“A Framework for Character Education in Schools”
October 28, 2021
Originally posted in our October 2021 Top of Mind Newsletter. As we think about how we structure our work in established organizations and more autonomous settings, the idea of character often comes to mind. Sometimes seen as a polarizing subject, studies have linked character development to the culture around an individual. Furthermore, if we want individuals and societies to flourish, we need to examine how we intentionally or unintentionally develop characters and virtues in our students.…
Read more“Why Do We Work Too Much?”
October 27, 2021
Originally posted in our October 2021 Top of Mind Newsletter. As the ambiguity of COVID-19 continues to impact our health and our work, it is fitting to reflect on how and why we work the way we do. In this recent New Yorker piece, the author presents us with an interesting trend in the post-industrial economy much of the Western world finds itself in. That is a seemingly infinite amount of opportunity and the cultural shift…
Read more“Why Business Schools Need to Teach Experimentation”
September 29, 2021
Originally posted in our September 2021 Top of Mind Newsletter. To close out our thoughts on re-evaluating learning, we turn to high education. Specifically, in business school, we are finding much evidence that a new type of learning is essential: Experimentation. A concept often thought of as something for scientists or theorists, experimenting (read, trying lots of things, and learning from what does or, more importantly, doesn’t work) is increasingly relevant to business training. Experiments create…
Read more“What almost 150 studies say about how to motivate students”
Originally posted in our September 2021 Top of Mind Newsletter. We need to focus on a few key factors as we think about how we structure motivational learning environments. In a meta-analysis comprising almost 150 studies on student motivation, we see two observations that impact how we motivate learners. The first observation is that, while parents have a role in motivating students, teachers have much more control over how engaged a student will be in the…
Read more“Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists tie improved learning processes to reduced symptoms of depression”
Originally posted in our September 2021 Top of Mind Newsletter. Researchers at Virginia Tech have recently found a link between neural learning processes and symptoms of depression. They have also found that there is a marked improvement in their depressive symptoms as one works to improve their learning processes. The researchers found that “the symptom improvements that followed cognitive behavioral therapy were related to improvements in reinforcement learning components that were disrupted prior to therapy.” So…
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