Experiencing Poverty in an Online Simulation: Effects on Players’ Beliefs, Attitudes and Behaviors about Poverty

Digital simulations are increasingly used to educate about the causes and effects of poverty, and inspire action to alleviate it. Drawing on research about attributions of poverty, subjective well-being, and relative income, this experimental study assesses the effects of an online poverty simulation (entitled Spent) on participants’ beliefs, attitudes, and actions. Results show that, compared with a control group, Spent players donated marginally more money to a charity serving the poor and expressed higher support for policies benefitting the poor, but were less likely to take immediate political action by signing an online petition to support a higher minimum wage. Spent players also expressed greater subjective well-being than the control group, but this was not associated with increased policy support or donations. Spent players who experienced greater presence (perceived realism of the simulation) had higher levels of empathy, which contributed to attributing poverty to structural causes and support for anti-poverty policies. We draw conclusions for theory about the psychological experience of playing online poverty simulations, and for how they could be designed to stimulate charity and support for anti-poverty policies

Game-Based Teaching Methodology and Empathy in Ethics Education

This article describes the experience of a group of educators participating in a graduate course in ethics. Playing role playing games and the work accompanying that play were the predominate methodology employed in the course. An accompanying research study investigated the lived experiences of the course participants. Themes that emerged from interview data included student engagement, participants’ applications, empathy development, and reactions to professor modeling

Can you make it through the month? An instrumental single case study of intercultural learning through the use of a video game in an upper secondary EAL classroom in Norway

Erfaringsbasert masteroppgave i undervisning med fordypning i engelskENGMAU650VID-MAUEN

Facilitating Social Inclusion of Migrant Workers through Digital Game Play

With the accelerated and large-scale im/migration around the world, many countries face issues of integration of migrants into the host societies. Anxiety created by the continuing economic crisis and declining state welfare contribute to antipathy towards foreign population. Social exclusion is particularly a struggle for those who migrate with unstable statuses as transient workers, refugees, and asylum seekers. To promote social inclusion, this paper first introduces the concept of cultural citizenship grounded in the ethics of care and empathy to approach social inclusion. It further argues that social inclusion can be facilitated through technology use, particularly digital game play. A Facebook game is subsequently designed based on the theoretical lenses to foster cultural citizenship and integration between migrant workers and local Singaporean society

A Multimedia Project Based Learning Course: Morocco

This project addresses the lack of diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Studies show that socially conscious, project based learning courses best encourage diversity in STEM. In response, we developed the prototype for a multimedia, project-based learning course. This course provides different perspectives and learning outcomes based on the fog water harvesting project by the Non-Governmental Organization, Dar Si Hmad, in southwest Morocco

New urban Soundscapes: Angklung Buskers in Yogyakarta

Caratterizzati da una costante sovrapposizione di stimoli acustici di diversa natura, i paesaggi sonori delle realtà metro- politane contemporanee sono entità composite di difficile interpretazione. Entro questi contesti, tuttavia, la produzione di musica dal vivo ha senza dubbio un ruolo cruciale nella costruzione degli spazi sonori pubblici e dell’immaginario acustico ad essi associato. Nel presente articolo sono presentati alcuni risultati di una ricerca svolta a Yogyakarta (Giava, Indonesia) su un particolare fenomeno di musica di strada, le angklung bands: gruppi di musicisti di strada che si guadagna- no da vivere esibendosi quotidianamente negli spazi più trafficati della città. Applicando il metodo etnografico dell’osservazione partecipante, è stata documentata l’attività di questi musicisti, indagandone storie di vita, prassi performative e repertori, considerando la complessità del feno- meno e il suo rapporto “osmotico” con l’ambiente urbano Yogyanese. Descrivendo questo specifico caso di studio, si cercherà di dimostrare come una pratica musicale apparentemente marginale possa avere una funzione importante nella costruzione di una realtà acustica metropolitana, sino a divenirne un’impronta sonora. Il saggio è corredato da esempi video che illustrano la pratica musicale in analisi e consentono di valutarne l’impatto sul paesaggio sonoro circostante.Being characterized by a constant overlapping of different kinds of acoustic stimuli, contemporary metropolitan soundscapes are composite entities that are rather difficult to interpret. Within these contexts however, the production of live music undoubtedly has a crucial role in the construction of sonic public spaces and of the acoustic ideas and concepts that are associated with them. This paper presents some results of a research conducted in Yogyakarta (Java, Indonesia) regarding a particular kind of street music, i.e. the angklung bands: groups of buskers who make a living by performing every day in the most crowded spaces of the city. By applying the ethnographic method of participant observation, the activity of these musicians was documented, together with their life stories, repertoires and performative practices. In addition, the complexity of the phenomenon and its “osmotic” relationship with the Yogyanese urban context was carefully considered. This specific case study is utilized in order to show how an apparently marginal musical practice has had a significant function in the construction of a metropolitan acoustic environment, to the extent of becoming one of its soundmarks. This paper is accompanied by several video examples, which illustrate how the musical practice analyzed is conducted and make it possible to evaluate its impact on the surrounding soundscape

The Neuroeconomics of Trust

The traditional view in economics is that individuals respond to incentives, but absent strong incentives to the contrary selfishness prevails. Moreover, this “greed is good” approach is deemed “rational” behavior. Nevertheless, in daily interactions and in numerous laboratory studies, a high degree of cooperative behavior prevails—even among strangers. A possible explanation for the substantial amount of “irrational” behavior observed in markets (and elsewhere) is that humans are a highly social species and to an extent value what other humans think of them. This behavior can be termed trustworthiness—cooperating when someone places trust in us. I also analyze the cross-country evidence for environments that produce high or low trust. A number of recent experiments from my lab have demonstrated that the neuroactive hormone oxytocin facilitates trust between strangers, and appears to induce trustworthiness. In rodents, oxytocin has been associated with maternal bonding, pro-social behaviors, and in some species long-term pair bonds, but prior to the work reviewed here, the behavioral effects of oxytocin in humans had not been studied. This presentation discusses the neurobiology of positive social behaviors and how these are facilitated by oxytocin. My experiments show that positive social signals cause oxytocin to be released by the brain, producing an unconscious attachment to a stranger. I also discuss recent research that manipulates oxytocin levels, and functional brain imaging research on trust.Oxytocin, social capital, neuroeconomics, development, experiments

New Spectacles for Juliette: Values and Ethics for Creative Business

This is the third book in an on-going series published by Nottingham Creative Network which was established in 2006 as a re-incarnation of Creative Collaborations which was established in 2003. Both incarnations offer(ed) professional and business development advice, support, training and networking opportunities made relevant for the specific and sometimes non-standard ways that creative businesses operate and exchange. This series of books occupies a cross-over space between broad conceptual debates, creativity itself, ideas for creative business and concrete advice for professional development. The first in this series is entitled Fish, Horses and Other Animals; Professional and Business Development for the Creative Ecology and tries to offer some ideas about understanding and engaging with informal creative business networks. The second, Soul Food, and Music: Research and Innovation for Creative Business explores ways to consolidate research for creative business and use it for thinking about innovation. As you will see, this third book continues the theme of professional and business development for the specifics of creative business by introducing questions of values and ethics into our broader on-going discussion