Investigating Games and Simulations in Educational Research and Theory

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Warren ◽  
Greg Jones ◽  
Beth Dolliver ◽  
Richard A. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Games For Learning ◽  
Games And Simulations ◽  
Vexing Question

In the context of instructional design and educational research, there remains a vexing question. What is a game? How is it different from simulations? In turn, how is each distinct from virtual worlds? A review of the literature on the use of games for learning reveals either a complete lack of definition by authors or some wide disparities in terms of how each explains the necessary components that make up either a game in general, or an educational game specifically. Without clear definitions to which theorists can use to discuss their myriad learning designs, the findings that emerge from research may not translate effectively into useful discourse because there is no agreement as to whether the original design qualifies as a game or simulation. This paper explores the historical evolution of the definitions of the terms in the fields of philosophy and education and suggests a means by which they may be constructed and dynamically updated.

Quality Improvement Initiatives in Sonography Education: A Review of the Literature

2021 ◽  
pp. 875647932110186
Author(s):  
Kimberly Sorrentino
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
English Language ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Educational Literature

Objective: Continuous improvement is vital to ensuring quality in sonography education. The aim of this literature review was to compile and summarize the current literature on accreditation, credentialing, and quality improvement initiatives in sonography education. Materials & Methods: Four sonography-specific journals and six health science/academic databases were searched using the terms education, sonography, ultrasound, accreditation, credential, and quality. The search was limited to findings in the English language, from 2000 to 2020. Results: The search uncovered only 19 articles on this topic in sonography education. The vast majority of papers focused on quality improvement initiatives, while just a few concentrated on accreditation or credentialing. Conclusion: Much of the contemporary sonography educational literature focuses on clinical, lab, or didactic quality improvement initiatives. Overall, it is clear that more research is needed in the field of sonography education. This review provides examples of quality initiative research in other allied health fields that can be useful guides for future sonography educational research.

scholarly journals Educational Research and Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiodun Christian Ibiloye
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Learning Situation ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Classroom Space ◽  
Lesson Delivery ◽  
Column Design

Teachers must innovatively bring the best out of learning situation, classroom space and available learning resources. However, very few and mostly not serious researches have been published on effects of seat arrangements on cognition, lesson delivery and classroom control. This article was aimed at highlighting the principles and clarify the context in which school proprietors and teachers (of both elementary and secondary schools) can choose or make innovations on three popular student seating arrangements: the traditional long rows,(with its variants, stadium, theatre , or angled row seats), the U-shape or horseshoe design and the paired module (two or three person per desk) row by column design. These are discussed: based on their original design principles, literature on their usage, the researcher’s students-centered experiments on their limitations. The arrangement of pair desk modules was shown to be the best in all situation, easy to readjust into pod-community like design and into u-shape when appropriate, given its flexibility, advantage in time before lesson, and with the optimum results.

Testing Variances in Psychological and Educational Research

1994 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip H. Ramsey
Keyword(s):  
Educational Research ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Optimal Power ◽  
Robust Procedures

A review of the literature has shown that robust procedures for testing variances have become available. The two best procedures are one proposed by O’Brien (1981) and another by Brown and Forsythe (1974). An examination of these procedures for a wide variety of populations confirms their robustness and indicates that optimal power can usually be obtained by applying a test for kurtosis to aid in the decision between these two procedures.

The Future of Immersive Instructional Design for the Global Knowledge Economy

2012 ◽  
pp. 115-135
Author(s):  
Lia DiBello ◽  
Whit Missildine
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
Immersive Learning ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Training

Instructional design has not kept pace with the growth of the globalized knowledge economy. In the area of project management, a volatile global economy requires immersive learning and training exercises targeted to expert learners that have not yet been widely adopted. The authors developed a 16-hour, immersive collective learning experience for mid- to high-level project managers. The exercise was carried out in the Second Life Virtual Worlds platform and aimed to accelerate learning among participants. In addition, the authors tested a number of questions about the capacity of Virtual Worlds to be used for running complex, immersive learning and training. Results indicate that participants experienced high levels of engagement with exercise and, in the second iteration, were able to achieve goals within the exercise. Various technological breakdowns pointed to both the downsides as well as the opportunities for Virtual Worlds to be used for immersive rehearsal engagements.

Virtual Worlds

2011 ◽  
pp. 125-137
Author(s):  
Lea Kuznik
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Collective Experience ◽  
Sensory Activities ◽  
Games And Simulations ◽  
Life Education ◽  
Educational Field

Virtual worlds for adults (e.g. Second Life), youth (e.g. Habbo) and children (e.g. Whyville) have a great potential for learning and teaching practices for enriching wider public and engendering collective experience and collaboration. Informal learning environments such as educational virtual worlds offer children and adults various intellectual and sensory activities or »crystallized« experiences with reinforcing multiple intelligences, according to Gardner. Virtual worlds promote social interaction and offer visitors an opportunity for various interactive activities which can sometimes not be realized in real life education. Children and adults can explore and learn in a different way and from a different perspective, e.g. with educational games and simulations. Virtual worlds represent a new medium that allows people to connect in new virtual ways and offer new challenges in the educational field.

Games, Simulations, and Simulation Games for Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 168-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Sauvé ◽  
Lise Renaud ◽  
David Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Simulation Games ◽  
Games For Learning ◽  
Game Simulation ◽  
Research Studies

The authors of this chapter carried out a systematic review of the literature from 1998 to 2008 with the goal of developing conceptual definitions of game, simulation, and simulation game based on their essential attributes. This chapter first describes the motivation for this project and its methodological approach. It then introduces the databases consulted, and the analysis grid used. Finally, it presents the review results, which suggest a differentiation among games, simulations and simulation games. This analysis is intended to improve the precision of future research studies concerning the effects on learning of games, simulations, and simulation games.

Games and Simulations

2011 ◽  
pp. 1398-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göknur Kaplan Akilli
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Games And Simulations ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Shed Light

Computer games and simulations are considered powerful tools for learning with an untapped potential for formal educational use. However, the lack of available well-designed research studies about their integration into teaching and learning leaves unanswered questions, despite their more than thirty years’ existence in the instructional design movement. Beginning with these issues, this chapter aims to shed light on the definition of games and simulations, their educational use, and some of their effects on learning. Criticisms and new trends in the field of instructional design/development in relation to educational use of games and simulations are briefly reviewed. The chapter intends to provide a brief theoretical framework and a fresh starting point for practitioners in the field who are interested in educational use of games and simulations and their integration into learning environments.

A Taxonomy of Educational Games

2010 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan O’Brien ◽  
Kimberly A. Lawless ◽  
P. G. Schrader
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Educational Objectives ◽  
Different Types

Digital games are a relatively new tool for educators, who often misunderstand their value for education. This is partly since they perceive many very different types of games in the same way. The authors propose a taxonomy of digital games in education based on the features that are relevant to instructional design and educational research. The taxonomy outlines four genres into which games fall, depending on the cognitive functions and skills they engage. The theoretical basis for the taxonomy the authors develop draws from R. M. Gagne’s Five Categories of Learning Outcomes, Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, and D. H. Jonassen’s Typology of Problem Solving. The links between these theories and the educational games taxonomy will allow educators and researchers to understand games in the light of their educational affordances. Instructional design based on these theories can more effectively integrate games into the classroom.

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