Fengfeng Ke

Examining online teaching, cognitive, and social presence for adult students

Drawing on the Community of Inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), this mixed-method case study examined the nature and interactions of teaching, cognitive, and social presence created by online instructors and adult students in diverse course contexts. The study results indicated online instructional design and teaching elements that are crucial prerequisites for a successful online higher educational experience for adult students. The study also informed e-learning designers on the relations between online teaching, cognitive, and social presence.

The power of play

In this study, we tested 77 undergraduates who were randomly assigned to play either a popular video game (Portal 2) or a popular brain training game (Lumosity) for 8?h. Before and after gameplay, participants completed a set of online tests related to problem solving, spatial skill, and persistence. Results revealed that participants who were assigned to play Portal 2 showed a statistically significant advantage over Lumosity on each of the three composite measures-problem solving, spatial skill, and persistence. Portal 2 players also showed significant increases from pretest to posttest on specific small- and large-scale spatial tests while those in the Lumosity condition did not show any pretest to posttest differences on any measure. Results are discussed in terms of the positive impact video games can have on cognitive and noncognitive skills. We tested subjects randomly assigned to play Portal 2 or Lumosity for 8?h.All were pre/post tested on problem solving, spatial skills, and persistence.Portal 2 players scored higher than Lumosity on all three constructs.Portal 2 players also showed significant gains on spatial tests.Lumosity subjects showed no gains on any measure.

Games, Learning, and Assessment

Learning in games has historically been assessed indirectly and/or in a post hoc manner. What’s needed instead is real-time assessment and support of learning based on the dynamic needs of players. We need to be able to experimentally determine the degree to which games can support learning, and how and why they achieve this objective. In this chapter we describe an approach to designing and developing evidence-based diagnostic assessments that may be embedded in a game environment. When embedded assessments are so seamlessly woven into the game that they’re virtually invisible, we call this “stealth assessment.” Embedding assessments within games provides a way to monitor a player’s current level on valued competencies, and then use that information as the basis for support, such as adjusting the difficulty level of challenges or providing a report for the teacher.

An implementation of design-based learning through creating educational computer games: A case study on mathematics learning during design and computing

This mixed-method case study examined the potential of computer-assisted, math game making activities in facilitating design-based math learning for school children. Sixty-four middle school children participated in Scratch-based, math game making activities. Data were collected via activity and conversation observation, artifact analysis, interviewing, and survey. The study findings indicated that participants developed significantly more positive dispositions toward mathematics after computer game making. The study also found that experience-driven game design processes helped to activate childrens reflection on everyday mathematical experiences. Mathematical thinking and content experience were intertwined within the process of computer game authoring. On the other hand, children designers were involved in game-world and story crafting more than mathematical representation. And it was still challenging for them to perform computer game coding with abstract reasoning.

Alternative Goal Structures for Computer Game-Based Learning.

This field study investigated the application of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in classroom use of computer math games and its impact on students’ math performance and math learning attitudes. One hundred and sixty 5th-grade students were recruited and randomly assigned to Teams–Games–Tournament cooperative gaming, interpersonal competitive gaming, individualistic gaming, and the control group. A state-standards-based math exam and an inventory on attitudes toward mathematics were used in pretest and posttest. Students’ gender and socioeconomic status were examined as the moderating variables. Results indicated that even though there was not a significant effect of classroom goal structure in reinforcing computer gaming for math test performance, game-based learning in cooperative goal structure was most effective in promoting positive math attitudes. It was also found that students with different socioeconomic statuses were influenced differently by gaming within alternative goal structures.

Virtual-Reality-Based Social Interaction Training for Children with High-Functioning Autism.

ABSTRACT Employing the multiple-baseline across-subjects design, the authors examined the implementation and potential effect of a virtual-reality-based social interaction program on the interaction and communication performance of children with high functioning autism. The data were collected via behavior observation and analysis, questionnaires, and interviewing. The children participants demonstrated increased performance of responding, initiation, greeting, and positive conversation-ending during the intervention, and improved social competence measures after the intervention. The study also contributed salient themes on the adaptive design of a virtual-reality-based learning environment for learners with special needs. The study findings should extend the discussion on the design and usage of technology-supported informal learning environment for children with diverse characteristics and learning needs.

Identity Presence and Knowledge Building: Joint Emergence in Online Learning Environments?.

This study examined the presence of identity in diverse online courses and explored how presence of identity correlated with content and students’ participation in online discussion and hence knowledge building in online educational spaces. Epistemic and participation data regarding online interaction and knowledge building were collected from a diverse group of students enrolled in seven multi-disciplinary online courses. Both qualitative and quantitative findings of the study suggested that online discussions with identity presence were associated with more follow-up participation and reinforced a more dialogic online interaction. Identity presence was also correlated with online interactions of knowledge sharing and egocentric elaboration.

Games for Engaged Learning of Middle School Children with Special Learning Needs.

In this paper, we describe an in situ study that examined the diverse design features and effects of three pre-algebra games for middle school children who have either challenges with learning or different language backgrounds. Data were collected through in-field observation, artifact analysis, school performance report and knowledge test during 15 one-hour gaming sessions over a period of 3 weeks. A list of key design features related to creating engagement and learning for students with special learning needs emerged from the data. The findings and discussions will inform educational designers and practitioners on successful educational game design and implementation for learners with diverse characteristics and needs. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Computer games can act as rich primers for engaged learning of academic content., What this paper adds The potential for computer games to promote engaged learning for school children with learning difficulty or different language/cultural backgrounds., The common and unique game design features that promote engaged learning for school children with special learning needs., Game-based learner support for school children with special learning needs., Implications for practice and/or policy Educational game designers should make purposeful design efforts (eg, a simple fantasy, open-ended game challenges and scaffolding with visual cue/feedback) to create learner-adaptive engagement., Content processing should be a core and active part of the game-play to promote game-based learning., Adaptive and nonintrusive support should be provided to student players to reinforce game-based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental support hypothesis in designing multimedia training for older adults: Is less always more?

This study explores younger and older adults learning of MS Publisher functionalities from a multimedia tutorial. Twenty younger and twenty three older adults assigned to a redundant (experimental) or non-redundant (control) condition were taught how to create a greeting card, while the results of their learning were assessed with immediate and delayed performance measures. While younger learners benefited from a non-redundant condition, older learners exhibited an opposite trend. Redundant condition was beneficial for their performance efficiency on a set of a transfer tasks, and their troubleshooting performance during the delayed session. From a cognitive load perspective, using a redundant text along with an audio narration overloads learners working memory by placing more strain on the visual pathway and not providing any additional cognitive advantage. From an environmental support standpoint and decreased processing resources view of cognitive aging, providing additional representational support helps reducing the task demands for older adults and results in better learning. The results have cognitive and practical implications for the design of multimedia learning environments for older adults.

Game-based learning engagement: A theory- and data-driven exploration

The promise of using games for learning is that play- and learning-engagement would occur cohesively as a whole to compose a highly motivated learning experience. Yet the conceptualization of such an integrative process in the development of play-based learning engagement is lacking. In this analytical paper, we explored and conceptualized the nature and development of game-based learning engagement via an iterative, two-stage analytical process. The first stage was theory driven. The literatures on motives of play, game and cognitive engagement, and game-based learning were reviewed and analyzed. Theoretical discussions on how learning engagement is activated and sustained during gameplay were distilled. The second stage was data driven. An in situ, multiple-case study was conducted to further examine affective and cognitive facets of learning engagement in gaming. The finding suggested that game-based learning engagement is an integrated and continuing process that advances from affective engagement driven by optimal challenge, cognitive engagement situated in playfulness, to potentially game-action-based content engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]