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.     

Impact of accreditation on public and private universities: a comparative study

Based on two cycles of assessments for accreditation, this study assesses the differential impacts of accreditation on public and private universities in Ghana. Analysis of the evaluator reports indicates no statistically significant difference – improvement or deterioration – between the two cycles of evaluations for both types of institutions. A test comparing the two-cycle aggregated assessment scores between the two categories of universities, however, indicated a significant difference, with the public universities achieving better scores (improvements). Drawing on the evaluators’ reports and the opinions expressed by academics from both categories of institutions, the conclusion was that isomorphic pressures, largely faced by the private universities, accounted for their implementation of suggestions for improvement by the evaluators.     

Data Sharing and Discovery: What Librarians Need to Know

Drawing from the literatures of science, scholarly communication, and librarianship, this review paper describes what librarians need to know about how scientists manage and share their data. It is intended to help librarians become more engaged and integral partners in research and education. Scientific data repositories, journal data deposition policies, and the development of persistent linking between scholarly publications and data sets, have made data more accessible. However, deposition and sharing practices still vary among researchers, journal publishers, data repositories, information providers, and universities. Understanding the dynamic relationships between these stakeholders is critical to providing relevant support to researchers and students in the sciences. Librarians need to develop skills that bridge traditional liaison work with the increasingly data-driven demands of scientific research, so that we can support researchers with their data management needs and help users discover data across myriad collections and resources.     

Is there a future for simulation and gaming research?

Educational technology research and development -