Digital game-based learning: effects on students' perceptions and achievements in a business process management course

For the Degree of MCom by Dissertation in the Field of Information SystemsThe study aimed to investigate the impact of the introduction of digital game-based learning (DGBL) and its effect on students’ perceptions of competence, usefulness, and enjoyment, as well as their achievement. The context of the study was a third year Business Process Management (BPM) module, within an information systems course at the University of the Witwatersrand. Eight research questions were formulated and ten hypotheses were derived. The study was underpinned by Deci and Ryan (2002)’s self-determination theory (SDT) of human motivation, which included two of the sub-theories of SDT, cognitive evaluation theory (CIT) and organismic interaction theory (OIT), as well as Ryan et al. (2006)’s adaptation of the construct of presence into SDT. The study adopted a single group natural experiment pre-post design and a longitudinal relational design. The study was conducted with a sample of 24 students. Three baseline surveys were used to measure students’ levels of intrinsic motivation, perceived competence and perceived usefulness. This was done prior to the introduction of IBM’s Innov8 2.0, which was the digital learning game used in the study. The baseline surveys were administered one week apart, prior to the introduction of the game. After the game was introduced, an endline survey was used to capture students’ levels of intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, perceived usefulness and presence with the game. Learning achievement was measured through the use of three assessments conducted one week, one month and two months after the end of the BPM course. Hypothesis testing was conducted using t-tests, correlation, and PLS regression techniques. Results confirmed significant effects of the digital game to decrease perceived competence, a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and achievement, and a positive relationship between presence and intrinsic motivation. As a result of the study, we now know that DGBL effects achievement through intrinsic motivation when in close proximity to the assessments. DGBL can appear to decrease perceived competence as it appears to be a feedback mechanism, which should be seen as a positive rather than negative effect. Certain DGBL characteristics such as presence increase intrinsic motivation perceptions.MT201

The education of girls in nineteenth-century French literature: mother-daughter relations and portrayals of identity in George Sand and Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

This thesis examines the relationships between mothers and daughters against the background of education in early nineteenth-century France. This era was the first time that a large population of French girls was separated from their mothers. Because of their attendance at school, girls created an identity separate from that of the one that their mothers had helped them to create. By using George Sand’s autobiography Histoire de ma vie and Marceline Desbordes-Valmore’s poem “Ondine à l’ecole,” the process of distinguishing the daughter from the mother has been analyzed from both the mother’s perspective and the daughter’s perspective. For Sand, who writes from the daughter’s perspective, her maternal figures (mother and grandmother) push her away from them so that she could get an education. As a result of being pushed away, she is ‘forced’ to create her own identity. For Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, the opposite occurs. Writing from the mother’s perspective, she becomes very protective of her daughter and seems threatened by Ondine’s success at school through which she creates a distinct identity away from Desbordes-Valmore. By studying these two works together, one can learn about the mother-daughter dynamics at work and the emotional hardships suffered by both mothers and daughters, as girls began school during this era. Both mother and daughter experienced a feeling of loss, and relationships were permanently changed as daughters created unique identities for themselves

A Preliminary Evaluation of the Trauma-Informed Child Advocacy Program at Mississippi State University

This thesis evaluated the Trauma-Informed Child Advocacy Certificate (TICA) at Mississippi State University which is hosted in the School of Human Sciences, specifically in the area of Human Development and Family Science (HDFS). HDFS students (N = 94) enrolled in coursework during Spring 2021 participated in the evaluation. Students were grouped by enrollment in TICA courses, with 43 students having participated in TICA coursework and 51 students having only participated in general HDFS courses. Assessments included a perceived knowledge survey and 10 application-based scenarios. Independent samples T-tests indicated TICA students perceived themselves to have more trauma-informed knowledge, and frequency analyses showed they were more effective at applying that knowledge than HDFS students who have not taken any TICA courses. Data were used to highlight strengths of the TICA program and make recommendations on ways to enhance the TICA coursework to promote knowledge of trauma-informed professional practices

Academic Skills in High-Functioning and Low-Functioning Chinese Children with Autism

Early academic skills among Chinese speaking children with ASD were compared to age matched peers who were typically developing and with intellectual disabilities. In general, children with ASD do perform less well on reading comprehension, writing, and math skills. The purpose of the current study was to gather preliminary data on the early academic skills of Chinese children with ASD. The findings indicated that HFA and LFA had less difficulty in acquiring beginning basic-academic skills, but had more difficulty in acquiring advanced academic skills compared to their peers. Yet, the two groups of Chinese students with HFA and LFA performed remarkably alike across the academic skills