EscapED: A Framework for Creating Educational Escape Rooms and Interactive Games to For Higher/Further Education

Game-based learning (GBL) is often found to be technologically driven and more often than not, serious games for instance, are conceptualised and designed solely for digital platforms and state of the art technologies. To encourage a greater discussion on the potential benefits and challenges of a more holistic approach to developing GBL that promote human centered interactions and play for learning, the authors present the escapED programme. The escapED programme was conceived following the recent entertainment trend of escape rooms and is used for developing non-digital GBL approaches within education. escapED aids the design and creation of educational Escape Rooms and Interactive Gaming Experiences for staff and students in further/higher education settings. The paper first presents a pilot study that was used to assess the feasibility and acceptance of University teaching staff of embedding interactive GBL into a higher education environment. The authors then present the escapED theoretical framework that was used to create the prototype game for the pilot study as a tool to aid future design and development of on-site interactive experiences. The paper also presents an external developer report of using the escapED framework to develop a prototype game for teaching research methods to Southampton University students. Finally, the authors present a discussion on the use of the escapED framework so far and plans for future work and evaluation in order to provide engaging alternatives for learning and soft skills development amongst higher education staff andstudents

Daryls MED example

An example of articulate from Daryl Pee

Drug-induced and postnatal hypothyroidism impairs the accumulation of diacylglycerol in liver and liver cell plasma membranes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Thyroid hormones are well known modulators of signal transduction. The effect of hyper- and hypo-thyroidism on diacylglycerol/protein kinase C (DAG/PKC) signaling in cardiomiocytes has been determined. Triiodothyronine (T₃) has been shown to prevent the α1-adrenoreceptor-mediated activation of PKC but does not alter the stimulation of enzyme and hepatic metabolism by phorbol ethers. It has been suggested that the elevation of endogenous DAG in senescent or hypothyroid cells changes the PKC-dependent response of cells to phorbol esters and hormones. In the present study, was examined the formation of DAG and activation of PKC in liver cells from rats of different thyroid status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results obtained provide the first demonstration of DAG accumulation in liver and cell plasma membranes at age- and drug-dependent thyroid gland malfunction. The experiments were performed in either the [¹⁴C]CH₃COOH-labeled rat liver, liver slices or hepatocytes labeled by [¹⁴C] oleic acid and [³H]arachidonic acid or [¹⁴C]palmitic acid as well as in the isolated liver cell plasma membranes of 90- and 720-day-old rats of different thyroid status. The decrease of T₄ and T₃ levels in blood serum of 720-day-old rats and mercazolil-treated animals was associated with increases of both the DAG mass in liver and liver cell plasma membranes and newly synthesized [¹⁴C]DAG level in liver and isolated hepatocytes. Hypothyroidism decreased PKC activity in both membrane and cytosol as well as phospholipid and triacylglycerol synthesis in liver. These hypothyroidism effects were restored in liver by injection of T₄. T₄ administration to the intact animals of different ages decreased the DAG level in liver and isolated plasma membranes and the content of newly synthesized DAG in liver. The reduction of DAG level in liver was not associated with increasing free fatty acid level. DAG labeling ratio ¹⁴C/³H in liver slices of rats of different thyroid state sharply differed from PL. DAG was relatively enriched in [¹⁴C]oleic acid whereas PL were enriched in [³H]arachidonic acid.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The above data have indicated that thyroid hormones are important physiological modulators of DAG level in rat liver and cell plasma membranes. Age- and drug-induced malfunction of thyroid gland resulted in a prominent decrease of glycerolipid synthesis which may promote DAG accumulation in liver.</p