Pros and cons gamification and gaming in classroom

The aim of the current work is to assess the challenges that gamification in education are facing nowadays. Benefits and disadvantages of using gamification in classroom are both discussed to offer a clearer view on the impact of using gamification within learning process. Exploratory study cases are provided to investigate the relation between motivation and engagement of the students and gamification in training. Following this idea, a survey was conducted to assess how students behavior and motivation is affected by introducing a single, specific gamification element during a semester learning process. To stimulate competition among students, a ranking type plugin was introduced within the university learning management system used for extramural education. The results prove that motivation decreases by comparison to the previous semester.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

VAST: a practical validation framework for e-assessment solutions

The influx of technology in education has made it increasingly difficult to assess the validity of educational assessments. The field of information systems often ignores the social dimension during validation, whereas educational research neglects the technical dimensions of designed instruments. The inseparability of social and technical elements forms the bedrock of socio-technical systems. Therefore, the current lack of validation approaches that address both dimensions is a significant gap. We address this gap by introducing VAST: a validation framework for e-assessment solutions. Examples of such solutions are technology-enhanced learning systems and e-health applications. Using multi-grounded action research as our methodology, we investigate how we can synthesise existing knowledge from information systems and educational measurement to construct our validation framework. We develop an extensive user guideline complementing our framework and find through expert interviews that VAST facilitates a comprehensive, practical approach to validating e-assessment solutions.Horizon 2020 (H2020)883588Prevention, Population and Disease management (PrePoD)Public Health and primary car

New futures health trainers: an impact assessment

Although the health of the UK population has improved significantly over the last century, inequalities in health still exist, with some of Britain’s biggest killers being ‘preventable’ illnesses. The 2004 white paper ‘Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier’ aimed to introduce initiatives to reduce inequalities in health. One such initiative was ‘Health Trainers’ – a new role staffed by individuals drawn from and based in deprived areas. This role aimed to offer people in deprived communities practical advice about health improvement, and to facilitate access to health services This report aims to examine the impact of introducing the ‘New Futures Health Trainer’ role into criminal justice settings in terms of: a) Training for the Health Trainer Tutors/the development of the Health Trainer training course b) The impact of the training on the New Futures Health Trainers c) The organisational consequences of the role d) The impact of New Futures Health Trainers on clinical outcomes for prisoners/offenders on probation, and e) A brief examination of the relationship between ‘early adopter’ sites for Health Trainers in the community, and the prison/probation equivalen

Evaluation of North Lanarkshire's cooperative learning programme

This is the final report by the Quality in Education Centre (QIE) at the University of Strathclyde of anevaluation of the North Lanarkshire cooperative learning project. The project and the evaluation arefunded as part of the Scottish Executive's Future Learning and Teaching (FLaT) Programme(http://www.flatprojects.org.uk/). Cooperative learning was introduced in North Lanarkshire in 2002 as part of a wider programme toraise aspirations and achievement and attainment (Raising Achievement for All,North Lanarkshire Education Department, 1998). The authority have made the commitment that all teachers and supportstaff will be trained in cooperative learning, if they wish, over a period of at least 5 years. Since theintroduction of A Curriculum for Excellence, the authority has been emphasising the strengths ofcooperative learning in supporting the development of the four capacities (successful learners,confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society). They also believe that it provides a suitable medium for taking forward other national initiatives such asAssessment is for Learning and Enterprise in Education

Introducing social pedagogy into Scottish residential child care : an evaluation of the Sycamore Services social pedagogy training programme

This report provides an introduction to the approach to child care known as social pedagogy and an evaluation of a social pedagogy training programme delivered to a group of child care staff employed in Sycamore Services. It is a 1st stage evaluation which gathers information from participants during the training programme and over the first few months following the training. This was a pilot programme and the Sycamore Services management have decided that the programme will be run again, and will eventually be offered to all staff. A further evaluation will be carried out in order to identify benefit and impact one year on from the end of the pilot

Quality Services, Better Outcomes: A Quality Framework for Achieving Outcomes.

The Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) is an innovative, community based response to a comprehensive consultation process undertaken in Tallaght West. Working with a wide range of locally established service providers, CDI is delivering services to children and families which meet identified needs. Etch of these is being rigorously evaluated, and considerable attention is being given to quality assurance, promotion of reflective practice, and professional training and support. The insights gained, and techniques developed during this process are central to delivering high quality services with the view to improving our understanding of what enables children to meet their potential, gain their developmental milestones within appropriate timeframes and become healthy and active citizens. This Workbook describes key processes relating to practice, organisational culture and systems change which support the implementation of evidence-based and evidence-informed programmes and practices. From CDI's experience, implementing evidence-based programmes not only requires specific structures and processes in place to support programme implementation and fidelity (e.g. training, coaching, and supervision) but also necessities a focus on the more generic aspects of delivering quality services (e.g. engaging in reflective practice in order to promote and maintain fidelity to a programme). The Workbook also addresses some fundamental areas in relation to monitoring and evaluation as a way of determining whether an intervention was effective or not. In effect, this Workbook hopes to explain the 'what', 'why', 'how' and 'did we?' of evidence-based practice. The Workbook is intended to provide readers with a comprehensive introduction to both the shared language and concepts underpinning the science and practice of implementation. It complements the 'What Works Process' guide published by the Centre for Effective Services (CES, 2011) which supports services in assessing how effective they are in improving outcomes for children and helps them to think about what works