Serious games in teaching of basics of project management

Abstract. In this bachelor’s thesis, the goal is to look into how serious games are used in higher education. Serious games have been a topic on the rise. This topic is approached in the form of two research questions. How serious games have been used in higher education and How the use of serious game affects motivation? In the literature, there has been a high variety of field in which serious games have been applied, from languages and culture to programming and data visualization. Debriefing during or after the event and appropriate challenge level rose as the two most important factors to reach good effects on learning and studying motivation. Empiric section for this thesis was gathered at a teaching event at Tampere University in April 2019. In the event, the game was used to teach project management basics. Data was gathered from students using Likert-type questionnaires and open-ended -questions. Students experienced the play session as a useful tool in the teaching of project management, especially regarding risk management. The highest variance was on a statement regarding frustration with the game. Feedback gathered from the students contained also suggestions for the future development of the game. These results can be used to future improve the game.Tiivistelmä. Tässä kandidaatin työssä perehdytään vakavien pelien hyödyntämiseen yliopistoopetuksessa. Vakavat pelit ovat nousussa oleva aihe. Tätä lähestytään kahden kysymyksen muodossa. Kuinka vakavia pelejä on hyödynnetty korkea-asteen koulutuksessa ja kuinka vakavat pelit vaikuttavat motivaatioon. Kirjallisuudesta nousi esille moninaisia vakavien pelien hyödyntämiskohteita kielen ja kulttuurin opettamisesta ohjelmointiin ja datan visualisointiin. Avainkohdiksi tarkistelluissa tapauksissa nousi läpikäyminen jälkikäteen ja soveltuva haastavuusaste parhaiden tulosten saavuttamiseksi. Nämä kaksi tekijää paransivat oppimistuloksia ja opiskelijoiden motivaatiota aihetta kohtaan. Empiria on hankittu opetustapahtumasta huhtikuussa 2019 Tampereen yliopistolla. Tapahtumassa projektinhallintaa pyrittiin havainnollistamaan pelin avulla, sekä vahvistamaan jo käsiteltyjä aiheita kurssilla. Opiskelijoiden näkemykset kerättiin Likert-tyyppisellä kyselyllä ja täydentävällä avoimien kysymysten osiolla. Opiskelijat kokivat pelaamisen hyödylliseksi opetustyökaluksi, joka havainnollisti projektinhallintaa korostaen opiskelijoille riskien hallintaa. Suurin hajonta mielipiteissä koski turhautumista käsittelevää lausuntoa. Opiskelijoilta kerätty palaute sisälsi myös jatkokehitysideoita pelin tulevaa kehittämistä varten. Näitä tuloksia hyödynnetään pelikokemuksen jatkokehityksessä ja kandintutkinnon kokoon keräämisessä

Benchmarking framework for serious games in project management

Abstract. Serious games are games that are developed with educational goals instead of entertainment at the core. There have been several different ways serious games have been assessed, but often these targets a specific part of the game. This thesis aims to construct a benchmarking framework for evaluating serious games. The evaluated games come from the project management domain, and as such, the framework is directed to said area. The evaluations of the games are done through action research orientation, with benchmarking as the method to evaluate games and the framework itself. The construction of the framework is based on an exploratory literature review. The gathered framework consists of the following evaluation areas: game session, mechanics, playability and flow, project management and costs. The evaluation of serious games can not be based on the game elements alone. However, consideration must be given to the materials related to the game and the game’s fit to the learning event. Often the marketing for serious games was focused on the subject materials of the game, while the mechanics and playability of the game were left to lower attention. More research is needed on the usability of the framework and the evaluations on the current state of project management serious games. The developed framework’s core could also be tested against different serious game domains.Projektijohtamisen vakavien pelien benchmarkkaus arviointimalli. Tiivistelmä. Vakavia pelejä kehittäessä oppimistavoitteet ovat keskiössä viihdearvon sijasta. Ajan saatossa on muotoiltu lukuisia eri tapoja arvioida vakavia pelejä, mutta usein nämä arviot kohdistuvat yksittäiseen osa-alueeseen pelissä. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on muodostaa benchmarkkaus arviointimalli vakavien pelien arvioimiseksi. Arvioitavat pelit kerätään projektijohtamisen alueelta. Tämän vuoksi arviointimallin opetuspelien aiheeseen liittyvät osa-alueet kohdistuvat projektijohtamisen osa-alueelle. Arvioinneissa hyödynnetään toimintatutkimuksen menetelmiä täydentämään benchmarkkauksen toimintatapoja. Tutkimuksessa arviointi kohdistuu niin peleihin kuin malliin itseensä. Pelien benchmarkkaus arviointimalli koostettiin tutkivan kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjilta. Arviointimalli kohdistuu viidestä osa-alueesta: pelitapahtuma, pelin mekaniikka, pelattavuus ja pelin luontevuus, projektijohtaminen ja kustannukset. Pelien arviointi ei voi pohjata pelkästään pelin osa-alueisiin, vaan on välttämätöntä tarkastella myös pelin soveltuvuutta pelitapahtumaan ja käytettävissä oleviin resursseihin. Usein vakavien pelien markkinointi keskittyy pelin opetettavan aiheen ympärille, jättäen pelin mekaniikan ja pelattavuuden toissijaisiksi. Kehitettyä benchmarkkaus arviointimallia tulisi arvioida lisää jatkotutkimuksissa. Lisäksi arviointimallia voisi soveltaa myös muilla aloilla, kuin projektijohtamisessa

Investing in Time-to-Build Projects With Uncertain Revenues and Costs: A Real Options Approach

Lagging public-sector investment in infrastructure and the deregulation of many industries mean that the private sector has to make decisions under multiple sources of uncertainty. We analyze such investment decisions by accounting for both multiple sources of uncertainty and the time-to-build aspect. The latter feature arises in the energy and transportation sectors, because investors can decide the rate at which the project is completed. Furthermore, two explicit sources of uncertainty represent the discounted cash inflows and outflows of the completed project. We use a finite-difference scheme to solve numerically the option value and the optimal investment threshold. Somewhat counterintuitively, with a relatively long time to build, a reduction in the growth rate of the discounted operating cost may actually lower the investment threshold. This is contrary to the outcome when the stepwise aspect is ignored in a model with uncertain price and cost. Hence, research and development efforts to enhance emerging technologies may be more relevant for infrastructure projects with long lead times

The role of polaronic states in the enhancement of CO oxidation by single-atom Pt/CeO2

Single Atom Catalysts (SACs) have shown that the miniaturization of the active site implies new phenomena like dynamic charge transfer between isolated metal atoms and the oxide. To obtain direct proof of this character is challenging, as many experimental techniques provide averaged properties or have limitations with poorly conductive materials, leaving kinetic measurements from catalytic testing as the only reliable reference. Here we present an integrated Density Functional Theory-Microkinetic model including ground and metastable states to address the reactivity of Pt1/CeO2 for CO oxidation. Our results agree with experimentally available kinetic data in the literature and show that CO oxidation activity of Pt1/CeO2 is tunable via the electronic properties of the support. Particularly, samples with higher n-doping via oxygen depletion should be better in CO oxidation, as they help maintain the active state Pt0 of the catalyst. This provides an alternative strategy for tuning the performance of low-temperature oxidations in single-atom catalysts via charge transfer control

Around the world in 36 hours - Understanding the dynamics of the global product design relay marathon

In this system paper we will present a learning experiment - a unique three-day global product design relay marathon organized by the Design Factory Global Network (DFGN). The experiment called Rat Relay simulates a real-world situation in product development where very often a person or team is only working on a project for a limited time and not from beginning to end, individuals work in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams around complex problems, and everything is done with a fast pace. Rat Relay is a learning experiment developed by the Design Factory Global Network, a network of innovation hubs in universities and research organizations in five continents of the world aiming to contribute to transformation of learning and research through a passion-based culture of interdisciplinary collaboration and effective problem solving

Efficient production of solid dispersions by spray drying solutions of high solid content using a 3-fluid nozzle

To evaluate the feasibility of producing solid dispersions with 3-fluid nozzle spray drying to improve the dissolution behavior of lipophilic drugs, 60 experiments were performed based on a Design of Experiment. Solid dispersions with mannitol as a hydrophilic matrix and diazepam as a model drug with a drug load of 20 wt-% were produced. The variables of the experiments were the water/organic solvent ratio, liquid feed flow, total solid content, atomizing airflow and type of organic solvent (ethanol or ethyl acetate). The responses measured were dissolution rate, yield, actual drug load, particle size and crystallinity of diazepam and mannitol. Increasing water/organic solvent ratio was found to be the main factor for enhancing the dissolution rate. The total solid content of the solutions to be spray dried did not affect any of the responses, which means that processing solutions of high concentrations is possible. The choice of organic solvent did not affect the responses as well, i.e. both the fully water miscible solvent ethanol and the poorly water miscible solvent ethyl acetate could be used which makes this production method highly versatile

Manipulation of Ag nanoparticles utilizing noncontact atomic force microscopy

We have developed a scheme to manipulate metallic aerosol particles on silicon dioxide substrates using an atomic force microscope. The method utilizes the noncontact mode both for locating and moving nanoparticles of size 10–100 nm. The main advantage of our technique is the possibility of “seeing” the moving particle in real time. Our method avoids well sticking problems that typically hamper the manipulation in the contact mode.Peer reviewe

Increased unsaturation of lipids in cytoplasmic lipid droplets in DAOY cancer cells in response to cisplatin treatment.

Increases in 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) visible lipids are a well-documented sign of treatment response in cancers. Lipids in cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) are the main contributors to the NMR lipid signals. Two human primitive neuroectodermal tumour cell lines with different sensitivities to cisplatin treatment were studied. Increases in NMR visible saturated and unsaturated lipids in cisplatin treated DAOY cells were associated with the accumulation of LDs prior to DNA fragmentation due to apoptosis. An increase in unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) was detected in isolated LDs from DAOY cells, in contrast to a slight decrease in UFAs in lipid extracts from whole cells. Oleic acid and linoleic acid were identified as the accumulating UFAs in LDs by heteronuclear single quantum coherence spectroscopy (HSQC). 1H NMR lipids in non-responding PFSK-1 cells were unchanged by exposure to 10 μM cisplatin. These findings support the potential of NMR detectable UFAs to serve as a non-invasive marker of tumour cell response to treatment

Upwelling events, coastal offshore exchange, links to biogeochemical processes - Highlights from the Baltic Sea Sciences Congress at Rostock University, Germany, 19-22 March 2007

The Baltic Sea Science Congress was held at Rostock University, Germany, from 19 to 22 March 2007. In the session entitled"Upwelling events, coastal offshore exchange, links to biogeochemical processes" 20 presentations were given,including 7 talks and 13 posters related to the theme of the session.This paper summarises new findings of the upwelling-related studies reported in the session. It deals with investigationsbased on the use of in situ and remote sensing measurements as well as numerical modelling tools. The biogeochemicalimplications of upwelling are also discussed.Our knowledge of the fine structure and dynamic considerations of upwelling has increased in recent decades with the advent ofhigh-resolution modern measurement techniques and modelling studies. The forcing and the overall structure, duration and intensity ofupwelling events are understood quite well. However, the quantification of related transports and the contribution to the overall mixingof upwelling requires further research. Furthermore, our knowledge of the links between upwelling and biogeochemical processes is stillincomplete. Numerical modelling has advanced to the extent that horizontal resolutions of c. 0.5 nautical miles can now be applied,which allows the complete spectrum of meso-scale features to be described. Even the development of filaments can be describedrealistically in comparison with high-resolution satellite data.But the effect of upwelling at a basin scale and possible changes under changing climatic conditions remain open questions