Experiencing Poverty in an Online Simulation: Effects on Players’ Beliefs, Attitudes and Behaviors about Poverty

Digital simulations are increasingly used to educate about the causes and effects of poverty, and inspire action to alleviate it. Drawing on research about attributions of poverty, subjective well-being, and relative income, this experimental study assesses the effects of an online poverty simulation (entitled Spent) on participants’ beliefs, attitudes, and actions. Results show that, compared with a control group, Spent players donated marginally more money to a charity serving the poor and expressed higher support for policies benefitting the poor, but were less likely to take immediate political action by signing an online petition to support a higher minimum wage. Spent players also expressed greater subjective well-being than the control group, but this was not associated with increased policy support or donations. Spent players who experienced greater presence (perceived realism of the simulation) had higher levels of empathy, which contributed to attributing poverty to structural causes and support for anti-poverty policies. We draw conclusions for theory about the psychological experience of playing online poverty simulations, and for how they could be designed to stimulate charity and support for anti-poverty policies

Simulating REAL LIVES: Promoting global empathy and interest in learning through simulation games

In response to an increasingly interdependent world, educators are demonstrating a growing interest in educating for global citizenship. Many definitions of the “good global citizen” value empathy as an especially important disposition for understanding others across national borders and cultural divides. Yet it may be difficult for people to achieve empathy with others who are perceived as psychologically and geographically distant. Can computerized simulation games help foster global empathy and interest in global civic learning? This quasiexperimental classroom study of 301 Northern California high school students in three schools examined the effects of playing REAL LIVES, a simulation game that allows players to inhabit the lives of individuals around the world. Compared with a control group, students who played the simulation game as part of their curriculum expressed more global empathy and greater interest in learning about other countries. Identification with REAL LIVES characters was also positively related to global empathy. These findings support claims that computerized simulations can cultivate important dispositions for global learning and citizenship

Flow and cooperative learning in civic game play

Flow theory offers an individualistic explanation of media enjoyment, while cooperative learning theory posits a social explanation for enhanced learning in groups. This classroom-based experimental study examines whether game players can experience both conditions and the influence of each on several types of civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. We find that high quality cooperative learning contributed to acquiring civic knowledge and skills. In contrast, flow was more influential for developing dispositions to empathy and interest in learning more about the game topics. Thus, we conclude that players can experience flow while engaged in cooperative learning, but that these two conditions may support different kinds of civic learning

How do presence, flow, and character identification affect players’ empathy and interest in learning from a serious computer game?

This study develops and tests an integrated model of how three psychological variables—presence, flow, and character identification—contribute to interest in learning and empathy with people from other cultures through a simulation game. U.S. college students played one of two roles (an American journalist or Haitian survivor) in the game that dealt with the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Presence was a powerful predictor of flow, character identification, and empathy felt during the games. Furthermore, empathy experienced by game play significantly predicted interest in learning more about the game topics. Flow and identification made secondary contributions to learning outcomes, with flow mediating the effect of presence on males’ empathy and identification contributing to females’ interest in learning. While the proposed model was generally successful at predicting outcomes, it did a better job of accounting for the experience of participants who played a role rooted in their own culture (the journalist) than in a different culture (the survivor), and for female than male players. Our results suggest that serious game designers should prioritize inducing empathy and immersive presence in players, giving secondary attention to designing for flow and character identification

Civic play and civic gaps: Can life simulation games advance educational equity?

Digital games and simulations (DG&S) could help mitigate inequities in civic education and participation, which are found in many contemporary democracies. Yet incorporating DG&S into the curriculum may reinforce or introduce inequities for students who are less engaged by game-based learning. A quasi-experimental study of 301 U.S. high school students in social studies classes examined whether prior academic performance, civic engagement, civic game play experience and gender affected how (and which) students benefit from playing a life simulation game. Dependent variables included several civic dispositions: justice-oriented citizenship norms and interest in politics, news, and global issues. The simulation game especially enhanced political interest among lower performing students and those with fewer informational resources. Although prior civic activity and civic gaming experience provided advantages for some outcomes, for the most part, gender did not. We conclude that life simulation games have the potential to advance both equity and excellence in civic education, engaging males and females, and advantaged and disadvantaged students, and we theorize about the reasons why

Análise do programa gerenciador de referências bibliográficas JabRef na organização de bibliotecas pessoais

Monografia (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Economia, Administração, Contabilidade e Ciência da Informação e Documentação, Departamento de Ciência da Informação e Documentação, 2009.Apresenta uma proposta de organização de acervos bibliográficos pessoais, a partir do software gerenciador de referências JabRef. O intuito desta proposta é o de caracterizar as particularidades e funcionalidades das bibliotecas pessoais, tendo por base a revisão de literatura. O resultado desta análise foi constituído por meio de testes e simulações em pequenos, médios e grandes acervos pessoais. O estudo mostrou que ainda não há programas que possam ser considerados perfeitos para este fim, mas que o software JabRef pode ser considerado uma excelente ferramenta para organização de uma biblioteca pessoal.Submit a proposal to organize personal library collections, from the references manager software JabRef. The purpose of this proposal is to characterize the features and functionality of personal libraries, based on a literature review. The result of this analysis was made by testing and simulations in small, medium and large personal collections. The study showed that there are no programs that might be perfect for this, but the JabRef can be considered an excellent tool for organizing a personal library

PALEOPROTEROZOIC GRAPHITIZATION IN THE CLÁUDIO SHEAR ZONE (SOUTHERN SÃO FRANCISCO CRATON - BRAZIL) INVESTIGATED BY RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION: Grafitização paleoproterozoica na Zona de Cisalhamento Cláudio (Sul do Cráton do São Francisco - Brasil) investigada por Espectroscopia Raman e Difração de Raio-X

The southern São Francisco craton hosts some of the largest graphite mines in Brazil, located in the city of Itapecerica. This paper addresses graphite crystals that occur within the regional structure known as the Cláudio shear zone in terms of thermometry. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction data showed that, on average, graphite crystals of the Cláudio shear zone have high crystallinity and are similar to those from mines in Itapecerica. The average temperature found (702 ºC) in this study is close to the samples from Itapecerica. However, this temperature is still lower than the expected (~900 ºC) from previous studies. The hypothesis for this would be that the graphite devolved high crystallinity, but was modified during the evolution of the metamorphism, or during the post-collisional stage fluid percolation. Thus, the modified crystallinity parameters lead to the relatively low-temperature values found. The proximity and similarity of geological framework suggest correlation between the precursor basins that formed the Itapecerica and the Cláudio shear zone graphite occurrences. From a global perspective, the closure of precursor basins and formation of the Cláudio shear zone are part of the collisions of Archean and Paleoproterozoic crustal blocks that formed the Columbia supercontinent.O sul do cráton do São Francisco abriga algumas das maiores minas de grafite do Brasil, localizadas na cidade de Itapecerica. Este artigo aborda cristais de grafite que ocorrem dentro da estrutura regional conhecida como zona de cisalhamento de Cláudio em termos de termometria. Dados de espectroscopia Raman e difração de raios X mostraram que, em média, os cristais de grafite da zona de cisalhamento de Cláudio possuem alta cristalinidade e são semelhantes aos das minas de Itapecerica. A temperatura média encontrada (702 ºC) neste estudo está próxima das amostras de Itapecerica. No entanto, esta temperatura ainda está abaixo do esperado (~900 ºC) de estudos anteriores. A hipótese para isso seria que o grafite degenerou alta cristalinidade, mas foi modificado durante a evolução do metamorfismo, ou durante o estágio pós-colisional de percolação do fluido. Assim, os parâmetros de cristalinidade modificados levam aos valores de temperatura relativamente baixos encontrados. A proximidade e similaridade do arcabouço geológico sugerem correlação entre as ocorrências das bacias precursoras que formaram a Itapecerica e a zona de cisalhamento de Cláudio. Do ponto de vista global, o fechamento de bacias precursoras e a formação da zona de cisalhamento Cláudio fazem parte das colisões de blocos crustais Arqueano e Paleoproterozóico que formaram o supercontinente Columbia

A VITALICIEDADE DO POSTO DE OFICIAL DAS FORÇAS ARMADAS COMO INSTRUMENTO DE CONCRETIZAÇÃO DOS DIREITOS SOCIAIS NA ORDEM ECONÔMICA, PREVIDENCIÁRIA E TRIBUTÁRIA

A temática intenciona identificar quais prerrogativas recaem sobre a conservação do posto pelo oficial das Forças Armadas brasileiras, mesmo após eventual incursão em condutas consideradas indesejáveis para o perfil desta categoria de agente. Há que se considerar a prerrogativa da vitaliciedade para conservação do posto em contraposição à mera estabilidade, no sentido da destituição do cargo ocorrer somente após pronunciamento judicial. Engloba aspectos concernentes ao direito social previdenciário e trabalhista dos militares federais. Visa a estudar o impacto da incidência de alguns encargos previdenciários e tributários sobre a carreira do militar, com a finalidade de quebrar alguns paradigmas