If you build it,will they come? Lessons learned in recruiting students for randomized controlled trials in postsecondary settings

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the most methodologically sound methods of conducting empirical research, but a successful RCT is contingent on the recruitment of subjects into the intervention and study. Few research articles and evaluations in education discuss recruitment, and even fewer discuss challenges in recruitment. This is worrisome, given that recruitment can jeopardize internal and external validity – the most valuable aspects of RCTs. This paper initiates a conversation about planning and carrying out a successful recruitment campaign, specifically in postsecondary settings where students are more autonomous, programmes are likely to be voluntary, the flow of information is disparate, and incentives are often misaligned for external evaluation. We also share our challenges and lessons learned in recruiting students for a student support programme and its evaluation. We also advocate that more researchers devote attention to, and sufficiently plan for the recruitment of subjects into RCTs.     

国外课堂教学中电子游戏的应用与启示

电子游戏在教育领域的应用案例近年来逐渐增多,国外教育界正尝试将其作为一种新颖的工具直接用于课堂教学,近年来在该领域已经积累了相当数量的成功案例,但关于游戏教学效能的论证尚存争议。本研究归纳了六种类型的成功个案并探索其中的共通模式,发现教学工作者在此领域面临四个方面的问题：游戏开发、教学中的定位、环境与师资水平限制以及基础研究的缺乏。国内一线教学工作者需要在教学设计、游戏内容、自身业务水平三方面加强训练,才能在课堂中成功使用教育游戏。     

Game Design Narrative for Learning: Appropriating Adventure Game Design Narrative Devices and Techniques for the Design of Interactive Learning Environments

The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to investigate how contemporary video and computer games might inform instructional design by looking at how narrative devices and techniques support problem solving within complex, multimodal environments. Specifically, this analysis presents a brief overview of game genres and the role of narrative in popular adventure game design, along with an analysis of how narrative supports problem solving in adventure games. Additionally, an analysis of the underlying structure used in game design for developing narratives is presented along with design heuristics for constructing narratives for educational purposes.     

电子游戏使用与个体创造力的关系——基于实证研究的分析

电子游戏使用与个体创造力之间的关系已经引起了学界的关注。日常情境下的电子游戏使用对创造力的影响尚不明确,已有研究在结论上存在分歧,而教学情境下电子游戏对创造力的促进作用则得到了较为充分的研究支持。此外,已有研究也初步探讨了电子游戏对创造力的影响机制,揭示了认知、情绪、动机三方面的因素在电子游戏使用和个体创造力之间的中介作用。从当前研究的成果中可发现,沙盒、解谜和模拟经营这3类电子游戏可以有效促进创造力。未来的研究应对电子游戏相关变量进行更系统准确的操作性定义和测量,重视对电子游戏过程的分析,在此基础上进一步探究其他类型的电子游戏对创造力的作用及其机制,并开发促进创造力的支持工具或教育类电子游戏。     

Stakeholders’ perception of who influences the decision‐making processes in Ontario’s public postsecondary education institutions

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted on stakeholders’ perception of who influences the decision‐making processes in Ontario’s public postsecondary education institutions. The study identified and interviewed representatives of those stakeholder groups that are frequently written about as the main forces behind decision making in colleges and universities. This is a qualitative research study in which four institutions were selected for case studies. The findings suggest that administrations are the most influential, and faculty unions/associations are the least influential in Ontario’s (Canada’s second largest and most populated province) public colleges and universities. It is concluded that those in central positions with access to information from all levels, and who are in close proximity to the gatekeepers of the institutions, will dominate the decision‐making processes in postsecondary education institutions. They will be the generators and harvesters of ideas and implementers of decisions.     

The Old and the New in the New Digital Literacies

Abstract

This article argues that both traditional literacy (reading and writing print) and new digital literacies (for example, playing video games) come in two grades or forms, one of which can lead to success in the modern world and one of which is less likely to do so. In both cases, the role of “academic” or “specialist” language is crucial in distinguishing between the two grades     

Mentoring and sponsorship in higher education institutions: men’s invisible advantage in STEM?

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with the source of men’s invisible advantage in the male-dominated disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It is suggested that this advantage has been obscured by combining sponsorship and mentoring. The research asks: Are men or women most likely to be mentored? Is it possible to distinguish between mentoring and sponsorship? Is there gender variation in either or both of these depending on the source – whether from the academic supervisor, line manager or other senior academics? This qualitative study draws on interview data from 106 respondents (57 men and 48 women) at high, mid and early levels, in four universities: one each in Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, and Turkey. It shows that both men and women received mentoring from their PhD supervisor, albeit with slightly different reported nuances. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship in that relationship. Both men and women received sponsorship from the Head of Department, whose wider responsibilities may have reduced homophily. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship and mentoring from senior men, with most women indicating a lack of access to such senior academics. By distinguishing between mentoring and sponsorship, this article contributes to our understanding of the way male dominance in STEM is perpetuated and suggests the source of men’s invisible advantage in STEM.     

Teacher' Attitudes Toward Educational Computing:

No abstract available for this article.     

电子游戏的教育价值:来自美国研究的新观点

当前,许多教育工作者和家长对电子游戏谈虎色变.然而,技术的发展已经使当今的电子游戏与过去的街机游戏有了天壤之别.美国一些知名专家和学者(包括Thiagarajan、Prensky、Johnson、Beck、Reeves、Brown、Gee以及Shaffer)的最新研究表明,电子游戏有许多积极的教育价值.本文以这些有影响力的人物及其在这一领域有影响力的著作或文章为主线,将这些挑战传统的观点归纳概括为:电子游戏是企业进行人力资源培训的新方法;电子游戏能发展玩家许多重要的能力,如问题解决能力、多任务处理能力、智力、管理能力,以及塑造玩家独特的商业品质和性格倾向;电子游戏能促进孩子们的学习.     

专业选择方式与学习效果关系初探

转专业制度是充分体现以学生为本理念的具体落实途径之一。但专业选择与学习效果的关系值得研究,对学校而言保持专业多样性,发挥教师积极性,开设个性化课程是对大学生专业选择权的保障,也是将专业的选择方式本身所带来的影响降到最低的可行方式。