Examining the requirements for an intergenerational learning game

Intergenerational learning (IGL) has been identified as a viable way to help organizations deal with the problems an ageing worker population brings with it. Information and communications technology (ICT) in its many forms can be utilized to support IGL. This paper investigates the requirements for a game that would help raise stakeholder awareness for IGL, and allow individuals to practice skills related to it. By interviewing members of the European Union (EU)-funded SILVER-project we aim to find out suitable contexts, interventions and mechanisms that allow us to design such a game. Based on the interviews we found out that the game should be easily contextualized so that it works in—or is easily adapted to—different countries and cultures. For example sports or nature could be such contexts. As for mechanisms and interventions we found out that there are many possibilities. We conclude that such a logical combination of mechanisms and interventions that support the selected context must be chosen.     

Are serious video games something more than a game? A review on the effectiveness of serious games to facilitate intergenerational learning

Aging diversity in organizations creates potential challenges, particularly for knowledge management, skills update and skills obsolescence. Intergenerational learning (IGL) involves knowledge building, innovation and knowledge transfer between generations within an organization (Ropes 2011). Serious games refer to the use of computer games in raising awareness about educational topics, acquiring new knowledge and skills by enabling learners to engage and participate in situations that would otherwise be impossible to experience (Corti 2006). Although learning with the use of serious games is similar to traditional learning in several cognitive respects, there are noted differences in the learning style and structure of learning using serious games. The success of learning using serious games lies in the actual involvement of a participant playing the game, which in turn, creates increased cognitive links with real-life situations allowing the individual to make relevant associations, to use mnemonic strategies with the facilitation of multi-dimensional educational aids (e.g., visual, auditory). Some of the beneficial aspects of learning with the use of serious games include the elevation of several cognitive skills, which are directly or indirectly implicated in the learning process. Among them are attention and visuo-spatial abilities, memory and motor skills. However, several barriers have been noted that fall into two general categories: a) health issues (e.g., cognitive strain, headaches) and b) psychological issues (e.g., social isolation, emotional disturbances). Since the training conditions are learner-centered and highly determined by the individual, there is increased need for evaluating the learning outcomes using specific success indicators. Examples of games that are designed to facilitate IGL are scarce, while there are no examples of IGL games in most EU countries. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the current literature of theories on learning through serious games in adults and the elderly with reference to the cognitive mechanisms implicated, benefits and barriers in learning using new technologies in different generations. Secondly, this paper reviews the existence of serious games designed to facilitate IGL in Europe, as well as the characteristics of serious games in raising awareness that could be used to facilitate IGL. In doing so, specific focus is placed on the development of success indicators that determine the effectiveness of serious games on raising awareness on IGL.     

ICT tools in environmental education: reviewing two newcomers to schools

United Nations of Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO’s) founding statements about environmental education (EE) in the 1970s positioned it as a multidisciplinary field of inquiry. When enacted as such, it challenges traditional ways of organising secondary school education by academic subject areas. Equally, according to UNESCO, EE requires various forms of integrated and project-based teaching and learning approaches. These can involve hands-on experimentation alongside the retrieval and critical analysis of information from diverse sources and perspectives, and with different qualities and statuses. Multidisciplinary and knowledge engagement challenges are key considerations for an EE curriculum designed to harness information and communication technologies (ICT) to support and enhance student learning, which also challenge traditional instructional priorities that for example are largely based on textbooks. This review summarises research that has sought to integrate ICT and digital tools in EE. A key finding is that while there is a rich variety of such tools and applications available, there is far less research on their fit with and implications for student learning. The review calls for further studies that will provide models of productive forms of teaching and learning that harness ICT resources, particularly in developing the goals and methodologies of EE in the twenty-first century.     

Defining student diversity: categorizing and processes of marginalization in Swedish schools

The article presents an analysis of how diversity is defined and attended to in Swedish schools. The research reported has been carried out as a case study of categorizing practices that concern the uses of neuropsychiatric diagnoses, notably ADHD. The data were collected as part of a larger study. The interaction over a two-year period between the parents of a boy (William, aged 5.5 years) and representatives of the school (school psychologist, principal, teacher etc.) has been analysed. It is shown that parents and professionals provide different accounts of William’s difficulties. The parents, while not denying that their son causes problems in class, argue that the boy will mature and that the problems will disappear. The representatives of the school try to convince the parents that a neuropsychiatric examination of the boy will be beneficial to all parties. The long process of negotiation can be understood as a rhetorical drama, where the category ‘ADHD’ serves as the resolution of a complex institutional problem in the modern welfare state.     

Midsession reversals with pigeons: visual versus spatial discriminations and the intertrial interval

Discrimination reversal learning has been used as a measure of species flexibility in dealing with changes in reinforcement contingency. In the simultaneous-discrimination, midsession-reversal task, one stimulus (S1) is correct for the first half of the session, and the other stimulus (S2) is correct for the second half. After training, pigeons show a curious pattern of choices: They begin to respond to S2 well before the reversal point (i.e., they make anticipatory errors), and they continue to respond to S1 well after the reversal (i.e., they make perseverative errors). That is, pigeons appear to be using the passage of time or the number of trials into the session as a cue to reverse, and are less sensitive to the feedback at the point of reversal. To determine whether the nature of the discrimination or a failure of memory for the stimulus chosen on the preceding trial contributed to the pigeons’ less-than-optimal performance, we manipulated the nature of the discrimination (spatial or visual) and the duration of the intertrial interval (5.0 or 1.5 s), in order to determine the conditions under which pigeons would show efficient reversal learning. The major finding was that only when the discrimination was spatial and the intertrial interval was short did the pigeons perform optimally.     

Teaching Supply Chain Management Complexities: A SCOR Model Based Classroom Simulation

The SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) Model Supply Chain Classroom Simulation is an in‐class experiential learning activity that helps students develop a holistic understanding of the processes and challenges of supply chain management. The simulation has broader learning objectives than other supply chain related activities such as the Beer Game. Competing supply chains work to produce and sell two products, each experiencing differential demand. Seasonal demand, time delays, quality defects, and disruptions offer complexities that are part of actual supply chain management. The behavioral dynamics of collaboration between various functional nodes is illustrated through students’ interactions as they try to achieve their role's objectives. Through their decisions and actions, students develop a practical understanding of the processes and complexities of supply chain management. The classroom simulation actively engages students, and has been used successfully in multiple courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at multiple universities and by a major corporation during a manager training session. Assessments indicate that the simulation is an effective experiential learning activity. While it offers learning outcome flexibility, common debrief themes are SCOR model processes, supply chain relationships, information flow, seasonal demand, quality defects, reverse logistics, and supply chain disruptions.     

Can you see me thinking (about my answers)? Using eye-tracking to illuminate developmental differences in monitoring and control skills and their relation to performance

This study focuses on relations between 7- and 9-year-old children’s and adults’ metacognitive monitoring and control processes. In addition to explicit confidence judgments (CJ), data for participants’ control behavior during learning and recall as well as implicit CJs were collected with an eye-tracking device (Tobii 1750). Results revealed developmental progression in both accuracy of implicit and explicit monitoring across age groups. In addition, efficiency of learning and recall strategies increases with age, as older participants allocate more fixation time to critical information and less time to peripheral or potentially interfering information. Correlational analyses, recall performance, metacognitive monitoring, and controlling indicate significant interrelations between all of these measures, with varying patterns of correlations within age groups. Results are discussed in regard to the intricate relationship between monitoring and recall and their relation to performance.     

Teaching Lean Six Sigma within A Supply Chain Context: The Airplane Supply Chain Simulation

Lean six sigma is a management methodology that firms can employ to achieve substantial improvement in supply chain performance. However, few pedagogical exercises facilitate students’ use of a comprehensive set of lean six sigma principles within a supply chain context. We describe the Airplane Supply Chain Simulation that helps students understand how lean six sigma concepts may be leveraged to improve supply chain performance. The basis of this simulation is a four‐tier supply chain, consisting of suppliers (two tiers), a manufacturer, and a customer, that produces three models of paper airplanes to meet randomly distributed customer demand. In the first of three successive runs, a highly structured simulation is executed in which supply chain roles are well defined, material flows are convoluted, and a “push” production strategy is followed. The first simulation as the “current state” and, for the second and third simulation runs, challenge competing student teams to leverage lean six sigma concepts to develop a “future state” that enables the fulfillment of all customer orders at the lowest cost. Results based on statistical analyses of survey response data from 194 MBA students show that the Airplane Supply Chain Simulation is an effective participative, team‐based learning tool.