Gamification as a tool for acquisition soft skills in the design field

Comunicació presentada a INTED2018, 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. (March 5-7 2018, Valencia, Spain).The current labour context is increasingly changing, driven by the continuous blooming of technological changes. So, the integration of recent graduates to the labour market, as new professionals, demand the acquisition of not only each field’s specific Hard Skills, but also generic, transversal Soft Skills which might facilitate the adaptation of these professionals to future contexts, while enabling them to develop their work career in a responsible way, as well as increasing their entrepreneurial spirit. These abilities are especially relevant in the field of design engineering, as the idiosyncrasy of the discipline leads their practitioners to offering solutions to diverse problems society and users have. So their professional development is inextricably linked to social changes and society evolution. In this way, in the “Sustainable Development Goal 4, Education 2030” (SDG4-Education 2030), regarding targets and commitments, the UNESCO defines the needs to emphasize the development of high-level cognitive and non-cognitive/transferable skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, communication skills or conflicts resolution, which can be applied across a wide range of occupational fields. Therefore, the acquisition of these Soft Skills by design professionals can ease their adaptation to a novel future scenario and guarantee a prolonged professional development over time. So, not only learners should be provided with opportunities to update their skills continuously through lifelong learning, but it is also necessary to give the chance for active professionals to adapt to new contexts in the future. This work presents an action proposal aimed to enhance the acquisition of Soft Skills by design professionals, in a playful way. So, a conceptual proposal of a methodology, based on the concept of Gamification, is suggested, where the degree of acquisition of some Soft Skills by the designer would be assessed. To do so, a platform where sharing and assessing evidences is to be developed. And the incentive for the participation of both new graduates and professionals lies in the detection of their professional weaknesses (from the evidences’ assessment) and the possibility of having a feedback consisting of professional recycling actions. The use of Smartphones becomes the vehicular platform for acquiring and assessing these transversal abilities, as these devices offer different technological possibilities for generating the designers’ own evidences, by means of actions such as voice recording, video recording, image capturing, text recognition, etc. Once generated, the evidences would be assessed by using a co-evaluation system, based on a peer review process, where the evaluation of colleagues’ work is presented as a part of a collaborative game and where the assessment process of peers’ work can contribute ideas for improving personal Soft Skills. Furthermore, all this may end up in the generation of a community with common interests. As a result, the suggested methodology can offer a useful tool for designers for continuously assessing the state of their Soft Skills, thus facilitating their progressive adaptation to the changes to their future professional contexts

E-SKILLS IP – MASTERING THE 21ST CENTURY SKILLS

In this paper we will present the results of a case study carried out with attendees of an Erasmus Intensive Programme (e-skills IP - Competences for Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing in Digital Society), which has promoted the development of 21st century skills among participants. The 21st century skills are a set of abilities that students need to develop in order to succeed in the information age. The Intensive Programme took place during 2014 spring in Timisoara, Romania involving the participation of teachers (with skills in the areas of ICT, digital literacy, non-formal education and intervention, design & illustration and teacher education) and students (of teacher training, social education and intercultural relations and migration fields) from four different countries. The classes covered different tools and six tutors were involved. At the end, attendees were: able to master the different tools & applications; capable to use and select the most adequate web 2.0 tools & applications according with a specific situation; able to create and manage their PLE/N; able to share and work collaboratively in a synchronous and asynchronous way; able to communicate an idea and to interact with peers from different countries. The working methodology was hands on workshop based and a package of a two and a half weeks of sessions covering a variety of web 2.0 tools was prepared and delivered to the participants. The e-skills IP had a positive impact in the participants since they saw their 21st century skills enhanced along with foreign language skills improvement. They had the opportunity to learn about different cultures through the nation nights activities and to discover a bit more about cultural aspects of the host region/country through the social events. A website was built in order to aggregate all the contents and results of the IP. The IP gave an intense overview about the different tools that are available in the web 2.0 and that can be very useful for teaching/learning activities. Learning, literacy and life skills are key competences in this information age, with an impact not only in our daily lives but also in our professional and academic careers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Making sense of assets: Community asset mapping and related approaches for cultivating capacities

This working paper critically reviews some main aspects from asset based approaches highlights key strengths and weaknesses for future research/development. Drawing on a large body of reports and relevant literature we draw on different theoretical traditions and critiques, as well as practices and processes embedded within a broad range of approaches including, widely acknowledged frameworks such Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA) and Community Capitals Framework (CCF). Although these are presented as distinct approaches, there is a sense of evolution through them and many of them overlap (in terms of both theories and methodologies). We also include emerging frameworks, including geographical, socio-spatial, visual and creative approaches, stemming from a number of projects within AHRC’s Connected Communities programme and additional collaborations

Conceptualising progression in the pedagogy of play and sustained shared thinking in early childhood education : a Vygotskian perspective

This paper is concerned specifically with the pedagogies applied in supporting learning through children‟s play, and it is framed outside mainstream discourses on the nature of play. The development of the paper also represents one stage in a continuing effort to develop a better understanding of sustained shared thinking in early childhood education. The paper also focuses on the educational potential of shared playful activities. However, given the overwhelming consensus regarding the importance of play in early childhood development, even a diehard educational pragmatist must begin by addressing subjects that are most commonly considered by psychologists. The paper begins with an account of „sustained shared thinking‟, a pedagogical concept that was first identified in a mixed method, but essentially educational effectiveness study. Then a consideration of the nature and processes of „learning‟ and „development‟ is offered. It is argued that popular accounts of a fundamental difference in the perspectives of Piaget and Vygotsky have distracted educational attention from the most important legacy that they have left to early childhood education; the notion of „emergent development‟. Pedagogic progression in the early years is then identified as an educational response to, and an engagement with, the most commonly observed, evidence based developmental trajectories of young children as they learn through play

Using Video Games to Develop Communication Skills in Higher Education

Employers are increasingly concerned that university graduates possess the transferable skills – sometimes termed ‘graduate attributes’ (Barrie, 2006) – necessary to succeed in the workplace. Prominent among these skills are those which relate to communication; however, not all higher education courses are designed explicitly to teach or develop such skills. Many commercial video games, on the other hand, require players to communicate in order to succeed, particularly in an era of increasingly ubiquitous online multiplayer games. The pilot project described here sought to explore the use of commercial video games to teach communication skills in a formal higher education environment. The work could inform the development of self-directed game-based activities that students may undertake without intervention from already over-committed (and costly) academic staff. As such, the study aimed to begin to address the problem of how desirable ‘soft skills’ such as communication competence may be developed in higher education. The pilot was conducted over eight weeks, with a small group of undergraduate student volunteers asked to complete psychometric tests relating to communication skill in weeks one and eight. In the intervening period, students were asked to play selected commercial video games, for two hours per week. Each week, students were given loosely-defined tasks to carry out using the specified game. Games that rely upon some form of communication were selected with input from a panel of academic and industry experts and included Minecraft, Gone Home, Portal 2 and Never Alone. In Minecraft, for example, pairs of participants were asked to perform a number of loosely-defined collaborative tasks, such as building a home for both players. Portal 2, on the other hand, required participants to work together in order to solve a series of puzzles. All such in-game activities were thought to require some form of communication. Lab activities closed with a short group discussion, and participants were encouraged to blog about their experiences. It is possible that group discussions also had an effect on participants’ communication competence, and such discussions may form part of any future interventions. Few participants opted to blog about the project, so the impact of this activity on the communication skill measured here is considered to be slight. The Self-Perceived Communication Competence Scale (McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988) and the Communicative Adaptability Scale (Duran, 1992) were used to measure self-reported communication skill before and after volunteers had played the selected games. In addition, the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1979), General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995) and Big Five Inventory (John et al., 2008) were administered to gather data potentially related to communication skill. For each measure, the change in the associated test score was recorded, for each participant, over the course of the eight-week study. Mean values of both communication measures were observed to increase between testing sessions. 95% confidence intervals for change in mean communication scores did not cross zero, suggesting this was not a chance occurrence. While the lack of a control group means it is difficult to prove that the games played were the cause of gains in communication skill, this finding is consistent with such a hypothesis, and motivates a further, hypothesis-testing, controlled study. In addition to the calculated confidence intervals, the correlation coefficients between each measure were calculated using Pearson's r. Correlation between the two communication measures was moderately strong (r = 0.76), which, as they are intended to measure aspects of the same attribute, indicates good validity. The pilot proved instructive and highlighted a number of challenges and concerns that must be addressed in any subsequent study. In the absence of a control group, it is unclear how much of the effect is a result of the intervention. However, the pilot did provide some indication of the measures that should be employed in a subsequent study. A more robust approach to student recruitment must be taken if any study that builds on this work is to attract and maintain a large cohort of volunteers, and meaningful statistical analyses are to be performed on the data. Logistical concerns must also be addressed: a greater number of participants would place greater demands on limited hardware and software available for gaming sessions. Technical issues encountered during the pilot were infrequent and relatively slight. Researchers were familiar with the chosen platforms (PC and PlayStation 3) and most of the games. Where there were unknown factors, such as the restrictions imposed by the university’s IT infrastructure, extensive testing of configurations was undertaken in advance. Other issues related primarily to participants’ attitudes towards the selected games. For example, a small proportion of our volunteers were somewhat dismissive of Gone Home, as the experience did not align with their own personal definition of what constitutes a video game. While these players rushed to complete the game without pause for reflection, the majority of players did, however, appear to become engrossed in the game’s elusive narrative. This situation is illustrative of one of the problems that can arise when using a prescribed game within a formal learning environment: not every game is to every player’s taste. Squire, for example, has documented similar problems (2011, p.117), where some proportion of the class in question isn’t interested in playing video games, or fails to see the educational value in doing so. The limited data described here, however, do appear to warrant further investigation. These data, coupled with informal feedback from student participants, suggest that commercial video games may have a role to play in developing communication skills in our graduates. Based on a small sample size, the pilot’s highly promising results have motivated a further, hypothesis-testing, controlled study which is currently underway

Collaborative virtual gaming worlds in higher education

There is growing interest in the use of virtual gaming worlds in education, supported by the increased use of multi‐user virtual environments (MUVEs) and massively multi‐player online role‐playing games (MMORPGs) for collaborative learning. However, this paper argues that collaborative gaming worlds have been in use much longer and are much wider in scope; it considers the range of collaborative gaming worlds that exist and discusses their potential for learning, with particular reference to higher education. The paper discusses virtual gaming worlds from a theoretical pedagogic perspective, exploring the educational benefits of gaming environments. Then practical considerations associated with the use of virtual gaming worlds in formal settings in higher education are considered. Finally, the paper considers development options that are open to educators, and discusses the potential of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) for learning in higher education. In all, this paper hopes to provide a balanced overview of the range of virtual gaming worlds that exist, to examine some of the practical considerations associated with their use, and to consider their benefits and challenges in learning and teaching in the higher education context

Teaching employability skills through simulation games

This paper examines the use of a business simulation game to test its effectiveness in promoting the awareness of employability skills in undergraduate students. A mixed approach using an-online survey tool was used to record student perceptions of how their employability skills were developed across ten courses and three faculties. The survey was conducted before the unit started, and on completion. Key emerging themes show that students demonstrated an increased awareness and development of their employability skills. They acquired and developed their skills by learning how to operate a small business start-up using a business simulation game. This research project was limited to one core unit in the curriculum, and the project is university specific. A cross university research project would add further value to the research project. Students are able to articulate the skills they have acquired and developed thus showing elements of self-awareness. An increase in student’s social capital is likely to enhance their career decisions. This paper will be of value to institutions wishing to evaluate the use of serious business simulation games to embed employability skills into the curriculum

Teacher competence development – a European perspective

This chapter provides an European perspectives on teacher competence development

Kaleidoscope JEIRP on Learning Patterns for the Design and Deployment of Mathematical Games: Final Report

Project deliverable (D40.05.01-F)Over the last few years have witnessed a growing recognition of the educational potential of computer games. However, it is generally agreed that the process of designing and deploying TEL resources generally and games for mathematical learning specifically is a difficult task. The Kaleidoscope project, "Learning patterns for the design and deployment of mathematical games", aims to investigate this problem. We work from the premise that designing and deploying games for mathematical learning requires the assimilation and integration of deep knowledge from diverse domains of expertise including mathematics, games development, software engineering, learning and teaching. We promote the use of a design patterns approach to address this problem. This deliverable reports on the project by presenting both a connected account of the prior deliverables and also a detailed description of the methodology involved in producing those deliverables. In terms of conducting the future work which this report envisages, the setting out of our methodology is seen by us as very significant. The central deliverable includes reference to a large set of learning patterns for use by educators, researchers, practitioners, designers and software developers when designing and deploying TEL-based mathematical games. Our pattern language is suggested as an enabling tool for good practice, by facilitating pattern-specific communication and knowledge sharing between participants. We provide a set of trails as a "way-in" to using the learning pattern language. We report in this methodology how the project has enabled the synergistic collaboration of what started out as two distinct strands: design and deployment, even to the extent that it is now difficult to identify those strands within the processes and deliverables of the project. The tools and outcomes from the project can be found at: http://lp.noe-kaleidoscope.org