Development of systems and techniques for landing an aircraft using onboard television

A flight program was conducted to develop a landing technique with which a pilot could consistently and safely land a remotely piloted research vehicle (RPRV) without outside visual reference except through television. Otherwise, instrumentation was standard. Such factors as the selection of video parameters, the pilot's understanding of the television presentation, the pilot's ground cockpit environment, and the operational procedures for landing were considered. About 30 landings were necessary for a pilot to become sufficiently familiar and competent with the test aircraft to make powered approaches and landings with outside visual references only through television. When steep approaches and landings were made by remote control, the pilot's workload was extremely high. The test aircraft was used as a simulator for the F-15 RPRV, and as such was considered to be essential to the success of landing the F-15 RPRV

Learning the game: Breakdowns, breakthroughs and player strategies

Digital games are rich learning environments that require players to engage with challenging situations in order to progress. Recent research indicates that game-play involves overcoming breakdowns and achieving breakthroughs in relation to player action, understanding and involvement. In particular, breakthroughs involve moments of insight where learning occurs which, in turn, can help increase involvement. However, little is known about how players actually achieve breakthroughs. We applied the breakdown/breakthrough “lens” to explore how players attempt to achieve breakthroughs in relation to two single player games. We identified a finite number of strategies that illustrate how players learn in games. These strategies are considered in relation to producing playable and engaging games

The Value of Literacy Practices

The concepts of literacy events and practices have received considerable attention in educational research and policy. In comparison, the question of value, that is, ‘which literacy practices do people most value?’ has been neglected. With the current trend of cross-cultural adult literacy assessment, it is increasingly important to recognise locally valued literacy practices. In this paper we argue that measuring preferences and weighting of literacy practices provides an empirical and democratic basis for decisions in literacy assessment and curriculum development and could inform rapid educational adaptation to changes in the literacy environment. The paper examines the methodological basis for investigating literacy values and its potential to inform cross-cultural literacy assessments. The argument is illustrated with primary data from Mozambique. The correlation between individual values and respondents’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics is explored

Endogenous fantasy and learning in digital games.

Many people believe that educational games are effective because they motivate children to actively engage in a learning activity as part of playing the game. However, seminal work by Malone (1981), exploring the motivational aspects of digital games, concluded that the educational effectiveness of a digital game depends on the way in which learning content is integrated into the fantasy context of the game. In particular, he claimed that content which is intrinsically related to the fantasy will produce better learning than that which is merely extrinsically related. However, this distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic (or endogenous and exogenous) fantasy is a concept that has developed a confused standing over the following years. This paper will address this confusion by providing a review and critique of the empirical and theoretical foundations of endogenous fantasy, and its relevance to creating educational digital games. Substantial concerns are raised about the empirical basis of this work and a theoretical critique of endogenous fantasy is offered, concluding that endogenous fantasy is a misnomer, in so far as the "integral and continuing relationship" of fantasy cannot be justified as a critical means of improving the effectiveness of educational digital games. An alternative perspective on the intrinsic integration of learning content is described, incorporating game mechanics, flow and representations

Developing music teacher identities: an international multi-site study

This study investigates pre-service music teacher’s (PSMT) perceptions of their professional identities. University-level education students in the United States America (USA), Spain and Australia were all asked interview questions based on general themes relevant to teacher identity development, and their responses were subjected to content analysis. Similarities were found in their perceptions of the role of ‘music teacher’ and their pre-university experiences/influences. Across the sites it seems that there was a dynamic and shifting relationship between PSMTs’ understandings of themselves as ‘musicians’ or as ‘teachers’ during their university years. This study confirms previous research in the area and contributes to the field in its discovery that these themes are found across three international sites. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research and practice

The gaming involvement and informal learning framework

Aim. This article presents a model of how gaming involvement and informal learning come together in practice. Method. Based on a series of interviews, case studies, and a wider survey, the Gaming Involvement and Informal Learning (GIIL) framework indicates how involvement with a variety of gaming practices can lead to a range of different learning experiences. Results. The framework is able to account for both how and what people learn from gaming while also highlighting the influence of player identity. Further, the iterative relationship between identity, involvement, and learning is emphasized: The more strongly someone identifies themselves as a gamer, the greater their micro- and macro-level involvement and the more likely they are to learn from their gaming experiences. Conclusion. The implications of the findings are discussed with regard to informal and formal learning

Does Positronium Form in the Universe ?

Positronium (the bound state of electron and positron) has been thought to be formed after proton decay ($>10^{34}$yr) through collisional recombination and then decays by pair annihilation, thereby changing the matter content of the universe. We revisit the issue of the formation of positronium in the long-term future of the universe in light of recent indication that the universe is dominated by dark energy and dark matter. We find that if the equation of state of dark energy $w$ is less than -1/3 (including the cosmological constant $w=-1$), then the formation of positronium would not be possible, while it is possible through bound-bound transitions for -1/3\siml w\siml-0.2, or through collisional recombination for w\simg-0.2. The radiation from \epm pair annihilation cannot dominate over \epm, while that from proton decay will dominate over baryon and \epm for a while but not over dark matter.Comment: 13 pages, to appear in JCA

Beyond deficit-based models of learners' cognition: Interpreting engineering students' difficulties with sense-making in terms of fine-grained epistemological and conceptual dynamics

Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students' troubles with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as epistemology: students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder them from activating and integrating productive knowledge they have. In this case study of an engineering major solving problems (about content from his introductory physics course) during a clinical interview, we show that "Jim" has all the mathematical and conceptual knowledge he would need to solve a hydrostatic pressure problem that we posed to him. But he reaches and sticks with an incorrect answer that violates common sense. We argue that his lack of mathematical sense-making-specifically, translating and reconciling between mathematical and everyday/common-sense reasoning-stems in part from his epistemological views, i.e., his views about the nature of knowledge and learning. He regards mathematical equations as much more trustworthy than everyday reasoning, and he does not view mathematical equations as expressing meaning that tractably connects to common sense. For these reasons, he does not view reconciling between common sense and mathematical formalism as either necessary or plausible to accomplish. We, however, avoid a potential "deficit trap"-substituting an epistemological deficit for a concepts/skills deficit-by incorporating multiple, context-dependent epistemological stances into Jim's cognitive dynamics. We argue that Jim's epistemological stance contains productive seeds that instructors could build upon to support Jim's mathematical sense-making: He does see common-sense as connected to formalism (though not always tractably so) and in some circumstances this connection is both salient and valued.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Engineering Educatio