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The transformative learning scale for the innovation mindset (TLSIM) is an instrument that effectively assesses both process-related experiences and outcome-oriented shifts in students’ self-awareness, open-mindedness, and innovation capabilities resulting from participation in innovation competitions and programs (ICPs), namely, experiential learning opportunities. It was developed using transformative learning theory (TLT) and the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network’s (KEEN) 3Cs framework (Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value). The study involved developing scale items, validating content and face validity through expert reviews and student focus groups, as well as conducting psychometric analysis using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data collected from 291 STEM students (70.2% from engineering) who participated in ICPs. The CFA results showed strong factor loadings across most constructs, with Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values within acceptable limits, confirming the robustness of the TLSIM for measuring both process-oriented (RMSEA = 0.047, CFI = 0.929) and outcome-oriented constructs (RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.901) in the development of an innovation mindset. The analysis showed that TLSIM is a reliable and valid instrument with strong psychometric properties for measuring key constructs related to the innovation mindset. TLSIM can capture significant changes in students’ beliefs, attitudes, and self-perceptions regarding innovation. Future research should refine TLSIM across various disciplines. 

Abstract Since the 1980s, observations show the Arctic surface has warmed four times more than the global mean. Over the Arctic Ocean, this recent large warming is connected to sea ice loss. While earth system models are useful tools for prediction, exact replication of observed Arctic warming and sea ice loss is not expected in freely-evolving models because of internal climate variability. Previous studies have shown that historical hindcasts with model winds nudged to reanalysis can reproduce recent Arctic warming and sea ice loss. However, the influence of observed winds on these recent Arctic changes in absence of anthropogenic forcing has not been assessed. Here, we show that nudging to recent (1980–2023) observed winds alone in a pre-industrial model experiment does not reproduce the magnitude of observed warming and sea ice extent loss. This means that the large-scale winds are not the primary driver of recently observed large Arctic trends. Yet, the winds do partially reproduce the interannual, seasonal, and spatial variability, especially in spring. We also show that in a pre-industrial climate simulation, these results are largely independent of mean state sea ice thickness. In short, the observed winds drive part of the Arctic temperature and sea ice variability but not long-term trends. 

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis is caused by the bacteriumMycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb). While eukaryotic species employ several specialized RNA polymerases (Pols) to fulfill the RNA synthesis requirements of the cell, bacterial species use a single RNA polymerase (RNAP). To contribute to the foundational understanding of how Mtb and the related non-pathogenic mycobacterial species,Mycobacterium smegmatis(Msm), perform the essential function of RNA synthesis, we performed a series ofin vitrotranscription experiments to define the unique enzymatic properties of Mtb and Msm RNAPs. In this study, we characterize the mechanism of nucleotide addition used by these bacterial RNAPs with comparisons to previously characterized eukaryotic Pols I, II, and III. We show that Mtb RNAP and Msm RNAP demonstrate similar enzymatic properties and nucleotide addition kinetics to each other but diverge significantly from eukaryotic Pols. We also show that Mtb RNAP and Msm RNAP uniquely bind a nucleotide analog with significantly higher affinity than canonical nucleotides, in contrast to eukaryotic RNA polymerase II. This affinity for analogs may reveal a vulnerability for selective inhibition of the pathogenic bacterial enzyme.IMPORTANCETuberculosis, caused by the bacteriumMycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb), remains a severe global health threat. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that tuberculosis is second only to COVID-19 as the most lethal infection worldwide, with more annual deaths than HIV and AIDS (WHO.int). The first-line treatment for tuberculosis, Rifampin (or Rifampicin), specifically targets the Mtb RNA polymerase. This drug has been used for decades, leading to increased numbers of multi-drug-resistant infections (Stephanie,et al). To effectively treat tuberculosis, there is an urgent need for new therapeutics that selectively target vulnerabilities of the bacteria and not the host. Characterization of the differences between Mtb enzymes and host enzymes is critical to inform these ongoing drug design efforts. 

Universities have developed various informal learning experiences, such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, and accelerator programs that engage students in real-world challenges and enable environments for creative problem-solving. However, limited studies explain the extent and nature of the impact of student innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) on participating students' innovation mindset. Current literature was analysed using network analytics techniques to discover relations among ICPs and innovation skills. Using an online instrument, 194 students from two universities categorised and ranked skills/abilities they gained as the most or least improved due to participating in ICPs and their challenges during ICPs. The collected data was analysed to gain insight into the student's experiences and perceptions. The findings of this study showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills. However, the findings also suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs. The findings contribute to how ICPs can be better designed to foster an innovation mindset, mitigate challenges that students come across, and increase the participation of all students. 

Engineering and computing education have always embraced student Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup competitions, and boot camps. These programs are typically organized to increase interest in STEM fields, achieve the broader objective of forming well-rounded engineers and encourage students to bring their innovative ideas into real life. In addition, all ICPs also aim to advance students' innovative thinking skills. With the increased focus on entrepreneurship and innovation in STEM programs, many higher education institutions now organize some form of ICPs. This increased popularity of ICPs bears the questions of (i) whether ICPs achieve their intended objectives, (ii) what program components are most effective, and (iii) how to design ICPs for recruiting diverse student groups. Although these questions are highly relevant to advancing the educational benefits of ICPs, the literature lacks holistic studies focusing on the best practices of ICPs. In this paper, we present the findings of a qualitative research study to investigate ICP types and attributes that make the most impact on fostering an innovation mindset. We interviewed the organizers of ICPs to understand their objectives for organizing their events and rationales for specific program elements. Besides, we asked questions about how they promote their events, the best ways to reach out to students, team selection and forming, their assessment and judging procedures, during and after competition support, and the best practices and challenges. These interview scripts were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using qualitative data analysis software. An analysis of extracted thematic concepts was performed to identify the best practices and strategies that ICP organizers utilize to increase the Impact of their programs. The paper presents the preliminary results of this thematic analysis of the codes. Overall, findings suggest that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements, innovation training in ICPs, and effective mentoring may improve the learning outcomes related to innovative thinking skills. 

Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs, are informal learning experiences that supplement the formal education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. As learning dynamics are shifting toward becoming more personalized, location-unbounded, and spontaneous, informal learning is also becoming increasingly important for achieving the broader objectives of STEM education. ICPs are important in educating the next generation of innovators, and they serve as a gateway to innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in many colleges. The current literature provides limited quantitative and qualitative evidence on student learning because of participation in ICPs. This paper summarizes the findings of a study to investigate the learning and experiences of students who participated in ICPs. The results showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills, such as understanding people’s needs and pains. Furthermore, the results demonstrated relationships among student backgrounds, learning experiences, and ICP types. Findings suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs 

Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs, are informal learning experiences that supplement the formal education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. As learning dynamics are shifting toward becoming more personalized, location-unbounded, and spontaneous, informal learning is also becoming increasingly important for achieving the broader objectives of STEM education. ICPs are important in educating the next generation of innovators, and they serve as a gateway to innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in many colleges. The current literature provides limited quantitative and qualitative evidence on student learning because of participation in ICPs. This paper summarizes the findings of a multi-institutional study to investigate the learning and experiences of students who participated in ICPs. The results showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills, such as understanding people’s needs and pains. Furthermore, the results demonstrated relationships among student backgrounds, learning experiences, and ICP types. Findings suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs. 

Understanding the behavioral and neural dynamics of social interactions is a goal of contemporary neuroscience. Many machine learning methods have emerged in recent years to make sense of complex video and neurophysiological data that result from these experiments. Less focus has been placed on understanding how animals process acoustic information, including social vocalizations. A critical step to bridge this gap is determining the senders and receivers of acoustic information in social interactions. While sound source localization (SSL) is a classic problem in signal processing, existing approaches are limited in their ability to localize animal-generated sounds in standard laboratory environments. Advances in deep learning methods for SSL are likely to help address these limitations, however there are currently no publicly available models, datasets, or benchmarks to systematically evaluate SSL algorithms in the domain of bioacoustics. Here, we present the VCL Benchmark: the first large-scale dataset for benchmarking SSL algorithms in rodents. We acquired synchronized video and multi-channel audio recordings of 767,295 sounds with annotated ground truth sources across 9 conditions. The dataset provides benchmarks which evaluate SSL performance on real data, simulated acoustic data, and a mixture of real and simulated data. We intend for this benchmark to facilitate knowledge transfer between the neuroscience and acoustic machine learning communities, which have had limited overlap. 

Like many faculty, we have organized student innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) and coached many student teams for various competitions; therefore, we have observed first-hand how transformational the experience has been for our students. ICPs allow students to quickly test their skills and knowledge, push them beyond their comfort zones, encourage them to take risks, and provide a safe place to try and fail, as failures can be seen as a critical part of the learning process. Despite their invaluable learning benefits, existing literature lacks a theoretical body of knowledge on the influence of ICPs on the educational experience. Our goal is to explore transformations in students’ mindsets toward innovation through perspectives and data from students who formerly participated in ICPs, mentors who coach students through ICPs, and ICP organizers who create these opportunities for students. This paper will focus on the essential practices of mentors.