Lesson Plans from the Higher Education Course Curriculum for a Distance Learning Model Reinforced with Robotics for 3 to 7 Years Old Children

EARLY recognizes the importance of early childhood education and the potential of digital technologies in enhancing learning experiences. By providing teachers, parents, and children with effective strategies and resources, it aims to improve the quality of online education for young children. To ensure that all preschool children have access to a continuous learning process in different circumstances (e.g., pandemics, prolonged illness or other situations), teachers and parents benefit from being prepared for these different circumstances. The materials developed and offered in the Higher Education Course Curriculum for Distance Learning Model Reinforced with Robotics for 3-7 Years Old Children are, therefore, relevant. Besides the Curriculum itself, which can be used for structuring training or for self-learning, EARLY offers some examples of activities and lesson plans for online activities with educational value. The main target group of this curriculum is pre-service preschool educators (undergraduates in most countries), but the material is also suitable and recommended for experienced preschool educators who want to expand their competences and those who are in close contact with an early childhood learner.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Current challenges and methods in adherence with mHealth applications used for alcohol use monitoring and reduction

Abstract. Smartphones have become ubiquitous in the modern world; with them business of mobile applications (apps) has risen. Included in these applications are mobile health (mHealth), also referred as electronic health (eHealth), apps that are designed to aid people suffering from a variety of health issues. In this thesis the focus is on apps that aid people with alcohol related issues. Goal for this thesis was to study the current field of existing mobile applications that, deal in people suffering from substance use issues, mainly excessive drinking. Specific focus is on the adherence of those apps and how they plan to maintain it. Using this existing expertise and utilizing a Design Science Research (DSR) approach, MyLimits, a design prototype of mHealth application was designed. MyLimits aims at aiding young adults to self-manage their drinking amounts and habits better, with the purpose of designing an app that is would be able to maintain adherence among its users. Two new features were innovated for MyLimits to improve its adherence and these new features were an unnoticeable mode for widget feature and regular check-up meetings with a chatbot. MyLimits and its new features were evaluated in interview sessions with members of the target age group, along with gathering experiences and thoughts on adherence in behaviour change apps. The research found that existing alcohol related mHealth apps apply a variety of tools for their users. Personal monitoring tools such as self-reporting and goals settings a popular among many others. Social features are also common allowing users to connect with other users, health professionals or people who have experience in reducing their drinking. Gamification and rewarding systems are on the forefront of upcoming apps, but their actual affects still require studying. Findings on adherence show that mHealth app’s adherence benefits from segmenting the progress as behaviour change requires a long-term process. Visits and communication with a health counsellor were a great predictor for adherence. Other key aspect to adherence were tailoring to allow the user to personalize their mHealth tool and reminders have been shown to increase adherence and effectiveness of the interventions. The small number of interviewees was a limitation for this thesis, with five interviewees being interviewed. This was greatly affected by the COVID-19 situation affecting the world during the fall of 2020. Therefore, the interviews were done online, by use of audio call and screen sharing. This removed the possibility for testing the app in a real-world scenario. The interviewees did not have self-reported issues with drinking, and this could affect how sensitively they see the topic. Measuring adherence requires a longer period of monitoring and testing, greatly limiting the potential of evaluating the adherence of MyLimits.Tiivistelmä. Älypuhelimet ovat kaikkialla nykymaailmassa ja niiden yleistyttyä on syntynyt uusia liiketoiminnan aloja, kuten mobiilisovellukset. Näihin lukeutuvat myös mobiiliterveys- eli mHealt-sovellukset sekä muut terveys- eli eHealth-sovellukset, jotka on suunniteltu auttamaan erilaisista terveysongelmista kärsiviä ihmisiä. Tämä tutkielma keskittyy alkoholin käytön ja juomisen seurantaan ja raportointiin liittyviin sovelluksiin. Tutkielmassa tarkkaillaan olemassa olevia alkoholiin liittyviä mobiilisovelluksia. Erityisesti tutkielmassa keskitytään sovellusten antamiin ohjeistuksiin ja niiden noudattamiseen sekä siihen, miten sovellukset parantavat käytön jatkuvuutta. Hyödyntämällä olemassa olevia taustatutkimuksia ja suunnittelutieteellisen (DSR) tutkimuksen lähestymistapaa, tässä tutkielmassa suunniteltiin mHealth-sovellusprototyyppi, MyLimits. MyLimitsin tarkoitus on auttaa nuoria aikuisia hallitsemaan juomismääriään ja -tapojaan paremmin samalla, kun sovelluksen kehityksessä keskitytään ylläpitämään käytön jatkuvuutta. MyLimitsille kehitettiin kaksi täysin uutta ominaisuutta, joiden tarkoituksena on sitouttaa käyttäjiä. Nämä uudet ominaisuudet ovat huomaamaton tila (unnoticiable mode) widget-pienohjelmaominaisuudelle sekä säännölliset tarkastustapaamiset chattibotin kanssa. MyLimitsiä ja sen uusia ominaisuuksia arvioitiin haastattelemalla kohderyhmään sopivia henkilöitä. Haastatteluissa kerättiin myös haastateltavien kokemuksia ja ajatuksia käyttäytymisenmuutossovellusten käytöstä ja niiden antamien ohjeiden noudattamisesta. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että nykyiset alkoholin käyttöön liittyvät mHealth-sovellukset tarjoavat useita erilaisia työkaluja käyttäjilleen. Henkilökohtaiset seurantatyökalut, kuten itseraportointi ja tavoitteiden asettaminen, ovat suosittuja. Yleisiä ovat myös sosiaaliset työkalut, joilla käyttäjät voivat olla yhteydessä toisiin käyttäjiin, terveydenhuollon ammattilaisiin tai ihmisiin, joilla on kokemusta juomisen vähentämisestä. Tulevaisuuden sovellusten eturintamassa testataan nykyisin pelillistämis- ja palkitsemisjärjestelmiä, mutta niiden vaikutukset edellyttävät vielä lisätutkimuksia. Käyttäjien sitoutumista testattaessa on huomattu, että mHealth-sovelluksen antamien ohjeiden noudattaminen vahvistuu edistymistä segmentoimalla, sillä pysyvä käytöksen muutos on pitkäaikainen prosessi. Tapaamiset ja viestintä terveydenhuollon henkilökunnan kanssa olivat tutkimuksen mukaan erinomaisia työkaluja sovelluksen antamien ohjeiden noudattamisen kannalta. Muita keskeisiä löytöjä ohjeiden noudattamiseen liittyen olivat sovelluksen mukauttaminen, jotta käyttäjä voi muokata sovelluksen työkaluja mieltymystensä mukaisesti, sekä muistutukset, joiden todettiin myös lisäävän sovellusten ohjeiden noudattamista ja yleistä tehokkuutta. Yksi rajoitus tutkimukselle oli haastateltavien pieni lukumäärä: haastatteluissa haastateltiin vain viittä potentiaalista käyttäjää. Tähän vaikutti suuresti syksyllä 2020 maailmaa kurittanut COVID-19-tilanne, joka poisti mahdollisuuden testata MyLimitsiä tosielämän käyttötilanteissa. Haastattelut suoritettiin verkossa äänipuheluita ja näytön jakoa hyödyntäen. Haastateltavat eivät ilmoittaneet heillä olevan ongelmia alkoholin käytön kanssa, joten he eivät ehkä suhtautuneet aiheeseen niin varautuneesti kuin oikea ongelmakäyttäjä saattaisi suhtautua. Sovellukseen sitoutuminen ja sen antamien ohjeiden noudattamisen tutkiminen vaatisivat pidempää seuranta- ja testausjaksoa, jonka puute rajoitti selvästi MyLimitsin sitouttamiskyvyn arviointia

Create to play, play to learn: gamification and game creation in EFL

Màster Universitari de Formació del Professorat de Secundària Obligatòria i Batxillerat, Facultat d'Educació, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2022-2023. Tutora: Isabel Alonso Breto[spa] En este documento se presenta una propuesta de secuencia didáctica fundamentada en la gamificación, con el objetivo de promover la motivación y el compromiso de los estudiantes en una clase de inglés como lengua extranjera para el cuarto año de educación secundaria. Las sesiones se enmarcarán en un contexto ficticio, asignando roles específicos a los alumnos. Se propondrá una amplia variedad de actividades que fomenten la participación activa de los estudiantes, estimulen su creatividad y les brinden nuevas estructuras y expresiones lingüísticas, al tiempo que promuevan la reflexión sobre las mismas. Los alumnos deberán hacer uso de su imaginación y creatividad, así como trabajar en colaboración para resolver diversos problemas a lo largo de todas las sesiones. Asimismo, se incorporará una tarea final en la que los estudiantes, organizados en grupos, deberán crear un nuevo juego y evaluar su desempeño mutuamente.[eng] This document presents a proposal for a didactic sequence based on gamification, aiming to foster motivation and engagement among students in an English as a foreign language class for the fourth year of secondary education. The sessions will be framed within a fictional context, assigning specific roles to the students. A wide variety of activities will be proposed to encourage active student participation, stimulate their creativity, and provide them with new language structures and expressions, while promoting reflection on the same. Students will be required to utilize their imagination and creativity, as well as work collaboratively to solve various problems throughout the sessions. Additionally, a final task will be incorporated where students, organized in groups, will have to create a new game and evaluate each other's performance

Project-Based Learning in Non-Traditional Settings in Engineering Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of utilizing the principles of Project-based learning (PJBL) in nontraditional settings in engineering education. There is ample literature related to the usage of PJBL techniques in engineering education but there are also challenges with incorporating PJBL within the curriculum. It is the aim of this dissertation to build upon this understanding of the advantages and limitations of PJBL in engineering education and identify areas within the existing body of knowledge in which more research is needed. This dissertation divides this topic into 4 sub-topics. The first sub-topic explores how PJBL can be utilized in non-classroom settings and is detailed in Chapters 2-4. In Chapter 2, the application of PJBL in engineering outreach is explored. It is found that through PJBL learning challenges, high-school age girls can be exposed to engineering disciplines in a positive and supportive environment where girls and women are promoted. This chapter details the format of the event ‘Parent Daughter Engineering Night’ as well as lessons learned and practical methods to create an event based upon PJBL methodology that reduces stereotype threat and increases belonging. Chapter 3 describes operation and management of an on-campus center designed with PJBL methodology. This chapter describes the benefits to the University and the community through detailed examples of projects as well as provides lessons learned in project selection and student intern management. Chapter 4 identifies 10 maxims of promoting creativity in engineering education that have been identified by Kazerounian and Foley. This chapter addresses each of these maxims by providing an example in the ways in which PJBL can be used as an explicit means of developing creativity in engineering students. The next subtopic is how PJBL can be utilized in non-traditional classroom settings. Chapter 5 describes a PJBL challenge that can be used in a virtual learning environment that functions to bridge course content in one project by including elements of manufacturing processes, material science, and applied statistics. This chapter presents the PJBL challenge as a case-study and highlights key learning outcomes that can be achieved. The next subtopic is intended to examine how PJBL is supported by theories of learning. Chapter 6 describes existing theories of learning and provides 6 different mathematical models of learning that are then evaluated using tools of applied mathematics. In this chapter, strengths and weaknesses of each model are considered as well as the future need to evaluate a learning model with empirical data. Lastly, the final sub-topic highlights the ability of PJBL to function as a tool to promote social change. Chapter 7 describes the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the responsibility of educators and future engineers to address these goals. In this chapter, examples are provided of explicit ways in which PJBL can serve the dual purpose of promoting engineering education through the completion of projects that are intended to support or promote the SDGs