Case Studies in Game-Based Complex Learning

Despite the prevalence of game-based learning (GBL), most applications of GBL focus on teaching routine skills that are easily teachable, drill-able, and testable. Much less work has examined complex cognitive skills such as computational thinking, and even fewer are projects that have demonstrated commercial or critical success with complex learning in game contexts. Yet, recent successes in the games industry have provided examples of success in game-based complex learning. This article represents a series of case studies on those successes. We interviewed game designers Zach Gage and Jack Schlesinger, creators of Good Sudoku, and Zach Barth, creator of Zachtronics games, using reflexive thematic analysis to thematize findings. We additionally conducted a close play of Duolingo following Bizzocchi and Tanenbaum’s adaptation of close reading. Several insights result from these case studies, including the practice of game design as instructional design, the use of constructionist environments, the tensions between formal education and informal learning, and the importance of entrepreneurialism. Specific recommendations for GBL designers are provided.

The Effects of Computerized Versus Collaborative Professional Development on Teachers’ and Students’ Performance Related to the Concept Anchoring Routine

Two studies investigated the effects of a live, collaborative Professional Development (PD) program versus individualized PD with a multimedia software program. For both studies, teachers were randomly assigned to either a Virtual Workshop (VW) group that used the software program or to an Actual Workshop (AW) group that participated in a face-to-face workshop that included collaborative activities. The same teaching routine, the Concept Anchoring Routine, was taught to the teachers in both studies. In Study 1, teachers’ scores on a knowledge test about the routine and written plans for using the routine significantly improved from pretest to posttest in both groups. The groups’ posttest scores were not significantly different. Similarly, in Study 2, both groups’ posttest scores with regard to their knowledge of the routine, their written plans for use of the routine, and their implementation of the routine in their classes were significantly higher than their baseline scores. There were no differences between the teacher groups after training. The posttest knowledge scores of the whole groups of students being taught by both groups of teachers were also significantly higher than their pretest scores. Similar significant results were achieved by the students with LD. Moreover, the whole groups of students of VW teachers earned significantly higher posttest scores than the whole groups of students of AW teachers. Both teacher groups were satisfied with the training they received and with the routine. The students of both groups were satisfied with the way their teachers used the routine to help them learn.

Educação do Campo na conjuntura da pandemia: alcances, impactos e desafios

This article intends to analyze issues in Rural Education in the municipality of Ibiassucê - BA, which provides the stages of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence learning has become technology-mediated due to social distancing measures. The research aims to understand how Remote Teaching has taken place in rural schools in Ibiassucê, to examine how historical and social problems are unfolded in the school context, to debate Remote Teaching points present in the family and in the teaching routine which reflect on the teaching-learning process and to list issues of teaching mediated by digital technologies in Rural Education. In order to fulfill these objectives, a qualitative approach was adopted, using a questionnaire for data collection, allowing to identify issues pertinent to education in the current conjuncture, such as: the inefficient range of this learning method, having non-democratic access; the challenges that teachers, families and managers face in order to get by the current circumstances with Remote Teaching, without technical support and specific education, which has an impact in the range of meaningful learning provided and their physical and mental health; methodological issues necessary to establish the teaching-learning process; impacts that social issues have on vulnerable families.

Project work as a tool for communicative competence development

The article focuses on research into project work as a learner’s activity contributing to the development and refinement of his / her communicative competence. The author states that, besides improving a learner’s linguistic competence and promoting his/her involvement with the learning process, project work favourably affects both communication standards and, more broadly, social behavior through providing ample room for cooperation, empathy, creativity, and individual contribution. Thus, embracing project work and making it part of the foreign language teaching routine will ensure that learners acquire communicative competence at a level that meets current requirements.

Exploring Education Through Phenomenology: A Review of Gloria Dall’Alba’s (Ed.) Diverse Approaches

As educators, we tend to go about a typical day anticipating lessons, discussing pedagogical practices with colleagues, and engaging students with thoughtfully developed instruction. As attentive practitioners, we take a few minutes and reflect on the day’s proceedings and construct revised pedagogical strategies to better meet the needs of the students. However, what aspects of the pedagogical lifeworld would we think about if we decided to step back from the complexities, deadlines, and commitments that are part of the daily teaching routine, and take the time to really ponder pedagogy? I believe that Gloria Dall’Alba would encourage us to pick up her book and enter into the world of education as seen through a phenomenological perspective...

The Effects of the Explicit Inquiry Routine on the Performance of Students with Learning Disabilities on One-Variable Equations

This study determined the effects of the Explicit Inquiry Routine (EIR), a teaching routine, on the math performance of 14 middle-school students with math learning disabilities. The routine integrates validated mathematical teaching practices from general education (inquiry, dialogue) and special education (intensive, explicit instruction) to engage students in an interactive inquiry process across multiple modes (concrete, representation, and abstract) of illustration and manipulation to develop an understanding of the one-variable equation. A multiple-baseline-across-students design was employed. Both statistical analysis and visual inspection indicated that students' scores increased and were maintained for up to 11 weeks after instruction was terminated. In addition, students transferred their skills to textbook word problems and standardized math achievement measures.

Three Months in China

An eight week period of study was undertaken at Shanghai Medical University as a student elective from Manchester University Medical School. During this time the student was taught elements of the traditional theory of acupuncture and was given clinical training in acupuncture, electroacupuncture, moxibustion, cupping and herbal injection. A good variety of medical problems were seen being treated. The process of selecting a suitable venue for a student elective in China is discussed, as is the teaching routine in an acupuncture clinic.

Effectiveness of a Concept Teaching Routine in Enhancing the Performance of LD Students in Secondary-Level Mainstream Classes

The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate the effectiveness of Concept Diagrams and a related Concept Teaching Routine when used by regular class teachers to present concepts to heterogeneous groupings of students, including learning disabled pupils, in regular classrooms. The study focused upon both teachers and students. The teachers' ability to prepare Concept Diagrams and to implement a Concept Teaching Routine in the classroom was measured. Students were evaluated relative to performance on Tests of Concept Acquisition, regular classroom tests, and notetaking before and after implementation of the Concept Teaching Routine. Results indicated that teachers can select concepts from content material, prepare Concept Diagrams from those concepts, and present concepts to their classes. Both students with learning disabilities and students without learning disabilities showed gains in their performance on Tests of Concept Acquisition and in notetaking when the Concept Teaching Routine was used in the classroom. Gains in performance on regular tests were associated with the Concept Teaching Routine combined with a review procedure.