Building on the Case Teaching Method to Generate Learning Games Relevant to Numerous Educational Fields

University teachers often feel the need to try innovative learning technologies such as Learning Games to motivate the new generation of students. However, the typically limited resources of universities coupled with the high cost of designing and developing Learning Games result in it rarely being feasible to meet this need. To address this challenging problem, we have designed a framework that allows teachers to create their own Learning Games with very little or no help from developers and graphic designers. This framework, tested and validated by several university teachers, is suited to a wide variety of educational fields because it generates Learning Games based on the widely-used case teaching method.Comment: International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, ICALT, Beijing : China (2013

Playing at the crossroads

Objectives; The Design Research Group (DRG) at The University of Northampton has been engaged in a number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP). Three of these KTP's have involved designing toys, games and playthings. The first exhibition's aim was to act as a research tool to contextualize, analyse and draw conclusions from the KTP experience and collaborations with local enterprises. Then use the knowledge to further research the creative value of play and toy design to all in the community. The curating process for ALL PLAY informed the second exhibition. The data collected will be analysed and any findings will add to the overall outcomes of ALL PLAY. The objective of this research is to establish greater insight into the impact in the form of benefits of design initiatives in the production and use of toys and the role of play in society. Prior Work; This research is informed by a series of Knowledge Transfers partnerships undertaken by the DRG for Sue Ryder, John Crane Ltd and BCE (Distribution) Ltd. The group has gone on to research the design management implications of these projects for designers and social enterprises. Approach; Two exhibitions and a symposium were planned for 2013 (June-July and October-November) to showcase, review and extend the collaboration with the KTP partners. The first was held at the Collective Collaboration Gallery in the Northampton Town Centre. It enabled the DRG to examine and disseminate the experience and demonstrate the benefits of the KTP projects. It enabled further research about the value and impact of the local toy industry in the Northamptonshire, past and present and to forge links with local community and business organizations. The symposium and second exhibition held at the University provides an opportunity to explore current global trends in design for play in the publishing, health, leisure, gaming and interior design industries in more depth. The process of curating the exhibition involved networking and bringing a wide range of experience, theory and case studies together. Creating a ludic play space in the galleries provides for another level for theoretical exploration, research and design. Results; Primary research in the form of interviews undertaken into the local toy and play, complements work being undertaken by the Museum of Childhood, indicating that a specific study needs to be undertaken into the regional history of the toy industry. There is scope for DRG to support and investigate further into the international role of toy design and distribution organizations that are based in the East Midlands. The exhibitions highlighted the impact of the DRG’s KTP research on different communities and industry sectors. The event emphasized the diverse and shared perceptions of the creative benefits of play. Knowledge was transferred back to the University feeding into teaching and learning and particularly in further collaborative research work. Implications; Oral History on the British Toy-Making Industry has yet to be published and its focus is recording the past manufacturing experience and not the dynamic role of creativity and design management in this sector today. The curatorial process has brought together past and present, the local and the global, the practitioner and the academic. The initial research indicates the increasing international importance of creativity and design in the play sector with a focus of enterprises based in the UK. There is an expectation that second set of events will explore and extend the debate further. Value; ALL PLAY is the umbrella title for the events and the paper showcases the benefits of the curating process, allowing the DRG to share their Knowledge Transfer research and account for the impact of it and at the same time continue to build collaborations and information about the value of play locally, to the creative industries, social well being across all groups and enterprise internationally

Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum

The field of specialization known as the science of learning is not, in fact, one field. Science of learning is a term that serves as an umbrella for many lines of research, theory, and application. A term with an even wider reach is Learning Sciences (Sawyer, 2006). The present book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings (Science of Instruction, Mayer 2011). Although much, but not all, of what is presented in this book is focused on learning in college and university settings, teachers of all academic levels may find the recommendations made by chapter authors of service. The overarching theme of this book is on the interplay between the science of learning, the science of instruction, and the science of assessment (Mayer, 2011). The science of learning is a systematic and empirical approach to understanding how people learn. More formally, Mayer (2011) defined the science of learning as the “scientific study of how people learn” (p. 3). The science of instruction (Mayer 2011), informed in part by the science of learning, is also on display throughout the book. Mayer defined the science of instruction as the “scientific study of how to help people learn” (p. 3). Finally, the assessment of student learning (e.g., learning, remembering, transferring knowledge) during and after instruction helps us determine the effectiveness of our instructional methods. Mayer defined the science of assessment as the “scientific study of how to determine what people know” (p.3). Most of the research and applications presented in this book are completed within a science of learning framework. Researchers first conducted research to understand how people learn in certain controlled contexts (i.e., in the laboratory) and then they, or others, began to consider how these understandings could be applied in educational settings. Work on the cognitive load theory of learning, which is discussed in depth in several chapters of this book (e.g., Chew; Lee and Kalyuga; Mayer; Renkl), provides an excellent example that documents how science of learning has led to valuable work on the science of instruction. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology. We might have selected other topics (and, thus, other authors) that have their research base in behavior analysis, computational modeling and computer science, neuroscience, etc. We made the selections we did because the work of our authors ties together nicely and seemed to us to have direct applicability in academic settings

IGRIFIKACIJA U ODGOJU I OBRAZOVANJU

Today’s world is bringing us a “specific weight”, especially when we are talking about life and work of kids, students and young. Numerous changes in our environment and various influences of our living environment, such as a fast pace of development of information and communication technology reflect on the growth and development of children, students and youth. New generations of children are actually the generations of video games players who spend a lot of their time on video games. These generations are called "millennial" generations. They have been surrounded by fast everyday prosperity and development of information and communication technologies. Therefore, this is the way they communicate with themselves and their environment. According to the above, we emphasize the need to update and integrate a new curriculum which would take into consideration the needs of children, students and youth whose natural environment is, whether we want to admit it or not, the use of information-communication technologies. From that perspective, the gamification is the opportunity to increase the interest in children, students and youth, as well as to motivate them, connect and empower their communication and sharing. Gamification can enable the use of well thought off mechanisms which enable winning of badges, collecting points, going to the new levels or winning the prizes. In order to put it onto the next level, communication platforms such as sharing the tasks, exchange of ideas and expressing of the opinions are used. These type of activities may cause the children, students and youth to take a different view of the educational goals and achievements, as something proactive, dynamic and fun, and not only as dull and obligatory. When we say gamification, we don’t always strictly think of the creation of the game. It is actually the use of mechanisms, design and elements in a non-fun environment, with the goal to promote the motivation, effort and loyalty. Gamification in education is important to achieve goals and missions in the future of the comprehensive educational system.Ubrzani ritam razvoja informacijsko komunikacijskih tehnologija odražavaju se na rast i razvoj djece, učenika i mladih. Danasšnje generacije su zapravo generacije igrača video igara koje puno vremena provode igrajući se. Takve generacije nazvane su "millennial" generacije. Spomenute generacije su od malena okružene napretkom i razvojem informacijsko komunikacijskim tehnologijama. U skladu s time komuniciraju sa sobom i s okolinom. Prema navedenom posebice je važno potreba aktualiziranja i integriranja novog kurikula koji bi uvažavao potrebe djece, učenika i mladih čije je prirodno okruženje informacijsko komunikacijskih tehnologija. Iz te perspektive igrifikacija (gamifikacija) je prilika za povećanje interesa djece, učenika i mladih, motivacije, povezivanja, te osnaživanja njihove komunikacije i dijeljenja. S igrifikacijom djeci, učenicima i mladima omogućuje se korištenje dobro osmišljenih mehanizama koji omogućuju osvajanje bedževa, sakupljanje bodova, prelazak razina ili osvajanje nagrada. Kako bi to bilo na jednoj značajnijoj razini koriste se nove komunikacijske platforme kao što su dijeljenje zadataka, razmjena ideja i izražavanje mišljenja. Zbog tih bi aktivnosti djeca, učenici i mladi gledali na odgojno obrazovne ciljeve i postignuća kao nešto proaktivno, dinamično i zabavno, a ne kao na nezanimljivo i obvezno. Igrifikacija, odnosno gamifikacija se ne odnosi strogo na stvaranju igre. Ona predstavlja upotrebu mehanizama, dizajna i elemenata igre u ne zabavnom okruženju, a sve to u svrhu promicanja motivacije, truda i lojalnosti. Igrifikacija u odgoju i obrazovanju od velikog je značaja u ostvarivanju ciljeva i zadaća u budućnosti cjelokupnog sustava odgoja i obrazovanja

TLAD 2010 Proceedings:8th international workshop on teaching, learning and assesment of databases (TLAD)

This is the eighth in the series of highly successful international workshops on the Teaching, Learning and Assessment of Databases (TLAD 2010), which once again is held as a workshop of BNCOD 2010 - the 27th International Information Systems Conference. TLAD 2010 is held on the 28th June at the beautiful Dudhope Castle at the Abertay University, just before BNCOD, and hopes to be just as successful as its predecessors.The teaching of databases is central to all Computing Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems and Information Technology courses, and this year, the workshop aims to continue the tradition of bringing together both database teachers and researchers, in order to share good learning, teaching and assessment practice and experience, and further the growing community amongst database academics. As well as attracting academics from the UK community, the workshop has also been successful in attracting academics from the wider international community, through serving on the programme committee, and attending and presenting papers.This year, the workshop includes an invited talk given by Richard Cooper (of the University of Glasgow) who will present a discussion and some results from the Database Disciplinary Commons which was held in the UK over the academic year. Due to the healthy number of high quality submissions this year, the workshop will also present seven peer reviewed papers, and six refereed poster papers. Of the seven presented papers, three will be presented as full papers and four as short papers. These papers and posters cover a number of themes, including: approaches to teaching databases, e.g. group centered and problem based learning; use of novel case studies, e.g. forensics and XML data; techniques and approaches for improving teaching and student learning processes; assessment techniques, e.g. peer review; methods for improving students abilities to develop database queries and develop E-R diagrams; and e-learning platforms for supporting teaching and learning

Innovating Pedagogy 2017: Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. Open University Innovation Report 6

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This sixth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Learning In a NetworKed Society (LINKS) Israeli Center of Research Excellence (I-CORE). Themes: • Big-data inquiry: thinking with data • Learners making science • Navigating post-truth societies • Immersive learning • Learning with internal values • Student-led analytics • Intergroup empathy • Humanistic knowledge-building communities • Open Textbooks • Spaced Learnin