A vignette model for distributed teaching and learning

Computer software and telecommunication technologies are being assimilated into the education sector. At a slower pace, educational methodologies have been evolving and gradually adopted by educators. The widespread and rapid assimilation of technology may be outstripping the uptake of better pedagogical strategies. Non‐pedagogical development of content could lead to the development of legacy systems that constrain future developments. Problems have arisen with computer‐based learning (CBL) materials, such as the lack of uptake of monolithic programmes that cannot be easily changed to keep pace with natural progress or the different requirements of different teachers and institutions. Also, hypertext/hypermedia learning environments have limitations in that following predefined paths is no more interactive than page turning. These considerations require a flexible and dynamic approach for the benefit of both the teacher and student. Courses may be constructed from vignettes to meet a desired purpose and to avoid the problems of adoption for the reasons that programmes cannot easily be changed or are not designed to meet particular needs. Vignettes are small, first‐principle, first‐person, heuristic activities (which are mimetic) from which courses can be constructed Vignettes use an object‐orientated approach to the development of computer‐based learning materials. Vignettes are objects that can be manipulated via a property sheet, which enables changing the object's inherent character or behaviour. A vignette object can interact with other vignette objects to create more complex educational interactions or models. The vignette approach leads to a development concept that is horizontally distributed across disciplines rather than vertically limited to single subjects

Math empowerment: a multidisciplinary example to engage primary school students in learning mathematics

This paper describes an educational project conducted in a primary school in Italy (Scuola Primaria Alessandro Manzoni at Mulazzano, near to Milan). The school requested our collaboration to help improve upon the results achieved on the National Tests for Mathematics, in which students, aged 7, registered performances lower than the national average the past year. From January to June, 2016, we supported teachers, providing them with information, tools and methods to increase their pupils’ curiosity and passion for mathematics. Mixing our different experiences and competences (instructional design and gamification, information technologies and psychology) we have tried to provide a broader spectrum of parameters, tools and keys to understand how to achieve an inclusive approach that is ‘personalised’ to each student. This collaboration with teachers and students allowed us to draw interesting observations about learning styles, pointing out the negative impact that standardized processes and instruments can have on the self‐esteem and, consequently, on student performance. The goal of this programme was to find the right learning levers to intrigue and excite students in mathematical concepts and their applications. Our hypothesis is that, by considering the learning of mathematics as a continuous process, in which students develop freely through their own experiments, observations, involvement and curiosity, students can achieve improved results on the National Tests (INVALSI). This paper includes results of a survey conducted by children ‐’About Me and Mathematics‘

The use and evaluation of a simulation game to teach professional practice skills to undergraduate Architecture students

Architects are currently grappling to exploit new forms of communication made possible with developments in internet communication. At the same time, the construction industry is in a state of flux as novel project management systems are being introduced. Students need to understand the first principles of project management within the context of our changing environment. One of the best ways for students to learn about the legalities of the construction process is through role play and simulation, but there is a Catch 22. Unless students have a basic understanding of project management, the contractual process can be confusing and intimidating. Even fifth and sixth year architecture student are reluctant to ask practitioners questions, for fear of appearing ignorant. This paper describes the use of a web-based simulation game to deliver the Management, Practice and Law syllabus to Architecture Students. The web-based game allows students to critically observe the transformation of designs into buildings through the exploration of the contract management process. A questionnaire survey was used to assess the efficacy of the simulation game as a learning tool, and in particular the effectiveness of the web-based simulation in facilitating the development of professional practice skills in undergraduate Architecture students. The initial results of the assessment indicate that the simulation game is both a useful and complementary adjunct to traditional teaching and learning methods, as observed through the evaluation of outcomes, and helpful in developing generic professional practice skills of undergraduate students. Further game development will require more formal evaluation over a series of uses

Connecting Undergraduate Students as Partners in Computer Science Teaching and Research

Connecting undergraduate students as partners can lead to the enhancement of the undergraduate experience and allow students to see the different sides of the university. Such holistic perspectives may better inform academic career choices and postgraduate study. Furthermore, student involvement in course development has many potential benefits. This paper outlines a framework for connecting research and teaching within Computer Science- though this is applicable across other disciplines. Three case studies are considered to illustrate the approach. The first case study involves students in their honours’ stage (level 6, typically 3rd year) project, the second an undergraduate intern between stages 5 and 6, and finally, a MSc (level 7) project. All three case studies have actively involved students in core parts of the University’s teaching and research activities, producing usable software systems to support these efforts. We consider this as a continuing engagement process to enhance the undergraduate learning experience within Computer Science

Motivating children to learn effectively: exploring the value of intrinsic integration in educational games

The concept of intrinsic motivation lies at the heart of the user engagement created by digital games. Yet despite this, educational software has traditionally attempted to harness games as extrinsic motivation by using them as a sugar coating for learning content. This article tests the concept of intrinsic integration as a way of creating a more productive relationship between educational games and their learning content. Two studies assessed this approach by designing and evaluating an educational game called Zombie Division to teach mathematics to 7- to 11-year-olds. Study 1 examined the learning gains of 58 children who played either the intrinsic, extrinsic, or control variants of Zombie Division for 2 hr, supported by their classroom teacher. Study 2 compared time on task for the intrinsic and extrinsic variants of the game when 16 children had free choice of which game to play. The results showed that children learned more from the intrinsic version of the game under fixed time limits and spent 7 times longer playing it in free-time situations. Together, these studies offer evidence for the genuine value of an intrinsic approach for creating effective educational games. The theoretical and commercial implications of these findings are discussed

Where are all the climate change games? Locating digital games' response to climate change

The burgeoning genre of climate fiction, or ‘cli-fi’, in literature and the arts has begun to attract both scholarly and popular attention. It hasbeen described as ‘potentially [having] crucial contributions to make toward full understanding of the multiple, accelerating environmental challenges facing the world today.’ (Buell, 2014) Implicitly, these works confront the current orthodoxy about where exactly the issue of climate change sits in domains of knowledge. As Jordan (2014) notes: ‘climate change as ‘nature’ not culture is still largely perceived as a problem for the sciences alongside planning, policy, and geography.’ In this paper we ask where is, or alternatively what does or could climate fiction within the field of digital games look like? Even a passing familiarity with the cultural output of the mainstream game industry reveals the startling omission of the subject–with scant few games telling stories that engage with climate change and the unfolding ecological crisis. (Abraham, 2015) Finding a relative dearth of explicit engagement, this paper offers an alternative engagement with climate change in games by focussing on the underlying ideas, conceptions and narratives of human-environment relationships that have been a part of games since their earliest incarnations. We argue that it is possible to read games for particular conceptualisations of human relationships to nature, and offer a description of four highly prevalent ‘modes’ of human-environment engagement. We describe and analyse these relationships for their participation in or challenge to the same issues and problems that undergird the current ecological crisis, such as enlightenment narratives of human mastery and dominion over the earth

Cognitive apprenticeship : teaching the craft of reading, writing, and mathtematics

Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-27)This research was supported by the National Institute of Education under Contract no. US-NIE-C-400-81-0030 and the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. N00014-85-C-002

Gamification with the universal game heuristic to develop a mobile web game for learning Viena Karelian dialect and culture

Abstract. Learning Viena Karelian dialect and culture require an innovative approach to increase the willingness of learners to learn in a fun and an effective way. Karelian is an endangered language with only around 35,000 speakers, in contrast with 640,000 people who live in the Republic of Karelia. If the number of speakers slowly decrease every year and there are limited ways to learn, then those problems may lead this endangered language to be extinct in the future. Therefore, gamification approach was used to design and build an educational game from non-gaming contexts. In this research, a functional prototype was built to learn Viena Karelian dialect and culture, where the beginner learners, from English and Finnish speakers, can learn with desktop, tablet, and smartphone devices. Design science research was used as the research method and the universal game heuristic was used as the design cycle. A functional prototype that can be accessed by using web browsers was built with Laravel PHP framework and Bootstrap frontend framework. Learners can play the game and explore various features to learn Viena Karelian dialect and culture. Testing phase was conducted in the 3rd international GamiFIN conference with 38 players and 12 received feedback, and the result shown that the game motivated the test participants to play, with 91.7% positive engagement. The feedback is available for further improvement of Viena game development project and as a foundation to develop similar games for other Karelian dialects and culture