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Academic skills are essential in most future professions for students, yet frequently receive sporadic or ineffective attention throughout higher education. Therefore, we set out to implement the ALACT reflection model in a second-year academic skills course within the bachelor’s program in Pharmaceutical Sciences. The model was applied to both presentation and teamwork skills which are practiced in a relevant academic context. As such, the aim was to improve the timeliness and level of insight students have into their strengths, growth, and points for improvement. The ALACT model is a spiral approach to reflection where students begin with (1) a concrete experience, (2) observing and reflecting, and then (3) forming abstract concepts and generalizations about the experience. These are used (4) to create an action plan which is then (5) enacted. The last step forms the new experience from which the cycle repeats. Previous research suggests that the conscious and consistent implementation of the ALACT model can provide a basis for meaningful self-evaluation and increased competency and confidence. Therefore, we redesigned the month-long course to ensure the five steps were well-integrated and that students would complete the spiral at least twice for each skill. Results from lecturer interviews and a student questionnaire indicate that the intervention leads to increased awareness of existing competencies and steps for improvement, and a very positive view of reflection and its role in skills development. A review of the practical considerations for implementing the ALACT model in academic skills courses within science education is also provided.

Incorporation of increased flexibility and adaptivity in courses can support freshmen with taking responsibility for their learning process. This is especially beneficial in the case of chemistry courses given their typically abstract nature and associated need for engaging in practice and higher order thinking. Blended learning can be used to achieve course flexibility and adaptivity, and increased student engagement. Adopting blended learning requires teachers to reconsider and redesign their course setup. The willingness for this will largely be dictated by perceived practicality, however. To this end, our aim is to develop practical redesign guidelines for flexible blended learning. Such guidelines need to be instrumental, congruent, and of 'low cost' for a teacher. The resulting four guidelines were fine-tuned in two phases over 5 years using two introductory chemistry courses and incorporated various blended learning elements, such as slide-cast lectures, live lectures, formative in-cast multiple choice questions, tutorials, formative electronic tutorial questions, and student voting on the course schedule. The outcome of our multiyear endeavor was positive and sustainable by all metrics used, including online engagement by students, learning outcomes, and student evaluations. The teachers in phase II largely embraced the guidelines emerging from phase I, and in their course experienced them predominantly as practical while limitations were also identified. We hope that our guidelines and experiences can provide fellow teachers with a blueprint for practical incorporation of flexibility and adaptivity using blended learning in their chemistry courses.

Introduction: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) signaling in the brain plays an important role in energy regulation, and is altered during diet-induced obesity. Yet, NPY function during the consumption of specific diet components remains to be fully determined. We have previously demonstrated that consumption of a saturated fat component (free-choice high-fat; fcHF), a sucrose solution (high-sugar; fcHS), or both (fcHFHS) combined with a standard diet (chow and water) has diverse effects on Npy expression in the arcuate nucleus and the sensitivity to intraventricular NPY administration. Arcuate NPY neurons project to the lateral hypothalamus (LHA), and NPY administration in the LHA potently promotes chow intake in rats on a standard diet. However, it is currently unclear if short-term consumption of a palatable free-choice diet alters NPY function in the LHA. Therefore, we assessed the effects of intra-LHA NPY administration on intake in rats following one-week consumption of a fcHF, fcHS, or fcHFHS diet. Methods: Male Wistar rats consumed a fcHF, fcHS, fcHFHS, or control (CHOW) diet for one week before NPY (0.3 μg / 0.3 μL) or phosphate-buffered saline (0.3 μL) was administered into the LHA. Intake was measured 2h later. fcHFHS-fed rats were divided into high-fat (fcHFHS-hf) and low-fat (fcHFHS-lf) groups based on differences in basal fat intake. Results: Intra-LHA NPY administration increased chow intake in fcHFHS- (irrespective of basal fat intake), fcHF- and CHOW-fed rats. Intra-LHA NPY infusion increased fat intake in fcHF-, fcHFHS-hf, but not fcHFHS-lf, rats. Intra-LHA NPY infusion did not increase caloric intake in fcHS-fed rats. Discussion: Our data demonstrate that the effects of intra-LHA NPY on caloric intake differ depending on the consumption of a fat or sugar component, or both, in a free-choice diet. Our data also indicate that baseline preference for the fat diet component modulates the effects of intra-LHA NPY in fcHFHS-fed rats.

The hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) circuitry is a key regulator of feeding behavior. NPY also acts in the mesolimbic dopaminergic circuitry, where it can increase motivational aspects of feeding behavior through effects on dopamine output in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and on neurotransmission in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Endogenous NPY in the NAc originates from local interneurons and afferent projections from the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (Arc). However, the origin of endogenous NPY in the VTA is unknown. We determined, in normal-weight male Wistar rats, if the source of VTA NPY is local, and/or whether it is derived from VTA-projecting neurons. Immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization and RT-qPCR were utilized, when appropriate in combination with colchicine treatment or 24h fasting, to assess NPY/Npy expression locally in the VTA. Retrograde tracing using cholera toxin beta (CTB) in the VTA, fluorescent immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy were used to determine NPY-immunoreactive afferents to the VTA. NPY in the VTA was observed in fibers, but not following colchicine pre-treatment. No NPY- or Npy-expressing cell bodies were observed in the VTA. Fasting for 24h, which increased Npy expression in the Arc, failed to induce Npy expression in the VTA. Double-labeling with CTB and NPY was observed in the Arc and in the ventrolateral medulla. Thus, VTA NPY originates from the hypothalamic Arc and the ventrolateral medulla of the brainstem in normal-weight male Wistar rats. These afferent connections link hypothalamic and brainstem processing of physiologic state to VTA-driven motivational behavior. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.