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Descriptors:
Psychomotor Skills; Skill Development; Computer Simulation; Clinical Experience; Nursing Students; Undergraduate Students; Student Experience; Learning Processes; Interviews; Content Analysis; Video Technology; Reflection

Abstract:
Learning manual skills is a fundamental part of health care education, and motor, sensory and cognitive learning processes are essential aspects of professional development. Simulator training has been shown to enhance factors that facilitate motor and cognitive learning. The present study aimed to investigate the students' experiences and thoughts about their learning through simulation skills training. The study was designed for an educational setting at a clinical skills centre. Ten third-year undergraduate nursing students performed urethral catheterisation, using the virtual reality simulator UrecathVision[TM], which has haptic properties. The students practised in pairs. Each session was videotaped and the video was used to stimulate recall in subsequent interviews. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis from interviews resulted in three themes: what the students learn, how the students learn, and the simulator's contribution to the students' learning. Students learned manual skills, how to perform the procedure, and professional behaviour. They learned by preparing, watching, practising and reflecting. The simulator contributed by providing opportunities for students to prepare for the skills training, to see anatomical structures, to feel resistance, and to become aware of their own performance ability. The findings show that the students related the task to previous experiences, used sensory information, tested themselves and practised techniques in a hands-on fashion, and reflected in and on action. The simulator was seen as a facilitator to learning the manual skills. The study design, with students working in pairs combined with video recording, was found to enhance opportunities for reflection. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Artificial Intelligence; Computer Simulation; Computer Mediated Communication; Intelligent Tutoring Systems; Pretests Posttests; Instructional Effectiveness; Learning Processes; Feedback (Response); Metacognition; Science Education; Scientific Concepts; Concept Mapping; Middle School Students; Scaffolding (Teaching Technique); Grade 8; Computer Assisted Instruction; Instructional Design; Comparative Analysis

Abstract:
Betty's Brain is an open-ended learning environment in which students learn about science topics by teaching a virtual agent named Betty through the construction of a visual causal map that represents the relevant science phenomena. The task is complex, and success requires the use of metacognitive strategies that support knowledge acquisition, causal map construction, and progress monitoring. Previous research has established that middle school students struggle at such tasks without proper scaffolding and feedback. In Betty's Brain, this feedback is provided by Betty and Mr. Davis, another virtual agent designed to provide guidance and suggestions as students work. This paper discusses our implementation of contextualized conversational (CC) feedback, and then presents the results of an experimental study exploring the effects of this feedback in two 8th-grade science classrooms. The results illustrate some advantages of the CC feedback in comparison with a baseline dialogue mechanism that presents similar strategies in a non-conversational, non-contextualized form. While both groups showed significant pre-to-post test learning gains, the difference in learning gains between the groups was not statistically significant. However, students who received CC feedback more often performed actions in accordance with the advised strategies, and they created higher quality causal maps. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Marine Education; Navigation; Professional Training; Social Environment; Interaction; Training Methods; Computer Simulation; Simulated Environment; Role Playing; Qualitative Research; Computer Assisted Instruction; Cooperative Learning; Instructional Effectiveness; Learning Activities; Learning Processes

Abstract:
Research on simulator training has rarely focused on the way simulated contexts are constructed collaboratively. This study sheds light on how structuring role-play and fostering social interactions may prove fruitful for designing simulator training. The article reports on a qualitative study of nautical students training in a ship simulator. The study examines how a group of students, together with a professional maritime pilot, enacted professional roles and collaboratively constructed a simulated context for learning to navigate. Their activities on the bridge were framed within the maritime profession's hierarchical system of captain and officers, and we examine in detail how these institutionally defined positions become important resources for meaning-making during role-play. The article portrays how two competing activity contexts were constructed, and how the role-play provided opportunities for enacting professional roles and work tasks. However, it also shows that it is challenging to pick up on what is significant to learn and to confront this in debriefing. The article concludes that the students' collaboration and meaning-making is an entity of training that may be more efficiently addressed. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Learner Engagement; Educational Games; Computer Simulation; Children; Adolescents; Attention; Memory; Psychomotor Skills; Persistence; Affective Behavior; Social Cognition; Social Development

Abstract:
Children's and adolescents' cognitive, affective, and behavioral states of engagement enhance or impede enjoyment of, and performance with, educational games. We propose a comprehensive model of engagement states and apply it to research on educational game development and research on the role of various aspects of engagement on game play and learning. Emphasis is placed on individual differences in attention, memory, motor speed and control, persistence, and positive and negative affect (approach/avoidance), and how these pertain to social cognitions regarding mathematics achievement. Our challenge is to develop educational games that are effective for a wide variety of student engagement states. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Program Effectiveness; Teacher Attitudes; Cues; Information Technology; Space Utilization; Qualitative Research; Higher Education; Personal Narratives; Inquiry; Computer Simulation; Virtual Classrooms; Teaching Methods; Games; Computer Uses in Education; Role Playing; Ownership; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
This paper will present a study that explored the perceived impact of spatial practice in "Second Life" (SL) on teaching and learning from the point of view of participants in higher education (lecturers, developers and researchers). Narrative inquiry was used to access stories and experiences of space and spatial practice from staff perspectives. The findings indicated that ownership, spatial violation and replication were the concerns raised by participants in relation to spatial practice. However, participants also suggested that an understanding of social cues, spatial negotiation and spatial consideration were important issues to address for effective teaching to occur in SL. The findings of this study suggest that there remains relatively little in-depth understanding of the way space is implicated in learning in SL and that spatial practice also requires further research, in order to better understand their pedagogical implications when using SL as a learning space. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Action Research; Faculty Development; Educational Practices; Computer Simulation; Curriculum Design; Trend Analysis; Research Needs; Distance Education; Online Courses

Abstract:
This study examined the nature of thirty virtual educators' action research questions during a yearlong action research professional development experience within a large, state-funded virtual school. Virtual educators included instructional personnel (i.e., individuals responsible for teaching virtual courses) and noninstructional personnel (i.e., individuals responsible for other roles in the virtual school such as administration or course design.) Action research questions emerge from the intersection of educators' professional contexts and their real-world challenges or passions and analyzing the nature of these questions provided a glimpse into the priorities and practices of the participating instructional and noninstructional virtual educators. Studying completion rates and personalizing the curriculum were trends within questions posed by instructional personnel whereas noninstructional personnel primarily focused on macrolevel issues within the virtual schools, such as communication. Future research directions and implications for action research professional development within virtual schools are discussed. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Multimedia Instruction; Computer Software; Computer Simulation; Educational Games; Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer System Design; Program Descriptions; Class Activities; Learning Activities; Teaching Methods; Astronomy; Lesson Plans; Elementary School Curriculum; State Standards; Core Curriculum; Informal Education; Science Instruction; Open Source Technology; Electronic Learning; Instructional Design; Space Exploration; Space Sciences

Abstract:
Exploring the Solar System in the elementary school curriculum has traditionally involved activities, such as building scale models, to help students visualize the vastness of space and the relative size of the planets and their orbits. Today, numerous websites provide a wealth of information about the sun and the planets, combining text, photos, and graphics, and even interactive models. Some sites also include lesson plans and suggested classroom activities. Yet none of these resources allow for development of a lesson plan interactively, or offer tracking of student performance. Many lesson plans also have materials or space requirements that are impractical for some schools. SpaceSafari is an interactive multimedia software program for learning about the solar system that integrates information, exploration, and instruction. It employs a real-time 3D space for navigation, a module for learning about the planets, and an administrative interface for creating activities and tracking student progress. The design of the software resembles a first-person adventure game: a treasure hunt through the solar system in which the missions are created by the teacher. SpaceSafari was developed for both the formal (classroom) and informal (home) learning spaces, with a choice of input modes and display options. This integrated solution for teaching elementary Astronomy using personal computers poses an intriguing research question: "What is the impact of game mechanics, combined with an immersive, kinesthetic, 3D interface, on learning outcomes about the solar system?" (Contains 3 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Web 2.0 Technologies; Learning Activities; Instructional Development; Instructional Innovation; Educational Philosophy; Educational Principles; Teacher Attitudes; College Faculty; Computer Simulation; Computer Mediated Communication; Computer Uses in Education; Electronic Learning; Influence of Technology; Technology Integration; Internet; Instructional Design

Abstract:
With the advent of web 2.0 and virtual technologies and new understandings about learning within a global, networked environment, online course design has moved beyond the constraints of text readings, papers, and discussion boards. This next generation of online courses needs to dynamically and actively integrate the wide-ranging distribution of content knowledge: network learners, in new ways, while still addressing their unique qualities, assess the process as well as the products of learning and assimilate the rapidly-emerging technologies that are expanding communication and sharing. The acceleration of change in the communication process is requiring a flexibility in the course development process but also in the "attitude" of the instructor. Instructors must be open to new conceptions of learning and evidence of learning and must be willing to embrace challenge and uncertainty while establishing ongoing development, evaluation, and research goals. This article provides plentiful examples of ways that growth in online and technology-mediated environments can generate high levels of knowledge, learning, and engagement, and can allow for the open development of new learning resources. (Contains 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Computer Games; Public Policy; Policy Formation; Computer Simulation; Data; Electronic Publishing; Collaborative Writing; Group Experience; Simulated Environment; Computer Networks; Social Networks; Models; Intervention

Abstract:
In this article, the authors discuss the development of the "Sudan Game," an interactive model of the country in the time period leading up to the Sudanese referendum on the secession of the South. While many simulations are designed to educate about their subjects, the "Sudan Game" is intended to be a prototype for policy making via gameplay. It is implemented within "Cosmopolis," a massively multiplayer online game that is currently undergoing development. In this article, the authors discuss the game's design and how it can be used for policy development, with a focus on the underlying model and some discussion of the "Cosmopolis" implementation. They situate the game relative to other games that have crowdsourced serious problems and discuss the meaning of the policy solutions and collaboration witnessed along players. They conclude with a discussion of future development to be done to improve and expand upon the concepts used in their game. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Prevention; Problem Based Learning; Teaching Methods; Conflict; Foreign Countries; Internet; Social Theories; Perspective Taking; Educational Experience; Emotional Response; Violence; Educational Theories; Computer Simulation; Educational Technology; Web Based Instruction; College Students; Professional Development; Workshops; Learner Engagement; Homicide; Role Playing

Abstract:
A growing literature exploring large-scale, identity-based political violence, including mass killing and genocide, debates the plausibility of, and prospects for, early warning and prevention. An extension of the debate involves the prospects for creating educational experiences that result in more sophisticated analytical products that enhance preventive policy action. This article details an attempt to bridge the theory to practice gap. It describes the role of a simulation COUNTRY X within the educational contexts of both a graduate course in prevention of mass killing and genocide at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and a practitioner training workshop designed for regional conflict early warning analysts in Africa. The authors review educational theory describing problem-based learning and apply it to a web-based educational simulation. Using a recent training of professional conflict early warning analysts as their case study, they explore several assumptions regarding the utility of simulated environments as educational tools in moving from theory to practice. Use of the simulation resulted in active and engaged participation by learners, increased capacity for well-reasoned perspective taking, and improved analytical confidence in complex scenarios. (Contains 3 figures, 1 table and 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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