The role of CCI in supporting children’s engagement with environmental sustainability at a time of climate crisis

Today’s children will live life navigating the impacts of climate change triggering new questions about their environmental education and how we can prepare them to take active roles that shape our ecological futures. The aim of our paper is to reflect on the role that the Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) community can play to this end. We do this by analysing thirteen years of HCI research concerned with the application of children’s digital technology to environmental sustainability (ES). Content analysis of the 25 papers identified shows that climate change is not a motor theme, with half of the papers using ES as an application area that drives other aims. Our analysis contributes a novel research agenda proposing to expand the domains, theories and user groups researchers have thus far focused on. Examining the distinctive design properties of previous research, we advance new insights into the role technology can play for children’s ES

Exploring the influence of game design on learning and voluntary use in an online vascular anatomy study aid

AbstractThis research explores the educational impact of an online study aid-game for studying human vascular anatomy (n = 24) versus a similar non-game study aid (n = 22) and how it relates to medical students' demographic traits and voluntary use over a 35-day period. Hierarchical linear regression models revealed that study aid success rate (a metric for assessing performance through the study aids) was a significant predictor of anatomy test improvement with the game (β = 0.41, p = 0.05), but not for the non-game (β = 0.14, p = 0.56). Our analyses suggest that game mechanics encouraged more specific problem-solving strategies than did the control study aid, leading to greater predictability of learning outcomes. There was a non-significant trend among game treatment participants, who were more likely to complete study tasks than those assigned to the control treatment (p = 0.11). It would appear that students' studying habits had the greatest influence (though opposite in both tools) on level of engagement in study aid use. However, contrary to expectations, self-reported gaming habits did not impact participation. Overall, these findings support the integration of game design into undergraduate study aids as a means of increasing use of supplementary educational tools and assessing knowledge

Is it time we get real? A systematic review of the potential of data-driven technologies to address teachers' implicit biases

Data-driven technologies for education, such as artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) systems, learning analytics dashboards, open learner models, and other applications, are often created with an aspiration to help teachers make better, evidence-informed decisions in the classroom. Addressing gender, racial, and other biases inherent to data and algorithms in such applications is seen as a way to increase the responsibility of these systems and has been the focus of much of the research in the field, including systematic reviews. However, implicit biases can also be held by teachers. To the best of our knowledge, this systematic literature review is the first of its kind to investigate what kinds of teacher biases have been impacted by data-driven technologies, how or if these technologies were designed to challenge these biases, and which strategies were most effective at promoting equitable teaching behaviors and decision making. Following PRISMA guidelines, a search of five databases returned n = 359 records of which only n = 2 studies by a single research team were identified as relevant. The findings show that there is minimal evidence that data-driven technologies have been evaluated in their capacity for supporting teachers to make less biased decisions or promote equitable teaching behaviors, even though this capacity is often used as one of the core arguments for the use of data-driven technologies in education. By examining these two studies in conjunction with related studies that did not meet the eligibility criteria during the full-text review, we reveal the approaches that could play an effective role in mitigating teachers' biases, as well as ones that may perpetuate biases. We conclude by summarizing directions for future research that should seek to directly confront teachers' biases through explicit design strategies within teacher tools, to ensure that the impact of biases of both technology (including data, algorithms, models etc.) and teachers are minimized. We propose an extended framework to support future research and design in this area, through motivational, cognitive, and technological debiasing strategies

Exploring how children with reading difficulties respond to instructional supports in literacy games and the role of prior knowledge

Digital literacy games can be beneficial for children with reading difficulties as a supplement to classroom instruction and an important feature of these games are the instructional supports, such as feedback. To be effective, feedback needs to build on prior instruction and match a learner's level of prior knowledge. However, there is limited research around the relationship between prior knowledge, instruction and feedback in the context of learning games. This paper presents an empirical study exploring the influence of prior knowledge on response to feedback, in two conditions: with or without instruction. Thirty-six primary children (age 8–11) with reading difficulties participated: each child was assessed for their prior knowledge of two suffix types—noun and adjective suffixes. They subsequently received additional instruction for one suffix type and then played two rounds of a literacy game—one round for each suffix type. Our analysis shows that prior knowledge predicted initial success rates and performance after a verbal hint differently, depending on whether instruction was provided. These results are discussed with regards to learning game feedback design and the impact on different types of knowledge involved in gameplay, as well as other game design elements that might support knowledge building during gamepla

Board Games for Health: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Nondigital board games are being used to engage players and impact outcomes in health and medicine across diverse populations and contexts. This systematic review and meta-analysis describes and summarizes their impact based on randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials. An electronic search resulted in a review of n = 21 eligible studies. Sample sizes ranged from n = 17 to n = 3110 (n = 6554 total participants). A majority of the board game interventions focused on education to increase health-related knowledge and behaviors (76%, n = 16). Outcomes evaluated included self-efficacy, attitudes/beliefs, biological health indicators, social functioning, anxiety, and executive functioning, in addition to knowledge and behaviors. Using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing bias, most studies (52%, n = 11) had an unclear risk of bias (33% [n = 7] had a high risk and 14% [n = 3] had a low risk). Statistical tests of publication bias were not significant. A random-effects meta-analysis showed a large average effect of board games on health-related knowledge (d* = 0.82, 95% confidence interval; CI [0.15–1.48]), a small-to-moderate effect on behaviors (d* = 0.33, 95% CI [0.16–0.51]), and a small-to-moderate effect on biological health indicators (d* = 0.37, 95% CI [0.21–0.52]). The findings contribute to the literature on games and gamified approaches in healthcare. Future research efforts should aim for more consistent high scientific standards in their evaluation protocols and reporting methodologies to provide a stronger evidence base

Unconventional field induced phases in a quantum magnet formed by free radical tetramers

We report experimental and theoretical studies on the magnetic and thermodynamic properties of NIT-2Py, a free radical-based organic magnet. From magnetization and specific heat measurements we establish the temperature versus magnetic field phase diagram which includes two Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) and an infrequent half magnetization plateau. Calculations based on density functional theory demonstrates that magnetically this system can be mapped to a quasi-two-dimensional structure of weakly coupled tetramers. Density matrix renormalization group calculations show the unusual characteristics of the BECs where the spins forming the low-field condensate are different than those participating in the high-field one.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

Climate and juvenile recruitment as drivers of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) dynamics in two Canadian Arctic seas

Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is the most abundant forage fish species in Arctic seas and plays a pivotal role in the transfer of energy between zooplankton and top predators. The dominance of Arctic cod and the Arctic’s relatively low biodiversity interact such that changing population dynamics of Arctic cod have cascading effects on whole Arctic marine ecosystems. Over the last decades, warming in the Arctic has led to a decline in Arctic cod populations in the Barents Sea, but in the Canadian Arctic these conditions have been correlated with up to a 10-fold higher biomass of age-0 Arctic cod at the end of summer. However, whether this enhanced larval survival with warmer waters endures through age-1þ populations is unknown. A better understanding of spatial variation in the response of Arctic cod populations to environmental conditions is critical to forecast future changes in Arctic ecosystems. Here, we rely on a 17-year time series of acoustic-trawl surveys (2003–2019) to test whether ice-breakup date, sea surface temperature, zooplankton density, and Arctic climate indices during early life stages affect the subsequent recruitment of age-1þ Arctic cod in the Beaufort Sea and Baffin Bay. In the Beaufort Sea, the biomass of age-1þ Arctic cod correlated with both Arctic Oscillation indices and age-0 biomass of the previous year. In Baffin Bay, the biomass of age-1þ Arctic cod correlated with previous-year North Atlantic Oscillation indices and the timing of ice breakup. This study demonstrates that climate and environmental conditions experienced during the early life stages drive the recruitment of the age-1þ Arctic cod population and helps to quantify spatial variation in the main environmental drivers

Time-dependent postmortem redistribution of butyrfentanyl and its metabolites in blood and alternative matrices in a case of butyrfentanyl intoxication

A fatal case of butyrfentanyl poisoning was investigated at the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine. At admission at the institute approx. 9 h after death (first time point, t1), femoral and heart blood (right ventricle) was collected, as well as samples from the lung, liver, kidney, spleen, muscle and adipose tissue using computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy sampling. At autopsy (t2), samples from the same body regions were collected manually. Additionally, urine, heart blood (left ventricle), gastric content, brain samples and hair were collected. Butyrfentanyl concentrations and relative concentrations of the metabolites carboxy-, hydroxy-, nor-, and desbutyrfentanyl were determined by LC⿿MS/MS and LC-QTOF. At t1, butyrfentanyl concentrations were 66 ng/mL in femoral blood, 39 ng/mL in heart blood, 110 ng/g in muscle, 57 ng/g in liver, 160 ng/g in kidney, 3100 ng/g in lung, 590 ng/g in spleen and 550 ng/g in adipose tissue. At t2, butyrfentanyl concentration in urine was 1100 ng/mL, in gastric content 2000 ng/mL, in hair 11,000 pg/mg and brain concentrations ranged between 200⿿340 ng/g. Carboxy- and hydroxybutyrfentanyl were identified as most abundant metabolites. Comparison of t1 and t2 showed a concentration increase of butyrfentanyl in femoral blood of 120%, in heart blood of 55% and a decrease in lung of 30% within 19 h. No clear concentration changes could be observed in the other matrices. Postmortem concentration changes were also observed for the metabolites. In conclusion, butyrfentanyl seems to be prone to postmortem redistribution processes and concentrations in forensic death cases should be interpreted with caution