hidden Markov model for the agent dynamics: an agent's actions are determined by micro-laws. Nonetheless, We learn the agent dynamics from the observed communications without knowing state transitions. Our approach is to identify the appropriate micro-laws corresponding to an identification of the appropriate parameters in the model. The model identification problem is then formulated as a mixed optimization problem. To solve the problem, we develop a multistage learning process for determining the group structure, the group evolution, and the micro-laws of a community based on the observed set of communications among actors, without knowing the semantic contents. Finally, to test the quality of our approximations and the feasibility of the approach, we present the results of extensive experiments on synthetic data as well as the results on real communities, such as Enron email and Movie newsgroups. Insight into agent dynamics helps us understand the driving forces behind social evolution.

Brain-Machine Interface control of a robot arm using actor-critic rainforcement learning.

PubMed

Pohlmeyer, Eric A; Mahmoudi, Babak; Geng, Shijia; Prins, Noeline; Sanchez, Justin C

2012-01-01

Here we demonstrate how a marmoset monkey can use a reinforcement learning (RL) Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) to effectively control the movements of a robot arm for a reaching task. In this work, an actor-critic RL algorithm used neural ensemble activity in the monkey's motor cortext to control the robot movements during a two-target decision task. This novel approach to decoding offers unique advantages for BMI control applications. Compared to supervised learning decoding methods, the actor-critic RL algorithm does not require an explicit set of training data to create a static control model, but rather it incrementally adapts the model parameters according to its current performance, in this case requiring only a very basic feedback signal. We show how this algorithm achieved high performance when mapping the monkey's neural states (94%) to robot actions, and only needed to experience a few trials before obtaining accurate real-time control of the robot arm. Since RL methods responsively adapt and adjust their parameters, they can provide a method to create BMIs that are robust against perturbations caused by changes in either the neural input space or the output actions they generate under different task requirements or goals.

Sensitivity to structure in action sequences: An infant event-related potential study.

PubMed

Monroy, Claire D; Gerson, Sarah A; Domínguez-Martínez, Estefanía; Kaduk, Katharina; Hunnius, Sabine; Reid, Vincent

2017-05-06

Infants are sensitive to structure and patterns within continuous streams of sensory input. This sensitivity relies on statistical learning, the ability to detect predictable regularities in spatial and temporal sequences. Recent evidence has shown that infants can detect statistical regularities in action sequences they observe, but little is known about the neural process that give rise to this ability. In the current experiment, we combined electroencephalography (EEG) with eye-tracking to identify electrophysiological markers that indicate whether 8-11-month-old infants detect violations to learned regularities in action sequences, and to relate these markers to behavioral measures of anticipation during learning. In a learning phase, infants observed an actor performing a sequence featuring two deterministic pairs embedded within an otherwise random sequence. Thus, the first action of each pair was predictive of what would occur next. One of the pairs caused an action-effect, whereas the second did not. In a subsequent test phase, infants observed another sequence that included deviant pairs, violating the previously observed action pairs. Event-related potential (ERP) responses were analyzed and compared between the deviant and the original action pairs. Findings reveal that infants demonstrated a greater Negative central (Nc) ERP response to the deviant actions for the pair that caused the action-effect, which was consistent with their visual anticipations during the learning phase. Findings are discussed in terms of the neural and behavioral processes underlying perception and learning of structured action sequences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing the Impact of Learning Environments on Students' Approaches to Learning: Comparing Conventional and Action Learning Designs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Keithia; Fowler, Jane

2005-01-01

This study investigated whether students' approaches to learning were influenced by the design of university courses. Pre- and post-evaluations of the approaches to learning of the same group of students concurrently enrolled in a conventional course (lectures and tutorials) and an action learning-based course (project work, learning groups) were…

A Descriptive Review of Mainline E-Learning Projects in the European Union: E-Learning Action Plan and E-Learning Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uzunboylu, Huseyin

2006-01-01

This study's purpose was to survey the literature on European Union (EU) e-learning strategies specifically related to two mainline e-learning projects: the learning Action Plan and the E-Learning Program. Results of the evaluation and interpretation of the literature show that the European Commission has positively impacted European Union…

Learning in engineered multi-agent systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menon, Anup

Consider the problem of maximizing the total power produced by a wind farm. Due to aerodynamic interactions between wind turbines, each turbine maximizing its individual power---as is the case in present-day wind farms---does not lead to optimal farm-level power capture. Further, there are no good models to capture the said aerodynamic interactions, rendering model based optimization techniques ineffective. Thus, model-free distributed algorithms are needed that help turbines adapt their power production on-line so as to maximize farm-level power capture. Motivated by such problems, the main focus of this dissertation is a distributed model-free optimization problem in the context of multi-agent systems. The set-up comprises of a fixed number of agents, each of which can pick an action and observe the value of its individual utility function. An individual's utility function may depend on the collective action taken by all agents. The exact functional form (or model) of the agent utility functions, however, are unknown; an agent can only measure the numeric value of its utility. The objective of the multi-agent system is to optimize the welfare function (i.e. sum of the individual utility functions). Such a collaborative task requires communications between agents and we allow for the possibility of such inter-agent communications. We also pay attention to the role played by the pattern of such information exchange on certain aspects of performance. We develop two algorithms to solve this problem. The first one, engineered Interactive Trial and Error Learning (eITEL) algorithm, is based on a line of work in the Learning in Games literature and applies when agent actions are drawn from finite sets. While in a model-free setting, we introduce a novel qualitative graph-theoretic framework to encode known directed interactions of the form "which agents' action affect which others' payoff" (interaction graph). We encode explicit inter-agent communications in a directed graph (communication graph) and, under certain conditions, prove convergence of agent joint action (under eITEL) to the welfare optimizing set. The main condition requires that the union of interaction and communication graphs be strongly connected; thus the algorithm combines an implicit form of communication (via interactions through utility functions) with explicit inter-agent communications to achieve the given collaborative goal. This work has kinship with certain evolutionary computation techniques such as Simulated Annealing; the algorithm steps are carefully designed such that it describes an ergodic Markov chain with a stationary distribution that has support over states where agent joint actions optimize the welfare function. The main analysis tool is perturbed Markov chains and results of broader interest regarding these are derived as well. The other algorithm, Collaborative Extremum Seeking (CES), uses techniques from extremum seeking control to solve the problem when agent actions are drawn from the set of real numbers. In this case, under the assumption of existence of a local minimizer for the welfare function and a connected undirected communication graph between agents, a result regarding convergence of joint action to a small neighborhood of a local optimizer of the welfare function is proved. Since extremum seeking control uses a simultaneous gradient estimation-descent scheme, gradient information available in the continuous action space formulation is exploited by the CES algorithm to yield improved convergence speeds. The effectiveness of this algorithm for the wind farm power maximization problem is evaluated via simulations. Lastly, we turn to a different question regarding role of the information exchange pattern on performance of distributed control systems by means of a case study for the vehicle platooning problem. In the vehicle platoon control problem, the objective is to design distributed control laws for individual vehicles in a platoon (or a road-train) that regulate inter-vehicle distances at a specified safe value while the entire platoon follows a leader-vehicle. While most of the literature on the problem deals with some inadequacy in control performance when the information exchange is of the nearest neighbor-type, we consider an arbitrary graph serving as information exchange pattern and derive a relationship between how a certain indicator of control performance is related to the information pattern. Such analysis helps in understanding qualitative features of the `right' information pattern for this problem.

Action-Effect Associations in Voluntary and Cued Task-Switching.

PubMed

Sommer, Angelika; Lukas, Sarah

2017-01-01

The literature of action control claims that humans control their actions in two ways. In the stimulus-based approach, actions are triggered by external stimuli. In the ideomotor approach, actions are elicited endogenously and controlled by the intended goal. In the current study, our purpose was to investigate whether these two action control modes affect task-switching differently. We combined a classical task-switching paradigm with action-effect learning. Both experiments consisted of two experimental phases: an acquisition phase, in which associations between task, response and subsequent action effects were learned and a test phase, in which the effects of these associations were tested on task performance by presenting the former action effects as preceding effects, prior to the task (called practiced effects ). Subjects either chose freely between tasks (ideomotor action control mode) or they were cued as to which task to perform (sensorimotor action control mode). We aimed to replicate the consistency effect (i.e., task is chosen according to the practiced task-effect association) and non-reversal advantage (i.e., better task performance when the practiced effect matches the previously learned task-effect association). Our results suggest that participants acquired stable action-effect associations independently of the learning mode. The consistency effect (Experiment 1) could be shown, independent of the learning mode, but only on the response-level. The non-reversal advantage (Experiment 2) was only evident in the error rates and only for participants who had practiced in the ideomotor action control mode.

Action-Effect Associations in Voluntary and Cued Task-Switching

PubMed Central

Sommer, Angelika; Lukas, Sarah

2018-01-01

The literature of action control claims that humans control their actions in two ways. In the stimulus-based approach, actions are triggered by external stimuli. In the ideomotor approach, actions are elicited endogenously and controlled by the intended goal. In the current study, our purpose was to investigate whether these two action control modes affect task-switching differently. We combined a classical task-switching paradigm with action-effect learning. Both experiments consisted of two experimental phases: an acquisition phase, in which associations between task, response and subsequent action effects were learned and a test phase, in which the effects of these associations were tested on task performance by presenting the former action effects as preceding effects, prior to the task (called practiced effects). Subjects either chose freely between tasks (ideomotor action control mode) or they were cued as to which task to perform (sensorimotor action control mode). We aimed to replicate the consistency effect (i.e., task is chosen according to the practiced task-effect association) and non-reversal advantage (i.e., better task performance when the practiced effect matches the previously learned task-effect association). Our results suggest that participants acquired stable action-effect associations independently of the learning mode. The consistency effect (Experiment 1) could be shown, independent of the learning mode, but only on the response-level. The non-reversal advantage (Experiment 2) was only evident in the error rates and only for participants who had practiced in the ideomotor action control mode. PMID:29387027

Students' learning as the focus for shared involvement between universities and clinical practice: a didactic model for postgraduate degree projects.

PubMed

Öhlén, J; Berg, L; Björk Brämberg, E; Engström, Å; German Millberg, L; Höglund, I; Jacobsson, C; Lepp, M; Lidén, E; Lindström, I; Petzäll, K; Söderberg, S; Wijk, H

2012-10-01

In an academic programme, completion of a postgraduate degree project could be a significant means of promoting student learning in evidence- and experience-based practice. In specialist nursing education, which through the European Bologna process would be raised to the master's level, there is no tradition of including a postgraduate degree project. The aim was to develop a didactic model for specialist nursing students' postgraduate degree projects within the second cycle of higher education (master's level) and with a specific focus on nurturing shared involvement between universities and healthcare settings. This study embodies a participatory action research and theory-generating design founded on empirically practical try-outs. The 3-year project included five Swedish universities and related healthcare settings. A series of activities was performed and a number of data sources secured. Constant comparative analysis was applied. A didactic model is proposed for postgraduate degree projects in specialist nursing education aimed at nurturing shared involvement between universities and healthcare settings. The focus of the model is student learning in order to prepare the students for participation as specialist nurses in clinical knowledge development. The model is developed for the specialist nursing education, but it is general and could be applicable to various education programmes.

Reflections on a Failed Action Learning Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, John

2008-01-01

This paper reflects on the failure of a recent action learning intervention with a UK television company. The aim of the project was to gain insight into the reasons why the viewing figures of their factual programming channels were in decline and to develop a new strategy enabled by the action learning methodology. Unfortunately, this…

The Impact of Action Learning Experience on Reflective Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Nicole S.

2012-01-01

This case study examines the changes that occur with respect to reflective practices as a result of participating in an action learning group through the identification of aspects/activities of action learning that contribute to such changes and the impact these aspects/activities had on the program participants at a department of the federal…

Dose Dependent Dopaminergic Modulation of Reward-Based Learning in Parkinson's Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Wouwe, N. C.; Ridderinkhof, K. R.; Band, G. P. H.; van den Wildenberg, W. P. M.; Wylie, S. A.

2012-01-01

Learning to select optimal behavior in new and uncertain situations is a crucial aspect of living and requires the ability to quickly associate stimuli with actions that lead to rewarding outcomes. Mathematical models of reinforcement-based learning to select rewarding actions distinguish between (1) the formation of stimulus-action-reward…

The Impact of Action Learning: What Difference Are We Making in the World?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Arthur; Heneberry, Pamela

2013-01-01

Involvement in a number of action-learning programmes and associated development opportunities has led the Professional Development Centre Limited to question the relevance of a strict adherence to the "rules" of action learning as described by Reg Revans. A deliberate focus of one such programme to a financial services organisation…

Inspecting Cases against Revans' "Gold Standard" of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willis, Verna J.

2004-01-01

A purposive sampling and analysis of ten case histories of action learning in the US suggests that applications tend to be partial, hierarchical, and leader controlled, thus running counter in several significant ways to the gold standard of Revans' action learning theory and egalitarian rules of engagement. Using critical markers to inspect the…

Franchisees in Crisis: Using Action Learning to Self-Organise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Donoghue, Carol

2011-01-01

The present article describes the use of action learning by a group of 30 franchisees to organise themselves and work through a period of upheaval and uncertainty when their parent company faced liquidation. Written from the perspective of one of the franchisees who found herself adopting action learning principles to facilitate the group, it…

Learning from Toyota: How Action Learning Can Foster Competitive Advantage in New Product Development (NPD)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuchs, Barbara

2007-01-01

New product development and commercialization are essential to entrepreneurial growth and international competitiveness. Excellence in this area is strongly supported by individual and organizational learning efforts. By analyzing how Japanese car manufacturer Toyota organizes learning, this paper evaluates the potential of action learning to…

Blended Learning in Action: A Practical Guide toward Sustainable Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Catlin R.; Wycoff, Tiffany; Green, Jason T.

2017-01-01

Blended learning has the power to reinvent education, but transitioning to a blended model is challenging. Blended learning requires a fundamentally new approach to learning as well as a new skillset for both teachers and school leaders. Loaded with research, examples, and resources, "Blended Learning in Action" demonstrates the…

A Parallel Multiclassification Algorithm for Big Data Using an Extreme Learning Machine.

PubMed

Duan, Mingxing; Li, Kenli; Liao, Xiangke; Li, Keqin

2018-06-01

As data sets become larger and more complicated, an extreme learning machine (ELM) that runs in a traditional serial environment cannot realize its ability to be fast and effective. Although a parallel ELM (PELM) based on MapReduce to process large-scale data shows more efficient learning speed than identical ELM algorithms in a serial environment, some operations, such as intermediate results stored on disks and multiple copies for each task, are indispensable, and these operations create a large amount of extra overhead and degrade the learning speed and efficiency of the PELMs. In this paper, an efficient ELM based on the Spark framework (SELM), which includes three parallel subalgorithms, is proposed for big data classification. By partitioning the corresponding data sets reasonably, the hidden layer output matrix calculation algorithm, matrix decomposition algorithm, and matrix decomposition algorithm perform most of the computations locally. At the same time, they retain the intermediate results in distributed memory and cache the diagonal matrix as broadcast variables instead of several copies for each task to reduce a large amount of the costs, and these actions strengthen the learning ability of the SELM. Finally, we implement our SELM algorithm to classify large data sets. Extensive experiments have been conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. As shown, our SELM achieves an speedup on a cluster with ten nodes, and reaches a speedup with 15 nodes, an speedup with 20 nodes, a speedup with 25 nodes, a speedup with 30 nodes, and a speedup with 35 nodes.

Dorsal striatum is necessary for stimulus-value but not action-value learning in humans

PubMed Central

Vo, Khoi; Rutledge, Robb B.; Chatterjee, Anjan

2014-01-01

Several lines of evidence implicate the striatum in learning from experience on the basis of positive and negative feedback. However, the necessity of the striatum for such learning has been difficult to demonstrate in humans, because brain damage is rarely restricted to this structure. Here we test a rare individual with widespread bilateral damage restricted to the dorsal striatum. His performance was impaired and not significantly different from chance on several classic learning tasks, consistent with current theories regarding the role of the striatum. However, he also exhibited remarkably intact performance on a different subset of learning paradigms. The tasks he could perform can all be solved by learning the value of actions, while those he could not perform can only be solved by learning the value of stimuli. Although dorsal striatum is often thought to play a specific role in action-value learning, we find surprisingly that dorsal striatum is necessary for stimulus-value but not action-value learning in humans. PMID:25273995

Feedback in clinical practice: Enhancing the students' experience through action research.

PubMed

Adamson, Elizabeth; King, Linda; Foy, Lynn; McLeod, Margo; Traynor, Jennifer; Watson, Wendy; Gray, Morag

2018-05-01

Feedback within clinical practice is known to be central to the learning and development of student nurses and midwives. A study that focused on student experience of assessment identified that a high proportion of students reported that they had received insufficient feedback whilst on clinical placement. In response to this academics and members of the clinical education team set out to explore this with a view to improving the student experience using action research. Key findings indicated that responsibility for feedback on clinical placement lies with both students and mentors, distinct factors can enable effective feedback and that positive outcomes for mentors and students resulted through engaging with the project. The process, outcomes and actions taken to improve practice are the focus of this paper. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From action to abstraction: Using the hands to learn math

PubMed Central

Novack, Miriam A.; Congdon, Eliza L.; Hemani-Lopez, Naureen; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that children benefit from gesturing during math instruction. Here we ask whether gesturing promotes learning because it is itself a physical action, or because it uses physical action to represent abstract ideas. To address this question, we taught third-grade children a strategy for solving mathematical equivalence problems that was instantiated in one of three ways: (1) in the physical action children performed on objects, (2) in a concrete gesture miming that action, or (3) in an abstract gesture. All three types of hand movements helped children learn how to solve the problems on which they were trained. However, only gesture led to success on problems that required generalizing the knowledge gained. The results provide the first evidence that gesture promotes transfer of knowledge better than action, and suggest that the beneficial effects gesture has on learning may reside in the features that differentiate it from action. PMID:24503873

The teacher's role in college level classes for non-science majors: A constructivist approach for teaching prospective science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbas, Abdullah Othman

1997-12-01

This interpretive research set out to investigate the characteristics of an exemplary college science instructor who endeavors to improve teaching and learning in a physical science course for prospective teachers. The course was innovative in the sense that it was designed to meet the specific needs of prospective elementary teachers who needed to have models of how to teach science in a way that employed materials and small group activities. The central purpose for this study is to understand the metaphors that Mark (a pseudonym), the chemistry instructor in the course, used as referents to conceptualize his roles and frame actions and interactions in the classroom. Within the theoretical frame of constructivism, human cognitive interests, and co-participation theories, an ethnographic research design, described by Erickson (1986), Guba and Lincoln (1989), and Gallagher (1991), was employed in the study. The main sources of data for this study were field notes, transcript analysis of interviews with the instructor and students, and analyses of videotaped excerpts. Additional data sources, such as student journals and the results of students' responses to the University/Community College Student Questionnaire which was developed by a group science education researchers at Florida State University, were employed to maximize that the assertions I constructed were consistent with the variety of data. Data analyses and interpretation in the study focused on identifying the aspects which the instructor and the researcher might find useful in reflecting to understand what was happening and why that was happening in the classroom. The analysis reveals how the instructor used constructivism as a referent for his teaching and the learning of his students. To be consistent with his beliefs and goals that prospective teachers should enjoy their journey of learning chemistry, Mark, the driver in the journey, used the roles of controller, facilitator, learner, and entertainer as referents for actions to create conducive learning environments. He was able to switch his actions based on which of the constituent metaphors he used as a referent to frame his actions and interactions, and thereby, to create an exciting environment for learning.

Pain management for children with cerebral palsy in school settings in two cultures: action and reaction approaches.

PubMed

Adolfsson, Margareta; Johnson, Ensa; Nilsson, Stefan

2017-05-18

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) face particular challenges, e.g. daily pain that threaten their participation in school activities. This study focuses on how teachers, personal assistants, and clinicians in two countries with different cultural prerequisites, Sweden and South Africa, manage the pain of children in school settings. Participants' statements collected in focus groups were analysed using a directed qualitative content analysis framed by a Frequency of attendance-Intensity of involvement model, which was modified into a Knowing-Doing model. Findings indicated that pain management focused more on children's attendance in the classroom than on their involvement, and a difference between countries in terms of action-versus-reaction approaches. Swedish participants reported action strategies to prevent pain whereas South African participants primarily discussed interventions when observing a child in pain. Differences might be due to school- and healthcare systems. To provide effective support when children with CP are in pain in school settings, an action-and-reaction approach would be optimal and the use of alternative and augmentative communication strategies would help to communicate children's pain. As prevention of pain is desired, structured surveillance and treatment programs are recommended along with trustful collaboration with parents and access to "hands-on" pain management when needed. Implications for rehabilitation • When providing support, hands-on interventions should be supplemented by structured preventive programs and routines for parent collaboration (action-and-reaction approach). • When regulating support, Sweden and South Africa can learn from each other; ○ In Sweden, the implementation of a prevention program has been successful. ○ In South Africa, the possibilities giving support directly when pain in children is observed have been beneficial.

Investigating the Mechanisms of Action and the Identification of Breast Carcinogens by Computational Analysis of Female Rodent Carcinogena

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-08-01

of Female Rodent Carcinogens PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Albert R. Cunningham, Ph.D. CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION : Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge... non -carcinogen) and molecular fragments as SAR descriptors. Therefore, this seemed a reasonable substitute SAR approach for MCASE. However, upon... target site summary (15) we developed a SAR learning set of 100 compounds shown to induce breast cancer in rat. The cat- SAR program develops SAR

Human reinforcement learning subdivides structured action spaces by learning effector-specific values

PubMed Central

Gershman, Samuel J.; Pesaran, Bijan; Daw, Nathaniel D.

2009-01-01

Humans and animals are endowed with a large number of effectors. Although this enables great behavioral flexibility, it presents an equally formidable reinforcement learning problem of discovering which actions are most valuable, due to the high dimensionality of the action space. An unresolved question is how neural systems for reinforcement learning – such as prediction error signals for action valuation associated with dopamine and the striatum – can cope with this “curse of dimensionality.” We propose a reinforcement learning framework that allows for learned action valuations to be decomposed into effector-specific components when appropriate to a task, and test it by studying to what extent human behavior and BOLD activity can exploit such a decomposition in a multieffector choice task. Subjects made simultaneous decisions with their left and right hands and received separate reward feedback for each hand movement. We found that choice behavior was better described by a learning model that decomposed the values of bimanual movements into separate values for each effector, rather than a traditional model that treated the bimanual actions as unitary with a single value. A decomposition of value into effector-specific components was also observed in value-related BOLD signaling, in the form of lateralized biases in striatal correlates of prediction error and anticipatory value correlates in the intraparietal sulcus. These results suggest that the human brain can use decomposed value representations to “divide and conquer” reinforcement learning over high-dimensional action spaces. PMID:19864565

Human reinforcement learning subdivides structured action spaces by learning effector-specific values.

PubMed

Gershman, Samuel J; Pesaran, Bijan; Daw, Nathaniel D

2009-10-28

Humans and animals are endowed with a large number of effectors. Although this enables great behavioral flexibility, it presents an equally formidable reinforcement learning problem of discovering which actions are most valuable because of the high dimensionality of the action space. An unresolved question is how neural systems for reinforcement learning-such as prediction error signals for action valuation associated with dopamine and the striatum-can cope with this "curse of dimensionality." We propose a reinforcement learning framework that allows for learned action valuations to be decomposed into effector-specific components when appropriate to a task, and test it by studying to what extent human behavior and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity can exploit such a decomposition in a multieffector choice task. Subjects made simultaneous decisions with their left and right hands and received separate reward feedback for each hand movement. We found that choice behavior was better described by a learning model that decomposed the values of bimanual movements into separate values for each effector, rather than a traditional model that treated the bimanual actions as unitary with a single value. A decomposition of value into effector-specific components was also observed in value-related BOLD signaling, in the form of lateralized biases in striatal correlates of prediction error and anticipatory value correlates in the intraparietal sulcus. These results suggest that the human brain can use decomposed value representations to "divide and conquer" reinforcement learning over high-dimensional action spaces.

A dual indicator set to help farms achieve more sustainable crop protection.

PubMed

Wustenberghs, Hilde; Delcour, Ilse; D'Haene, Karoline; Lauwers, Ludwig; Marchand, Fleur; Steurbaut, Walter; Spanoghe, Pieter

2012-08-01

Farmers are being called to use plant protection products (PPPs) more consciously and adopt more sustainable crop protection strategies. Indicators will help farmers to monitor their progress towards sustainability and will support their learning process. Talking the indicators through in farmers' discussion groups and the resulting peer encouragement will foster knowledge acquirement and can lead to changes in attitudes, norms, perception and behaviour. Using a participatory approach, a conceptual framework for on-farm sustainable crop protection practices was created. The same participatory approach was used to design a dual indicator set, which pairs a pesticide impact assessment system (PIAS) with a farm inquiry. The PIAS measures the risk for human health and the environment exerted by chemical crop protection. The inquiry reveals the farmers' response to this risk, both in terms of the actions they take and their knowledge, awareness and attitude. The dual indicator set allows for implementation in four tiers, each representing increased potential for monitoring and social learning. The indicator set can be adjusted on the basis of new findings, and the participatory approach can be extrapolated to other situations. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

From Movements to Actions: Two Mechanisms for Learning Action Sequences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Endress, Ansgar D.; Wood, Justin N.

2011-01-01

When other individuals move, we interpret their movements as discrete, hierarchically-organized, goal-directed actions. However, the mechanisms that integrate visible movement features into actions are poorly understood. Here, we consider two sequence learning mechanisms--transitional probability-based (TP) and position-based encoding…

Using expectations to monitor robotic progress and recover from problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurup, Unmesh; Lebiere, Christian; Stentz, Anthony; Hebert, Martial

2013-05-01

How does a robot know when something goes wrong? Our research answers this question by leveraging expectations - predictions about the immediate future - and using the mismatch between the expectations and the external world to monitor the robot's progress. We use the cognitive architecture ACT-R (Adaptive Control of Thought - Rational) to learn the associations between the current state of the robot and the world, the action to be performed in the world, and the future state of the world. These associations are used to generate expectations that are then matched by the architecture with the next state of the world. A significant mismatch between these expectations and the actual state of the world indicate a problem possibly resulting from unexpected consequences of the robot's actions, unforeseen changes in the environment or unanticipated actions of other agents. When a problem is detected, the recovery model can suggest a number of recovery options. If the situation is unknown, that is, the mismatch between expectations and the world is novel, the robot can use a recovery solution from a set of heuristic options. When a recovery option is successfully applied, the robot learns to associate that recovery option with the mismatch. When the same problem is encountered later, the robot can apply the learned recovery solution rather than using the heuristics or randomly exploring the space of recovery solutions. We present results from execution monitoring and recovery performed during an assessment conducted at the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility (CACTF) at Fort Indiantown Gap.

Pull or Push? Octopuses Solve a Puzzle Problem

PubMed Central

Richter, Jonas N.; Hochner, Binyamin; Kuba, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Octopuses have large brains and exhibit complex behaviors, but relatively little is known about their cognitive abilities. Here we present data from a five-level learning and problem-solving experiment. Seven octopuses (Octopus vulgaris) were first trained to open an L shaped container to retrieve food (level 0). After learning the initial task all animals followed the same experimental protocol, first they had to retrieve this L shaped container, presented at the same orientation, through a tight fitting hole in a clear Perspex partition (level 1). This required the octopuses to perform both pull and release or push actions. After reaching criterion the animals advanced to the next stage of the test, which would be a different consistent orientation of the object (level 2) at the start of the trial, an opaque barrier (level 3) or a random orientation of the object (level 4). All octopuses were successful in reaching criterion in all levels of the task. At the onset of each new level the performance of the animals dropped, shown as an increase in working times. However, they adapted quickly so that overall working times were not significantly different between levels. Our findings indicate that octopuses show behavioral flexibility by quickly adapting to a change in a task. This can be compared to tests in other species where subjects had to conduct actions comprised of a set of motor actions that cannot be understood by a simple learning rule alone. PMID:27003439

Statistical learning of action: the role of conditional probability.

PubMed

Meyer, Meredith; Baldwin, Dare

2011-12-01

Identification of distinct units within a continuous flow of human action is fundamental to action processing. Such segmentation may rest in part on statistical learning. In a series of four experiments, we examined what types of statistics people can use to segment a continuous stream involving many brief, goal-directed action elements. The results of Experiment 1 showed no evidence for sensitivity to conditional probability, whereas Experiment 2 displayed learning based on joint probability. In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that additional exposure to the input failed to engender sensitivity to conditional probability. However, the results of Experiment 4 showed that a subset of adults-namely, those more successful at identifying actions that had been seen more frequently than comparison sequences-were also successful at learning conditional-probability statistics. These experiments help to clarify the mechanisms subserving processing of intentional action, and they highlight important differences from, as well as similarities to, prior studies of statistical learning in other domains, including language.

Learning Multirobot Hose Transportation and Deployment by Distributed Round-Robin Q-Learning.

PubMed

Fernandez-Gauna, Borja; Etxeberria-Agiriano, Ismael; Graña, Manuel

2015-01-01

Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) algorithms face two main difficulties: the curse of dimensionality, and environment non-stationarity due to the independent learning processes carried out by the agents concurrently. In this paper we formalize and prove the convergence of a Distributed Round Robin Q-learning (D-RR-QL) algorithm for cooperative systems. The computational complexity of this algorithm increases linearly with the number of agents. Moreover, it eliminates environment non sta tionarity by carrying a round-robin scheduling of the action selection and execution. That this learning scheme allows the implementation of Modular State-Action Vetoes (MSAV) in cooperative multi-agent systems, which speeds up learning convergence in over-constrained systems by vetoing state-action pairs which lead to undesired termination states (UTS) in the relevant state-action subspace. Each agent's local state-action value function learning is an independent process, including the MSAV policies. Coordination of locally optimal policies to obtain the global optimal joint policy is achieved by a greedy selection procedure using message passing. We show that D-RR-QL improves over state-of-the-art approaches, such as Distributed Q-Learning, Team Q-Learning and Coordinated Reinforcement Learning in a paradigmatic Linked Multi-Component Robotic System (L-MCRS) control problem: the hose transportation task. L-MCRS are over-constrained systems with many UTS induced by the interaction of the passive linking element and the active mobile robots.

A graduate education framework for tropical conservation and development.

PubMed

Kainer, Karen A; Schmink, Marianne; Covert, Hannah; Stepp, John Richard; Bruna, Emilio M; Dain, Jonathan L; Espinosa, Santiago; Humphries, Shoana

2006-02-01

Conventional graduate training related to tropical conservation and development has typically separated the two fields, with students focusing on either conservation from the perspective of the biophysical sciences or development as an extension of the social sciences. On entering the workforce, however graduates find they are required to work beyond disciplinary boundaries to address the complex interconnectivity between biological conservation and human well-being. We devised a framework for graduate education that broadens students' skill sets to learn outside their immediate disciplines and think in terms of linked socioecological systems, work in teams, communicate in nonacademic formats, and reflect critically on their own perspectives and actions. The University of Florida's Tropical Conservation and Development program has adopted a learning and action platform that blends theory, skills, and praxis to create an intellectual, social, and professionally safe space where students, faculty, and other participants can creatively address the complex challenges of tropical conservation and development. This platform operates within a nondegree-granting program and includes core courses that are taught by a team of biophysical and social scientists. It incorporates a range of alternative learning spaces such as student-led workshops, retreats, visiting professionals, practitioner experiences, and a weekly student-led seminar that collectively encourage students and faculty to enhance their skills and systematically and thoroughly reflect on program activities. Challenges to the described approach include increased service demands on faculty, a redefinition of research excellence to include effective and equitable collaboration with host-country partners, and the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in more collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Despite these challenges, growing interdisciplinary programs, coupled with adaptive educational approaches that emphasize learning and action networks of students, faculty, and field partners, provide the best hope for responding to the emerging challenges of tropical conservation and development.

Action Learning in ActionAid Nepal: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lustig, Patricia; Rai, Deep Ranjani

2009-01-01

This article describes an example of how action learning was used as a framework for an organisational intervention to fundamentally change the organisational culture over a period of time. It also identifies our learning over that period of time and what worked well (and not so well) in an International Non-Governmental Organisation in Nepal.

Models, Definitions, and Outcome Variables of Action Learning: A Synthesis with Implications for HRD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chenhall, Everon C.; Chermack, Thomas J.

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated model of action learning based on an examination of four reviewed action learning models, definitions, and espoused outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: A clear articulation of the strengths and limitations of each model was essential to developing an integrated model, which could be…

Spontaneous Action and Transformative Learning: Empirical Investigations and Pragmatist Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nohl, Arnd-Michael

2009-01-01

Whereas present theories of transformative learning tend to focus on the rational and reflective actor, in this article it is suggested that spontaneous action may play a decisive role in transformative learning too. In the spontaneity of action, novelty finds its way into life, gains momentum, is respected by others and reflected by the actor.…

Action Learning for Organizational and Systemic Development: Towards a "Both-and" Understanding of "I" and "We"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rigg, Clare

2008-01-01

In public services delivery, action learning is increasingly employed in the hope of improving capacity to address complex, multi-casual and "wicked" social issues to improve the lives of citizens. Yet the understanding of how and why action learning might have potential for enhancing organizational or systemic capability rarely goes…

Solving Wicked Problems through Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crul, Liselore

2014-01-01

This account of practice outlines the Oxyme Action Learning Program which was conducted as part of the Management Challenge in my final year of the MSc in Coaching and Behavioral Change at Henley Business School. The central research questions were: (1) how action learning can help to solve wicked problems and (2) what the effect of an action…

The Innovation Paradox: A Selective Review of the Literature on Action Learning and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedler, Mike; Brook, Cheryl

2017-01-01

This paper explores selective literatures in the two fields of action learning and innovation, and seeks insights into the processes of, and connections between, innovation, engagement and implementation. We searched the action learning articles for references to innovation, beginning with the work of Revans, who highlights the innovation paradox,…

TransFormers in Knowledge Production: Building Science-Practice Collaborations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoes, Anne-Charlotte; Regeer, Barbara J.; Bunders, Joske F. G.

2008-01-01

This article places action learning in the context of system innovation, as it studies the potential use of action learning for system change. In order to effect such system change, collaboration between actors from different institutional backgrounds is essential. To gain insight into if and how action learning can be applied for system change,…

Predictive Movements and Human Reinforcement Learning of Sequential Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Kleijn, Roy; Kachergis, George; Hommel, Bernhard

2018-01-01

Sequential action makes up the bulk of human daily activity, and yet much remains unknown about how people learn such actions. In one motor learning paradigm, the serial reaction time (SRT) task, people are taught a consistent sequence of button presses by cueing them with the next target response. However, the SRT task only records keypress…

Action Learning: Developing Critical Competencies for Knowledge Era Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Greg

2005-01-01

For most of the twentieth century, the goal in education was the generation and dissemination of information. With the rise of technology and unlimited access to information, it is the ability to apply knowledge and learn from experience that is the new priority for employee development. Action learning, with its emphasis on action and reflection,…

Leading Change in Tissue Viability Best Practice: An Action Learning Programme for Link Nurse Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellie, Jean; Henderson, Eileen; Milsom, Brian; Crawley, Hayley

2010-01-01

This account of practice reports on an action learning initiative designed and implemented in partnership between a regional NHS Acute Trust and a UK Business School. The central initiative was the implementation of an action learning programme entitled "Leading change in tissue viability best practice: a development programme for Link Nurse…

Doing Different Things or Doing Things Different: Exploring the Role of Action Learning in Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Christine; Weiss, Michael

2016-01-01

The notion of action learning driven innovation is explored with reference to three action-learning projects carried out in the last year and a proposed multi stakeholder project starting in 2016. The authors also provide an account of "innovation", including its rationale and characteristics, and argues for its particular suitability in…

Critical by Design: Enacting Critical Action Learning in a Small Business Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ram, Monder; Trehan, Kiran

2009-01-01

A small but growing strand of literature is beginning to make the case for "critical action learning" (CAL). Much of this interest operates on theoretical terrain, speculating on the extent to which it might differ from more conventional notions of action learning. This paper draws on insights from (CAL) to demonstrate the importance of being…

Learning Institution to Learning Organization: Kudos to Reflective Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeo, Roland K.

2006-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore if reflective inquiry and action learning have an influence on job and organizational effectiveness. A reflective-action learning framework will be used as a prior theory to illustrate its link to organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: The case organization is a Singapore higher learning…

Exploring Constructivist Social Learning Practices in Aiding Russian-Speaking Teachers to Learn Estonian: An Action Research Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiilo, Tatjana; Kutsar, Dagmar

2012-01-01

Based on appreciative inquiry and threshold concepts from an intercultural learning perspective, the article makes insights into the constructivist social learning practice of Estonian language learning amongst Russian-speaking teachers in Estonia. The application of educational action research methodology, more specifically that of Bridget…

Patterns in Elementary School Students' Strategic Actions in Varying Learning Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malmberg, Jonna; Järvenoja, Hanna; Järvelä, Sanna

2013-01-01

This study uses log file traces to examine differences between high-and low-achieving students' strategic actions in varying learning situations. In addition, this study illustrates, in detail, what strategic and self-regulated learning constitutes in practice. The study investigates the learning patterns that emerge in learning situations…

The Effect of Teaching with Stories on Associate Degree Nursing Students' Approach to Learning and Reflective Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradshaw, Vicki

2012-01-01

This action research study is the culmination of several action cycles investigating cognitive information processing and learning strategies based on students approach to learning theory and assessing students' meta-cognitive learning, motivation, and reflective development suggestive of deep learning. The study introduces a reading…

Learning Actions, Objects and Types of Interaction: A Methodological Analysis of Expansive Learning among Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rantavuori, Juhana; Engeström, Yrjö; Lipponen, Lasse

2016-01-01

The paper analyzes a collaborative learning process among Finnish pre-service teachers planning their own learning in a self-regulated way. The study builds on cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning, integrating for the first time an analysis of learning actions and an analysis of types of interaction. We examine…

Unpacking Docent Practice in Free Choice Science Learning Settings: A Qualitative Study Documenting the What and Whys of Docent Interpretive Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Good, Laura H.

Museum settings including aquariums, zoos and science centers rely heavily on their volunteer docent populations to interact with and communicate science and conservation concepts to the visiting public. The interactions docents have with museum visitors are important to meeting the educational expectations of museums and improving public science literacy as a whole, yet research to date is limited around docent practice, docents' reflections on that practice nor the sources for docents to learn that practice. Thus, we have little understanding of the interpretive practice docents actually undertake whilst interacting with visitors, why they choose to enact particular strategies, and how they came to learn those practices. Using a grounded qualitative approach within a framework of mediated action and cultural historical activity theory, this case study utilized video observations of docent practice at a science center, pre and post observation interviews, and focus groups to 1) document docent practices for engaging visitors, 2) explain those practices from the docents' own perspectives, and 3) examine those practices from the point of view of how they align with teaching and learning theories and interpretive practice. Thematic analysis using constant comparative methods demonstrate four claims about docent practice: 1) docents view teaching in the museum as opportunities to spark interest with these new experiences. Practices are chosen to engage visitors in these experiences. Docents choose to highlight these experiences as they believe they are reasons to be engaged; 2) docents as teachers are perceptive about their audience. They pay attention to patterns and provide information in response to those patterns. Docents utilize a shared repertoire of practice and information in their community developed from understanding visitor patterns of interest; 3) docents care about their setting and the exhibits within it. They also care about the visitor experience as a whole, and have to be flexible when working with different types of learners. They believe that being a docent means balancing potentially conflicting roles; and 4) docents use interpretation as a pedagogy to engage visitors with science and create personally meaningful experiences. Analysis of significant interactions between docents and visitors shows that such practices are mediated through a variety of discursive and physical tools and implemented by docents as a means of engaging visitors with science and conservation. Moreover, most of these skills appear to be learned on-the-job within their communities of practice, and while specific docent actions and skills may be different across contexts, member checks with docents working in other museum settings demonstrate the resonance of the findings across contexts. The findings of the study are placed in the context of interpretation theories of communication as well as research on docents as lifelong, free-choice learners both facilitating and participating in societal STEM learning activity. Findings and methods of research from this study are valuable to the greater understanding of how docents learn and enact interpretive practice and the development of more effective professional development for docents in museum settings.

Prediction of aquatic toxicity mode of action using linear discriminant and random forest models.

PubMed

Martin, Todd M; Grulke, Christopher M; Young, Douglas M; Russom, Christine L; Wang, Nina Y; Jackson, Crystal R; Barron, Mace G

2013-09-23

The ability to determine the mode of action (MOA) for a diverse group of chemicals is a critical part of ecological risk assessment and chemical regulation. However, existing MOA assignment approaches in ecotoxicology have been limited to a relatively few MOAs, have high uncertainty, or rely on professional judgment. In this study, machine based learning algorithms (linear discriminant analysis and random forest) were used to develop models for assigning aquatic toxicity MOA. These methods were selected since they have been shown to be able to correlate diverse data sets and provide an indication of the most important descriptors. A data set of MOA assignments for 924 chemicals was developed using a combination of high confidence assignments, international consensus classifications, ASTER (ASessment Tools for the Evaluation of Risk) predictions, and weight of evidence professional judgment based an assessment of structure and literature information. The overall data set was randomly divided into a training set (75%) and a validation set (25%) and then used to develop linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and random forest (RF) MOA assignment models. The LDA and RF models had high internal concordance and specificity and were able to produce overall prediction accuracies ranging from 84.5 to 87.7% for the validation set. These results demonstrate that computational chemistry approaches can be used to determine the acute toxicity MOAs across a large range of structures and mechanisms.

Electrophysiological responses to feedback during the application of abstract rules.

PubMed

Walsh, Matthew M; Anderson, John R

2013-11-01

Much research focuses on how people acquire concrete stimulus-response associations from experience; however, few neuroscientific studies have examined how people learn about and select among abstract rules. To address this issue, we recorded ERPs as participants performed an abstract rule-learning task. In each trial, they viewed a sample number and two test numbers. Participants then chose a test number using one of three abstract mathematical rules they freely selected from: greater than the sample number, less than the sample number, or equal to the sample number. No one rule was always rewarded, but some rules were rewarded more frequently than others. To maximize their earnings, participants needed to learn which rules were rewarded most frequently. All participants learned to select the best rules for repeating and novel stimulus sets that obeyed the overall reward probabilities. Participants differed, however, in the extent to which they overgeneralized those rules to repeating stimulus sets that deviated from the overall reward probabilities. The feedback-related negativity (FRN), an ERP component thought to reflect reward prediction error, paralleled behavior. The FRN was sensitive to item-specific reward probabilities in participants who detected the deviant stimulus set, and the FRN was sensitive to overall reward probabilities in participants who did not. These results show that the FRN is sensitive to the utility of abstract rules and that the individual's representation of a task's states and actions shapes behavior as well as the FRN.

Electrophysiological Responses to Feedback during the Application of Abstract Rules

PubMed Central

Walsh, Matthew M.; Anderson, John R.

2017-01-01

Much research focuses on how people acquire concrete stimulus–response associations from experience; however, few neuroscientific studies have examined how people learn about and select among abstract rules. To address this issue, we recorded ERPs as participants performed an abstract rule-learning task. In each trial, they viewed a sample number and two test numbers. Participants then chose a test number using one of three abstract mathematical rules they freely selected from: greater than the sample number, less than the sample number, or equal to the sample number. No one rule was always rewarded, but some rules were rewarded more frequently than others. To maximize their earnings, participants needed to learn which rules were rewarded most frequently. All participants learned to select the best rules for repeating and novel stimulus sets that obeyed the overall reward probabilities. Participants differed, however, in the extent to which they overgeneralized those rules to repeating stimulus sets that deviated from the overall reward probabilities. The feedback-related negativity (FRN), an ERP component thought to reflect reward prediction error, paralleled behavior. The FRN was sensitive to item-specific reward probabilities in participants who detected the deviant stimulus set, and the FRN was sensitive to overall reward probabilities in participants who did not. These results show that the FRN is sensitive to the utility of abstract rules and that the individualʼs representation of a taskʼs states and actions shapes behavior as well as the FRN. PMID:23915052

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social learning in infancy: infants' neural processing of the effects of others' actions.

PubMed

Paulus, Markus; Hunnius, Sabine; Bekkering, Harold

2013-10-01

Social transmission of knowledge is one of the reasons for human evolutionary success, and it has been suggested that already human infants possess eminent social learning abilities. However, nothing is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms that subserve infants' acquisition of novel action knowledge through the observation of other people's actions and their consequences in the physical world. In an electroencephalogram study on social learning in infancy, we demonstrate that 9-month-old infants represent the environmental effects of others' actions in their own motor system, although they never achieved these effects themselves before. The results provide first insights into the neurocognitive basis of human infants' unique ability for social learning of novel action knowledge.

Sensorimotor Learning Biases Choice Behavior: A Learning Neural Field Model for Decision Making

PubMed Central

Schöner, Gregor; Gail, Alexander

2012-01-01

According to a prominent view of sensorimotor processing in primates, selection and specification of possible actions are not sequential operations. Rather, a decision for an action emerges from competition between different movement plans, which are specified and selected in parallel. For action choices which are based on ambiguous sensory input, the frontoparietal sensorimotor areas are considered part of the common underlying neural substrate for selection and specification of action. These areas have been shown capable of encoding alternative spatial motor goals in parallel during movement planning, and show signatures of competitive value-based selection among these goals. Since the same network is also involved in learning sensorimotor associations, competitive action selection (decision making) should not only be driven by the sensory evidence and expected reward in favor of either action, but also by the subject's learning history of different sensorimotor associations. Previous computational models of competitive neural decision making used predefined associations between sensory input and corresponding motor output. Such hard-wiring does not allow modeling of how decisions are influenced by sensorimotor learning or by changing reward contingencies. We present a dynamic neural field model which learns arbitrary sensorimotor associations with a reward-driven Hebbian learning algorithm. We show that the model accurately simulates the dynamics of action selection with different reward contingencies, as observed in monkey cortical recordings, and that it correctly predicted the pattern of choice errors in a control experiment. With our adaptive model we demonstrate how network plasticity, which is required for association learning and adaptation to new reward contingencies, can influence choice behavior. The field model provides an integrated and dynamic account for the operations of sensorimotor integration, working memory and action selection required for decision making in ambiguous choice situations. PMID:23166483

Processing of action- but not stimulus-related prediction errors differs between active and observational feedback learning.

PubMed

Kobza, Stefan; Bellebaum, Christian

2015-01-01

Learning of stimulus-response-outcome associations is driven by outcome prediction errors (PEs). Previous studies have shown larger PE-dependent activity in the striatum for learning from own as compared to observed actions and the following outcomes despite comparable learning rates. We hypothesised that this finding relates primarily to a stronger integration of action and outcome information in active learners. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain activations related to action-dependent PEs, reflecting the deviation between action values and obtained outcomes, and action-independent PEs, reflecting the deviation between subjective values of response-preceding cues and obtained outcomes. To this end, 16 active and 15 observational learners engaged in a probabilistic learning card-guessing paradigm. On each trial, active learners saw one out of five cues and pressed either a left or right response button to receive feedback (monetary win or loss). Each observational learner observed exactly those cues, responses and outcomes of one active learner. Learning performance was assessed in active test trials without feedback and did not differ between groups. For both types of PEs, activations were found in the globus pallidus, putamen, cerebellum, and insula in active learners. However, only for action-dependent PEs, activations in these structures and the anterior cingulate were increased in active relative to observational learners. Thus, PE-related activity in the reward system is not generally enhanced in active relative to observational learning but only for action-dependent PEs. For the cerebellum, additional activations were found across groups for cue-related uncertainty, thereby emphasising the cerebellum's role in stimulus-outcome learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing an interprofessional capability framework for teaching healthcare students in a primary healthcare setting.

PubMed

Gum, Lyn Frances; Lloyd, Andrea; Lawn, Sharon; Richards, Janet Noreen; Lindemann, Iris; Sweet, Linda; Ward, Helena; King, Alison; Bramwell, Donald

2013-11-01

This article is based on a partnership between a primary health service and a university whose shared goal was to prepare students and graduates for interprofessional practice (IPP). This collaborative process led to the development of consensus on an interprofessional capability framework. An action research methodology was adopted to study the development and progress of the partnership between university and health service providers. The initial aim was to understand their perceptions of IPP. Following this, the findings and draft capabilities were presented back to the groups. Finalisation of the capabilities took place with shared discussion and debate on how to implement them in the primary care setting. Several ideas and strategies were generated as to how to prepare effective interprofessional learning experiences for students in both environments (university and primary health care setting). Extensive stakeholder consultation from healthcare providers and educators has produced a framework, which incorporates the shared views and understandings, and can therefore be widely used in both settings. Development of a framework of capabilities for IPP, through a collaborative process, is a useful strategy for achieving agreement. Such a framework can guide curriculum for use in university and health service settings to assist incorporation of interprofessional capabilities into students' learning and practice.

A Policy Representation Using Weighted Multiple Normal Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Hajime; Aramaki, Takeshi; Kobayashi, Shigenobu

In this paper, we challenge to solve a reinforcement learning problem for a 5-linked ring robot within a real-time so that the real-robot can stand up to the trial and error. On this robot, incomplete perception problems are caused from noisy sensors and cheap position-control motor systems. This incomplete perception also causes varying optimum actions with the progress of the learning. To cope with this problem, we adopt an actor-critic method, and we propose a new hierarchical policy representation scheme, that consists of discrete action selection on the top level and continuous action selection on the low level of the hierarchy. The proposed hierarchical scheme accelerates learning on continuous action space, and it can pursue the optimum actions varying with the progress of learning on our robotics problem. This paper compares and discusses several learning algorithms through simulations, and demonstrates the proposed method showing application for the real robot.

Mayan Children's Creation of Learning Ecologies by Initiative and Cooperative Action.

PubMed

de León, Lourdes

2015-01-01

This chapter examines Mayan children's initiatives in creating their own learning environments in collaboration with others as they engage in culturally relevant endeavors of family and community life. To this end, I carry out a fine-grained ethnographic and linguistic analysis of the interactional emergence of learning ecologies. Erickson defines learning ecology as a socioecological system where participants mutually influence one another through verbal and nonverbal actions, as well as through other forms of semiotic communication (2010, 254). In analyzing learning ecologies, I adopt a "theory of action" approach, taking into account multimodal communication (e.g., talk, gesture, gaze, body positioning), participants' sociospatial organization, embodied action, objects, tools, and other culturally relevant materials brought together to build action (Goodwin, 2000, 2013; Hutchins, 1995). I use microethnographic analysis (Erickson, 1992) to bring to the surface central aspects of children's agentive roles in learning through "cooperative actions" (Goodwin, 2013) and "hands-on" experience (Ingold, 2007) the skills of competent members of their community. I examine three distinct Learning Ecologies created by children's initiatives among the Mayan children that I observed: (i) children requesting guidance to collaborate in a task, (ii) older children working on their own initiative with subsequent monitoring and correction from competent members, and (iii) children with near competence in a task with occasional monitoring and no guidance. I argue that these findings enrich and add power to models of family- and community-based learning such as Learning by Observing and Pitching In (Rogoff, 2014). © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nursing students learning the pharmacology of diabetes mellitus with complexity-based computerized models: A quasi-experimental study.

PubMed

Dubovi, Ilana; Dagan, Efrat; Sader Mazbar, Ola; Nassar, Laila; Levy, Sharona T

2018-02-01

Pharmacology is a crucial component of medications administration in nursing, yet nursing students generally find it difficult and self-rate their pharmacology skills as low. To evaluate nursing students learning pharmacology with the Pharmacology Inter-Leaved Learning-Cells environment, a novel approach to modeling biochemical interactions using a multiscale, computer-based model with a complexity perspective based on a small set of entities and simple rules. This environment represents molecules, organelles and cells to enhance the understanding of cellular processes, and combines these cells at a higher scale to obtain whole-body interactions. Sophomore nursing students who learned the pharmacology of diabetes mellitus with the Pharmacology Inter-Leaved Learning-Cells environment (experimental group; n=94) or via a lecture-based curriculum (comparison group; n=54). A quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design was conducted. The Pharmacology-Diabetes-Mellitus questionnaire and the course's final exam were used to evaluate students' knowledge of the pharmacology of diabetes mellitus. Conceptual learning was significantly higher for the experimental than for the comparison group for the course final exam scores (unpaired t=-3.8, p<0.001) and for the Pharmacology-Diabetes-Mellitus questionnaire (U=942, p<0.001). The largest effect size for the Pharmacology-Diabetes-Mellitus questionnaire was for the medication action subscale. Analysis of complex-systems component reasoning revealed a significant difference for micro-macro transitions between the levels (F(1, 82)=6.9, p<0.05). Learning with complexity-based computerized models is highly effective and enhances the understanding of moving between micro and macro levels of the biochemical phenomena, this is then related to better understanding of medication actions. Moreover, the Pharmacology Inter-Leaved Learning-Cells approach provides a more general reasoning scheme for biochemical processes, which enhances pharmacology learning beyond the specific topic learned. The present study implies that deeper understanding of pharmacology will support nursing students' clinical decisions and empower their proficiency in medications administration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Action Learning as Invigoration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chivers, Terence S.

2011-01-01

The present account of action learning describes its adoption for pragmatic reasons by the University of the Third Age (U3A). The reason for the existence of this movement is the education of retired people. The account seeks to explain why the action learning method spread from one local U3A to another and across it to other local U3As. The case…

"Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply": Reflections on a Failed Action Learning Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reese, Simon

2015-01-01

This paper reflects upon a sub-optimal action learning application with a strategic business re-design project. The objective of the project was to improve the long-term business performance of a subsidiary business and build the strategic plan. Action learning was introduced to aid the group in expanding their view of the real problems…

Methods and Techniques: An Action Learning Approach to Financial Management Training for Union Officers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maunders, Keith

1988-01-01

The author reports on his experience in organizing and running a two-week workshop for finance officers of African trade unions. A notable aspect of this was an attempt to use action learning methodology. He illustrates the advantages and the barriers to applying the action learning philosophy in a relatively short-period, off-site training…

"Cast Your Net Widely": Three Steps to Expanding and Refining Your Problem before Action Learning Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reese, Simon R.

2015-01-01

This paper reflects upon a three-step process to expand the problem definition in the early stages of an action learning project. The process created a community-powered problem-solving approach within the action learning context. The simple three steps expanded upon in the paper create independence, dependence, and inter-dependence to aid the…

Toward Solutions: The Work of the Chemistry Action-Research Group. Learning in Science Project. Working Paper No. 35.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborne, Roger; And Others

In the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, four groups of people worked on problems identified in the project's second (in-depth) phase. The Chemistry Action-Research Group considered problems related to the teaching and learning of ideas associated with particles and physical/chemical changes. Based on findings during the…

What Am I to Action Learning and What Is Action Learning to Me?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doherty, Daniel

2016-01-01

This account of practice charts one organisation development practitioner's experience of the influence of action learning (AL) at various points in his career, from the early 1970s to the present day. It explores the impact of AL upon his practice over the years, chronicling various episodes which had strongest impact. It contrasts AL as it was…

Launch of Revans Academy for Action Learning and Research: Manchester Business School November 26, 2008

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Elaine

2009-01-01

This article reports on the launching of the Revans Academy for Action Learning and Research at Manchester Business School on 26 November 2008. The goal of the Academy is to foster the development of action learning as a unifying framework within Manchester Business School. Its goal is to provide a hub for dialogue, collaboration, exploitation and…

An Exploration of Significant Leadership Development Factors in Action Learning: A Comparison of Three Action Learning Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Chris Allen

2013-01-01

As the need for new leaders has increased, so has the need for new and more effective forms of leadership development (Hamel, 2007; Lojeski, 2010; Gratton, 2011). Action learning has been popularized as one of these new forms of leadership development (Peters & Smith, 1998; Byrnes, 2005; ASTD, 2008; Trehan & Pedler, 2011). However,…

The Nurses Memorandum of 1938: A First Step in the Development of Action Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourner, Tom; Brook, Cheryl; Pedler, Mike

2018-01-01

This article concerns the origins of the idea of action learning, especially the claim by Revans that his Memorandum on "The Entry of Girls into the Nursing Profession" in Essex hospitals written in 1938 was the first step in the development of action learning. Whilst Revans repeatedly made this claim, there is no evidence in the actual…

Bourdieu's Habitus and Field: Implications on the Practice and Theory of Critical Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warwick, Rob; McCray, Janet; Board, Douglas

2017-01-01

This paper considers the logic of practice of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in relation to critical action learning: in particular "habitus" which is co-created with field and the interplay amongst the two in the form of misrecognition and risk. We draw on interviews with participants who have experienced action learning as part…

Molecular substrates of action control in cortico-striatal circuits.

PubMed

Shiflett, Michael W; Balleine, Bernard W

2011-09-15

The purpose of this review is to describe the molecular mechanisms in the striatum that mediate reward-based learning and action control during instrumental conditioning. Experiments assessing the neural bases of instrumental conditioning have uncovered functional circuits in the striatum, including dorsal and ventral striatal sub-regions, involved in action-outcome learning, stimulus-response learning, and the motivational control of action by reward-associated cues. Integration of dopamine (DA) and glutamate neurotransmission within these striatal sub-regions is hypothesized to enable learning and action control through its role in shaping synaptic plasticity and cellular excitability. The extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) appears to be particularly important for reward-based learning and action control due to its sensitivity to combined DA and glutamate receptor activation and its involvement in a range of cellular functions. ERK activation in striatal neurons is proposed to have a dual role in both the learning and performance factors that contribute to instrumental conditioning through its regulation of plasticity-related transcription factors and its modulation of intrinsic cellular excitability. Furthermore, perturbation of ERK activation by drugs of abuse may give rise to behavioral disorders such as addiction. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Place-Based Learning: Action Learning in MA Program for Educational Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glassner, Amnon; Eran-Zoran, Yael

2016-01-01

The study presents a new pedagogical idea and practice for educational practitioners. The practice was developed as a workshop of MA program in order to change and expand the meaning of education for the wellbeing of the community. The "place-based learning" workshop combined action learning (AL) with project-based learning (PBL). The…

Coordination meetings as a means of fostering collective learning among jury members involved in the validation of prior learning (VPL).

PubMed

Sandrine, Cortessis

2012-01-01

Jury members involved in the validation of prior learning (VPL) are supposed to draw parallels between the skills the candidate has acquired and the criteria established in relation to the frame of reference. The recalibration of criteria is a form of collective work. During meetings, jury members face common obstacles together. They try to sidestep the prescribed work and then collectively take ownership of it. Collective meetings allow responsibilities to be shared. This contrast between the imposition of extremely narrow prescribed work and the possibility of modifying prescribed work during collective meetings, sets a dialogic process in motion. Such a process gives jury members the opportunity to evolve in their practices. This ensures that jury members are always in a position to reflect on their own methods of action.

Adaptive functional systems: learning with chaos.

PubMed

Komarov, M A; Osipov, G V; Burtsev, M S

2010-12-01

We propose a new model of adaptive behavior that combines a winnerless competition principle and chaos to learn new functional systems. The model consists of a complex network of nonlinear dynamical elements producing sequences of goal-directed actions. Each element describes dynamics and activity of the functional system which is supposed to be a distributed set of interacting physiological elements such as nerve or muscle that cooperates to obtain certain goal at the level of the whole organism. During "normal" behavior, the dynamics of the system follows heteroclinic channels, but in the novel situation chaotic search is activated and a new channel leading to the target state is gradually created simulating the process of learning. The model was tested in single and multigoal environments and had demonstrated a good potential for generation of new adaptations. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Intelligent control of an IPMC actuated manipulator using emotional learning-based controller

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shariati, Azadeh; Meghdari, Ali; Shariati, Parham

2008-08-01

In this research an intelligent emotional learning controller, Takagi- Sugeno- Kang (TSK) is applied to govern the dynamics of a novel Ionic-Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) actuated manipulator. Ionic-Polymer Metal Composites are active actuators that show very large deformation in existence of low applied voltage. In this research, a new IPMC actuator is considered and applied to a 2-dof miniature manipulator. This manipulator is designed for miniature tasks. The control system consists of a set of neurofuzzy controller whose parameters are adapted according to the emotional learning rules, and a critic with task to assess the present situation resulted from the applied control action in terms of satisfactory achievement of the control goals and provides the emotional signal (the stress). The controller modifies its characteristics so that the critic's stress decreased.

Contextual imitation of intransitive body actions in a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A "do as other does" study.

PubMed

Abramson, José Z; Hernández-Lloreda, Mª Victoria; Esteban, José-Antonio; Colmenares, Fernando; Aboitiz, Francisco; Call, Josep

2017-01-01

Cetaceans are remarkable for exhibiting group-specific behavioral traditions or cultures in several behavioral domains (e.g., calls, behavioral tactics), and the question of whether they can be acquired socially, for example through imitative processes, remains open. Here we used a "Do as other does" paradigm to experimentally study the ability of a beluga to imitate familiar intransitive (body-oriented) actions demonstrated by a conspecific. The participant was first trained to copy three familiar behaviors on command (training phase) and then was tested for her ability to generalize the learned "Do as the other does" command to a different set of three familiar behaviors (testing phase). We found that the beluga (1) was capable of learning the copy command signal "Do what-the-other-does"; (2) exhibited high matching accuracy for trained behaviors (mean = 84% of correct performance) after making the first successful copy on command; (3) copied successfully the new set of three familiar generalization behaviors that were untrained to the copy command (range of first copy = 12 to 35 trials); and (4) deployed a high level of matching accuracy (mean = 83%) after making the first copy of an untrained behavior on command. This is the first evidence of contextual imitation of intransitive (body-oriented) movements in the beluga and adds to the reported findings on production imitation of sounds in this species and production imitation of sounds and motor actions in several cetaceans, especially dolphins and killer whales. Collectively these findings highlight the notion that cetaceans have a natural propensity at skillfully and proficiently matching the sounds and body movements demonstrated by conspecifics, a fitness-enhancing propensity in the context of cooperative hunting and anti-predatory defense tactics, and of alliance formation strategies that have been documented in these species' natural habitats. Future work should determine if the beluga can also imitate novel motor actions.

Contextual imitation of intransitive body actions in a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A “do as other does” study

PubMed Central

Hernández-Lloreda, Mª Victoria; Esteban, José-Antonio; Colmenares, Fernando; Aboitiz, Francisco; Call, Josep

2017-01-01

Cetaceans are remarkable for exhibiting group-specific behavioral traditions or cultures in several behavioral domains (e.g., calls, behavioral tactics), and the question of whether they can be acquired socially, for example through imitative processes, remains open. Here we used a “Do as other does” paradigm to experimentally study the ability of a beluga to imitate familiar intransitive (body-oriented) actions demonstrated by a conspecific. The participant was first trained to copy three familiar behaviors on command (training phase) and then was tested for her ability to generalize the learned “Do as the other does” command to a different set of three familiar behaviors (testing phase). We found that the beluga (1) was capable of learning the copy command signal “Do what-the-other-does”; (2) exhibited high matching accuracy for trained behaviors (mean = 84% of correct performance) after making the first successful copy on command; (3) copied successfully the new set of three familiar generalization behaviors that were untrained to the copy command (range of first copy = 12 to 35 trials); and (4) deployed a high level of matching accuracy (mean = 83%) after making the first copy of an untrained behavior on command. This is the first evidence of contextual imitation of intransitive (body-oriented) movements in the beluga and adds to the reported findings on production imitation of sounds in this species and production imitation of sounds and motor actions in several cetaceans, especially dolphins and killer whales. Collectively these findings highlight the notion that cetaceans have a natural propensity at skillfully and proficiently matching the sounds and body movements demonstrated by conspecifics, a fitness-enhancing propensity in the context of cooperative hunting and anti-predatory defense tactics, and of alliance formation strategies that have been documented in these species’ natural habitats. Future work should determine if the beluga can also imitate novel motor actions. PMID:28636677

Measuring Cognitive Load in Embodied Learning Settings

PubMed Central

Skulmowski, Alexander; Rey, Günter Daniel

2017-01-01

In recent years, research on embodied cognition has inspired a number of studies on multimedia learning and instructional psychology. However, in contrast to traditional research on education and multimedia learning, studies on embodied learning (i.e., focusing on bodily action and perception in the context of education) in some cases pose new problems for the measurement of cognitive load. This review provides an overview over recent studies on embodied learning in which cognitive load was measured using surveys, behavioral data, or physiological measures. The different methods are assessed in terms of their success in finding differences of cognitive load in embodied learning scenarios. At the same time, we highlight the most important challenges for researchers aiming to include these measures into their study designs. The main issues we identified are: (1) Subjective measures must be appropriately phrased to be useful for embodied learning; (2) recent findings indicate potentials as well as problematic aspects of dual-task measures; (3) the use of physiological measures offers great potential, but may require mobile equipment in the context of embodied scenarios; (4) meta-cognitive measures can be useful extensions of cognitive load measurement for embodied learning. PMID:28824473

Implications of Modeling Uncertainty for Water Quality Decision Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shabman, L.

2002-05-01

The report, National Academy of Sciences report, "Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management" endorsed the "watershed" and "ambient water quality focused" approach" to water quality management called for in the TMDL program. The committee felt that available data and models were adequate to move such a program forward, if the EPA and all stakeholders better understood the nature of the scientific enterprise and its application to the TMDL program. Specifically, the report called for a greater acknowledgement of model prediction uncertinaity in making and implementing TMDL plans. To assure that such uncertinaity was addressed in water quality decision making the committee called for a commitment to "adaptive implementation" of water quality management plans. The committee found that the number and complexity of the interactions of multiple stressors, combined with model prediction uncertinaity means that we need to avoid the temptation to make assurances that specific actions will result in attainment of particular water quality standards. Until the work on solving a water quality problem begins, analysts and decision makers cannot be sure what the correct solutions are, or even what water quality goals a community should be seeking. In complex systems we need to act in order to learn; adaptive implementation is a concurrent process of action and learning. Learning requires (1) continued monitoring of the waterbody to determine how it responds to the actions taken and (2) carefully designed experiments in the watershed. If we do not design learning into what we attempt we are not doing adaptive implementation. Therefore, there needs to be an increased commitment to monitoring and experiments in watersheds that will lead to learning. This presentation will 1) explain the logic for adaptive implementation; 2) discuss the ways that water quality modelers could characterize and explain model uncertinaity to decision makers; 3) speculate on the implications of the adaptive implementation for setting of water quality standards, for design of watershed monitoring programs and for the regulatory rules governing the TMDL program implementation.

A Collaborative Action Research Approach to Professional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleicher, Robert E.

2014-01-01

The field of professional development is moving towards the notion of professional learning, highlighting the active learning role that teachers play in changing their knowledge bases, beliefs and practice. This article builds on this idea and argues for creating professional learning that is guided by a collaborative action research (CAR)…

Action Learning Drives the Emerald Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nalborczyk, Sarah; Sandelands, Luke

2012-01-01

This account examines the action learning process adopted by Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., embedded in the organization through the in-company Emerald Academy. In case study format, the paper emphasizes that in order to align learning with organizational objectives joined up thinking and practice is needed beyond the learning and development…

Learning about Learning: Action Learning in Times of Organisational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Robyn

2009-01-01

This paper explores the conduct and outcomes of an action learning activity during a period of intense organisational change in a medium-sized vocational education and training organisation in Victoria, Australia. This organisation was the subject of significant change due to government-driven and statewide amalgamation, downsizing and sector…

[Public health research in obstetrics coordinated by the Italian National Health Institute.

PubMed

Donati, Serena

2017-10-01

The Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) has set up a population-based surveillance system for maternal mortality and severe morbidity that covers 75% of total births and promotes the prevention of avoidable outcomes through knowledge-based action. The surveillance system promotes the continuous training of health professionals by distance learning, provides recommendations for clinical practice under the auspices of the ISS - National Guidelines System and strengthens a "no blame" culture among health professionals.

Impact Assessment and Forecasts of Information and Telecommunications Technologies Applied to Education and Training: Volume II--Main Report and Issues Analyses. Analysis for the Orientation of the Work of Sector Actors in the Framework of DELTA.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium).

This report, the second volume in a three volume set, summarizes the results of a study performed by the DELTA (Developing European Learning through Technological Advance) unit in parallel with the projects underway in the research and development Exploratory Action. The report identifies the key issues, associated requirements and options, and…

Curriculum Development for Transfer Learning in Dynamic Multiagent Settings

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

HFO) Half field offense [19] is a subtask of Robocup simulated soccer in which a team of m offensive players try to score a goal against n defensive... players while playing on one half of a soccer field. The domain poses many challenges, including a large, continuous state and action space, coordi...case study . In RoboCup-2006: Robot Soccer World Cup X, volume 4434 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 72–85. Springer Verlag, Berlin

Mirroring "meaningful" actions: sensorimotor learning modulates imitation of goal-directed actions.

PubMed

Catmur, Caroline; Heyes, Cecilia

2017-06-19

Imitation is important in the development of social and technological skills throughout the lifespan. Experiments investigating the acquisition and modulation of imitation (and of its proposed neural substrate, the mirror neuron system) have produced evidence that the capacity for imitation depends on associative learning in which connections are formed between sensory and motor representations of actions. However, evidence that the development of imitation depends on associative learning has been found only for non-goal-directed actions. One reason for the lack of research on goal-directed actions is that imitation of such actions is commonly confounded with the tendency to respond in a spatially compatible manner. However, since the most prominent account of mirror neuron function, and hence of imitation, suggests that these cells encode goal-directed actions, it is important to establish whether sensorimotor learning can also modulate imitation of goal-directed actions. Experiment 1 demonstrated that imitation of goal-directed grasping can be measured while controlling for spatial compatibility, and Experiment 2 showed that this imitation effect can be modulated by sensorimotor training. Together these data support the hypothesis that the capacity for behavioural imitation, and the properties of the mirror neuron system, are constructed in the course of development through associative learning.

The role of efference copy in striatal learning.

PubMed

Fee, Michale S

2014-04-01

Reinforcement learning requires the convergence of signals representing context, action, and reward. While models of basal ganglia function have well-founded hypotheses about the neural origin of signals representing context and reward, the function and origin of signals representing action are less clear. Recent findings suggest that exploratory or variable behaviors are initiated by a wide array of 'action-generating' circuits in the midbrain, brainstem, and cortex. Thus, in order to learn, the striatum must incorporate an efference copy of action decisions made in these action-generating circuits. Here we review several recent neural models of reinforcement learning that emphasize the role of efference copy signals. Also described are ideas about how these signals might be integrated with inputs signaling context and reward. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Action video game play and transfer of navigation and spatial cognition skills in adolescents who are blind.

PubMed

Connors, Erin C; Chrastil, Elizabeth R; Sánchez, Jaime; Merabet, Lotfi B

2014-01-01

For individuals who are blind, navigating independently in an unfamiliar environment represents a considerable challenge. Inspired by the rising popularity of video games, we have developed a novel approach to train navigation and spatial cognition skills in adolescents who are blind. Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES) is a software application that allows for the virtual exploration of an existing building set in an action video game metaphor. Using this ludic-based approach to learning, we investigated the ability and efficacy of adolescents with early onset blindness to acquire spatial information gained from the exploration of a target virtual indoor environment. Following game play, participants were assessed on their ability to transfer and mentally manipulate acquired spatial information on a set of navigation tasks carried out in the real environment. Success in transfer of navigation skill performance was markedly high suggesting that interacting with AbES leads to the generation of an accurate spatial mental representation. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between success in game play and navigation task performance. The role of virtual environments and gaming in the development of mental spatial representations is also discussed. We conclude that this game based learning approach can facilitate the transfer of spatial knowledge and further, can be used by individuals who are blind for the purposes of navigation in real-world environments.

Action video game play and transfer of navigation and spatial cognition skills in adolescents who are blind

PubMed Central

Connors, Erin C.; Chrastil, Elizabeth R.; Sánchez, Jaime; Merabet, Lotfi B.

2014-01-01

For individuals who are blind, navigating independently in an unfamiliar environment represents a considerable challenge. Inspired by the rising popularity of video games, we have developed a novel approach to train navigation and spatial cognition skills in adolescents who are blind. Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES) is a software application that allows for the virtual exploration of an existing building set in an action video game metaphor. Using this ludic-based approach to learning, we investigated the ability and efficacy of adolescents with early onset blindness to acquire spatial information gained from the exploration of a target virtual indoor environment. Following game play, participants were assessed on their ability to transfer and mentally manipulate acquired spatial information on a set of navigation tasks carried out in the real environment. Success in transfer of navigation skill performance was markedly high suggesting that interacting with AbES leads to the generation of an accurate spatial mental representation. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between success in game play and navigation task performance. The role of virtual environments and gaming in the development of mental spatial representations is also discussed. We conclude that this game based learning approach can facilitate the transfer of spatial knowledge and further, can be used by individuals who are blind for the purposes of navigation in real-world environments. PMID:24653690

Learning for intelligent mobile robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Ernest L.; Liao, Xiaoqun; Alhaj Ali, Souma M.

2003-10-01

Unlike intelligent industrial robots which often work in a structured factory setting, intelligent mobile robots must often operate in an unstructured environment cluttered with obstacles and with many possible action paths. However, such machines have many potential applications in medicine, defense, industry and even the home that make their study important. Sensors such as vision are needed. However, in many applications some form of learning is also required. The purpose of this paper is to present a discussion of recent technical advances in learning for intelligent mobile robots. During the past 20 years, the use of intelligent industrial robots that are equipped not only with motion control systems but also with sensors such as cameras, laser scanners, or tactile sensors that permit adaptation to a changing environment has increased dramatically. However, relatively little has been done concerning learning. Adaptive and robust control permits one to achieve point to point and controlled path operation in a changing environment. This problem can be solved with a learning control. In the unstructured environment, the terrain and consequently the load on the robot"s motors are constantly changing. Learning the parameters of a proportional, integral and derivative controller (PID) and artificial neural network provides an adaptive and robust control. Learning may also be used for path following. Simulations that include learning may be conducted to see if a robot can learn its way through a cluttered array of obstacles. If a situation is performed repetitively, then learning can also be used in the actual application. To reach an even higher degree of autonomous operation, a new level of learning is required. Recently learning theories such as the adaptive critic have been proposed. In this type of learning a critic provides a grade to the controller of an action module such as a robot. The creative control process is used that is "beyond the adaptive critic." A mathematical model of the creative control process is presented that illustrates the use for mobile robots. Examples from a variety of intelligent mobile robot applications are also presented. The significance of this work is in providing a greater understanding of the applications of learning to mobile robots that could lead to many applications.