Heritage education through serious games. A web-based proposal for primary schools to cope with distance learning

[EN] In recent years a growing amount of research has shown interest in studying how virtual reality (VR) could be relevant in many fields. In this respect, VR has gained consideration throughout many applications such as education. Among other aims for its use in education, serious games based on VR were used to promote heritage and make students experience either far or inaccessible scenarios. Until now, VR-based applications have been mainly implemented using head mounted displays (HMD), which actually reduced their circulation. This gap is particularly remarkable in the current Sars-CoV19 pandemic because students, being at home or being at school without sharing equipment, cannot exploit educational programs based on this technology. The current paper proposes a web-based platform on which VR applications could be accessed on any device, either desktop- or mobile-based. The serious game was initially set up on a computer with a specialized software using a HMD, while the process of turning it into a web-based platform is described so that the used methodology could be available to those, who would like to follow it. This project is probably also able to cope with the general aim of making inaccessible objects available to students and, thus, to make the application useful even beyond the current pandemic emergency.The VAR.HEE. project – Virtual and Augmented Reality for Heritage and art Education in school and museum Experiences – was funded by the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano with a competitive call for proposals by the Central Research Commission in 2017. The project lasts three years, started in January 2018 and will end in December 2020 (June 2021, after Covid-19 health emergency).Luigini, A.; Fanini, B.; Basso, A.; Basso, D. (2020). Heritage education through serious games. A web-based proposal for primary schools to cope with distance learning. VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability. 5(2):73-85. https://doi.org/10.4995/vitruvio-ijats.2020.14665OJS73855

La cornice di apprendimento TASC per l’educazione alle competenze non-cognitive: Applicazioni nelle scuole di ogni ordine e grado

The recent approval in the Chamber of Deputies of the draft law aims at introducing non-cognitive competences in the curriculum of schools of all levels on an experimental basis. While this is a relevant proposal, this article identifies some aspects for improvement based on the scientific literature. In particular, the use of an innovative learning framework, Thinking Actively in a Social Context (TASC) by Belle Wallace and Harvey B. Adams, is suggested as it is considered a valuable proposal for the promotion of thinking and problem-solving skills. In the context of primary education in Italy, this approach has already been used for accurate experimentation, from which significant trends have emerged in terms of thinking skills (e.g., reasoning, metacognition, creativity), argumentation, and interaction (e.g., peer relations, autonomy), but also in terms of motivation, self-esteem, inclusion and, more generally, learning processes. With the same learning framework, other promising experiences have been conducted in kindergarten, at university, and in adult training, which will be reported on in the text. The outlined proposal is considered a valuable contribution to non-cognitive competences education for students at all levels.La recente approvazione alla camera del disegno di legge punta ad introdurre in via sperimentale le competenze non-cognitive nel curricolo delle scuole di ogni ordine e grado. Pur essendo una proposta rilevante, il presente articolo identifica alcuni aspetti di miglioramento basati sulla letteratura scientifica. In particolare, si suggerisce l’utilizzo di una cornice d’apprendimento innovativa, Thinking Actively in a Social Context (TASC) di Belle Wallace e Harvey B. Adams, ritenuta una valida proposta per la promozione delle capacità di pensiero e di risoluzione dei problemi. Nel contesto della scuola primaria in Italia è già stata attuata con questo approccio una sperimentazione puntuale, dalla quale sono emerse significative linee di tendenza in termini di capacità di pensiero (es. ragionamento, metacognizione, creatività), di argomentazione e interazione (es. relazioni tra pari, autonomia), ma anche in riferimento a motivazione, autostima, inclusione e, più in generale, ai processi di apprendimento. Utilizzando la stessa cornice d’apprendimento sono state condotte altre esperienze promettenti alla scuola dell’infanzia, all’università e nella formazione con gli adulti, di cui si renderà conto nel testo. Si ritiene che la proposta delineata possa essere un valido contributo per l’educazione alle competenze non-cognitive degli studenti di ogni ordine e grado

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Neuroimaging Coregistration

The development of neuroimaging techniques is one of the most impressive advancements in neuroscience. The main reason for the widespread use of these instruments lies in their capacity to provide an accurate description of neural activity during a cognitive process or during rest. This important advancement is related to the possibility to selectively detect changes of neuronal activity in space and time by means of different biological markers. Specifically, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and nearinfrared spectroscopy (NIRS) use metabolic markers of ongoing neuronal activity to provide an accurate description of the activation of specific brain areas with high spatial resolution. Similarly, electroencephalography (EEG) is able to detect electric markers of neuronal activity, providing an accurate description of brain activation with high temporal resolution. The application of these techniques during a cognitive task allows important inferences regarding the relation between the detected neural activity, the cognitive process involved in an ongoing task, and behaviour: this is known as a \u201ccorrelational approach\u201d

Fundamentals and issues of user experience in the process of designing consumer products

User experience (UX) application in the practice of engineering and product design is still limited. The present paper provides insights into research on UX design and recommendations for design practitioners by pointing out common criticalities. These outcomes are achieved through a literature review on how UX relates to design. First, issues in benefitting from UX understanding in design are identified with a specific focus on theoretical contributions. Second, experimental papers investigating UX and design are analysed in relation to previously identified issues. Although issues are present to some extent in all the contributions, the empirical studies dealing with UX in design are overall valid. The results highlight UX’s support in revealing design requirements, but its capability of steering design processes is arguable, as concrete guidelines for practitioners are not well described. Based on identified issues, the authors propose a checklist to make UX studies in design more reliable and their outcomes more comparable

Gender differences in visuospatial planning: an eye movements study.

Gender studies report a male advantage in several visuospatial abilities. Only few studies however, have evaluated differences in visuospatial planning behaviour with regard to gender. This study was aimed at exploring whether gender may affect the choice of cognitive strategies in a visuospatial planning task and, if oculomotor measures could assist in disentangling the cognitive processes involved. A computerised task based on the travelling salesperson problem paradigm, the Maps test, was used to investigate these issues. Participants were required to optimise time and space of a path travelling among a set of sub-goals in a spatially constrained environment. Behavioural results suggest that there are no gender differences in the initial visual processing of the stimuli, but rather during the execution of the plan, with males showing a shorter execution time and a higher path length optimisation than females. Males often showed changes of heuristics during the execution while females seemed to prefer a constant strategy. Moreover, a better performance in behavioural and oculomotor measures seemed to suggest that males are more able than females in either the optimisation of spatial features or the realisation of the planned scheme. Despite inconclusive findings, the results support previous research and provide insight into the level of cognitive processing involved in navigation and planning tasks, with regard to the influence of gender

Immagini? Image and imagination between representation, communication, education and psychology

Il 27 e il 28 novembre 2017 si è tenuto a Bressanone, presso la Facoltà di Scienze del-la Formazione della Libera Università di Bolzano, il convegno internazionale e inter-disciplinare IMMAGINI? Image and imagi-nation between representation, communica-tion, education and psychology / On 27 and 28 November 2017, the Faculty of Education of the Free University of Boz-en-Bolzano held in Brixen-Bressanone the international and interdisciplinary confer-ence IMMAGINI? Image and imagination between representation, communication, ed-ucation and psychology

Images, imagination and psychology: a long-lasting love story

The present editorial describes the role played by several research fields within the psychological area and suggests reasons why psychological researchers could submit their work to the IMG journal. The contribution of the psychological perspective on the study of images processing and imagination is out of doubt. Subfields like perception and imagery have a straight-forward relevance, given that they study how these cognitive processes manage and elaborate external and internal visual stimulation. In addition, other psychological subfields are thought to play an important role because of their tight connection with perception and imagery. Examples presented in this editorial are memory, language, psychology of thought, planning and cognitive ergonomics, although many other subfields could also show connections. In the final part, the relevance of the IMG journal for cognitive scientists is outlined. The propagation of results from the psychological point of view to design, architecture and education, and viceversa, could stimulate discussion and allow development of reliable ideas. Moreover, the creation of multidisciplinary research projects or groups could help to produce effective outcomes in the society

Involvement of the prefrontal cortex in visuo-spatial planning

Niels Birbaumer, Giulio Lancioni, Antonino Raffon