brain and the neuron

1. Brain Tutorial

This week, we will be covering the brain and the neuron. After reviewing the text and course module material, please complete the following the brain tutorial, go through the following links and post any questions you have in the conference area. In addition, describe one interesting thing that you have learned about the brain as a result of the tutorial and post a response to one of your classmates.
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_05/d_05_cr/d_05_cr_her/d_05_cr_her.html
Please respond to the posts of at least two of your classmates.
1 Respond )>>I have always seen the brain as a complex computer system with an intricate network that we take little notice of while it functions quietly in the background. It is impressive how the more one plays soduko or scrabble the better and faster they get. Just as a muscle that is getting increased amount of exercise adapts to the workout, so does our brain. Evolving and adapting to external stimuli based on the bodies internal supply of adequate nutrients and oxygen. The other day I watched a show in which a girl had no arms, and she had adapted and learned how to do everything with her mouth and feet. From putting on a bra, writing to brushing her hair. Parts of her brain had adapted to her physical disability making her a completely able person. Amazing! What I learned that was most interesting, was that the brain can stay alive for 4-6 minutes without oxygen and that the rate of neuron growth during pregnancy is 250,000 neurons per minute and that more electrical impulses are generated in one day by a single human brain than by all the telephones in the world.The two questions I always think of is if the brain does not feel pain, where do headaches come from? And at what stage of pregnancy is the rate of neuron growth the highest?
2 Respond )>>> The brain is probably one of the most fascinating parts of the body; it’s constantly working even while we are sleeping. One interesting facts about the brain is that it’s just like a any other muscle in the human body it has be exercise and needs a proper diet to be able to perform at its max level. The following foods have been identified as brain food to improve learning capacity and motor skills; blueberries, wild salmon and nuts and seeds. The biggest thing I took away from learning about the brain is the way you treat your brain is the way it will perform when you need it the most.
Part 2 )>> Neuron Tutorial
Please complete the following the neuron tutorial. Take the associated quizzes and post any questions you have in the conference area. In addition, describe one interesting thing that you have learned about the neuron as a result of the tutorial and post a response to one of your classmates.
NEURON TUTORIAL: Tutorial 1: Structure of the Neuron http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/Psych289/Biotutorials/1/part1.shtml?sso=true
Please respond to the posts of at least two of your classmates.
1 Respond )>>> One interesting fact that I learned about neurons was that, neuron have many general function like the receptor or sensory neuron It carries to the brain. Like for example when you eat a apple you have sensory receptors involved in the taste and smell, as your eating it the sensory neuron are sending signals to your brain about the smell of the apple and the taste of the apple. Knowing that this process is always taking place is very fascinating.
2 Respond )>>> Another fun fact I was able to discover was that all of our neurons combined have enough electricity to power a small light bulb! It’s amazing to me that we all have so many of these little power things in our brains!! ‘Whenever you dream, laugh, think, see, or move, it’s because tiny chemical and electrical signals are racing between these neurons along billions of tiny neuron highways. Believe it or not, the activity in your brain never stops. Countless messages zip around inside it every second like a supercharged pinball machine. Your neurons create and send more messages than all the phones in the entire world. And while a single neuron generates only a tiny amount of electricity, all your neurons together can generate enough electricity to power a low-wattage bulb.
Part 3 )>>> WRTG 101 students,
The following exercise is designed to instruct you in the Toulmin method of argumentation.
Please read pages 165-172 in The Bedford Guide for College Writers.
In addition, please watch the following video tutorial:

For this exercise, please answer the three questions about claim, data, and warrant for each item.
1. I should wear my boots. I see that it is snowing outside.
What is the claim?
What is the data?
What is the warrant?
2. UMUC should adopt a better learning management system because WebTycho is slow and limited in its functionality.
What is the claim?
What is the data?
What is the warrant?
3. I need to write a paper for my composition class. I don’t want to write my paper on steroid use in baseball because my professor will not be interested in that topic.
What is the claim?
What is the data?
What is the warrant?
4. We need national health insurance because without it many people will not have health coverage.
What is the claim?
What is the data?
What is the warrant?
5. The United States should provide free housing to everyone because many citizens lack decent housing.
What is the claim?
What is the data?
What is the warrant?
6. I should not go to Ohio this weekend because I have a mathematics test on Monday morning.
What is the claim?
What is the data?
What is the warrant?

The following exercise is designed to give you more practice in synthesizing several sources into a paragraph.
In this conference exercise, we will be observing the tutorial and practicing the skills it teaches.
To complete this conference exercise, please complete the following tasks:
Watch the tutorial, reviewing it as necessary and taking notes on it: http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/web/writ_synth.html
• Read through the following six excerpts of articles by several authors. All six excerpts discuss students’ and/or instructors’ perceptions of online classes.
• Write two paragraphs that synthesize the sources. My suggestion is that you write one paragraph on student perceptions of online classes and a second paragraph on instructors’ perceptions of online courses.
The first sentence in your synthesis should be the following:
Various studies indicate that faculty and students have challenges with online learning, but possibly for different reasons.

The six excerpts are as follows:

Armstrong, D. A. (2011). Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning and Instructional Tools: A Qualitative Study of Undergraduate Students Use of Online Tools. Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology – TOJET, 10(3), 222-226.
Participants perceived online learning to be a convenient alternative to traditional classroom learning but indicated that convenience came with a price: in gaining independence, self-directed learning, they were losing direction from and communication with instructors. In some instances, this tradeoff was perceived to decrease the educational and academic value of the learning experience. For these participants, academic value was perceived to come from interaction and engagement from peers and faculty. Participants indicated that without necessary direction from faculty online learning allows for an approach to learning that is more surface– or strategic–oriented than is the case in the traditional face–to–face classroom experience (p. 224).

Heirdsfield, A., Davis, J., Lennox, S., Walker, S., & Zhang, W. (2007). Online Learning Environments: What Early Childhood Teacher Education Students Say. Journal Of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 28(2), 115-126.
There is one other significant negative aspect of a general nature that distance education students commented upon. This was that many of the interactive OLT features were not effectively utilized. These students experienced frustrations with those OLT sites that made limited use of features such as FAQs forums, group emails and the like. Presumably, this is more an issue for distance education students than on-campus students, as they can only interact or receive information through OLT, while on-campus students have lectures, tutorials, and peer networks for sharing ideas and information. Though the type of complaints identified by on-campus and distance education (p. 122).

Jaggars, S., & Columbia University, C. (2011). Online Learning: Does It Help Low-Income and Underprepared Students? CCRC Working Paper No. 26. Assessment of Evidence Series. Community College Research Center, Columbia University,
None of the colleges offered faculty the degree of expert support they needed to redesign curricula and pedagogical strategies for the online context. Worse, some institutions had policies that actively undercut faculty engagement in online learning, such as not counting online courses as part of a normal teaching load, or enrolling twice the number of students in online as compared to face-to-face sections (p. 36).

Ward, M. E., Peters, G., & Shelley, K. (2010). Student and Faculty Perceptions of the Quality of Online Learning Experiences. International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 11(3), 57-77.
Based on dimensions of instructional effectiveness, students compared SIOI [synchronous interactive online instruction]-enabled courses to those offered face-to-face and in an asynchronous online format. While the ratings of the amount and quality of content learned were the same for SIOI and face-to-face course formats, mean student ratings for the dimensions of instructional quality tended to be slightly higher for face-toface instruction than for SIOI; these differences, however, were not statistically significant. These findings are important as they suggest to an instructor who is reluctant to employ online learning that students perceive that it is possible to achieve levels of effectiveness in an online instructional format similar to those that are realized in face-to-face delivery.

Asynchronous online learning, on the other hand, was perceived to be inferior to both face-to-face and SIOI formats in addressing dimensions of instructional quality. Mean ratings by students of the capabilities of asynchronous online learning to address these dimensions were consistently and significantly lower than the ratings for both face-to-face and the SIOI formats. These findings will likely reinforce the reluctance of some instructors to offer online instruction if the only option for delivery is an asynchronous format (p. 73).

Nagel, S., Maniam, B., & Leavell, H. (2011). Pros and cons of online education for educators and students. International Journal Of Business Research, 11(6), 136-142.
In a traditional classroom, professors can read body language, pick out sarcasm, and reflect on tone while a student expresses their issues, confusion, or excitement. E-mail is written word that can be stored and forwarded; it has the possibility to haunt the professors and affect a teacher’s position, tenure or reputation (p. 138).

Shu-Fang, N., & Aust, R. (2008). Examining Teacher Verbal Immediacy and Sense of Classroom Community in Online Classes. International Journal On E-Learning, 7(3), 477-498.
Results of this study suggested that the development of sense of classroom community is critical to enhance students’ satisfaction and perceived learning. In addition, the role of teacher verbal immediacy is important in online discussion. Teachers should develop communication behaviors that reduce social and psychological distance in the online learning environment (p. 477).

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