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This chapter uses the concept of real-world experiments to describe ecological activity that occurs in the wider human community. The case discussed is an ecological restoration project at Montrose Point, a peninsula in Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago. In the restoration of Montrose Point, the scientific importance of ecological science is not juxtaposed with the seemingly irrational ideas of the human community, but the human community becomes a part of scientific work. Like experiments in the laboratory, real-world experiments often bring surprises. However, if ecological restoration is recognized to be inherently uncertain, surprises become opportunities to learn rather than failures. The chapter concludes with a discussion how a real-world experimental strategy can help to handle surprises via alternate phases of corroboration by recursive practice.

Economics laboratories have become the primary locations of experimental economics research by the 1990s. They were a result of a decade long development from ad hoc opportune places to dedicated, purpose designed spaces. The distinctive feature of the economics laboratory and its key instrument became networked computers running custom-built software. However, the history of the economics laboratory is not just a history of evolving technology. I argue in this article that it is mainly a history of learning how to build an experimental economics community. Only a functioning community was able to change a physical place to a laboratory space. The distinction between place and space originates in the work of Michael de Certeau and I use it to analyze the evolution of economics laboratories. To this end, I analyze the case of Austin Hoggatt’s Management Science Laboratory at Berkeley in the 1960s as it illustrates the indispensability of creating a community centered on the laboratory. In contrast, the laboratories in Arizona and at Caltech since the 1980s, and in Amsterdam since the 1990s have become successful spaces, because, unlike Hoggatt, they focused equally on community building as on infrastructure and technology. This gave rise to social infrastructure and division of labor in the laboratory space.

A review of the first year physics laboratory program in 1991 at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) revealed that student laboratory experiences did not: resemble the practice of physicists; give a realistic picture of the contribution of physics to everyday life, or; enhance students’ capabilities of broad value, such as their communication skills. Physics academics at UTS committed themselves to reforming students’ laboratory experiences with inquiry-oriented learning as a center-piece of the reform. This chapter explores the drivers that led to the reconceptualization of the role of the laboratory in the undergraduate curriculum and the strategies and processes we adopted over more than 20 years to embed inquiry-oriented activities into first year physics laboratory programs.

We review the experimental evidence on risk aversion in controlled laboratory settings. We review the strengths and weaknesses of alternative elicitation procedures, the strengths and weaknesses of alternative estimation procedures, and finally the effect of controlling for risk attitudes on inferences in experiments.

This chapter demonstrates how Humanities students in a blended learning course become active learners, use an entrepreneurial approach, and reflect on the achievement of an entrepreneurial mindset. Students at the Master's ICT-based Educational Design, where they work with information- and communication technology in an educational context, were challenged to create value for themselves and others in their professional life by experimenting with ways to combine the online with the offline with their own students/pupils.

We present a case study over the period of one semester of five entrepreneurial teams of Masters students on an ICT-based Educational Design. Effectuation, as a process, was combined with a design structure to help guide the students. Data were drawn from observations, written material in the form of blogs and assignments, as well as recorded conversations on Google Hangout with groups of students.

The use of reflection, collaboration, and the effectual process in the open laboratory provide the vehicle to nurture and support the achievement of a creative and innovative ways of working with real life practices. We suggest that nurturing experimental communities of practice in open learning laboratory settings may provide an opportunity for establishing an entrepreneurial mindset in students and as such has to the potential as a method to confront future societal challenges.

This chapter makes an important contribution to entrepreneurship education in general by demonstrating how the combination of particular online/offline strategies can support the enhancement of entrepreneurial mindsets that will serve learners throughout the life course.

Process-oriented guided-inquiry learning (POGIL) is a student-centered instructional strategy to actively engage students in the classroom in promoting content mastery, critical thinking, and process skills. The students organize into groups of three to four, and each group member works collaboratively to construct their understanding as they proceed through the embedded learning cycle in the POGIL activity. Each group member has a specific role and actively engages in the learning process. The roles rotate periodically, and each student has the opportunity to develop essential process skills, such as leadership skills, oral and written communication skills, team-building skills, and information-processing skills. The student groups are self-managed, and the instructor serves as a facilitator of student learning. A POGIL activity typically contains a model that the students deconstruct using a series of guided, exploratory questions. The students develop concepts (concept invention) as the group members reach a valid, consensus conclusion. The students apply their concepts to new problems completing the learning cycle. The authors implemented POGIL instruction in several chemistry courses at Jackson State University and Tuskegee University. They share their initial findings, experiences, and insights gained using a new instructional strategy.

Laboratories or “labs” outside science and technology have become increasingly popular in recent years. Their proliferation raises questions about what they have in common and the extent to which “lab” as a metaphor is still pertinent. We develop six criteria to assess these types of labs: (1) theoretical foundations; (2) experimentation; (3) collaboration; (4) boundaries; (5) governance; and (6) temporality. We identify a number of paradoxes in the operation of labs and explore their implications for research and practice.

This chapter focuses on the results of laboratory experiments that reveal how social preferences help regulate behavior to overcome social dilemmas. It argues that this evidence provides empirical support for the Austrian argument that social rules (as well as the institution of the market) are an important part of how societies respond to the knowledge problem. However, it also argues that the specific laboratory results regarding the “crowding out” of social preferences and the redistributive character of social preferences when outcomes are influenced by luck provide challenges to Austrian economics. In response, Austrian economics would seem to need to develop some more expanded notion of what matters in human life beyond the exercise of freedom and so extend the list of rules or institutions that require defence beyond those of the market and the rule of law.

In this article, we survey experiments that are directly related to monetary policy and central banking. We argue that experiments can also be used as a tool for central bankers for bench testing policy measures or rules. We distinguish experiments that analyze the reasons for non-neutrality of monetary policy, experiments in which subjects play the role of central bankers, experiments that analyze the role of central bank communication and its implications, experiments on the optimal implementation of monetary policy, and experiments relevant for monetary policy responses to financial crises. Finally, we mention open issues and raise new avenues for future research.