Designing a 3D serious game about career pathways in the games industry

The aim of this paper is to give a detailed overview of the development of a 3D serious game that informs game students about career pathways in the games industry. The paper provides a scoping review on the key principles related to serious game design. These core design issues are reiterated in relation to how the development of the game has adhered to them. The paper illustrates the game’s audit trail in terms of implementation providing a development blueprint for other educators to follow when developing an educational game. The learning outcomes of the game are also accentuated and how the implementation of the game has catered for them. An important aspect of the paper is to highlight how the underlying aspects of game design can accommodate intrinsic content and motivation whilst accommodating the various pedagogical frameworks embedded in the gameplay. The characterising goals of the game have adopted a linear and cyclical approach that allows the player to progress through the gameplay completing formative and summative assessment challenges. The serious game was developed using the Unity game engine adopting a hub and spoke design. A key challenge when designing the game was how to ensure that the game remained endogenous when designing the game’s levels. The design considerations presented in this paper provide a solid implementational framework about how to implement principles of learning and assessment associated with employability skill sets with a specific focus to the games industry

Pupils’ views on visual timetables and labels in mainstream primary classrooms

Marion Rutherford - ORCID 0000-0002-2283-6736 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2283-6736The use of visual timetables and other visual supports such as labelling materials, places and people with words, symbols and/or photos has been advocated by many to enhance communication and understanding, particularly for children with special educational needs. These are used by staff in mainstream and special settings, and parents and carers also often develop these for use at home. A number of studies have been conducted to explore the value of these from the perspective of the adults who implement them but few studies have sought to obtain the children’s views. In this paper, the authors who work at Queen Margaret University, (MR); within the NHS Lothian Speech and Language Therapy Department (MR); within the Additional Support for Learning Service (JB & LJ) in Edinburgh; and at the University of Edinburgh (BLK & KC) report on a study they conducted to gain the views of 109 pupils with (36) and without additional support needs (73) attending two mainstream primary schools. They conclude that most pupils in both groups found these useful but that they could be more involved in deciding how these were implemented and updated.https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/bild/gap/2020/00000021/00000002/art0000321pubpub

Children's body mass index, participation in school meals, and observed energy intake at school meals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Data from a dietary-reporting validation study with fourth-grade children were analyzed to investigate a possible relationship of body mass index (BMI) with daily participation in school meals and observed energy intake at school meals, and whether the relationships differed by breakfast location (classroom; cafeteria).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected in 17, 17, and 8 schools during three school years. For the three years, six, six, and seven of the schools had breakfast in the classroom; all other schools had breakfast in the cafeteria. Information about 180 days of school breakfast and school lunch participation during fourth grade for each of 1,571 children (90% Black; 53% girls) was available in electronic administrative records from the school district. Children were weighed and measured, and BMI was calculated. Each of a subset of 465 children (95% Black; 49% girls) was observed eating school breakfast and school lunch on the same day. Mixed-effects regression was conducted with BMI as the dependent variable and school as the random effect; independent variables were breakfast participation, lunch participation, combined participation (breakfast and lunch on the same day), average observed energy intake for breakfast, average observed energy intake for lunch, sex, age, breakfast location, and school year. Analyses were repeated for BMI category (underweight/healthy weight; overweight; obese; severely obese) using pooled ordered logistic regression models that excluded sex and age.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Breakfast participation, lunch participation, and combined participation were not significantly associated with BMI or BMI category irrespective of whether the model included observed energy intake at school meals. Observed energy intake at school meals was significantly and positively associated with BMI and BMI category. For the total sample and subset, breakfast location was significantly associated with BMI; average BMI was larger for children with breakfast in the classroom than in the cafeteria. Significantly more kilocalories were observed eaten at breakfast in the classroom than in the cafeteria.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>For fourth-grade children, results provide evidence of a positive relationship between BMI and observed energy intake at school meals, and between BMI and school breakfast in the classroom; however, BMI and participation in school meals were not significantly associated.</p

How accurate are parental responses concerning their fourth-grade children's school-meal participation, and what is the relationship between children's body mass index and school-meal participation based on parental responses?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This article investigated (1) parental response accuracy of fourth-grade children's school-meal participation and whether accuracy differed by children's body mass index (BMI), sex, and race, and (2) the relationship between BMI and school-meal participation (based on parental responses).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were from four cross-sectional studies conducted from fall 1999 to spring 2003 with fourth-grade children from 13 schools total. Consent forms asked parents to report children's usual school-meal participation. As two studies' consent forms did not ask about lunch participation, complete data were available for breakfast on 1,496 children (51% Black; 49% boys) and for lunch on 785 children (46% Black; 48% boys). Researchers compiled nametag records (during meal observations) of meal participation on randomly selected days during children's fourth-grade school year for breakfast (average nametag days across studies: 7-35) and for lunch (average nametag days across studies: 4-10) and categorized participation as "usually" (≥ 50% of days) or "not usually" (< 50% of days). Weight and height were measured. Concerning parental response accuracy, marginal regression was used with agreement between parental responses and nametag records as the dependent variable; independent variables were BMI, age, sex, race, and study. Concerning a relationship between BMI and school-meal participation, marginal regression was used with BMI as the dependent variable; independent variables were breakfast participation, lunch participation, age, sex, race, and study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Concerning breakfast participation and lunch participation, 74% and 92% of parents provided accurate responses, respectively. Parental response accuracy was better for older children for breakfast and lunch participation, and for Black than White children for lunch participation. Usual school-meal participation was significantly related to children's BMI but in opposite directions -- positively for breakfast and inversely for lunch.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Parental response accuracy of children's school-meal participation was moderately high; however, disparate effects for children's age and race warrant caution when relying on parental responses. The BMI results, which showed a relationship between school-meal participation (based on parental responses) and childhood obesity, conflict with results from a recent article that used data from the same four studies and found no significant relationship when participation was based on nametag records compiled for meal observations.</p

Jefferson Postpartum Oxytocin Protocol Standardization

Aims for Improvement We aimed to reduce the variation and subsequent waste of postpartum oxytocin by standardizing the concentration available across the three maternity hospitals within the hospital enterprise system

Piloting a Home Visual Support Intervention with Families of Autistic Children and Children with Related Needs Aged 0–12

Marion Rutherford - ORCID: 0000-0002-2283-6736 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2283-6736 Donald Maciver - ORCID: 0000-0002-6173-429X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6173-429XVisual supports are an important intervention for autistic individuals and others with neurodevelopmental differences. However, families often report limited access to visual supports and lack of information and confidence in their use at home. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a home-based visual supports intervention. Methods: 29 families with children (n = 20 males; mean age 6.59 years [Range 3.64–12.21 years SD 2.57]) receiving support for autism or related needs participated in the study. Parents engaged in an individualised assessment and intervention process through home visits, completing pre- and post-measures. Qualitative methods were used to explore the parents’ experiences of the intervention. Results: The intervention led to a statistically significant improvement in parent-reported quality of life (t28 = 3.09, p = 0.005) and parent-reported perception of autism-specific difficulties (t28 = 2.99, p = 0.006). Parents also reported improved access to resources and relevant information and increased confidence in using visual supports at home. The home visit model was strongly supported by the parents. Conclusion: The results provide initial evidence of the acceptability, practicality, and utility of the home-based visual supports intervention. These findings suggest that outreach into the family home may be a beneficial mechanism for delivering interventions related to visual supports. This study highlights the potential of home-based interventions to improve access to resources and information for families and the importance of visual supports in the home setting.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2005440120pubpub

Visual supports at home and in the community for individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A scoping review

Marion Rutherford - ORCID 0000-0002-2283-6736 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2283-6736Published in Association with The National Autistic SocietyVisual supports are recommended in autism spectrum disorder clinical guidelines. They can reduce anxiety, increase predictability, support communication and improve participation. They are implemented regularly in schools but evidence about home visual supports is limited. This paper reports results of a scoping literature review, alongside qualitative evaluation with parents and professionals. We report findings from 34 studies, identifying 4 categories of visual support and heterogeneity in participant characteristics, intervention methods, environments and outcome measures. Qualitative data from questionnaires (n=101) and focus groups generated key themes about home visual supports, through thematic analysis: 1) Access 2) Participation focussed 3) Individualisation 4) Teaching methods 5) Consistency 6) Information and Training. We propose consensus with terminology and implications for practice and research.https://doi.org/10.1177/136236131987175624pubpub

Interactions between anti-EGFR therapies and cytotoxic chemotherapy in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: why clinical trials might have failed and how they could succeed

Acknowledgements We thank Alice Savage for technical laboratory assistance. Funding The work undertaken was funded by Ninewells Cancer Campaign (Dundee) and Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (Grant reference TCS/19/18).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Stepwise Implementation of Vaginal Cleansing and Azithromycin at Cesarean Delivery to Decrease Postoperative Infections; A Quality Improvement Study

Aims for Improvement We aimed to decrease our SSI rate by 30% by sequential implementation of vaginal cleaning1,2 and azithromycin3 for women who underwent a CD after having labored or experienced rupture of membranes