jAVANT-GARDE: A Cross-Platform Serious Game for an Introduction to Programming With Java

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 751-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanos Galgouranas ◽  
Stelios Xinogalos
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Object Oriented Programming ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Player Experience ◽  
Cross Platform ◽  
Learning Programming

Background. Programming is widely known to be a cognitively demanding field. Learning programming can be a strenuous task without the proper guidance and methodology. Students often face difficulties in understanding even the most basic and fundamental concepts of programming, leading to their confusion and disappointment. Serious games for programming have the potential to alleviate students’ difficulties with programming. Aim. This article introduces a new serious game named jAVANT-GARDE which aims to educate the player on the basic concepts of programming and object-oriented programming through Java. By design, the game is suitable for everyone, even for players with no previous knowledge of programming. This article aims to present important information regarding the design, implementation and pilot evaluation of jAVANT-GARDE. Method. The game was evaluated by 42 high school students (age 16-17) in terms of perceived player experience and short-term learning. The participants played the game for one hour in the school lab and then answered a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ framework. Results. Students evaluated positively the game in terms of its usability, confidence in playing the game, challenge, satisfaction, fun, focused attention and relevance. Moreover, the majority of students stated that would prefer learning programming with this game to learning through other teaching methods. Conclusions. The results of the pilot study and students’ replies in the questionnaire are rather positive. This gives us the initiative to proceed with studying the effect of the game in long-term learning of programming concepts.

Effect of Goal Proximity and Goal Specificity on Muscular Endurance Performance: A Replication and Extension

1991 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gershon Tenenbaum ◽  
Saadia Pinchas ◽  
Gabi Elbaz ◽  
Michael Bar-Eli ◽  
Robert Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Endurance Performance ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Baseline Period ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Goal Specificity ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of the present investigation was to extend the literature on the relationship between goal specificity, goal proximity, and performance by using high school students and attempting to control for the effects of social comparison. Subjects (N=214) in Experiment 1 were randomly assigned to one of five goal-setting conditions: (a) short-term goals, (b) long-term goals, (c) short- plus long-term goals,(d) do-your-best goals, and (e) no goals. After a 3-week baseline period, subjects were tested once a week on the 3-minute sit-up over the course of the 10-week experimental period. Results indicated that the short- plus long-term group exhibited the greatest increase in performance although the short-term and long-term groups also displayed significant improvements. In Experiment 2, a short- plus long-term group was compared against a do-your-best group. Results again revealed a significant improvement in performance for the combination-goal group whereas the do-your-best group did not display any improvement.

scholarly journals Volunteer Teaching of High School Students: We Will See You Again

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Xiahua Dong ◽  
Chujie Yuan ◽  
Kairan Liu ◽  
Yixiao Liu ◽  
Luoyifu Li
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Children Of Migrant Workers

Since February 2006, responding to Chinese Government’s police, Three Support and One Assistance, short-term volunteer teaching has burgeoned in China. However, the effect of short-term volunteer teaching is rather concerning and unsatisfactory. We conduct our research from three parts: literature review, quantitative research, and qualitative research. Three major concerns are identified from literature review: inappropriate motivation, unprofessionalism, and inconsistency. An interview with a humanitarian organization Nuannuan is conducted to find the possible solution. Based on it, the hypothesis is that longterm and organized volunteer teaching is more effective so the solution could be a long-term volunteer teaching alliance. Two surveys are used to test the feasibility of the solution by analyzing children of migrant workers’ attitudes and high school volunteers’ attitudes. The results show that children are willing to participate and volunteers are willing to teach in the long-term. The hypothesis is proved and the solution is an establishment of a volunteer teaching alliance among all high school students in Beijing.

scholarly journals Augmenting Performance: Vocal Activity Compared to Presence in the Social Facilitation of Running

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Humza Malik ◽  
Kate Flowers
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Sports Team ◽  
Verbal Encouragement ◽  
The Impact

Objective The impact of encouragement on performance has been observed in the setting of exercise, but further research is necessary in running. To compare the improvement in pace experienced by subjects of different backgrounds (from a running team, non-running sports team, or no sports team) as a result of active (verbal encouragement) and passive social facilitation, this study was conducted. Method Eighteen male high school students, age 17.3±0.75 years were recruited for this study, six from each background listed above. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: external verbal encouragement (EVE), without external verbal encouragement (WEVE), or no presence. Improvement in pace after the introduction of a social facilitator was recorded along with overall consistency in pace. Statistical significance was set at α = 0.10. Results A significant improvement in short-term pace among subjects from a running team was generated by EVE, t(1) = -5.198, p = 0.0605, and no presence generated a significant improvement in short-term pace among subjects from a non-running sports team, t(1) = -5, p = 0.0669. EVE also generated a significant improvement in long-term pace among subjects from a running team, t(1) = -5.069, p = 0.0620. A conclusion on consistency was not reached. Conclusion Verbal encouragement saw to long-term and short-term improvement in pace of subjects selected from a running team, while the lack of presence assisted the short-term performance of subjects selected from non-running sports teams. Results obtained offer potential to impact competitive long-distance running.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of a Holding Community Program—Promoting Social Reflection at School

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 422
Author(s):  
Anna Siegler ◽  
Sára Serdült ◽  
Fanni Csernus ◽  
Lilla Dézma ◽  
Izabella Ilea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Community Program ◽  
Post Test

The authors developed a Holding Community Program to achieve the following objectives: (a) to increase the perspective-taking capacity of adolescents; (b) to promote interpersonal and intergroup harmony; (c) to empower school students to be more (pro)active in their communities and in public life. Apart from the intervention itself, the study comprised a pre-test and a post-test and involved a total of 240 Hungarian high school students (159 female, 66.3%). The students were aged 14–18 (Mage=15.33; SDage=0.88). They were recruited from four high schools. Control groups (N=122) were chosen from the same institution and graded as experimental classes (N=118, 7 classes). Both immediate and long-term effects of the intervention (4–6 months after the intervention) were explored.  Quantitative analysis of the data indicated that the two-day intervention program had significantly increased the students’ perspective-taking capacity (short-term: F(1,238)=6.03, p<0.05, long-term: n.s.) and efficacy beliefs (short-term: F(1,238)= 3.83, p=0.052, long-term: F(1,238)= 3.38, p<0.05). After the training, students were more willing to participate in collective actions (short-term: F(1,238)= 7.32, p<0.01, long-term: F(1,238)= 3.83, p<0.05). These results seem quite promising but the outcome was not significant regarding its effect on prejudice.

scholarly journals THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND REPRESSION ON DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDES

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-351
Author(s):  
Scott Desposato ◽  
Gang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Fuzzy Regression ◽  
School Students ◽  
Attitudinal Differences ◽  
College Entry ◽  
Democratic Attitudes ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDemocracy movements in authoritarian regimes usually fail and are repressed, but they may still affect attitudes and norms of participants and bystanders. We exploit several features of a student movement to test for enduring effects of social movements on democratic attitudes. College students were the core of the movement and had wide exposure to the ideas and activities of the movement, as well as the suppression of the movement. College-bound high school students had limited exposure to the movement and its activities. Time of college entry could in theory be manipulated and endogenous, so we also use birthdate as an exogenous instrument for enrollment year. Applying a fuzzy regression discontinuity, we test for the impact of exposure to the movement on long-term attitudes. We find significant attitudinal differences between those in college during the movement, and those who started college post-movement. These results are strongest for alumni of the four universities that were most connected to the movement.

The effects of short-term mindfulness-based group intervention utilising a school setting for Japanese adolescents with trauma

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Daisuke Ito ◽  
Yuki Kubo ◽  
Ayako Takii ◽  
Asuka Watanabe ◽  
Tetsuhiro Ohtani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Group Intervention ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Japanese Adolescents ◽  
Intervention Session

Abstract The use of mindfulness as a tool to improve mental health has received increased attention. Schools provide ideal environments for short-term prevention and skill development for mental health. Further, teachers can promote and reinforce students’ daily use of mindfulness. This study explored the effects of a short-term group mindfulness-based intervention on the mental health of adolescents who have experienced trauma. A total of 49 high school students received a mindfulness-based intervention session followed by homework and teacher reinforcement. The results suggest that a short-term group intervention for mindfulness can potentially improve mindfulness attention awareness and reduce depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. As there was no control group, additional research examining the effectiveness of the intervention is essential.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document