Learning African-american History In A Synthetic Learning Environment

Synthetic Learning Environments (SLEs) represent a hybrid of simulations and games, and in addition to their pedagogical content, rely on elements of story and interactivity to drive engagement with the learning material. The present work examined the differential impact of varying levels of story and interactivity on learning. The 2x2 between subjects design tested learning and retention among 4 different groups of participants, each receiving one of the 4 possible combinations of low and high levels of story and interactivity. Objective assessments of participant performance yielded the unexpected finding that learners using the SLE performed more poorly than any other learning group, including the gold-standard baseline. This result is made even more surprising by the finding that participants rated their enjoyment of and performance in that condition highest among the four conditions in the experiment. This apparent example of metacognitive bias has important implications for understanding how affect, narrative structure, and interactivity impact learning tasks, particularly in synthetic learning environments

On the Validity of Metacritic in Assessing Game Value

The website Metacritic, which aggregates published reviews of various entertainment media into single “metascores,” has in recent years become highly influential in the area of video games, both with respect to consumers and industry members. This has resulted in an increase both in the attention paid to Metacritic and the level of criticism leveled at the institution. The present work examines the scientific validity of Metacritic as a measure of game quality and value, from both a qualitative and a quantitative perspective. Evidence for a strong correlational link between game sales and Metacritic metascores is presented, along with a detailed analysis of a number of threats to validity identified in the metascore production process. The present work concludes that while Metacritic suffers from a number of serious threats to validity, it remains an important tool for the industry if used correctly

Interfacility Patient Transfers During COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed-Methods Study

Introduction: The United States lacks a national interfacility patient transfer coordination system. During the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many hospitals were overwhelmed and faced difficulties transferring sick patients, leading some states and cities to form transfer centers intended to assist sending facilities. In this study we aimed to explore clinician experiences with newly implemented transfer coordination centers. Methods: This mixed-methods study used a brief national survey along with in-depth interviews. The American College of Emergency Physicians Emergency Medicine Practice Research Network (EMPRN) administered the national survey in March 2021. From September–December 2021, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with administrators and rural emergency clinicians in Arizona and New Mexico, two states that started transfer centers during COVID-19. Results: Among 141 respondents (of 765, 18.4% response rate) to the national EMPRN survey, only 30% reported implementation or expansion of a transfer coordination center during COVID-19. Those with new transfer centers reported no change in difficulty of patient transfers during COVID-19 while those without had increased difficulty. The 17 qualitative interviews expanded upon this, revealing four major themes: 1) limited resources for facilitating transfers even before COVID-19; 2) increased number of and distance to transfer partners during the COVID-19 pandemic; 3) generally positive impacts of transfer centers on workflow, and 4) the potential for continued use of centers to facilitate transfers. Conclusion: Transfer centers may have offset pandemic-related transfer challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinicians who frequently need to transfer patients may particularly benefit from ongoing access to such transfer coordination services

Evaluating the pediatric mental health care continuum at an American health system

OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in the pediatric mental health care continuum and identify potential gaps in care coordination. METHODS: We used electronic medical record data from October 2016 to September 2019 to characterize the prevalence of mental health issues in the pediatric population at a large American health system. This was a single institution case study. From the electronic medical record data, primary mental health discharge and readmission diagnoses were identified using RESULTS: Major depressive disorder and other mood disorders comprised 49.6% and 89.4% of diagnoses in the emergency department and inpatient settings respectively compared to 9.0% of ambulatory care diagnoses and were among top reasons for readmission. Additionally, only 1% of all ambulatory care encounters had a care navigation component, whereas 86% of care navigation encounters were for mental health-associated reasons. CONCLUSIONS: Major depressive disorder and other mood disorders were more common diagnoses in the emergency department and inpatient settings, which could signal gaps in care coordination. Bridging potential gaps in care coordination could reduce emergency department and inpatient utilization through increasing ambulatory care navigation resources, improving training, and restructuring financial incentives to facilitate ambulatory care diagnosis and management of major depressive disorder and mood disorders. Furthermore, health systems can use our descriptive analytic approach to serve as a reasonable measure of the current state of pediatric mental health care in their own patient population

Supporting Decision-Making in the Battlefield: Utility of Multimedia Information Transmission

In the theatre of war, environmental and workload factors (e.g., noise, time pressure) may dramatically overburden operator\u27s cognitive processes. Well designed multimedia technology can successfully minimize both intrinsic (working memory capacity) and extrinsic (inefficient use of information) sources of cognitive load, thereby facilitating the decision-making process. These positive mediating effects of multimedia technology can occur during three distinct phases of human information processing: 1) during sensorial information acquisition, by filtering out unnecessary environmental noise and transferring information via context-dependent modalities; 2) during decision-making, by making critical task-relevant cues more salient; and 3) following response execution, by providing necessary feedback to effectively evaluate the appropriateness of the decision taken. After analyzing the dramatic events that led to many US soldier casualties in a Somali rescue mission, this paper will propose a set of recommendations to help future task forces in urban environments, and to specify the greater goal of multimedia use on the battlefield

Sustainability of a Culturally Informed Community-Based Diabetes Prevention Program for Obese Latino Youth

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.Latino youth are disproportionately impacted by obesity and type 2 diabetes; however, few lifestyle interventions have targeted this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a culturally informed lifestyle education pilot program on nutrition and physical activity behaviors among obese Latino youth. A retrospective chart review of 67 youths was conducted with self-reported nutrition and physical activity assessed both immediately following the program and after long-term follow-up. Body mass index (BMI) was evaluated to determine the impact of behavior changes on adiposity. Healthy nutrition and physical activity changes were reported by 20%-59% of youths immediately following the program. However, most of these changes were attenuated over the 261 ± 49 day follow-up with reported walking (25.4%) and sports participation (34.3%) sustained to a greater extent than dietary changes (3.4–14.9%). Nonetheless, children who continued walking at follow-up exhibited significantly larger reductions in BMI compared with those who did not (-1.63 ± 0.56 vs. 0.44 ± 0.30 kg/m2, P < .05). Based on our pilot study, we conclude that community-based lifestyle education programs can support behavior modification and weight management 5 in obese Latino youth. Ongoing support may be necessary to encourageThis item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2012 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at [email protected]