Neverwinter Nights in Alberta: Conceptions of Narrativity through Fantasy Role-Playing Games in a Graduate Classroom

Computer role-playing games offer a unique opportunity to aid graduate-level analysis of hypermedia narratives. In this paper, we discuss the application of complex game authoring tools in HUCO-616: Multimedia in the Humanities, a graduate multimedia course in humanities computing (Huco) at the University of Alberta. Offered annually, this course is intended for students in the second year of their program. Much of the content for this article relates to experiences in the academic years 2003-05. The Huco program embraces a pedagogical imperative to marry theoretical and practical elements (Sinclair and Gouglas 2002; Gouglas, Sinclair, and Morrison, forthcoming). We believe that only those learners who have facility with a particular technology can effectively understand how that technology alters and informs interactions with source material. To paraphrase George Grant (1976), the computer does indeed impose on us the way it will be used; only through informed use can we understand this impact. For many students, the practical component of HUCO-616 was an unprecedented educational experience that required them to reflect on concepts of narrative and interactivity through active engagement with hypermedia environments and the creation of personal digital narratives (Exhibit 1). This approach contrasts common pedagogical practice in various social science and humanities programs where students are rarely asked to try their hands at creating the types of work they are being trained to study

Connecting for innovation: Four universities collaboratively preparing pre-service teachers to teach in rural and remote Western Australia

In 2010 a group of teacher educators from four universities, experienced in rural and remote education, formed the Tertiary Educators Rural, Regional and Remote Network (TERRR Network). The collaborative goal was to improve the quality of graduates taking appointments beyond the metropolitan areas of Western Australia. The TERRR Network developed a research project to improve the capacity of universities to prepare teachers for employment in rural and remote locations. A range of outcomes emerged from the project, including: 1) the development of seven rural and remote-oriented curricula modules linked to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers; 2) a cross-institutional field experience, and; 3) the development of a community of practice involving the Department of Education, universities and schools to address the logistical implications of placing pre-service students in rural and remote locations. This paper reports on the five phases of the project design, with a focus on learning in the field and concludes with reflections on the collaborative process used by the four universities in order to ensure that research evidence informs future policy and program development

G'aim'ing to be a rural teacher?: Improving pre-service teachers’ learning experiences in an online rural and remote teacher preparation course

Many Australian teachers will spend part of their careers working in small rural schools and communities, yet specific preparation for rural and remote teaching contexts during preservice teacher education remains very limited. While recent government reports recommend the use of innovative and engaging teacher education approaches to enhance the classroom readiness of pre-service teachers, the use of such approaches to the contextualised preparation of rural and remote teachers has not been specifically addressed. In a teacher education program, offered by the University of Southern Queensland, an innovative place-based pedagogy has been utilized to redesign an online preservice teacher rural education course. A gamified, case-based approach was applied to increase student engagement and motivation. The development of game-based curriculum design has progressed since the mid 1980s to enhance engagement and collaboration, based on cascading information theory. Preservice teachers are immersed in a simulated rural context, where they navigate the experience of appointment to a rural school. This paper describes the rationale for the course redevelopment and outlines the design process. Student course feedback pre and post development were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed to evaluate the outcomes achieved from the course redevelopment. The findings indicate that student engagement within the course rose after the redevelopment, and critical reflection from the course team indicated that students were more effectively able to connect with course themes and project themselves into the position of a beginning teacher in a rural or remote location. While the development of the course is a continuing work in progress, the gamification strategy has enabled preservice teachers to improve their classroom and community readiness for appointment to rural and remote schools, while modelling effective and contemporary use of technology and pedagogy which can be applied to their future classroom contexts

Switching from premixed insulin to glargine-based insulin regimen improves glycaemic control in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes: a retrospective primary care-based analysis

Background: Insulin glargine (glargine) and premixed insulins (premix) are alternative insulin treatments. This analysis evaluated glycaemic control in 528 patients with type 1 (n = 183) or type 2 (n = 345) diabetes, after switching from premix to a glargine-based regimen, using unselected general practice (GP) data. Methods: Data for this retrospective observational analysis were extracted from a UK GP database (The Health Improvement Network). Patients were required to have at least 12 months of available data, before and after, switching from premix to a glargine-based regimen. The principal analysis was the change in HbA1c after 12 months of treatment with glargine; secondary analyses included change in weight, bolus usage and total daily insulin dose. Inconsistent reporting of hypoglycemic episodes precludes reliable assessment of this outcome. Multivariate analyses were used to adjust for baseline characteristics and confounding variables. Results: Both cohorts showed significant reduction in mean HbA1c 12 months after the switch: by -0.67% (p < 0.001) in the type 1 cohort and by -0.53% (p < 0.001) in the type 2 cohort (adjusted data). The size of HbA1c improvement was positively correlated with baseline HbA1c; patients with a baseline HbA1c ≥ 10% had the greatest mean reduction in HbA1c, by -1.7% (p < 0.001) and -1.2% (p < 0.001), respectively. The proportion of patients receiving co-bolus prescriptions increased in the type 1 (mean 24.6% to 95.1%, p < 0.001) and type 2 (mean 16.2% to 73.9%, p < 0.001) cohorts. There was no significant change in weight in either cohort. Total mean insulin use increased in type 2 diabetes patients (from 0.67 ± 1.35 U/Kg to 0.88 ± 1.33 U/Kg, p < 0.001) with a slight decrease in type 1 diabetes patients (from 1.04 ± 2.51 U/Kg to 0.98 ± 2.58 U/Kg, p < 0.001). Conclusion: In everyday practice, patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled by premix insulins experienced significant improvement in glycaemic control over 12 months after switching to a glargine-based insulin regimen. These findings support the use of a basal-bolus glargine-based regimen in patients poorly controlled on premix.Peter Sharplin, Jason Gordon, John R Peters, Anthony P Tetlow, Andrea J Longman and Philip McEwa