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.     

Toward Understanding the Potential of Games for Learning: Learning Theory,Game Design Characteristics,and Situating Video Games in Classrooms

Researchers have argued that an effort should be made to raise teachers’ and parents’ awareness of the potentially positive educational benefits of playing video games (e.g., see Baek, 2008 Baek, Y.K. (2008). What hinders teachers in using computer and video games in the classroom? Exploring factors inhibiting the uptake of computer and video games. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, 665–671.[Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]). One part of this effort should be to increase understanding of how video games can be situated within teachers’ existing goals and knowledge of learning and instruction. However, relatively little research on game-based learning addresses teachers (Ketelhut & Schifter, 2011), and for many a gap remains between the apparent enthusiasm of researchers and policy makers relative to the potential of educational games and the attendant practicalities of selecting and implementing video games in classroom settings. This article begins to bridge this gap by providing research-based areas of awareness and a discussion of factors that can facilitate understanding related to choosing and using video games. To this end, we show how educational games can be conceptualized from different theoretical perspectives on learning and discuss a number of essential design issues that educators should take into account when considering a video game for educational use.     

促进高校教师专业发展的视频案例编制环境研究

随着信息化进程的不断推进,视频案例作为一种记录教学过程的有效方式,在教学研讨和教师专业成长中的作用日益突出。现阶段视频案例存在镜头变化少、制作时间长、视频直播难等的问题,严重影响了教学研讨质量和教师专业成长的效果。基于Wirecast的视频案例编制环境制作的视频案例能采集多路信号、同屏输出,具有可移动性强、制作时效高以及制作简易的特点,可以快捷方便的录播和直播课堂实况,便于优化视频案例质量,提高制作效率,促进高校教师专业发展。     

Evaluation of simSchool: An Instructional Simulation for Pre-Service Teachers

This study uses theory-based design principles to evaluate the effectiveness of an instructional simulation, simSchool. It begins by examining the simulation and evaluation literature, followed by an evaluation of the simSchool software. It is a Web-based simulation designed to emulate various students (reactions) in order to provide practice for pre-service teachers in instructional planning, assessment, and communication. This article uses a framework to analyze the simulation, according to the simulation's instructional goals and design models. The framework for designing a simulation approach to instruction, based on the model-centered instructional theory, provides a detailed model for dissecting the seven functional layers of a simulation. When combined with user testing, results indicated that simSchool provides a valid model of a simulated environment for pre-service teachers to practice instructional activities.     

A gaming frame of mind: digital contexts and academic implications

When considering the interdisciplinary nature of education, researchers need to acknowledge students' traditional and multimodal literacies and learning environments. Technological changes have brought about new learning spaces and what students learn through their video gaming experiences seems to have important academic implications and applications. This article presents data from three case studies of academically struggling 11th‐grade male video gamers, revealing the academic affordances of the participants' video game playing; the students developed a schema for academic material from their video game playing, fostering meaningful connections to classroom material. Overall, this paper reveals how the virtual gaming environment enabled three gamers to contextualize academic information, thereby making the material personally relevant.

Ein Glücksspielrahmen für den Verstand: Digitale Kontexte und akademische Auswirkungen

Wenn man die Bereichs überschreitende Natur der Bildung bedenkt, müssen Forscher die traditionellen und multimodalen Fähigkeiten der Studenten und auch ihre Lernumgebungen anerkennen. Technologische Änderungen haben neue Lernräume für die Studenten geschaffen, und was Studenten durch ihre Videospiel Erfahrungen lernen, scheint wichtige Auswirkungen im akademischen Bereich und den Anforderungen zu haben. Dieser Artikel zeigt Daten von drei Fallstudien über wissenschaftlich sich bemühende männliche Oberstufen‐Schüler und ‐ Video‐Gamer, bei der akademischen Anforderung die Videopartie der Teilnehmer zu spielen. Die Studenten entwickelten spielend ein Schema für akademisches Material aus ihrer Videopartie und förderten bedeutsame Verbindungen zu Klassenzimmermaterial. Insgesamt zeigt dieses Papier, wie die virtuelle Spielumgebung drei Spielern ermöglichte, akademische Information in einen Zusammenhang zu setzen und dadurch das Material persönlich für sich relevant zu machen.

Penser en joueur: les contexts numériques et leurs implications scolaires

Lorsqu'ils considèrent le caractère interdisciplinaire de l'éducation, les chercheurs doivent prendre en compte à la fois les savoirs traditionnels, les savoirs multimodaux ainsi que les environnements d'apprentissage. Les changements technologiques ont donné naissance à de nouveaux espaces d'apprentissage et, ce que les élèves apprennent de leur pratique des jeux vidéo, semble avoir des conséquences et des applications importantes sur le plan scolaire. Cet article présente les résultats de trois études de cas portant sur des élèves masculins de fin de secondaire en difficulté, par ailleurs adeptes des jeux vidéo, qui montrent les possibilités scolaires de leur pratique des jeux vidéo; ces élèves ont développé à partir de leurs pratiques des jeux un mode d'approche des documents scolaires qui a fait naître des liens significatifs avec les documents de classe. Plus généralement cet article montre comment l'environnement des jeux virtuels a permis à trois joueurs de contextualiser l'information scolaire donnant ainsi aux documents une pertinence personnelle.

Un estado de animo de. Los contextos digitales y sus implicaciones académicas

Cuando los investigadores estudian el carácter interdisciplinario de la educación, tienen que tomar en cuenta tanto los saberes tradicionales como los saberes multimodales y los entornos de aprendizaje. Los cambios tecnológicos han conllevado nuevos espacios de aprendizaje y lo que los alumnos aprenden a través de sus experiencias con los juegos de video acarrea aparentemente importantes aplicaciones y implicaciones para la escolaridad. Este artículo presenta los datos de tres estudios de casos sobre alumnos varones de fín de la enseñanza secundaria aficionados a los juegos de video con dificultades escolares, revelando el potencial académico de su actuación en esos juegos; los alumnos han adquirido un esquema para el material escolar a partir de su práctica de los juegos de video y desarrollado vínculos significativos con el material de aula. En general este artículo revela como el entorno de los juegos de video ha permitido a tres jugadores de contextualizar la información académica, transformando así el material en algo personal y pertinente.     

The use of augmented reality games in education: a review of the literature

This paper provides a review of the literature about the use of augmented reality in education and specifically in the context of formal and informal environments. It examines the research that has been conducted up to date on the use of those games through mobile technology devices such as mobile phones and tablets, both in primary and secondary education. The review of the relative literature was carried out in the period 2000 to early 2014 in ScienceDirect and ERIC. The outcomes of this review illustrated a set of studies that provide evidence of positive outcomes regarding student learning. These studies, which focused mainly on the natural sciences and took place within informal learning environments, used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The earliest study that was conducted about this topic used personal digital assistants, while the more recent one used smart (mobile) phones and tablets. The services of augmented reality focused on markers/quick response codes, virtual items, global positioning system services as well as on platforms for game creation. The findings of the literature review are discussed in relation to research approaches that are needed for augmented reality games to be played either in formal or informal learning environments.     

The convergence of gaming practices with other media forms: what potential for learning? A review of the literature

Nowhere in the current digital technology landscape is the process of ‘blurring the lines between media’ more apparent than with the uses and applications of gaming practices and technologies. Here the overlaps between new media and media interfaces are becoming significant as games technologies and practices are becoming more pervasive as commonplace social practices. This article reviews literature for evidence of these trends of convergent media forms as a starting point for a wider debate for using games technologies and practices to support learning practices. The article outlines convergences between gaming and cinema, gaming and the Internet, and gaming and emergent technologies and interfaces (e.g. mobile phones and social software). The article aims to foreground major dimensions of convergence in relation to the potential of innovations in educational practice and activities. The article concludes that variant forms of gaming are widespread. But while the converging forms of gaming with other media forms provide potential for supporting educational practices, these new forms still need to be considered in relation to clear pedagogic strategies, supported peer interactions and tutor engagement.     

Cultural Competence Development,Critical Service Learning,and Latino/a Youth Empowerment: A Qualitative Case Study

As universities create service-learning programs, educators are experimenting with pedagogical approaches that enhance learning outcomes while benefiting communities. We present a qualitative case study of a radio-based, service-learning program, grounded in a Freirean foundation and aimed at developing the cultural competence and sense of citizenship of undergraduate students while empowering working-class high school Latino/a students. Undergraduate students benefited the most from the program; they enhanced their cultural competence skills, awareness of social issues, and sense of civic responsibility. Latino/a high school students who stayed in the program for at least a year developed self-confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of self-efficacy.     

Longitudinal Evaluation of a Scale-Up Model for Teaching Mathematics With Trajectories and Technologies

Abstract

We used a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a research-based model for scaling up educational interventions, focusing on the persistence of effects with and without a follow-through intervention. The instantiation of the Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) model emphasized teaching early mathematics for understanding via learning trajectories and technology. The TRIAD implementation began in 42 schools in two city districts serving low-resource communities, randomly assigned to three conditions. In pre-kindergarten, the 2 experimental interventions were identical, but 1 included follow-through in the kindergarten year, including knowledge of the pre-K intervention and ways to build upon that knowledge using learning trajectories. Intent-to-treat analyses showed that students in both the follow-through condition (g = .33) and non-follow-through condition (g = .22) scored statistically significantly higher than children in the control condition. Both groups outperformed the control condition in treatment-on-the-treated analyses (g = .38, follow-through; g = .30 non-follow-through). Moderators and mediators were also analyzed. We conclude that the instantiation of the TRIAD model was successful and that follow through may contribute to the persistence of the effects of preschool interventions.     

课堂教学视频的力量——网络时代教师群体学习的新渠道

网络技术与数字视频技术的成熟使得课堂教学视频研究焕发出新的生命活力,从而成为教师群体学习的新渠道。本文选择国内外八个运用教学视频为主要分析对象的研究项目,采用内容分析法,从群体学习的研究方法、研究目的、支持材料、技术支持、沟通与共享、组织与经费投入、后续发展等七个角度,归纳网络时代基于课堂教学视频分析与共享的教师群体学习新渠道的主要特点,并对适合我国中小学教师的群体创新学习与持续性专业发展提出了建议。     

Teachers' Cloud-Based Learning Designs: The Development of a Guiding Rubric Using the TPACK Framework

This study aimed to develop, validate, and trial a rubric for evaluating the cloud-based learning designs (CBLD) that were developed by teachers using virtual learning environments. The rubric was developed using the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework, with rubric development including content and expert validation of its items and levels. The rubric was revised based on various types of input including content validity and expert review. After many iterations of rubric implementation using two raters, the final version of the rubric was found to be reliable with high and substantial inter-rater reliability. This study provides a methodological contribution by developing and validating a rubric for teachers' cloud-based learning designs. It also provides a useful tool for evaluating the quality of teachers' CBLD, and assessing training needs.     

构建促进高职教师发展的督导与评价体系

文章叙述了高职院校教师评价管理中的问题。     

由甄别选拔到促进发展:学生评价改革的方向

在我国新一轮的基础教育课程改革中,学生评价改革是学校课程评价改革关注的焦点,其改革的基本方向是:从以“甄别选拔”为基本价值取向的甄别性学生评价向以“促进发展”为基本价值取向的发展性学生评价转变。     

Fevatools:网络课程设计的形成性评估工具

本文介绍了圣地亚哥州立大学帮助大学教授评估网络课程效果的一个工具性网站：Fevatools（http：／／fevatools．wikispaces．con／）。该网站将22种工具和技术分为以下几类：典范做法、课程便利、学生成绩、平行调查和学习风格调查。部分教师试用Fevatools参与了调查,并提供了对这个网上工具的反馈。初步调查显示,这些教师通常使用调查和投票来评估课程。他们主要关注学生的学习成果,而不是网上课程的特点或如何促进学生的学习。为了能更有效地应用Fevatools,研究者推荐增加对教师进行相关的培训和支持,并深入研究网站的可用性。     

Cultural Curriculum and Marginalized Youth: An Analysis of Conflict at a School for Juvenile Parolees

In this article I analyze marginalized juvenile parolees' schooling experiences at an alternative community school in a large southwestern city. My analysis is based on a year of field research at the school. The analysis draws heavily from the critical pedagogy literature and focuses on how the school's cultural curriculum (rules, assignments, and discourses) conflicted with students' locally based identities. I illustrate how the conflict between the school's cultural curriculum and students' locally based identities hindered the learning process at the school and helped create student resistance against the school. The analysis reveals that the youths, who strongly valued their locally based identities, often resisted and rejected the school's attempted transmission of dominant cultural identities (e.g., nongang member) and capital (e.g., formal school knowledge). Teachers' generally sincere attempts to help students' transition to a better life played a significant role in students' school failure.     

The social experience of early childhood for children with learning disabilities: inclusion,competence and agency

This paper tells of the social experiences of three four‐year‐old children with learning disabilities as they negotiate their daily lives in their homes and early education settings in England. We apply a social model of childhood disability to the relatively unexplored territory of young children and use vignettes drawn from video observation to explore the interactive spaces contained in settings with different cultures of inclusion. Using a multimodal approach to the data we show the nuanced ways in which the children enact their agency. We explore the relationships between agency, culture and structure, and argue that children with learning disabilities are active in making meaning within social and relational networks to which they contribute differently depending on the barriers to doing and being that each network presents. Thus, the paper provides an original use of the notion of distributed competence.     

The Development and Evaluation of a Computer-Assisted Music Instruction Program for the Improvement of Tonal Memory

No abstract available for this article.