Learning about serious game design and development at the K-12 level

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Kapralos
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Lesson Plans ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
K 12

PurposeVery little effort has been dedicated to the teaching of serious game design and development. At the post-secondary level, very few courses dedicated to serious game design and development exist. At the K-12 level, although (entertainment) game design and programming instruction are becoming more widespread, serious game design and development is ignored. This study aims to present a series of lesson plans that allow K-12 teachers to introduce students to serious game design and development.Design/methodology/approachThe lesson plans include both a didactic and applied component and are intended to provide students with an introduction to serious games and their design and development while making students aware of the many career paths within this exciting growing domain. They can also be completed entirely remotely lending themselves nicely to online instruction to facilitate the COVID-19 shutdowns and the resulting move to e-learning.FindingsAlthough several high-school teachers and several elementary school children were consulted during the development of the lesson plans, the lesson plans have only recently been made available, and therefore, there is a lack of any teacher or student feedback available regarding their use. Informally, several elementary school children found the lessons to be fun, interesting and informative.Originality/valueThere are currently no existing courses or lesson plans focusing on serious game design and development at the K-12 level, thus making this set of lesson plan novel and unique.

Developing leadership qualities in environmental sustainability through university co-curricular activities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla Ordaz ◽  
Kelvin Tan ◽  
Sarah Skett  ◽  
Irene Marie Herremans
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
School Children ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
Leadership Characteristics ◽  
Leadership Qualities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
The University

Purpose This study aims to provide insight into the question of whether graduate students who deliver environmental education workshops/residencies to elementary school children will develop environmental sustainability leadership qualities in themselves: a goal set in the University of Calgary’s Institutional Sustainability Strategy. Design/methodology/approach Survey research was undertaken in a case study setting. The researchers collected and analyzed data related to environmental leadership qualities, using the theory of planned behavior and an adaptation of the competing values framework. Graduate students participating in the co-curricular program responded to questions about the effect that the activity had on their knowledge, awareness and leadership characteristics. Findings Graduate students demonstrated considerable leadership potential in environmental sustainability. The survey results showed that their participation in a community educational program impacted their attitudes and awareness favorably in developing stronger competencies for leadership. In addition, they gained real-world knowledge about environmentally sustainable practices and skills to influence pro-environmental behavior changes in the community. Originality/value Through a partnership between a non-profit organization and the university, graduate students in an interdisciplinary sustainable energy development program used their formal education and previous work experience to adapt and deliver engaging and educational environmental content to younger children. This informal co-curricular activity brought together local educational institutions, educational content providers, graduate students, and elementary school children in an effective experiential learning platform to develop leadership characteristics both in the graduate students and elementary school children.

Editorial comments: As we read

1966 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 442-443
Author(s):  
James E. Inskeep
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Teaching Geometry

What do you think about geometry in the elementary school? Not “as you read,” but before you read, ask yourself how you react to a statement that you need to include geometry in your lesson plan. Perhaps you've already tackled the problem, or you've been teaching geometry for years! You may even think it is unimportant to try to teach geometry to elementary school children. No matter how you react, you will want to take a close look at the articles on geometry in this issue of The Arithmetic Teacher.

Principles and Standards: What is Algebra in Elementary School

2001 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 196-200
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Bay-Williams
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
School Mathematics ◽  
Evaluation Standards ◽  
Early Mathematics ◽  
Principles And Standards ◽  
Abstract Content ◽  
K 12

Patterns have long been part of early mathematics experiences. The K–4 Patterns and Relationships Standard in Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989) was replaced in Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 2000) with a K–12 Algebra Standard. This Standard encompasses patterns, functions, and some topics that are beyond what traditionally was considered to be algebra. However, the word algebra, often associated with content covered in a traditional middle school or high school course, can evoke feelings of anxiety and raise questions of appropriateness when discussed in relation to elementary school children. What is algebra in elementary school if it is more than identifying and extending patterns in the early grades yet is not the abstract content of an algebra course?

A course on serious game design and development using an online problem-based learning approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Kapralos ◽  
Stephanie Fisher ◽  
Jessica Clarkson ◽  
Roland van Oostveen
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Active Research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel undergraduate course on serious game design and development that integrates both game and instructional design, thus providing an effective approach to teaching serious game design and development. Very little effort has been dedicated to the teaching of proper serious game design and development leading to many examples of serious games that provide little, if any, educational value. Design/methodology/approach – Organized around a collection of video clips (that provided a brief contextualized overview of the topic and questions for further exploration), readings, interdisciplinary research projects and games, the course introduced the principles of game and instructional design, educational theories used to support game-based learning and methods for evaluating serious games. Discussions and activities supported the problems that students worked on throughout the course to develop a critical stance and approach toward implementing game-based learning. Students designed serious games and examined potential issues and complexities involved in developing serious games and incorporating them within a teaching curriculum. Findings – Results of student course evaluations reveal that the course was fun and engaging. Students found the course fun and engaging, and through the successful completion of the final course project, all students met all of the course objectives. A discussion regarding the techniques and approaches used in the course that were successful (or unsuccessful) is provided. Research limitations/implications – It should be noted that a more detailed analysis has not been presented to fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the course. A more detailed analysis may have included a comparison with, for example, past versions of the course that was not based on an online problem-based learning (PBL) approach, to better quantify the effectiveness of the course. However, such a comparison could not be carried out here, given there was no measure of prior knowledge of students taken before they took course (e.g. no “pre-test data”). Originality/value – Unlike the few existing courses dedicated to serious game design, the course was designed specifically to facilitate a fully online PBL approach and provided students the opportunity to take control of their own learning through active research, exploration and problem-solving alone, in groups and through facilitated class discussions.

Teacher Identification of Elementary School Children with Hearing Loss

1978 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Nodar
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
School Children ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Teacher Interviews ◽  
Teacher Screening ◽  
Children With Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Problems

The teachers of 2231 elementary school children were asked to identify those with known or suspected hearing problems. Following screening, the data were compared. Teachers identified 5% of the children as hearing-impaired, while screening identified only 3%. There was agreement between the two procedures on 1%. Subsequent to the teacher interviews, rescreening and tympanometry were conducted. These procedures indicated that teacher screening and tympanometry were in agreement on 2% of the total sample or 50% of the hearing-loss group. It was concluded that teachers could supplement audiometry, particularly when otoscopy and typanometry are not available.

Use of Revision by Elementary-School Stutterers and Nonstutterers during Oral Reading

1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 584-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin H. Silverman ◽  
Dean E. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Oral Reading ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
Reading Errors

This paper describes a dimension of the stuttering problem of elementary-school children—less frequent revision of reading errors than their nonstuttering peers.

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