Program Management Through the Lens of a Massive Multiplayer Online Gamer: A Pilot Study

Learning can occur through many media types. This thesis explores the possibility that guild leaders in the Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) video game World of Warcraft learn and use similar skills to those that professional program managers learn and use in the corporate world. I evaluate World of Warcraft literature, present guild member interviews and use online forums to compare gaming leadership attributes to attributes in the program manager competency model described by Partington, Pellegrinelli, and Young (2005). The results provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that a bridge exists between these two leadership roles

Gender Moderation in Gamification: Does One Size Fit All?

Organizations actively seek methods for increasing employee engagement by incorporating game elements in core systems and processes, in an effort to increase their perceived playfulness. However, little is known about the actual impact of these elements on perceived playfulness. This study includes results from three repeated experiments performed during a gamified academic course. The relationships between enjoyment of specific game elements, the way they increase perceived playfulness, and gender moderations of these relations were examined. All three experiments show that badges had a positive relation with perceived playfulness and were more enjoyable to women. Surprisingly, the results showed that when men were the majority of subjects in the group, the relations between the game elements and perceived playfulness were different from when men were a minority. These results provide important insight into what possibly influences perceived playfulness in gamified solutions

A Professional Development Approach to Improve Practice at an Upstate Community College

A federal Call to Action was mandated to reform community colleges across the nation, challenging college officials to enhance instructional methodology on college campuses towards increasing student completion rates. In addressing this mandate, college officials at the upstate NY community college identified a need for professional development that would increase student learning and enhance the instructional methodologies of facilitating faculty through improved alignment. Accordingly, this study investigated the alignment of faculty instructional effectiveness with the institution\u27s core mission. The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of the instructional methodologies used to facilitate student learning. Informed by Knowles\u27s theory of andragogy, the research questions examined instructional strategies and existing professional development of the faculty members to explore the problem of faculty alignment. The study employed a qualitative intrinsic case study design, with a purposeful sample of 6 part-time and 2 full-time faculty participants. The data were collected and analyzed through the use of a semi structured Likert-type survey and open-ended interview questions. Utilizing an open coding format, data revealed a lack of computer-based instructional strategies and a need for implementation of technological professional learning opportunities at the college. Faculty expressed desire for professional learning. These findings may inform college officials as to the importance of a professional development growth plan policy, and may contribute to positive social change by increasing student completion rates at the college level

Effects of integrating video-based feedback into a Teaching Games for Understanding soccer unit

The integration of video-based feedback within physical education lessons focused on Game-Centered Approaches (GCAs) may assist pupils development of game performance. Year 8 pupils (n=34; aged 13-14 years) from a middle school in Eastern England were assigned to three teaching groups and taught a 6-lesson GCA unit of soccer. An A (treatment)-B (no treatment) crossover design was employed to examine the effects of video-based feedback on three game performance scores (GPS) from the Team Sport Assessment Procedure (TSAP; Gréhaigne, Richard, & Griffin, 2005). Group 1 (n=12) received video-based feedback for the first 3 weeks then had it removed; group 2 (n=12) had video feedback added in weeks 4 to 6 and group 3 (n=10) acted as a control group. During each lesson, teams participated in situated GCA practices, followed by a debate of ideas with or without the video-based feedback. Lessons concluded with a small-sided game from which GPS data were collected. Significant interactions for condition-by-time in GPS were assessed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Significant improvements were observed for groups 1 and 2 in all GPS during treatment. Group 3 displayed no significant changes. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of using video-based technology to improve game performance within a GCA unit of soccer.La integración del feddbacks mediante vídeo en clases de Educación Física diseñadas a partir de enfoques basados en el juego (EBJ), puede ayudar a los alumnos a mejorar su rendimiento de juego. Alumnos de octavo curso (n= 34; años: 13-14) de un colegio de secundaria de Eastern England fueron distribuidos en tres grupos a los que se les impartió una unidad didáctica de fútbol de 6 sesiones basa en EBJ. Se empleó un diseño cruzado A (tratamiento)-B (no tratamiento) para valorar los efectos del feedback basado en vídeo sobre tres Puntuaciones del Rendimiento en el Juego (PRJ) tomadas mediante el Team Sport Assessment Procedure (TSAP, Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, 2005). El grupo 1 (n=12) recibió el feedback sólo durante las 3 primeras semanas; el grupo 2 (n=12) recibió el feedback dos semanas más, entre la 4ª y la 6ª; y el grupo 3 (n=10) actuó como grupo control. Durante cada sesión, los equipos participaron en situaciones prácticas EBJ, seguidas de un debate de ideas con o sin vídeo-feedback. Las sesiones concluían con un pequeño juego modificado en el que se recogieron las PRJ. Se analizaron las interacciones significativas en función del momento de la evaluación en las PRJ, las cuales fueron evaluadas usando ANOVA de dos factores con medidas repetidas. Se observaron mejoras significativas en los grupos 1 y 2 en todas las PRJ. El grupo 3 no mostró cambios significativos. Estos resultados muestran la eficacia del uso de la tecnología descrita para aumentar el rendimiento de juego en una unidad didáctica EBJ de fútbol