Simona Ottaviano

An Agent Based Methodology to Design Serious Game in Social Field

Training and simulation games are a type of serious game that allow learners to deal with realistic scenarios, to test their behavior under controlled conditions and to increase their understanding of the simulated system/process. In these games, the educational goal changes the issues related to the simulation design. In particular, achieving right balance between realism and teaching effectiveness is an essential design criterion. The difficulties in designing this type of serious games are particularly evident in the social field. In fact, this area is characterized by a complexity that is hard to design in formal terms. Starting from recent evolutions in the field of social simulation, this paper proposes the agent paradigm as a methodological tool to guide the design of serious games in the social field. The PNPV game, designed within the framework of the European project “I can … I cannot … I go!” Rev. 2 (PNPV project), which aims to introduce and foster an entrepreneurial mindset among young people, is described as a case study of a serious game developed by means of the agent based approach.

Improving Spatial Reasoning by Interacting with a Humanoid Robot

This paper analyzes the connection between spatial reasoning and STEM education from the point of view of embodied theories of cognition. A new learning model based on the use of a humanoid robot is presented with the aim of teaching and learning basic STEM concepts in a fruitful and engaging fashion.

Real: educational resources for astromomy laboratories

Un ambiente online per la didattica dell’astronomia e per avvicinare la cittadinanza alle tematiche della ricerca scientifica

A Semantic Frame Approach to Support Serious Game Design

This paper proposes a methodological framework to support the design of educational games based on a semantic frame analysis. Starting from a Frame Semantics point of view, the authors provide a deepen analysis of game mechanics definitions using the key concept of verb. To demonstrate the advantages of the proposed model an example is reported to illustrate how we can explicit the game mechanics used in a management/construction game by means of FrameNet and WordNet ontologies.

FOSTERING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET IN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Entrepreneurship Education (EE) represents a challenge for education systems across Europe and in particular for Italy, where EE is largely confined to technical and vocational studies. Introducing EE in the general secondary school curriculum means focusing on the development of skills and abilities now deemed an essential part of what is termed the “entrepreneurial mindset”. This in turn requires the adoption of teaching methodologies suitable for fostering those essential capabilities. Indeed, EE stretches beyond the acquisition of specific knowledge, encompassing efforts to make students active participants in their own learning, career path and life in general. This paper describes an EE training model defined within the European project “I can...I cannot...I go! Rev. 2”, funded by the Leonardo da Vinci Programme - Transfer of Innovation. It reports initial qualitative evaluation of the trial phase conducted with fourth-year students attending a technical school for tourism in Palermo.

Educational technologies and cultural heritage: an overwiew of italian museums in the Web era

An overview of websites of Italian museums, archives and libraries that are providing users with information and learning resources with particular attention to the young and people with disabilities.

Online reading comprehension: from a theoretical model to the development of a Web tool

This article aims to promote reflection on some crucial aspects of online reading comprehension. Examination of the Italian scenario regarding reading comprehension issues highlights a dramatic state of affairs, with a generation of students who have poor reading skills and are often unable to use simple cognitive strategies. The IREC model is proposed as a response to this critical situation, taking into consideration the key role which ICT can play. The aim of the model is to support the design of innovative web learning tools to meet present educational needs. The features and applications of the Gym2Learn system are described as an example of how the model can be applied. The article concludes with some considerations on the need to devise new educational strategies to improve students’ reading comprehension skills, and also to foster efforts to better understand the methodological and technological aspects involved in online reading comprehension.