Examining Motivational Game Features for Students With Learning Disabilities or Attention Disorders

Students with learning disabilities (LD) or attention disorders (AD) often require supplementary or alternative instruction to achieve their learning goals. Computer-assisted intervention (CAI) has been explored as a promising method for fostering students' success by providing an engaging learning environment. The following chapter examines publications employing empirical studies of computerized games designed for students with LD or AD conducted between 2006-2016. The goal of this chapter is to give a brief overview and critique of the current research on incorporating computerized games into modern education for students with LD or AD, and to identify the key game features that successfully motivate and engage students.

The Views of Turkish Language Teachers on Distance Education and Digital Literacy during Covid-19 Pandemic

Distance education, which provides flexibility in the learning environment, is an important learning model that complements face-to-face education. However, during the unanticipated Covid-19 pandemic, the distance education model was employed as an alternative instruction model, albeit temporarily, and certain problems were experienced in this process. In this context, the views of the Turkish language teachers on distance education and digital literacy in Turkey, where average population is quite young and the impact of the pandemic was substantial, was investigated in the present study. The study was conducted with the phenomenological design, a qualitative research method, and the study group included middle school Turkish language teachers who conducted distance education during the four months of the pandemic process. In the study, a semi-structured interview form, developed by the authors, was employed as the data collection instrument, and the collected data were analyzed with content analysis. The study findings revealed problems such as student attendance; digital problems such as Internet connectivity, infrastructure, and system; interaction, interest and commitment; literacy problems such as inability of distance education to improve written expression skills of the students; inadequate synchronous/online class count and duration, and poor parent-student-teacher cooperation. Based on these findings, it was recommended to design multimedia material that allow bidirectional interaction and improve inter-institutional cooperation to solve digital problems.

Quelling the Boredom with Alternative Instruction: Augmented Reality, Escape Kits, and Scavenger Hunts

From 2016-2019, Jacksonville State University (JSU) librarians embraced the call to incorporate increased active learning into traditional library information instruction. Librarians began this process by integrating the use of a scavenger hunt into the Houston Cole Library’s new orientation tailgate event. Breakout EDU Escape Room kits with a custom-built storyline were added to teach basic research skills and help lessen library anxiety in First Year Freshman Experience courses. Augmented reality (AR) was incorporated into Business Orientation classes to increase student understanding of specialized business information resources. These activities helped librarians fulfill Houston Cole Library’s mission of creating a student-driven learning environment focusing on the Association of College Research Libraries (ACRL) information literacy framework. The research, planning, and implementation processes involved in the initiation of scavenger hunts, escape activities, and AR interactive stories at JSU have numerous applications across all educational levels and disciplinary focuses.

Examining Motivational Game Features for Students With Learning Disabilities or Attention Disorders

Students with learning disabilities (LD) or attention disorders (AD) often require supplementary or alternative instruction to achieve their learning goals. Computer-assisted intervention (CAI) has been explored as a promising method for fostering students' success by providing an engaging learning environment. The following chapter examines publications employing empirical studies of computerized games designed for students with LD or AD conducted between 2006-2016. The goal of this chapter is to give a brief overview and critique of the current research on incorporating computerized games into modern education for students with LD or AD, and to identify the key game features that successfully motivate and engage students.

Limitations upon legitimate authority to suspend and expel K–12 public school students: A moral analysis

This article presents a moral analysis of the limitations upon legitimate authority to suspend and expel students in K–12 public schools, and it brings this analysis to bear on a pair of difficult disciplinary cases. The analysis is grounded in a defense of a child’s right to receive a public education. It identifies the minimum content of that right and the procedural and substantive entailments of that content. It argues that, even in the case of very serious violations of school rules, students do not forfeit their right to a public education; expulsion must be treated as a remedy of last resort, and students who are expelled are entitled to suitable alternative instruction.

Reduction in Tree Stand Assembly Errors with Modified Instructions

Naïve subjects performed a direct out-of-the-box assembly and installation sequence for two models of hunters' tree stands. Their actions were timed and monitored in detail using an array of video cameras. After extensive analysis of their assembly errors and interactions with the packaged instructions, two alternative instruction sets were written, one with modified language, the other with additional user-friendly graphic material. Two additional groups of naïve subjects who assembled tree stands packed with these alternative instructions took significantly less time and made significantly fewer errors.

Using Community Resources to Teach Public Policy

The recent growth in policy studies curricula in political science departments affords increased opportunities for experimentation with alternative instruction modes. This article describes one innovation found to be appropriate for courses for which the instructor has access to experts in the policy being studied. In this example, community experts in health policy issues were used as resource persons to assist in discussion of specific health policy concerns. Other policy courses should be amenable to this format, including energy, environment, and economic development courses. Even without using community experts, the general format of weekly colloquiums could be replicated for other policy courses.The courses described herein is an upper division/graduate level course in American Health Policy. It is taught for one semester every other year as one of several topical courses in the public policy track within political science.