Student–staff Co-creation of Serious Games - Lessons Learned

Few papers have described academic/faculty staff’s experiences withco-creation,or partnering with students in cross-disciplinary collaborations.The purpose of this paper is to share challenges and outcomes from twointerdisciplinary student–staff co-creationsofserious games for use in a Bachelor of Nursing program in Norway. Our experiences are discussed against an evidence-informed model of student–staff co-creation in higher education. Based on the lessons learned from these two projects, weproposetenkey points for planning and conducting cross-disciplinary student–staff co-creation ofserious games.publishedVersio

AN INVESTIGATION INTO MODERATE TO VIGOROUS AND VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ACCRUAL DURING INVASION AND NET-WALL GAME-FOCUSED TACTICAL GAMES MODEL LESSONS

Students in physical education (PE) classes traditionally do not meet national recommendations of 50% moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) within lessons. Information regarding the accrual of vigorous physical activity (VPA) is also sparse. Recent evidence suggests that lessons delivered via the Tactical Games Model (TGM) can provide a context where students can achieve national MVPA recommendations and accrue significant amounts of VPA. However, evidence is limited on how the type of game (Frisbee/badminton) and/or game category (invasion/net-wall) may affect opportunities for students MVPA/VPA accrual. The purpose of this study was to investigate how MVPA/VPA varied as a function of game type/category when preservice physical education teachers PSPET’s taught TGM lessons. Participants were PSPET’s at one Mid-Western University (N=24) who learned to use TGM in one university-based course within their Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) program. As part of the course, each PSPET taught one TGM lesson within invasion (lacrosse and Frisbee) and net/wall (badminton and pickleball) games. 24 lessons were delivered in total (n = 6 from each game). Lesson context and teacher behavior data were collected. PSPET’s wore ActigraphGTX3® triaxial accelerometers to collect MVPA/VPA data. TGM fidelity was established (Metzler, 2011). Lesson context and teacher behavior data were analyzed descriptively. PA data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Lesson context data showed that teachers spent most of their time in game play, followed by skill practice. Results from accelerometry revealed that PSPET’s did not reach national MVPA recommendations during any of the sessions focused on the different games types. VPA was also lower than recorded in previous studies. PSPET’s accrued greater levels of MVPA/VPA in invasion games.   Article visualizations

Emerging digital media, games and simulations: a challenge for open and distance learning

In this article we examine the state-of-the-art research related to digital media in education and evaluate the information concerning a new generation of students that are communityminded and technologically savvy, highlighting the innovative technology behind the new interaction and communication processes, and assessing the challenges for Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Where traditional distance education is based on the completion of carefully graded assignments and tests, today games, simulations and virtual environments may become safe platforms for trial and error experimentation. With games the chance of failure is high, but the cost is low and the lessons are learned immediately and with greater emotional impact. However, these conditions may become more difficult to address when the volume of users increases from small to medium, large or extra-large. Dealing effectively with tens or even hundreds of thousands of students in absentia requires following very sound organizational principles and good technical implementation, systematic monitoring of deviations from established norms, regular audition of users' comments and criticisms, careful analysis of final results. In this emerging scenario, involving digital media, games and simulations, ODL systems must have means of establishing rich connections with each member of the universe of users. In this sense we propose using a virtual space with multiple places, in ways that use the Internet, social applications, games and mobile devices to involve students in pedagogical activities

Staff edutainment on a corporate intranet‐lessons learned

This paper discusses the results from a case study of an intranet‐based staff education programme at the national Swedish telecommunications corporation. The programme attempts to convey the environmental benefits of telecommunication services, aiming at increased staff awareness and new business opportunities. A multidisciplinary production team packaged the factual content in a rich mixture of audio and video clips, text, images, animations, quizzes, games, tests and polls. A standard Web browser with downloadable plug‐ins is used to view the material. The self‐paced studies on the intranet are followed by a seminar, combining the advantages of individual and teacher‐assisted education. The impact of the programme has been studied partly through a questionnaire distributed to a number of users, and partly through interviews. The results show that intranet‐based ‘edutainment’ is a practicable and successful tool for organizational learning. Ease of use, interactivity, ease of distribution and renewal, flexibility in time and space, are just some of the benefits offered. However, a number of pedagogical, organizational and technical requirements must be met in order to succeed Context, pedagogical aims and standards, content, information structure, user characteristics, management commitment, technical platform, media types, the production team, user interface and user tests are just a few of the important factors that must be considered This paper attempts to identify some of the factors essential to successful staff education on the corporate intranet, discussing observations and lessons learned from the case study

Reasons to Engage in and Learning Experiences From Different Play Strategies in a Web-Based Serious Game on Delirium for Medical Students:Mixed Methods Design

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have recently been published on the value of serious games for medical education, little attention has been given to the role of dark play (choosing unacceptable actions in games). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate potential differences in the characteristics of medical students who have the opportunity to choose normal or dark play in a serious game. This study also aimed to compare their reasons for choosing a play strategy and their perceptions of what they learned from their game play. METHODS: We asked undergraduate medical students to play a serious game in which they had to take care of a patient with delirium (The Delirium Experience). After getting acquainted with the game, students could opt for normal or dark play. Student characteristics (age, gender, experience with caring for older or delirious patients, and number of completed clerkships) were collected, and the Delirium Attitude Scale and Learning Motivation and Engagement Questionnaire were administered. Reasons for choosing normal or dark play were evaluated with an open-ended question. Information on lessons they had learned from the game was collected using an open-ended question and self-reported knowledge on delirium. RESULTS: This study had 160 participants (89 normal play, 71 dark play). Male students (26/160, 56.5%) chose dark play significantly more often than female students (45/160, 39.5%; P=.049). We did not find significant differences in student characteristics or measurement outcomes between play strategies. Participants' main reason for choosing normal play was to learn how to provide care to delirious patients, and the main reason for dark play was to gain insight into what a delirious patient has to endure during delirious episodes. All participants learned what to do when taking care of a delirious patient and gained insight into how a patient experiences delirium. We found no differences in self-reported knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: When medical students have the opportunity to choose dark play in a serious game, half of them will probably choose this play strategy. Male students will more likely opt for dark play than female students. Choice of play strategy is not affected by any other student characteristic or measurement outcome. All students learned the same lessons from playing the game, irrespective of their learning strategy

The Tactical Games Model Sport Experience: An Examination of Student Motivation and Game Performance during an Ultimate Frisbee Unit

Students benefit from positive sport experiences in physical education. If designed well, sport provides a social avenue for physical activity and strengthens student achievement in psychomotor (e.g., motor skill), cognitive (e.g., decision-making), and affective (e.g., personal and social responsibility) learning domains. Unfortunately, not all students receive quality sport instruction and many students fail to have positive sport experiences in physical education. The Tactical Games Model (TGM, Griffin, Mitchell, & Oslin, 1997) is an instructional model focused on improving student sport experiences. As a constructivist approach to teaching and learning sport, TGM reshapes sport lessons to allow students to experience small-sided games (Game 1), think critically about games playing (Q & A), practice aspects of playing (Situated Practice), and show improvement in games playing (Game 2). TGM literature includes practitioner reports about involvement (Berkowitz, 1996) and findings that show measures of game performance (e.g., skill execution, decision-making) during a TGM sport unit (Allison & Thorpe, 1997; Turner & Martinek, 1999). Limited data is available to explain how the constructivist nature of TGM influences motivation (Griffin & Patton, 2005; Rink, 2001). The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine motivation using situational interest theory (Chen, Darst, & Pangrazi, 1999; Mitchell, 1993) to interpret participant – learning situation (Game 1, Q & A, Practice, and Game 2) experiences during an eight-day TGM Ultimate Frisbee unit. The researcher acted as teacher-researcher and participants were 15 fifth graders (assigned to heterogeneous teams) and Mia, the regular physical education teacher and participant-observer. Data were collected using surveys, learning situation questionnaires, interviews, and systematic observations using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI, Oslin, Mitchell, & Griffin, 1998). Data analysis incorporated open and axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), theoretical comparisons (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), and concept mapping (Rossman & Rallis, 2003). Findings show that participants‟: (a) participated in daily lessons regardless of gender, goal orientation, skill/effort level, and personal interest in Ultimate, (b) were excited to play games (Game 1, Game 2) because they wanted to move, liked Ultimate, and/or wanted to assess skills/playing, (c) required challenging conditions, positive competition, and/or individual/team success in order to have a positive participant-games playing experience, (d) entered Q & A and Practice expecting to learn something new, (e) stayed interested in Q & A if they received answers, learned facts/rules, and/or felt the discussion helped team, (f) remained involved in Practice if team worked well, task was fun, and/or they learned skill/strategy, and (g) perceived improvements in games playing (e.g., throwing). Mia concluded that participants: (a) were motivated to play, (b) were involved in the different learning situations, and (c) improved games playing during the unit. GPAI scores confirmed that participants‟ improved at least one area of game performance (e.g., skill execution-passing) between Day 3 (week 1) and Day 7 (week 2)

Holistic analysis of the effectiveness of a software engineering teaching approach

To provide the best training in software engineering, several approaches and strategies are carried out. Some of them are more theoretical, learned through books and manuals, while others have a practical focus and often done in collaboration with companies. In this paper, we share an approach based on a balanced mix to foster the assimilation of knowledge, the approximation with what is done in software companies and student motivation. Two questionnaires were also carried out, one involving students, who had successfully completed the subject in past academic years (some had already graduated, and others are still students), and other questionnaire involving companies, in the field of software development, which employ students from our school. The analysis of the perspectives of the different stakeholders allows an overall and holistic) view, and a general understanding, of the effectiveness of the software engineering teaching approach. We analyse the results of the questionnaires and share some of the experiences and lessons learned.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Students valuation of the use of computers in education

Two schools for general secondary education in Enschede, The Netherlands took part in a 4-yr Technology-enriched Schools project. One of the research questions in this project was the valuation by the students of the use of computers in education. It was hypothesized that this valuation would be influenced by factors which deal with the perception of the student, the use of computers in teachinglearning situations, the circumstances in which the computers are used, and background information on the students. It was also hypothesized that the frequent use of computers in education could make the students less enthusiastic about computers.\ud \ud The research questions were investigated by means of two instruments with identical content: a paper-and-pencil questionnaire and a computerized questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to 816 students. About 20% of the students had had considerable experience with computers outside of school-hours.\ud \ud Results show that some students had used the computer at school very frequently. There was no evidence found in this study that students with much computer experience at school valued the use of computers in education differently than did students who had little experience. The intensity with which the computers were used by the teachers of the technology-enriched schools did not have a restraining influence on the enthusiasm and the motivation of the students