Dana Ruggiero

The Teacher Technology Integration Experience: Practice and Reflection in the Classroom.

Previous studies indicated that the technology integration practices of teachers in the classroom often did not match their teaching styles. Researchers concluded that this was due, at least partial- ly, to external barriers that prevented teachers from using technology in ways that matched their practiced teaching style. Many of these barriers, such as professional support and access to hard- ware and software, have been largely diminished over the last twenty years due to an influx of money and strategies for enhancing technology in primary and secondary schools in the United States. This mixed-methods research study was designed to examine the question, “What tech- nology do teachers use and how do they use that technology to facilitate student learning?” K-12 classroom teachers were purposefully selected based on their full-time employment in a public, private, or religious school in a Midwestern state in the United States, supported by the endorsement of a school official. There were 1048 teachers from over 100 school corporations who completed an online survey consisting of six questions about classroom technology tools and professional development involving technology. Survey results suggest that technology integra- tion is pervasive in the classroom with the most often used technology tool identified as Power- Point. Moreover, teachers identified that training about technology is most effective when it is contextually based in their own classroom. Follow-up interviews were conducted with ten percent (n=111) of the teachers in order to examine the relationship between teachers’ daily classroom use of technology and their pedagogical practices. Results suggest a close relationship; for exam- ple, teachers with student-centric technology activities were supported by student-centric peda- gogical practices in other areas. Moreover, teachers with strongly student-centered practices tend- ed to exhibit a more pronounced need to create learning opportunities with technology as a base for enhancing 21st century skills in students. Teachers indicated that external barriers do exist that impact technology integration, such as a lack of in-service training, a lack of available tech- nology, and restricted curriculum, but that overcoming internal barriers, including personal in- vestment in technology, attitude towards technology, and peer support, were a bigger indicator of success. Recommen- dations are made for restructuring pro- fessional development on strategies for contextualizing technology integration in the classroom.

Engagement Through Praxis in Educational Game Design: Common Threads

Background. Engagement in praxis, the process of acting and reflecting in a cyclical fashion, fosters the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills among educational game designers. Resulting from this process, designers can apply their learned skills to create highly engaging educational games. Aim. This study examines the game development process of 22 international game designers from business, government, and academia as they describe their engagement in praxis when designing educational games. Method. Building upon research on reflective practice, this article provides insights on how engagement in praxis can be framed as a tool for educational game design that naturally promotes learning and motivation during gameplay. The researchers examine common threads that illustrate the process that educational video game designers use to create games. Results. Four common threads or themes were pulled from in-depth interviews with each designer. In this article, we focus on engagement in designing and applying game mechanics, engagement in content and context in educational games, feedback as an indicator of motivation and engagement, and working within project constraints to create engaging experiences.

Spent: changing students' affective learning toward homelessness through persuasive video game play

To investigate whether a persuasive game may serve as a way to increase affective learning about homelessness, this study examined the effects of procedural rhetoric and ethos in a video game designed to put the player in the shoes of an almost-homeless person. Data were collected from 5139 students across four states. Examination revealed that playing the game or doing the reading significantly increased the affective learning score after treatment with the game group scoring 1.57 points higher and the reading group scoring .66 points higher out of a score of 6. Findings indicate that students who played Spent sustained significantly higher scores after three weeks. Overall, findings suggest that when students play a video game that is designed using persuasive mechanics an affective change can be measured empirically.

Problem solving through digital game design

Project Tech engages secondary students (ages 14 to 17) in the process of digital game design in a variety of in-school, after-school, and secure settings. The goal of Project Tech is to leverage students interests in games and design to foster their problem-solving in a supportive environment where they learn to create games about a social issue they have experienced personally. The present study compares the in-school special needs version of Project Tech (n=11) to examine problem solving. Students enrolled in Project Tech were guided in the process of designing digital games aimed at teaching younger students (ages 1215) about social issues facing teenagers. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 35 iterations of a directed design game and 35 iterations of a free design game created by special needs young people and director notes. The purpose of the study was to draw from the game iterations a list of empirically grounded problem solving attributes that are associated with digital game design in a special needs classroom. The findings of the study resulted in the understanding of problem solving with special needs young people in four areas: representative characteristics, planning characteristics, executing characteristics and evaluation characteristics. Game design promotes problem-solving skills in special needs young people.Ill-structured problem solving is supported by free design more than directed design.Free design promotes representation, planning and evaluating characteristics for problem solving.Directed design promotes executing characteristics for problem solving.

Juvenile Offenders: Developing Motivation, Engagement, and Meaning-Making through Video Game Creation

In this study, the authors examined juvenile offender experiences in Project Tech, a research-based educational pilot program to teach socially responsible serious game development at a major Midwest universitys Games Lab. Using open-ended interviews, learner feedback surveys, and learner journaling during the program, the researchers examined two questions pertaining to: a learner motivation, engagement, and meaning making; and b program feedback and critique to elicit program improvements as part of an iterative process. Responses were analyzed using inductive textual analysis and content analysis. Several learner themes emerged: game development as motivation, discovery learning i.e., learning game development skills through trial and error as engagement in game development, and meaning-making through designing games to teach a social issue. The authors link these findings to the research questions and implications, discuss discovery learning as it pertains to juvenile delinquency interventions, and identify new questions for the ongoing pilot program.

Games You Can’t Win

A common notion in games for learning is that the player must win the game. But is it always necessary for the player to win in order to ‘get’ the message that the game is trying to portray? When we think back on our most memorable learning experiences, we find that these lessons are often things we learned through failure rather than success. There is a class of games where ‘winning’ doesn’t look the way we typically expect it to look. Some games do not allow their players to win, and their underlying message is more akin to that found in a cautionary tale. We refer to these games as games you can’t win, and they form a distinctly different approach to game design. Games such as Sweatshop (Littleloud, 2011), Darfur is Dying (MTVu, 2006), and September 12th (Newsgaming, 2005) are games you cannot conceivably win, and they are designed that way deliberately. This paper presents a critique on serious games that are unwinnable by design. We examine the concepts of games and learning, the design of unwinnable games, design strategies for unhappy and/or unwinnable learning games, and ways to measure the success of games you can’t win. We also briefly consider potential issues and future directions, and we conclude that the messages delivered via games you can’t win are more powerful than those of games in which you can win.

Persuasive Games as Social Action Agents: Challenges and Implications in Learning and Society

Persuasive games are an interdisciplinary area covering a range of fields. This article examines persuasive games through current trends in research as potential agents of social action. The implications of persuasive games for learning are analyzed through education and communication theories, suggesting that persuasive techniques are of primary importance and that procedures and ethos connect learners to experiences. The article first provides a historical overview of persuasive games, highlighting key background and influences. It then defines persuasive games through learning and communication theories, and discusses the implications of persuasive games as social action agents in research, policy, and practice.

Full length articleProblem solving through digital game design: A quantitative content analysis

Project Tech engages secondary students (ages 14 to 17) in the process of digital game design in a variety of in-school, after-school, and secure settings. The goal of Project Tech is to leverage students interests in games and design to foster their problem-solving in a supportive environment where they learn to create games about a social issue they have experienced personally. The present study compares the in-school special needs version of Project Tech (n=11) to examine problem solving. Students enrolled in Project Tech were guided in the process of designing digital games aimed at teaching younger students (ages 1215) about social issues facing teenagers. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 35 iterations of a directed design game and 35 iterations of a free design game created by special needs young people and director notes. The purpose of the study was to draw from the game iterations a list of empirically grounded problem solving attributes that are associated with digital game design in a special needs classroom. The findings of the study resulted in the understanding of problem solving with special needs young people in four areas: representative characteristics, planning characteristics, executing characteristics and evaluation characteristics. Game design promotes problem-solving skills in special needs young people.Ill-structured problem solving is supported by free design more than directed design.Free design promotes representation, planning and evaluating characteristics for problem solving.Directed design promotes executing characteristics for problem solving.

Project-based learning in a virtual internship programme

The purpose of this study was to analyse how the interrelationships of interns, clients and mentors lead to success in a project-based learning design virtual internship program. Interns from eleven different university programmes were asked to apply their academic experiences in constructing real projects for clients using a virtual environment while under the supervision of mentors. Data included completed intern projects, intern journals, and mentor and client evaluations. Data were collected over five cohorts, from forty-two cases, six of which are highlighted in this study. Programme design, mentor and client training, and intern performance, are considered. Findings demonstrate that interrelated roles evolve during the virtual internship and project success is related to the co-construction of knowledge between the intern, mentor and client. The study of the functions of these roles leads to implications for the design, development and implementation of a successful virtual internship programme. PBL virtual internships support interrelated roles between intern, mentor and client.Project success is related to the connection between the roles.Co-construction of knowledge is supported through interrelationships.Attributes of related roles are found in successful project teams.

The Compass Rose of Social Impact Games

Within games that are meant for more than play, specific processes and procedures lie hidden within game mechanics that are key to gameplay. These keys provide an opportunity for the player to help or guide others, think about moral or ethical issues, learn about a problem in society, and learn about social issues, like a compass rose. This article presents an overview of the research related to persuasive games with a social impact component. The overview begins with a brief introduction of the use of persuasive games in education and concludes with their development over the last ten years. Next the author introduces each of the four compass points and uses examples of current social impact games to support how the processes and procedures within the game are affected by the game design. Finally, three recommendations are discussed for the design of social impact games in respect to the four compass points of social impact games.