Technology-Enhanced Teaching: A Technology Acceptance Model to Study Teachers’ Intentions to Use Digital Games in the Classroom

This research to practice paper uses a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the factors that affect teachers’ intentions to use digital educational games in the classroom. Research shows that using computers and other digital technologies like digital games is one way to influence young people’s career aspirations and improve their digital literacy. This is particularly important as the world of work is changing and emerging jobs becoming more intensive in their use of digital technologies. In the developing world and in particular Nigeria, there have been calls to improve the digital literacy skills of young people to help them make informed career choices, and fully participate effectively and equally in the digital world. However, many of the computing and digital technology education initiatives have not produced the positive results intended. The lack of awareness, readiness and buy-in of the relevant stakeholders are some of the factors that has been identified as a barrier here. For example, for computing and digital technology-based projects in schools, the success largely depends on the support and attitude of teachers. As one of the major stakeholders in the classroom, teachers need to be consulted in decisions that affect the way they deliver their lessons; especially when novel ideas and approaches that challenge tradition are introduced. It is therefore important to consider their acceptance or otherwise of digital games in the classroom. A Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was modified to include constructs previously identified by teachers that potentially influence their intention to use digital games in the classroom. The extended TAM was developed into a questionnaire and tested with 220 teachers in Nigeria. Analyses of the results show that syllabus connectedness, perceived usefulness and self-efficacy are significant predictors of the intention of teachers to adoptdigital game-based learning in the classroom. Furthermore, the teachers' demographics including experience of teaching, age and gender all mediated the intention of the teachers to use digital game-based learning. The results and findings present recommendations for school leaders and developers of digital educational games. The practical insights from this are also important here and helpful for guiding the deployment of such games particularly in areas where such technological interventions have not been used before

Breaking Barriers: Racism @ Iowa State

Let’s take a stride through the stained history of America together. Imagine skipping through your last history textbook—the cover is hard and thick, a little worn on the edges and the thin plastic casing is engraved with scratches and marks from past owners. The books are worn because of the idealism behind learning history—that those who learn history will not repeat it

Spice Up Your Pregame

Pregame getting a little stale? Fear no more, we’ve compiled a list of drinking activities more exciting than the classic fall-back Ring of Fire to amp up your weekend (or week) nights

Cost-effectiveness of biennial screening for diabetes related retinopathy in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes compared to annual screening

Objective: Examine the health and economic impact of extending screening intervals in people with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) without diabetes related retinopathy (DR).Setting: Diabetic Eye Screening Wales (DESW)Study design: Retrospective observational study with cost utility analysis (CUA) and Decremental Cost Effectiveness Ratios (DCER) study.Intervention: Biennial screening versus usual care (annual screening). Inputs: Anonymised data from DESW were linked to primary care data for people with two prior screening events with no DR. Transition probabilities for progression to DR were estimated based on a subset of 26,812 and 1,232 people with T2DM and T1DM, respectively. DCER above £20,000 per QALY was considered cost-effective.Results: The base case analysis DCER results of £71,243 and £23,446 per QALY for T2DM and T1DM respectively at a 3.5% discount rate and £56,822 and £14,221 respectively when discounted at 1.5% . Diabetes management represented by the mean HbA1c was 7.5% for those with T2DM and 8.7% for T1DM.Sensitivity analysis: Extending screening to biennial based on HbA1c, being the strongest predictor of progression of DR, at three levels of HbA1c 6.5%, 8.0% and 9.5% lost one QALY saving the NHS £106,075; £58,653 and £31,626 respectively for T2DM and £94,696, £37,646 and £11,089 respectively for T1DM. In addition, extending screening to biennial based on duration of diabetes >6 years for T2DM per QALY lost, saving the NHS £54,106 and for 6-12 and >12 years for T1DM saving £83,856, £23,446 and £13,340 respectively. Conclusions: Base case and sensitivity analyses indicates biennial screening to be cost-effective for T2DM irrespective of HbA1c and duration of diabetes. However, the uncertainty around the DCER indicates that annual screening should be maintained for those with T1DM especially when the HbA1c exceeds 80 mmol/mol (9.5%) and duration of diabetes is greater than 12 years

Innovation and Collaboration: Creating a Transdisciplinary Childhood Obesity Prevention Graduate Certificate Program

Preparing future professionals to work in transdisciplinary settings with a skill set to effectively foster collaborations and sustainable change requires a thoughtful and concerted interprofessional educational approach. Through an inter-university partnership in 2010 with name of university and the name of university, a group of faculty convened to propose the Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention (TOP) graduate certificate program. With funding supported by a United States (US) Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant in 2011, a team of faculty from name of university and name of university representing various disciplines (exercise science, nutrition, dietetics, health promotion, public health, nursing, early childhood education, family and consumer sciences, biology, biostatistics, and counseling) began developing the TOP graduate certificate program which is currently in its 5th year. The primary goal of this report is to outline the overall framework and components of the TOP graduate certificate program, providing information, strategies and considerations other institutions can apply in developing effective and sustainable transdisciplinary, interprofessional education to their existing graduate programs

Innovation and Collaboration: Creating a Transdisciplinary Childhood Obesity Prevention (TOP) Graduate Certificate Program

Preparing future professionals to work in transdisciplinary settings with a skill set to effectively foster collaborations and sustainable change requires a thoughtful and concerted interprofessional educational approach. Through an inter-university partnership in 2010 with name of university and the name of university, a group of faculty convened to propose the Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention (TOP) graduate certificate program. With funding supported by a United States (US) Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant in 2011, a team of faculty from name of university and name of university representing various disciplines (exercise science, nutrition, dietetics, health promotion, public health, nursing, early childhood education, family and consumer sciences, biology, biostatistics, and counseling) began developing the TOP graduate certificate program which is currently in its 5th year. The primary goal of this report is to outline the overall framework and components of the TOP graduate certificate program, providing information, strategies and considerations other institutions can apply in developing effective and sustainable transdisciplinary, interprofessional education to their existing graduate programs

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Science Librarian Internship as a Way to Get Started in E-Science

OBJECTIVETo demonstrate how a science librarian internship program can be used to jumpstart an e-sciences initiative in a university research library.METHODSCurrent library science students were hired, as paid interns, to work with an established Science Librarian Bibliographers Group. While the position included exposure to the wide variety of activities undertaken by science librarians, the most recent intern, arriving with a strong interest in e-Science, was also tasked with assisting in specific assignments designed to further the Library’s understanding of and participation in the area of e-Science. Specifically, the intern was asked to design a brochure about e-Science, develop a faculty survey to gauge interest in library involvement in data management, assist Science Librarians in an environmental scan/best practices review of relevant e-science initiatives, to serve as a roadmap in this area for the Boston College Libraries, and, finally, to further the education of all library staff with a presentation on e-Science.RESULTSBuilding upon the intern’s extensive literature review, draft brochure and PowerPoint presentation/synthesis, the Science Bibliographers’ Group has continued work on next steps in e-Science, with the development of a Vision Statement and Action Plans, as well as draft faculty/student/staff survey. The intern was exposed to a wide variety of typical science librarian job functions.CONCLUSIONSAn internship program can provide current knowledge and skills to educate and support a university research library through the early learning stage of developing an e-Sciences program, while simultaneously providing a valuable hands-on learning experience for a potential science librarian

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