Investigating the Effectiveness of an Educational Card Game for Learning How Human Immunology Is Regulated

This study was conducted in an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of an educational card game we developed for learning human immunology. Two semesters of evaluation were included to examine the impact of the game on students’ understanding and perceptions of the game-based instruction. Ninety-nine senior high school students (11th graders) were recruited for the first evaluation, and the second-semester group consisted of 72 students (also 11th graders). The results obtained indicate that students did learn from the educational card game. Moreover, students who learned from playing the game significantly outperformed their counterparts in terms of their understanding of the processes and connections among different lines of immunological defense (first semester: t = 2.92, p < 0.01; second semester: t = 3.45, p < 0.01) according to the qualitative analysis of an open-ended question. They generally had positive perceptions toward the game-based instruction and its learning efficiency, and they felt the game-based instruction was much more interesting than traditional didactic lectures (first semester: t = 2.79, p < 0.01; second semester: t = 2.41, p < 0.05). This finding is evidence that the educational card game has potential to facilitate students’ learning of how the immune system works. The implications and suggestions for future work are further discussed.

Play is necessary for the development of higher intelligence; for if we were provided with perfected instincts, as insects are, life would be automatic and there would be no such thing as education and no increase of ability or intelligence, either in the individual or the species.— Mitchell and Mason, 1935 , 56–57

     

The Effectiveness of Radio as an Educational Medium

Abstract

Radio is a mass medium that can be harnessed to enhance an education campaign since it can span great distances and reach a large number oflisteners. Because of its wide coverage, relatively low unit cost, ability to reach those who are illiterate and without the use of mains power, it has proved to be an effective educational medium. The features of the radio medium are: it is a ‘blind’ (ie non‐visual) medium; it functions in real time; and its codes are purely auditory, consisting as they do of speech, music, sounds, noises and silences.

The fact that it is non‐visual can be harnessed to improve education quality since the listener is compelled to support the sound message by using his/her own imagination. No other medium has this educational power of stimulating and developing the abstract thinking of its audience and enriching and activating the listener's imagination.     

Development of the Biology Card Sorting Task to Measure Conceptual Expertise in Biology

There are widespread aspirations to focus undergraduate biology education on teaching students to think conceptually like biologists; however, there is a dearth of assessment tools designed to measure progress from novice to expert biological conceptual thinking. We present the development of a novel assessment tool, the Biology Card Sorting Task, designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual knowledge of biology. While modeled on tasks from cognitive psychology, this task is unique in its design to test two hypothesized conceptual frameworks for the organization of biological knowledge: 1) a surface feature organization focused on organism type and 2) a deep feature organization focused on fundamental biological concepts. In this initial investigation of the Biology Card Sorting Task, each of six analytical measures showed statistically significant differences when used to compare the card sorting results of putative biological experts (biology faculty) and novices (non–biology major undergraduates). Consistently, biology faculty appeared to sort based on hypothesized deep features, while non–biology majors appeared to sort based on either surface features or nonhypothesized organizational frameworks. Results suggest that this novel task is robust in distinguishing populations of biology experts and biology novices and may be an adaptable tool for tracking emerging biology conceptual expertise.     

教育游戏“农场狂想曲2”中的学习迁移

教育仿真游戏是否对学生的迁移具有作用?本文采用个案法研究农场狂想曲2中学生的学习迁移,结果发现,有提示问题的个案发生了远迁移,迁移的知识层次达到了分析、综合和评价的高阶思维水平,而没有提示问题的个案即发生了近迁移或者没有迁移。     

“无立场”的教育认识与人的全面发展

教育是社会生活的必需,而不是体制化的产物.教育认识中客观存在的"意见"或"规范"使教育活动得以在一定的框架内有序地进行,但不能把这些"意见"或"规范"看作教育的最后依据,否则会遮蔽教育的视野.致力于人的全面发展的教育必定是"祛功利化"的."无立场"的教育认识主张对教育的认识要从那些被遮蔽的原始形态的"意见"和"规范"上升到知识然后再上升到更高层面的"意见"的高度.出于对工具理性束缚的反思和批判,"教育回归生活世界"的价值诉求是要以生活世界为教育的价值目标和思维方式,澄清教育理念.为此,对教育的认识要超越各种既有的"意见"或"规范",回归到使人生活得更美好的立场上去.     

InFection Four: Development of a Youth-Informed Sexual Health Card Game

Games may be useful tools for learning and communicating about sexual and reproductive health. This article discusses the collaborative design and subsequent evaluation of a narrative-based card game. This game was created in a workshop based on positive youth development, which allowed youth to be involved as game designers and game players. Human-centered design informed the workshop and gave the youth opportunities to have meaningful roles, learn skills, and focus on an issue that affects their peers. The intervention was constructed to teach about sexual and reproductive health and also to provide skills to address the medical, social, and emotional aspects of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). During the evaluation of the resultant game, student players were critical of the game but admitted to learning essential facts about STIs. This study demonstrates the feasibility of collaboratively designing a game with youth for youth resulting in a playable and educational tool.     

Economic Viewpoints in Educational Effectiveness: Cost-effectiveness Analysis of an Educational Improvement Project

Cost-effectiveness analysis is not only important for decision making in educational policy and practice. Also within educational effectiveness research it is important to establish the costs of educational processes in relationship to their effects. The integrated multilevel educational effectiveness models provide opportunities to conduct more refined cost-effectiveness analyses than were carried out in the past. A cost-effectiveness analysis of an educational improvement project in Indonesia illustrates that combining the knowledge base and methodology of educational effectiveness research and cost-effectiveness analysis provides fruitful possibilities for future theoretical and practical developments in both approaches.     

Systems Modelling and the Development of Coherent Understanding of Cell Biology

This article reports on educational design research concerning a learning and teaching strategy for cell biology in upper‐secondary education introducing systems modelling as a key competence. The strategy consists of four modelling phases in which students subsequently develop models of free‐living cells, a general two‐dimensional model of cells, a three‐dimensional model of plant cells, and finally they are engaged in formal thinking by modelling life phenomena to a hierarchical systems model. The strategy was thought out, elaborated, and tested in classrooms in several research cycles. Throughout the field‐tests, research data were collected by means of classroom observations, interviews, audio‐taped discussions, completed worksheets, written tests, and questionnaires. Reflection on the research findings eventuated in reshaping and formalizing the learning and teaching strategy, which is presented here. The results show that although acquiring systems thinking competence at the metacognitive level needs more effort, our strategy contributed to improving learning outcomes; that is, acquisition of a coherent conceptual understanding of cell biology and acquisition of initial systems thinking competence, with modelling being the key activity.     

教育游戏中游戏任务设计的原则与方法

本文主要阐述了教育游戏中游戏任务设计的原则,即根据教学目标的类型层次、不同领域的课程知识、游戏者的认知水平以及游戏任务本身的结构四方面进行游戏任务设计,并说明了游戏任务实现的方法,以获得游戏教育性与游戏性的平衡统一。     

对推进教育可持续发展的认识与思考

从转变教育发展思想，树立教育可持续发展的观念以及教育可持续发展的实现应采取的一些切实可行的有力措施方面作以阐述。     

Fostering the Development of Logico-Mathematical Thinking in a Card Game at Ages 5-6

A class of 14 kindergartners in Japan was videotaped while playing a card game in groups of three involving the placement of cards in numerical order. The children were followed up in first grade, and it was found that development in one area of logico-mathematical knowledge (for example, the making of temporal relationships) stimulates development in other areas (such as classification and numerical reasoning). This specific, interrelated mode of structuring was not expected and suggested that it is unwise for adults to try to plan a sequence of development. The implication of the findings is that it may be better to provide "natural" play activities that encourage children to think logico-mathematically than to conceptualize specific standards for 3-to-6-year-olds' mathematics education.     

以社会政策及其发展理路为视角全面理解我国的民族教育政策

社会政策是工业化时代社会问题的直接产物，它随着新的社会问题的出现和社会实践的发展不断地进行着相应的变化和调整。以社会政策及其发展理路为基本视角，对理解我国民族教育政策具有诸多启示。     

师范生的毕业论文选题与创新思维

撰写毕业论文是一项创造性的精神劳动,选题是毕业论文撰写的关键,它决定着论文写作的基本方向.突破陈规,积极思考,就是脱离随人步趋的思维陈规,走向创新思维的广阔空间;自主探究,锐意求新,其实质就是张扬个性,展示自我本位意识;开阔视野和发散思维往往是写作灵感勃发的先机.三因素相互联系、相互影响,统一于毕业论文选题的具体实践之中.     

全面发展教育目的观下的幼儿园游戏环境创设

幼儿园游戏是促进幼儿全面、健康、和谐发展的重要途径。游戏为幼儿提供了自我活动的条件,是主要的教育手段。但是,当前很多幼儿园的游戏活动也出现了被成人化现象,本是自觉自由的游戏被人为地增加了很多不利于儿童健康成长的限制。从全面发展视域下的幼儿教育基本理念和内容出发,重新界定幼儿园游戏化教育及其环境创设的原则与策略等内容,并通过全面发展视域下的评价观念转变,把快乐、真实、自然、有意义的童年还给儿童,让孩子们真正成为自己天真快乐、勇于探索、健康成长的主人和最好的自己,已经成为当前教育改革的必然取向和当务之急。