Game-based learning or game-based teaching?

Emerging technologies for learning report - Article exploring games based learning and its potential for edcuatio

Children's use of home computers from a cultural psychological perspective

This thesis adopts a cultural psychological perspective on children's use of computers at home and, as a contrast, in the classroom. It utilises various methodologies to investigate the actual uses that children make of computers in these settings and also focuses on how computing practices are situated within the local ecology, or context. Seventy-six 7-, 9- and 11-year-old pupils from five socially and ethnically diverse primary schools were interviewed in their schools. In addition, thirty-three families with children of comparable ages, from the same five schools, participated in a detailed study of the ecology of home computing. Findings suggest that, although parents had high educational aspirations for the ways in which their children would use a new computer, these aspirations were not met in reality. Entertainment games predominated and educational software was used comparatively little. This thesis explores why this was the case and finds that it was the differing ecologies of the home and the classroom that mediated the different uses that were found in either setting. [Continues.

Development and Field Testing of a Narrative-Centered Digital Game for English Comprehension

This paper describes the development and field testing of Learning Likha: Rangers to the Rescue, a narrative-centered, mobile-based digital game for practicing English comprehension. Twenty-seven (27) student participants from Grades 4, 5, and 6 were invited to play the game and answer a comprehension test to determine their level of understanding of the game’s contents. Self-report questionnaires were also used to assess the extent to which they enjoyed playing the game. Three (3) teachers were likewise invited for a focus group discussion (FGD) to gather their insights about the game and how they may use it in their classes. Student’s self-reported feedback indicated they found the game fun, interesting, and sufficiently challenging. Post-test comprehension scores were generally good. Younger participants scored lower than their older peers but the differences were found to be not significant. Teachers indicated the game has the potential to be used as a supplement for their classes and that their students would enjoy playing it

Motivation and Learning Engagement Through Playing Math Video Games

Purpose - With video games being a source of leisure and learning, educators and researchers alike are interested in understanding childrens motivation for playing video games as a way to learn. This study explores student motivation and engagement levels in playing two math video games in the game Club Penguin. Method - This is a qualitative case study conducted in a North American elementary school after-school program. It involves two children ages eight and nine playing math games. Data sources in this study include interviews, observations and video recordings of game playing. Findings - Participants in this study are not always motivated to play math video games. They can sustain engagement in game playing for seven to twelve minutes before seeking another game or activity. Participants show some signs of disengagement during math game playing. Significance - Findings from this study can inform teachers, parents and instructional designers about what impacts childrens motivation and engagement levels while playing math video games

‘What would happen if I said “Yes”?’ : Measuring the immediate and long-term impact of improvisation training on student teachers’ subjective, neuroendocrine and psychophysiological responses

Improvisation is commonly understood as a performance or creating something without preparation. As an art form, improvised theatrical plays are created spontaneously on stage without a script. As an applied form of theatre, improvisation has been utilised in fields requiring collaboration and a tolerance for uncertainty, such as in the business and education sectors. This dissertation contributes to the literature in educational research by investigating applied improvisation as a tool to promote student teachers’ interpersonal competence. Applied improvisation enables individuals to explore and practise teaching-related encounters in a fictional and psychologically safe context. Psychological safety is particularly important when practising challenging interactions. Despite the fictionality of the context, bodily experiences during improvisations may promote experiential learning. The research summarised in this dissertation was guided by two primary research questions. First, I asked whether improvisation training influenced student teachers’ interpersonal competence and social stress. Student teachers (n = 19) participated in a 7-week (17.5-h) improvisation intervention, comprising the fundamentals of theatre improvisation and status expression (verbal and nonverbal behaviours indicating the social dominance of a person). The impact of the intervention was measured using subjective self-reports (interpersonal confidence, i.e., belief regarding one’s capability related to effective social interactions, self-esteem and experienced stress) and a large array of physiological measurements (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance, facial muscle activity, frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha asymmetry and stress hormone cortisol). Self-reports, physiological measurements and Trier Social Stress Tests (TSST; including public speaking) were performed before and after the improvisation intervention. An improvisation course was arranged for the control group (n = 20) following the intervention study. One year later, the long-term effects of improvisation training on self-reported interpersonal confidence were measured in a follow-up study. Second, I asked how real versus fictional social rejections impact experienced stress and psychophysiological responses. Student teachers (n = 39) participated in an experiment including both real (interview) and fictional (improvisation exercises) dyadic interactions. In the real condition, student teachers were unaware that the interviewer was an actor trained to include subtle social rejections during the interview by using three types of social rejections: devaluing, interrupting and nonverbal rejections. In the fictional condition, student teachers were informed in advance which social rejection type would be used during a later improvisation exercise. Experienced stress and psychophysiological reactivity during social rejections were measured under both experimental conditions. Following an improvisation intervention, interpersonal confidence and its components of performance confidence and a tolerance for failure increased relative to controls, whilst one year later the improved performance confidence persisted. Furthermore, a heterogeneous treatment effect was found. Those with the lowest pretest interpersonal confidence score benefited most from the improvisation intervention. No between-group differences in self-esteem were observed. Psychological and physiological indications of relief from performance-related stress were also observed following improvisation training. In addition, interpersonal confidence moderated self-reported and cardiovascular stress responses. Thus, interpersonal confidence may be worth controlling for in future research which examines the effects of interventions aimed at relieving social stress. The results also support the notion that repetition may also diminish performance-related stress, since the control group exhibited decreases in cardiovascular stress during some of the test conditions. The primary finding regarding the second research question emerged through the absence of any systematic attenuation of the psychophysiological reactivity to fictional versus real-world social rejections. In other words, although student teachers knew that improvised social rejections were fictional, their psychophysiological responses during improvisation remained relatively similar and associated with those of real-world rejections. It appears as though personal relevance and engagement during improvisation explain the relatively similar bodily responses. This result suggests that interpersonal encounters can be realistically modelled through applied improvisation. In this dissertation research, I also produced a validated self-report measure, the Interpersonal Confidence Questionnaire (ICQ), to evaluate the impact of social interaction training relying on applied improvisation. Using an additional dataset (n = 208), I validated the questionnaire and examined the impact of improvisation training on a larger sample. A confirmatory factor analysis identified six factors—performance confidence, flexibility, listening skills, a tolerance for failure, collaboration motivation and presence—that contribute to interpersonal confidence. Thus, the ICQ appeared valid and reliable as a self-report measure of interpersonal confidence. In summary, the findings from this research indicate that a relatively brief improvisation intervention promotes interpersonal confidence, specifically amongst those with low interpersonal confidence. Furthermore, improvisation training serves as an intervention against performance anxiety and generates long-term improvements to performance confidence. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework and empirical support for the application of improvisation as a tool to develop interpersonal competence skills, particularly within professions requiring face-to-face interactions. Regardless of the fictionality of the improvisational context, genuine emotions and experiences may emerge, serving as experiential learning experiences. The significance of these findings may extend to theatre-based practices and drama education in general, which rely on holistic action and personal engagement in fictional contexts. The findings agree with previous research, suggesting that including the improvisation method in teacher education curricula can enhance student teachers’ interpersonal competence as well as their skills related to sensitive and responsive teaching. Finally, this dissertation contributes to social neuroscience by recommending an ecologically valid experimental design wherein naturally unfolding social interactions can be achieved using improvisation techniques. Keywords: experiential learning, fictionality, improvisation, interpersonal confidence, intervention, psychophysiology, social interaction, social rejection, social stress, teacher education, theatre-based practicesImprovisaatiolla tarkoitetaan yleisesti esiintymistä tai toimintaa, jota ei suunnitella etukäteen. Teatterissa improvisoidut näytelmät syntyvät näyttämöllä spontaanisti ilman käsikirjoitusta. Soveltava teatteri hyödyntää improvisaatiota aloilla, joissa tarvitaan yhteistyötä ja epävarmuuden sietokykyä, kuten liike-elämässä ja koulutuksessa. Tämä väitöstyö tarkastelee teatterilähtöistä improvisaatiomenetelmää opettajakoulutuksen kontekstissa. Käyttämällä improvisaatiota soveltavan teatterin muotona on mahdollista tutkia ja harjoitella vuorovaikutukseen liittyviä kohtaamisia kuvitteellisessa ja psykologisesti turvallisessa ympäristössä. Psykologinen turvallisuus on erityisen tärkeää, kun harjoitellaan haastavissa vuorovaikutustilanteissa toimimista. Ympäristön fiktiivisyydestä, eli kuvitteellisuudesta, huolimatta improvisaatioharjoittelu tarjoaa kehollisia kokemuksia, jotka voivat edistää kokemuksellista oppimista. Väitöstutkimuksen ensimmäisenä tavoitteena oli selvittää improvisaatioharjoittelun vaikutuksia opettajaopiskelijoiden vuorovaikutusosaamiseen ja sosiaaliseen stressiin. Opettajaopiskelijoille (N = 19) järjestettiin 7 viikon (17,5 h) interventio, jossa harjoiteltiin improvisaation perusteita ja statusilmaisua, eli sanallista ja sanatonta ilmaisua liittyen valta-asemaan vuorovaikutuksessa. Intervention vaikutuksia kartoitettiin itsearviointien (vuorovaikutusvarmuus, itsetunto ja koettu stressi) kautta ja kehollisia vaikutuksia mittaamalla opettajaopiskelijoiden kehollisia vasteita (syke, sykevälivaihtelu, ihon sähkönjohtavuus, kasvolihasten aktivaatio, aivosähkökäyrä ja stressihormoni kortisoli). Fysiologiset mittaukset, Trierin sosiaalisen stressin testit (mm. julkinen puhe) sekä itsearvioinnit suoritettiin ennen improvisaatiointerventiota ja sen jälkeen. Kontrolliryhmälle (N = 20) järjestettiin improvisaatiokurssi loppumittausten jälkeen. Vuorovaikutusvarmuutta mitattiin viivästetyllä kyselyllä vielä vuoden kuluttua interventiosta. Väitöstutkimuksen toinen tavoite oli syventää ymmärrystä siitä, miten tietoisuus tilanteen fiktiivisyydestä vaikuttaa kokemukseen vertaamalla aidon ja fiktiivisen vuorovaikutustilanteen kehollisia vasteita. Opettajaopiskelijat (N = 39) osallistuivat kokeeseen, joka sisälsi sekä aidon (haastattelu) että fiktiivisen (improvisaatioharjoittelu) vuorovaikutustilanteen. Aidossa tilanteessa opettajaopiskelijat eivät tienneet, että haastattelijan tehtävänä oli epäsuorasti torjua opiskelijoiden vastauksia vähättelemällä, keskeyttämällä ja sanattomalla torjunnalla. Fiktiivisessä tilanteessa opettajaopiskelijoille kerrottiin etukäteen mitä em. torjuntatapaa improvisaatioharjoituksessa käytetään. Molemmissa koetilanteissa mitattiin koettua stressiä ja kehollisia vasteita epäsuorien sosiaalisten torjuntojen aikana. Improvisaatioharjoittelu lisäsi osallistujien vuorovaikutusvarmuutta sekä sen osatekijöitä esiintymisvarmuutta ja epäonnistumisen sietokykyä, kun tuloksia verrattiin kontrolliryhmään. Vuoden kuluttua interventiosta esiintymisvarmuus säilyi korkeammalla tasolla kontrolliryhmään verrattuna. Tulosten mukaan improvisaatioharjoittelusta oli hyötyä erityisesti epävarmimmille opettajaopiskelijoille, joilla vuorovaikutus- ja esiintymisvarmuus kasvoi eniten. Itsetunnossa ei havaittu eroa interventio- ja kontrolliryhmien välillä. Sykevälivaihtelu ja kasvolihasten aktivaatio osoittivat, että improvisaatiokurssilaiset olivat rentoutuneempia esiintymisvuoroa odottaessa kuin kontrolliryhmä. Sykevälivaihtelun ja koetun stressin mukaan epävarmimpien kurssilaisten stressitaso laski enemmän kuin varmempien. Tulokset tukevat myös käsitystä, että toistoharjoittelu voi lieventää esiintymiseen liittyvää stressiä, koska myös kontrolliryhmässä stressivasteet laskivat osassa esiintymistilanteita. Väitöstutkimuksen keskeinen löydös vertailtaessa aitoja ja fiktiivisiä vuorovaikutustilanteita oli se, että improvisoitujen ja aitojen sosiaalisten torjuntojen keholliset vasteet eivät systemaattisesti eronneet toisistaan. Toisin sanoen, vaikka opettajaopiskelijat tiesivät, että improvisoidut sosiaaliset torjunnat olivat fiktiivisiä, keholliset vasteet olivat samankaltaisia kuin vastaavassa aidossa tilanteessa. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että sosiaalisia vuorovaikutustilanteita voidaan mallintaa realistisesti teatterilähtöisen improvisaation keinoin. Väitöstyö tuotti myös validoidun vuorovaikutusvarmuuden itsearviointimittarin improvisaatiopohjaisten vuorovaikutuskoulutusten vaikutusten arviointiin. Itsearviointimittarin validoinnissa käytettiin konfirmatorista faktorianalyysia ja laajempaa kyselyaineistoa (N = 208). Faktorianalyysi osoitti, että vuorovaikutusvarmuuteen sisältyy kuusi osa-aluetta: esiintymisvarmuus, joustavuus, kuunteleminen, epäonnistumisen sietokyky, yhteistyömotivaatio ja läsnäolo. Tulosten mukaan mittari on myös luotettava vuorovaikutusvarmuuden itsearvioinnin väline. Tutkimustulosten mukaan jo suhteellisen lyhyt improvisaatioharjoittelu voi lisätä erityisesti epävarmojen henkilöiden vuorovaikutusvarmuutta sekä lieventää esiintymisjännitystä. Esiintymisvarmuuden osalta positiiviset vaikutukset olivat pitkäaikaisia. Väitöstyö tuottaa myös uutta, empiiristä tietoa improvisaatioharjoittelun kehollisista vaikutuksista. Tulosten merkitystä voidaan ulottaa myös muille soveltavan teatterin alueille, joissa teatterilähtöisillä menetelmillä pyritään tuottamaan elämyksellisiä oppimiskokemuksia ja kokemuksellista oppimista. Väitöstutkimus luo teoreettista pohjaa sovelletun improvisaation käyttämiselle laajemminkin työelämän ja arkipäivän vuorovaikutustilanteiden mallintamiseen. Löydökset vahvistavat aikaisempia kansainvälisiä tutkimustuloksia, joiden mukaan improvisaatio opettajankoulutuksen osana lisäisi opettajan vuorovaikutuskompetenssia sekä opetuksen sensitiivisyyttä ja vuorovaikutteisuutta. Poikkitieteellinen väitöstyö osoitti myös käytännön suuntaviivoja improvisaation ja neurotieteen yhdistämiselle vuorovaikutuksen kokeellisessa tutkimuksessa. Avainsanat: fiktiivisyys, improvisaatio, interventio, kokemuksellinen oppiminen, opettajakoulutus, psykofysiologia, sosiaalinen stressi, sosiaalinen torjunta, teatterilähtöiset menetelmät, vuorovaikutus, vuorovaikutusvarmuu

Computational model of negotiation skills in virtual artificial agents

Negotiation skills represent crucial abilities for engaging in effective social interactions in formal and informal settings. Serious games, intelligent systems and virtual agents can provide solid tools upon which one-to-one training and assessment can be reliably made available. The aim of the present work is to fill the gap between the recent growing interest towards soft skills, and the lack of a robust and modern methodology for supporting their investigation. A computational model for the development of Enact, a 3D virtual intelligent platform for training and testing negotiation skills, will be presented. The serious game allows users to interact with simulated peers in scenarios depicting daily life situations and receive a psychological assessment and adaptive training reflecting their negotiation abilities. To pursue this goal, this work has gone through different research stages, each with a unique methodology, results and discussion described in its specific section. In the first phase, the platform was designed to operationalize the examined negotiation theory, developed and assessed. The negotiation styles considered, consistently with previous findings, have been found not to correlate with personality traits, coping strategies and perceived self-efficacy. The serious game has been widely tested for its usability and underwent two development and release stages aimed at improving its accuracy, usability and likeability. The variables measured by the platform have been found to predict in all cases at least two of the negotiation styles considered. Concerning the user feedback, the game has been judged as useful, more pleasant than the traditional test, and the perceived time spent on the game resulted significantly lower than the real time spent. In the second stage of this research, the game scenarios were used to collect a dataset of documents containing natural language negotiations between users and the virtual agents. The dataset was used to assess the correlations between the personal pronouns' use and the negotiation styles. Results showed that more engaged styles generally used pronouns with a significantly higher frequency than less engaged styles. Styles with a high concern for self showed a higher frequency of singular personal pronouns while styles with a high concern for others used significantly more relational pronouns. The corpus of documents was also used to perform multiclass classification on the negotiation styles using machine learning. Both linear (SVM) and non-linear models (MNB, CNN) performed reliably with a state-of-the-art accuracy

Teaching and learning for mathematical literacy

This dissertation reports from research that investigates the nature of teaching and learning for mathematical literacy in three lower secondary schools in Norway. Mathematical literacy is a notion used to denote the competences required to meet the mathematical demands of life in modern society. The importance of education for mathematical literacy is emphasised by The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and mathematical literacy has become increasingly prominent in national curricula around the world. In the Norwegian curriculum, mathematical literacy is considered a basic skill that should be developed across school subjects. This study of teaching and learning for mathematical literacy is framed within a cultural-historical perspective on teaching and learning. It draws on cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of objectification. Also, a multifaceted model of mathematical literacy is used to analyse the data. The research uses a cross-sectional case study design involving six school leaders, three mathematics teachers, and their grade 9 students. A qualitative approach to data generation and data analysis was adopted, and the empirical material was generated through interviews and lesson observations. The results of the study show that teaching and learning for mathematical literacy can be improved. Although the teachers recognise the importance of education for mathematical literacy and ways in which this can be done, they need a strategy for implementing it in their teaching. Also, there is an extensive focus on the contextual element of mathematical literacy. This emphasis may be overshadowing other important elements of mathematical literacy and, in this way, narrowing the meaning of mathematical literacy to only involve the use of mathematics in context. Consequently, opportunities for developing mathematical literacy through, for example, critically evaluating the use of mathematical knowledge and tools are not recognised and pursued.publishedVersio

A study of the integration of technology in the school arts classroom

This study explores the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Educational Technology (ET) as an educational resource in the school Arts classroom. Many teachers lack the qualifications to teach the Performing Arts (PA) of the Curriculum and Policy Statement (CAPS). Therefore, teachers rely on curriculum documentation and textbooks to help guide planning of lessons and the execution thereof. Technology as a resource tool can assist teachers as they incorporate an overwhelming amount of content/concepts in lessons. In this way they could improve classroom practice in the PA disciplines. With the emergence of Operation Phakisa: ICT in Education (Department of Education [DoE] 2015), the researcher acknowledges that the integration of ET is unavoidable. Moreover, the research highlights the importance of engaging with the rising hegemony of ICT as the defining characteristic of the information society. Literature supporting the inclusivity of media and media-related resources in education are discussed. In addition, the literature review focuses on a wide variety of ET and concludes with the implementation of ET in a South African context. Teachers from the Foundation Phase (FP), Intermediate Phase (IP) and Senior Phase (SP), namely grade R – 7, were invited to participate in the study where they were observed during contact time drawing on technology to aid teaching pedagogy. The research design involved a qualitative inquiry with aspects of crystallization where the data was collected through observations, interviews and teacher’s self-assessment. The findings suggest that teachers received little or no training in one or more PA disciplines. The integration of technology in the teaching pedagogy led to an enhanced learning environment where the teacher could actively engage learners in meaningful activities. The findings furthermore revealed that the use of technology was not uniform and did not lead to neat conclusion. Instead the researcher found that a great deal of divergence in the use of technology. This divergence was found across art disciplines and the use of technology also differed among teachers. Finally, individual teachers also differed in their use of technology across the art disciplines that they taught. The learners benefited from the use of technology insofar as they displayed a better understanding of the concepts in subsequent lessons. Furthermore, by the end of the study, teachers had begun to implement the new teaching style in learning areas other than the PA