Deconstructing games as play: progress, power, fantasy, and self

In this issue, I draw together two sets of papers, with apparently different agendas. Most of the original papers in this issue use various learning perspectives and research approaches to explore the challenges and affordances of digital games for learning science. Associated forum papers challenge the authors and us to critically examine our own approaches to developing learning resources that model experiential phenomena, analyzing data and making claims. I locate all these studies within Brian Sutton-Smith??s philosophy of play. The other set of papers critically examines neo-liberalism and globalization within a consideration of the dimensions of science. I argue for a synergy between both sets of papers.     

Investigating the effectiveness of computer simulations for chemistry learning

Are well‐designed computer simulations an effective tool to support student understanding of complex concepts in chemistry when integrated into high school science classrooms? We investigated scaling up the use of a sequence of simulations of kinetic molecular theory and associated topics of diffusion, gas laws, and phase change, which we designed and experimentally tested. In the two effectiveness studies reported, one in a rural and the other in an urban context, chemistry teachers implemented two alternate versions of a curricular unit—an experimental version, incorporating simulations, and a control version, using text‐based materials covering the same content. Participants were 718 high school students (357 rural and 361 urban), in a total of 25 classrooms. The implementation of the simulations was explored using criteria associated with fidelity of implementation (FOI). Each context provided insights into the role of FOI in affecting the effectiveness of the interventions when working with groups of teachers. Results supported the effectiveness of this sequence of simulations as a teaching tool in a classroom context, and confirmed the importance of FOI factors such as adherence and exposure in determining the specific environments in which these materials were most effective. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 394–419, 2012     

Notes and News

The pedagogical advisors play a central role in students’ experience of the training process. Nevertheless, the students’ perception of the role of the pedagogical advisor is absent. Consequently, our study focused on this missing link. Our study included 118 participants enrolled in an academic teacher training education program in one college in Israel. Open questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews were used to ascertain—for the first time in Israel—students’ views of the role of the pedagogical advisors. A uniform voice identified in participants’ responses clearly expressed a desire to be viewed as partners and have a more active role in the program in terms of their own learning process. At the same time, they also expected their pedagogical advisors to lend not only professional but also personal support and to help them cope with all aspects of the program.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of the Cognitive Interview for Children with Severe Intellectual Disabilities

We examined whether the cognitive interview (CI) procedure increased event recall in children with severe intellectual disabilities (ID) compared with children with no ID. Forty-six children with and without ID watched a videotaped event; they were aged between eight and 11 years. The next day they were individually interviewed using the CI or a structured interview (SI). Interviews consisted of free recall and specific questions, some of which contained leading or misleading information. The leading and misleading questions determined children’s susceptibility to information presented after the event. Overall, children without ID reported more correct information than children with ID. For all children, the CI led to more correct recall than the SI without increases in incorrect details or confabulations. Although the CI did not decrease children’s susceptibility to the misleading questions compared with the SI, children without ID disagreed with more of the misleading suggestions than children with ID. These results suggest that the CI may indeed be a valuable tool to elicit information from very vulnerable witnesses.     

Emotional engagement,social interactions,and the development of an afterschool game design curriculum

This formative design study examines how a program curriculum and implementation was emergently (re)designed in dynamic relation to the expressed emotions of teachers and students. The context was a yearlong afterschool game design program for STEM learning at an urban and public all-girls middle school. Using Randall Collins’ (Interaction ritual chains, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2004) sociology of emotions framework, our analysis of field notes and video data reveal how the original intended curriculum hindered the generation of positive emotions, mutual foci of attention, and feelings of group solidarity—factors important in the generation of successful group interactions. In response to teacher and student expressed emotions, we took these factors as a guide for redesigning the program curriculum and implementation in order to foster a more positive emotional climate and redirect students’ positive emotions toward engagement in learning goals. This study’s implications point to the possibilities for designing curricula and program implementations to engender more emotionally responsive environments for STEM learning.     

Partners in Learning—educators,practitioners and students collaborate on work‐based learning—a case study

Work‐based learning is incorporated into a wide range of undergraduate courses that emphasise education for the professions. Yet, there is a lack of literature examining successful models that are structured around the principles of experiential learning. Partners in Learning (PAL) is a 12‐month, part‐time internship developed for Library and Information Studies students at the University of Canberra. Now in its fourth year, PAL is judged successful by students, mentors and academics alike. In this article, PAL is examined in relation to a model of experiential learning. Elements of successful work‐based experience are identified in published literature and related to “best practices” underlying the PAL model. Implications for educators introducing such a model are highlighted.     

Philosophically correct science stories? Examining the implications of heroic science stories for school science

Some people think that science is a set of facts that can be presented in plain and unadorned language. This fosters a belief that science has few stories. Actually, stories are very important in school science. In an examination of science textbooks, I have identified four different types of science stories which I call (a) heroic, (b) discovery, (c) declarative, and (d) politically correct. Each of these types of story promotes a particular set of philosophical assumptions about science. These assumptions are presented implicitly within the framework of the story as truths of science. This article specifically examines the philosophical assumptions that underpin heroic science stories and the implications of these stories in the discursive practices of the school science classroom. As teachers, we need to be critically aware of these assumptions, since they may be at odds with our beliefs about knowledge and our preferred teaching practices. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 175–187, 1998.