How ID models help with game-based learning: an examination of the gentry model in a participatory design project

Game-based learning has been a popular development and recommended as an effective pedagogy in educating new generations of learners. Few studies, however, have demonstrated the efficacy of game-based learning on learners’ academic performance with empirical data. The described learning outcomes of game-based pedagogy within the limited available research are diverse. One prominent explanation is the lack of established guidelines. This paper addresses the issues of game design guidelines through a qualitative phenomenographic perspective of the experience of a group of students designing an educational game utilizing an adapted instructional design (ID) model – the gentry model. The results revealed the participants benefited from the process primarily in two capacities: a significant growth in their knowledge of game design and content knowledge; and great enjoyment and high motivation in the learning process. We conclude ID models with proper adaption and adjustment are effective to provide guidance and improve the efficacy of game-based learning if more ID models will be examined.     

The funding of early care and education programmes in Sweden, 1845–1943

What significance did donations, bequests, tuition fees and fund‐raising events have for early care and education programmes during the nineteenth and early twentieth century? Through an examination of 24 Swedish infant schools, day nurseries and free kindergartens, this article verifies that donations and bequests were essential for the economy of these programmes. Revenues from fundraisers were, however, not as important as previous research suggests. Balls, concerts and coffee parties were arranged quite frequently, but their function was to create publicity rather than to raise revenues. Instead, fees and interest revenues played a larger part in the economy of these programmes than previous research has suggested. Thus, this article raises a series of questions regarding the funding of such programmes, national differences in this respect and the development of fund‐raising strategies over time, opening up the field for further studies in this area of research.     

Effects of social networks on the quality of life in an elder and middle-aged deaf community sample

This article endeavors to investigate the role of social networks in contributing to the quality of life of an elder and middle-aged Deaf population. In particular, it poses the question of whether a certain network composition (deaf and hearing network persons) provides positive resources to improve quality of life and attempts to identify moderating and mediating connections between social networks and quality of life. Based on the data collected in a survey of 107 members of the Deaf community aged 45-81 years, it was possible to ascertain the fact that a larger social network is significantly associated with a higher quality of life, but the size of the deaf network is principally decisive. The hypothesis that a bicultural network composition would have a particular positive effect on the quality of life could not be confirmed. Findings revealed that the effect of deaf network size on the quality of life is mediated by personal resources concerning self-efficacy and communication skills. Moreover, evidence was sound for the functional equivalence of social and personal resources, which suggests that potential negative effects of reduced personal resources on the quality of life could possibly be compensated by a larger deaf network and vice versa.     

Professionalisierung von Hochschullehrenden

Despite a growing interest in professionalization, research on didactic training of novice university teachers is lacking. This contribution, therefore, analyzes the development of teaching intentions and strategies (teaching approaches) in relation to teaching action, professional vision and teacher identity during a video-based training. We questioned fourteen novice teachers in a pre-post-design and with reference to video-taped teaching sessions. We also conducted a systematic video analysis. The results show that the teachers?? approaches start out rather teacher-focused. However, these approaches become more coherent to teaching action over time, which, in combination with emerging self-efficacy in teaching, indicates a developing teaching profile. Teachers?? professional vision of their own teaching is strongly focused on themselves. Teachers reflect on discrepancies between intentions and action and, by this, they can deduce concrete actions to make their teaching coherent to their intentions. We, therefore, conclude that our training equips teachers with the necessary tools for changes in action. Even so, putting this knowledge into practice also depends on contextual factors.     

Formale Konsistenzsicherung in informellen Software-Spezifikationen

Zusammenfassung. Die Spezifikation ist die Grundlage für den Erfolg eines Software-Projekts. Der Praktiker konzentriert sich hier i.d.R. auf die größte Herausforderung: die vollständige und inhaltlich korrekte Erfassung aller Anforderungen an das zu erstellende Software-System. Dass Spezifikationen für große Systeme aus vielen Dokumenten verschiedener Ausprägung in Form und Inhalt bestehen, tritt dabei meist in den Hintergrund. Ihre Konsistenz wird meist mit hohem manuellem Aufwand sichergestellt. Der Erstellung formal korrekter und konsistenter Software-Spezifikationen widmen sich zahlreiche theoretische Arbeiten. In der Praxis sind sie jedoch meist nicht mit der gewohnten Arbeitsweise vereinbar. In diesem Artikel stellen wir einen Mittelweg vor: Wir nutzen die Spezifikationsbausteine von sd&m für die Spezifikation, die als Ergebnisse Dokumente in natürlicher Sprache sowie semi-formale Darstellungen umfasst. Für Spezifikationen, die nach diesen Bausteinen erstellt wurden, definieren wir Konsistenz durch formale zeitbehaftete Konsistenzregeln. Ein von uns entwickeltes Auswertungswerkzeug ermittelt Inkonsistenzen präzise. Unterstützt von einem solchen Werkzeug kann sich der Software-Ingenieur wieder ganz auf das Hauptanliegen der Spezifikation konzentrieren: ihre inhaltliche Korrektheit und Vollständigkeit.Eingegangen am 19. August 2003, Angenommen am 10. März 2004, CR Subject Classification: D.2.1, D.3.1, H.3.1, I.7.1     

Prior knowledge activation: how different concept mapping tasks lead to substantial differences in cognitive processes, learning outcomes, and perceived self-efficacy

Two experiments investigated the effects of characteristic features of concept mapping used for prior knowledge activation. Characteristic demands of concept mapping include connecting lines representing the relationships between concepts and labeling these lines, specifying the type of the semantic relationships. In the first experiment, employing a within-subjects design, 20 psychology students completed a label-provided-lines economics mapping task and then a create-and-label-lines meteorology mapping task or vice versa. The analysis of 40 think-aloud protocols indicated more elaboration processes for the label-provided-lines task than for the create-and-label-lines task. On the other hand, the protocols indicated more model-construction and organization processes in the create-and-label-lines task. The second experiment used the same variation but focused on learning outcomes and perceived self-efficacy as dependent measures. Forty-two psychology students were randomly assigned to either a label-provided-lines mapping task or a create-and-label-lines mapping task. Subsequently, both groups completed a learning phase in a hypertext environment and a posttest. Results showed substantial differences in learning outcomes and perceived self-efficacy in favor of the label-provided-lines prior knowledge activation task. The findings are congruent with coherence effects found in text-comprehension research and support the position that concept mapping should not be seen as a unitary method but be differentiated according to the specific tasks to be completed.     

Pädagogisches Wissen von angehenden Lehrkräften

Whilst experience of testing subject-specific knowledge of prospective and practicing teachers is generally available, the standardized capture of their cross-subject, pedagogic knowledge remains a new field of inquiry. This contribution will present a way of defining and capturing this knowledge with reference to standards for teacher training and insights from general didactic and teaching theory. We focus on five vocational requirements with which teaching staff see themselves confronted: structuring lessons, motivation, dealing with heterogeneity, leading lessons and assessing performance. Using the Rasch-Model, we carried out an empirical study on the structure of cross-subject knowledge based on 802 student teachers. As expected, the model, which differentiates between the five areas of knowledge, reflects the data better than a model, which assumes pedagogic knowledge to have a homogeneous structure. This provides empirical insights into long-going theoretical discussions on pedagogical knowledge. The results also reflect the context of typical learning opportunities in teacher training.     

Core Competencies: The Challenge For Graduate Peace and Conflict Studies Education

This article uses a case study of the assessment of a graduate program in negotiations and conflict management as a springboard for discussing several critical, but unanswered questions in our field. It raises questions regarding the lack of clear core competencies and expectations regarding curricula at the graduate-level of peace and conflict studies programs, as well as concerns over how educators in this field can or should assess their own work and train students for practice. It also addresses, via a comparative case analysis in Tajikistan, the degree to which the competencies and pedagogical approaches in this field are culturally bound. The picture that emerges from these case studies suggests that there have been important omissions in the way that the varied educational programs and the larger peace and conflict studies field itself have developed thus far.     

An NCME Instructional Module on Booklet Designs in Large-Scale Assessments of Student Achievement: Theory and Practice

In most large-scale assessments of student achievement, several broad content domains are tested. Because more items are needed to cover the content domains than can be presented in the limited testing time to each individual student, multiple test forms or booklets are utilized to distribute the items to the students. The construction of an appropriate booklet design is a complex and challenging endeavor that has far-reaching implications for data calibration and score reporting. This module describes the construction of booklet designs as the task of allocating items to booklets under context-specific constraints. Several types of experimental designs are presented that can be used as booklet designs. The theoretical properties and construction principles for each type of design are discussed and illustrated with examples. Finally, the evaluation of booklet designs is described and future directions for researching, teaching, and reporting on booklet designs for large-scale assessments of student achievement are identified.