Does Gamified Educational Systems Change Students’ Learning Behaviors? A Case Study with Postgraduate Students

In the last few years, gamification studies have increased in the field of education and digital technologies, showing different results on the use of gamified educational systems in relation to students’ learning aspects. These studies, however, often keep the focus on quantitative or qualitative approaches directly related to student learning, without considering students’ perceptions of the gamification design and how the gamification design aspects of the system can influence positively the students’ behavior change. Therefore, this study compared a gamified with a non-gamified version of an educational system, through a mixed (quantitative and qualitative) approach to identify if gamified educational systems are better than non-gamified educational systems to provide positive students’ learning behavior change. The results confirmed that the gamified educational system was more effective than the non-gamified system

Does Tailoring Gamified Educational Systems Matter? The Impact on Students\u27 Flow Experience

Recent research has shown that using gamification can prone to impact negatively on the motivation of students in educational systems. One of the reasons is that people are motivated or demotivated by different gamification elements according to their gamer type . Thus, one of the main challenges in this field is to tailor gamified educational systems based on the students\u27 gamer type and investigate if this kind of system presents better results than the counter-tailored gamified educational systems. This paper aims to investigate the effects of a tailored gamified educational system based on gamer type in terms of students\u27 flow experience. We conducted an experiment with 121 Brazilian elementary school students comparing a tailored version against a counter-tailored version of a gamified educational system in terms of students\u27 flow experience. The main results indicate that there is no significant difference in terms of students\u27 flow experience, surprising and contradicting recent important studies in this field

Planning gamification strategies based on user characteristics and DM : a gender-based case study.

Gamification frameworks can aid in gamification planning for education. Most frameworks, however, do not provide ways to select, relate or recommend how to use game elements, to gamify a certain educational task. Instead, most provide a "one-size-fits-all" approach covering all learners, without considering different user characteristics, such as gender. Therefore, this work aims to adopt a data-driven approach to provide a set of game element recommendations, based on user preferences, that could be used by teachers and instructors to gamify learning activities. We analysed data from a novel survey of 733 people (male=569 and female=164), collecting information about user preferences regarding game elements. Our results suggest that the most important rules were based on four (out of nineteen) types of game elements: Objectives, Levels, Progress and Choice. From the perspective of user gender, for the female sample, the most interesting rule associated Objectives with Progress, Badges and Information (confidence=0.97), whilst the most interesting rule for the male sample associated also Objectives with Progress, Renovation and Choice (confidence=0.94). These rules and our descriptive analysis provides recommendations on how game elements can be used in educational scenarios.Comment: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UI28N2UtrOfL06k2mzHIUdPcgQtdfmy9/view?usp=sharin

Analysing Gamification Elements in Educational Environments Using an Existing Gamification Taxonomy

Gamification has been widely employed in the educational domain over the past eight years when the term became a trend. However, the literature states that gamification still lacks formal definitions to support the design and analysis of gamified strategies. This paper analysed the game elements employed in gamified learning environments through a previously proposed and evaluated taxonomy while detailing and expanding this taxonomy. In the current paper, we describe our taxonomy in-depth as well as expand it. Our new structured results demonstrate an extension of the proposed taxonomy which results from this process, is divided into five dimensions, related to the learner and the learning environment. Our main contribution is the detailed taxonomy that can be used to design and evaluate gamification design in learning environments

The cyclic interaction between daytime behavior and the sleep behavior of laboratory dogs

Sleep deprivation has been found to negatively affect an individual´s physical and psychological health. Sleep loss affects activity patterns, increases anxiety-like behaviors, decreases cognitive performance and is associated with depressive states. The activity/rest cycle of dogs has been investigated before, but little is known about the effects of sleep loss on the behavior of the species. Dogs are polyphasic sleepers, meaning the behavior is most observed at night, but bouts are also present during the day. However, sleep can vary with ecological and biological factors, such as age, sex, fitness, and even human presence. In this study, kennelled laboratory adult dogs’ sleep and diurnal behavior were recorded during 24-h, five-day assessment periods to investigate sleep quality and its effect on daily behavior. In total, 1560 h of data were analyzed, and sleep metrics and diurnal behavior were quantified. The relationship between sleeping patterns and behavior and the effect of age and sex were evaluated using non-parametric statistical tests and GLMM modelling. Dogs in our study slept substantially less than previously reported and presented a modified sleep architecture with fewer awakenings during the night and almost no sleep during the day. Sleep loss increased inactivity, decreased play and alert behaviors, while increased time spent eating during the day. Males appeared to be more affected by sleep fragmentation than females. Different age groups also experienced different effects of sleep loss. Overall, dogs appear to compensate for the lack of sleep during the night by remaining inactive during the day. With further investigations, the relationship between sleep loss and behavior has the potential to be used as a measure of animal welfare

Computação Desplugada: Um Mapeamento Sistemático da Literatura Nacional

Diante da eminente necessidade de ensinar Ciência da Computação no ensino básico e das dificuldades enfrentadas no seu processo de ensino e aprendizagem, nos últimos anos uma série de estudos têm usado uma estratégia conhecida por Computação Desplugada. No entanto, diversos questionamentos têm sido feitos, por exemplo: i) em quais níveis de ensino a Computação Desplugada tem sido trabalhada?; ii) quais atividades de Computação Desplugada têm sido implementadas?; e iii) como as pesquisas em Computação Desplugada têm sido avaliadas? No intuito de responder essas questões, esse artigo apresenta os resultados de um Mapeamento Sistemático da Literatura sobre Computação Desplugada no Brasil. Os principais resultados indicam que a maioria das abordagens baseiam-se nas atividades do livro “Computer Science Unplugged” e se concentram entre os níveis de ensino fundamental e médio, bem como, ´e notável a falta de estudos estatísticos sobre a Computação Desplugada no âmbito nacional

Frameworks para o Planejamento da Gamificação em Contextos Educacionais - Uma revisão da literatura nacional

A gamificação tem sido bastante utilizada para aumentar o engajamento e amotivação dos estudantes em contextos educacionais, ampliando o interesse por parte de professores e instrutores. No entanto, há um consenso na literatura quanto a necessidade de abordagens sistemáticas (métodos, processos e/ou frameworks) para apoiar o planejamento da gamificação, de modo que os seus efeitos benéficos sejam alcançados. A literatura identifica alguns estudos internacionais focados em analisar estas abordagens sistemáticas, no entanto, há uma carência de estudos que relatem como o Brasil tem contribuído para o processo de planejamento da gamificação. Diante disso, esse artigo tem por objetivo apresentar um mapeamento sistemático da literatura, visando identificar as abordagens sistemáticas existentes para o planejamento da gamificação em escala nacional. A partir da condução desse mapeamento, foram encontrados 18 estudos onde foram identificados: (a) uma carência no apoio automatizado para o docente; (b) uma classificação dos tipos de personalização utilizados; e (c) a quantidade de elementos de gamificação utilizados. Por meio dos resultados obtidos, foi possível identificar ainda diversos desafios e oportunidades relacionados a esta área de pesquisa

Comparison between observed children's tooth brushing habits and those reported by mothers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Information bias can occur in epidemiological studies and compromise scientific outcomes, especially when evaluating information given by a patient regarding their own health. The oral habits of children reported by their mothers are commonly used to evaluate tooth brushing practices and to estimate fluoride intake by children. The aim of the present study was to compare observed tooth-brushing habits of young children using fluoridated toothpaste with those reported by mothers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample of 201 mothers and their children (aged 24-48 months) from Montes Claros, Brazil, took part in a cross-sectional study. At day-care centres, the mothers answered a self-administered questionnaire on their child's tooth-brushing habits. The structured questionnaire had six items with two to three possible answers. An appointment was then made with each mother/child pair at day-care centres. The participants were asked to demonstrate the tooth-brushing practice as usually performed at home. A trained examiner observed and documented the procedure. Observed tooth brushing and that reported by mothers were compared for overall agreement using Cohen's Kappa coefficient and the McNemar test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cohen's Kappa values comparing mothers' reports and tooth brushing observed by the examiner ranged from poor-to-good (0.00-0.75). There were statistically significant differences between observed tooth brushing habits and those reported by mothers (p < 0.001). When observed by the examiner, the frequencies of dentifrice dispersed on all bristles (35.9%), children who brushed their teeth alone (33.8%) and those who did not rinse their mouths during brushing (42.0%) were higher than those reported by the mothers (12.1%, 18.9% and 6.5%, respectively; p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In general, there was low agreement between observed tooth brushing and mothers' reports. Moreover, the different methods of estimation resulted in differences in the frequencies of tooth brushing habits, indicative of reporting bias. Data regarding children's tooth-brushing habits as reported by mothers should be considered with caution in epidemiological surveys on fluoridated dentifrice use and the risk of dental fluorosis.</p

Mortar-based systems for externally bonded strengthening of masonry

Mortar-based composite materials appear particularly promising for use as externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) systems for masonry structures. Nevertheless, their mechanical performance, which may significantly differ from that of Fibre Reinforced Polymers, is still far from being fully investigated. Furthermore, standardized and reliable testing procedures have not been defined yet. The present paper provides an insight on experimental-related issues arising from campaigns on mortar-based EBRs carried out by laboratories in Italy, Portugal and Spain. The performance of three reinforcement systems made out of steel, carbon and basalt textiles embedded in inorganic matrices has been investigated by means of uniaxial tensile coupon testing and bond tests on brick and stone substrates. The experimental results contribute to the existing knowledge regarding the structural behaviour of mortar-based EBRs against tension and shear bond stress, and to the development of reliable test procedures aiming at their homogenization/standardization

The macroecology of phylogenetically structured hummingbird-plant networks

Aim To investigate the association between species richness, species' phylogenetic signal, insularity and historical and current climate with hummingbird-plant network structure. Location 54 communities along a c. 10,000 kilometer latitudinal gradient across the Americas (39ºN - 32ºS), ranging from sea level to c. 3700 m asl, located on the mainland and on islands, and covering a wide range of climate regimes. Methods We measured null-modeled corrected complementary specialization and bipartite modularity (compartmentalization) in networks of quantitative interactions between hummingbird and plant species. Using an ordinary least squares multi-model approach, we examined the influence of species richness, phylogenetic signal, insularity, and current and historical climate conditions on network structure. Results Phylogenetically-related species, especially plants, showed a tendency to interact with a similar array of partners. The spatial variation in network structure exhibited a constant association with species' phylogeny (R2=0.18-0.19). Species richness and environmental factors showed the strongest associations with network structure (R2=0.20-0.44; R2138 =0.32-0.45, respectively). Specifically, higher levels of complementary specialization and modularity were associated to species-rich communities and communities in which closely-related hummingbirds visited distinct sets of flowering species. On the mainland, warmer temperatures and higher historical temperature stability associated to higher levels of complementary specialization. Main conclusions Previous macroecological studies of interaction networks have highlighted the importance of environment and species richness in determining network structure. Here, for the first time, we report an association between species phylogenetic signal and network structure at macroecological scale. Specifically, null model corrected complementary specialization and modularity exhibited a positive association with species richness and a negative association with hummingbird phylogenetic signal, indicating that both high richness and high inter-specific competition among closely-related 150 hummingbirds exhibit important relationships with specialization in hummingbird-plant networks. Our results document how species richness, phylogenetic signal and climate associate with network structure in complex ways at macroecological scale