Class Size and Student Performance in a Team-Based Learning Course.

High-enrollment university courses can be associated with decreased student learning and course satisfaction. In these large classes, students report feelings of isolation, reduced faculty interaction, and less motivation. Here we address whether team-based learning (TBL), a highly interactive and collaborative form of active learning, can improve the student experience in larger undergraduate neuroscience courses. Specifically, we analyzed student performance on summative assessments, as well as survey responses on measures of the classroom environment from a single TBL course, taught over a range of enrollment sizes (19-103 students). While the higher enrollment course terms had decreased ratings of course quality compared to the lower enrollment terms, we also found that student performance on exams was similar across all course term sizes. Furthermore, we observed no differences across class sizes for most measures of classroom dynamics and course characteristics. Taken together, our data suggest that the content knowledge outcomes and many aspects of the classroom environment were not negatively impacted in the higher enrollment versions of this TBL course.

Comparing Active Learning to Team-Based Learning in Undergraduate Neuroscience.

Team-based learning (TBL) is a special form of collaborative learning that involves the use of permanent working teams throughout the semester. In this highly structured and interactive teaching method, students perform preparatory activities outside of class to gain factual knowledge and understand basic concepts. In class, students collaborate with peers to apply content, analyze findings, and synthesize new ideas. To better understand the learning outcomes specific to TBL courses, we analyzed end-of-semester course evaluations from an undergraduate neuroscience course taught using either a moderate structure active learning or TBL format. Our analysis reveals that the TBL taught classes had significantly higher levels of self-reported learning in the areas of gaining, understanding, and synthesizing knowledge. We propose that these gains are driven by the TBL readiness assurance process and peer evaluations. Both of these structural components are expected to increase student accountability, motivation, and engagement with course content.

Imaging and Perimetry Society standards and guidelines.

PURPOSE: To provide readers with standards, recommendations, guidelines, and requirements for the application of perimetry to clinical ophthalmic practice and scientific study. METHODS: A working group of perimetry and visual field specialists from many parts of the world constructed a document that would allow current and future perimeters to be assessed by the same criteria. Because hardware and software technology, statistical procedures and clinical conditions are constantly changing, the characteristics in this paper emphasize general concepts rather than specific implementations employed by current devices. RESULTS: Critical aspects of perimetry included indications for perimetry, perimetric techniques, stimulus characteristics, test administration, patient preparation, data display, statistical analysis, interpretation of visual field findings, a glossary of terms and definitions, and standards for comparison of different perimetric tests. Each of these topics is discussed, along with their advantages and disadvantages. CONCLUSIONS: These guidelines serve as a basis for practitioners to evaluate their perimetric needs in relation to their clinical practice and patient population so that informed decisions can be made for visual field testing. In addition, these issues should be used as a cornerstone for future technological and practical improvements to the visual field diagnostic procedures.

Selective photostimulation of genetically chARGed neurons.

To permit direct functional analyses of neural circuits, we have developed a method for stimulating groups of genetically designated neurons optically. Coexpression of the Drosophila photoreceptor genes encoding arrestin-2, rhodopsin (formed by liganding opsin with retinal), and the alpha subunit of the cognate heterotrimeric G protein--an explosive combination we term "chARGe"--sensitizes generalist vertebrate neurons to light. Illumination of a mixed population of neurons elicits action potentials selectively and cell-autonomously in its genetically chARGed members. In contrast to bath-applied photostimulants or caged neurotransmitters, which act indiscriminately throughout the illuminated volume, chARGe localizes the responsiveness to light. Distributed activity may thus be fed directly into a circumscribed population of neurons in intact tissue, irrespective of the spatial arrangement of its elements.

Transmission of olfactory information between three populations of neurons in the antennal lobe of the fly.

Three classes of neurons form synapses in the antennal lobe of Drosophila, the insect counterpart of the vertebrate olfactory bulb: olfactory receptor neurons, projection neurons, and inhibitory local interneurons. We have targeted a genetically encoded optical reporter of synaptic transmission to each of these classes of neurons and visualized population responses to natural odors. The activation of an odor-specific ensemble of olfactory receptor neurons leads to the activation of a symmetric ensemble of projection neurons across the glomerular synaptic relay. Virtually all excited glomeruli receive inhibitory input from local interneurons. The extent, odor specificity, and partly interglomerular origin of this input suggest that inhibitory circuits assemble combinatorially during odor presentations. These circuits may serve as dynamic templates that extract higher order features from afferent activity patterns.

Face adaptation does not improve performance on search or discrimination tasks.

The face adaptation effect, as described by M. A. Webster and O. H. MacLin (1999), is a robust perceptual shift in the appearance of faces after a brief adaptation period. For example, prolonged exposure to Asian faces causes a Eurasian face to appear distinctly Caucasian. This adaptation effect has been documented for general configural effects, as well as for the facial properties of gender, ethnicity, expression, and identity. We began by replicating the finding that adaptation to ethnicity, gender, and a combination of both features induces selective shifts in category appearance. We then investigated whether this adaptation has perceptual consequences beyond a shift in the perceived category boundary by measuring the effects of adaptation on RSVP, spatial search, and discrimination tasks. Adaptation had no discernable effect on performance for any of these tasks.

Comparison of visual field severity classification systems for glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To compare categorical severity classification systems for glaucoma. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 1,921 eyes (49.5% right eye) from 1,137 participants from the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study and African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study. Standard automated perimetry fields were classified using the: (1) Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study scoring system (AGIS), (2) Glaucoma Severity Staging system (GSS), and (3) Enhanced Glaucoma Severity Staging system (eGSS). Systems were characterized using the following continuous measures of severity: mean deviation, pattern standard deviation, and visual field index. Classifications between systems and with optic disc stereophotograph assessment were compared (κ) and some stages were consolidated to evaluate severity classification across systems (Wilcoxon test). RESULTS: Mean deviation, pattern standard deviation, and visual field index were significantly different between GSS and AGIS, and GSS and eGSS in normal and abnormal fields (P<0.005). Agreement between AGIS and eGSS was substantial (κ=0.715±0.012); agreement between GSS and eGSS (κ=0.559±0.014) and AGIS (κ=0.519±0.016) was moderate. eGSS tended to stage abnormal fields most severely followed by GSS and then AGIS (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of glaucomatous optic neuropathy increases with staging severity for all systems. However, different systems led to different severity staging. Of the systems examined in this study, eGSS may be the better choice for its ease of use for both clinicians and researchers.

Comparing the full-threshold and Swedish interactive thresholding algorithms for short-wavelength automated perimetry.

PURPOSE: To compare the Swedish interactive thresholding algorithm (SITA) with the full-threshold (FT) strategy for short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP). METHODS: One eye of 286 patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) and 289 age-matched participants without GON from the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS) and the African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study (ADAGES) were classified with optic disc stereophotographs taken within 6 months of visual field testing, conducted within a 3-month period. Six parameters were derived per test, including pattern standard deviation (PSD) and the number of pattern deviation plot (PDP) points triggered at <1%. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis equated the tests for specificity (80%, 90%, and 95%). Sensitivities of parameters with the highest area under the curve (AUC) and STATPAC (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA) PSD were compared. Agreement, severity, and test duration between algorithms were assessed. RESULTS: Sensitivities were not different between algorithms using PSD. With PDP <1%, SWAP-FT was more sensitive (35%) than SWAP-SITA (29%) at 95% specificity (P<0.05). Sensitivity and specificity using the STATPAC PSD at 95% (P<5%) and 99.5% (P<0.05%) was similar between algorithms. Severity correlated significantly between algorithms (P<0.001), although there was bias for SWAP-SITA to suggest more severe loss. SWAP-SITA required significantly less test time than did SWAP-FT (P<0.001). Mean differences in PSD, PDP <1%, and MD between algorithms were not clinically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Both algorithms performed similarly when equated for specificity. The reduced test duration makes SWAP-SITA the better choice. Testing with both algorithms within a short period is recommended for confirmation of results when switching from FT to SITA.

Selectivity for the configural cues that identify the gender, ethnicity, and identity of faces in human cortex.

We used psychophysical and functional MRI (fMRI) adaptation to examine how and where the visual configural cues underlying identification of facial ethnicity, gender, and identity are processed. We found that the cortical regions showing selectivity to these cues are distributed widely across the inferior occipital cortex, fusiform areas, and the cingulate gyrus. These regions were not colocalized with areas activated by traditional face area localizer scans. Traditional face area localizer scans isolate regions defined by stronger fMRI responses to a random series of face images than to a series of non-face images. Because these scans present a random assortment of face images, they presumably produce the strongest responses within regions containing neurons that are face-sensitive but not highly tuned for face type. These areas might be expected to show only weak selective adaptation effects. In contrast, the largest responses to our selective adaptation paradigm would be expected within areas containing more selectively tuned neurons that might be expected to show only a sparse collective response to a series of random faces. Many aspects of face processing (e.g., prosopagnosia, recognition, and configural vs. featural processing) are likely to rely heavily on regions containing high proportions of neurons that show selective tuning for faces.