Investigating the Learning Impact of Game-based Learning when Teaching Science to Children with Special Learning Needs

International audienceIn an attempt to find solutions to the current challenges faced by children with special needs, new teaching and learning methodologies that make us of various technologies such as 3D computer based games, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality enhanced learning have been proposed to be used in the classroom. The technology can enhance the lives of children with learning disabilities and gives then options of intervening in their various educational and cognitive problems. The paper presents a research study on learner experience when a new interactive educational 3D video game called Final Frontier, was used in a secondary school from Romania by children with hearing impairment. Pre-and Post-tests results analysis has shown that the game helped the children to acquire knowledge on the Solar system. It was also noticed that an interactive game-based learning approach is more suitable for children with disabilities than an interactive exploratory based digital library method

Impact of game-based learning on STEM learning and motivation: Two case studies in Europe

The number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related jobs is increasing all around the world and especially in Europe. However, teachers face many difficulties in making STEM related classes more attractive and motivating the students to learn. This paper presents two case studies involving 116 students from two European countries (Slovakia and Ireland). The studies investigated the impact of a new educational computer game called Final Frontier on learning process and students’ motivation. We found that there are no significant differences between the two countries in terms of students’ interest in STEM, although the students in Slovakia achieved slightly better grades than those in Ireland. We also found that in both countries, the students using the Final Frontier game outperformed those not using the game in improving their subject knowledge after the study. Furthermore, the impact of game-based learning on students’ motivation for STEM differed in the two countries

High school students' attitudes towards spiders: a cross-cultural comparison

Spiders are traditionally considered to be among the least popular of animals. Current evidence suggests that a negative attitude towards spiders could be influenced by both cultural and evolutionary pressures. Some researchers suggest that science education activities could positively influence students' perceptions of spiders. Their evidence is, however, ambivalent. Using a five-point score Likert-type questionnaire in which the items were developed in a similar way to four of Keller’s categories of attitude (scientistic, negativistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic) towards invertebrates, we compared the level of knowledge of and attitudes towards spiders of high school students from two countries, Slovakia (n = 354) and South Africa (n = 382). The students represented different cultures and followed dissimilar science education curricula. Only among the Slovakian students there was a statistically significant, but low correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = .30). The Slovakian students had less fear of spiders. The South African students scored higher in the categories of scientistic, naturalistic and ecologistic attitudes. Comparison of attitude towards spiders of indigenous Africans from coeducational Catholic schools revealed that, South African students have greater fear of spiders than Slovakian students, supporting the biological preparedness hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a greater fear of spiders in South Africa than in Europe since several South African spiders possess venoms that are dangerous to humans. The results of this study are discussed from science education, cultural and evolutionary perspectives

Northern Iowa Today, v78n1, Summer 1994

Inside This Issue:--Crime and punishment in America--The Iowa Miracle--UNI is not just for Iowans anymore--Alumni Profile: Frank Robinson--Campaign Update--Faculty Profile: William C. Lang--Portfolio--College & University--Preview--Class Notes--Perspectivehttps://scholarworks.uni.edu/alumninews/1055/thumbnail.jp

Rituals Improve Children's Ability to Delay Gratification

To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalize and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioral sequences places heavy demands on executive function. Given previous research showing that challenging executive functioning improves it, it was hypothesized that engagement in ritualistic behaviors improves children's executive functioning, in turn improving their ability to delay gratification. A 3-month circle time games intervention with 210 schoolchildren (Mage = 7.78 years, SD = 1.47) in two contrasting cultural environments (Slovakia and Vanuatu) was conducted. The intervention improved children's executive function and in turn their ability to delay gratification. Moreover, these effects were amplified when the intervention task was imbued with ritual, rather than instrumental, cues

Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Kinanthropology

Proceedings of the 12th Conference of Sport and Quality of Life 2019 gatheres submissions of participants of the conference. Every submission is the result of positive evaluation by reviewers from the corresponding field. Conference is divided into sections – Analysis of human movement; Sport training, nutrition and regeneration; Sport and social sciences; Active ageing and sarcopenia; Strength and conditioning training; section for PhD students

Positive engagement through youth work: Working with Roma children and young people in Derby, supporting their wellbeing

This article concentrates on the experiences of mainly Slovak and Czech Roma young people and their families who make up the largest population of Roma currently residing in Derby in the UK. It examines the experiences of Roma young people supported by the Multi-Faith Centre at the University of Derby through its outreach organisation Roma Community Care and their partner agencies. The development of a youth work led approach engaging young Roma is designed to enhance the wellbeing of those young people, not just by providing diversionary activities, but also through its holistic support with whole families. The article draws on youth and community studies examining race and ethnicity unpacked through the medium of social identity. It culminates in an assessment of well being of the young people in the case study correlated with the positive engagement of youth work through informal education, examining the experiences of working directly with young people as well as the conceptual frameworks set out herein.University of Derb

Language Choice In A Bilingual Environment: Media And Family Influences On Southern Slovakian Children

The Slovak Republic appeared on the map of Europe on Januaiy 1, 1993. In rhetoric and regulations the Slovak government led by Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar (in power between 1993 and 1998) began a deliberate and programmatic establishing of Slovak national identity as homogeneous and stable to the detriment of ethnic minorities that constitute fourteen per cent of Slovakia's five million inhabitants. I argue that an ethnic-linguistic understanding of nation involves a number of levels, such as legal, political, social and cultural and process like re-writing of history, invention of tradition together with psychic influences, for example in the form of identification with the Leader: I demonstrate that language is a key component of identity and a field in which power is contested. This is exemplified for example by attempts at regulating the use of minority languages in public; in the Slovak case a language law was passed in 1995 that prevents minorities from using their languages in dealing with state administration and public institutions. Intervention in language use is particularly alarming because it can lead to the effective disappearance of a language/s. I conducted a study in the largely bilingual (Slovak-Hungarian) area of southern Slovakia that explores children’s language choice in relation to television viewing and sheds light on the complexities of ethnic identities in contemporary Slovakia. The sample included Slovak, Hungarian as well as bilingual/biethnic children. The findings suggest that ethnic Hungarian children educated in Hungarian and living in monoethnic/monolingual households associate themselves more strongly with the Hungarian ethnic group than their counterparts educated, in Slovak and/or living in biethnic/bilingual households. Children, however, show awareness of both the local realities of their lives as well as larger global influences in relation to language choice as well as television programmes