Using Digital Games in Virtual Classrooms to Make Attitudinal Learning Motivating and Engaging

Author(s):  
Shamila Janakiraman

The COVID-19 global pandemic has made it difficult for schools to conduct in-person learning, pushing educators to think innovatively to create digital classrooms and engage K-12 learners. This chapter will provide best practices and pedagogical reasoning into the use of digital game-based learning (DGBL) for attitudinal instruction in virtual classrooms of middle and high school students. When it comes to teaching socio-scientific topics, providing cognitive knowledge is not the only goal of education. Young learners need to develop appropriate attitudes and behaviors to ensure the holistic development of their personality. This is where DGBL has been found to be an effective instructional activity. Although the focus of this chapter is on using DGBL in environmental sustainability education, it provides implications that are applicable to other socio-scientific topics as well.

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phitsamay Uy

In the world of K–12 education, the growing numbers of dropouts are a major concern. This article examines the dropout rates of Chinese and Vietnamese high school students. Using logistic regression analysis, this article examines the influence of ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) on dropout rates. The distinct contribution of this analysis lies within the intraethnic comparisons within the Asian American student population and its use of longitudinal data. The results of the study support existing research that gender and SES are related to dropout rates. Moreover, an interesting interaction between ethnicity and SES exists.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097135572110256
Author(s):  
Eric Joseph van Holm

Makerspaces have grown over the last two decades and provide a potentially important resource to entrepreneurs. One area where the expansion of makerspaces has been the largest is in educational settings, at both K-12 schools and colleges. However, scant research to date has analysed whether students visiting a makerspace have any relationship with their professional goals or intentions. This study uses a survey conducted in New Orleans to analyse the predictors of what students use a makerspace, and the potential relationship visiting may have with entrepreneurial intent. The analysis finds that students with a higher socio-economic status appear to use makerspaces more often, and that students who visited makerspaces are more likely to express interest in starting their own businesses.


AI Matters ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-4
Author(s):  
Iolanda Leite ◽  
Anuj Karpatne

Welcome to the first issue of this year's AI Matters Newsletter! We start with a report on upcoming SIGAI Events by Dilini Samarasinghe and Conference reports by Louise Dennis, our conference coordination officers. In our regular Education column, Duri Long, Jonathan Moon, and Brian Magerko introduce two "unplugged" activities (i.e., no technology needed) to learn about AI focussed on K-12 AI Education. We then bring you our regular Policy column, where Larry Medsker covers several topics on AI policy, including the role of Big Tech on AI Ethics and an interview with Dr. Eric Daimler who is the CEO of the MIT-spinout Conexus.com. Finally, we close with four article contributions. The first article discusses emerging applications of AI in analyzing source code and its implications to several industries. The second article discusses topics in the area of physical scene understanding that are necessary for machines to perceive, interact, and reason about the physical world. The third article presents novel practices and highlights from the Fourth Workshop on Mechanism Design for Social Good. The fourth article provides a report on the "Decoding AI" event that was conducted online by ViSER for high school students and adults sponsored by ACM SIGAI.


2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Healy ◽  
Elana Joram ◽  
Oksana Matvienko ◽  
Suzanne Woolf ◽  
Kimberly Knesting

Purpose – There is a growing need for school-based nutritional educational programs that promote healthy eating attitudes without increasing an unhealthy focus on restrictive eating or promoting a poor body image. Research suggests that intuitive eating (IE) approaches, which encourage individuals to focus on internal body signals as a guide for eating, have had a positive impact on eating-related psychological outcomes in adults. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects an IE education program on the eating attitudes of high school students. Design/methodology/approach – In a quasi-experimental study, 48 high school students (30 females) in a Midwest town in the USA received instruction on IE or a comparison program over seven days during health classes. Repeated measures analyses of covariance were conducted to examine changes in eating attitudes in sexes across conditions. Findings – Students who received the IE program made significantly greater gains in overall positive eating attitudes on the Intuitive Eating Scale than students in the comparison program (p=0.045), as well as on the Unconditional Permission to Eat subscale (p=0.02). There were no significant effects of sex on any of the analyses. Research limitations/implications – Because of the relatively small sample size and short duration of the program, the results should be generalized with caution. Practical implications – The results suggest that IE instruction may encourage the development of healthy eating attitudes in high school students, and health teachers may wish to consider including IE instruction in the health curriculum. Originality/value – This is the first study to examine the effectiveness of an IE program in a K-12 population, with instruction provided in the context of the school. The results are promising and suggest that this may be a fruitful area for future research in nutrition education.


Author(s):  
Podchara Soemphornwiwat ◽  

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused several changes in the human state of mind, in particular adapting to the culture of the new normal while lockdown measures are implemented. This study explored the effect of the lockdown measure on the level of anxiety of high school students, comparing those identified as introverts and extroverts. Participants (N = 103) filled out the given survey, which determined that they were both introverts or extroverts and the level of anxiety that they had before, during, and after the lockdown caused by the pandemic. According to statistical analysis, the result showed that the level of anxiety perceived by those feeling the sense of extroversion was statistically higher than those with introversion, at the significance level of 95%. In addition, the analysis revealed that there was no correlation between extroverts and anxiety before, during, and after the lockdown measures. On the other hand, there were statistical correlations between the level of introversion and the level of anxiety in every stage of lockdown: before, during and after, indicating that the lockdowns due to the global pandemic did not affect extroverted people anxiety as much as it affected introverts. Moreover, it also showed that the level of anxiety of the introverts has become even more intensified even after the lockdown.


2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Gottfried ◽  
Robert Bozick ◽  
Sinduja V. Srinivasan

Background/Context Educational policymakers and researchers are concerned about the declining quantity and quality of U.S. students in line to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. As one policy response, a number of federal initiatives have been enacted to enhance STEM curriculum in schools. Part of this push has been to offer applied STEM courses in the K–12 curriculum to reinforce academic STEM material as well as motivate students to remain in these fields. Prior to this current study, no national-level research has evaluated the effectiveness of these courses. Purpose (a) What applied STEM courses are most commonly taken by high school students? (b) To what extent are high school students taking both academic math courses and applied STEM courses? (c) Do applied STEM courses in high school improve achievement in math? Participants To address the three research questions listed above, this study relies on a comprehensive longitudinal dataset: the Education Longitudinal Survey (ELS:2002). The present study is based on a sample of approximately 11,112 students who participated in the base-year (10th grade, 2002) and first follow-up (12th grade 2004) interviews, who completed math assessments in both years, and for whom valid transcript information was collected. Research Design This study begins with a descriptive analysis to evaluate which students have taken applied STEM courses and at which ability level. From this, a common set of applied STEM courses is determined across this nationally representative dataset. Next, this study relies on a linear regression model of math achievement where the dependent variable is a standardized math score. Independent covariates include measures as to whether or not a student had taken applied STEM courses, academic math courses taken by the student, and a range of controls. Findings Students who take an applied STEM course had higher math scores than their peers who did not take an applied STEM course, all else equal. These courses may be particularly beneficial for those students who are less oriented toward advanced math. Conclusions/Recommendations Applied STEM courses can be used to support learning in math instructed elsewhere in the curriculum, particularly for those students at the lower end of the math pipeline. In providing hands-on learning, often with technology and with direct application to concrete occupationally specific problems, applied STEM courses may serve as a critical means to support an understanding of concepts taught in lower level math pipeline courses.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Breanne K. Litts ◽  
Sari A. Widman ◽  
Debora A. Lui ◽  
Justice T. Walker ◽  
Yasmin B. Kafai

Background/Context Though the maker movement has proliferated in out-of-school settings, there remains a design challenge of how to effectively integrate maker activities into K–12 classrooms. In other contexts, though, creative design and production have historically been successfully integrated in classrooms through studio models common to the arts, architecture, and engineering. Purpose/Objective In this paper, we leverage the features and practices of studio models from arts, architecture, and engineering education to integrate maker activities in a high school classroom. Within this Maker Studio model, students focus on designing a computational artifact and engage in practices more predominantly found in studio arts, architecture, and engineering classes such as feedback, critique, and reflection. Research Design We conducted a case study of how a class of 23 high school students participating in a STEM elective class in teams partnered with art students to develop an interactive installation. Our analyses focus on how the structure of the feedback, critique, and reflections in the Maker Studio informed and shaped students’ design processes. Conclusions We discuss affordances and implications of recognizing studio practices (particularly critique) as design features of maker activities, especially in high school classroom contexts, and present the Maker Studio as a viable model for integration of maker activities in classroom environments. We also characterize key features of the Maker Studio model, including the following: appreciation and support for maker processes in addition to or even above final products, integration of various structures for giving and receiving critique throughout the design process, support for interdisciplinary and collaborative project work, and engagement with diverse perspectives and expertise during critiques.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032110630
Author(s):  
Paul Bruno ◽  
Colleen M Lewis

Little is known about the extent to which expansions of K-12 computer science (CS) have been equitable for students of different racial backgrounds and gender identities. Using longitudinal course-level data from all high schools in California between the 2003–2004 and 2018–2019 school years we find that 79% of high school students in California, including majorities of all racial groups, are enrolled in schools that offer CS, up from 45% in 2003. However, while male and female students are equally likely to attend schools that offer CS courses, CS courses represent a much smaller share of course enrollments for female students than for male students. Non-Asian students enroll in relatively few CS courses, and this is particularly true for Black, Hispanic, and Native American students. Race gaps in CS participation are to a substantial degree explicable in terms of access gaps, but gender gaps in CS participation are not. Different groups of students have access to CS teachers with similar observable qualifications, but CS teachers remain predominantly white and male. Consequently, white and male CS students are much more likely than other students to have same-race or same-gender instructors. Our findings and the implications we draw for practice will be of interest to administrators and policymakers who, over and above needing to ensure equitable access to CS courses for students, need to attend carefully to equity-related course participation and staffing considerations.


Author(s):  
W. Kyle Ingle ◽  
Stephen M. Leach ◽  
Amy S. Lingo

We examined the characteristics of 77 high school participants from four school districts who participated in the Teaching and Learning Career Pathway (TLCP) at the University of Louisville during the 2018–2019 school year. The program seeks to support the recruitment of a diverse and effective educator workforce by recruiting high school students as potential teachers for dual-credit courses that explore the teaching profession. Utilizing descriptive and inferential analysis (χ2 tests) of closed-ended item responses as well as qualitative analysis of program documents, Web sites, and students’ open-ended item responses, we compared the characteristics of the participants with those of their home school districts and examined their perceptions of the program. When considering gender and race/ethnicity, our analysis revealed the program was unsuccessful in its first year, reaching predominantly white female high school students who were already interested in teaching. Respondents reported learning about the TLCP from school personnel, specifically, guidance counselors (39%), non-TCLP teachers (25%), or TLCP teachers (20%). We found that the TLCP program has not defined diversity in a measurable way and the lack of an explicit program theory hinders the evaluation and improvement of TLCP. Program recruitment and outcomes are the result of luck or idiosyncratic personnel recommendations rather than intentional processes. We identified a need for qualitative exploration of in-school recruitment processes and statewide longitudinal studies to track participant outcomes in college and in the teacher labor market.


Author(s):  
Elisabeth McGrath ◽  
Susan Lowes ◽  
Mercedes McKay ◽  
Jason Sayres ◽  
Peiyi Lin

The underwater environment presents novel challenges that can facilitate unique learning experiences for students engaged in robotics programs. Although the number of underwater educational robotics programs is small by comparison to other forms of K-12 robotics initiatives, several do exist, which have varying learning goals, implementation approaches, and tools. This chapter describes an underwater robotics program using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® components and related materials for middle and high school students. The program, known as WaterBotics™, has undergone an extensive, four-year research and development phase and curriculum redesign effort. This chapter describes the theoretical framework of the curriculum design, the components and resources available in the challenge-based curriculum, and lessons learned about teacher practices and their relationship to student learning outcomes in physical science, Information Technology skills, engineering design, and engineering career interest. “Core elements of success” of the program and curricular adaptations are described in the context of a scale-up initiative that is adapting the curriculum for use in informal education settings.


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