Using Gamification to Motivate Students with Dyslexia

The concept of gamification is receiving increasing attention, particularly for its potential to motivate students. However, to date the majority of studies in the context of education have predominantly focused on University students. This paper explores how gamification could potentially benefit a specific student population, children with dyslexia who are transitioning from primary to secondary school. Two teachers from specialist dyslexia teaching centres used classDojo, a gamification platform, during their teaching sessions for one term. We detail how the teachers appropriated the platform in different ways and how the students discussed classDojo in terms of motivation. These findings have subsequently informed a set of provisional implications for gamification distilling opportunities for future pedagogical uses, gamification design for special education and methodological approaches to how gamification is studied

Teaching in the Middle Grades Today: Examining Teachers’ Beliefs About Middle Grades Teaching

Since the beginning of the middle school movement in the mid-1960s, middle level advocates have called for a school experience for young adolescents grounded in adolescent development that engages students in meaningful learning (Eichhorn, 1966; Alexander & Williams, 1965). The aim of this exploratory multi-case study was to understand middle level teachers’ beliefs about middle level instruction in the current educational environment. To gain this understanding, researchers asked ten current middle grades teachers with varying levels of experience to discuss their beliefs regarding their primary purpose as a middle grades teacher, the current status of middle level teaching, their best and worst instructional lessons, and their perceived barriers to teaching at the middle level. The teachers described the role of teaching in the middle grades as challenging and stressful, but of great importance. In general, they described instruction that included discovery, student engagement, and relevance in an effort to address students’ academic development. There was minimal mention of the non-academic aspects of adolescent development. Finally, teachers viewed curriculum restrictions, students’ attitudes toward learning, difficulty with differentiation, and lack of technology as significant barriers to their success in the classroom

Black Holes and Vacuum Cleaners: Using Metaphor, Relevance, and Inquiry in Labels for Space Images

This study extended research on the development of explanatory labels for astronomical images for the non-expert lay public. The research questions addressed how labels with leading questions/metaphors and relevance to everyday life affect comprehension of the intended message for deep space images, the desire to learn more, and the aesthetic appreciation of images. Participants were a convenience sample of 1,921 respondents solicited from a variety of websites and through social media who completed an online survey that used four high-resolution images as stimuli: Sagittarius A*, Solar Flare, Cassiopeia A, and the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). Participants were randomly assigned initially to 1 of 3 label conditions: the standard label originally written for the image, a label with a leading question containing a metaphor related to the information for the image, or a label that contained a fact about the image relevant to everyday life. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 image and compared all labels for that image. Open-ended items at various points asked participants to pose questions to a hypothetical astronomer. Main findings were that the relevance condition was significantly more likely to increase wanting to learn more; the original label was most likely to increase overall appreciation; and, smart phone users were more likely to want to learn more and report increased levels of appreciation. Results are discussed in terms of the need to examine individual viewer characteristics and goals in creating different labels for different audiences.Comment: 50 pages, 7 tables, 2 figures, accepted by the journal "Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

Design of teacher assistance tools in an exploratory learning environment for algebraic generalisation

The MiGen project is designing and developing an intelligent exploratory environment to support 11-14 year-old students in their learning of algebraic generalisation. Deployed within the classroom, the system also provides tools to assist teachers in monitoring students' activities and progress. This paper describes the architectural design of these Teacher Assistance tools and gives a detailed description of one such tool, focussing in particular on the research challenges faced, and the technologies and approaches chosen to implement the necessary functionalities given the context of the project

Digital games, cognitive skills, and motivation: : children’s perception in the school context

In addition to entertainment, games have been recognized as enhancers of cognition and associated with increased motivation in the school learning context. The possibility of immersion and active player participation is considered a distinguished aspects of game design. Therefore, this study proposed the application of Brain School’s digital games using tablets during a school year, with weekly interventions of 50 minutes in a class of the second year of elementary school. Twenty-five students were analyzed with an average of eight years old. At the end of the interventions, the evaluation was carried out through individual interviews. The results revealed that most of children felt motivated to participate in the games activities. However, there was no association between level of motivation and cognitive skills investigated (attention and problem solving), nor between preferred games and cognitive skills trained. However, qualitative data showed that children liked using games and acknowledged that the activity contributed with the exercise of their abilities. In general, this research contributed to reinforcing the importance of the diversification of methodological strategies which include the use of digital games in education

Mathematics Play, Problem Solving, and Perseverence

The research presented in this article focuses on the effect of student use of problem solving apps on a tablet PC either prior to (motivation) or immediately after (reward) a classroom assessment. The classroom teacher developed the assessment. Continued practice throughout the school year is measured by collecting d ata on benchmark testing completed by fifth grade students in the fall, winter, and spring administrations. The team of the researcher and classroom teacher wanted to study the effect of using tablet computers in the fourth and fifth grade classrooms. Spec ifically, they wanted the answer to “Does using problem solving apps either as a motivator or reward help students perform differently on classroom assessments and high stakes tests?” This is an important question to answer for student development and the yearly evaluation of the classroom teacher.The two variable groups for the analysis includes the Pretest scaled score and the Posttest scaled score. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if using the problem solving apps helped the students throug hout the year with the three administrations of the benchmark testing. Scores for the fall administration represent the Pretest score (PreScale) and the Posttest score (PostScale) were gathered using the spring administration.Descriptive statistics on the two variables show that the posttest score has a much larger standard deviation. However, the difference does not show it as statistically significantly different. The pairedt test showed a calculated test statistic value of 0.000. The use of p=0.05 indi cates a rejection of the null hypothesis.The paired sample correlation values concurred with a statistically significantly difference. The correlation value of 0.691 indicates a significance of probability at 0.000. Since the variable change is a positive correlation value, then it is a direct correlation. The correlation value indicates a strong relationship between the variables

2010 Bright Ideas Conference Program

Event program for the 2010 Bright Ideas Conference at SFASU

Usage of ICT in Public Schools in Toyama, Japan?A Regional Analysis of ICT Resources Used in Classrooms from the Perspective of Teachers

This study analyzes the pedagogical use of information and communication technology (ICT) resources by teachers in public schools in Toyama, Japan. The main results demonstrated a positive impact of the use of ICT and the Internet. Furthermore, it was found that ICT is significantly beneficial for student motivation. In addition, the use of ICT improves capacity building in students. However, due to a lack of training and equipment in schools, teachers face various problems when using ICT. Therefore, the implementation of ICT in schools in Toyama has been well developed, but there are aspects that still need to be improved to reach an effective integration of ICT

Introducing Tablets to the Classroom: A School Improvement Plan

At a privately owned, fee-paying, international school in Cambodia, parents believe that their children are receiving the best possible education. The school advertises that it uses cutting-edge technology, however, in the primary school this technology is restricted to an out-of-date computer lab. The students at this school are not able to utilize mobile devices, such as tablets, to assist with their learning. The lack of devices has hampered student achievement, especially in the area of the technology skills required for the 21st century. This school improvement plan aims to change the way students at the school learn. This plan will be accomplished by first creating the role of a technology coordinator who will then train the staff on using tablet devices to aid student learning and then obtaining the devices. Several options for how to obtain devices are discussed. The literature review focuses on the academic benefits of using mobile technology in the classroom as well as the benefits the tablets have on student motivation and the classroom atmosphere