Predicting students’ flow experience through behavior data in gamified educational systems

The flow experience (i.e., challenge-skill balance, action-awareness merging, clear goals, unambiguous feedback, concentration, sense of control, loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time, and autotelic experience) is an experience highly related to the learning experience. One of the current challenges is to identify whether students are managing to achieve this experience in educational systems. The methods currently used to identify students’ flow experience are based on self-reports or equipment (e.g., eye trackers or electroencephalograms). The main problem with these methods is the high cost of the equipment and the impossibility of applying them massively. To address this challenge, we used behavior data logs produced by students during the use of a gamified educational system to predict the students’ flow experience. Through a data-driven study (N = 23) using structural equation modeling, we identified possibilities to predict the students’ flow experience through the speed of students’ actions. With this initial study, we advance the literature, especially contributing to the field of student experience analysis, by bringing insights showing how to step towards automatic students’ flow experience identification in gamified educational systems.

Autotelic Immersion - Interdependence of the Experience and Autotelic Engagement

The aim of this study is to explore the relationships between experienced immersion and autotelic engagement in computer gamers. As the tendency to act for the sake of acting or not, autotelic v/s exotelic engagement makes the gamer more or less susceptible to experiencing immersion. The interdependence of experiencing immersion and the sense of autotelic engagement corresponds to the level of autotelic immersion. Students from different university majors (N=87) participated in the study. They completed 2 questionnaires: The Immersiveness Inventory (ING) and the Engagement Questionnaire (FLOW). The results of this study indicate that the experience of autotelic immersion is enhanced by autotelic engagement, manifesting autotelic cognitive properties during computer game playing. In such cases, Interaction with the environment, Sensory Engagement, Sense of Control, balance between ability level and challenge, intrinsic rewarding, concentrating and focusing, control, feedback, and action awareness merging intertwine with each other. Strong positive correlations of interaction with the virtual environment and sense of control were observed with all dimensions of autotelic engagement: the balance between ability level and challenge, loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, clear goals, intrinsic rewarding, concentrating and focusing, control, and autotelic experience. There is a strong directly proportional relationship between autotelicity and immersion.

Research on the Flow Experience of Tai Chi Chuan

(1) ObjectivesTai Chi Chuan has substantial benefits of strengthening the body, helping people to maintain a high level of energy, etc. In this paper, we investigated the experience and psychology state of Tai Chi Chuan exercise.(2) Equipment and methodsBased on flow theory, we used semi-structured interviews and Chinese flow state scale 2 (CFSS2) to study the experience and psychology state of college students exercising Tai Chi Chuan. (3) ResultsIn the process of Tai Chi Chuan, there did exist flow experience or a similar mental state. The score of "autotelic experience " dimension increased with exercise years increased, and the increasing time spent on Tai Chi Chuan after class was positively related to the score of "action-awareness merging " and "concentration on the task at hand "dimension. Also, an interaction effect was found.

Pupils’ Opinions on an Educational Virtual Reality Game in Terms of Flow Experience

The purpose of the study is; to evaluate a game developed by using virtual reality technology in the teaching of fractions which is one of the most difficult topics in the fourth-grade mathematics curriculum, according to the opinions of pupils. An educational virtual reality game (Keşfet Kurtul) was developed for the study. Dur-ing the development of the game, the ideas of experts were utilized and flow theo-ry was taken into account. The educational virtual reality game was developed in the light of the flow theory. The research was carried out in a school in Samsun with 4th grade pupils. The game was evaluated by the pupils in terms of overall evaluation, challenge-skills balance, concentration on the task, clear goals, sense of control, action-awareness merging, loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time, unambiguous feedback and autotelic experience. As a result, the educa-tional virtual reality game Keşfet Kurtul is a digital learning environment that pu-pils enjoyed a lot. It has been determined that all tasks except the "radio" task, and in general the game itself, provide flow experience. It is proposed to redesign just one task of the game in terms of challenge-skills balance and clear goals. It's sug-gested that in experimental studies, different variables can be examined.

Twenty Years After Ottawa: “Unpacking” Mine Action in Peace Agreements

Mine action is essential for long-term peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction. Using new data, this article explores the nexus between mine action and peace processes, providing an analysis of trends in the inclusion of mine action provisions in peace agreements. Initial findings indicate that the inclusion of mine action provisions within peace agreements have remained relatively stable at 9.6% over 26 years. This is the case, regardless of efforts by United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in promoting the inclusion of mine action in ceasefire and peace agreements. Thus, the inclusion of mine action in peace agreements appears determined by the perceived pragmatic needs required to be addressed by conflict parties. Nonetheless, around the ratification period of the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, there was a small peak in the percentage of agreements that referenced mine action. Other trends indicate that mine action is more prevalent in interstate rather than intra-state peace agreements, that NGOs have begun to take a greater role in the negotiation of mine action–specific agreements, and that there is a greater diffusion of mine action awareness to local-level peace agreements.

Flow revisited: process conceptualization and a novel application to service contexts

Purpose Flow is an important yet under-utilized concept to examine extraordinary experiences in service encounters. An extensive review of extant literature revealed several conceptual concerns that have contributed to a blurred understanding of flow. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptualization of flow that is complete yet parsimonious. Design/methodology/approach The paper includes a survey (Study 1, N=202) that covers gaming and online services and a field study (Study 2, N=448) covering a festival context. Structural equation modeling and regression-based mediation analysis are used to analyze the data. Findings Flow can meaningfully be conceptualized as the process from engrossment to enjoyment. Engrossment comprises loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time, concentration on the task at hand, and action-awareness merging. In service encounters with high achievement content (e.g. gaming or sports), challenge-skill balance, clear goals, unambiguous and immediate feedback, and sense of control serve as antecedents of engrossment. Yet flow also appears in service contexts without achievement content (i.e. where consumers have less control over the outcomes of their performance, such as when listening to music). Across service contexts, the enjoyment and engrossment (directly or indirectly) impact service loyalty. Practical implications In terms of improving loyalty or training outcomes service providers should have a clear interest in providing the utmost potential for creating flow experiences during the service encounter. Hedonic offers that allow engrossing in the activity seem particularly effective in this regard. Originality/value This paper offers a clear theoretical and empirical distinction of formerly treated facets of flow. It further contributes to extant literature by providing a revised conceptualization that regards flow as the process from engrossment to enjoyment. The revised conceptualization is void of unnecessary dimensions and can be applied and compared across various research contexts, including hedonic, nonachievement services. Moreover, the paper indicates that research streams on flow and immersion might be linked more closely.

Reduced transfer of visuomotor adaptation is associated with aberrant sense of agency in Schizophrenia

ABSTRACTOne deficit associated with schizophrenia (SZ) is the reduced ability to distinguish sensations resulting from self-caused actions from those due to external sources. This reduced sense of agency (SoA, awareness of ownership over self-generated actions) is hypothesized to result from a diminished utilization of internal monitoring signals of self-movement (i.e., efferent copy) which subsequently impairs forming and utilizing sensory prediction errors (differences between the predicted and actual sensory consequences resulting from movement). Here, we investigated the connections between clinical SZ symptoms and motor adaptation, a process that uses sensory prediction errors to update motor output. Schizophrenia patients (SZP, N=30) and non-psychiatric healthy control subjects (HC, N=31) adapted to altered movement visual feedback, and then applied the motor recalibration to untested contexts (i.e., the spatial generalization to untrained targets). Although adaptation was similar for SZP and controls, the extent of generalization was significantly less for SZP; movement trajectories made by patients to the furthest untrained target (135°) before and after adaptation were largely indistinguishable. Interestingly, deficits in the generalization were correlated to positive symptoms of psychosis (e.g., hallucinations), but not negative symptoms. Generalization was also associated with subjective measures of SoA across both SZP and HC, emphasizing the major role action awareness plays in motor behavior, and suggesting that tendencies to misattribute agency, even in HC, manifest in abnormal motor performance. We discuss the possible link of these findings to cerebellar circuit abnormalities that may be a common source for deficits in the utilization of sensory prediction errors and aberrant SoA.

Zika virus and measures of legal interventions in public health

The zika virus is an emerging and important world health problem. In public health its harmful effects have stimulated various legal interests. The Federal Government of Brazil recently adopted several social and health surveillance measures, extending the instruments of possibilities to combating the virus transmitter in Brazil. Law No. 13.306/2016 brought incisive determinations about action awareness policies and educational campaigns, and at the same time authorizes the highest authorities of the Unified Health System (SUS) within federal, state, county and municipal governments to establish and implement the necessary measures to control the diseases caused by the virus, i.e. dengue, chikungunya and zika. The published legislation has created a motivating environment for researchers to develop projects aimed at the mosquito that transmits the dengue virus, the chikungunya virus and the zika virus. Therefore, studies on A. aegypti have led to greater scientifi c knowledge about its habitat, reproduction and development and a description of means to combat it, as a precondition for the ful filment of the social purposes of Law No. 13.301, of June 27, 2016, mainly if researches about more efficient management models and management of public finances, contributing to unveiling impacts on public health and growth and human development.

The power of appreciation: promoting schoolchildren’s health literacy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore Swedish children’s positive experiences of health and well-being, and their thoughts on how health literacy can be promoted. Design/methodology/approach Totally, 121 schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 14 from three schools in two municipalities in the northern part of Sweden shared their lived experiences through individual written reflections. Findings The phenomenological analysis resulted in one theme, appreciation as fuel for health and well-being, and four sub-themes: feeling a sense of belonging; being cared for by others; being respected and listened to; and feeling valued and confirmed. The understanding of the schoolchildren’s experiences of health and well-being and their thoughts on how health literacy can be promoted revealed that appreciation in different forms is the key dimension of their experiences of health and well-being. Practical implications The findings of this study point to the necessity of promoting health education that includes reflection and action-awareness of one’s own and others’ health as well as the competence to know how and when to improve their health. Such health education can contribute to the development of health literacy in young people, an essential skill for the twenty-first century. Originality/value This study’s originality is that the authors added the concepts of appreciative inquiry and student voice to the study of health literacy with children.