The Effects of Gamifying Optional Lessons on Motivation

Adding video-game elements to non-video-game interfaces (“gamification”) has become a common engagement strategy over the past several years in the domain of education. While prior studies have found that adding game elements to mandatory educational materials can increase students’ motivation to complete the materials, there has yet to be a study to investigate if game elements can make users more likely to engage with optional educational materials. In this study, we investigate whether users of a gamified educational interface are more motivated than users of a non-gamified interface to voluntarily complete educational materials. We found users of a gamified interface to spend more time using the system, as well as reporting higher intentions to return to the system, supporting gamification as a method for encouraging independent learning

Novel approaches to promoting end-user programming

End-user programming has become widespread. The increasing size of this population and the prevalence of barriers that they face has sparked the development of approaches that promote end-user programing by helping them overcome barriers and teaching them programming. Despite the fact that these approaches have done well in achieving those goals, there are still limitations. Specifically, these approaches place high expectations on the amount of prior knowledge that they should have and neglect to nurture their problem-solving skills. To fill in these gaps, our collaborators designed the approaches of Idea Garden and debugging-first. The Idea Garden approach attempts to provide problem-solving support by delivering problem-solving strategies and programming knowledge that help end-user programmers help themselves. In the debugging-first approach, which also makes use of the Idea Garden, users debug existing programs before creating their own. In this thesis we study both approaches, finding that they fulfilled their goals in circumventing those limitations. Additionally, our results inform the design of the Idea Garden in a Debugging-first environment, shed lights on enhancing both approaches, and approaches with similar goals

A case study exploring the effects of using an integrative STEM curriculum on eighth grade students’ performance and engagement in the mathematics classroom

To address the need to improve student achievement in STEM disciplines, effort has been made to develop a new of tools for STEM education (Bybee, 2013). The Robotics and Engineering Design Curriculum (REDC) provides students an opportunity to develop systems thinking abilities while integrating science and mathematics concepts. Using an exploratory case study approach within a situated cognition framework, this study examines the effects of using REDC on 54 eighth grade students’ performance and engagement during 5-week integrative STEM instruction in the mathematics and science class. Situational factors that contribute to students’ success in learning STEM concepts are also examined. This study employed mixed-methods techniques. The quantitative data collected included pre/post achievement tests and pre/post motivation and engagement scale (MES) surveys. Quantitative data analysis included reliability analyses and paired sample t-tests. The results of the reliability analyses for the achievement test and MES survey report acceptable Cronbach’s alpha (.843 and .787, respectively). Qualitative data collected included semi-structured interviews, field notes and student artifacts (engineering notebook and printed prototypes). Qualitative data analysis used coding procedures suggested by Saldana (2012) where patterns were identified and grouped to allow the emergence of themes. Collectively, the data was triangulated to support six emerging themes. The emerging themes regarding the effect of using the curriculum are as follows: (1) the developing anthropomorphic relationship with the robot enhances engagement, (2) engagement is impacted by purposeful and intentional physical action, and (3) purposeful collaboration promotes engagement through the construction of meaning and interaction. Three themes emerged identifying factors that contribute to success: (1) learning environment must have transformative learning potential, (2) learning experiences underpinned by design thinking contribute to success and (3) contextual relevance is enhanced when students have the freedom to their design learning journey. This study addresses the need for research into the implementation of 3-D design and manufacturing in the middle school classroom. Bybee, R. W. (2013). The case for STEM education: Challenges and opportunities. National Science Teachers Association. Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (No. 14). Los Angeles, Ca: Sage

9th Conference of EARLI's JURE "Models and learning: theory, design and application" : 30th June - 4th July 2006, Tartu, Estonia : [abstracts]

http://www.ester.ee/record=b2158682*es

Code Puzzle Completion Problems in Support of Learning Programming Independently

Middle school children often lack access to formal educational opportunities to learn computer programming. One way to help these children may be to provide tools that enable them to learn programming on their own independently. However, in order for these tools to be effective they must help learners acquire programming knowledge and also be motivating in independent contexts. I explore the design space of using motivating code puzzles with a method known to support independent learning: completion problems. Through this exploration, I developed code puzzle completion problems and an introductory curriculum introducing novice programmers to basic programming constructs. Through several evaluations, I demonstrate that code puzzle completion problems can motivate learners to acquire new programming knowledge independently. Specifically, I found that code puzzle completion problems are more effective and efficient for learning programming constructs independently compared to tutorials. Puzzle users performed 33% better on transfer tasks compared to tutorial users, while taking 21% less time to complete the learning materials. Additionally, I present evidence that children are motivated to choose to use the code puzzles because they find the experience enjoyable, challenging, and valuable towards developing their programming skills. Given the choice between using tutorials and puzzles, only 10% of participants opted to use more tutorials than puzzles. Further, 80% of participants also stated a preference towards the puzzles because they simply enjoyed the experience of using puzzles more than the tutorials. The results suggest that code puzzle completion problems are a promising approach for motivating and supporting independent learning of programming

Lessons Learned From Four Computing Education Crowdsourcing Systems

Crowdsourcing is a general term that describes the practice of many individuals working collectively to achieve a common goal or complete a task, often involving the generation of content. In an educational context, crowdsourcing of learning materials- where students create resources that can be used by other learners- offers several benefits. Students benefit from the act of producing resources as well as from using the resources. Despite benefits, instructors may be hesitant to adopt crowdsourcing for several reasons, such as concerns around the quality of content produced by students and the perceptions students may have of creating resources for their peers. While prior work has explored crowdsourcing concerns within the context of individual tools, lessons that are generalisable across multiple platforms and derived from practical use can provide considerably more robust insights. In this perspective article, we present four crowdsourcing tools that we have developed and used in computing classrooms. From our previous studies and experience, we derive lessons which shed new light on some of the concerns that are typical for instructors looking to adopt such tools. We find that across multiple contexts, students are capable of generating high quality learning content which provides good coverage of key concepts. Although students do appear hesitant to engage with new kinds of activities, various types of incentives have proven effective. Finally, although studies on learning effects have shown mixed results, no negative outcomes have been observed. In light of these lessons, we hope to see a greater uptake and use of crowdsourcing in computing education.Peer reviewe

Public Engagement Technology for Bioacoustic Citizen Science

Inexpensive mobile devices offer new capabilities for non-specialist use in the field for the purpose of conservation. This thesis explores the potential for such devices to be used by citizen scientists interacting with bioacoustic data such as birdsong. This thesis describes design research and field evaluation, in collaboration with conservationists and educators, and technological artefacts implemented as mobile applications for interactive educational gaming and creative composition. This thesis considers, from a participant-centric collaborative design approach, conservationists' demand for interactive artefacts to motivate engagement in citizen science through gameful and playful interactions. Drawing on theories of motivation, frequently applied to the study of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and on approaches to designing for motivational engagement, this thesis introduces a novel pair of frameworks for the analysis of technological artefacts and for assessing participant engagement with bioacoustic citizen science from both game interaction design and citizen science project participation perspectives. This thesis reviews current theories of playful and gameful interaction developed for collaborative learning, data analysis, and ground-truth development, describes a process for design and analysis of motivational mobile games and toys, and explores the affordances of various game elements and mechanics for engaging participation in bioacoustic citizen science. This thesis proposes research into progressions for scaffolding engagement with citizen science projects where participants interact with data collection and analysis artefacts. The research process includes the development of multiple designs, analyses of which explore the efficacy of game interactions to motivate engagement through interaction progressions, given proposed analysis frameworks. This thesis presents analysed results of experiments examining the usability of, and data-quality from, several prototypes and software artefacts, in both laboratory conditions and the field. This thesis culminates with an assessment of the efficacy of proposed design analysis frameworks, an analysis of designed artefacts, and a discussion of how these designs increase intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for participant engagement and affect resultant bioacoustic citizen science data quantity and quality.Non

The utilization of chess to enhance children's academic performance: an integrative review

Anecdotal evidence affirms the educational benefits of playing chess. I present an integrative review based on the framework of Whittemore and Knafl (2005), which analyzes the literature on chess and strategic gaming. This review indicates that primary and secondary educational researchers who use chess and strategic gaming in classrooms have published critical evaluations of learning and teaching theory based on their studies. While the use of chess in education is commonplace in some educational jurisdictions, the majority of Western school systems have not integrated this practice into their curricula. Conflicting evidence has been reported on the benefits of strategic gaming, in particular chess. This structured methodology for reviewing literature takes into account all stakeholders and assesses the usefulness of chess for meeting the needs of a 21st century educational system. --Leaf ii.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b194998

Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Early Practice of Eliciting and Responding to Students’ Mathematical Thinking.

Learning to teach involves making a shift from layperson to teaching professional over the course of formal preparation. This shift requires putting aside naïve perceptions of self and teaching in favor of an informed conception of the professional teacher focused on others’ –– that is, students’ –– thinking and understanding. Although many practices are central to the work of teaching, the practice of eliciting and responding to student thinking is crucial for teachers to gain insight into their students’ ideas and ways of thinking. This dissertation investigated novice teachers’ practice of eliciting and responding to student thinking at the beginning of their formal teacher preparation. Based on analysis of 27 preservice teachers’ mathematics discussions during their first four weeks of preparation, the study analyzed the kinds of initial eliciting questions that the preservice teachers posed, and the kinds of responses they gave to students’ contributions. The analyses showed that although preservice teachers had some skill in eliciting student thinking they were inconsistent in the methods of eliciting they used across teaching episodes. When responding to students, preservice teachers in this study often used guiding prompts even after students provided correct answers. Results from this study offer insights into specific aspects of eliciting and interpreting student thinking with which beginning teachers might need support in order to attend to student thinking. Some of the findings also signaled that there may be tendencies that preservice teachers need to unlearn as part of their preparation in order to become skilled at eliciting and responding to student thinking. The analysis of early eliciting and responding to student thinking practice can inform how teacher educators look at, talk about, and evaluate preservice teachers’ practice.PhDEducational StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133455/1/shdiana_1.pd