Teaching systems thinking through game design

In this mixed-methods study, we examined if students benefitted from a game design course offered during an enrichment hour in terms of gains in their system analysis and design skills. Students at a rural middle school in Southeast US (n = 19) attended a 1-hour game design course offered weekly during an academic enrichment class period, for the duration of a school year, learning basics of digital game-design and practicing system design skills such as making flowcharts. The results of quasi-experimental data indicated that the treatment group’s pretest–posttest system analysis and design skills, compared to the control group, which did not receive any training, further improved, F(1,33) = 16.516, p \u3c 0.001. Results from the interviews showed that the participants were able to verbalize how they applied system analysis and design skills developed during the course to problem-solving in different contexts. We discussed the instructional aspects of learning game-design that align with systems thinking. We also explored the possible influence of initial cognitive skills on student learning outcomes from such interventions

Demographic and clinical characteristics of primary glomerular diseases in Turkey

Background: The aim of our study was to delineate the demographic and clinical properties of primary glomerular diseases of adult population in our country in the light of global knowledge. Methods: All over the country, a total of 25 centers entered data between May 2009 and July 2012 to the database created by ‘Glomerulonephritis Study Group’ of Turkish Society of Nephrology. Demographic and clinical characteristics, specific diagnoses of glomerular diseases and biopsy findings recorded to the database were analyzed. Results: Among the 1,274 patients, who had renal biopsy within the defined time period, 55 % were male and 45 % were female. The mean age was 40.8 ± 14.6 years. The most frequent indication for biopsy was nephrotic syndrome (57.8 %), followed by nephritic syndrome including rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (16.6 %) and asymptomatic urinary abnormalities (10.8 %). The most frequent primary glomerular disease was membranous nephropathy (28.8 %), followed by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (19.3 %) and IgA nephropathy (17.2 %). Conclusion: The presented study displayed important data about the epidemiology of primary glomerular diseases among adults in our country. The predominance of membranous nephropathy in contrast to other countries, in which the most frequent etiology is IgA nephropathy, seems to be due to differences in the indications for renal biopsy. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Entering Their World: Using Social Media to Support Students in Modern Times

Modern technology-rich environments provide a variety of tools with various types of capabilities that can support student success at the tertiary level. While university-supported learning platforms such as Moodle typically support this academic purpose, social networking sites such as Facebook can also be used within university studies to support student success. One cohort of students and their academic mentor at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in New South Wales, Australia were connected together through a Facebook group. The aim of this Facebook group was to provide support to a group of students transitioning into university study, and into a Bachelor of Primary Education (BPrimEd) degree after successfully completing one full year of university study. Using free access social media software rather than a prescribed licensed program for this purpose provided a platform on which the cohort could access support from their peers and university staff, and generate a community of learners. This chapter details a \u27Students as Partners in Research\u27 project that investigated how the Bachelor of Social Sciences: Education for Change (BSSE4C) Facebook group was used by its members to support and encourage the cohort through their first year of university studies, and support their journey into a BPrimEd degree. It has been co-authored by some of the students and university academics involved, and reflects our collective work on this project