Games in Higher Education

International audienceThis entry presents an overview of how and why Learning Games are used in higher education.Learning Games can be defined as games that are designed to captivate the learners’ attention and facilitate their learning process. They have explicit educational purposes and can be used for teaching at all levels of education. All types of games can be used for learning: board games, card games, role-playing games, First Person Shooter games, simulation games, management games, puzzle games, treasure hunts…The main characteristic of Learning Games for higher education is the fact that they are designed to teach specific complex skills taught at university or during professional training programs. Unfortunately, it is not infrequent to observe strong opposition on the part of this target audience to this mode of learning, that these adult students associate with children.The use of Learning Games in primary school seems natural to teachers and is encouraged by specialists in didactics and neuroscience. This learning technique is much less frequently used in middle school and is almost completely absent from higher education. Yet teachers at all these levels are faced with the same problems, such as lack of motivation and investment, for which games are known to be an effective solution. This entry presents an overview of the games that can be used for higher education and the reasons why some teachers and students still show resistance to this type of learning. The numerous advantages of games for higher education will then be presented, citing games presently used in universities, in graduate schools and for professional training. Finally, thisDraft : Marfisi-Schottman I. (2019) Games in Higher Education. In: Tatnall A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies. Springer, Chamentry presents the current research questions that need to be addressed concerning the design of games for higher education and the acceptance of these games by teachers

Relatively high mortality risk in elderly Swedish subjects with low selenium status

Background/Objectives:  The daily dietary intake of selenium (Se), an essential trace element, is still low in Sweden in spite of decades of nutritional information campaigns and the effect of this on the public health is presently not well known. The objective of this study was to determine the serum Se levels in an elderly Swedish population and to analyze whether a low Se status had any influence on mortality. Subjects/Methods:  Six-hundred sixty-eight (n=668) elderly participants were invited from a municipality and evaluated in an observational study. Individuals were followed for 6.8 years and Se levels were re-evaluated in 98 individuals after 48 months. Clinical examination of all individuals included functional classification, echocardiography, electrocardiogram and serum Se measurement. All mortality was registered and endpoints of mortality were assessed by Kaplan–Meier plots, and Cox proportional hazard ratios adjusted for potential confounding factors were calculated. Results:  The mean serum Se level of the study population (n=668) was 67.1 μg/l, corresponding to relatively low Se intake. After adjustment for male gender, smoking, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and impaired heart function, persons with serum Se in the lowest quartile had 43% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–2.00) and 56% (95% CI: 1.03–2.36) increased risk for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. The result was not driven by inflammatory effects on Se concentration in serum. Conclusion:  The mean serum Se concentration in an elderly Swedish population was 67.1 μg/l, which is below the physiological saturation level for several selenoprotein enzymes. This result may suggest the value of modest Se supplementation in order to improve the health of the Swedish population.Funding agencies: County Council of Ostergotland; University of Linkoping; Cancer-och Allergifonden</p