Arachne Challenges Minerva: The Spinning Out of Long Narrative in World of Warcraft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

My focus here is to explore the ways in which World of Warcraft can be said to have a long narrative. Core to my argument is that 'worldness' is key to understanding how it is that long narrative can be sustained and make sense. I will historicise long narrative formats through reference to epic poetry--taking as my starting point the battle of narrative form between Arachne and Minerva in Ovid's Metamorphosis, as well showing that world-based long narratives are often driven by media economics and especially franchising. Using Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a point of comparison, I show that because the 'World' of Warcraft is driven ludically, a rather different type of long narrative is produced than found in other media formats

Modelling the influence of personality and culture on affect and enjoyment in multimedia

Affect is evoked through an intricate relationship between the characteristics of stimuli, individuals, and systems of perception. While affect is widely researched, few studies consider the combination of multimedia system characteristics and human factors together. As such, this paper explores the influence of personality (Five-Factor Model) and cultural traits (Hofstede Model) on the intensity of multimedia-evoked positive and negative affects (emotions). A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie clips) were evaluated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, three multilevel regression models are compared: a baseline model that only considers system factors; an extended model that includes personality and culture; and an optimistic model in which each participant is modelled. An analysis shows that personal and cultural traits represent 5.6% of the variance in positive affect and 13.6% of the variance in negative affect. In addition, the affect-enjoyment correlation varied across the clips. This suggests that personality and culture play a key role in predicting the intensity of negative affect and whether or not it is enjoyed, but a more sophisticated set of predictors is needed to model positive affect with the same efficacy

On the domain-specificity of mindsets: The relationship between aptitude beliefs and programming practice

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.Deliberate practice is important in many areas of learning, including that of learning to program computers. However, beliefs about the nature of personal traits, known as mindsets, can have a profound impact on such practice. Previous research has shown that those with a fixed mindset believe their traits cannot change; they tend to reduce their level of practice when they encounter difficulty. In contrast, those with the growth mindset believe their traits are flexible; they tend to maintain regular practice despite the level of difficulty. However, focusing on mindset as a single construct focused on intelligence may not be appropriate in the field of computer programming. Exploring this notion, a self-belief survey was distributed to undergraduate software engineering students. It revealed that beliefs about intelligence and programming aptitude formed two distinct constructs. Furthermore, the mindset for programming aptitude had greater utility in predicting software development practice, and a follow-up survey showed that it became more fixed throughout instruction. Thus, educators should consider the role of programming-specific beliefs in the design and evaluation of introductory courses in software engineering. In particular, they need to situate and contextualize the growth messages that motivate students who experience early setbacks

Differences in intention to use educational RSS feeds between Lebanese and British students: A multi‑group analysis based on the technology acceptance model

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) offers a means for university students to receive timely updates from virtual learning environments. However, despite its utility, only 21% of home students surveyed at a university in Lebanon claim to have ever used the technology. To investigate whether national culture could be an influence on intention to use RSS, the survey was extended to British students in the UK. Using the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) as a research framework, 437 students responded to a questionnaire containing four constructs: behavioral intention to use; attitude towards benefit; perceived usefulness; and perceived ease of use. Principle components analysis and structural equation modelling were used to explore the psychometric qualities and utility of TAM in both contexts. The results show that adoption was significantly higher, but also modest, in the British context at 36%. Configural and metric invariance were fully supported, while scalar and factorial invariance were partially supported. Further analysis shows significant differences between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use across the two contexts studied. Therefore, it is recommended that faculty demonstrate to students how educational RSS feeds can be used effectively to increase awareness and emphasize usefulness in both contexts

Designing for designers: Towards the development of accessible ICT products and services using the VERITAS framework

Among key design practices which contribute to the development of inclusive ICT products and services is user testing with people with disabilities. Traditionally, this involves partial or minimal user testing through the usage of standard heuristics, employing external assisting devices, and the direct feedback of impaired users. However, efficiency could be improved if designers could readily analyse the needs of their target audience. The VERITAS framework simulates and systematically analyses how users with various impairments interact with the use of ICT products and services. Findings show that the VERITAS framework is useful to designers, offering an intuitive approach to inclusive design.The work presented in this article forms part of VERITAS, which is funded by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme (FP7) (grant agreement # 247765 FP7-ICT-2009.7.2)

Gathering the Voices: disseminating the message of the Holocaust for the digital generation by applying an interdisciplinary approach

The aim of the Gathering the Voices project is to gather testimonies from Holocaust survivors who have made their home in Scotland and to make these testimonies available on the World Wide Web. The project commenced in 2012, and a key outcome of the project is to educate current and future generations about the resilience of these survivors. Volunteers from the Jewish community are collaborating with staff and undergraduate students in Glasgow Caledonian University in developing innovative approaches to engage with school children. These multimedia approaches are essential, as future generations will be unable to interact in person with Holocaust survivors. By students being active participants in the project, they will learn more about the Holocaust and recognize the relevance of these testimonies in today’s society. Although some of the survivors have been interviewed about their journeys in fleeing from the Nazi atrocities, for all of the interviewees, this is the first time that they have been asked about their lives once they arrived in the United Kingdom. The interviews have also focused on citizenship and integration into society. The project is not yet completed, and an evaluation will be taking place to measure the effectiveness of the project in communicating its message to the public

Measuring enrichment: The assembly and validation of an instrument to assess student self-beliefs in CS1

Educational research shows that self-beliefs can have profound influences on learning behavior and achievement. It follows, then, that beliefs about the nature of programming aptitude (mindset) and the way individuals perceive themselves as programmers (self-concept) could have a salient impact on their programming practice. As such, new teaching methods could be used to support student self-beliefs and thereby encourage practice. However, valid measurement is needed to test this hypothesis. This paper presents the assembly and validation of a measurement instrument to support research into self-enrichment within the introductory programming context. An evaluation shows that the reliability and construct validity of the instrument are adequate, while the concurrent validity of the evaluation framework is satisfactory in the higher education context. However, future validation is required to establish cross-context validity

Assessing the role of conceptual knowledge in an anti-phishing game

Copyright @ 2014 IEEE. This is the author accepted version of this article.Games can be used to support learning and confidence development in several domains, including the secure use of computers. However, emphasizing different types of knowledge in a game design can lead to different outcomes. This study explores two game designs that aim to enhance students' ability to identify phishing hyperlinks. One design focuses on procedural knowledge: developing students' tacit ability to recognize phishing hyperlinks through systematic practice. The other design focuses on conceptual knowledge: helping students to explicitly reflect upon and identify the features of phishing hyperlinks. The results of a double-blind randomized trial with 66 participants suggests that using a game designed for conceptual knowledge leads to a greater increase in learners' ability to identify phishing hyperlinks. Hence, incorporating conceptual knowledge development into educational games enhances their efficacy within the computer security context

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Educating programmers: A reflection on barriers to deliberate practice

Copyright @ 2013 HEAProgramming is a craft which often demands that learners engage in a significantly high level of individual practice and experimentation in order to acquire basic competencies. However, practice behaviors can be undermined during the early stages of instruction. This is often the result of seemingly trivial misconceptions that, when left unchecked, create cognitive-affective barriers. These interact with learners' self-beliefs, potentially inducing affective states that inhibit practice. This paper questions how to design a learning environment that can address this issue. It is proposed that analytic and adaptable approaches, which could include soft scaffolding, ongoing detailed formative feedback and a focus on self-enhancement alongside skill development, can help overcome such barriers