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Time allowed is 25 minutes.
The Java C Preprocessor Mock Test is Very helpful for all students. Now Scroll down below n click on “Start Quiz” or “Start Test” and Test yourself.
Will the program compile successfully?
Yes, this program will compile and run successfully and prints 20.
The macro #ifdef NOTE evaluates the given expression to 1. If satisfied it executes the #ifdef block statements. Here #ifdef condition fails because the Macro NOTE is nowhere declared.
Hence the #else block gets executed, the variable a is declared and assigned a value of 20.
printf(“%d “, a); It prints the value of variable a 20.
Would the following typedef work?
Because typedef goes to work after preprocessing.
Will it result in to an error if a header file is included twice?
Unless the header file has taken care to ensure that if already included it does not get included again.
Turbo C, GCC compilers would take care of these problems, generate no error.
In a macro call the control is passed to the macro.
False, Always the macro is substituted by the given text/expression.
The preprocessor can trap simple errors like missing declarations, nested comments or mismatch of braces.
False, the preprocessor cannot trap the errors, it only replaces the macro with the given expression. But the compiler will detect errors.
The macro MAX(a, b) (a > b ? a : b) returns the biggest value of the given two numbers.
Step 1 : int x; The variable x is declared as an integer type.
Step 3 : printf(“%d “, x); It prints the value of variable x.
Hence the output of the program is 9.
printf(“MESS “); It prints the text “MESS”. There is no macro calling inside the printf statement occured.
Step 1: float s=10, u=30, t=2, a; Here the variable s, u, t, a are declared as an floating point type and the variable s, u, t are initialized to 10, 30, 2.
=> a = 2 * (10 – 30 * 2) / t * t; Here SQUARE(t) is replaced by macro to t*t .
Step 3: printf(“Result=%f”, a); It prints the value of variable a.
The macro PRINT(int) print(“%d,”, int); prints the given variable value in an integer format.
Step 1: int x=2, y=3, z=4; The variable x, y, z are declared as an integer type and initialized to 2, 3, 4 respectively.
Step 2: PRINT(x); becomes printf(“int=%d,”,x). Hence it prints int=2.
Step 3: PRINT(y); becomes printf(“int=%d,”,y). Hence it prints int=3.
Step 4: PRINT(z); becomes printf(“int=%d,”,z). Hence it prints int=4.
Hence the output of the program is int=2, int=3, int=4.
Step 1: int a, b=3; The variable a and b are declared as an integer type and varaible b id initialized to 3.
=> a = 3 * 3 * 3; Here we are using post-increement operator, so the 3 is not incremented in this statement.
Step 3: printf(“%d, %d “, a, b); It prints the value of variable a and b.
Hence the output of the program is 27, 6.
The following program will make you understand about ## (macro concatenation) operator clearly.
The macro function SQR(x)(x*x) calculate the square of the given number x.
Step 1: int a, b=3; Here the variable a, b are declared as an integer type and the variable b is initialized to 3.
=> a = b+2 * b+2; Here SQR(x) is replaced by macro to x*x .
Step 3: printf(“%d “, a); It prints the value of variable a.
The macro MIN(x, y) (x<y)? x : y; returns the smallest value from the given two numbers.
Step 1: int x=3, y=4, z; The variable x, y, z are declared as an integer type and the variable x, y are initialized to value 3, 4 respectively.
The macro return the number 3 and it is stored in the variable z.
Step 3: if(z > 0) becomes if(3 > 0) here the if condition is satisfied. It executes the if block statements.
Step 4: printf(“%d “, z);. It prints the value of variable z.
The macro SWAP(a, b) int t; t=a, a=b, b=t; swaps the value of the given two variable.
Step 1: int a=10, b=12; The variable a and b are declared as an integer type and initialized to 10, 12 respectively.
Step 2: SWAP(a, b);. Here the macro is substituted and it swaps the value to variable a and b.
Hence the output of the program is 12, 10.
Which of the following are correct preprocessor directives in C?
The macros #ifdef #if #elif are called conditional macros.
The macro #undef undefine the previosly declared macro symbol.
Hence all the given statements are macro preprocessor directives.
The conditional macro #if must have an #endif. In this program there is no #endif statement written.
Which of the following are correctly formed #define statements in C?
The macro PRINT(i) print(“%d,”, i); prints the given variable value in an integer format.
Step 2: PRINT(x); becomes printf(“%d,”,x). Hence it prints 2.
Step 3: PRINT(y); becomes printf(“%d,”,y). Hence it prints 3.
Step 4: PRINT(z); becomes printf(“%d,”,z). Hence it prints 4.
Hence the output of the program is 2, 3, 4. | https://onlinetest.caknowledge.com/java-c-preprocessor-quiz-2/ |
Variable is a name which is used to refer memory location. Variable also known as identifier and used to hold value.
In Python, we don't need to specify the type of variable because Python is a type infer language and smart enough to get variable type.
Variable names can be a group of both letters and digits, but they have to begin with a letter or an underscore.
It is recomended to use lowercase letters for variable name. Rahul and rahul both are two different variables.
Variables are the example of identifiers. An Identifier is used to identify the literals used in the program. The rules to name an identifier are given below.
Python does not bound us to declare variable before using in the application. It allows us to create variable at required time.
We don't need to declare explicitly variable in Python. When we assign any value to the variable that variable is declared automatically.
The equal (=) operator is used to assign value to a variable.
Python allows us to assign a value to multiple variables in a single statement which is also known as multiple assignment.
We can apply multiple assignments in two ways either by assigning a single value to multiple variables or assigning multiple values to multiple variables. Lets see given examples.
1. Assigning single value to multiple variables
x=y=z=50 print iple print y print z
2.Assigning multiple values to multiple variables:
a,b,c=5,10,15 print a print b print c
The values will be assigned in the order in which variables appears.
This section contains the basic fundamentals of Python like :
i)Tokens and their types.
ii) Comments
a)Tokens:
There are following tokens in Python:
>>> tuple=('rahul',100,60.4,'deepak') >>> tuple1=('sanjay',10) >>> tuple ('rahul', 100, 60.4, 'deepak') >>> tuple[2:] (60.4, 'deepak') >>> tuple1 'sanjay' >>> tuple+tuple1 ('rahul', 100, 60.4, 'deepak', 'sanjay', 10) >>>
Eg: | https://rookienerd.com/tutorial/python/python-variables |
When a value is smaller than a field specified with setw(), the unused locations are, by default, filled in with spaces. The manipulator setfill() takes a single character as an argument and causes this character to be substituted for spaces in the empty parts of a field. Rewrite the WIDTH program so that the characters on each line between the location name and the population number are filled in...
Runa Singh is the network administrator in charge of network security for a medium-sized company. The firm already has a firewall, its network is divided into multiple segments separated by routers, and it has updated virus scanners on all machines. Runa wants to take extra precautions to prevent DoS attacks. She takes the following actions: She adjusts her firewall so that no incoming ICMP...
Write a program, based on the sterling structure of Exercise 10 in Chapter 4, that obtains from the user two money amounts in old-style British format (£9:19:11), adds them, and displays the result, again in old-style format. Use three functions. The first should obtain a pounds-shillings-pence value from the user and return the value as a structure of type sterling. The second should take...
Consider the following code -- which of the choices below will print as a result of this logic? int x = 200, y = 150, z = 10; if(x > y && x > z) printf("ABC\n"); else printf("XYZ\n"); ABC XYZ Nothing will print ABC XYZ Question 2: Consider the following code -- what will print as a result of this code? int x = 100, y = 150; if(x > y) printf("ABC\n"); printf("XYZ\n"); ABC XYZ ABC...
Write a program that reads a group of numbers from the user and places them in an array of type float. Once the numbers are stored in the array, the program should average them and print the result. Use pointer notation wherever possible. | https://www.quesba.com/questions/complex-numbers-a-ib-c-id-b-c-d-integers-product-two-complex-numbers-872405 |
In a new revelation, environmentalists in Abu Dhabi have recently discovered a rare ‘blue hole’ in the Arabian Gulf. The underwater sinkhole that lies just off Al Dhafra, was found during Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi’s routine surveys and has now been named—Al Dhafra Blue Hole.
The underwater hole is about 12 metres deep, 200 metres wide and has an area of about 45,000 square metres. The hole is surrounded by marine life that includes grouper, sweetlips, emperor fish and jackfish and at least 10 different coral species, which form a reef at the edges of the hole.
According to the Environment Agency, the hole is a significant sighting as it provides a glimpse of how historic reefs used to look in Abu Dhabi.
To discover more about its geological composition, marine experts will conduct an environmental assessment survey of this unique ecosystem, that involves mapping the area and analysing seawater.
.@EADTweets is monitoring the presence of a rare ‘blue hole’ found in the waters of Al Dhafra region. The natural phenomenon reflects the rich biodiversity of #AbuDhabi’s marine ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/hisiTrKlY1— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) October 9, 2021
In addition, to better determine the health of the existing coral reef community and assess localized ecosystem health, the department will also continue to conduct scientific and topographic surveys to further understand this unique natural phenomenon.
These similar blue holes are a natural phenomenon characterized by a deep marine depression compared to the shallow areas that surround it and can be found in other parts of the world as well.
The deepest blue hole — the Yongle, lies in the South China Sea and reaches 300 metres beneath the seabed. Other internationally famous blue holes include the Great Blue Hole in Belize, Gozo’s Blue Hole in Malta, the Blue Hole at Dabahb in Egypt, and Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. | https://me.mashable.com/culture/15389/environment-agency-abu-dhabi-discovers-new-blue-hole-in-the-waters-of-al-dhafra-region |
Dr. Zhou Dequn is a professor at Kunming University of Science and Technology and guest professor at Virginia Tech. He worked for The Nature Conservancy from 2004- 09 and is currently on the editorial board for the journal Plant Pathology & Quarantine. His expertise includes ecology, fungal diversity and conservation biology. We talked to him about China’s biodiversity crisis.
WRR: What is known about biodiversity losses in China's rivers?
ZD: Currently, our knowledge is relatively limited and mostly focuses on research and active monitoring of a few key rivers. For example, the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan has long been researching and monitoring the hydrobiology of the Yangtze River. They also established a comprehensive database of China’s inland aquatic organisms. However, as a whole, our inland rivers are suffering from severe losses of biodiversity.
For instance, aquatic organisms living in our largest inland river, the Yangtze, are facing severe challenges due to the rapid development of economic zones along the Yangtze River, which has directly caused the decline of biological resources. Many species are endangered or have already become extinct. Due to overdevelopment and pollution along the Yangtze River, the Chinese River Dolphin, which was under first-class state protection, has essentially disappeared.
There is a serious lack of conservation measures and a shortage of funding to protect other aquatic species. According to an expert from Changjiang Fishery Resources Managing Committee, there used to be more than 1,100 species in the Yangtze, including more than 370 fish species, over 220 zoobenthos (organisms which live on the riverbed), and hundreds of aquatic plants. The Yangtze is also home to many rare fish species and wild animals. But currently these resources are declining dramatically and many species are facing extinction. For example, the “Water Panda” (Chinese river dolphin) and the “King of Freshwater” (Chinese paddlefish) can hardly be seen. The famous Reeves’ Shad has not been seen for many years. “Living fossils” such as the Chinese sturgeon have also rapidly decreased in numbers and at an even faster pace. The juvenile fish recruitment numbers for the famous four major Chinese carps (the herrings, grass carps, chubs and bigheads) has rapidly decreased since 2003.
WRR: What is known about the impacts of the Three Gorges Dam on biodiversity?
ZD: It is baffling to me that when we were initially constructing the Three Gorges Dam, we didn’t learn from the experiences of developed countries that built fish ladders for migratory fish. When we were making these decisions, we didn’t consult with any experts or organize any public hearings. The dam has blocked the migratory routes that the fish need in order to reproduce. The number of rare aquatic animals, such as the Chinese river dolphin, Chinese paddlefish, the Chinese and Yangtze sturgeons, cowfish, and mullets has decreased drastically. As a result of the strategy to “transform rivers to lakes,” many fish that are used to living in the rapids are gradually migrating upstream. This has led to ecosystem changes in the entire Yangtze River.
The dam has also had a major impact on fisheries. When Three Gorges started impounding water, the water level of Dongting Lake dropped by 1-2 meters. Poyang Lake was once full of sauries, but now they are nowhere to be found. During this year’s rare summer droughts, thousands of fishermen along the water basin have been left with empty nets.
WRR: Describe the “biodiversity-scape” in the Three Parallel Rivers basin.
ZD: The Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site is home to the upper reaches of three famous rivers in Asia: the Jinsha (Yangtze), the Lancang (Mekong) and the Nu (Salween) rivers. These rivers run parallel north to south and pass through 3,000-meter deep valleys and 6,000-meter high icebergs and snowy peaks. This is China’s most biodiverse region.
The Three Parallel Rivers region is home to more than 210 families, 1,200 genera and 6,000 species of vascular plants – 20% of all higher plants in China. Among these, 40% are endemic to China and 10% are endemic to the Three Parallel Rivers region. This region has the most plant species per unit area in the world. Given the complex geological history of the region, old and new species co-exist here, making it home to some of the world’s most famous plant species.
Today, this region is home to 77 kinds of rare and endangered animals, such as snub-nosed monkeys, antelopes, snow leopards, black-necked cranes, and 33 kinds of nationally protected plants, as well as 500 kinds of medical plants. The Sichuan Snub-Nosed Monkey is the most iconic mammal in the World Heritage Site. This genus is very important among all primates. On the level of development, it is in a special category between old world monkeys and apes. It has a very high research value as it helps us understand human evolution. It is also one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, and should be viewed as a national treasures.
To accurately predict the impact that the extinction of these precious species may have on this region’s ecosystem is difficult because the consequences are often felt along very long time scales. Perhaps the impact of species extinction can best be described by “the butterfly effect”: a butterfly in the Amazon can cause a tornado in Texas by just flapping its wings.
WRR: What is unique about the Nu River ecosystem?
ZD: In the Three Parallel Rivers region, the Nu River valley rep- resents the most important biological corridor. Damming the Nu would erase the most mysterious and visually stunning river valley before its value can be fully recognized and researched.
The Nu River is located at the canyon of the Hengduan Mountain Range. The completely vertical climatic belt created positive conditions for the growth of animals and plants. Due to these reasons, the Hengduan Mountain Range is one of the most important among the 17 biodiversity conservation regions in China. In addition, the Nu River’s rich water resources have given birth to tens of millions of people from various ethnicities.
There are countless aquatic species that depend on the Nu, including more than 50 kinds of fish in Yunnan province alone, and about 20 unique species. In 2001, Kunming Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a fish exploration team from the California Academy of Sciences caught the biggest eel in the world, the Yunnan Manli Eel, in the middle reaches of the Nu River. This eel travels more than 1,500 kilometers between the Nu River and the Indian Ocean. A large number of amphibians, reptiles and aquatic mammals (such as otters) also call the Nu mainstream and its tributaries home. These animals have become interdependent as they coevolved during the formation of the valleys and rivers. They also carry information about the geological and natural history in the entire East Himalayan region.
WRR: What is being done in this watershed to protect biodiversity?
ZD: On the government level, the emphasis on biodiversity is growing. The Nujiang prefecture government has expressed that it will increase and strengthen public advocacy around ecosystem protec- tion and biodiversity conservation. The government is strengthening the protection and management of biodiversity resources in its own prefecture and should provide more support to the depart- ments of environmental and natural protection, to better adapt to the needs of modern biodiversity conservation management. The government should also construct a Nu Biodiversity Protection Base and public education centers.
Academics have been closely monitoring the biodiversity of the Nu River. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, other national and Yunnan universities, international conservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, and some domestic environmental organizations have done comprehensive research on different aspects about the biodiversity in the Nu valley and have taken different protection measures. However, there needs to be comprehensive and in-depth research done for the entire river basin.
Thanks to non-governmental environmental organizations, the Nu River hydropower controversy in 2003 and 2005 launched the dam project to national attention. Because of the work of organizations such as Green Earth Volunteers and Green Watershed, central government suspended the Nu River hydropower project. For the first time in China. the voice and activities of domestic non-governmental organizations directly influenced the decision – making of the central government. Right now, there is no consensus around whether the Nu should be developed for hydropower or not. However, the activities of the Chinese environmental organizations represent an important step forward toward the social modernization of China. | https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/china%E2%80%99s-rich-natural-heritage-under-threat-7357 |
Biodiversity of Wetland
The rich biodiversity and fertile land make Udon Thani the cradle of the GMS and the world, with its abundance of food, plants, culture, and people. Wetlands possess unique and rare characteristics, particularly the Lowland Floodplain Forest or Fresh water Swamp Forest, which offers unique biodiversity. This is the answer to the world’s issues of pollution, climate change, and food shortages. One of Udon Thani’s most prominent wetlands is Nong Dae, whose diverse and unique ecosystem, with its abundant natural resources, has long played a vital role in the way of life of people, plants, and animals in various aspects, from ecology, economics, society, to politics at the local, national, and international levels. Its societal abundance offers a diversity of people and growth opportunities for the region, while the natural abundance offers myriad plants and sufficient water to sustain the expo throughout its duration without the need for transportation, which consequently reduces environmental impacts and paves the way for a future of sustainability for both the AIPH expo and the global community.
Characteristic of Land
The selected venue of Expo 2026 is Nong Dae, Udon Thani. This wetland of over 164.8 hectares (100.8 hectares of land and 64 hectares of water), offers reservoirs of 2 million cubic metres of water, sufficient to sustain the plethora of flora and fauna showcased at the expo throughout its entire duration. This would mark a pivotal point of the AIPH expo, where water used in the expo would come from the source of the expo site and would not require transportation and unnecessary fuel expenditures, further serving the goal of sustainability. The land’s unique wetland biodiversity and its easily accessible location also contribute to its potential as a prime location to host the Udon Thani International Horticulture Expo 2026. | https://udonthaniexpo2026.com/ExpoSite |
The Tanguar Haor is a unique wetland ecosystem in Bangladesh. This biologically diverse area is home to a vast array of rare plant and animal species, and supports more than 60,000 livelihoods.
In 2000, the Tanguar Haor was declared a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. The wetland is not only a globally important site for biodiversity, but the Tanguar Haor also plays a critical economic role for Bangladesh. The wetland supports freshwater fisheries, directly sustains the livelihoods from over 100 surrounding villages and contributes to the country's food production and security.
A photobook depicting the Tanguar Haor was developed to raise awareness about the rich biodiversity of this Ramsar listed wetland. The photos illustrate the many different species and livelihood activities taking place in and around the wetland ecosystem. A YouTube video "Tanguar Haor - making the most of its natural resources" was also developed by the IUCN Bangladesh office.
The standard of living in Tanguar Haor is low however, and the wetlands are vulnerable to unsustainable practices. IUCN is working in the region to ensure Tanguar Haor’s rich natural resources are being conserved and used more sustainably. The project aims to help local communities manage the wetland more efficiently and create new opportunities to generate income. | https://www.iucn.org/content/tanguar-haor-portrait-unique-wetland-bangladesh |
The Philippines is also one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots with at least 700 threatened species, thus making it one of the top global conservation areas. … This unique biodiversity is supported by a large variety of ecosystems, landscapes and habitats, most of which are also greatly threatened by human activities.
What is considered biodiversity hotspot?
To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics — which is to say, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot, in other words, is irreplaceable.
What can say about why Philippines is rich in species?
The Philippines is one of the 17 mega biodiverse countries, containing two-thirds of the Earth’s biodiversity and 70 percent of world’s plants and animal species due to its geographical isolation, diverse habitats and high rates of endemism. The Philippines’ biodiversity provides several ecosystem services.
What is the greatest threat to Philippine biodiversity Why?
The continuing habitat degradation and forestland conversion are major threats to Philippine biodiversity. These are attributed primarily to large-scale and indiscriminate logging and mining, burgeoning human population, overharvesting of resources, and infrastructure development.
What is the current status of biodiversity on Earth?
Across the range of biodiversity measures, current rates of loss exceed those of the historical past by several orders of magnitude and show no indication of slowing. Biodiversity is declining rapidly due to land use change, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution.
What supports high biodiversity?
Wetlands have been called “biological super systems” because they produce great volumes of food that support a remarkable level of biodiversity. In terms of number and variety of species supported, they are as rich as rainforests and coral reefs.
What are the types of biomes that can be found in the Philippines?
Ecological Regions Of The Philippines
|Ecological Regions Of The Philippines||Biome|
|Luzon Montane Rain Forests||Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests|
|Luzon Rain Forests||Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests|
|Luzon Tropical Pine Forests||Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests|
Why is biodiversity important to humans?
Biodiversity plays a crucial role in human nutrition through its influence on world food production, as it ensures the sustainable productivity of soils and provides the genetic resources for all crops, livestock, and marine species harvested for food. | https://projekbrunei.com/southeast-asian-countries/does-the-philippines-considered-a-biodiversity-hotspot-and-why.html |
Diamond conglomerate De Beers has signed a five-year partnership with the National Geographic Society to preserve the rich biodiversity of the Okavango Basin, which straddles central and southern Africa. The partnership comes at a time when this African wildlife refuge is threatened by oil development.
Over the years, the National Geographic Society has become a key player in the preservation of biodiversity in Africa, thanks in part to its National Geographic Wild television channel. The scientific and educational organisation is partnering with De Beers, a diamond mining company based in London, UK. The two partners are launching “Okavango Eternal”. The initiative aims to strengthen nature conservation and community support in the Okavango Basin in Botswana, Namibia and Angola.
Read also- AFRICA: the urgent need to restore degraded ecosystems
Over the next five years, National Geographic and De Beers will enhance wildlife conservation by focusing on the long-term preservation of wildlife corridors for the movement and proliferation of threatened species. Also, the Okavango Eternal partnership will support conservation research by funding expeditions to collect new data, installing monitoring technology and building the capacity of local researchers through grants and training.
A unique ecosystem
The Okavango Basin is one of Africa’s major biodiversity hotspots. The Okavango, which drains it, is the third longest river in southern Africa (after the Zambezi and Limpopo), with a length of between 1 600 and 1 800 km. This endoreic river (forming an inland delta) rises near the town of Huambo in central Angola, before flowing through Namibia to Botswana where it ends in the vast Okavango Delta in the Kalahari Desert.
Read also- Five key players commit to biodiversity in Africa
The Okavango Delta is the focal point of this unique ecosystem in Africa. This inland delta is a vast 18,000 km2 wetland in northern Botswana, home to many endangered species of animals in this particularly arid region of Africa. The most iconic are savannah elephants, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and hundreds of bird species.
Supporting local communities
“The health of the Okavango Delta depends on its source lakes and rivers, which carry water from the rainfall in the highlands of Angola. While the delta itself enjoys protected status, the Okavango basin that feeds it does not, and the effects of climate change, deforestation and upstream commercial agriculture are threatening this vital lifeline,” says National Geographic.
In addition to wildlife, the Okavango ecosystem is also used by local communities who therefore have a role to play in preserving its biodiversity. This is why local people are at the centre of the Okavango Eternal partnership. National Geographic and De Beers plan to provide water and food security for more than one million people and livelihood development for an additional 10,000 people. This represents a critical foreign investment to support the long-term resilience and recovery of the region in the years ahead. “The partnership aims to work hand-in-hand with Okavango communities to provide shared ecological solutions that lead to collective economic opportunities,” adds National Geographic.
The threat of oil exploitation
In addition to climate change, human activities are the main threat to biodiversity in the Okavango Delta. The wetland, teeming with life, is also home to oil deposits that Namibia and Botswana want to exploit to boost their economies. In fact, the governments of both countries have granted two 35,000 km2 oil concessions to Reconnaissance Africa (ReconAfrica), a company based in Vancouver, Canada. For many environmental organisations active in the region, oil drilling will be detrimental to wildlife and local populations.
Read also- AFRICA: oil exploitation threatens the biodiversity of the Okavango basin
One of the weapons of these organisations is awareness-raising. As part of the Okavango Eternal partnership, De Beers and National Geographic will produce a film about the Okavango Basin in Botswana to raise awareness of the problems facing this ecosystem and why it is important to protect it. The partnership also focuses on developing self-sustaining conservation-based tourism economies to build local support and understanding for watershed conservation in Angola, Namibia and Botswana. | https://www.afrik21.africa/en/africa-a-new-partnership-for-wildlife-conservation-in-the-okavango-basin/ |
We are ICIMOD, a unique intergovernmental institution leading the global effort to protect the pulse ...
With a vast array of partners, we organize our work in what we call Regional ...
Successful interventions can change lives for the better. We hope that the stories of success ...
David James Molden
4 mins Read
This year’s theme for the International Day of Biological Diversity, “Our solutions are in nature”, is a timely reminder to re-examine our relationship with nature and build back better in a post-pandemic world. The theme reminds us of the importance of biodiversity and its services for our wellbeing and development, highlighting the interconnections between humans and nature. It is also a tribute to the scientists, conservation professionals, frontline staff and communities whose tireless efforts have helped preserve the last wilderness areas on Earth. I would like to congratulate my ICIMOD colleagues and the other professionals who contribute to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which recently won the 2020 WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award for its “decisive role in outlining the drivers of biodiversity loss, communicating the magnitude of the problem and laying the groundwork for a new agenda and transformative change in relation to biodiversity”.
The loss of biodiversity threatens us all. Studies have shown how the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic disease is closely interlinked with the health of ecosystems. The intrusion into and destruction of wildlife habitats undermines the health and ability of ecosystems to support human wellbeing. The global pandemic highlights more than ever that the world needs to come together and reaffirm its commitment to conserving biodiversity and building a future in harmony with nature.
We at ICIMOD take this opportunity to reflect and highlight nature’s contributions towards lives and livelihoods in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH). The HKH is a fragile environment with rich cultural and biological diversity, and diverse ecosystems. The region – with four global biodiversity hotspots, 11 of 200 global ecoregions, 17 world heritage sites, and diverse rangelands, forests, agro-ecosystems and wetlands – provides a range of ecosystem goods and services to the region and beyond. However, the region is also highly susceptible to change, including climate change, with severe impacts on people and nature. The HKH sits at the top of the world and changes happen here before they happen anywhere else. The HKH is therefore the pulse of the planet.
To protect this pulse, ICIMOD has advocated, among other things, the pursuit of nature-based solutions (NbS) that combine the best of age-old traditional practices and modern science to address emerging challenges. This is in recognition of the fact that the wellbeing of mountain people depends on healthy natural ecosystems that produce a diverse range of ecosystem goods and services. It is well established that nature-based solutions have the potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change, support biodiversity, and sustain the flow of ecosystem services. Over the last three decades, we have worked intensively with partners to conceptualise, plan and promote transboundary landscape initiatives across the HKH that have converted conservation and development challenges into opportunities through integrated approaches that employ NbS tools.
In line with the theme for this year, we have embarked on new NbS initiatives such as the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capability for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (REEECH) and Air Pollution Solutions (APS) to promote clean energy options and reduce emissions and atmospheric pollution in the region. We are also scaling-up and scaling-out proven nature-based solutions like organic agriculture and soil and water resource conservation interventions, including the rejuvenation of mountain springs, to conserve and sustain the flow of ecosystem services. This is reflected well in field activities carried out under our Resilient Mountain Solutions (RMS) Initiative. Besides, we are taking additional steps to support mountain enterprise development to diversify and improve incomes, build resilience, and enhance the wellbeing of mountain people.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges and disrupted numerous biodiversity related global events planned for 2020, including the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CoP 15), creating a hurdle to achieving biodiversity targets in the region. Several biodiversity rich areas are seeing new threats due to numerous scenarios unfolding from the pandemic, including poaching, logging, and other extractive activities. At the same time, the pandemic has resulted in cleaner air and water and a general realisation of the importance of nature and human interactions. The clean air, views of the mountains and wildlife sightings have fired the public imagination and offered glimpses of an alternative future. This is an unprecedented opportunity. We must use this time to reflect on the consequences of our actions on biodiversity and pivot away from business as usual. We are confident that good teamwork and collective efforts across the region will lead to lasting solutions that are inclusive and in harmony with nature. Hopefully new nature-based solutions will emerge from this crisis.
We are working hard to assess the various issues occupying the foreground of conservation and development debates during this pandemic. We will be coming out with a policy document that will look at the impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities that have been exposed by the pandemic, as well as the opportunities for biodiversity conservation in the mountains in a post-pandemic world. We hope that the policy recommendations will guide conservation planning and actions for overcoming existing threats and similar risks that may arise from possible future pandemics.
On IBD 2020, we celebrate our successes over the last three and half decades and recommit ourselves to the biodiversity conservation challenges that lie ahead.
Once again, on behalf of all of my colleagues at ICIMOD, I would like to wish everyone a Happy International Day for Biological Diversity!
Thank you.
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In the aftermath of the Gorkha Earthquake that hit Nepal on 25 April, ICIMOD joined hands with regional and international ...
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Gender equality is a prerequisite to sustainable development. There is no question about it. This is maintained in newly endorsed ... | https://www.icimod.org/building-a-future-in-harmony-with-nature/ |
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Sustainability facts
the
World Wide Fund for Nature
rates the
Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests
bordering
India
,
Bangladesh
, and
Myanmar
(Burma) as "Globally Outstanding" in
biological distinctiveness
?
the
Stora Alvaret
, a
World Heritage Site
on the island of
Öland
,
Sweden
, has rich
biodiversity
, even though the soil mantle on this 26,000 hectare
limestone barren
is less than two centimeters deep?
the earliest fossil
reef
formations that show high
biodiversity
, containing the earliest
corals
, form the mid-
Ordovician
Chazy Formation
, reaching from
Tennessee
to
Labrador
?
due to their rich
biodiversity
,
Sri Lanka montane rain forests
are a globally important
super-hotspot
with a large number of
endemic
species?
Horabagrus brachysoma
, an
endangered species
of the
genus
Horabagrus
, has been considered a potential
flagship species
for
media
attention to provide a focus for
wildlife conservation
of inland
biodiversity
?
seed swaps
,
potluck
-style events where gardeners exchange seeds, help maintain
biodiversity
and preserve cultural and regional traditions?
Semuliki National Park
in
Uganda
is one of the richest areas of
floral
and
faunal
diversity
in
Africa
?
Wasur National Park
is part of the largest
wetland
in the
Papua
province of
Indonesia
, and due to its high
biodiversity
is sometimes referred to as the "
Serengeti
of Papua"?
India
's
Kanjli Wetland
, a manmade
wetland
created in 1870, has been recognised by the
Ramsar Convention
for its rich
biodiversity
?
Facts on topics related to Biodiversity
Nature
Stoic
philosophy
contrasts
kathekonta
, actions in accordance with
nature
, with "perfect actions"
(katorthomata)
derived from
pure reason
?
Bron Taylor
coined the term "dark green religion" as a set of
beliefs
characterized by a conviction that "
nature
is
sacred
, has
intrinsic value
, and is therefore due reverent care"?
Ecology
the
water crisis
is the ongoing worldwide shortfall of
drinking water
,
sanitation
and
ecological
support that finds 1.1 billion people without
safe water
?
the word
ecology
was coined by
Ellen Swallow Richards
, the first woman admitted to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
?
Ecosystem
thermal vent
ecosystems
have been discovered in the
Aegean Sea
, in the
caldera
of
Kolumbo underwater volcano
?
Laguna Ojo de Libre
is a
World Heritage Site
that combines the
ecosystems
for species such as the
grey whale
with
industrialisation
?
American
lexicographer
Robert L. Chapman
added
ecosystem
and
yuppie
to
Roget's Thesaurus
?
a regional park established to protect
Nevėžis River
ecosystem
in
Lithuania
also breeds
wisents
?
the
ecosystem
contained in
Myanmar
's
N'Mai River
watershed contains some of the most diverse
flora
of its type in the world, yet it is threatened with destruction through
damming
?
the
Norwegian
river
Lysakerelven
, an
ecosystem
of national importance, has walking and cycling trails on both banks from its source to its mouth at the
Oslofjord
?
the
Arly-Singou
ecosystem
shelters the largest remaining population of lions in
West Africa
?
Natural environment
marathon
races only receive
IAAF
Gold Label Road Race
status if organisers have taken steps to preserve the
environment
?
shrimp farms
are a serious threat to the
environment
because they cause widespread destruction of
mangroves
and disperse
antibiotics
through their wastewater?
Extinction
James Bond
attributed the
extinction
of the
Puerto Rican Conure
to pigeon hunters visiting
Mona Island
?
Arthropleuridea
is an
extinct
class of
myriapods
which includes, at over 2 meters long, the largest terrestrial
arthropods
that ever lived?
Chillingham Cattle
have lived as an isolated herd for 700 years, and are believed to be closely related to the
aurochs
, an
extinct
species
domesticated in the
Stone Age
?
endangered arthropods
(example pictured)
are becoming
extinct
in such large numbers that many are not catalogued?
Meru Betiri National Park
in
East Java
is known as the last habitat of the
Javan Tiger
which is now considered
extinct
?
Archidermapteron martynovi
is an
extinct
species of
earwig
named for
Andrey Vasilyevich Martynov
, who conducted extensive studies of
fossil
insects
in the
Soviet Union
?
Lytocaryum weddellianum
, an
endangered species
of
palm trees
endemic
to
Brazil
, may be saved from
extinction
as it has become a common potted plant in
Europe
?
Nymphaea thermarum
(pictured)
, the world's smallest
water lily
, was recently saved from
extinction
?
although the
Norfolk Island Pigeon
was hunted to
extinction
by humans, its first hunters disappeared from
Norfolk Island
before it did?
although the teeth of the
extinct
rodent
Holochilus primigenus
are almost identical to those of
Lund's Amphibious Rat
, it is probably more closely related to
marsh rats
?
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Being a part of Halong Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay is well known for its magnificent beauty of nature that is untouched by hands. It is a bigger part occupying 3 quarters of Ha Long Bay, which is rich in biodiversity and landscape. The bay is blessed with limestone karsts and islets which rise out of the waters of the bay; there are also marvelous caves and beaches.
Halong tours are extremely interesting, taking you further to Cong Do area, through Tra San, Vung Dang, Cong Dam area to see the most beautiful place in the world, do kayaking through tranquil lagoons and discover the costal marine ecosystem to deeply feel off the beaten track.
There are several attraction to discover in Bai Tu Long Bay: Cong Do area covering 23 square kilometers with hundreds of limestone islands in rich biodiversity and home of many species. Thien Canh Son cave in Hon Co Island, a nice appealing site for observing the geological value of nature, Vong Vieng fishing village, beauty of local floating life, a very unique local life on water of World Heritage site.
Sun lovers can be attracted by sandy beaches in Bai Tu Long. Remmeber the names of Paradise beach, TraGioi, Cat Oan or Cay Bang beach.
Bai Tu Long Bay covers a much bigger area with some inhabited islands (Ngoc Vung Island, Quan Lan Island, Cong Dong, Cong Tay Island). Bai Tu Long Bay National Park also offers the best insight to nature discovery. It is more than a day and a night to discover the whole unique area of Bai Tu Long Bay but the trip is a must for visitors who looking for off the beaten track experience. | https://www.halong.co/traveler-blogs/discover-bai-tu-long-bay.html |
Biodiversity and Ecology Management Support Program
The term “biodiversity and ecology” indicates ecological life support and is important to humans for many reasons. Biodiversity is considered to have many intrinsic values i.e. each species has a value and a right to exist. The ecological life support provides functioning ecosystems that supply oxygen, clean air and water, pollination of plants and many ecosystem services.
Humans are altering the composition of biological communities through a variety of activities that increase the rates of species invasions and species extinctions, at all scales, from local to global. To strengthen links to policy and management, the need of integrating ecological knowledge with the understanding of the social and economic constraints of potential management practices is the most important.
Integrating GIS with Biology Conservation
The distribution of species across the globe recognizes no national or political boundaries, so the need for detailed mapping and analysis of geographic features, species distribution and natural resources is a primary need of this new discipline from its inception. Geoinformatics has given many more dimensions to the applicability of remote sensing. For example, Landscape Ecology is benefited most from the availability of spatial analysis tools like GIS. The development of information systems and methodologies capable of delivering the organization of complexity sufficient to satisfy the needs of conservationists was a necessity for conservation biology.
GIS applications in conservation:
- Generation of landscape indicators: Quantitative measurements of the status or potential health of an area. Example -ecological region, or watershed.
- Gap Analysis: Mapping out sensitive habitats and overlaying the protected and undisturbed areas of habitat.
- Modeling species invasion: Analysing potential biological species invasions by modeling the spatial spread of exotic species.
- Habitat Connectivity: Identifying remaining areas of primary ecological significance and determining the ecological network connectivity and buffering larger existing conservation lands and other primary ecology.
- Preserve Biodiversity: Ability to match conservation areas with the actual distribution of a wide variety of species within a target area.
Use of GIS tools:
- Quantum GIS(QGIS)
- Global Mapper
- Mango Mapper
Basic things to do with GIS:
- Create unique maps from the information you create/generate
- Integrate information from multiple sources
- See how things are related in space
- View data on the landscape in a specific region with a variety of landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and research.
GIS database collection for mapping:
There are currently 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots, most biologically rich yet threatened regions. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, an area must meet two strict criteria:
- Contain at least 1500 species of vascular plants found nowhere else on earth(Endemic species)
- Have lost at least 70% of its primary native vegetation.
The GIS database for biodiversity hotspots can be downloaded from “Biodiversity Hotspots” available on the zenodo website in shapefile format and the database for monitoring the ecosystem can be derived from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Explorer. | https://www.gisvisionindia.com/biodiversity-and-ecology-management-support-program/ |
Question: Find the number of seconds in a tropical year
The tropical year, the time from vernal equinox to the next vernal equinox, is the basis for our calendar. It contains 365.242199 days. Find the number of seconds in a tropical year.
View Solution:
View Solution:
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For the question 1A.9, how would you find the the wavelength and frequency that go along with the second line that says 3.3X10^-19J?
-
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:18 am
Re: Hw Question 1A.9
You know the energy of the photon (E) and we know E=hv with h being Planck's constant (6.626x10^-34 J.s) so the only unknown in this equation would be v, the frequency. Rearange the equation to solve for v which would be v=E/h. After plugging in the values and finding the answer, you can find the wavelength (λ). We know λ=c/v with c being the speed of light (3.00x10^8m.s^-1) and v being the value you just found. Plug in and you've got your value for λ. Hope this could help!
-
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:18 am
- Been upvoted: 1 time
Re: Hw Question 1A.9
To find the wavelength and frequency of the photon in this question, it is best to start from what you know. You know the energy of the photon, so the only equation we can use in this instance would be E(photon) = vh, where v is the frequency in Hertz and h is Planck's constant. Rearrange the equation so you can solve for the only other unknown in the equation, which is v, the frequency. After solving v = h/E, you have enough information to plug into the last equation, c = λv, where the product of wavelength and frequency is indirectly proportional to the speed of light c. Rearrange this last equation to solve for λ, wavelength. After solving for λ, you can correctly determine which event is occurring.
-
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2019 12:18 am
Re: Hw Question 1A.9
For this homework problem, the given wavelength is in nm. Should we covert all the wavelengths we need to find to nm? We are also given two different frequencies, one in Hz and one in MHz. Should the answers for the other two frequencies be in Hz or MHz?
Re: Hw Question 1A.9
All of the information for this problem can be found using E = hv and λv = c. First, find the frequency using E = hv, by plugging in planck's constant and 3.3x10^-19 J for E. This gives the frequency as 5.0x10^14Hz, which can then be plugged into λv=c to find the wavelength (600nm).
-
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Sat Aug 24, 2019 12:18 am
Re: Hw Question 1A.9
For the line with the frequency listed as 300MHz, I converted to Hz and got 3.00x10^8 Hz, but then using wavelength=c/frequency you would get a wavelength of 1m, which doesn't make sense for the "events" context of this question. Not sure what part I'm doing wrong? | https://lavelle.chem.ucla.edu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46674 |
Copyright ? 2006-2013 Scientific Research Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
|
|
Journal of Modern Physics, 2013, 4, 991-993
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jmp.2013.47133 Published Online July 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jmp)
Vector Boson Mass Spectrum from Extra Dimension
Dao Vong Duc1, Nguyen Mong Giao2
1Institute of Physics, Hanoi, Vietnam
2Institute of Physics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Received April 29, 2013; revised May 31, 2013; accepted June 28, 2013
Copyright © 2013 Dao Vong Duc, Nguyen Mong Giao. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons At-
tribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is prop-
erly cited.
ABSTRACT
Based on the mechanism for mass creation in the space-time with extradimensions proposed in our previous work,
(arXiv: 1301.1405 [hep-th] 2013) we consider now the mass spectrum of vector bosons in extradimensions. It is shown
that this spectrum is completely determined by some function of compactification length and closely related to the met-
ric of extradimensions.
Keywords: Boson Mass Spectrum; Extra Dimensions
1. Introduction
The topology of space-time extradimensions has been a
subject of intensive study in various aspects during the
last time [1-8]. On the other side, the problem of particle
masses, especially for gauge vector bosons, remains to be
of actual character.
In our previous work we have proposed a mecha-
nism for the creation of particle masses based on the pe-
riodicity condition dictated from the compactification of
extradimensions. In this approach the original field func-
tions depend on both ordinary space-time coordinates
and those for extradimensions, the ordinary field func-
tions for ordinary 4-dimensional space-time are consid-
ered as effective field functions obtained by integration
of the original ones over extraspace-time.
The mass of vector bosons has been treated in for
the simplest case with one extradimension. Along this
line, in this work we extend the results to the general
case for arbitrary number of extradimensions.
2. Effective 4-Dimensional Vector Fields
As in , we denote the 4 + d dimensional coordinate
vector by xM with ,5,6, ,4
M
d
. The Greek in-
dices will be used for conventional 4-dimensional Lor-
entz indices, 0,1, 2, 3
4aa
. For convenience we will use
the notations ,1,2,,
y
xa d
,,
, and express the
field function of coordinates as
Ma
with the periodicity condition supposed to be of the form:
xFxyFxy
;,
aa
aF
F
xyLfF xy
a
(1)
where
F
f
is some parameter function depending on the
compactification length L(a).
The Condition (1) corresponds to the equation:
F
,,
a
F
a
f
xygF xy
y
(2)
with the relations:
.
e,
1ln 2π,
a
aF
Lg
a
F
aa
FF
a
f
fninZ
L
g
(3)
In general we can put:
i
e
1ln i2π
a
F
aa
FF
aaa
FFF
a
f
n
L
g
(4)
a
a
where
F
and
F
are some functions of .
a
L
a
F
For neutral field,
F
,
F
f
is real and therefore
0, 0
a
Fn
.
We now consider the neutral vector field
,
My
Vx
satisfying the periodicity condition.
,,
M
aa
a
MVM
Vxy LfVxy (5)
,,
M
a
MVM
aVxyg Vxy
y
(6)
C
opyright © 2013 SciRes. JMP
D. V. DUC, N. M. GIAO
992
The free vector field
,
MyVx is described by the
Lagrangian
1
,4
11
42
MN
MN
LxyF F
1
4
aa
b
aab
F
FF
FFF
(7)
where
N
M
MN
M
N
Aa
BA
ab
VV
a
ab
F
x
x
V
V
F
x
x
V
V
F
x
y
VV
yy
VV
0F
F
(8)
Now let us consider the case when the field component
4Aa under treatement does not depend on yb,
unless b = a. In this case ab
and the Lagrangian (7)
with Equation (6) taken into account becomes:
1
1
,4
1
2A
d
aaA V
a
LxyF F
VgV
A
aa
AV
VgV
(9)
where ab
is Minkowski metric for extra dimensions.
Now we define a set of new physical vector fields
a
Z
by putting
1
A
A
a
V
a
Z
VV
g
aaa
GZZ
(10)
Note that the field strength tensor
V
(11)
remains unchanged and independent of a :
a
GZ F
(12)
Therefore Equation (9) can be transformed into the
form:
2
A
aa
aaa
V
aG G
gZZ
1
1
,4
1
2
d
a
aa
a
Lxy
1
1
d
a
a
dSySy
(13)
With the constraint:
(14)
The Formula (13) tells that a set of d vector fields in
ordinary 4-dimensional space-time can be unified in a
single vector field in the whole (4 + d)-dimensional
space-time with the distribution characterized by the co-
efficients obeying the constraint (14). This constraint is
dictated by Equations (9)-(13). This result could be use-
ful in the construction of Unifying models for gauge in-
teractions.
3. Equation of Motion and Mass Spectrum
We start from the Lorentz invariant Lagrangian (13) and
the effective action defined as:
(15)
Here, as in Section 2, for convenience we use the nota-
tion y instead of x for extradimension coordinate.
4
d,Sy xLxy
dy
where
means the integration over the extradimen-
sions:
12
12
00 0
ddd,,d
d
LL Ld
yyyy
The principle of minimal action for S(y) then gives the
Euler-Lagrange equation
,,
0
aa
Lxy Lxy
ZZ
(16)
which in turn leads to the Klein-Gordon equation
20
a
a
Z
mZx
(17)
a
Z
for the effective vector field x
d,
aa
defined as
xyZxy
Z
(18)
In this way we obtain:
For
0a
:
2
0
A
a
Va
aa
gZ
a
(19)
And hence
2
2A
a
a
V
aa
Z
g
ma
(20)
For
0a
:
The Lagrangian (13) has no kinetic term for the field
a
Z
which now can be considered as auxiliary field.
So, the conclusion is that a single neutral vector field in
space-time with extradimensions leads to a set of (not
more than d) effective neutral vector fields in ordinary
4-dimensional space-time with the masses obeying the
sum rule followed from (14) and (20):
2
21
A
a
a
V
aa
aZ
g
m
(21)
Copyright © 2013 SciRes. JMP
D. V. DUC, N. M. GIAO
Copyright © 2013 SciRes. JMP
993
2dFor illustration let us consider the case . In this
case a single vector field
,
M
Vxy can give two effec-
1
1
()
Z
x
and
Z
()x
. By putting, for tive vector fields
example,
1
1
2
2
and ,
12,2 1
Equation (20) gives:
22
2
aa
aa V
mg
Z
and
22
22
22
2
V
mg
11
22
11
1
V
mg
Z
Z
respectively
It is worth noting that by choosing appropriate values of
(a) and Minkowski metric of extradimensions the de-
scribed formalism could be useful in giving the relation
between the metric of extradimensions and tachyons
having negative squared mass.
4. Conclusion
In this work we extend the results obtained in our previous
work to consider the mass spectrum for vector bosons.
It has been shown that a single neutral vector field in
space-time with d extradimensions corresponds to a set of
s (d) effective neutral vector fields in ordinary 4-di-
mensional space-time with masses obeying the sum rule
expressed in terms of metric of extradimensions and pa-
rameter function dictated from the periodicity conditions.
This would give a deeper understanding of the relation
between extradimensions and gauge bosons in the con-
struction of the Unified Gauge Theory of interactions.
REFERENCES
C. Cs’aKi, “TASI Lectures on Extradimensions and Bra-
nes,” hep-ph 0404096, 2004.
L. Randall and M. D. Schwarz, JHEP, 2001.
R. Sundrum, TASI, 2005.
M. B. Green, J. H. Schwarz and E. Witten, “Superstring
Theory,” Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
L. Brink and M. Henneaux, “Principles of String The-
ory,” Plenum Press, New York, 1988.
doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-0909-3
G. Furlan, et al., “Superstrings, Supergravity and Unified
Thoeries,” World Scientific, Singapore, 1997.
L. O’Raifeartaigh and N. Straumann, “Early History of
Gauge Theories and Kaluza-Klein Theories,” arXiv-hepth
/98/05, 1999.
T. G. Rizzo, “Pedagogical Introduction to Extradimen-
sions,” arXiv-hepth /0409309, 2005.
D. V. Duc and N. M. Giao, “A Mechanism for Mass Cre-
ation from Extradimensions,” arXiv-hepth/1301.1405,
2013.
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Copyright ? 2006-2013 Scientific Research Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. | https://file.scirp.org/Html/34460.html |
Andreu-Perez, Javier, Deligianni, Fani, Ravi, Daniele, Yang, Guang-Zhong
The recent successes of AI have captured the wildest imagination of both the scientific communities and the general public. Robotics and AI amplify human potentials, increase productivity and are moving from simple reasoning towards human-like cognitive abilities. Current AI technologies are used in a set area of applications, ranging from healthcare, manufacturing, transport, energy, to financial services, banking, advertising, management consulting and government agencies. The global AI market is around 260 billion USD in 2016 and it is estimated to exceed 3 trillion by 2024. To understand the impact of AI, it is important to draw lessons from it's past successes and failures and this white paper provides a comprehensive explanation of the evolution of AI, its current status and future directions.
AI researchers are interested in building intelligent machines that can interact with them as they interact with each other. Science fiction writers have given us these goals in the form of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, at present, our computers are deaf, dumb, and blind, almost unaware of the environment they are in and of the user who interacts with them. In this article, I present the current state of the art in machines that can see people, recognize them, determine their gaze, understand their facial expressions and hand gestures, and interpret their activities. I believe that by building machines with such abilities for perceiving, people will take us one step closer to building HAL and Commander Data.
One of the ambitions of artificial intelligence is to root artificial intelligence deeply in basic science while developing brain-inspired artificial intelligence platforms that will promote new scientific discoveries. The challenges are essential to push artificial intelligence theory and applied technologies research forward. This paper presents the grand challenges of artificial intelligence research for the next 20 years which include:~(i) to explore the working mechanism of the human brain on the basis of understanding brain science, neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology and data science; (ii) how is the electrical signal transmitted by the human brain? What is the coordination mechanism between brain neural electrical signals and human activities? (iii)~to root brain-computer interface~(BCI) and brain-muscle interface~(BMI) technologies deeply in science on human behaviour; (iv)~making research on knowledge-driven visual commonsense reasoning~(VCR), develop a new inference engine for cognitive network recognition~(CNR); (v)~to develop high-precision, multi-modal intelligent perceptrons; (vi)~investigating intelligent reasoning and fast decision-making systems based on knowledge graph~(KG). We believe that the frontier theory innovation of AI, knowledge-driven modeling methodologies for commonsense reasoning, revolutionary innovation and breakthroughs of the novel algorithms and new technologies in AI, and developing responsible AI should be the main research strategies of AI scientists in the future.
Each of these areas already features a significant level of complexity, so the following description of data mining and artificial intelligence applications has necessarily been restricted to an overview. Vehicle development has become a largely virtual process that is now the accepted state of the art for all manufacturers. CAD models and simulations (typically of physical processes, such as mechanics, flow, acoustics, vibration, etc., on the basis of finite element models) are used extensively in all stages of the development process. The subject of optimization (often with the use of evolution strategies or genetic algorithms and related methods) is usually less well covered, even though it is precisely here in the development process that it can frequently yield impressive results. Multi-disciplinary optimization, in which multiple development disciplines (such as occupant safety and noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH)) are combined and optimized simultaneously, is still rarely used in many cases due to supposedly excessive computation time requirements.
The word "deep" in "deep learning" refers to the number of layers through which the data is transformed. More precisely, deep learning systems have a substantial credit assignment path (CAP) depth. The CAP is the chain of transformations from input to output. CAPs describe potentially causal connections between input and output. For a feedforward neural network, the depth of the CAPs is that of the network and is the number of hidden layers plus one (as the output layer is also parameterized). | https://aitopics.org/mlt?cdid=arxivorg%3AD8C689C2&dimension=pagetext |
The Application of Artificial Intelligence in Cognitive Psychology Cognitive psychology seeks to comprehend the complexities of cognition by doing research, testing, and developing models of how the human mind handles and processes complicated information during attention, memory, and perception (Zivony, 2019). In addition to studying how people think, cognitive psychologists try to build systems that think like people do. They aim to create machines that can understand and take actions in the world just like humans can. Cognitive psychologists use psychological theories as a guide to develop their computer programs. For example, researchers may want to build a program that behaves like a person would if they were trying to decide what to eat for lunch. They might first ask themselves what kinds of foods they like and then use that information to select from among several options. At each step of this process, different parts of the brain are activated. By recording the patterns of neural activity triggered by various tasks, scientists hope to one day be able to build computers that function using similar brain mechanisms.
In recent years, cognitive psychologists have started applying their knowledge of human thought to building intelligent machines. They believe that being able to simulate how people's brains work will allow them to design computer programs that behave like people do. For example, a cognitive psychologist could use her understanding of how people make decisions to build a robot that seems like it is thinking about its choices before making ones like people do. Or she could build a machine that learns from experience much like people do.
Furthermore, cognitive science is a scientific study of human thinking, emotions, language, perception, attention, and memory that is multidisciplinary in nature. However, the goal of artificial intelligence (AI) is to investigate the architecture of computers and software capable of intelligent behavior. Cognitive scientists study brains as well as computer systems and try to explain how they work.
Cognitive science has had an important impact on the development of AI. Before 1980, most research in AI was done by psychologists and neuroscientists who tried to apply their knowledge about animal behavior and brain function to building intelligent machines. This approach was called "symbolic" because it used symbols such as words or sentences to represent concepts. In 1980, Frank Rosenblatt organized a meeting at MIT called the "Conferences on Artificial Intelligence and Psychology". The aim of this meeting was to bring together researchers from both fields to discuss how their different but related perspectives could be used to build more intelligent machines. As a result, cognitive psychology began to influence the design of new algorithms and architectures that are now used in many popular AI applications. For example, when trying to understand what someone says in text form, modern linguists often turn to psycholinguistics, the study of human thought processes while reading and writing.
Since then, cognitive scientists have continued to explore how people think and act, which has led to new insights being made into how computers can do the same.
The purpose of these AI Notes PDF is to introduce intelligent agents and reasoning, heuristic search strategies, game playing, knowledge representation, and reasoning with uncertain knowledge. Cognitive Science, Thought Laws, Turing Test, Rational Agent.
Cognitive psychologists used the concept of information processing as a model of how human cognition works. The eye, for example, takes visual information and converts it into electric neuronal activity, which is then transmitted back to the brain, where it is "stored" and "coded." Cognitive psychologists claim that this is how humans think: They also convert incoming information into "mental representations," which are encoded in memory. These mental representations are later retrieved when needed for decision-making or action.
Here is an example of information processing: When reading this sentence, you first decode the letters on the page into their corresponding sounds (decoding). You then analyze these sounds (analyzing) to understand their meaning (interpretation). Finally, you encode what you have interpreted into long-term memory (encoding). Decoding, analyzing, and encoding are all steps in the process of information conversion.
After thinking about the question, they may come up with some factors they believe are important in choosing a city - such as quality of cheese and price. These factors would be converted into a set of questions - for example, "which cities have good cheese and low prices?" - and then checked against a list of candidates. This series of actions constitutes one step in the process of information conversion. | https://escorpionatl.com/how-is-psychology-used-in-artificial-intelligence |
A lexicon ofactivation-related concepts and a functional taxonomy that enumerates many activation-related “design patterns” that have appeared in cognitive architectures, which includes one of the most varied and comprehensive adoptions of activation- related functionality.
CogNGen: Constructing the Kernel of a Hyperdimensional Predictive Processing Cognitive Architecture
- Psychology, Computer ScienceArXiv
- 2022
A new cognitive architecture that combines two neurobiologically plausible, computational models: a variant of predictive processing known as neural generative coding (NGC) and hyperdimensional / vector-symbolic models of human memory, which is tested on a set of maze-learning tasks.
Natural Computational Architectures for Cognitive Info-Communication
- Biology, Computer ScienceArXiv
- 2021
A set of perspectives and approaches which have shaped theDevelopment of biologically inspired computational models in the recent past that can lead to the development of biologically more realistic cognitive architectures are presented.
Cognitive Machinery and Behaviours
- Computer ScienceAGI
- 2020
The proposed model IPSEL for Information Processing System with Emerging Logic is a functional model of information processing systems inspired by several established theories, including deep reinforcement learning mechanisms and grounded cognition theories from artificial intelligence research, and dual-process theory from psychology.
Attention: The Messy Reality
- BiologyThe Yale journal of biology and medicine
- 2019
A hierarchy of dynamically defined closed-loop control processes is proposed, each with its own optimization objective, which is extensible to multiple layers and although mostly speculative, simulation and experimental work support important components.
A Common Architecture for Human and Artificial Cognition Explains Brain Activity Across Domains
- Psychology, Biology
- 2019
It is suggested that a common, functional computational blueprint for human-like intelligence also captures the neural architecture that underpins human cognition, and best explains human neuroimaging activity across cognitive domains.
Conceptual Design of the Memory System of the Robot Cognitive Architecture ArmarX
- Computer ScienceArXiv
- 2022
This work described conceptual and technical characteristics such a memory system of a humanoid robot performing tasks in human-centered environments should support, together with the underlying data representation, and extended the robot software framework ArmarX into a cognitive architecture that is used in robots of the ARMAR humanoid robot family.
Analysis of the human connectome data supports the notion of a “Common Model of Cognition” for human and human-like intelligence across domains
- Psychology, Computer ScienceNeuroImage
- 2021
Modeling Human Behavior Part II - Cognitive approaches and Uncertainty
- PsychologyArXiv
- 2022
As we discussed in Part I of this topic , there is a clear desire to model and comprehend human behavior. Given the popular presupposition of human reasoning as the standard for learning and…
Demanding and Designing Aligned Cognitive Architectures
- Computer ScienceArXiv
- 2021
This work identifies several technically tractable but currently unfashionable options for improving AI alignment and considers how current fashions in machine learning create a narrative pull that participants in technical and policy discussions should be aware of, so they can compensate for it.
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The importance of cognitive architectures: an analysis based on CLARION
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In this paper, discussions of issues and challenges in developing cognitive architectures will be undertaken, and an example cognitive architecture (CLARION) will be described. | https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/40-years-of-cognitive-architectures%3A-core-cognitive-Kotseruba-Tsotsos/e9ac4a5244b67308bfb78900f509dfe014d8d077 |
There is a lot of excitement about machine learning (ML). After all, it has enabled computers to outperform people in picture classification, defeat humans in complicated games like "Go" and give high-quality voice-to-text on popular mobile phones. The scientific community is taking notice of advances in machine learning.
The discipline of neurology is no different. Many opinion pieces have been written in recent years regarding the relevance of machine learning in neuroscience. Furthermore, when we look at the number of new findings concerning ML in neuroscience over the previous 20 years, we see that its application has been steadily increasing. Within this discipline, machine learning has been employed in a variety of ways.
We will catalog the uses of ML in neuroscience as well as the shared goal for ML in neuroscience in this blog.
Objectives of Machine Learning
Humans can observe and experience the environment because of the eyes. Humans make judgments depending on what they observe with their eyes. Humans act on their ideas depending on what they perceive with their eyes. Similarly, in order for a Machine learning model to emulate human intellect, it must have eyes that can capture pictures or have data as input and make decisions based on them.
Hence, the main objective of machine learning is to uncover patterns in user data and then generate predictions based on these complicated patterns to answer real-world queries and solve issues.
Objectives of Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the study of how the brain performs diverse perceptual, cognitive, and motor processes.
There are many objectives of Neuroscience, few of them are
- To use the scientific method to construct feasible independent research projects by integrating content, skills, and critical thinking.
- To gain a wide awareness of the nervous system's structure and function, as well as the depth of knowledge in cellular/molecular or behavioral/cognitive perspectives.
- To get a better grasp of the ethical problems surrounding the use of human subjects and animal subjects in neuroscience research.
And since the advent of new technologies neuroscience is exploring its new horizons. Big data can now be processed by intelligent computers using ML-based artificial intelligence approaches, opening up new possibilities for neuroscience such as how millions of neurons and nodes cooperate to manage vast amounts of information and how the brain develops and governs actions.
From Neuroscience to ML
The advantages of thoroughly analyzing biological intelligence for constructing machine learning models are twofold.
- First, neuroscience is a rich source of inspiration for new sorts of algorithms and architectures that are independent of and complementary to the mathematical and logic-based methodologies and concepts that have dominated traditional approaches to Machine Learning. For example, if a novel aspect of biological computing is shown to be crucial to supporting a cognitive function, we would consider it a good candidate for inclusion in machine learning systems.
- Second, neuroscience can give validation for existing machine learning algorithms. If a known algorithm is later discovered to be implemented in the brain, it provides strong support for its viability as an important component of a larger general intelligence system.
Human intellect is distinguished by an extraordinary capacity to keep and alter data in an active storage, this is referred to as working memory, and it is assumed to be instantiated inside the prefrontal cortex and related regions. According to traditional cognitive theories, this functioning is dependent on interactions between a central controller ("executive") and distinct, domain-specific memory buffers (e.g. visuo-spatial sketchpad). These models have inspired machine learning research, which has resulted in systems that explicitly preserve information across time. Historically, such attempts began with the introduction of recurrent neural network topologies with attractor dynamics and rich sequential activity, work that was inspired directly by neuroscience. This study paved the way for later, more thorough models of human behavior.
In difficult object identification tests, machine learning systems now match and exceed professional humans. Machines can make synthetic natural visuals and human speech simulations that are nearly indistinguishable from their real-world counterparts, translate across several languages, and create "neural art" in the style of well-known painters.
Much effort has to be done to close the IQ gap between machines and humans. Concepts from neuroscience will become more important in narrowing this gap. The introduction of new technologies for brain imaging and genetic bioengineering in neuroscience has begun to give a precise characterization of the computations occurring in neural networks, suggesting a revolution in our knowledge of mammalian brain function. The importance of neuroscience in the following main areas, both as a roadmap for the ML research agenda and as a supply of computational tools, cannot be overstated.
From ML to Neuroscience
Psychologists and neuroscientists frequently have only hazy ideas about the mechanisms behind the issues they examine. Machine learning is aiding them by formalizing these notions in a quantitative language and providing insights into their requirement and adequacy (or lack thereof) for intelligent action.
RL is an excellent example of its potential. After ideas from animal psychology aided in the development of reinforcement learning research, essential principles from the latter were fed back into neuroscience. In another area, research aimed at improving the performance of CNNs has revealed fresh insights into the nature of neural representations in high-level visual domains.
Machine learning research is also generating new ideas on how the brain may implement an algorithmic counterpart to backpropagation, the crucial technique that permits weights to be optimized over numerous layers of a hierarchical network toward a certain purpose
When taken together, machine learning models hold out the prospect of identifying processes through which the brain may implement algorithms. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate the possibility of synergistic interactions between machine learning and neuroscience: study targeted towards biological development.
Conclusion
When planning for future collaboration between the two domains, it is vital to remember that previous contributions of neuroscience to ML have seldom entailed a straightforward transfer of full-fledged solutions that could be directly re-implemented in machines. Rather, neuroscience has been beneficial in a more subtle way, prompting algorithmic-level questions about aspects of animal learning and intelligence of interest to machine learning and offering preliminary leads toward relevant processes.
In the future, we hope that increased collaboration between neuroscience and machine learning, as well as the identification of a common language between the two fields will enable a virtuous circle in which research is accelerated through shared theoretical insights and common empirical advances.
We think that the pursuit of machine learning will eventually lead to a greater understanding of our own minds and mental processes. Distilling intelligence into an algorithmic construct and comparing it to the human brain may reveal insights into some of the mind's most profound and persistent mysteries, such as the source of creativity, dreams, and, possibly one day, consciousness. | https://www.e2enetworks.com/blog/a-shared-vision-for-machine-learning-in-neuroscience |
Authors: Salvador Durá-Bernal, Assistant Professor, State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University, and Research Scientist IV, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research; William W Lytton, Distinguished Professor, State University of New York.
Researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University presented the Phase 1 results of the NSF-funded Exploring Clouds for the Acceleration of Science (E-CAS) project to a scientific panel and the general public. This online presentation describes their efforts to decipher the brain’s neural code through large-scale detailed simulation of cortical circuits. To achieve this they developed novel methods and exploited state-of-the-art supercomputing technologies on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including running simulations on 100k cores simultaneously.
Unlocking the mysteries of the brain has become one of the major challenges for humanity in the 21st century. Understanding the brain’s neural code is likely to have a profound and transformative impact, as it would help to develop treatments for brain disorders — depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, amnesia, etc. — which the CDC estimates affect 1 out of 2 people. Potential treatments include targeted drugs and neurostimulation, as well as advancing brain-machine interfaces (BMI) to enable people with paralysis to control and feel using artificial limbs. Brain research would also help develop novel artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, such as the revolutionary deep learning algorithm, which were derived from the function of neurons in the visual cortex.
Despite the large amount of experimental data, understanding the brain is challenging due to its complex interactions across a wide range of scales: from molecules to cells to circuits to behavior. Large-scale biophysically-detailed brain simulations provide an unrivaled method to integrate these data and bridge the scales (Fig. 1). However, this approach requires vast computational resources to run thousands of virtual experiments, each simulating the electrical currents of thousands of neurons and millions of synapses in a brain circuit.
Phase 1 of the E-CAS project enabled us to develop enhanced cloud computing methodologies and workflows. With the GCP-Slurm integration we were able to run large parameter-space explorations using up to 100k simultaneous cores, optimize large networks using evolutionary algorithms, and run long-duration simulations over 10 days. Placement groups enabled faster, low-latency simulations across multiple nodes. GCP Kubernetes enabled auto-scaling multi-user clusters to host our modeling application.
These cloud resources and improved workflows resulted in increased research productivity and scientific advances. We extended our mouse motor cortex model to include two new cell types, reproduced in vivo experimental data, and performed virtual experiments providing insights into oscillatory dynamics, molecule-to-behavior links critical for understanding drug effects, neuronal avalanches and information flow (Fig. 2). These resources also enabled building a novel detailed model of macaque auditory thalamocortical circuits, and provided access to a widely-accessible cloud-based tool for brain circuit modeling to the scientific community (http://netpyne.org).
The presentation describing our achievements enabled by E-CAS during this last year is available. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (190444), the National Institutes of Health (U01EB017695, U24EB028998), and the New York State Department of Health (DOH01-C32250GG- 3450000).
Fig. 1: Web-based graphical interface of multiscale brain circuit modeling tool (NetPyNE). The tool is hosted on GCP and integrated with the Open Source Brain Platform (netpyne.opensourcebrain.org). It is free to access for all students researchers who can build, simulate and analyze brain circuit models online (www.netpyne.org). [1–4]
Fig. 2: Model reproduced oscillations and phase-amplitude coupling in cortical circuits. Experimental (A) and model (B) local field potential oscillations with delta and gamma frequencies showing phase-amplitude coupling. Phase-amplitude coupling modulation index demonstrating statistical validity across N=25 simulations (C). Experimental (D) and model (E) Spectrogram showing the power of delta and beta/gamma oscillations across time. [5–8]
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Related articles and blog posts: | https://internet2.edu/e-cas-researchers-study-the-brains-neural-code-by-simulating-cortical-circuits-on-100k-simultaneous-cores-using-google-cloud/ |
Northwestern Engineering is launching a new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program to develop leaders who can create powerful AI systems that integrate with workflows, business applications, and human interactions.
This unique 15-month, full-time program was developed in response to increased demand from industry for computer scientists who understand AI systems and the problems they can potentially solve.
The curriculum will focus on essential AI skills — machine learning, natural language understanding, and automated decision-making — but will also include coursework in the psychology of human interaction with intelligent systems, business and workflow needs, design thinking, and cognitive modeling.
“Companies and institutions need intelligent tools that go beyond simple analytics and allow users and researchers to interact with and explore their data,” said Kris Hammond, professor of computer science and director of the program. “Our program is unique in that students will leave with both technical skills and a high-level view of how to design and implement innovative applications using these technologies.”
“Northwestern Engineering’s strength in computer science and our connections with faculty across campus make this the ideal home for this innovative program,” said Julio M. Ottino, dean of Northwestern Engineering. “Students will need to be whole-brain thinkers — understanding not only how to develop these systems but how these technologies relate to humans and organizations as a whole. It is an exciting time for this field, and we are ready to educate the next generation of leaders.”
Artificial intelligence is widely seen as a major force in our future economy and workforce. The recent combination of big data, improved machine learning algorithms, and more powerful computers have led to advances in everything from self-driving cars to automated personal assistants on our cell phones. These technologies have the ability to disrupt nearly every field. According to a recent study from Accenture, AI could double annual economic growth rates by 2035, and AI technologies are projected to boost labor productivity by up to 40 percent by changing the way work is done.
Students in the program will be at the forefront of this revolution by gaining experience through internship opportunities at external companies or in full-time summer positions within Northwestern AI labs. In the final quarter, students will focus on capstone projects in conjunction with industry partners.
The program builds on Northwestern Engineering’s strengths in cognitive science and artificial intelligence research. Faculty include:
- Hammond and Larry Birnbaum, professors of computer science who co-founded Narrative Science, a company that uses artificial intelligence to extract the most important information from a data source and turn it into a narrative expressed in natural language.
- Ken Forbus, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science who conducts research in qualitative reasoning, analogical reasoning and learning, sketch understanding, natural language understanding, and cognitive architecture.
- Jennie Rogers, Lisa Wissner-Slivka and Benjamin Slivka Junior Professor in Computer Science who optimizes the performance of database workloads and conducts research in encoded storage for array databases.
- Doug Downey, associate professor of computer science whose research is focused on natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, with a particular interest in the automatic construction of useful knowledge bases from Web text.
- Bryan Pardo, associate professor of computer science who develops theoretical advances in artificial intelligence, signal processing, and interface design that enable the key technologies required to automatically find, label, and manipulate important structures in audio.
- Chris Riesbeck, associate professor of computer science who conducts research in agile software development and experiential knowledge-based language understanding and reasoning.
The program is also supported by other computer science faculty working in human-computer interaction, data analytics, and statistics, and by faculty whose research focuses on psychology, business management, and behavioral economics.
Applications will be accepted this fall and winter for fall 2018. Applicants should have a computer science degree and at least two years of professional experience. | https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2017/10/new-ms-in-artificial-intelligence-to-prepare-leaders-in-emerging-technology.html |
How far away are we from having dinner and a movie with our computers like in the plot of the 2013 Academy Award nominated Her?
Chris Manning of Stanford University discusses the future of computational linguistics; how his work and others could have “Siri” go from search engine to charming conversationalist using computational linguistics.
Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix in a poignant and eerie love story between man and machine explored a future wherein which computers demonstrated human-like mastery over language, allowing for us to fall into deeper, more life-like, relationships with them.
The computer in Her could laugh, ask meaningful questions, express fear, and understand sentiment.
Whereas, today, we are more used to our vocal pocket companions asking if we want directions or accidentally calling our in-laws.
But, what if Her is not as far off as we think?
Chris Manning, who was recently interviewed by the Stanford engineering press, has spent his life’s work dedicated to bridging the language gap between man and machine.
“My focus is on natural language processing, otherwise known as computational linguistics.
It’s getting computer systems to respond intelligently to textual material and human languages.”
Chris combines the worlds of linguistics, artificial intelligence, and computational thinking to create the nuances of language we all take for granted and bring it to life in computers.
“You could walk up to someone and say, ‘Good morning, how are you this morning?’ It’s perfectly correct, but no one says that.
They say, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ …you need the computer to understand the world… Every day, writers across the planet are writing about our world and how it all works.
We create computational models that assign mathematical values to words and groups of words and use them to successfully read text and derive meaning.”
With this myriad of computational thinking and linguistic study, Manning’s work illuminates everything enthralling about the future of artificial intelligence.
The plasticity of human language coupled with the complexity of its grammar and ability to convey intensely diverse emotions is the hallmark of our species.
An ability to at least attempt replication of this trait in a computer is a revolutionary step forward in how our relationship with technology will grow.
While, no, we won’t be getting the voice of robot Scarlett Johansson laughing at our jokes from our smartphone anytime soon, the field of computational linguistics is entering a new frontier.
As Manning states, the next step is finding a way to catalog the human linguistic experience into a database.
In order for language to be effective, you need context.
Jokes, metaphors, references, all need a context, that is how humans are able to laugh, cry, and smile.
We remember; we are able to connect symbols and verbal cues to create a bigger picture.
“The dream is a technology that builds (contextual databases) automatically by reading Wikipedia or online newspapers.”
Having an understanding of computational thinking opens the doors to untapped adventures into human and machine discoveries like these.
The world we know and will know is one part reality two parts code.
The study of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all about breaking down how the human mind works in a simple, applicable way. The potency this field offers for the future as a whole is remarkable with applications in nearly every aspect of our lives.
Your children can get a head start in understanding AI today. Computational Thinkers is offering Introduction to Artificial Intelligence; a course designed to break down the basics of how computers think. This course will not only give a leg up to students for future studies in coding or programming, but the concepts learned in AI apply to psychology, business, and gaming. Fun, simplified, and a powerhouse; this class is a unique opportunity to learn about the technology of today and tomorrow. | https://www.computationalthinkers.com/conversational-computations/ |
Basic studies of the biology and psychology of human vision, hearing and other senses (especially touch), to underpin design and implementation of human-computer interfaces. Studies of human vision can inform not only the design of displays but also new thinking in image and vision research; studies of hearing can inform the design of improved speech recognition systems; studies of touch can inform the design of haptic interfaces to virtual environments. For research to be considered by EPSRC, rather than other Research Councils, it is essential to link aims and objectives to the underpinning of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) design.
We aim to maintain the size of this research area as a proportion of the EPSRC portfolio. We will continue to support key capability, with the expectation that researchers will communicate and collaborate with other research areas to ensure impact in the ICT portfolio.
Researchers in this area have a role to play in: contributing to EPSRC's cross-ICT priorities (especially the Cross-Disciplinarity Co-Creation priority), in terms of shared identification and ownership of research challenges; and delivering the objectives of the Future Intelligent Technologies, People at the Heart of ICT, and Data Enabled Decision Making cross-ICT priorities.
We will maintain close internal and external communication about the remit of proposals at cross-Research Council boundaries, as this area crosses into the remit of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
The current portfolio in this interdisciplinary area contains ICT-relevant research into psychological and biological aspects of human vision, as well as the psychophysics of human hearing and touch (haptics). Psychology research in general is considered to be very strong in the UK, with face perception a leading area, and a thriving community includes a number of leading researchers (Evidence source 1,2). The UK is strongly represented at international conferences (particularly associated with vision science).
To have impact, research in this area needs to work across boundaries between disciplines. Funding for researchers has been maintained and is mostly concentrated in a small group of institutions, with the remainder spread across a wider number of universities (Evidence source 3).
Vision, Hearing and Other Senses research has the potential to be transformative, particularly where it interfaces with Artificial Intelligence Technologies and with Image and Vision Computing, and where ideas from biological literature have potential to shape new thinking and insights in the sphere of image and vision research.
This is an important area for advances in robotics and autonomous systems. It contributes to scene understanding in robot vision (together with Artificial Intelligence Technologies, and Image and Vision Computing). It also contributes to better understanding of the effective design of haptic interfaces for robotics, and the design of haptic interfaces for virtual environments (Evidence source 4).
Visual perception studies are key to informing the design of video representations for transmission, search and retrieval of information, and in the design of other ways that information can be presented visually.
The area is important to Healthcare Technologies with respect to the development of assistive technologies for hearing and vision (Evidence source 3,4).
This research area should contribute to development of smart tools and intelligent technologies that will turn data flows into physical action. This will include developing interfaces for communicating between these intelligent systems and the people using them.
This area should develop new inclusive methods for interaction with ever-more ubiquitous and pervasive ICT systems.
This area should develop augmented reality for surgical training, image-guided surgical interventions and real-time sensory feedback.
ESRC, the British Psychological Society, the Association of Heads of Psychology Departments and the Experimental Psychology Society, International Benchmarking Review of UK Psychology (PDF), (2010). | https://epsrc.ukri.org/research/ourportfolio/researchareas/senses/ |
The buzz around Artificial Intelligence (AI) can’t seem to stop these days. But increased interest comes with increased uncertainty. How will AI affect our lives and societies? How can it be used to stay ahead, in business and other domains? What can it do?
To cut through the marketing hype and answer these questions, one must start by understanding what AI is. The field of AI is not new. It emerged in the 1950s as a multi-disciplinary endeavor to try to represent and replicate human intelligence using computers. It involved not only computer science (the ‘Artificial’ in AI), but also cognitive science, linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience (the ‘Intelligence’ in AI). In the decades that followed, AI went through cycles of booms and busts (‘AI winters’), due to (too) high expectations about AI’s potential that inevitably led to disappointments when the potential did not materialize.
Today, AI is used as an umbrella term to refer to all sorts of computational methods that allow machines to perform specific tasks automatically. However, 99% of research and efforts fueling the current AI boom are concentrated in a sub-field known as Machine Learning (ML). ML started to blossom in the late 1990s thanks to the increased availability of digital data, better micro-processors, and new algorithms that allowed computers to process vast amounts of data quickly to identify patterns. | https://www.austintechnologycouncil.org/new-member-highlight-big-experts-on-artificial-intelligence-myths-vs-realities/ |
Artificial Intelligence for Drug Development, Precision Medicine, and Healthcare covers exciting developments at the intersection of computer science and statistics. While much of machine-learning is statistics-based, achievements in deep learning for image and language processing rely on computer science’s use of big data. Aimed at those with a statistical background who want to use their strengths in pursuing AI research, the book: · Covers broad AI topics in drug development, precision medicine, and healthcare. · Elaborates on supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement, and evolutionary learning methods. · Introduces the similarity principle and related AI methods for both big and small data problems. · Offers a balance of statistical and algorithm-based approaches to AI. · Provides examples and real-world applications with hands-on R code. · Suggests the path forward for AI in medicine and artificial general intelligence. As well as covering the history of AI and the innovative ideas, methodologies and software implementation of the field, the book offers a comprehensive review of AI applications in medical sciences. In addition, readers will benefit from hands on exercises, with included R code.
|Author||: Debmalya Barh|
|Publisher||: Academic Press|
|Release Date||: 2020-03-04|
|ISBN 10||: 0128173386|
|Pages||: 544 pages|
Artificial Intelligence in Precision Health: From Concept to Applications provides a readily available resource to understand artificial intelligence and its real time applications in precision medicine in practice. Written by experts from different countries and with diverse background, the content encompasses accessible knowledge easily understandable for non-specialists in computer sciences. The book discusses topics such as cognitive computing and emotional intelligence, big data analysis, clinical decision support systems, deep learning, personal omics, digital health, predictive models, prediction of epidemics, drug discovery, precision nutrition and fitness. Additionally, there is a section dedicated to discuss and analyze AI products related to precision healthcare already available. This book is a valuable source for clinicians, healthcare workers, and researchers from diverse areas of biomedical field who may or may not have computational background and want to learn more about the innovative field of artificial intelligence for precision health. Provides computational approaches used in artificial intelligence easily understandable for non-computer specialists Gives know-how and real successful cases of artificial intelligence approaches in predictive models, modeling disease physiology, and public health surveillance Discusses the applicability of AI on multiple areas, such as drug discovery, clinical trials, radiology, surgery, patient care and clinical decision support
|Author||: Michael Mahler|
|Publisher||: Academic Press|
|Release Date||: 2021-04-01|
|ISBN 10||: 032385432X|
|Pages||: 300 pages|
Precision Medicine and Artificial Intelligence: The Perfect Fit for Autoimmunity covers background on AI, its link to PM, and examples of AI in healthcare, especially autoimmunity. The book highlights future perspectives and potential directions as artificial intelligence (AI) has gained significant attention in the past decade. Autoimmune diseases are complex and heterogeneous conditions, but exciting new developments and implementation tactics surrounding automated systems has enabled the generation of large amounts of data, making autoimmunity an ideal target for AI in the field of Precision Medicine (PM). More and more diagnostic products utilize AI, which is also starting to be supported by regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Knowledge generation by leveraging large data sets including demographic, environmental, clinical and biomarker data has the potential to not only impact the diagnosis of patients, but also disease prediction, prognosis and treatment options. Allows the readers to get a good overview of the field of Precision Medicine for autoimmune diseases and Artificial Intelligence Provides background, milestone and examples of precision medicine for autoimmune disease and artificial intelligence Proves the paradigm shift towards precision medicine driven by value-based systems Discusses future applications of precision medicine research using artificial intelligence
|Author||: Yong-Ku Kim|
|Publisher||: Springer Nature|
|Release Date||: 2019-11-09|
|ISBN 10||: 9813297212|
|Pages||: 641 pages|
This book reviews key recent advances and new frontiers within psychiatric research and clinical practice. These advances either represent or are enabling paradigm shifts in the discipline and are influencing how we observe, derive and test hypotheses, and intervene. Progress in information technology is allowing the collection of scattered, fragmented data and the discovery of hidden meanings from stored data, and the impacts on psychiatry are fully explored. Detailed attention is also paid to the applications of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science technology in psychiatry and to their role in the development of new hypotheses, which in turn promise to lead to new discoveries and treatments. Emerging research methods for precision medicine are discussed, as are a variety of novel theoretical frameworks for research, such as theoretical psychiatry, the developmental approach to the definition of psychopathology, and the theory of constructed emotion. The concluding section considers novel interventions and treatment avenues, including psychobiotics, the use of neuromodulation to augment cognitive control of emotion, and the role of the telomere-telomerase system in psychopharmacological interventions.
|Author||: Daniel D. Von Hoff,Haiyong Han|
|Publisher||: Springer|
|Release Date||: 2019-06-17|
|ISBN 10||: 3030163911|
|Pages||: 283 pages|
This book presents the latest advances in precision medicine in some of the most common cancer types, including hematological, lung and breast malignancies. It also discusses emerging technologies that are making a significant impact on precision medicine in cancer therapy. In addition to describing specific approaches that have already entered clinical practice, the book explores new concepts and tools that are being developed. Precision medicine aims to deliver personalized healthcare tailored to a patient’s genetics, lifestyle and environment, and cancer therapy is one of the areas in which it has flourished in recent years. Documenting the latest advances, this book is of interest to physicians and clinical fellows in the front line of the war on cancer, as well as to basic scientists working in the fields of cancer biology, drug development, biomarker discovery, and biomedical engineering. The contributing authors include translational physicians with first-hand experience in precision patient care.
|Author||: Joel Faintuch,Salomao Faintuch|
|Publisher||: Academic Press|
|Release Date||: 2019-11-16|
|ISBN 10||: 0128191791|
|Pages||: 640 pages|
Precision Medicine for Investigators, Practitioners and Providers addresses the needs of investigators by covering the topic as an umbrella concept, from new drug trials to wearable diagnostic devices, and from pediatrics to psychiatry in a manner that is up-to-date and authoritative. Sections include broad coverage of concerning disease groups and ancillary information about techniques, resources and consequences. Moreover, each chapter follows a structured blueprint, so that multiple, essential items are not overlooked. Instead of simply concentrating on a limited number of extensive and pedantic coverages, scholarly diagrams are also included. Provides a three-pronged approach to precision medicine that is focused on investigators, practitioners and healthcare providers Covers disease groups and ancillary information about techniques, resources and consequences Follows a structured blueprint, ensuring essential chapters items are not overlooked
|Author||: Gabriella Pravettoni,Stefano Triberti|
|Publisher||: Springer Nature|
|Release Date||: 2019-11-29|
|ISBN 10||: 3030279944|
|Pages||: 189 pages|
This open access volume focuses on the development of a P5 eHealth, or better, a methodological resource for developing the health technologies of the future, based on patients’ personal characteristics and needs as the fundamental guidelines for design. It provides practical guidelines and evidence based examples on how to design, implement, use and elevate new technologies for healthcare to support the management of incurable, chronic conditions. The volume further discusses the criticalities of eHealth, why it is difficult to employ eHealth from an organizational point of view or why patients do not always accept the technology, and how eHealth interventions can be improved in the future. By dealing with the state-of-the-art in eHealth technologies, this volume is of great interest to researchers in the field of physical and mental healthcare, psychologists, stakeholders and policymakers as well as technology developers working in the healthcare sector.
|Author||: Arash Shaban-Nejad,Martin Michalowski|
|Publisher||: Springer|
|Release Date||: 2019-08-01|
|ISBN 10||: 3030244091|
|Pages||: 197 pages|
This book highlights the latest advances in the application of artificial intelligence to healthcare and medicine. It gathers selected papers presented at the 2019 Health Intelligence workshop, which was jointly held with the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) annual conference, and presents an overview of the central issues, challenges, and potential opportunities in the field, along with new research results. By addressing a wide range of practical applications, the book makes the emerging topics of digital health and precision medicine accessible to a broad readership. Further, it offers an essential source of information for scientists, researchers, students, industry professionals, national and international public health agencies, and NGOs interested in the theory and practice of digital and precision medicine and health, with an emphasis on risk factors in connection with disease prevention, diagnosis, and intervention.
|Author||: Lei Xing,Maryellen L. Giger,James K Min|
|Publisher||: Academic Press|
|Release Date||: 2020-09-16|
|ISBN 10||: 0128212586|
|Pages||: 568 pages|
Artificial Intelligence Medicine: Technical Basis and Clinical Applications presents a comprehensive overview of the field, ranging from its history and technical foundations, to specific clinical applications and finally to prospects. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expanding across all domains at a breakneck speed. Medicine, with the availability of large multidimensional datasets, lends itself to strong potential advancement with the appropriate harnessing of AI. The integration of AI can occur throughout the continuum of medicine: from basic laboratory discovery to clinical application and healthcare delivery. Integrating AI within medicine has been met with both excitement and scepticism. By understanding how AI works, and developing an appreciation for both limitations and strengths, clinicians can harness its computational power to streamline workflow and improve patient care. It also provides the opportunity to improve upon research methodologies beyond what is currently available using traditional statistical approaches. On the other hand, computers scientists and data analysts can provide solutions, but often lack easy access to clinical insight that may help focus their efforts. This book provides vital background knowledge to help bring these two groups together, and to engage in more streamlined dialogue to yield productive collaborative solutions in the field of medicine. Provides history and overview of artificial intelligence, as narrated by pioneers in the field Discusses broad and deep background and updates on recent advances in both medicine and artificial intelligence that enabled the application of artificial intelligence Addresses the ever-expanding application of this novel technology and discusses some of the unique challenges associated with such an approach
|Author||: Jan Trøst Jørgensen|
|Publisher||: Academic Press|
|Release Date||: 2019-05-08|
|ISBN 10||: 0128135409|
|Pages||: 508 pages|
Companion and Complementary Diagnostics: From Biomarker Discovery to Clinical Implementation provides readers with in-depth insights into the individual steps in the development of companion diagnostic assays, from the early biomarker discovery phase straight through to final regulatory approval. Further, the clinical implementation of companion diagnostic testing in the clinic is also discussed. As the development of predictive or selective biomarker assays linked to specific drugs is substantially increasing, this book offers comprehensive information on this quickly-evolving area of biomedicine. It is an essential resource for those in academic institutions, hospitals and pharma, and biotech and diagnostic commercial companies. Covers all aspects, from biomarker discovery, to development and regulatory approval Explains the "how to" aspects of companion diagnostics Incorporates information on the entire process, allowing for easier and deeper understanding of the topic
|Author||: Eric Topol|
|Publisher||: Basic Books|
|Release Date||: 2019-03-12|
|ISBN 10||: 1541644646|
|Pages||: 400 pages|
One of America's top doctors reveals how AI will empower physicians and revolutionize patient care Medicine has become inhuman, to disastrous effect. The doctor-patient relationship--the heart of medicine--is broken: doctors are too distracted and overwhelmed to truly connect with their patients, and medical errors and misdiagnoses abound. In Deep Medicine, leading physician Eric Topol reveals how artificial intelligence can help. AI has the potential to transform everything doctors do, from notetaking and medical scans to diagnosis and treatment, greatly cutting down the cost of medicine and reducing human mortality. By freeing physicians from the tasks that interfere with human connection, AI will create space for the real healing that takes place between a doctor who can listen and a patient who needs to be heard. Innovative, provocative, and hopeful, Deep Medicine shows us how the awesome power of AI can make medicine better, for all the humans involved.
|Author||: Bulent Aydogan,James A. Radosevich|
|Publisher||: John Wiley & Sons|
|Release Date||: 2020-09-23|
|ISBN 10||: 1119432448|
|Pages||: 288 pages|
A FRESH EXAMINATION OF PRECISION MEDICINE'S INCREASINGLY PROMINENT ROLE IN THE FIELD OF ONCOLOGY Precision medicine takes into account each patient's specific characteristics and requirements to arrive at treatment plans that are optimized towards the best possible outcome. As the field of oncology continues to advance, this tailored approach is becoming more and more prevalent, channelling data on genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other areas into new and innovative methods of practice. Precision Medicine in Oncology draws together the essential research driving the field forward, providing oncology clinicians and trainees alike with an illuminating overview of the technology and thinking behind the breakthroughs currently being made. Topics covered include: Biologically-guided radiation therapy Informatics for precision medicine Molecular imaging Biomarkers for treatment assessment Big data Nanoplatforms Casting a spotlight on this emerging knowledge base and its impact upon the management of tumors, Precision Medicine in Oncology opens up new possibilities and ways of working – not only for oncologists, but also for molecular biologists, radiologists, medical geneticists, and others. | https://www.skinvaders.com/data/precision-medicine-and-artificial-intelligence/ |
Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Cognitive Computing, and Machine Learning are all buzzwords applied to cybersecurity. But what do they actually mean? Are marketing departments simply re-using cognitive science terms to create attention-grabbing phrases for cybersecurity, or is there actually something deeper happening?
Terms from cognitive science are not arbitrary labels applied to cybersecurity. Historically, the relationship between computing and cognition emerged as early as the 1950s during the cognitive revolution when behavioral-based psychological science embraced the mind and its processes. Today, cognitive science is an expanding interdisciplinary domain that overlaps with nearly every aspect of cybersecurity.
To understand the overlap, take a few moments to think about thinking. What does it take to think, or to learn? Does it simply depend on a biological process that each person experiences in isolation? Is it dependent on language, relationships, experiences, or personality?
What we find when considering the complex biological and environmental influences on cognition, is that the field of cognitive science must merge and balance insights from multiple disciplines. Similarly, effective cybersecurity requires multiple sources and types of information to build an understanding of technology systems and vulnerabilities. When challenged with a task of protecting and understanding a large and increasingly distributed system, a single indicator from a single discipline is not adequate.
Let’s explore some basic definitions of cognitive science disciplines, and how they impact both cognitive science and cybersecurity.
Psychology addresses internal and external human experiences both as individuals and in groups. For cybersecurity, principles of psychology allow us to understand why people are susceptible to threats such as phishing and social engineering, and how systems are impacted by human error.
Application to Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity’s emerging focus on behavioral analytics and biometrics also depend on psychology, which is heavily rooted in measuring and making sense of human behavior. Understanding human psychology is critical for forensic investigations, for constructing insider threat profiles, and to establish when to generate alerts to help with user education.
Philosophy is a critical exploration of reality and knowledge that can guide human belief systems about existence, learning, social systems, and ethics. How we perceive the world—and what we believe about the world—profoundly impacts our thought processes, our ability to learn, and our behaviors.
Application to Cybersecurity: Understanding threats, use of data and surveillance, and even the existence and locations of adversaries, are all philosophical problems in the field of cybersecurity.
Linguistics is the scientific exploration of language. Cognitive linguistics (circa 1970) is directly linked to cognitive science, and addresses topics associated with how language shapes thought and understanding.
Application to Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity often depends on language, and understanding behavioral context through language. For example, classification of documents and understanding where private data exists on a network can be supported through text mining and text analytics. In addition, the text generated by users can identify risk factors or regulatory violations.
Anthropology is the exploration of humanity, typically through a cultural or evolutionary lens. Its relevance to cognitive science is in how humans build shared knowledge, engage in interpreting their environments, and how knowledge shapes the way humans relate to, and act within, the world.
Application to Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity, and online social interactions, represent the cutting edge of anthropological work. As recent news cycles suggest, our opinions, behaviors, and understanding of global events are heavily shaped by our interactions with technology. Cybersecurity professionals, particularly in social media domains, can better understand the behavior of trolls and bots through cultural and cognitive anthropology.
Artificial Intelligence is machine and/or computer simulation of human intelligence. Its goal is to create increasingly autonomous learning and reasoning through a range of strategies including speech recognition, natural language processing (see linguistics), and machine vision. Applications of AI may be specific (e.g., built to support a well-defined or specific need) or broad (e.g., built to cope with less familiar, unstructured situations or topics with little human intervention).
Application to Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity professionals and strategists are continuously grappling with how, when, and whether it’s safe to use AI. For a deeper look at this subject, you can download the presentation slides from our VP of Research and Intelligence, Raffael Marty's, talk on AI and Machine Learning at Black Hat 2018.
Neuroscience, more specifically cognitive neuroscience, examines the biology of thinking and cognition. It provides a deep understanding of neurons, neural circuits, and the parts of the brain that allow us to perform mental processes.
Application to Cybersecurity: In cybersecurity, neuroscience has profoundly impacted information processing, network design, computational modeling, and sensor development—and continues to inspire innovations in building tools to improve knowledge representation and reasoning in technology.
We hope this post revealed the connections between cognitive science and cybersecurity, and provided insight into our multidisciplinary efforts to provide the best human-centric cybersecurity solutions. When reading through, we also hope you recognized how many of these factors impact your daily life. Hey Siri, what comes next for cybersecurity?
Dr. Margaret Cunningham is a Principal Research Scientist for Human Behavior in Forcepoint’s Innovation Lab. | https://www.forcepoint.com/blog/insights/beyond-buzzwords-what-cognitive-science-means-cybersecurity |
I have successfully finished my PhD thesis and am now with the TriCAT GmbH in Ulm. Before I finished my PhD, I was employed as a developer, researcher and lecturer at the laboratory for Human Centered Multimedia, located at the Augsburg University in Germany from 2010 until 2018. Before I went to Augsburg I was employed as a research associate at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). I received a Bachelor degree in computer science with a specialization in computer graphics and software engineering from the Saarland University and a Honor's Degree as Master of computer science with the specialization in artificial intelligence at the DFKI and the Saarland University.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research interests lie in the exploration and application of formal methods from artificial intelligence as well as models from cognitive sciences for the development of intelligent systems. My main research area is the development of intelligent multi-modal user interfaces for human computer interaction and the modeling of natural behavior and dialog for embodied conversational agents and social collaborative robots in interactive applications used for entertainment, training, health-care, elder-care and education.
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
SUPERVISED THESES
Some theses of M.Sc and B.Sc students that I have been supervising or co-supervising or that I have been involved in as an advisor or consultant:
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Research projects that I have been involved in as researcher or advisor:
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EmpaT: Empathische Trainingsbegleiter für den Bewerbungsprozess.
EmpaT is a BMBF founded research project, in which we develop an empathic virtual character for a training system that is supposed to help the users to practice their social skills for real job interview situations in order to be able to better analyze and rate their behavior and performance in such stressful situations.
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KRISTINA: A Knowledge-Based Information Agent with Social Competence and Human Interaction Capabilities.
Kristina is an EU funded research project, which aims at researching and developing technologies for a human-like socially competent and communicative agent that is run on mobile communication devices and that serves for migrants with language and cultural barriers in the host country.
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TARDIS: Training Young Adult's Regulation of Emotions and Development of Social Interaction Skills.
TARDIS was an EU funded research project, in which we developed a virtual character that plays the role of an interactive virtual job recruiter that helps young unemployed or uneducated people to practice their socio-emotional skills and stress management in simulated job interviews.
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DynaLearn: Engaging and Informed Tools for Learning Conceptual System Knowledge.
DynaLearn was an EU funded research project, in which we created an interactive learning environment for conceptual modeling and provided a full set of animated virtual characters that not only supported the users in meaning of help agents, but that also reflected the user's knowledge.
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eCute: Technology Enhanced Education in Cultural Understanding.
eCUTE was an EU funded research project, in which we aimed at improving the understanding between different cultural, ethnic and religious groups by developing several cultural virtual learning environments for late-primary children and young adults based on virtual dramas using synthetic characters with culturally-specific interaction behavior.
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IRIS: Integrating Research in Interactive Digital Storytelling.
IRIS aimed at creating a virtual center of excellence that would be able to achieve breakthroughs in the understanding of interactive digital storytelling and the development of corresponding technologies. A major endeavor was to develop new media which could offer a radically new user experience, with a potential to revolutionize digital entertainment.
SOFTWARE PROJECTS
Software projects that I have been involved in as developer or advisor:
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VisualSceneMaker³: The VSM framework is an authoring and modeling tool for creating interactive presentations aimed to non-programming experts. It supports the modeling of verbal and non-verbal behavior of Virtual Characters and robots. Therefore, it provides users with a graphical interface and a simple scripting language that allows them to create rich and compelling content.
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The SSI Framework: The SSI framework offers tools to record, analyze and recognize human behavior in real-time, such as gestures, mimics, head nods, and emotional speech. In particularly SSI supports the machine learning pipeline in its full length and offers a graphical interface that assists a user to collect own training corpora and obtain personalized models. I have contributed to the SSI framework by implementing a plug-in that integrates the SMI eye-tracking glasses into SSI and is able to compute probability distributions for the user's fixated objects which are recognized using the ARTK toolkit.
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Horde3D Game Engine: The H3D game engine is based on the Horde3D graphics engine which offers stunning visual effects expected in next-generation games. At the same time it is as lightweight and conceptually clean as possible.
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Advanced Agent Animation: Advanced Agent Animation (AAA) is a component of the Horde3D GameEngine which is based on the Horde3D rendering engine. It is designed for creating virtual environments and scenarios in which it is essential to simulate social interactions with multiple virtual characters. The application interface of AAA provides extended support for manipulating and customizing the autonomous behavior of virtual characters and managing social interactions among them. Each agent in the scene is able to perform , Text-To-Speach, gestures, postures, gaze behaviors, movements as well as different kinds of positioning and orientation in multi-agent conversations.
REVIEW ACTIVITIES
Conferences and journals for which I have been reviewer or member of the PC: | https://www.informatik.uni-augsburg.de/lehrstuehle/hcm/staff/_formerstaff/mehlmann/ |
Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are providing insights into new territories on a daily basis. Analytics Insight brought this interesting topic to our attention in their article, “Artificial Intelligence Might Soon Tell you How Adam and Eve Lived.”
Researchers are using these technologies to improve results as they uncover evidence for historical theories, such as those from the Greek gods and biblical characters.
Identifying patterns in past events has long been hindered by the labor-intensive process of inputting data from artifacts and handwritten records. While most of the talk surrounding AI has focused on how it will affect the human workforce, it can’t be denied that it’s found some very promising applications in areas like archaeology. AI’s ability to analyze large amounts of data in a short amount of time and uncover hidden patterns is very useful here.
Understanding the technology is key. Data Harmony is Access Innovations’ AI suite of tools that leverage explainable AI for efficient, innovative and precise semantic discovery of new and emerging concepts to help find the information you need when you need it.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the intelligence and the technology behind world-class explainable AI solutions. | https://taxodiary.com/2022/05/using-emerging-tech-in-archaeology/ |
If you play MIR4 on PC, then you need this guide.
Install / Run FAQ
What are the minimum requirements for mobile devices?
- The minimum requirements to play MIR4 are shown at this guide.
Can I use a guest account?
- You can use a guest account to play MIR4.
But there is a risk of losing the account if you don’t link it, and we do not provide recovery support for lost guest accounts.
When using a guest account, please keep in mind that you can resume the game from where you left off by obtaining a Transfer Code.
How to obtain a Transfer Code:
- Go to Menu > System in the game
- Account > Link Account
- Transfer Data > Copy Transfer Code
- Transfer Data > Set Password
After copying the transfer code, make sure to save it in a Notepad file or other means. We are unable to help you if you lose your transfer code or password.
As using a guest account and Transfer Data feature can be inconvenient, we urge you to link your account to play the game if possible.
When I try to download from the Google Play Store, I get a message that says “Your device is not compatible with this version.”
- The game cannot be installed if your device doesn’t meet the minimum requirements.
I get a message that says “A patch error has occurred. Exiting the game. Make sure that your disk has enough space available.” and the update doesn’t continue.
- This issue occurs when you don’t have enough space available on your device.
- Secure enough space and try the update again.
MIR4 shuts down with a message that says “Unauthorized access detected.”
- This message is displayed when your device is installed with a macro app that supports auto tap.
- Uninstall the app and launch MIR4 again.
I can’t log into MIR4.
- If a network error occurs while playing MIR4 , check the reception status of your device.
- As unstable network conditions can impair your connection, play the game at a place with good reception.
It says launch MIR4 and update at the store, but it won’t update at the store.
- Please follow the instructions below and carry out the update.
How to resolve the Google Play Store (AOS) update problem
- Tap [Settings] > [Apps] > [Google Play Store]
- Delete updates, cache, and data
- After rebooting the device, open Google Play Store and select [Agree] on the pop-up
- Reinstall MIR4
Deleting game cache/data and reinstalling the game wipes out all in-game data of guest accounts. Ensure that your account is linked before carrying out these steps.
How to resolve the App Store (iOS) update problem
- Tap [AppStore] > [Update]
- Drag the Update Category screen down to refresh the update list
Constant crashes, freezes, and lags are making MIR4 unplayable.
Please check below if you are not enjoying a smooth MIR4 experience.
Close all running apps to secure sufficient memory space.
- Go to Task Manager → Close all running apps
Check your network status.
- If you are in a crowded place or an enclosed area, connection to the server may not be stable depending on the network conditions.
- Using Wi-Fi or hotspots shared by many others may cause the connection to be unstable.
Check the graphics settings for MIR4.
- Tap [Menu] > [System] > [Settings] > [Graphics] and change the options to suit your device.
How many skills can I assign?
- There are 2 skill slots and you can assign up to 6 skills per slot.
- To see the second slot, drag the skill slot left or right.
How do I check the OS information?
OS information differs for each device. Please see below for more details.
Checking on Android (Galaxy, LG etc.)
- After tapping the phone’s [Settings], tap [About phone].
- Tap [Software information] and check the Android version.
Checking on iOS (iPhone, iPad)
- After tapping the phone’s [Settings], tap [General].
- Tap [Information] and check the version.
I’m not able to enter a character name.
Please change the keyboard setting to ‘default setting’ on your device If you are not able to enter Character name.
- You are able to play MIR4 smoothly only from Mobile/PC(Windows)/Steam.
- You may not able to play the game normally using by App Player. | https://gameplay.tips/guides/mir4-install-run-faq-for-mobile-users.html |
- How Do People Make Moral Medical Decisions?
- Existential Philosophy and Psychotherapy Ethics
- Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Resources for an Ethics of Psychotherapeutic Care
- Free Will, Responsibility, and Blame in Psychotherapy
- Dignity in Psychotherapy
- The Ethics of Informed Consent for Psychotherapy
- Ethics of the Psychotherapeutic Alliance, Shared Decision Making and Consensus on Therapy Goals
- Evidence, Science, and Ethics in Talk-Based Healing Practices
- Patient Information on Evidence and Clinical Effectiveness of Psychotherapy
- Ethical Dimensions of Psychotherapy Side Effects
- Privacy and Confidentiality in Psychotherapy: Conceptual Background and Ethical Considerations in the Light of Clinical Challenges
- Ethics Considerations in Selecting Psychotherapy Modalities and Formats
- Dual and Multiple Relationships in Psychotherapy
- Psychotherapist Self-Disclosure
- The Ethics of Placebo and Nocebo in Psychotherapy
- The Business of Psychotherapy in Private Practice
- Mental Health Care Funding Systems and their Impact on Access to Psychotherapy
- Psychotherapeutic Futility
- The Moral Significance of Recovery
- Social Media Ethics for the Professional Psychotherapist
- Relationship between Religion, Spirituality, and Psychotherapy: An Ethical Perspective
- Ethics and Expert Authority in the Patient–Psychotherapist Relationship
- Ethical Issues in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Ethical Processes in Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- Ethical Issues in Systemic Psychotherapy
- Ethical Issues in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy
- Ethical Considerations in Emotion-Focused Therapy
- Ethical Considerations on Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapeutic Interventions
- Psychotherapy Integration as an Ethical Practice
- Identifying and Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Group Psychotherapy
- Ethics in Couple and Family Psychotherapy
- Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents
- Ethical Aspects of Online Psychotherapy
- The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Psychotherapy
- Psychotherapy in Old Age: Ethical Issues
- Ethical Considerations of Court-Ordered Outpatient Therapy
- Ethical Issues in the Psychotherapy of High Risk Offenders
- Common Ethical Issues Associated with Psychotherapy in Rural Areas
- Beyond the Office Walls: Ethical Challenges of Home Treatment, and Other Out-of-Office Therapies
- Ethical Issues in Psychotherapy of Other Therapists: Description, Considerations, and Ways of Coping
- Ethics of Psychotherapeutic Interventions in Palliative Care
- <b>Ethical Psychotherapeutic Management of Patients with Medically Unexplained Symptoms: The Risk of Misdiagnosis and Harm</b>
- Psychotherapy in a Multicultural Society
- Conducting Psychotherapy through a Foreign Language Interpreter: Ethical Dilemmas
- Ethics of Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy
- “Even Therapists Need Therapists”: Ethical Issues in Working with LGBTQ+ Clients
- Intersectionality and Psychotherapy with an Eye to Clinical and Professional Ethics
- The Ethics of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Population-Level Perspective
- Virtue Ethics and the Multicultural Clinic
- Toward an Evidence-based Standard of Professional Competence
- Ethical Importance of Psychotherapists’ Self-Care and When It Fails
- The Metaethics of Psychotherapy Codes of Ethics and Conduct
- Professional Conduct and Handling Misconduct in Psychotherapy: Ethical Practice between Boundaries, Relationships, and Reality
- Dealing with Moral Dilemmas in Psychotherapy: The Relevance of Moral Case Deliberation
- Psychotherapy Ethics in Film
- Psychotherapy Ethics in Twentieth-Century Literature
- Ethical Issues in Psychotherapy Research
Abstract and Keywords
Ethical issues arising in the practice of psychotherapy, such as confidentiality, boundaries in the therapeutic relationship, and informed consent, figure prominently in a range of twentieth-century literary texts that portray psychotherapy. This chapter analyzes the portrayal of these conflicts, but also stresses that they are often marginal to the overall plot structures of these narratives and that literary depictions of psychotherapy are often vague or even inaccurate concerning key characteristics of psychotherapeutic practice. Focusing on examples that either illustrate professionalism and the absence of ethical challenges in psychotherapy, or take up the ethical reservations that fueled anti-Freudianism or the anti-psychiatry movement, the chapter proposes that selected literary depictions of psychotherapy can play a key role in sensitizing therapists to the complex make-up of ethical dilemmas as well as illustrating the cultural and historical contexts of these dilemmas.
Keywords: psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, ethics, literature, ethical dilemma
Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich
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- Why Ethics Matter in Psychotherapy
- A Brief Moral History of Psychotherapy
- What Do Psychotherapists Need to Know about Ethics? Lessons from the History of Professional Ethics
- The History and Ethics of the Therapeutic Relationship
- Autonomy as a Goal of Psychotherapy
- Patient Protection and Paternalism in Psychotherapy
- Empathy, Honesty, and Integrity in the Therapist: A Person-Centered Perspective
- Fairness, Justice, and Economical Thinking in Psychotherapy
- Ethics of Care Approaches in Psychotherapy
- Legitimate and Illegitimate Imposition of Therapists’ Values on Patients
- Virtue Ethics in Psychotherapy
- How Do People Make Moral Medical Decisions? | https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198817338.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198817338-e-88 |
This CME course in child and adolescent psychiatry is extremely thorough, covering all topics included in the ABPN certification and maintenance of certification exams. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Board Review includes research and updates related to assessment strategies and prescription practices to help you better:
- Integrate the latest advances with standard therapies like psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, supportive, and interpersonal therapy
- Apply best practices for evaluation and treatment, both psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic
- Understand an array of mental health issues in children and adolescents
- Discuss current trends and controversies in diagnosis and treatment
- Detailed explanations with every question
- Answer practice questions from anywhere, anytime
- Section dedicated to the exam questions most relevant to the boards for quick review
Topics Covered by the Child Psychiatry Board Review Questions:
- Adjustment disorders
- Anxiety disorders
- Clinical Science
- Development
- Developmental Disorders
- Disorder due to environmental exposure
- Disruptive behavioral disorders
- Eating disorders
- Elimination disorders
- Mood disorders
- Movement disorders
- Other disorders
- Personality disorders
- Psychotic disorders
- Reactive attachment disorders
- Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders
- Somatoform Disorders
- Substance use disorders
A Comprehensive Review of Geriatric Psychiatry
This CME course provides a wide-ranging review of geriatric psychiatry. It reviews best practice guidelines for the management of psychiatric disorders typically found in the geriatric population. The Comprehensive Review of Geriatric Psychiatry course includes case-based lectures on topics such as schizophrenia spectrum, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, sexual dysfunction and sleep-wake disorders, ethical and legal issues in geriatric psychiatry, movement disorders, etc.
It will help you to:
- Apply evidence-based approaches to care for older adults with psychiatric disorders
- Update your knowledge on psychopathology, diagnostic workups and treatments for specific psychiatric diseases
- Implement guidelines into daily practice
- Prepare for ABPN certification and recertification subspecialty examinations in geriatric psychiatry
Topics covered
Psychiatric Background: Psychological Development *** Classification Systems *** Psychiatric Examination *** Psychological Testing *** Epidemiology & Genetics
Psychiatric Disorders: Schizophrenia *** Mood Disorders *** Organic mental syndromes *** Anxiety Disorders *** Somatoform Disorders *** Dissociative Disorders *** Personality Disorders *** Sexual Dysfunction *** Sleep Disorders *** Eating Disorders *** Alcohol Abuse *** Substance Abuse
Psychiatric Treatment: Brief Psychotherapy *** Group and Family Therapy *** Behavioral Therapy *** Cognitive Therapy *** Psychopharmacology
Neurosciences: Neuroanatomy *** Neuropharmacology ***Electroencephalography *** Neuroendocrinology ***Neurophysiology *** Neuroimaging
Anatomic Neurology: Neurological Examination *** Central Nervous Disorders *** Psychogenic Disorders *** Cranial and Peripheral Nerves *** Muscular Disorders
Neurologic Symptoms: Dementia, Delirium and Coma *** Aphasia, Apraxia and Agnosia ***Multiple Sclerosis *** Cerebrovascular Disease *** Visual Disturbances *** Neurologic Aspects of Pain *** Movement Disorders *** Headaches and Seizures *** Brain Tumors and Trauma
Specialty Psychiatry: Child Psychiatry *** Adolescent Psychiatry *** Geriatric Psychiatry *** Forensic psychiatry *** Psychiatric Consultation
Practical Reviews is just that—practical, expert reviews of the most relevant articles from leading medical journals in Psychiatry.Our expert medical faculty conduct a comprehensive review of hundreds of articles from current leading medical journals so you don't have to. Our knowledge leaders summarize the most relevant medical research for you to review at your convenience and add commentary with perspective for applying these findings in your own practice.
The Psychiatry Board Review questions provided by BoardVitals exploresmany topics ranging from communication disorders to schizophrenia. The Psych question bank provides over 1600 Questions targeted to the ABPN Board Exam and and the PRITE* (in-service exam). More physicians use Board Vitals for Psychiatry Prep than any other material. Review our Psychiatry Board Review. The most inclusive and advanced Psychiatry Board Review Questions, at a fraction of the cost of board review programs.
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This volume is an innovative approach to the identification and management of heart failure. Contributing experts have presented a number of problem scenarios, which might be difficult cases, complications or dilemmas that challenge the skills of most practitioners. Organized as a series of questions, each chapter presents a detailed yet accessible discussion of the problems posed. Carefully weighing the risks and benefits of specific therapies, the ensuring discourse presents a fair, balanced approach to conceptual controversies as well as exploring the diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas that may arise. Recent and ongoing trials are discussed, as well as the potential impact on clinical practice of emerging therapies. This book is designed for the busy clinical practitioner who is in search of authoritative discussion that is balanced by evidence-based, best practice recommendations. It is intended as a resource for cardiologists and primary care physicians. | https://medicalbooks.co.nz/medical-amp-surgical/c-d/cardiology/heart-failure-9781846920448 |
Pediatric neurologists are no strangers to the complex clinical and ethical issues taking place in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) on a daily basis. Whether it is during hospitalization or in the outpatient clinic, we care for many children who have or will have spent time in the PICU for a critical illness. These illnesses may be primarily neurological, in which case neurology consultation is often a central element of their care, or they may be systemic and causing exacerbation of their chronic neurological conditions. Either way, neurologists become intimately involved in the care of critically ill children. Thus, it is important for pediatric neurologists to understand the complexities that contribute to PICU care recognizing that ethical concerns underlie many of these complexities. The aim of this review is to evaluate the utility of Bioethics in the Pediatric ICU for pediatric neurologists and epileptologists.
This book is written by pediatricians and bioethicists, two of whom are intensivists, for pediatric intensivists. It calls for “thoughtful attention to the complex ethical environment of the PICU” (page 1). The authors are explicit in the introduction that this text is not intended to provide answers to medicine's biggest challenges, and there are no “simple formulae for difficult ethical dilemmas” offered (page 3). Instead, the book is written to promote reflection upon and conversation about ethical issues in the PICU and their effects on everyone involved. There is particular emphasis on history, both of pediatric critical care itself and of the controversies that commonly arise in the PICU. Therefore, this book is not recommended for anyone looking for a comprehensive set of tools or resources with which to address specific ethical issues although some chapters do provide helpful resources intermixed with the discussion.
Chapters 2 and 3 explore the history and evolution of pediatric critical illness and critical care. Anyone interested in the history of medicine will enjoy these discussions. The history, while interesting in its own right, also sets the stage for how many of the ethical dilemmas have evolved with pediatric critical care. These chapters are not vital to understanding the ensuing ethical issues, but they provide helpful context that will be referenced throughout the remaining chapters.
Chapters 4 to 6 focus on shared decision-making particularly at the end of life, determination of death, and the difficulties associated with defining medical futility. These chapters are the most relevant to pediatric neurologists. Whether in the PICU, elsewhere in the hospital, or in the outpatient clinic, we participate in many difficult discussions, including new life-limiting neurological diagnosis, poor neurological prognosis after a systemic illness or event, and choosing therapies with indeterminate benefits and risk of harm. Chapter 4 highlights some of the challenges faced in these conversations as well as the importance of good communication with patients and their families. Chapter 4.5 “key communication skills” details, one method of communication that can be used in these difficult conversations and references others. It also includes an exploration of emotions, both those of patients and families as well as providers. Recognition and processing of emotions is often neglected by providers, likely due to discomfort and lack of training (or inappropriate training as detailed in the chapter), and this brief reflection on the role of emotions is a worth read by anyone engaging in difficult conversations, that is, all neurologists.
Many pediatric neurologists participate in end-of-life discussions, being most intimately involved with cases of possible brain death. The majority of Chapter 5 explores brain death. It starts with a historical perspective of death and how brain death came to be recognized. Neurologists who regularly perform brain death evaluations should be familiar with this history and the controversies that still remain, and this book provides a thorough but succinct overview of both. Despite national guidelines and hospital protocols, many brain death evaluations become quite complicated. Understanding the potential misunderstandings, reactions, and controversies of brain death will allow better planning of both the clinical evaluation as well as the communication with families about the process and its meaning. The importance of good planning and good communication is highlighted in the chapter. Being thoughtful about brain death will hopefully lead to better acceptance of death when it is declared and prevent increased stress on already grieving families.
Chapter 6 explores futility through the lens of intractable disagreements. Futility is a weighty and often emotionally charged ethical issue; in practice, it is easier to recognize than to define. It is often associated with pursuing aggressive therapies or offering procedures or technology, but neurologists also face futility in other aspects of clinical practice, such as whether to enforce compliance with seizure medications in a child with a severe epileptic encephalopathy or another life-limiting diagnosis. Thus, it is important for providers, including neurologists, to understand the factors playing into disagreements about futility as well as strategies to resolve the conflicts. This chapter unfortunately uses an excess of case examples to illustrate the complicated web of futility, and thus it felt longer than it needed to be. The theological digression in 6.7 caught me off guard. While recognition of religion's role in understanding futility is a necessity, the lengthy recounting of the case from Miller's book followed by a theological analysis felt out of place in a book that is otherwise fairly succinct. The chapter ends with a recommendation to “find a middle ground” (page 89), which despite being appropriate advice, seems like an underwhelming conclusion to a still elusive topic.
Chapters 7 to 9 are less directly relevant to pediatric neurologists. We are however frequently involved in the care of chronically critically ill patients, and it is helpful to recognize the unique challenges faced by this relatively new subset of patients.
The final chapter shifts the focus to providers (and other multidisciplinary team members) and the issue of moral distress. Chapter 10.1 identifies the PICU as “a cauldron of moral distress” (page 147), but pediatric neurology is also a cauldron of moral distress. From a new epilepsy diagnosis to declaration of brain death, we often meet patients and their families on the scariest and most emotional days of their lives. We participate in many difficult discussions, frequently give bad news, and provide neurological prognostication that factor heavily in end-of-life decision-making. The burden of these responsibilities is undeniable. As is emphasized nicely in the chapter, moral distress is an obligatory component of the job but to combat burnout, providers need to recognize it and address it instead of letting it smolder. The authors do a nice job of referencing burnout and the importance of wellness without belaboring the topics.
A quick comment on formatting: the text contains a fair number of typographical errors, often omission of small words, that made it cumbersome to read at times and distracted from the gravitas of the content.
Overall, I enjoyed perusing this text and contemplating the many ethical issues we encounter in clinical practice. The book is most useful for its historical perspective and for providing questions intended to spark reflection and conversation. Anyone looking for a quick reference guide for ethical topics should look elsewhere. The concepts themselves are most directly relevant to inpatient neurology consultants and neurointensivists, although these issues permeate pediatric neurology due to the complexities of the brain and its role in understanding life, identity, and death. Outpatient epileptologists are also faced with difficult conversations when giving a new epilepsy diagnosis or discussing long-term implications of intractable seizures. (A “benign” epilepsy diagnosis is anything but benign to the parents of a previously healthy child.) Pediatric neurologists will benefit from having a more facile knowledge of bioethics, ultimately conveying the benefit to our patients and their families.
Publication History
Received: 28 January 2020
Accepted: 21 February 2020
Publication Date:
30 March 2020 (online)
© 2020. Thieme. All rights reserved. | https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0040-1708857 |
Ethical dilemmas are not new in the area of health care and policy making, but in recent years, their frequency and diversity have grown considerably.
All health professionals now have to consider the ethical implications of an increasing array of treatments, interventions and health promotion activities on an almost daily basis.
This goes hand in hand with increasing medical knowledge, and the growth of new and innovative medical technologies and pharmaceuticals.
In addition, the same technology and knowledge is increasing professional and public awareness of new potential public health threats (e.g. pandemic influenza). At the level of public policy, concerns over the rising costs of health care have led to a more explicit focus on 'health promotion', and the surveillance of both 'patients' and the so-called 'worried well'.
Health professionals and policy makers also have to consider the implications of managing these risks, for example restricting individual liberty through enforced quarantine (in the wake of SARS and more recently swine flu) and the more general distribution of harms and benefits.
Balancing the rights and responsibilities of individuals and wider populations is becoming more complex and problematic.
This book will play a key role in opening out a discussion of public health ethics.
It examines the principles and values that support an ethical approach to public health practice and provides examples of some of the complex areas which those practising, analysing and planning the health of populations have to navigate.
It will therefore be essential reading for current practitioners, those involved in public health research and a valuable aid for anyone interested in examining the tensions within and the development of public health. | https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Stephen-Peckham/Public-health-ethics-and-practice/7034872 |
Should a terminally ill 10-year-old have a say in determining her end-of-life care? Can a teenager make an informed consent to treatment? Questions of this type will be the mainstay of the Center for Pediatric Bioethics, the nation’ first center for bioethics solely dedicated to pediatrics, which will be located at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. A $340,000 federal appropriation has been secured, and Children’s Hospital has dedicated $1 million in start-up funding for the center.
"The center is integral to Children’s mission to foster a spirit of inquiry aimed at preventing illness, eliminating disease, and reducing hospitalization and its impact on children and families," according to Treuman Katz, president and CEO of Children’s. "By addressing the complex ethical issues that affect patients, families, health care institutions, and research involving children, the center will promote the highest standards of medical ethics and protections of patient rights in pediatric research and health care."
The center will focus on four primary areas of pediatric bioethics:
- researching pediatric bioethics;
- educating medical students, health care professionals, and the public;
- providing a resource for families and health care professionals facing ethical dilemmas in clinical care;
- serving as an advocate for children who are receiving care and participating in research.
First of its kind in the nation
"The Center for Pediatric Bioethics will be the first of its kind in the nation, and it will provide a model for the study of policies, practices, and standards in ethical issues in pediatric research and health care that can be applied nationally and internationally," according to Norman Fost, MD, MPH, director of the Program in Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin. "This center has the potential to dramatically increase our understanding of ethical issues in the way health care and research for children is conducted."
The study of pediatric bioethics is particularly important because it requires more than simply adapting the concepts applied to adult health care. Delivering health care to children and the involvement of children in research raises different questions.
For example, the extent in which children can participate in the decision making for their health care varies with each child and each situation. The relationship and communication that occur between a parent, health care provider or researcher, and a child are critical in assuring that the best interests of the child are served.
"Building on the strengths of one of the premier children’s hospitals in the nation, the center will explore key issues faced by health care professionals, researchers, and parents, and will help create an environment that supports families in making informed choices about research participation and the use of innovative treatments," says Wylie Burke, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the department of medical history and ethics at the University of Washington.
The center’s first undertaking will be to encourage collaboration among national experts in pediatric bioethics by hosting the first annual Conference on Pediatric Bioethics in July. The first of its kind in the United States, the conference will be a forum for institutions, researchers, and physicians to discuss the relationship between pediatric research, health care, and the pharmaceutical industry.
A national resource
"We hope the center will become a national resource for physicians, researchers, policy makers, parents, and patients," says F. Bruder Stapleton, MD, pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s and Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. "We have initiated the recruitment of a world-class pediatrician-bioethicist to direct the center and serve as chief of the newly created Division of Bioethics in the Department of Pediatrics." Doug Diekema, MD, MPH, a respected bioethicist, will serve as interim director, according to Stapleton.
Bioethical challenges the center hopes to tackle include the involvement of children in research; quality of life for children with terminal illness; end-of-life decision-making; and religious considerations in health care decisions for children.
Best interest of the child
At the center, experts will assist health care professionals and families with difficult decisions by looking for ways they can work together to determine what is in the best interest of the child. Pediatric bioethics also helps children to participate in their own medical decisions, which can include determining if innovative therapies or participation in research studies is appropriate.
In addition to faculty bioethicists, the center will be staffed with pediatric-trained patient advocates who will work directly with patients and families to ensure appropriate safeguards and to facilitate and enhance communication with medical and research staff.
Source
- F. Bruder Stapleton, MD, Pediatrician-in-Chief, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, 4800 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105. Phone: (206) 987-2000. | https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/86175-center-for-pediatric-bioethics-set-for-seattle |
Regenerative medicine is the main field of groundbreaking medical development and therapy using knowledge from developmental and stem cell biology, as well as advanced molecular and cellular techniques. This collection of volumes on Regenerative Medicine: From Protocol to Patient, aims to explain the scientific knowledge and emerging technology, as well as the clinical application in different organ systems and diseases. International leading experts from all over the world describe the latest scientific and clinical knowledge of the field of regenerative medicine. The process of translating science of laboratory protocols into therapies is explained in sections on regulatory, ethical and industrial issues. This collection is organized into five volumes: (1) Biology of Tissue Regeneration, (2) Stem Cell Science and Technology, (3) Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials and Nanotechnology, (4) Regenerative Therapies I, and (5) Regenerative Therapies II. The textbook gives the student, the researcher, the health care professional, the physician and the patient a complete survey on the current scientific basis, therapeutical protocols, clinical translation and practiced therapies in regenerative medicine.
Volume 1 contains eleven chapters addressing the latest basic science knowledge on the “Biology of Tissue Regeneration”. The principles of cell regeneration control by extracellular matrix and the biology of stem cell niches are explained. Depicted are the principles of molecular mechanisms controlling asymmetric cell division, stem cell differentiation, developmental and regenerative biology, epigenetic and genetic control as well as mathematical modelling for cell fate prediction. Regenerative biology of stem cells in the central nervous and cardiovascular systems leading to complex tissue regeneration in the model species axolotl and zebrafish, as well as the impact of immune signalling on nuclear reprogramming are outlined. These up to date accounts gives the readers advanced insights into the biological principles of the regenerative processes in stem cells, tissues and organisms.
- About the authors
-
Gustav Steinhoff initiated and leads the Reference and Translation Center for Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy (RTC) of the University Medical Center Rostock. He is known as an expert in the medical field of stem cell therapies and the first clinician to treat patients with intramyocardial transplantation of purified stem cells and is one of the pioneers of these new therapies. Besides his medical study at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Gustav Steinhoff performed research at the Baylor College in Houston, Texas. He has worked as a surgeon at the University of Kiel and the Medical School Hannover, where he was appointed as an Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 1998. In 2000 he moved to the University of Rostock as a Director and Chairman of the Department of Cardiac Surgery where he continued his research on cardiac stem cell therapies and tissue engineering. | https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319275819?utm_campaign=bookpage_about_buyonpublisherssite&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=springerlink |
Discovering, developing and validating treatments for heart disease, and translating innovative concepts and hypotheses into clinical testing and practice.
Research relevance
This research will lead to more efficient health care in the field of personalized treatments for heart disease.
Personalized Tools to Fight Heart Disease
The world faces a growing prevalence of heart disease and an increased population that is at risk of developing heart disease. Although a number of effective treatments have been developed, new tools are urgently needed to assess potential new therapies and to address the burden of cardiovascular risk.
Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, Canada Research Chair in Translational and Personalized Medicine, is seeking to find some of these new tools. Tardif is focusing on the discovery, development and validation of innovative cardiovascular therapies and biomarkers (measures to evaluate heart function).
Tardif is aiming to develop therapies to battle atherosclerosis (the thickening and hardening of the arterial walls) and related diseases, and to discover and validate innovative cardiovascular biomarkers. He will then conduct translational research (transforming biological discoveries into drugs) on the anti-atherosclerotic therapies and biomarkers that he develops. The biomarkers will be tested in pre-clinical studies and assessed in rigorous clinical studies through the use of large patient cohorts and a world-calibre coordinating centre in Montréal.
Tardif’s goal is to transform his research into clinical applications that fulfill unmet medical needs and improve patient care. His research should lead to new applied treatments for heart disease that will be of benefit to patients and healthcare systems around the world.
Date modified: | http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=2914 |
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Effects Of Direct To Consumer Advertisements To Patient's Attitudes (Essay Sample)
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The task was to write an essay highlighting the ethical DILEMMAS of the big PHARMACEUTICAL companies. The sample is about the effects of direct to consumer advertisements to patient's attitudes based on organizational ethics.source..
Content:
Name Professor Course Date Big Pharma and Ethics Introduction The United States and New Zealand are the only developed countries that allow big pharmaceutical companies to advertise prescription only drugs directly to consumers. Direct to consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs is highly regulated across the globe, while marketing of non prescription drugs over the counter is relatively widespread. The impact of direct to consumer advertising together with physician promotion needs to be reviewed in furtherance to the trust the consumers endorse the content of these advertising languages. Given that most of these direct to consumer advertisements are centered on lifestyle problems such as insomnia, eyelashes, erectile dysfunction, and toenail fungus that could be bearing life threatening consequences. Therefore, most critics of these direct to consumer advertisements concur that the increasing consumption of these pharmaceutical products that people do not actually need, contribute to the propagation the public to be materialistic, brainwashed, behavior manipulation, brain washing, and downfall of the social system, and therefore considered unethical (Greene 800). Moral Argument Direct to consumer advertisement of prescription drugs by big pharmaceutical companies definitely impacts patients’ attitudes, as well as patient-provider communications, and the ultimate medical use. The ethical consideration involved in pharmaceutical sales is based on the organizational ethics, which is in fact depends on compliance, culture, and accountability. It is imperative that organizational ethics are applied in the development of the marketing and sales strategies for public and healthcare profession, which should be demonstrated by acts of compassion, fairness, honor, integrity, and responsibility (Lee 365). However, big pharma storehouses have been crippled and fostered with consumer mistrust, as well as negative perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry. Many studies reveal that the language in these directs to consumer prescription drug advertisements have potentially misleading claims, of which from a clinical perspective is highly worrying. Therefore, the outright falsehood found in these advertisements concerning the possibility of advertising norms that should define the taxonomy of the advertisement truthfulness (Abel et al 218). It is imperative to acknowledge that a larger part of the selective facts in these advertisements associated with lifestyle matters are completely legal, however the subjective misleading language requires rigorous analysis. It I also worth noting that, pharmaceutical companies are to a greater extent responsible for saving and improving the health and wellbeing of a huge number of people, which should be the content of the advertisements. Notwithstanding the benefits of these big pharma, there is undeniable track record of general scandals and unethical behavior in the profit oriented organizations. Further to this, big pharma are operating in highly vicious competitive business environments, and hence as a means of survival they take incentives in cutting corners in unscrupulous ways by getting involved in marketing malpractices (Humphreys 576). From the foregoing, it appears the big pharmaceutical players encounter more complicated business and ethical decisions, especially when they run their marketing campaigns. Therefore, the ethical dilemmas facing these pharmaceutical multinationals comes to really difficult decision making with respect to aligning the overall profit goals and doing business with products that should save people’s lives. Other ethical controversies facing direct to consumer advertisement of prescription drugs include the campaigns that drives up the prices of actual drugs, the negative effects of direct to consumer advertisement, and the huge financial resources spent on these advertisements. Therefore, direct to consumer advertisements of prescriptions is unethical considering that these big pharma cannot ascertain the authenticity of their claims found in the advertisement languages (Abel et al 220). Alternative The alternative to the ethical dilemmas facing big pharma with respect to the ethical and business challenges requires critical analysis of contemporary healthcare practices and issues. Applying ethical theory perspective of the healthcare policies and practices is required to confront unethical behavior in the pharmaceutical industry. Direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs elucidates ethical issues that carry economic, social, and geographic ramifications. Therefore, ethical theories weaved with the pursuit of equal and just healthcare services for all people. It is imperative that contemporary healthcare administration is riddled with political and injustice influences that permeate the entire healthcare system (Lee 367). John Rawls pointed two distinct principles of justice that provides alternatives through the ethical dilemma in finding people to live cooperative lives. The Rawls’ Theory of Justice elucidates the principle of equal liberties, which includes freedom of thought, political liberties, liberty of conscience, plus all rights covered under the rule of law (Lee 369). Therefore, social liberties are necessity by availability of equal basic liberties. The next principle illuminated by the Rawls. Theory of justice stipulates that inequalities are acceptable only when the outcomes are of greatest advantage to the less fortunate, otherwise known as the difference principle. Therefore, understanding the moral argument is of the essence in matters concerning fairness and justice in society (Lee 369). Building on the Rawls’ theory of justice, from an economic perspective the medical institutions should provide fair equality of opportunity. The calculated production function system with inputs and ot...
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When the first edition of Pediatric Psychopharmacology published in 2002, it filled a void in child and adolescent psychiatry and quickly establishing itself as the definitive text-reference in pediatric psychopharmacology. While numerous short, clinically focused paperbacks have been published since then, no competitors with the scholarly breadth, depth, and luster of this volume have emerged. In the second edition, Christopher Kratochvil, MD, a highly respected expert in pediatric psychopharmacology, joins the outstanding editorial team led by Dr. Martin and Dr. Scahill. In the new edition, the editors streamline the flow of information to reflect the growth in scientific data since the first edition appeared. The overall structure of the book remains the same, with major sections on underlying biology; somatic interventions; assessment and treatment; and special considerations.
Clinical Manual of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
Publisher : American Psychiatric Pub
Release Date : 2017-03-15
Category : Medical
Total pages :545
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The new, third edition of the Clinical Manual of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology has been thoroughly revised, yet its mission remains the same: to keep clinicians up-to-date on the latest research so that they can provide state-of-the-art care to their young patients. To this end, the book describes and explores those elements that are specific to pediatric psychopharmacology; this defines and positions the volume at the nexus of child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatrics, and pharmacology. A stellar roster of contributors addresses new treatments for youths with disruptive behavior disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, and psychotic illnesses and tackles some of the most important emerging issues in the field. For example, advances in understanding the long-term treatment effects of medications in pediatric populations are thoroughly reviewed, including not only maintenance studies that consider the durability of efficacy but also clinical trials of greater duration designed to specifically evaluate long-term safety. In addition, recent studies of combination therapies are examined, helping clinicians better understand how to treat the complicated patients that arrive every day at a prescribing clinician's office. Finally, because research designs now include a broader base of patient populations to make the data more applicable to everyday clinical practice, the book focuses on head-to-head studies with multiple active comparators. The book offers clinicians comprehensive, accessible information and boasts a multitude of helpful features: The book is organized by diagnosis instead of agent class. This makes it a true clinical desktop reference that allows clinicians to quickly and efficiently search treatment options and the evidence base on a case-by-case basis. DSM-5 criteria and information on comorbidities are also included. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Practice Parameters are integrated into the discussion, where applicable, in support of standard of care. The book has been updated to include the latest research at the time of publication. A new chapter has been added to address eating disorders, an area where psychopharmacological research that may apply to children and adolescents is now being pursued. Useful features to help the reader understand and retain the material include clinical summary points, easy to read tables, and current and carefully vetted references. The Clinical Manual of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, Third Edition, is an indispensable guide to the substantive research that has been done in nearly every area of pediatric psychopharmacology, as well as the major improvements that have been made to the evidence-based practice of treating youths with psychiatric illness.
Clinical Research in Paediatric Psychopharmacology
Publisher : Elsevier
Release Date : 2015-01-31
Category : Science
Total pages :220
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Clinical research in pediatric psychopharmacology covers ethical, regulatory, clinical, scientific, intercultural and practical aspects of clinical research in child and adolescent psychopharmacology. Clinical Research in Paediatric Psychopharmacology: A Practical Guide is written and organized with the aim of being a practical guide, providing both an overview of clinical research in pediatric psychopharmacology and practical points to consider when developing clinical research in this field. Covers both theoretical and practical aspects Includes the regulatory framework and the patient perspective Priovides real insight rather than tips
Pediatric Psychopharmacology
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Release Date : 2003
Category : Medical
Total pages :791
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Pediatric Psychopharmacology: Principles and Practice is an authoritative and comprehensive text on the use of medication in the treatment of children and adolescents with serious neuropsychiatric disorders. This benchmark volume consists of 56 chapters written by internationally recognized leaders, and is divided into four interrelated sections. The first, Biological Bases of Pediatric Psychopharmacology, reviews key principles of neurobiology and the major psychiatric illnesses of childhood from a perspective rooted in developmental psychopathology. The second, Somatic Interventions, presents the major classes of psychiatric drugs, as well as complementary and alternative somatic interventions, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and naturopathic approaches. The third and longest section, Assessment and Treatment, starts with clinical assessment, diagnostic evaluation, and comprehensive treatment planning, and goes on to cover the evidence-based analysis of drug treatments for the major disorders. Special populations (such as children with comorbid mental retardation, substance abuse or medical illness) are specifically discussed, and the coordination of their treatment with non-somatic therapies is explicitly addressed. The final section, Epidemiologic, Research, and Methodological Considerations, deals with broad population-relevant topics such as regulation and policy, pharmacoepidemiology, and the critical importance of sound ethical principles for clinical investigation. The book concludes with an appendix on generic and commercial drug name equivalencies, preparations, and available dosages. DEGREESNL This timely text is intended for child and adolescent psychiatrists, general and developmental pediatricians, family practitioners, general psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals who work with children and adolescents.
Pediatric Psychopharmacology for Primary Care
Publisher : Unknown
Release Date : 2011
Category : Electronic books
Total pages :129
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Confidently prescribe, monitor, and manage psychopharmacological medications in children and teens. This game-changing resource from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) arms you with a unique strategic approach - plus practice-tested, condition-specific treatment recommendations. Free bonus digital tool! Get instant answers on specific conditions and medications from your desktop or mobile device! Evidence-based conceptual framework A clear, straightforward methodology - based on current research and clinical experience - defines discrete levels of psychotropic agents and spells out lev.
The Management of Clinical Trials
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
Release Date : 2018-06-06
Category : Medical
Total pages :90
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This concise book is addressed to researchers, clinical investigators, as well as practicing physicians and surgeons who are interested in the fields of clinical research and trials. It covers some important topics related to clinical trials including an introduction to clinical trials, some aspects concerning clinical trials in pediatric age group, and the unique aspects of the design of clinical trials on stem cell therapy.
Fundamentals of Psychopharmacology
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Release Date : 2004-05-03
Category : Medical
Total pages :536
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Treatment with drugs is fundamental to modern therapy of psychiatric disorders. The number of disorders responsive to drug treatment is increasing, reflecting the extensive synthesis of novel compounds and the greater understanding of the aetiology of the disorders. This third edition provides new and updated material, including an additional chapter on clinical trials and their importance in assessing the efficacy and safety of psychotropic drugs. As molecular biology and imaging techniques are of increasing importance to basic and clinical neuroscience, these areas have also been extended to illustrate their relevance to our understanding of psychopharmacology. This book is essential reading for undergraduates in pharmacology and the neurosciences, postgraduate neuropharmacologists, psychiatrists in training and in practice and medical researchers. Reviews of the Second Edition "...this text is eminently readable, well researched, and probably the best of its kind. The book is well worth buying and anyone who claims to know anything about psychopharmacology will be expected to have a heavily annotated copy." Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine "...[this is] a very good book, especially suited to those interested in psychopharmacologic research and psychiatric residency in training." Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy
Research Awards Index
Publisher : Unknown
Release Date : 1981
Category : Medicine
Total pages :129
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Pediatric Psychopharmacology for Primary Care
Publisher : Unknown
Release Date : 2018-11-15
Category :
Total pages :250
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Completely updated and revised, the second edition provides primary care physicians with practice-tested, condition-specific treatment recommendations for various childhood mental disorders. Obtain clear guidance on dosing, monitoring, and potential adverse reactions of psychotropic medications for treatment of common psychiatric disorders and mental health or behavioral problems in children and adolescents. This simple, systematic approach defines discrete levels of psychotropics and spells out group-specific roles and responsibilities in accord with AAP policies. Plus, an included digital tool offers instant access to authoritative answers on specific conditions and medications. TOPICS INCLUDE Conceptual framework for prescribing psychotropic drugs Medications for specific diagnoses: ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression US Food and Drug Administration-Approved antipsychotics and mood stabilizers and all other medications What to do when treatment is unsuccessful
Green's Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychopharmacology
Publisher : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Release Date : 2013-09-24
Category : Medical
Total pages :416
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The ideal quick reference for the busy mental health clinician seeing younger patients, the Fifth Edition of Green’s Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychopathology has been fully revised by a new team of authors active in clinical practice and resident education. A trusted reference in the field, Green’s continues to provide practical and balanced information on the full range of medications used to treat mental health disorders in children and adolescents.
Handbook of Pediatric Neuropsychology
Publisher : Springer Publishing Company
Release Date : 2010-10-25
Category : Psychology
Total pages :1400
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ìBy far, the most comprehensive and detailed coverage of pediatric neuropsychology available in a single book today, Davis provides coverage of basic principles of pediatric neuropsychology, but overall the work highlights applications to daily practice and special problems encountered by the pediatric neuropsychologist.î Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD Texas A&M University "The breadth and depth of this body of work is impressive. Chapters written by some of the best researchers and authors in the field of pediatric neuropsychology address every possible perspective on brain-behavior relationships culminating in an encyclopedic textÖ. This [book] reflects how far and wide pediatric neuropsychology has come in the past 20 years and the promise of how far it will go in the next." Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, EdD, NCSP, ABPdN The Chicago School of Professional Psychology "...it would be hard to imagine a clinical situation in pediatric neuropsychology in whichthis book would fail as a valuable resource."--Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology "I believe there is much to recommend this hefty volume. It is a solid reference that I can see appreciating as a resource as I update my training bibliography."--Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society This landmark reference covers all aspects of pediatric neuropsychology from a research-based perspective, while presenting an applied focus with practical suggestions and guidelines for clinical practice. Useful both as a training manual for graduate students and as a comprehensive reference for experienced practitioners, it is an essential resource for those dealing with a pediatric population. This handbook provides an extensive overview of the most common medical conditions that neuropsychologists encounter while dealing with pediatric populations. It also discusses school-based issues such as special education law, consulting with school staff, and reintegrating children back into mainstream schools. It contains over 100 well-respected authors who are leading researchers in their respective fields. Additionally, each of the 95 chapters includes an up-to-date review of available research, resulting in the most comprehensive text on pediatric neuropsychology available in a single volume. Key Features: Provides thorough information on understanding functional neuroanatomy and development, and on using functional neuroimaging Highlights clinical practice issues, such as legal and ethical decision-making, dealing with child abuse and neglect, and working with school staff Describes a variety of professional issues that neuropsychologists must confront during their daily practice, such as ethics, multiculturalism, child abuse, forensics, and psychopharmacology
Intervening in the Brain
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date : 2007-07-28
Category : Medical
Total pages :536
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The wealth of insights into the brain’s functioning gained by neuroscience in recent years led to the development of new possibilities for intervening in the brain such as neurotransplantation, neural prostheses and brain stimulation techniques. Moreover, new and safer classes of psychopharmaceutical drugs lend themselves to neuroenhancement applications, i.e. they could be used to enhance cognitive capacities or emotional well-being without therapeutic need. This book offers extensive state-of-the-art accounts for these novel kinds of intervention, indicates future developments, and discusses the relevant philosophical, ethical and legal issues.
Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychopharmacology
Publisher : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Release Date : 2007
Category : Medical
Total pages :379
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Written by a preeminent expert on child and adolescent psychopharmacology, the Fourth Edition of this acclaimed reference is a current, authoritative clinical guide to the pediatric use of psychotropic drugs. For each class of drugs, Dr. Green offers practical advice on titration, dosing, maintenance therapy, discontinuation, and management of side effects. This thoroughly updated edition covers all new drugs and new drug formulations, particularly extended-release and "dextro" stimulant preparations. Dr. Green also reviews recent controlled clinical trials and examines current controversies regarding untoward effects of some drugs. Numerous tables—including a new table on atypical antipsychotics—summarize crucial information.
Finding the Evidence
Publisher : RCPsych Publications
Release Date : 2001-01-01
Category : Reference
Total pages :203
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A list of the best research evidence on a wide range of subjects including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, guidelines and practice parameters identified not only by searching bibliographic database but by an expert selection of key and cutting edge publications. | https://www.macnabclanuk.org/clinical-research-in-paediatric-psychopharmacology/ |
Experimental medical treatments raise a number of ethical issues
A new report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is emphasizing the ethical issues that often arise when patients opt for experimental medical treatments. From stem cell therapies to expensive fertility treatments, experimental procedures are controversial and risky.
Recent headlines on the topic have exposed stem cell-engineered transplants that proved fatal, as well as stories about couples who felt ripped off after paying for expensive fertility treatment “add-ons.”
Success stories have also emerged, however, including the miraculous recovery of a one-year-old girl who had leukemia. The baby was cured by the use of a new gene editing technique that modifies immune cells, and she remains cancer free.
Experts at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics have set out to inform the public of how experimental treatments are regulated, how they may be accessed, and some of the ethical issues that healthcare professionals and patients must recognize. The briefing is focused on gene and stem cell therapies, surgery, and fertility treatment.
According to the Council, there is often a lack of evidence or research to guarantee the safety of an experimental procedure. Challenges also arise regarding consent, particularly when a child is receiving the treatment. The report also points to the ethical issues of deceptive online marketing and the motivation of healthcare providers.
“Often, experimental medical treatments are considered as a last hope, when all other options have been exhausted,” explained Council Director Hugh Whittall. “It is completely understandable that people in this position might be willing to try anything and everything they can, despite uncertainties about the efficacy or safety of the treatment, and the likelihood of there being significant costs involved.”
“A key challenge is balancing the interests of patients with ensuring they are protected from harm, particularly if treatments are offered outside of UK regulation. It is important that patients and their families have access to impartial and accurate information, and are made aware of uncertainties about possible outcomes when making a decision about trying an experimental treatment.”
“We will be raising these issues with Government and working with regulators, and we are following up this piece of work with a new project exploring how disagreements can develop about the care of critically ill children, and how those disagreements are being resolved.”
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent body that has been advising policy makers on ethical issues in bioscience and medicine for more than 25 years. The current report is the fourth in a new series of bioethics briefing notes published by the Council. | https://www.earth.com/news/experimental-medical-treatments-ethics/ |
Musculoskeletal disease research at Novartis
Exploring new frontiers to restore patient mobility and independence.
Musculoskeletal diseases negatively impact the quality of life of hundreds of millions of people globally. These diseases cause pain and discomfort, limiting the range of movement and activities of people living with these conditions.
The mission of our Musculoskeletal Disease (MSD) research team is to restore mobility and independence to patients with some of the most intractable of these debilitating conditions.
Our research focuses on finding innovative therapies for three musculoskeletal disease areas, for which there are currently no effective drug treatments:
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinopathy
- Devastating neuromuscular diseases
Novartis pursues pioneering research in MSD – a field that has traditionally seen limited progress in development of effective therapies. We have made bold commitments to musculoskeletal discovery research in order to address this historically difficult terrain. We pursue novel regenerative approaches for osteoarthritis and tendinopathy and unique treatments for specific neuromuscular diseases.
Our researchers are unraveling the complex biology of these diseases – identifying targets and interrogating biological systems suspected of playing a role in disease. Additionally, we’re exploring novel clinical endpoints, such as biomarker discovery and the development of digital tools to assess mobility and new, translational imaging approaches. For example, we’re working with colleagues to use advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to see molecular changes deep inside the knee to assess the effectiveness of therapeutics to regenerate cartilage.
Progress in such uncharted territory demands an openness to new approaches and space for iteration. The team is committed to discovering new therapeutic modalities, from small molecules to biologics and gene therapies, to treat patients. The flexibility required to be successful in this endeavor is reflected in our multi-disciplinary approach: our team includes cell and developmental biologists, data scientists, bioengineers, neuroscientists and drug hunters.
“We are committed to tackle the vast unmet medical need in musculoskeletal disease and bring novel therapeutic options to patients. This takes an appetite and dedication to high-risk exploration and we must be agnostic about how we get to a new medicine, whether by serendipity or design, molecule or biologic,” says Michaela Kneissel, Global Head of the Musculoskeletal Disease Area (MSD) at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. | https://www.novartis.com/our-science/research-disease-areas/musculoskeletal-diseases |
As the PFF Patient Registry advances our goal to learn more about pulmonary fibrosis from the patients that have volunteered to participate in the registry, moving forward clinical trials will use that data to find a cure for pulmonary fibrosis (PF). This is the first step to increase our knowledge of the diseases that impact the lives of so many.
The Research community is aggressively investigating new treatments for all forms of pulmonary fibrosis. Our goal has been and will always be to prevent and cure the disease but in the short-term, researchers are working to control the disease progression and symptoms that patients experience.
As the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation is moving the field of research forward, this is an important first step of continuing our PFF 2020 strategic plan and creating the PFF Therapeutics Network. The therapeutics network’s goal is to support drug development to discover and advance new therapies to treat and cure disease via clinical trials.
But why? Clinical Trials are the final step to determine if an experimental treatment is safe and effective to treat a specific medical condition. Quite simply, clinical trials are not possible without you, the patient.
The PFF Clinical Trial Finder is intended to help raise awareness of and increase participation in clinical trials, thereby accelerating the development of new treatment options for patients. Often, the most difficult step in the clinical trial process is finding people to participate. By making it easier and faster for patients to access information, the PFF expects to improve patient enrollment in clinical trials, which provide data for a better understanding of the complexity of the disease and its variable course.
The PFF Clinical Trial Finder is the first step toward creating the PFF Therapeutics Network and improving the lives of those impacted by pulmonary fibrosis.
Scientific research is the method of pursuing knowledge about nature. Clinical research focuses on patients with a disease.
When we compare the effect of treatments against a control in human beings, we call it a clinical trial.
Types of Clinical Trials: There are three (3) different types of clinical trials: interventional, observational, and expanded access.
Observational studies are those in which individuals are observed (no intervention in the study) and their outcomes are measured by the investigators.
Expanded access studies are those in which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows manufacturers to provide investigational new drugs (under certain circumstances), to patients with serious diseases or conditions who cannot participate in a clinical trial.
Basic science studies are done to increase the fundamental understanding of the disease process on a molecular and cellular level. In the long term, this type of research can provide the scientific basis for the development of effective treatments.
Epidemiological research studies a disease within certain populations; research in this area can lead to better understanding of potential risk factors, including occupational or environmental exposures that may lead to development of a disease.
Translational research translates basic research findings into meaningful treatments and clinical applications. This research is becoming increasingly prominent and the National Institute of Health is proposing the creation of a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Clinical Research studies are performed to determine the safety and efficacy of medications, treatment regiments, and diagnostic procedures. The different phases of clinical trials for the development of new therapies are described below.
Quality of Life/Social Science studies are a subcategory of Clinical Research, which had been previously often ignored but has gained increased attention by the research community and the regulatory agencies. The term is used to refer to the general “well-being” of individuals undergoing specific treatment modalities, not only including medications but also supportive therapies (nutrition, exercise, respiratory therapy and psycho-social support).
Anti-fibrotic therapies, which may slow or inhibit the production of scar tissue (fibrosis).
Clinical trials investigate dosage, safety, efficacy and potential outcomes of drugs or treatments in disease-specific populations through controlled trials. There are typically three stages or phases of clinical trials that must be performed before a drug or treatment may be submitted to regulatory agencies (ie: U.S. Food & Drug Administration) for approval. Prior to commencing a clinical trial, a drug must have demonstrated safety and efficacy in a laboratory model.
Phase III: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments (or placebo), and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely. | https://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/life-with-pf/clinical-trials |
The AAPM 36th Annual Meeting & Preconferences will offer an opportunity for members of the pain care team to join in National Harbor, MD, February 26-March 1, 2020, to discuss, review, and critique the latest innovations and technologies available to pain specialists. View detailed information about AAPM 2020 and browse the meeting program and speakers at annualmeeting.painmed.org.
Meeting Theme: Innovation & Technology in Pain Medicine
In 2016, an estimated 20.4% of U.S. adults had chronic pain and 8.0% of U.S. adults had high-impact chronic pain (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), making it one of the most important public health problems of our time both in terms of the number of patients affected and the impact on healthcare costs. Pain medicine specialists know that employing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, patient-centered approach to pain management means staying abreast of the latest and most up to date complementary and integrative pain management therapies, interventional therapies, neuromodulation, rehabilitative therapies, medical therapies, and the latest technical innovations, especially while we as a specialty and a nation continue to grapple with the opioid crisis. Meeting sessions will focus on the theme Innovation & Technology in Pain Medicine and will address topics such as:
- Procedural and surgical pain management interventions, applying image-guided, minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat pain conditions
- Complementary and integrative mechanisms for treating pain
- Non-pharmacological pain management treatments, including physical and behavioral therapies
- Interactive patient care technologies to better manage pain expectations and perceptions, including a focus on caring for special populations, such as cancer patients, adolescents, and veterans
- Bringing research into practice and the latest basic and translational science in the field of pain
- Practice management tips and tools regarding regulatory, fiscal, and legal/ethical issues.
Sign Up for the Latest News & Information about AAPM 2020
Join the AAPM 2020 Mailing List to receive email alerts featuring the latest news and updates about AAPM 2020. | https://painmed.org/annual-meeting/2020/2020-annual-meeting |
Device has up to 3 min. hardcoded time to get fixed position while it's awake from a Sleep Mode.
Time Zone: Set tracking scenario time zone. Time zone can be set in range of -12h to +14h.
Periodic:
Detailed example of default Periodic settings:
|Please note:|
If On Move tracking period is configured to be greater than On Stop, when devices detects movement, On Move countdown will start and data package will be sent once On Move countdown completes.
Scheduler:
This mode is used to set up the actual schedule of data sending. Every day of the week data could be sent up to 6 times.
The main rules of making Schedule:
- Time from 1st to 6th record must be set in ascending order.
- Intervals between different times must be at least 6 minutes.
- Days of the week must be selected by clicking on it.
|Please note:|
The record will not be generated at configured specific time, but will be generated up to a few minutes later because of time needed to boot modem and to get position.
Recovery mode
Recovery mode is a special functionality that stops all ongoing tracking modes, Bluetooth scans, scenarios and sends records periodically with a configured Recovery period. However, it does not change options like Location and GNSS sources or Static navigation option. This mode is turned on by a configured number of events and can be turned on/off manually with a GPRS or SMS command. Once turned off, device will come back to a normal scenario that was configured before.
Recovery mode can be triggered by:
- Lost BLE sensor - for this trigger to work, Lost Sensor Alarm has to be enabled. When the sensor is not found, Recovery mode will turn on and a lost sensor alarm record will be sent.
- Backup tracker - when TAT does not detect the central device, it will start delayed Recovery mode - TAT will wake up to send a Backup tracker alarm record (AVL ID 236) and then start Recovery mode timer to send Recovery alarm records (AVL ID 20012) periodically.
- SMS/GPRS command -
recovery:1command can be sent to turn on Recovery mode. If Recovery mode is already activated, sending 1 won’t have any effect.
recovery:0command can be sent to turn off Recovery mode.
- Tamper - currently, Recovery Mode cannot be triggered with tamper detection. This feature is still under development.
Note : Recovery mode will not turn off automatically. It can only be turned off by restarting the device using the switch or sending SMS/GPRS command which was earlier mentioned.
Recovery mode configuration settings:
None- no events will trigger Recovery Mode and it can only be controlled with commands manually.
Period- by default, Recovery mode period is 180 seconds and can be configured to a minimum of 30 seconds. When the period is less than 180 seconds, modem will be always kept on and fix will not be caught repeatedly. This means that the modem will always try to update the coordinate if possible.
Turn off- if recovery mode is activated it can be turned off in Teltonika configurator by clicking on a button.
|Important!|
|The device will turn on/off the Recovery mode depending upon when the command was received:
|
SMS event
There is a new configurable IO element for Recovery mode status notifications via SMS. It can be found at the bottom of IO table:
It has three operands that can be configured to get an SMS about the Recovery mode status. Here is a table that descibes the configurations and the desired result:
|Operand||Low/High level||Result|
|On Exit||1/1||SMS notification will be send only when Recovery mode is turned off|
|On Entrance||1/1||SMS notification will be send only when Recovery mode is turned on|
|On Change||ANY/ANY||SMS notification will be send every time when Recovery mode is turned on/off|
Note, that in order for notifications to work, Priority has to be either _Low_ or _High_ and a telephone number has to be specified.
Received SMS will contain:
- Date and Time
- Last known coordinates (longitude and latitude)
- Recovery mode Val:<(0 if turned off, 1 if turned on)>
Precautions
|CAUTION! Device usage with USB cable. |
In order to prevent device battery from running out of power, make sure USB cable is not connected, while testing the device.
Continuous use of device, while connected to the USB cable will result in faster battery drain. | https://wiki.teltonika-mobility.com/view/TAT140_Tracking_settings |
It is more and more important to businesses to have up to date data to act upon. Customer service representatives informing their clients 'If you wait a couple of minutes you should be able to log-in' or 'Your balance has not been updated yet, can I take a number or can you call back?' are not what successful businesses are made of.
Earlier on this year an Aberdeen Group report discovered that business leaders wanted more and more access to real-time data.
David Linthicum, the author wrote “The report noted that 89 percent of enterprises that use real-time integration have the power to provide managers with accurate information when it is needed, as opposed to only 73 percent of organizations that do not use real-time services”
This on face value looks like a 16% difference in capability (or competitive advantage). In reality, it is a huge difference due to the source of data no longer being from clean, managed data store but from core transactional systems.
This includes updating the real time data that is flowing to the decision maker, as the data changes over a given period of time. For instance, the ability to track factory production over an afternoon, as the production data changes minute-to-minute.
“In other words, we are moving from a report-oriented mentality to a dashboard-oriented mentality.”
Finance and banking solutions are very reliant on systems being in-sync due to the timely nature of balances, pricing and transactions. Information such as available balances, current status of accounts and the actual cost of a transaction are required seconds after their change. As mentioned above, businesses who want to be able to build new processes should think hard of the benefits of not having to wait until later or worse an overnight update to make decisions.
There are obviously three critical stages to integrating data from one system into Dynamics CRM in 'Real-Time':
In addition there are critical dimensions to the data changes:
Critically Real-Time integrations have to be 'in sync' before starting the real-time data integration process. This is possible with preparation and good data management but the most difficult moment is when the source system or the Dynamics CRM system are unavailable. There must be a process by which once reconnected, the system will bring themselves back in sync. Recovery from unavailability, is the hardest problem in real-time synchronisation.
As a demonstration I am going to configure a Real-Time synchronisation between a Microsoft SQL Server Table and a Dynamics CRM entity.
For the example to be realistic we are going to test two scenarios and record the shortest and longest time from the change in the source systems to the update completing in the target system:
Detection of the change in the source data
To detect the change in the source table I attached a DS3 Monitoring Trigger (this is not a SQL 'Trigger' attached to the table). This monitoring trigger activates a DS3 Integration project when it detects a insert or update to the source table. There are many Monitoring triggers built into DS3 Server (File Monitor, SharePoint List, Http result etc.) This should table about 1 minute to set up .
Identifying if this change impacts on a Dynamics CRM destination entity.
Create a new DS3 project mapping between the source SQL table and the target entity.
Updating or Inserting data in the Dynamics CRM destination entity.
I uploaded the DS3 project into DS3 Server. I can now connect the Trigger to the project.
Recovery
We don't have to worry about recovery in this example as DS3 detects the last successful sync and automatically synchronises from there. This technique is only possible if you have a high performance insert/update process as you have to 'catch-up' i.e. Insert/update 100x faster that required to keep the system in sync.
Scenario 1: 6000 Instant Updates
Actual Timings
|Action||Time||Time to Run|
|Source SQL Table Updated||16:11:23||Start|
|First Update Appears in Dynamics CRM||16:11:25||3 Seconds From Start|
|Last Update Completes in Dynamics CRM||16.11.42||9 Seconds from Start|
Scenario 2: 5 Updates every 5 Seconds
Actual Timings
|Action||Time||Time to Run|
|Source SQL Table Updated||16:51:18||Start|
|First Update Appears in Dynamics CRM||16:11:21||3 Seconds From Start|
|Last Update Completes in Dynamics CRM||16.11.22||4 Seconds from Start|
Conclusion
If we are having updates every 5 seconds we would probably do away with the change detection and just schedule the updates every 5 seconds, thus reducing the load on the source. DS3 Server is also doing some clever stuff like stopping the trigger running another insert when detecting changes and making sure any updates that happened during a sync were processed.
Real-Time Dynamics CRM synchronisation is possible and manageable, I set this up in about 15 minutes and ran the tests over an hour. When we implement these systems with our clients, we also run a reconciliation process which verifies all the updates and delete have been completed. This is a simple job we schedule nightly and allows us to also manage deletes elegantly and gives the business managers a solid reconciliation position.
If you would like to discuss with us how you can increase the productivity of you Dynamics CRM solution through Real-Time integration, give us a call or email : [email protected]. | https://www.simego.com/blog/dynamics-365-crm-real-time-integration |
US airports with longest TSA wait times: list
In March, baggage storage platform Bounce released its first-ever list of average wait times at US airports.
Bounce analyzed data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and US Customs and Border Protection. To determine the average wait time at each airport, the company totaled wait times at security and passport checks.
Since the list does not include time spent collecting baggage or walking through terminals, passengers should anticipate even longer wait times, according to the Bounce website.
Bounce told Insider in an email that it analyzed passport clearance data dating from March 8, 2021 through March 7, 2022. Average security wait times are correct as of March 10, the agency said. society.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport had the shortest wait time out of 39 US airports with a total average wait time of 16 minutes and 9 seconds, according to the list.
Bounce said the North Carolina airport topped the list because it is “much less busy than other major airports in the country.”
Seven airports based in Florida and California landed at the bottom of the list. The bottom ten also include an airport in Illinois, New York, and Missouri each.
Take a look at the 10 airports that have been determined to have the longest average wait times in the United States by Bounce. Participants are ranked in ascending order based on their total average wait times. | https://manifest-angel.com/us-airports-with-longest-tsa-wait-times-list/ |
David Cameron insisted the Government has taken "difficult" decisions in order to help ease the cost of living but said patience was required to rebuild the country's economy for the long term.
The prime minister welcomed the rise in employment although he acknowledged improvements were needed in the UK's productivity.
He also indicated that he was happy with growth fuelled by consumption as "a recovery has to start somewhere".
Faced with sustained Labour attacks about the squeeze on household finances Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This Government has chosen to take difficult decisions about public spending in order to help people with their standard of living by freezing petrol duty, by cutting income tax, by freezing the council tax, by doing things that make government less expensive."
The two Eds have focused their attacks on the 'cost of living crisis'
But he acknowledged that more needed to be done: "If you say to me that all of this takes time and we have to be patient in delivering our long-term economic plan and that we are recovering from the longest and deepest recession that made our country poorer and in order for people to feel better off we need sustained recovery, I absolutely agree.
"But the key thing is to put in place those things that will deliver that sustained recovery: the skills for our young people, the infrastructure for our country, the support for small business that will deliver the employment, cutting people's taxes by keeping spending low so people feel the benefit of the growth, all of those things are part of our plan."
Cameron insisted that the recovery was balanced, but said he wanted to see more growth outside the capital and increased success in the manufacturing sector.
"We are recovering from the longest and deepest recession in living memory and so it takes time and we have to be patient and we have to stick to our long-term economic plan which is going to deliver for people who work hard and play by the rules," he said.
"If you look at the most recent data on the economic figures it's shown quite a balanced recovery. You've seen manufacturing grow as well as services, you are seeing housebuilding and construction growing as well as financial services and consumption.
"So I think we are seeing a balanced recovery. Do I want to see more growth outside of London and the south east? Yes. Do I want to see more export-led growth, more manufacturing growth? Yes, absolutely and that's all part of the long-term economic plan.
"But the economy is moving and above all it's creating jobs. We have seen, compared with when I became prime minister, there are 1.3 million more people in work. That is 1.3 million more people with the financial security that a regular pay packet brings."
But he acknowledged concerns about poor productivity compared with international rivals: "I think these things will take time. We do need to see improvements in productivity but frankly I'm glad that the first stages of recovery have been seen in greater employment rather than anything else because I don't want to see people sitting on unemployment registers for a moment longer than they need to."
The prime minister echoed Mark Carney's views about consumption-driven growth: "As the Governor of the Bank of England said about consumption, a recovery has to start somewhere and then you can build on that recovery." | https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/27/david-cameron-living-stan_n_4672152.html |
Recovery for Whom? A Rosy Picture for the Economy Not So Rosy After All.
By Noreen Sugure, Director of Research, Latino Policy Forum
The news this week mentioned that the country’s economy grew at the slower rate than expected but apparently at the fastest pace since last fall. Furthermore, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-profit group that studies economic activity and economic growth and is best known for providing “start” and “end” dates for recessions, said the “pandemic recession” lasted only two months and was the shortest on record.
In short, this supposedly means that the country has economically recovered from COVID.
But is the “recovery” a recovery for all? The short answer is a resounding no, and we need look no further than the Latino community to see why the answer is a big nope.
In 2019 the Latino unemployment rate was 4.3 percent; by June of 2020 it was 27.1 percent; and in June 2021 it was 13.2 percent. While it went down this year compared to last year, today the Latino unemployment rate is a whopping 207 percent higher than it was in 2019. At the same time that Latinos—who had among the highest rates of labor force participation—were losing jobs, they saw a cascading set of crises hit their families and friends and the rest of the community. Those growing crises included housing and nutritional insecurities, and a lack of access to healthcare services.
Prior to the pandemic, growth in new homeownership was projected to be driven by the Latino population. Instead, Latinos faced pandemic-induced foreclosures and evictions. With the moratoriums on those actions expiring, Latinos could be facing unprecedented levels of homelessness. And the solution for many Latinos who lose their home will be for multiple families to live together in small spaces, which is hardly a solution at all, certainly not a long-term one.
At the same time, Latinos who are able to secure employment will be working, often in multiple jobs, in high-risk settings. The high risks are for coronavirus as well as for unstable or lost jobs and wages.
Good Economic News Bypasses Latinos
Latinos are still experiencing inequitable access to what is said to be an easily accessible vaccine, high unemployment rates, housing and nutritional insecurities, high-risk work environments, and the lowest rates of health insurance. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that this week’s economic news will trigger euphoria within the Latino community.
As with all things COVID, the lower you are in the economic pecking order, the more likely you are not to see the benefits that are reflected in the latest rosy economic data. Rather, when we drill down to the hyper-local level and examine an array of data points, the headline becomes not COVID recovery, but continuing COVID devastation.
Lawmakers must begin to assess recovery not just in terms of general data trends, but also on the basis of a more nuanced and finely granulated set of data points.
Only when the pronouncements of recovery are made based on data that reflects the lives of those hardest hit by COVID will we really know if we are recovered or are even in the process of recovering. | https://www.latinopolicyforum.org/blog/recovery-for-whom-a-rosy-picture-for-the-economy-not-so-rosy-after-all |
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The time course of recovery of hepatic and renal function was determined in 193 patients receiving Thoratec ventricular assist devices while awaiting transplantation at 41 hospitals in eight countries. The duration of circulatory support averaged 26 days (maximum 248 days) and the average ventricular assist device blood flow index was 2.7 +/- 0.5 L/min/m2 compared with a preoperative cardiac index of 1.4 +/- 0.7 L/min/m2. Renal and hepatic function improved in most patients in 1 to 3 weeks of support. When comparing patients with the longest durations on the ventricular assist device (60 to 248 days) to patients with the shortest durations (< 7 days), laboratory values were significantly improved: creatinine (-29%, from 1.7 +/- 1.2 to 1.2 +/- 0.5 mg/dl), blood urea nitrogen (-32%, from 37 +/- 27 to 25 +/- 14 mg/dl), serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (-81%, from 397 +/- 702 to 76 +/- 45 IU) and total bilirubin (-79%, from 7.0 +/- 8.6 to 1.5 +/- 0.7 mg/dl). However, the posttransplantation survival through hospital discharge was not significantly different: 88% (14 of 16) for patients supported for at least 60 days and 86% (43 of 50) for patients who underwent transplantation after only 1 week of support. Therefore renal and hepatic function improve during ventricular assist device support, but the survival rate after transplantation is not related to duration and is comparable to that of conventional heart transplantation for short or long periods of ventricular assist support. Although it is clearly important not to proceed to transplantation in patients with irreversible organ failure who have ventricular assist devices, these data suggest that as long as the patient is on the path to recovery, the outcome is basically the same as for patients who have full recovery of renal and hepatic function.
National Center for
Biotechnology Information, | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7865520?dopt=Abstract |
A Parking Charge Notice (PCNs) is the result of a parking infringement on private land or in a car park which is operated by private organisations on behalf of the landowner.
PCNs
What is a Parking Charge Notice?
What if I was not the driver at the time the PCN was issued?
The majority of the unpaid PCN’s that we pursue are issued in accordance with section 56 and schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
I have received a letter addressed to someone that doesn’t live at my address?
If you have received a letter from us but you are not the person named on the letter then please complete our contact form
Can I appeal this PCN?
The opportunity to appeal this charge was clearly stated on the original PCN and subsequent reminder letters that were sent from the parking company. Unfortunately, now that the outstanding PCN is at the debt recovery stage, the time to appeal has now passed and no further appeal can be made.
I have a disabled (blue) badge. Does this mean I am exempt from the Terms and Conditions?
No. When you received your blue badge you would also have received a handbook which sets out the terms and conditions of its use. Please see the relevant extract from that handbook relating to parking on private land.
How have you obtained my data?
There are several ways in which parking companies can lawfully collect personal data in the recovery of an unpaid parking charge (PCN).
What if I don’t consent to you processing my personal data?
It may be worthwhile reading our privacy notice, which sets out our lawful basis for processing your personal data under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
How can I pay my PCN?
We have various ways in which you can make payment for your Parking Charge Notice
Do you accept payment plans?
We understand that some people may not be in a position to make the payment straight away. With this in mind we have a team of trained advisors that are able to discuss your payment plan options with you. If you wish to arrange a payment plan, please call 0208 234 6775
What if I pay part of the Parking Charge Notice?
If you have only paid part of your Parking Charge Notice then it is important that arrangements are made for the remaining balance to be paid in order to prevent further action being taken against you. Please contact one of our advisors on 0208 234 6775 to discuss payment.
I think I have already paid this PCN. What should I do?
If you think that you have already made payment for this Parking Charge Notice we can check this for you.
Are private parking charges legal?
The legitimacy and enforceability of private parking charges has been clearly established by the Supreme Court in ParkingEye vs Beavis .
Will I be taken to court if I don't pay?
If you do not pay a parking charge, the parking company has the right to take court action against you for up to 6 years (5 years in Scotland).
CCJs
What is a CCJ (County Court Judgement)?
A County Court Judgment (CCJ) is a type of court order in England, Wales (and Northern Ireland) that might be registered against you if you fail to repay money you owe. It is legally binding and if you do not deal with it in some way, then you risk having your property or other assets legally seized.
What will happen if I am taken to court and lose the case?
If you are taken to court and it is ruled the parking charge was correctly issued, a County Court Judgment (CCJ) will be issued to you in England and Wales or a Decree in Scotland.
What action can be taken against me for failing to pay a CCJ or Decree?
If you still fail to settle the matter, a parking company has numerous enforcement options they can take against you:
Other
Who are Debt Recovery Plus?
Debt Recovery Plus Limited (DRP) are the leading collector of unpaid parking charge notices in the UK. We work with and on behalf of parking management companies throughout the United Kingdom including Parking Eye, Euro Car Parks and UK Parking Control (UKPC).
Complaints
Debt Recovery Plus aims to achieve the highest possible standards in all areas of our business, particularly when dealing with our customers and with those we contact regarding collections. There are of course times when things go wrong.
What is a complaint?
If you are not satisfied with any aspect of the service we provide, for whatever reason, this is a complaint and will be dealt with under this procedure.
Who are Debt Recovery Plus accredited by?
Debt Recovery Plus are accredited by and are members of the following two organisations; British Parking Association (BPA) International Parking Community (IPC)
Vulnerability and Free debt advice
Taking good care of motorists is our priority, which is why we employ highly trained and experienced agents to act on behalf of our clients. All frontline staff are trained to recognise potentially vulnerable debtors. Our dedicated collections team can then help, by referring them onwards for support and advice.
Free Debt Advice
You can obtain free advice regarding this debt from the following sources: National Debtline Money Advice Service
Who does the complaint need to be addressed to?
Your complaint should be directed to our Complaints Manager and will always be investigated by an independent member of the team. | https://www.debtrecoveryplus.co.uk/faqs/ |
Data breaches have been happening since humans started keeping records. But with the advent of the internet and its ever evolving dynamics, these breaches have become more sophisticated with each attack, as cybercriminals always seem to use more advanced processes to steal data from companies or hold their data to ransom. In order to businesses to survive this cyber crime wave, they need to understand exactly how detrimental cyber crime can be to business operations. To do this, comprehensive Business Impact Analysis must be carried out in order to aid the business’ Cyber Risk Management plan.
BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS CONCEPTS
Business Impact Analysis (BIA) identifies mission-essential functions and critical systems that are essential to the organization’s success. It also identifies maximum downtime limits for these systems and components, various scenarios that can impact these systems and components, and the potential losses from an incident. The analysis also helps identify vulnerable business processes; these are processes that support mission-essential functions.
Some concepts related to this are explained below:
a. RTO/RPO
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) are two key metrices in disaster recovery and disaster continuity planning. While the two may seem similar, they are actually very different and distinct metrices that makeup parts of disaster continuity planning. The main difference between the two lies in their purpose.
i. RPO (Recovery Point Objective): refers to the amount of data at risk. It's determined by the amount of time between data protection events and reflects the amount of data that potentially could be lost during a disaster recovery. The metric is an indication of the amount of data at risk of being lost.
ii. RTO (Recovery Time Objective): is related to downtime. The metric refers to the amount of time it takes to recover from a data loss event and how long it takes to return to service. RTO refers then to the amount of time the system's data is unavailable or inaccessible preventing normal service.
The images below summarize, further define and provide additional context
Establishing RTO and RPO will not only decrease the negative effects of downtime, but it will help you more effectively manage a disaster when it strikes.
b. MEAN TIME TO REPAIR (MTTR)
The average time to repair and restore a failed system. It’s a measure of the maintainability of a repairable component or service. Depending on the complexity of the device and the associated issue, MTTR can be measured in minutes, hours or days. (May also stand for mean time to recovery, resolve or resolution.)
c. MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURES (MTBF)
The average operational time between one device failure or system breakdown and the next. Organizations use MTBF to predict the reliability and availability of their systems and components. It can be calculated by tracking the elapsed time between system/component failures during normal operations.
d. MISSION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS (MEFs)
MEFs are essential functions that an organization must continue throughout, or resume rapidly after, a disruption of normal activities. MEFs are those functions that enable an organization to provide vital services, exercise civil authority, maintain the safety of the public, and/or sustain the industrial/economic base.
e. MAXIMUM TOLORABLE DOWNTIME (MTD)
This is the longest period of time a business outage without this causing permanent business failure. Each organization will has its own MTD.
f. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI)
This is a measurement of the reliability of an asset such as a server.
g. MEAN TIME TO FAILURE (MTTF)
This is normally an estimate of the expected lifetime of a product, estimated in thousands of hours.
h. SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE
Single Point of Failure (SPOF) refers to any component of a system whose unavailability at any time will lead to the complete crash of the entire system. A SPOF is to systems what a heart is to living things. In cybersecurity, issues with SPOF can be seen in having all business data stored/managed by a single cloud service provider; or just one onsite (and no backup) database for data, especially such crucial data as patient records and medical histories in hospitals. An attack on any of these key points could have devastating consequenses.
It is recommended that any system who’s functions require high availability and reliability should not have a SPOF. Such systems should be made robust with redundancy, i.e. duplication of all critical components. This control applies to business practices, industrial systems and computing systems. | https://www.cybercompound.com/post/cyber-risk-in-business |
Australia's logistically complex and final World Cup qualifying mission is under way, carrying the Socceroos to Honduras.
Ange Postecoglou's squad have completed club duties in 15 countries across the weekend, and are heading for Central America for Friday's (Saturday AEDT) away leg in the intercontinental playoff.
Collectively, the Socceroos will travel around 200,000 kilometres from their club homes to Honduras.
It might seem like a disadvantage when the majority of the Honduras squad are based at home but Australian officials hope their meticulous planning can give them an edge.
The longest route is from Melbourne to San Pedro Sula, already undertaken by Postecoglou and James Troisi on Sunday and Tim Cahill on Monday.
Cahill's travel was delayed by a day to aid his recovery from a rolled ankle while on club duty with Melbourne City.
The shortest - by Mitch Langerak, based with Levante in the Spanish city of Valencia - still took the best part of a day's travel.
But the Socceroos are used to it.
Their journey to the World Cup has already taken in 20 games, with away days in Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Jordan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan.
No country will have had to face a longer or more arduous route to Russia.
Put simply, the Socceroos are road warriors.
Mark Milligan, who is suspended for the first leg like Mathew Leckie and won't travel to Honduras, has no doubt their Asian experiences would galvanise the team.
"The boys have a lot of travel ahead of them but that's one thing we're very good at," he told AAP.
"The medical staff prepare us very well to deal with that.
"The way that we prepare for flights and get ready; the recovery when we get in.
"We do it a lot and our mentality towards it is never negative. We know we have to and we get on with it.
"If you're not used to travelling across the world all the time it can play on your mind and it can make things tough.
"We accept it. We know we're getting looked after from the medical staff and we trust in what they're telling us.
"That helps the mental side. The travel will be a definite advantage for us."
Milligan will take the 90-minute flight from Melbourne to Sydney to link up with the squad next week for the second leg.
But he said that didn't mean that he, Leckie and Robbie Kruse, who will also miss the first leg because of an injured knee, would be walk-up starters at ANZ Stadium.
"We never know who's going to be playing," Milligan said. | https://wwos.nine.com.au/football/socceroos-jet-into-san-pedro-sula/45487854-9051-459e-aeee-fa2df65101ef |
Sorting dataframe in R can be done using Dplyr. Dplyr package in R is provided with arrange() function which sorts the dataframe by multiple conditions.
We will be using mtcars data to depict the example of sorting with arrange() function.
The default sorting order of arrange() function is ascending.
In this example, we are sorting data by multiple variables. One in descending and one in ascending the example is shown below. We will be using pipe operator (%>%).
pipe operator first sorts the mpg in descending order format and within that it sorts gear in ascending order format. | http://www.datasciencemadesimple.com/sorting-dataframe-r-using-dplyr/ |
We understand that eating disorders affect people of any age, race, gender, or weight. So no matter your story, whether you have been diagnosed with an eating disorder or not, we are here to help you.
What we can offer you:
· Text, telephone and email support – having regular check-ins with one of our experienced volunteers who can share their own experiences and help you reach your recovery goals;
· Befriending – spending quality time with one of our volunteers or staff members to have the opportunity to talk openly about the problems you are facing;
· Online and face-to-face support groups – to meet fellow sufferers, exchange recovery ideas and share thoughts and emotions in a non-judgemental, friendly and understanding environment;
· Workshops, whether ran by our volunteers or carefully chosen partners, that are aimed at helping you recover and find peace from your eating disorder.
You will find all our contact information under the contact us tab. Once you reach out to us we will arrange a time for you to have a welcome call with one of our team who will explore how we can best support you in your journey. | https://fieldofgrace.org.uk/information-support/support-for-sufferers/ |
Disaster Recovery: Why Define your RPO and RTOAlliance Business Technologies
While it is nearly impossible to predict what the next disaster will be, it is easy to prepare for, especially if you have an effective business continuity plan.
The first step towards having a secure and available business environment is determining your Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO). RPO and RTO are both essential elements of business continuity; however, they have some critical differences.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
Your RTO is the target time you set for recovery and restoration of your IT and business activities after a disaster. Typically, this is defined by how much downtime you can afford before your business suffers. It can include:
- Time to discover and fix the problem
- Time to recover data from backups
- Time to restore your data and systems
The goal of your RTO is to calculate how quickly you can recover when disaster strikes. Establishing your RTO ensures that the disaster recovery strategy you have in place will meet these needs during a disaster.
The shorter your RTO is, the larger your disaster recovery investment is likely to be.
Important factors to determine RTO include: The amount of downtime your business can absorb, how much revenue is lost while you rebuild your IT environment, and what you’ll need to recover to get your business back up and running.
Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
RPO is focused on data and your company’s loss tolerance in relation to this data. RPO is determined by looking at the time between data backups and the amount of data that could be lost in between backups.
Imagine you’re writing a lengthy essay on a computer that you know will crash, but at an unexpected point in time. How often would you feel the need to save your work? The length of time between saves determines how much work you will lose, and how much time it will take to recover that lost work. This time becomes your RPO, and is the indicator of how often you need to back up your data.
The same applies for a disaster affecting your IT systems. Therefore your RPO is the shortest time you should let pass between backups. If you find that your business can survive three to four days in between backups, then the RPO would be three days.
Important factors for RPO include: How often important data changes at your organisation, how often backups will be run, and how much space you have available to store the backups.
What is the main difference between RTO and RPO?
The main difference between these two metrics is their purpose. RTO is generally large scale, looking at your entire business. Whereas RPO is focused on your company’s data and your overall resilience to the loss of it.
When a disaster strikes your company, every second is valuable. Contact us today to discuss how our business continuity systems and solutions can help your business.
For more information about determining your RPO and RTO per application and data set, contact us today at 1300 705 062. | https://abtechnologies.com.au/disaster-recovery/disaster-recovery-define-rpo-rto/ |
In a perfect world, executives wouldn’t need to be convinced of the importance of business continuity planning. The reality—as you’ve no doubt found out if you’ve explored the issue—is probably less than ideal.
However, more and more senior leaders are realizing that putting a BC/DR plan in place makes sense. In a way, Hurricane Sandy was a wake-up call—it proved that disaster can strike at any time, and it really can happen anywhere. (Even on Wall Street, where trading was halted for weather reasons for the longest period since 1888.)
Assuming, then, that your leadership has done an about-face on business continuity—and you and your implementation team are raring to go—here’s how to implement your BC/DR plan.
You’ll start by conducting a risk assessment, identifying hazards that could disrupt your business, and gauging the likelihood that those risks will become reality. You’ll also want to take a look at the relative severity of those risks: a server crash may be a lot more likely than disgruntled-former-employee-takes-staff-hostage, but only one of those could cause loss of life.
Now it’s time for a business impact analysis, or BIA—a measured analysis of the financial and non-financial impacts of an interruption to key business functions. (For a discussion of impacts you may not have anticipated, read, What does downtime really cost?)
Consider both the amount of time you can spend recovering a particular business function (your recovery time objective, or RTO) and the level to which services need to be restored (your RPO—recovery point objective). In a data center, for example, your RTO would probably be measured in hours, and your RPO would likely be zero—meaning that data must be restored with no loss.
Break out your thinking cap, because it’s time to get creative. In the design phase, you’ll work to develop risk mitigation and recovery strategies meant to protect your people, your business and your tangible and intangible assets. This is where the rubber hits the road on employee safety, network recovery, crisis communication and more.
Finally—this phase is when your business continuity plan actually gets written. Whether you write a single document or compile a set of smaller pieces, we recommend at least the following:
And whether you use a format of your own or follow an industry-specific template, once your plan is approved, remember to publish it to your organization, share it with staff and train employees on how to use it.
Start at the theoretical level and compare your plan to all applicable statutes, regulations and standards. If you’re all set to accidentally break the law in the middle of a catastrophe, you need to know now.
Then, move to the real world and test the plan with your people. Consider role-playing crisis scenarios to give yourself an idea of whether your plan is understandable—or even actionable. Gaps in your strategy are much easier to deal with when you’re not actually fighting for the life of your company.
We’ve developed resources to help organizations develop a BC/DR plan from start to finish, test and improve your existing plan, or anything else in between. | https://www.onsolve.com/blog/implementing-successful-business-continuity-plan/ |
Access form table updating
The Customer table and Order table are already created for you, so you can focus on creating the subform.NOTE: You must have Microsoft Access installed to use the sample files. For this example, we’ll use an Order table containing order data and a Customer table that contains customer data.You must establish the relationship between the two tables.
Every now and then, we all face a problem where we are unable to edit our data using the Access Queries.
Vivian Stevens is a data recovery expert in Data Numen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including mdf recovery and excel recovery software products.
For this setup to work: a) Share the relevant view to your targeted audience.
d) Once the update is submitted, your Awesome Table view will reflect the changes made. But once everything’s configured, existing rows of data and newly submitted form entries will automatically have form-edit link buttons that are accessible from your view.
The entire procedure involves several parts (Google Apps) with interdependencies. First, we need to activate a setting in Google Forms that is crucial in the workflow’s functionality. | https://acproduction.ru/access-form-table-updating-15398.html |
Based on a thorough review of psychological literature, this article seeks to develop a model of game enjoyment and environmental learning (ENvironmental EDucational Game Enjoyment Model, ENED-GEM) and delineate psychological processes that might facilitate learning and inspire behavioral change from educational games about the environment. A critically acclaimed digital educational game about environmental issues (Fate of the World by Red Redemption/Soothsayer Games) was used as a case study. Two hundred forty-nine reviews of the game from the popular gaming and reviewing platform known as Steam were analyzed by means of a thematic content analysis in order to identify key player enjoyment factors believed to be relevant to the process of learning from games, as well as to gain an understanding of positive and negative impressions about the game’s general content. The end results of the thematic analysis were measured up to the suggested ENED-GEM framework. Initial results generally support the main elements of the ENED-GEM, and future research into the importance of these individual core factors is outlined.
As educational games grow more sophisticated and subject-specific, new models for understanding their influence on human learning are required. In environmental communication, the use of games is considered an innovative and highly specialized method of reaching out to a new and growing media audience about the various global issues we might be facing. In the case of videogames in particular, an estimated 65% of U.S. households alone are home to at least one person who plays regularly for 3 h or more per week (ESA, 2017). Older numbers from a study encompassing eight major European nations suggest that about 25% of adults have played a videogame in the past 6 months, and that approximately 95.2 million adult gamers were divided across the 18 countries covered in the survey (ISFE, 2010). Both of these reports suggest that there is a relatively even distribution of gamers in regards to age and gender (ISFE, 2010; ESA, 2016). Board games, on the other hand, are commonly played on mobile phones and have thus become considerably more digitized, although individuals who regularly play videogames tend to play board games less often (ESA, 2016). However, websites such as Boardgamegeek.com have been established in order to let people review, trade, discuss, and chat about tabletop gaming.
An educational game is commonly defined as any type of game that wants to do more than just entertain the player, normally by increasing certain fields of knowledge or teaching new skills through gameplay (Griffiths, 2002; Barab et al., 2010). Considering educational games as microworlds might help to understand how games might contribute to these forms of learning. A microworld is commonly described as a small domain of interest where the degree of immersion into the subject is particularly high (Rieber, 1996). When subjected to such microworlds, learners are encouraged to obtain information and skills on their own volition, in what is called self-regulated learning (Zimmermann, 1990). Educational games fit the definition of microworlds in that they usually portray a small domain in which the learner is immersed and encouraged to achieve some form of learning outcome, normally in the form of increased knowledge about a topic or perhaps even behavioral change.
In research literature, educational games are also known under a wide variety of different names, such as serious games or transformational games. These terminologies are often used interchangeably, even leading some researchers to suggest the development of an all-fitting descriptive category (Schmidt et al., 2015).
Educational games need to be considered as conglomerates of different genres and game types (Riemer and Schrader, 2015). Due to the large variety of educational games available on the market, it is likely that there are several psychological factors in play that vary across game types and facilitate learning in the players. In order to understand the potential impact of these factors, it is important to consider the interaction between the gaming audience as well as the interactive, motivational and entertaining aspects a game usually consists of. This article attempts to generate an understanding of the psychological factors that facilitate learning, enjoyment and their interaction in environmental educational games, and present these in a conceptual framework for future studies, which we like to refer to as the ENED-GEM (ENvironmental EDucational Game Enjoyment Model).
In this article we will present existing research on how games are utilized in educational contexts. Then we shall attempt to put forth the initial suggestions for how the ENED-GEM framework is structured, as well as to highlight central psychological processes that occur before and during gameplay and facilitate learning. Then, in order to provide preliminary evidence for the suggested ENED-GEM framework, a thematic analysis was conducted on reviews of a modern environmental game to identify some of the proposed elements of the model. Lastly, limitations of the study as well as potential future research guidelines are highlighted.
Game-Based Learning and the Environment
Games and simulations have long been successfully used as educational tools within a wide variety of fields, ranging from geography (Tüzün et al., 2009) to medical education (Gutiérrez et al., 2007) and industrial engineering (Braghirolli et al., 2016). Games such as the ones studied in these papers primarily seek to increase the player’s knowledge, or to positively affect the player’s level of intrinsic motivation to learn. Meta-analyses on the effects of educational gaming tend to reveal mixed to positive findings (e.g., Vogel et al., 2006; Ke, 2009; DeSmet et al., 2014), suggesting that implementing educational games requires a careful consideration of contextual variables. Additionally, very few game-based learning tools are focused on the environment (Klöckner, 2015, p. 200), although the number of sophisticated environmental games has steadily increased since the earliest known publication on the subject in 1983 (Reckien and Eisenack, 2013).
While games exist in many formats, this paper primarily considers digital games and board games when accounting for educational value. This is due to the large body of scientific literature proving the efficiency of these types of games in other learning contexts, as well as the fact that digital games and board games often share significant similarities in design and layout. Educational videogames tend to be immersive learning experiences that attract wide audiences, and allow players to set goals and interact with the game environment experimentally without having to worry about failure (Griffiths, 2002). Studies focusing on environmentally oriented videogames also suggest that games can be attention-grabbing as well as tools for initiating discussions about complex environmental topics. One example includes LandYOUs, a game designed to teach the players about sustainable land management and the utilization of limited resources (Schulze et al., 2015). In regards to board games, where research is slightly more limited than in the case of digital games, positive learning outcomes from playing them have been observed across a wide range of subjects (e.g., Ogershok and Cottrell, 2004; Amaro et al., 2006; Eisenack, 2012). Within environmental research, board games such as CO2 and the Oil Expansion pack of Settlers of Catan are perhaps the most well-known educational games, featuring such topics as pollution, biofuel and the use of oil, just to name a few.
Player Enjoyment, Motivations and Game-Based Learning
Player enjoyment is a highly complex and multifaceted psychological construct known to be significantly related to a pleasurable gameplay experience as well as positive learning outcomes. Examples include increasing personal skills such as visual short-term memory (e.g., Boot et al., 2008), and general knowledge structures (Gee, 2003; Fu et al., 2009) as well as contributing to a higher degree of mental well-being (Schell, 2008; Johnson et al., 2013, p. 442). Player enjoyment generally stems from perceiving a game as ‘fun,’ which in turn could be defined as the essence of play in general (Huizinga, 1938–2014, p. 3). An environmental game that is considered fun or enjoyable to play would also likely provide a strong foundation for intrinsic motivation to keep playing and learning from it (Bisson and Luckner, 1996). On the other hand, if a game is not considered fun or enjoyable, nobody wants to play it (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005). Within the field of learning, perceiving a topic as boring will result in a decline in learning outcomes (De Baker et al., 2010). To conclude, the quality of educational games is directly relatable to the quality of the learning that takes place (McCallum, 2012) as well as the player’s voluntary interaction with the game itself. To elaborate, environmental games need to be perceived as “good” by the player in order for intrinsically motivated play and subsequent learning outcomes to occur. Such motivational factors to play are well-known in the commercial game industry. Therefore, a good educational game should aim to capture the player’s attention while simultaneously applying the same motivational elements that commercially successful games tend to do.
While the list of such elements is extensive, examples according to Sweetser and Wyeth (2005) include a sufficient level of challenge, having players feel a degree of control over the game they play, appropriate feedback on how close the player is to achieving their goal and even the ability to cooperate and interact with other players. Together, these elements should lead to a higher degree of player enjoyment, which becomes paramount when applied to the subgenre of serious games. The term “serious games” is generally used synonymously with educational games, and refers to games that seek to increase knowledge and alter behavior (Connolly et al., 2012) where in-game content can transfer to real-world experience through repeated play (Bogost, 2010, p. 236). If a game does not engage the player from the very start, it is likely that such repeated play will not occur (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005). Due to the interplay between enjoyment, immersion and good learning, it is likely that the game needs to be enjoyable or pleasurable to the person playing it in order for the learning outcomes to be high.
Player enjoyment has been the focus of several psychological frameworks attempting to understand its importance in regards to individuals’ motivations to play. Examples include the GameFlow model (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005) and its derivative EGameFlow scale (Fu et al., 2009). The GameFlow model states that player enjoyment stems from eight primary categories of gameplay, ranging from more visual in-game elements such as attention-grabbing and immersive stimuli, to smooth and operable game mechanics. The EGameFlow tool added knowledge improvement to this model, and is utilized for the evaluation of e-learning games where increasing the player’s semantic memory in some way is the intended outcome. This framework is highly comprehensive and serves as a useful tool in game design, and the ENED-GEM is an attempt to further conceptualize the potential path to learning through gameplay, with a special emphasis on how environmental games can provide increased levels of knowledge and perceived behavioral control over environmental topics.
While the body of literature on player enjoyment is growing, there is still a lack of player enjoyment models dedicated to educational games about the environment. Educational games seek to increase the player’s knowledge, skills, involvement or interest in a given topic, usually through presenting this topic in an attractive and highly immersive context (Barab et al., 2010). Environmental games almost certainly contain some of the traditionally enjoyable elements found in other types of educational games. However, they should also aim to have a measureable positive effect on the players’ motivation to perform some kind of pro-environmental behavior in order to be considered effective. Furthermore, the call for research into different types of educational games, environmental ones included, has been made (Riemer and Schrader, 2015). This article seeks to present the ENED-GEM as an example of such an attempt and clarify its potential role in the design and development of entertaining and educational environmental games, as well as to provide insight into how certain psychological constructs and processes important to behavioral change can be facilitated and strengthened by playing.
Focused Environmental Themes in Games and Ideal Level of Information
According to the Tbilisi Declaration (UNESCO, 1978), responsible environmental behavior needs to be outlined, detailed, and explained in a fashion understandable to the major public. While games can be capable of increasing an individual’s level of knowledge about an environmental topic according to these guidelines, one of the biggest challenges for game designers in implementing environmental themes in educational games is the high complexity of environmental issues (Fennewald and Kievit-Kylar, 2012). If a game presents too much information at once, which would likely be the case if several environmental issues are outlined and intended to be overcome simultaneously, the player would likely suffer from cognitive overload due to how complex environmental issues are. This form of information overload is generally considered to be one of the most detrimental factors in computer-based learning (Chen et al., 2011). Furthermore, providing environmental information alone generally does not lead to behavioral change unless the information provided is highly tailored to the recipients (Abrahamse et al., 2005) or is highly specific in nature (Klöckner, 2015, p. 165). However, it should be noted that this is likely just the case of educational games focused toward increasing some aspect of knowledge. Games can also enable learners to acquire new skills, teach complex problem-solving and even experience emotional journeys where they can identify with or even adopt traits from the characters they encounter in the virtual world (Klimmt et al., 2009).
A promising strategy to avoid the issue of information overload in particular is to design games dedicated to singular faceted environmental issues rather than to focus on the full environmental picture, such as focusing on biodiversity problems rather than the general moniker of environmental problems (e.g., Sandbrook et al., 2015). Designing a thematically focused game would allow the player to allocate cognitive resources toward solving one manageable problem rather than dedicate their attention toward too many variables at once. In gameplay, the tendency for games to demand that the player directs their attention toward a large quantity of in-game variables at once is called micromanagement. A high degree of micromanagement might detract from the player’s ability to learn from environmentally oriented games in favor of having to keep up with the game’s progression or memorize unnecessary details. A lower degree of micromanagement in educational games allows the player to focus more on the environmental issue being presented.
Understanding the issue as well as the tools required to overcome it could ideally result in a higher degree of perceived behavioral control (PBC), or the degree to which a behavior is perceived as easy or difficult to perform (Ajzen, 2002). PBC is commonly considered a central determinant for behavioral change. A game designed in this manner should also provide a higher degree of tailored information and feedback according to the individual’s chosen play style, which in other contexts has been shown to have a positive impact on pro-environmental behavior (e.g., Abrahamse et al., 2007). In so doing, it should aim to present the topic in a novel way, ideally by appearing as personally relevant to the player. Novel strategies for communication are known to increase interest in the topic through encouraging the individual to approach the phenomenon in question from a different angle than what is common or familiar. When such novel forms of communication strategies succeed, there is reason to believe that the individual will be motivated to seek out more knowledge about the topic willingly, as well as to expand upon knowledge they already possess (Ainley et al., 2002). Additionally, perceiving topical information as personally relevant is known to have a significant impact upon peoples’ attitudes toward specific sustainability issues (Kang et al., 2013).
The ENED-GEM
As Riemer and Schrader (2015) point out, new models for understanding and designing educational games are required. One way to answer this call is to design more subject-oriented conceptual models for educational games, where variables related to the topic at hand are put into focus. In the case of educational games about environmental issues and subjects, there is currently no such model available in existing research. Also, considering the unique complexity of understanding environmental topics, as explained by Klöckner (2015) as well as Fennewald and Kievit-Kylar (2012), it would make sense to develop a model for this exact purpose. Therefore, we suggest the ENED-GEM as a potential explanatory framework for the design and implementation of environmental games. In order to establish a prototypical framework, existing literature about educational and environmental games were retrieved, and central recurring factors in said literature were implemented in the ENED-GEM. Insight from fields such as media psychology and environmental communication were used to establish the current version of the ENED-GEM (Figure 1), drawing inspiration from established frameworks such as the comprehensive GameFlow model (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005) as well as various articles related to game-based learning. Additionally, central determinants for game-based enjoyment and motivation were identified as potential facilitators of learning through games. These were implemented into the model where applicable.
The ENED-GEM is a three-stage conceptual framework seeking to describe the psychological processes that occur before, during and after playing an educational game, with a special emphasis on factors that might influence pro-environmental behavior. ENED-GEM also takes into account the external influential factors that might affect a person’s willingness to engage in any of these three stages. The three stages of the ENED-GEM consist of a motivational stage, a gameplay stage and the subsequent learning outcomes from the gameplay stage. As a general rule it can be assumed that the model is largely linear, with the motivational stage coming before the gameplay stage and the subsequent learning outcomes that are gained from playing. However, it is important to note that a game could be played more than once, meaning that any new knowledge gained from playing the game the first time will likely be carried into the second stage of gameplay.
External Influential Factors
Although the pedagogical properties of the game itself can be efficient in teaching on their own, it is important to also consider the interaction effects between the game and any psychological learning factors that exist outside of it. The ENED-GEM assumes that four external factors are influential in regards to motivating and steering gameplay. These factors are pre-existing environmental tendencies, sociodemographic variables, player type and repeated play.
Pre-existing Environmental Tendencies
Environmental awareness is known to stem from several sources, and subsequent environmental behavior or behavioral intention depends on a highly complicated framework of social, habitual, and personal factors (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002). People are motivated by both intrinsic (altruistic or moral) as well as extrinsic factors (rewards or incentives) to act in an environmentally friendly manner (De Young, 2000). Furthermore, to avoid the feeling of being regarded as incompetent or helpless in relation to a given topic, it is expected that individuals are motivated to learn, acquire information and actively participate in situations where they feel they should be involved or express interest, which is also applicable to the environmental domain (Kaplan, 2000). Taken together, the sum of an individual’s motivations to engage with environmental issues and topics constitute their pre-existing environmental tendencies.
Pre-existing environmental tendencies, such as attitudes toward specific environmental topics, are generally thought to affect a person’s behavior in regards to these topics (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p. 335). It is therefore likely that the learning outcomes from playing an educational game about the environment are determined by the player’s pre-existing attitudes toward educational games and the environment in general, even before gameplay is initiated. A sufficient understanding of which personal factors are the most influential in determining environmental action does not exist, although factors such as knowledge of environmental issues and individual locus of control have been suggested as significant contributors (Hines et al., 1986/1987). However, based on existing research, the ENED-GEM assumes that an individual’s pre-existing environmental tendencies, such as their attitudes, beliefs and level of environmental knowledge, to a certain degree will influence their motivation to interact with an environmental game. They are also likely to play a part in the enjoyment and learning outcomes the players will gain from their gameplay sessions. As an example, it is likely that a person who is otherwise engaged and interested in bio-conservation perhaps would be more apt to play an environmental game with bio-conservation as its major theme than a person who is not involved in bio-conservation.
Sociodemographic Variables
Considering a player’s individual, social and cultural background can be important when examining for effects of educational games, regardless of the game’s theme or topic. In the case of gender for example, it is widely acknowledged that both men and women spend a great deal of their time playing games, and that certain gender differences tend to affect their motivations for playing. According to recent statistics based on more than 4000 American households, 67% of the households contained some form of gaming device (ESA, 2017). Furthermore, 59% of US gamers are male and 41% are female (ESA, 2016). Males generally tend to be more motivated by competition and achievements in their gameplay sessions (Williams et al., 2009), whereas females are shown to be more motivated to play games when no other leisure activities are available at the time (Chou and Tsai, 2007).
Different variations of game genres are also believed to induce flow states in players of a certain gender more easily than the other, such as in the case of how fighting and shooting games overall tend to appeal more to males than to females (Sherry, 2004). Females, on the other hand, show a tendency to be more attracted to the social interaction aspects of games (Hartmann and Klimmt, 2006), thus suggesting that they are more apt to play games with a multiplayer component rather than games solely meant for single players. The consideration of gender motivations in gameplay during the design phase of an educational game about the environment could positively affect the gameplay experience, and thus facilitate the learning outcomes generated by the gameplay sessions. Furthermore, gender is shown to have a significant role in regards to the level of positive or negative affect a person has toward the use of different types of educational games (Riemer and Schrader, 2015).
Another significant factor in gameplay is the age of the player. Although players are represented by all age groups, there are some differences between these that demand consideration. Firstly, the average player is normally assumed to be approximately 30 years old, and adults often play for longer hauls than younger players (Williams et al., 2008). Elderly players are also shown to enjoy games, especially when the game exists in a format other than digital and offers the possibility to socialize (IJsselsteijn et al., 2007). Intriguingly, elderly players have also been shown to exhibit a higher degree of self-reported well-being after playing digital games (Goldstein et al., 1997).
As for racial background, little consistent research exists to suggest any significant differences in the motivation to engage with games. In fact, designing games that are appealing across highly diverse audiences has been shown to be possible, such as teaching about artificial intelligence through role-playing games (Sintov et al., 2016). Furthermore, some research suggests that players do not exhibit any tendencies to play significantly more or less depending on what national background they have (Williams et al., 2008).
Player Type
The quality of an individual’s playing experience also depends on what type of player they are, and a person’s player type often reflects individual motivations for gameplay. One of the most cited taxonomies of player types divides players into four distinct categories: explorers, achievers, socializers, and killers (Bartle, 1996). Explorers enjoy discovering as much as they can about a virtual world, Achievers set in-game goals and try to reach them, Socializers wish to expand their in-game social networks, and Killers seek to disrupt and sabotage the gameplay for others. What is immediately apparent from these descriptions is that people have various motivations and needs for playing games, and that a failure to implement game elements that might satisfy these needs would result in a lower degree of game enjoyment for a wide variety of people. In educational games, the final consequence of low game enjoyment could be lack of attention toward the learning properties of the game as well as the inability for the players to enter a flow state or becoming immersed.
It is very rare that an individual fits exclusively within just one of these player types, and it is generally more common to exhibit traits from several player types at once. However, understanding this taxonomy as an overall categorization of existing player types is important in order to understand the intrinsic motivation an individual has toward playing a specific game, as environmental games designed to appeal to these player types would be perceived as enjoyable by a large part of the known gaming audience.
Repeated Play
Repeated play, or the desire to keep playing despite facing serious adversity or even beating the game in its entirety, also serves as an important component of digital educational games in that it re-initiates gameplay and contributes toward repeated exposure to the game’s educational content. The initiation of the repeated play of a game is determined by its replay value or replayability (Kelle et al., 2011), a measurement for a game’s potential for continued use after its initial completion (Wolf, 2012, p. 524). Modern sophisticated games, such as Dark Souls 3 (From Software, 2016), often have multiple potential endings, achievements and quests that are only obtainable if the player chooses to play through the game at least twice or thrice. The game difficulty is often increased drastically on the second playthrough, and the game design tends to be slightly different from the first playthrough due to subtle or major changes to the game world. These new gameplay elements are intended to motivate the player to initiate repeated play, and to gain more enjoyment from their gameplay experience.
Repetition in educational games also serves a potentially important function in memory retention and ultimately the specific use of this retained knowledge in a practical setting (Ruben, 1999). First and foremost, repeating a set of implemented strategies to overcome in-game challenges could and should eventually lead to some form of reward for the player (Coyne, 2003). The reward can come both in the form of breaking out of the game’s repetition loop by finding a strategy that beats the challenge and allows the game to proceed, or it could provide the player with a tool that makes them stronger or more capable of overcoming future challenges. The player eventually learns which strategies and tools to use, and retains these important insights for similar events in later gameplay. In the event that an educational game is meant to simulate or otherwise resemble a real-life setting, it should also be possible for the player to integrate and implement learned in-game strategies to overcome real-life challenges (Bogost, 2010, p. 236).
Motivational Stage
The motivational stage of the ENED-GEM initiates as soon as a potential player becomes aware of an environmental game, and includes the sum of motivations (both intrinsic and extrinsic) he or she has toward playing it. Motivations to play environmental games stem from a variety of sources such as their pre-existing environmental and gaming knowledge, values, attitudes and beliefs about environmental issues, as well as their potential desire to replay a game to complete unfinished quests or unlock new endings (see “Repeated Play”). The externalized factor of player type also serves as a central determinant as to whether or not an individual feels motivated to play, in that different player types are motivated to engage in gameplay by widely different in-game elements.
Intrinsic Motivators
Intrinsic motivation refers to any activity that is inherently enjoyable, meaning that the act of performing the activity is a reward in and by itself (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Commercially successful games generally feature a wide variety of known intrinsically oriented player motivators that eventually factor into player enjoyment, and these factors normally account for the game’s eventual popularity on the market. McGonigal (2011, p. 49) writes that the four intrinsic rewards we as humans crave the most can be summarized as (1) satisfying work, (2) the experience or hope of being successful, (3) social connections, and (4) meaningful activities to do. To a person playing a satisfying and well-designed game, all of these factors can be fulfilled through the act of playing.
Playing games is often a satisfying voluntary activity in and of itself (McGonigal, 2011, p. 21). Social connections can be established through in-game chatrooms and forums dedicated to the game, and the experience of being successful arises from becoming stronger and overcoming increasingly difficult obstacles the game world contains. However, research on game design states that there are several other factors influencing the intrinsic motivation to play. These motivational factors include player-focused as well as in-game elements, and can be both intrinsic as well as extrinsic. Intrinsic player-focused motivators generally arise from the player’s own willingness to engage and interact with a game (McGonigal, 2011, p. 51), and include the ability for players to become immersed into the visual aspects or atmosphere of the game (e.g., Brown and Cairns, 2004; Ermi and Mäyrä, 2005; Jennett et al., 2008). Players also tend to be motivated to experience emotionally charged narrative transportation (e.g., Green et al., 2000) in which the players are gradually absorbed into the relatable aspects of the game’s storyline. Additionally, the ability to socialize through online interaction (e.g., Malone and Lepper, 1987; Yee, 2006) has been proven to be appealing to a great number of individuals and particularly to female players (Hartmann and Klimmt, 2006). Facilitation and enablement for these experiences to occur happens through the presence of a wide variety of intrinsic in-game motivators, which include high-quality aesthetics such as graphics and soundtracks (Schell, 2008, p. 42), an optimal level of challenge (e.g., Malone and Lepper, 1987; Garris et al., 2002) and smooth controls (Wang et al., 2009).
Extrinsic Motivators
In contrast to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation refers to performing an activity that leads to some form of separable outcome or external reward (Ryan and Deci, 2000), thus meaning that the motivation to perform does not stem from the activity itself. Externally motivated gaming activities focused toward education about a specific topic are commonly centered around some form of externalized reward such as course credit rather than intrinsically motivating in-game factors such as those described above. A large body of literature suggests that extrinsic motivation has a strong negative effect on existing intrinsic motivation to complete interesting tasks (Deci et al., 1999), as well as potentially limiting creativity in individuals who feel they are being controlled by an outside source (Amabile, 1998). For an environmental game that is inherently interesting to the player, offering some form of reward to complete the game (e.g., course credits or monetary compensation) would thus be likely to ruin the player’s enjoyment of the game as a whole as well as possibly limiting the amount of autonomous and creative thinking necessary to solve the game’s challenges. This would be likely to happen in educational institutions such as schools, where educational games are played to gain external rewards such as extra course credit or as a requirement for passing a class.
In cases where the game-based learning outcomes themselves are considered extrinsic rewards, however, it is clear that both intrinsically and extrinsically motivating elements need to be considered as complementary rather than mutually exclusive (Garris et al., 2002). There is also a possibility that games that are initially introduced solely with a promise of externalized rewards could contain intrinsically motivating elements as well, thus leading to voluntary repeated play and enjoyment of the game.
Gameplay stage
The gameplay stage of the ENED-GEM begins when the player has begun actively engaging with the game, and normally features a certain degree of emotional activation in the person playing. During gameplay, the player is immersed in the audiovisual and narrative aspects of the game, and a flow state is achieved in cases where the game is highly immersive. In cases where the game features a deeply intriguing narrative the player might also experience narrative transportation, where they are so deeply immersed in the story and the characters of the game that they establish an emotional connection with the game world.
Immersion
Immersion, otherwise known as presence (e.g., Weibel and Wissmath, 2011), is a commonly cited, yet poorly understood construct in game-based learning. A common description of immersion is the feeling of being so absorbed into an experience or task that the flow of time seems to go by faster than usual, bodily needs such as hunger or thirst are suppressed and physical surroundings seem to matter less than they did before (Brown and Cairns, 2004). Immersion shows a considerable overlap with the flow phenomenon (Section “Flow”), although immersion is more fleeting and less persistent in nature (Brown and Cairns, 2004). It is also common to separate between flow as the pleasurable involvement in an activity, whereas immersion refers more to the feeling of being part of a mediated environment (Weibel and Wissmath, 2011). Immersion can be divided into three distinct categories; sensory, challenge-based, and imaginative. Sensory immersion refers to how audiovisual stimuli directs the players attention to the game, challenge-based immersion occurs when there is a fair balance between the game’s challenge level and the player’s skills, and imaginative immersion happens when the player starts to somehow identify with the game characters (Ermi and Mäyrä, 2005). Immersion is furthermore theorized to evolve gradually from a stage where it is easily broken to more robust full immersion (Brown and Cairns, 2004). Immersion is often associated with the degree of knowledge acquisition taking place during gameplay (Garris et al., 2002), with some researchers theorizing that it leads to intense experiences which increase learning, interest and retention of information (e.g., Murphy, 2011). In research, Weibel and Wissmath (2011) concluded that immersion and flow are both positively affected by motivation, and in turn have a concrete effect on the enjoyment and performance of a given task or activity.
Flow
Flow is a concept used to describe the psychological phenomenon of being so immersed in an activity or action that nothing else seems to matter, and the subsequent enjoyment one gets from this experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 4). It is commonly thought to follow the immersive stage of gameplay (Weibel and Wissmath, 2011), as described in the previous section (Immersion) of this article. A person who is experiencing flow is said to be in a flow state, which is generally considered to be highly beneficial to a wide variety of learning outcomes (e.g., Shernoff and Csikszentmihalyi, 2009), as well as to intrinsic motivation (Ryan et al., 2006). The flow state is also well known and sought after in game design, where it is commonly shown to increase player enjoyment as well as steering the player’s attention to what is happening in the game (Schell, 2008, p. 118). Being in a flow state during gameplay is significantly linked to learning, such as through increased concentration, interest, and enjoyment of the learning activity taking place (Hamari et al., 2016).
One of the most common precursors to these flow states during gameplay is an even balance between the game’s difficulty and the player’s own skills (Johnson and Wiles, 2003), where the difficulty should remain slightly higher than the point of frustration to give the player a goal to aim for. On the contrary, bad usability and slow feedback have been shown to be detrimental to the flow state in gaming (Kiili, 2005). Bad usability could refer to a variety of issues arising during gameplay that would otherwise ruin the immersion of the gaming experience, such as a poor relationship between the game’s difficulty level and the player’s own skills, or glitchy game mechanics.
Another intriguing finding is that flow states experienced together with others tend to be perceived as more enjoyable than when one is in a solitary flow state (Walker, 2010), thus suggesting that including a multiplayer function in the game is likely to boost the in-game flow state experience in some cases. It has also been shown that allowing the game to feature a structure where the players can enter into teams and compete against one another can increase their learning frequency (Admiraal et al., 2011).
Narrative Transportation
A narrative can be described as a cohesive story featuring a beginning, a middle section, and an ending, which provides the reader with some form of information regarding the characters, scene, conflict, and resolution (Hinyard and Kreuter, 2007). When one gets involved in the narrative to the point where an emotional connection is established with the characters and other elements of the story, this is known as narrative transportation (Van Laer et al., 2013). Narrative transportation is not limited to written materials such as books or magazines, but may be applicable in other forms of media as well (Green and Brock, 2000). The ultimate goal of narrative transportation is to have a persuasive effect on the reader or listener (Van Laer et al., 2013), thus indicating its potential use in educational games. Narrative transportation is also shown to have a distinguished effect on a person’s real-world beliefs regardless of whether it is based on fictitious or scientific material (Green and Brock, 2000).
Emotions
A key motivation to partake in the use of entertainment media, such as games, is the desire to experience strong emotional activation (Bartsch and Viehoff, 2010). During gameplay, players often experience a wide range of powerful emotions ranging from fear and surprise to wonderment and personal triumph (Lazzaro, 2004). Emotional activation is known to play a significant role in learning and memorization. On a purely biological level, an individual’s emotional and memory systems, mainly the amygdala and the hippocampus, respectively, are closely interconnected, and memories formed during certain emotionally aroused states could therefore be more easily recalled from memory (Sylwester, 1994; Brosch et al., 2013). Additionally, our attention tends to prioritize information that could somehow be emotionally relevant to us (Brosch et al., 2013). Experiencing positive emotions is also known to broaden the scope of human attention (Fredrickson and Branigan, 2005), suggesting that the ability to focus on more informational material and possibly also comprehend it more fully is increased. Positive emotions such as amusement and excitement are furthermore cited among the most common emotional occurrences during gameplay (Bateman, 2008), meaning that games could foster learning by broadening attention through emotional activation.
While the role of emotions is important in certain aspects of learning, it is largely neglected in educational game-based research (Wilkinson, 2013). Game-based social and emotional learning has been shown to be highly motivating, especially for younger learners (Hromek, 2009). Additionally, games can create powerful scenes that allow the player to experience emotionally charged events in a simulated virtual environment. This could, potentially, prepare the players for a real-life equivalent of this situation. Some games such as That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games, 2016) which thematically introduces the player to a child’s fight against cancer, are designed especially to provide such emotional journeys for the player to experience and gain insight from.
The Importance of Social Interaction
The ability to initiate some form of social interaction (e.g., cooperation, socialization, and competition) in games has been shown to significantly predict game enjoyment across a wide range of disciplines (e.g., Malone and Lepper, 1987; Bartle, 1996; Jennett et al., 2008; Fu et al., 2009). Games that teach language skills, for example, are shown to be effective when the opportunity to socialize and interact through the game environment is encouraged (Berns et al., 2013, p. 29). Additionally, female players (Hartmann and Klimmt, 2006) and the elderly (IJsselsteijn et al., 2007) are more likely to find gameplay enjoyable if they are given the opportunity for social interaction. Based on these findings, environmentally oriented games would do well to integrate a social arena through which the players can interact with each other.
Learning Outcomes
Once the gameplay stage is finished it is likely that a well-designed educational game, regardless of the subject it is designed to teach, should result in some form of learning outcome for the player. The nature of these learning outcomes will likely depend on what the game is designed to accomplish; some games merely increase a subject’s knowledge or awareness of a specific topic, while others provide tools and procedural instructions on how to solve certain problems or change the player’s behavior in a desired direction.
Semantic and Episodic Knowledge Gain
Games have been shown to affect an individual’s cognitive structure on a wide variety of levels, ranging from spatial cognition (Feng et al., 2007) to certain elements of visual processing (Green and Bavelier, 2007). One of the more intriguing aspects of educational games is their ability to impact the human declarative memory. Tulving (1972, 1985) divided the human declarative memory into two interconnected parts; the semantic and the episodic memory. Semantic memory revolves around the perception, use and understanding of words in a meaningful and coherent fashion, while episodic memory contains information about episodes or events a person has experienced. Alterations in the human memory happens after repeated exposure to various types of information, and information campaigns are decidedly one of the most common strategies in environmental communication as a consequence (Klöckner, 2015, p. 164). Furthermore, information is one of the key factors leading to environmental action (Hines et al., 1986/1987). Studies show that playing specific types of games can lead to such alterations in the hippocampal area and thus the episodic memory (Clemenson and Stark, 2015). Similar results are found in more semantically oriented games where the goal is to acquire knowledge about language, especially when central player enjoyment factors are identified by the participants themselves (Butler, 2015).
Increased Perceived Behavioral Control
Perceived behavioral control refers to the perceived ease or difficulty of performing some sort of behavior (Ajzen, 2002), and is shown to significantly predict the intention to engage in pro-environmental actions (Bamberg and Möser, 2007). A closely related psychological phenomenon, locus of control, refers to an individual attributing their ability to bring about change either by themselves (internal) or through factors such as governmental structure or significant others (external) (Hines et al., 1986/1987). Showing how to perform a desired behavior has a tendency to reduce the perceived difficulty of a task, as well as increasing the PBC over it (Klöckner, 2015, p. 165). Games have the distinct advantage over other forms of media in that not only are they capable of displaying the potential effects of behavior change visually, but they also allow the player to be in control of the situation through their in-game characters and personas. Assuming the role of a virtual character while immersed in an environmental game might provide the player with a new arena through which they can gain an understanding of how to overcome environmental barriers. Playing educational games can also, for some individuals with a high level of external locus of control, lead to an increase in internal locus of control and behavioral intention (Yang et al., 2016). In environmental psychology, the effectiveness of behavioral interventions greatly increases when they attempt to remove barriers for behavioral change (e.g., Steg and Vlek, 2009), which educational games are apt to do through visually displaying the tools the player needs in order to overcome such barriers. Providing tools that make pro-environmental behaviors easier is shown to have a lasting effect in other studies (e.g., Thøgersen, 2009).
Additionally, games often contain colorful characters that the player can identify with or digital avatars that the player can assume the role of (Klimmt et al., 2009). While they didn’t test for the role of self-efficacy, Fox and Bailenson (2009) found that participants in a virtual environment would work out more in real life if they observed their similarly designed digital avatars doing it first. A different experiment concluded that taking on the role of a superhero in a virtual reality game caused more prosocial behavior in the participants, likely due to how embodying superpowers in the game briefly shifted the participants’ self-concept into someone who is likely to exhibit these traits (Rosenberg et al., 2013). Some researchers also suggest that an individual tends to experience an in-game narrative more positively than didactic instructions about how to act in a given context. In health research, for example, a person is more likely to integrate their vivid and direct in-game character’s positive experiences toward a healthier lifestyle than when they merely receive basic instructions on how to become healthier (Lu et al., 2012).
ENED-GEM Case Study – Fate of the World
In order to provide preliminary validation for the ENED-GEM, a case study of the environmental PC game Fate of the World (Roberts, 2011) was conducted. The game was chosen due to being a rather scientifically accurate example in its representation of the climate system, as well as featuring a high level of difficulty and focus on learning about the environment in general (Klöckner, 2015, p. 199). Before initializing the information gathering stage, an application asking for permission to use informant data from the Steam platform was sent to the NSD (Norwegian Center for Research Data) for approval. NSD approved the project, under the terms that the reviewers had to be contacted by the researchers if their reviews were to be cited individually. Steam does not allow communication between members who have not yet added each other to their lists of acquainted players, however, and as a result communication with the reviewers became impossible. The reviews were therefore analyzed collectively, so as to not identify individual reviewers. This form of collective analysis falls under NSD’s guidelines for approval.
The reviews from a popular gaming client (Steam, 2016a) were collectively analyzed in order to gain an understanding of which elements in Fate of the World did and did not provide game enjoyment and if the elements included in the ENED-GEM could be identified in how reviewers refer to one example of a complex environmental computer game. Additionally, one of the researchers played through two of the game’s scenarios in order to gain an understanding of the game’s mechanics and interface. This process took 2.5 h, and was conducted on a brand new stationary gaming computer in order to ensure that the game ran as smoothly as possible. It should also be noted that the version played by the researcher did not include the downloadable expansion known as Fate of the World: Tipping Point, which features a scalable difficulty curve in the form of an “Easy Mode” (Steam, 2016b).
Fate of the World
Fate of the World (FotW) is an award-winning digital card-based global strategy game (Steam, 2016a). Released in 2011, it was created as a joint effort between independent game developer Red Redemption and Oxford University as an attempt to educate the public about the effects of global warming on humanity and the planet as a whole (Soothsayer Games, 2017). In the game, the player takes on the role of GEO (Global Environmental Organization) in order to implement worldwide policies and projects that are intended to prevent environmental disasters such as droughts, famines, and epidemics from happening. These policies are presented to the player in the form of cards, where each card has a different effect on the progression of the game. Every time a set of cards (policies) are chosen, the player must proceed to the next round in order for the cards to take effect. Going from one round to the next makes the game move forward in time (5 years each round), and the player normally wins if they have completed their in-game tasks before a specific deadline. Depending on how the player chooses to use these cards, the 12 nations of the world (China, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, Middle East, North America, Northern Africa, Oceania, Russia, South Asia, and Southern Africa) will either praise or resent the GEO’s decisions. If a nation becomes too resentful of the policies in play, the GEO will lose control over that nation and can no longer interact with it. Losing too much support from the various nations will cause the player to lose the game. In order to win the game, the player has to complete a set of goals that are unique for each scenario or level of the game. In one scenario (The Rise of Africa), increasing the HDI (Human Development Index) of North and South Africa to 0.7 or greater is the only requirement necessary to win. In another scenario (3°) the player needs to reach a specific deadline (the year 2200) with global warming below 3°, while simultaneously keeping a close attention to the world’s HDI and avoiding the loss of landmark species. The game features nine scenarios in total, ending with the Dr. Apocalypse scenario where the goal is to raise the global temperature without losing control of the 12 nations1.
In addition to these nine scenarios, the Steam version of FotW features a set of 32 achievements (trophies obtained after completing specific tasks in the game) available to the player, ranging from simply completing each of the scenarios to globally banning coal and even causing global thermonuclear war (Steam, 2016a).
Reviews
Up until June 13th 2016, the full set of available user reviews of FotW on the popular gaming platform Steam (N = 249) were analyzed in order to gain a general understanding of the game’s perceived pros and cons. The reviews are public, and can be accessed both through the Steam platform itself as well as through any form of Internet browser (Steam, 2016a). Out of the 249 available reviews, approximately 77% (N = 192) rated the game as an overall positive experience. Collectively, the 192 reviewers who rated the game positively had spent a total of 4604.7 h (M = 23,98) playing the game. By contrast, the 57 reviewers who rated the game negatively had spent a total of 577.1 h (M = 10,12) playing. Eleven reviews were written based on the beta version of the game as it went through development, and as such will be excluded from this analysis due to potential significant differences between the unfinished and finished versions. Other reviews were largely vague or generalized opinions about the game as a whole, featuring only short statements such as “good game” or “not fun,” and thusly did not contribute sufficient information to be included in the final analysis. Furthermore, there are no separate review forums for the original FotW and its expansion, Fate of the World: Tipping Point. It is therefore likely that some of the reviews are based on the original game, whereas others are not. Furthermore, any sociodemographic variables about the reviewers are unavailable, thus making it impossible to ascertain any differences in opinion based on these constructs.
Procedure
First, a short text was published on FotW’s Steam forums to inform the reviewers about the research taking place, as well as to give them the opportunity to withdraw their review from the collective analysis (Motsaenggin, 2016). To prevent the risk of identifying users, the reviews were analyzed collectively rather than individually. This was done in compliance with guidelines from NSD (Norsk Samfunnsvitenskapelig Datatjeneste) regarding the ethical treatment of informants in social science research. Statements about FotW contained within the reviews were then entered into an Excel spreadsheet, and listed according to how frequently specific aspects of the game were mentioned across the user base.
Thematic Categories
Due to the usage of public reviews in this study, the informants were not tasked with answering questions from the researchers. The platform where the reviews are submitted (Steam) does not allow direct communication between users who are not added to each others’ friends-lists. Consequentially, it would be impossible to conduct interviews with the informants in this setting. Statements that coincided frequently were arranged into thematic categories by one of the lead researchers in an Excel spreadsheet by hand, and analyzed in accordance with existing guidelines for thematic analysis provided by Braun and Clarke (2006). Data extracts from these statements were utilized as codes, and subsequently linked together to form themes. The most frequently recurring positive statements about the game were challenge (48), thought-provoking content about the environment (19), realism (10) and that the game appeared to be generally well-designed (6). More negatively oriented reviewers were more apt to describe the game as unintuitive in terms of layout (12), too difficult (11), in need of a sandbox mode (9) as well as being boring to look at (8). After sorting the individual arguments found in the reviews of FotW into an Excel spreadsheet and counting the number of recurring arguments, a total of three main thematic categories were found to be relevant for the ENED-GEM framework. Other thematic categories, while interesting, did not occur a sufficient number of times to be included in the final analysis. Other arguments were so closely related to the overall theme of other categories, and were therefore fused together with these in order to avoid loss of valid information. The following section is dedicated to highlighting each of the three identified main themes, and to relate these findings back to the theory presented in the first half of the article.
Theme 1: Challenging or Impossible?
Out of the 249 reviews that were analyzed, a total of 59 mentioned the game’s difficulty level. Forty-eight users praised the level of difficulty by generally wording it positively (e.g., “fairly challenging” or “difficult”), while 11 users considered the high level of difficulty to be more negative, using terms such as “frustrating” or “impossible to beat.” Several reviewers mentioned that their implemented in-game strategies seemed to fail constantly regardless of how they played their cards, and some users eventually felt depressed or bored with the game as a consequence. Some of the positively inclined reviewers were also openly stating that the game’s difficulty level might alienate some players who did not feel comfortable facing off against it, and that a large degree of strategic gameplay was required to overcome it.
According to flow theory, the level of optimal difficulty is important both in regards to game-based learning (Hamari et al., 2016) as well as perceiving the game as fun or immersive (Schell, 2008, p. 118). Failure to make the game optimally challenging for a large crowd of players could result in the game being put down and, as a consequence, for any learning outcomes to remain absent. Should the player be given the option of adjusting the level of difficulty according to his or her skill level in the game it is more likely that the player would remain in a flow state, and thus learn more from the gameplay session due to a more even dispersion of cognitive resources between enjoying the game and focusing attention toward the game’s educational properties. A high level of difficulty could also result in the player’s attention being directed toward other aspects of the game rather than the educational properties, such as implementing strategies to avoid losing the current scenario or the support of 1 of the 12 major nations. The high challenge level could also cause a lower degree of PBC in that the player generates an understanding of the world as “unsalvageable” or “doomed,” due to implementing strategies that fail to fulfill the requirements for winning the game’s different scenarios.
While the general challenge level of FotW’s planned sequel is set to be lower (Soothsayer Games, 2015), a high degree of challenge could also lead to repeated play. Repeated play is generally an indication that while the game is highly challenging, there are elements of immersion and motivation present that generate an interest in reattempting to beat the game rather than to give up. Additionally, repeated play allows for players to establish a complex connection between the game world and the real world (Bogost, 2010, p. 236). It is likely determined by highly subjective reasons, although a flow state has to occur before repeated play is initiated. As explained earlier, flow is the sphere of optimal difficulty where the individual has achieved a good balance between the difficulty of the task being performed and their current task skill level (Johnson and Wiles, 2003). In flow theory, the enjoyment one gets from performing a task is heavily presumed, but the difficulty of the task and the level of skill exhibited by the individual performing the task have received considerably greater attention in the literature.
Regarding the occurrence of voluntary repeated play, one can infer that the player perceives the game as fun in general, a demonstrably important element in commercially successful yet frustrating games such as the Dark Souls series. In this adventure game series the player faces punishingly difficult challenges from the very beginning of the game, and the challenge level rises steeply as the player progresses through the game world. Beating the Dark Souls games conventionally requires a deep and complex understanding of the game’s mechanics, and it encourages repeated play by letting the player experiment with how to overcome the game’s obstacles, such as by equipping different weapons and armor when facing enemies with certain strengths and weaknesses, or even summoning other players to help them out in battle. By introducing these enjoyable and motivating elements into the game, the player will likely be motivated to keep playing and to memorize recurring patterns that are featured within the game’s theme. In educational games about the environment it is likely that player enjoyment factors need to be considered as equally important to the game’s difficulty level and the player’s skills in overcoming these difficulties. To summarize, player enjoyment factors likely facilitate a player’s desire to keep playing and increase their skill level, even when facing serious adversity in the game itself.
Theme 2: No Sandbox – No Fun – No Learning!
A recurring complaint among the reviewers is the lack of an in-game sandbox mode. The term “sandbox” in gaming commonly refers to an open world where the player experiences a large degree of freedom in terms of exploring the virtual world present within the game (Bellotti et al., 2009). Reviewers who criticize this lack of personal freedom in the gaming landscape state that the existing interface of the game is boring or takes a long time to get used to, which in turn affected their gameplay experience negatively. This complaint was often made by reviewers who were more occupied by traditional game mechanics than those who gravitated more toward the scientific model the game was based on. The lack of a sandbox mode could, ultimately, terminate the entire gameplay stage of the ENED-GEM framework for individuals who feel that this particular gaming aspect is important, which in turn would be detrimental to any learning outcomes that would normally result from an enjoyable gameplay experience.
For an educational game, being appealing to the player is absolutely fundamental in order for the learning to take place, otherwise it risks being put down before any educational content comes into play (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005). All too often, educational games tend to be perceived as being more dull than commercially successful games (DeNero and Klein, 2010), which could potentially undermine such important factors as flow and immersion during the gameplay stage of the ENED-GEM. A sandbox mode could, therefore, be an important component in creating an immersive game world in which the players can unfold themselves.
When referring to an immersive game world, a sandbox mode can be considered a conglomerate of various player enjoyment factors that are commonly present at the same time in the game setting. It is likely that a desire for a sandbox mode could therefore, by extension, signify a desire for the presence of more traditional gaming elements that positively reinforce game enjoyment. These missing elements constitute a significant part of the gaming experience that facilitates the intrinsic motivation to play, and in FotW’s case includes aspects such as narrative transportation due to the lack of relatable characters as well as the inability to interact with other players. Some of the more highly recognized game enjoyment factors in existing research have been mentioned earlier in this article, but several others are likely to exist. Those factors that are mentioned, however, are often missing in FotW, such as through the lack of interesting characters in the game’s narrative (Hinyard and Kreuter, 2007), an optimal level of difficulty (Malone and Lepper, 1987; Garris et al., 2002) and the option to be able to socialize with other players during gameplay (Malone and Lepper, 1987; Yee, 2006). An environmental game dedicating more resources and attention toward these gaming aspects should, according to research, lead to a higher degree of immersion into the game and higher learning outcomes as a direct consequence.
Theme 3: Educational Game or Depressing Propaganda?
A final central theme emerging from the data were the opposing perceptions of FotW as either a thorough and comprehensive educational game about environmental issues in general on one side, and as depressing propaganda on the other. The reviewers who praised the educational value of the game commonly referred directly to the scientific foundation the game was based upon, whereas the reviewers who wrote the game off as a tool for spreading propaganda generally did so without referring to the science behind the game at all.
Positive reviews of FotW generally reflected the reviewers’ perception of the game as challenging but fair, complex, sophisticated and well-designed. A selection of four individuals from the more positively inclined reviewers also stated that they found it entertaining how you could be sadistic in your gameplay (such as by starting genocides to reduce the world’s carbon emissions), while others described the game as potential fun for “science-obsessed people.” Positive reviews were also more likely to mention that the game was thought-provoking and capable of increasing awareness of environmental issues, while simultaneously giving a realistic depiction of the complexity of the subject matter. A large part of the positive reviews did, however, mention that FotW might be more suitable for individuals who are already interested in the subject matter before gameplay is initiated, and that other players might perceive it as a somewhat confusing and overly difficult strategy game. The more negatively oriented reviews generally reflect this statement.
Negative reviews of FotW describe the game as overly challenging, boring, depressing, and suffering from poor game mechanics. Also, from a total of six reviewers who found the game to be outright depressing, a few of them explicitly noted that they felt a sense of unavoidable doom as a consequence of ever-increasing environmental issues, and that no matter the strategy they implemented in the game to prevent said environmental issues from happening they seemed to lose the scenario regardless. It is possible to assume, based on the tone of these reviews, that the depressing reality portrayed in the game has led to some of the players being left with a reduced PBC in regards to certain pro-environmental actions. The players are commonly faced with environmental issues of varying intensity during gameplay, and are left with a sense that “nothing works” or “we are doomed anyway” when their strategies to counteract these issues fail. This is reminiscent of learned helplessness, a phenomenon in which individual efforts to circumvent an unpleasant situation decrease when the situation is perceived as uncontrollable (Abramson et al., 1978). To prevent such learned helplessness in educational games about the environment, it is important to avoid introducing too much information to the player at once. Instead, the game should focus on introducing the player gradually to the environmental issues that the world is facing. Failure to do so would likely result in information overload, which is detrimental especially to educational games played on the computer (Chen et al., 2011).
A lower degree of learned helplessness while playing educational games likely suggests a higher degree of PBC. PBC increases when the tools for circumventing a problem are provided (Klöckner, 2015, p. 165), a finding that FotW does not necessarily address. If the players had been given hints about how to counteract the environmental issues as they arise rather than having to read up on one of the game’s many menus to find pointers to a solution, it is likely they would have implemented strategic thinking and problem-solving to overcome the challenge directly. Theoretically speaking, this effect could also be reinforced when an environmental game addresses specific environmental issues rather than the full picture of environmental issues in general, as indicated by research (Sandbrook et al., 2015).
Implications for the ENED-GEM
The initial thematic analysis detailed above provides promising dawning evidence for the relevance and applicability of the ENED-GEM model in educational game design and -research. In future environmental games, it could be important to consider the inclusion of more traditional motivational gameplay elements that draws a larger crowd of players into the gameplay stage, such as the inclusion of a sandbox mode with a narrative, quests, and characters. This might give the player a greater sense of autonomy and options to act in the game world, shaping it according to their own gameplay strategies.
Accounting for the individual components of the ENED-GEM, the reviews suggested that a large part of the players benefitted from immersion, flow and emotional activation during the gameplay stage. Positively inclined reviewers stated that they found the game to be an overall pleasant experience, particularly due to it being well-designed, fairly challenging and thought-provoking. It is difficult to say whether narrative transportation played a significant effect on the players, in particular due to FotW’s relative lack of focus on a concrete storyline and relatable characters. The game also does not feature any form of multiplayer mode, thus making any measurements on social interaction between players impossible. Additionally, due to the Steam platform’s account privacy guidelines, it is difficult to check for gender effects since players are not required to list their gender in their user profiles. Lastly the reviews contain no statements that directly suggest increased PBC, although a total of 19 reviewers state that the game generally “made them think” about environmental issues. 10 reviewers also stated that the game made them think explicitly about the complexity of environmental topics, thus suggesting on a very basic level that they benefitted from increased knowledge about the environment through their gameplay.
The game seemed to appeal particularly to the achiever and killer player types (Bartle, 1996). Achievers played FotW due to their love for the game’s high difficulty level, and were more apt to praise rather than criticize the demanding challenges that the game provided them with. They did, however, also place special emphasis on the fact that they understood how the difficulty could alienate other players, and commonly recommended FotW only to other players who were already accustomed to difficult games. In the case of the killer-type players, they generally seemed to recommend the game for purposes other than being environmentally friendly, such as the Dr. Apocalypse scenario. They also rated the game highly due to how certain game mechanics allowed them to be overly sadistic, such as by lowering the game world’s carbon emissions by killing off the majority of the population.
The ENED-GEM framework also supports existing research on intrinsic motivational elements in games, and their effect on player enjoyment. Reviewers who found FotW to be a positive gameplay experience tended to describe the game as more enjoyable, and in some cases even more educational than their more negatively minded counterparts. Positively inclined reviewers were also more likely to engage in repeated play than negatively oriented reviewers. One possible explanation for this is that more environmental-minded players are more capable of suspending their disbelief and outright accepting certain lacking game mechanics than less environmental-minded players in favor of a theme or subject matter they are occupied with from before. Less environmental-minded players are likely just looking for a more traditional gameplay experience where they can become immersed, unfold themselves in the game world, solve quests, implement their favored strategies to overcome challenges, interact with intriguing characters and perhaps also form a social network with other players. FotW’s general structure likely does not fulfill these needs for some players and, as a consequence, might alienate players who are less interested in environmental issues from before.
While the number of learning outcomes identified in the FotW reviews were limited, it is highly likely that other forms of learning could take place when playing environmental games. Some games, for instance, utilize the concept of roleplay and avatar customization, where the player is free to design and act out the role of a digital self that is separate from his or her real-life equivalent. A player’s avatar often has entirely different values, morals, attitudes, and beliefs than the player does, depending on how the avatar is designed and the whims of the player. However, such forms of roleplay have been shown to be effective in changing real-life attitudes in accordance with the role being enacted (Janis and King, 1954; Elms, 1966; Fox and Bailenson, 2009). Based on these findings, a player scoring low on pro-environmentalism might experience a consequential positive change in his or her real-life views about the environment when roleplaying a more environmentally friendly character. For research into environmental games featuring these factors, it is highly likely that such role play effects can be observable.
Limitations to the Study
While the initial framework for the ENED-GEM looks promising for use in educational game design and -research, there are limitations in the study that need to be addressed. First, using reviews as informational sources can result in obtaining information only from individuals who felt very strongly, positively, or negatively, about the game. Focusing exclusively on Steam reviews will also result in the lack of knowledge about the sociodemographic variables of the informants due to how the review system is designed, and potential underlying differences in Steam users from other gamers in regards to skill level or personal background could also affect their opinions about the game.
A second limitation of the ENED-GEM framework is the variation in how much support each of the learning aspects get from the statements of the reviewers. While a change toward pro-environmental behavioral intentions is important for eventual behavior change, for example, this factor did not receive much support from the Steam reviews. While some reviewers stated that the game “made them think,” it is difficult to explicitly state that this suggests a change in behavioral intentions rather than, for example, an increased knowledge about environmental issues in general.
A third limitation of the ENED-GEM framework is the lack of research on the effects of gameplay on the procedural memory, which allows individuals to see the connections between stimuli and responses as well as to act adaptively to their environment (Tulving, 1985). Games that focus not only on the environmental issue itself, but also on the processes by which to solve it or attempt to make a difference, are perhaps more likely to be efficient in pushing individuals toward pro-environmental behavior than their knowledge-increasing counterparts. Failure to show the player the connection between the proposed problem and the tools with which to overcome that problem would likely result in a lower degree of PBC (Klöckner, 2015, p. 165). A future inclusion of procedural memory learning outcomes in the ENED-GEM framework might therefore be feasible.
Lastly, while it is not a direct limitation in and of itself, the version of the game played by one of the researchers might differ from the version of the game played by the reviewers. In addition to the official expansion pack known as FotW: Tipping Point, the game also has a series of fan-made mods where the game mechanics are customized to provide a better or more satisfying gameplay experience. A future researcher with technological experience might want to examine these modified versions of the game further in order to obtain a comprehension of how fan-made content could facilitate the gaming experience in educational environmental games.
Future Research
Future research is needed in order to further expand upon the ENED-GEM, and insight from interdisciplinary fields is warranted. A closer examination of the impact of each individual factor in the model on behavioral change intentions is also required. Additionally, applying the ENED-GEM framework to future case studies of environmental games would provide a solid foundation for further validation of the model. Despite this, the initial thematic analysis and suggested ENED-GEM framework holds promising suggestions for future research. There are, however, examples of environmentally oriented educational factors that the ENED-GEM found little evidence for during the FotW case study, and these require further expanding upon as environmental games grow more sophisticated. Examples include the use of games to change a person’s behavioral intentions, the inclusion of crucial environmental communication strategies through the gameplay such as nudging or prompting, and perhaps even more abstract psychological processes such as designing a game that can showcase the effects of the player’s actions directly on their environment, and simultaneously make the player draw a connection from the game world to real-world application. Eco, a game currently under development by Strange Loop Games, features game mechanics where the player’s actions all carry some form of consequence for his or her surrounding nature. One example is water pollution, where leftover waste from the game’s mining system seeps into surrounding bodies of water and thus having a large negative impact on the game’s plant and animal life (Strangeloopgames.com, 2016).
This article used the award-winning game Fate of the World as a case study, but environmental games are growing more sophisticated by the day. Current projects that hold some promise for future research on the topic of environmental issues and opportunities for change include digital games currently in development such as Eco (Strange Loop Games) as well as board games like CO2 and the Oil Springs scenario of Settlers of Catan (Klaus Teuber).2 The ENED-GEM framework might serve as a useful tool for future researchers wanting to investigate such upcoming projects, especially in regards to the psychological processes that remain active during gameplay and facilitate learning.
Ethics Statement
Ethics committee for approval: NSD (Norsk Samfunnsvitenskapelig Datatjeneste). This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of NSD. NSD deemed the project as exempt from written consent from the participants of the research due to how individual informants were anonymized and the information provided (public reviews of a media product) were analyzed collectively. Informants are entirely anonymous in terms of name, gender, social and cultural background, geographical location and other affiliations.
Author Contributions
KF: Initial idea behind the research topic, literature search, article writing, establishment of the conceptual model (ENED-GEM). Lead author. CK: Advisory function, initial review of article content, general approval of article topic, other supervisory responsibilities. Co-author.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
The reviewer JH and handling Editor declared their shared affiliation, and the handling Editor states that the process nevertheless met the standards of a fair and objective review.
Footnotes
- ^ The exact educational properties of the Dr. Apocalypse scenario is unknown to the authors, and is not made explicit on the developing team’s website. It is possible that it simply serves as a scenario that is designed to test the player’s accumulated skills through several scenarios of gameplay, rather than educate him or her about the environment. Another possibility is that it attempts to educate the player about global warming by having them do the opposite of lowering the global temperature, thus reaching out to other learner- and player types.
- ^ Giochix.it
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Keywords: educational games, environmental games, motivation, immersion, flow, semantic memory, episodic memory, perceived behavioral control
Citation: Fjællingsdal KS and Klöckner CA (2017) ENED-GEM: A Conceptual Framework Model for Psychological Enjoyment Factors and Learning Mechanisms in Educational Games about the Environment. Front. Psychol. 8:1085. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01085
Received: 03 February 2017; Accepted: 12 June 2017;
Published: 28 June 2017.
Edited by:Marc Glenn Berman, University of Chicago, United States
Reviewed by:Julianne B. Herts, University of Chicago, United States
Nicole Sintov, The Ohio State University Columbus, United States
Copyright © 2017 Fjællingsdal and Klöckner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01085/full |
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Persona 5 Royal is the biggest creative leap in the series since at least Persona 3, particularly in gameplay. In addition, it has a plot that is both light and interesting, plenty of content, an exemplary interface design and a coherent audiovisual with a strong personality. The title is recommended to anyone who enjoys both JRPG and social simulation and has more than 100 hours to dedicate to it.
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I have some qualms when it comes to a few technical, artistic and character writing elements, and I feel like the level design could have been more varied and developed from the start, but I have no doubt Lost Eidolons offers, like no other tactical RPG so far a mash-up between Fire Emblem and an immersive, tragic and epic western aesthetic. I hope sequels may explore the Artemesia continent further and make it even more interesting. Ocean Drive Studio's debut game has a solid and consistent audiovisual [aspect], it's well written for its aims and its gameplay should please newbies in the genre (in casual mode) as well as veterans, playing on normal or higher and with permadeath on.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Although with occasional reservations in narrative, gameplay and audiovisual aspects, NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition is a highly creative, ingenious, sensitive and deep game, with many coherent layers. In addition, it manages to be accessible and fun while experimentally integrating its exotic choices of battle, interface, music and others around humanistic and existential issues.
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The DioField Chronicle has an exceptionally accessible progression, brings good customization to the characters, has beautiful concept art and a coherent and characterful audiovisual style. Despite some technical parameters that leave a little to be desired, the script that doesn't flow as well as it could and the level design that is one of the simplest I've ever seen in SRPGs, the balance is still a little more positive. The title is recommended for newcomers to strategy RPGs, but some veterans may feel dissatisfied or a little bored.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Despite again reusing many features of the predecessors in its series and the level design not having evolved (even regressed in some aspects), the audiovisual remains fresh and brings a good balance of previous experiences in the series. In addition, combat is more customizable and the new capture mechanic is worked intelligently and critically into the game's narrative.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Though it lacks some polishment and refinement in the audiovisual aspect and has an underdeveloped level design, Gerda: A Flame in Winter (Switch) offers a good narrative and metanarrative proposal and a satisfactory result when it comes to historical fiction script. It's a shame it doesn't manage to be more immersive, but, due to its strong points, it's a recommendable title for historical fiction adventure fans.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Tyrant’s Blessing has an elegant audiovisual, does an excellent job as a tactical game with strong deductive reasoning appeal, has good progression in its level design and good replay factor with characters with unique abilities. This title is easily recommended to any fan of tactical games, and maybe even to some puzzle enthusiasts, but for RPG players, only if they are inclined to like elements of these other two genres as well.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Despite an undeniable simplicity and superficiality in plot and level design, Live A Live remains interesting and subversive as a JRPG in a highly accessible, varied, creative and fun way. The remake is consistent with the proposal and greatly improves the experience and the technical part. The game is recommended to any JRPG fan.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The main virtue of Endling - Extinction is Forever is that it manages to immerse the player in animal life in an intimate and believable way that few games can. The game is suitable both for lovers of more casual adventures and for those who want to enjoy an immersive narrative experience on one of the most important themes of this century.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
South of the Circle is not visually interesting like the developer's previous work, and the poverty in its scenarios, the character animations that are not valued in that art even with motion capture, as well as the enjoyment of its gameplay, hamper the appreciation of its good history, which is still not without its flaws. On the other hand, the new game from State of Play Games has a competent musical and acting work and art direction, and brings good ideas in its narrative design, both in form and mechanics, approaching the academic environment with sensitivity in a way not much explored in video games and with an appropriate context of historical fiction in a cinematic tone. The game is recommended for adventure fans looking for a more mature narrative experience in romance, post-war historical fiction and academic life. | https://opencritic.com/critic/8089/v-tor-m-costa |
I study the satisfaction and, increasingly, frustration of basic psychological needs in video games. My focus is on how the interaction of personality, contextual, and game design factors affect player experience and longer-term psychosocial outcomes.
Creative Computing
Game Audio
Adrián Barahona-Ríos
Increasing the efficiency in the creation of procedural audio models for video games using DSP and machine learning
Accessibility
Jen Beeston
Player experience researcher exploring the player experiences of people with disabilities in playing games. Interested in social player experiences and the potential for psychological well-being to be derived from play.
Creative Computing
Sebastian Berns
Graphic designer turned AI researcher working on novelty and deep generative models in a computational creativity setting.
Player Research
Valerio Bonometti
Game analytics and player psychology: creating reliable models of player motivation Motivation can be loosely defined as a process of the brain and the mind, capable of driving and deeply shaping human behaviour. Motivational processes are embedded in many everyday life situations, exerting their effects via a wide range of incentive mechanisms and objects....
Game AI
Player Research
Ivan Bravi
Use of Artificial General Intelligence techniques, with particular focus on Statistical Forward Planning, for automatic playtesting through the exploration of the skill/strategic space of the game.
Creative Computing
Terence Broad
Artist and researcher exploring new methods for interacting with generative neural networks and authoring multimedia content. Focussing on the manipulation of pre-trained generative models.
Applied Games
Player Research
Tara Collingwoode-Williams
Researcher in Virtual Reality exploring the psychological impact of the technical setup of embodiment, with a focus on shared virtual environments for learning, health, and productivity.
Design & Development
Player Research
Maximilian Croissant
I’m researching emotion in games, with a special interest in affective interfaces, emotional gameplay, and problem-focused emotion design
Game Audio
Player Research
Igor Dall'Avanzi
Creation of accessible tools for the use of procedural audio in video games The aim of this research is to investigate and provide new tools to developers for the use of procedural audio into video games. Procedural approaches could address different issues that commonly afflict game audio. In music, generative systems are not only less repetitive, but offer more adaptability as well....
Player Research
Rory Davidson
Learning and Strategy Acquisition in Digital Games Given the success and impact of games and the gaming industry, it is unsurprising that it has become the centre of a significant body of academic research and other literature....
Game AI
Kevin Denamganaï
Curiosity-driven PhD Candidate in Deep ((Multi-Agent) Reinforcement/Imitation) Learning. Especially interested in (Natural) Language Emergence & Grounding for Human-Machine Cooperation.
Immersive Technology
Carlos Diaz
Interactive Machine Learning for Motion Control Scheme Design in VR Games. Especially interested in playful ML, VR and sensor-based experiences (Industry Placement at Sony Interactive Entertainment, R&D
Game AI
Cristina Dobre
I’m interested in generating nonverbal behaviour models for social interactions in VR that builds into an emphatic and engaging virtual human (NPC).
Creative Computing
Game Audio
Timea Farkas
Composer and sound artist interested in the effects of music and sound on player experience, focusing on adaptive music matching gameplay in board games.
Applied Games
Game Audio
Player Research
Alex Fletcher
Year 1 game researcher with a background in audio engineering, interested in flow and player experiences in music-based games. Specifically, on designing dynamic difficulty adjustment systems to improve these experiences.
Player Research
Charline Foch
Former humanities student now researching the implications and applications of failure in video games. Especially interested in human-computer interaction, game design, and unusual gaming experiences.
Applied Games
Design & Development
Madeleine Frister
Designer and cognitive psychologist working on serious games for training age-related working memory decline. Especially interested in applications that are visually appealing and intuitive to use. | https://iggi.org.uk/students/2016/carlos-gonzalez-diaz/ |
In honor of the release of Bill White’s and my co-edited volume with McFarland, Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, I am conducting interviews with some of my talented and erudite contributors.
The sixth interview is with role-playing designer, professor and my co-editor Bill White. He co-authored the article in the volume “Role-Playing Communities, Cultures of Play and the Discourse of Immersion” with J. Tuomas Harviainen and Emily Care Boss. In the article, he looks at Nordic and American interpretations of role-playing immersion, contrasting emotionally resonant and creative play/design philosophies and advocating for a bottom-up definition of immersion, based on communities’ play experiences.
Here are my follow-up questions:
1. As a tenured professor in communications, how do you see the field of game studies developing with respect to your field?
This is an interesting question. One of the first things I did when I was thinking about how to shift my research focus to gaming was to try to figure out how the study of games fits into the field of communication, which has a chimerical disciplinary history that interweaves social psychology, political science, classical rhetoric, anthropology, journalism, information science, performance studies, and things even further afield. One scholar has called communication an “archipelago within the university,” meaning that it pops up here and there within the larger intellectual system of the academy. So it’s not clear for any given class of phenomena what is the “proper way” to study it from a communication perspective. What I found was that communication as a field currently sees (digital) gaming primarily as a medium, like radio or television, and at least to date has spent a lot of time worrying about its dysfunctions, like addiction, alienation, and aggression. At least, that’s the stuff that has been published the most; it overlaps considerably with social psychological studies of the impact of media violence.
But I think that’s changing; the “moral panic” over digital games has been blunted by the sheer cultural force of videogames, computer games, and on-line gaming. So communication as a field is adapting to that. I think there’s more interest in understanding the psychological and physiological dimensions of the gaming experience, with an eye toward providing practical information to game designers. In my chapter with Jiituomas and Emily in Immersive Gameplay we mention in passing some of the ways that media scholars are doing that, looking at “passion” and “flow” and “presence” as central elements of the game experience.
At the same time, there are communication scholars who are taking a more cultural perspective on gaming, trying to understand what it means to be a gamer in terms of identity and belonging to a community. This is an approach that I find more congenial to my own interests. The direction that I would like to take, and to find an audience for, would investigate how gamers form “cultures of production” that are engaged in the creation of meaningful aesthetic experience. This is the thing that connects game studies to the study of what Henry Jenkins calls “participatory culture”; Jenkins is known for his studies of science-fiction fandom.
2. How has that slippery term “immersion” changed over time and space?
This is a hard question! The thing that we try to show in our chapter for Immersive Gameplay is how variable are individual understandings of what immersion is. Ron Edwards, one of the founders of the Forge game design discussion site, makes the point that immersion is often used to valorize whatever one finds enjoyable about the gaming experience. So if what you like is the story, you experience a kind of “narrative immersion,” but if playing a different person is what makes you happy, then you enjoy “character immersion,” and so forth.
The one important change that I hope is becoming increasingly prevalent is a rejection of what Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman call “the immersive fallacy” in their magisterial game design text Rules of Play. The immersive fallacy is the idea that the goal of game design is to create experiences that are ever more indistinguishable from reality—that immersion requires a comprehensive sensory experience in which you are literally “immersed.” But that’s not true! Whatever we take immersion to be, we know it can be achieved in circumstances short of complete virtual reality. We don’t need the holodeck to be immersed. So it’s useful to have a term that lets us challenge that assumption.
3. What role do you see academic works such as yours playing within the game design community itself as it stands?
I would like to think that the academic study of gaming can be in dialogue with the practice of game design, that it can provide insights into the gaming experience that enables designers to interrogate their own assumptions about what makes a game, and what makes a game work. In the heyday of the Forge, this sort of thing happened all the time. The theoretical discussions about Creative Agenda and reward cycles led to efforts to create games that explicitly played with those ideas, producing I think some interesting experiments as well as some real innovations.
Of course, Forge theory wasn’t academic; it didn’t have to justify itself in the institutional context of the academy, which is another way of saying that it didn’t have to talk to anyone other than those inside the tabletop RPG community. This makes it harder for academic game studies to “speak to gamers,” because it’s also speaking to other scholars, trying to enlist them in its project, and speaking in front of an institutional audience (i.e., tenure and promotion committees, university administrators) that has to make judgments about the intellectual value of the work.
But here’s my secret hope: that the academic study and criticism of games can move us as gamers to an appreciation of role-playing as art. I see my own work heading in that direction.
4. What games interest you most these days, and how might we go about researching them?
I honestly cannot stop thinking about Traveller. I run a game at cons that I call “Mustering Out Blues,” where the players randomly create their characters, veterans of military service in a galaxy-spanning space empire now suddenly on their own, and are randomly deposited on a planet in search of gainful employment. What are they willing to do in order to make a buck? If they’re offered 100,000 credits to shoot a man in the head with a laser, will they do it? The gameplay is so interesting, because it involves this constant sense-making of random results, forcing a pattern upon what is essentially “noise” in the information science sense. And yet narrative emerges from that! It’s novelistic, in that not much really happens but we get a chance to get inside a character’s head for a while, but it’s a definitely a story. It says something.
As for studying that, I am a big advocate of the close reading of RPG “actual play” transcripts to see how they produce the fiction. This means listening to audio (and maybe video, but I think that’s inessential) and seeing how the game system’s rules and the the table-level player-to-player exchanges produce the imaginary actions and reactions of characters and game world. The result would be an account of the production of a fictional experience as well as an interpretation of the fiction thus produced. I think that might be really interesting.
William J. White is an associate professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State Altoona, where he teaches speech communication and mass media courses. He received a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in communication, information and library studies. His research interests include communication theory and the rhetoric of science and science fiction. He is the designer of the small- press tabletop RPG Ganakagok.
Evan Torner is a Ph.D. candidate in German and film studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is finishing his dissertation on representations of race and the global South in East German genre cinema. As co-editor of Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, he has also written on modernist film, German science-fiction literature and live-action role-playing, and is the official translator of the Filmmuseum Potsdam’s permanent exhibit “The Dream Factory: 100 Years of Babelsberg.”
Immersive Gameplay – Interview with Jussi Holopainen
August 12, 2012
In honor of the release of Bill White’s and my co-edited volume with McFarland, Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, I am conducting interviews with some of my talented and erudite contributors.
The fifth interview is with game scholar Jussi Holopainen. In the volume, he co-authored “First Person Audience and the Art of Painful Role-Playing” with Markus Montola. The article looks at experiences playing the controversial larp GR (2008) in terms of the surprising egalitarianism of shared psychological stress. They find that role-playing games specifically designed to elicit negative emotional experiences are actually considered rewarding by their participants.
Here are my follow-up questions:
Evan Torner – Last decade, you and Staffan Björk released a book called Patterns in Game Design. Could you tell us a little more about your purpose with the book and what you saw as its successes and failures?
Jussi Holopainen – I had been collaborating with Staffan since the end of 90s on experimental game design projects, especially based on ubiquitous and wearable computing principles. As we were doing the design work, we consciously tried to explore which game design suited the technologies the best. In other words, we were doing technology analysis from a game design point of view. While doing this work, we were getting frustrated about the lack of proper conceptual frameworks for game design and decided to develop our own. This framework development eventually resulted in the “game design patterns” approach. So we initially wanted to build a tool for ourselves, but then realized that the patterns approach would, if published, benefit both the game development and game studies fields.
The patterns material has mainly been used as a tool for analysis in a number of game research projects, whereas the adoption in the game industry has been limited. I guess that the patterns are more useful in analysis than in the day-to-day design work itself – although, of course, analysis is always a part of game design work process. I have not been that active in game design patterns work for some years now, as my interests have shifted somewhat, but Staffan has continued the work. Staffan is also the main force behind http://gdp2.tii.se/, a wiki-site dedicated to refining and expanding the patterns collection.
To sum it up: the main success is that the patterns approach is useful for analysis of game design, but that using it as an actual tool for game design itself has been a bit problematic.
ET – If you were going to re-write Patterns of Game Design based on the patterns you’ve found up until 2012, what would you add and/or change?
JH – It is not about the new or old patterns as such, but I would like to have a different overall structure to them. At the moment, we have patterns for goal structures, actions etc. but not a real coherent hierarchy or structure. Something like having a hierarchy akin to MDA (Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics) and basing at least some of the aesthetics layer patterns in existing frameworks for human emotion and understanding (e.g., Ortony, Clore, Collins: The Cognitive Structure of Emotions and Lakoff-Johnson’s work on metaphor would be suitable candidates). Actually, that started to sound like a project. I have to talk to Staffan. We will keep you posted on the upcoming revised game design patterns book!
ET – What books should prospective game designers and/or game studies scholars be reading in order to best prepare themselves for the field?
JH – Patterns in Game Design, obviously! Well, there are also some books around which better prepare for the game design or game studies work in a more comprehensive manner. Salen & Zimmerman’s Rules of Play and the follow-up anthology Game Design Reader are both extremely valuable sources of information for both game design and game studies. For more practical game design work, I would recommend Tracy Fullerton’s Game Design Workshop and Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design. Ernest Adams and Joris Dorman’s Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design is also a valuable contribution to the field of game design. Perhaps a bit less well-known but very comprehensive and enjoyable book about game design is Aki Järvinen’s doctoral dissertation “Games without Frontiers.” It is availble for download at http://acta.uta.fi/english/teos.php?id=11046 and is in my opinion one of the best pieces of work on game design research ever.
JH – Perhaps the best introduction to these issues is the paper Jaakko Stenros, Annika Waern & Markus Montola (2012): “Studying the Elusive Experience in Pervasive Games.” Even though they are discussing mainly pervasive games, many – if not all – of the issues are relevant to larp research as well. The ephemeral nature of larps is to blame and especially the first-person audience: that each of the players in a larp will have their own distinctive experience which can be drastically different from the other players’ experiences. This makes it really difficult for the researchers to get a comprehensive view about the player experience of any given larp. I am currently interested in using methods such as psychophysiological measurements and eye-tracking in combination with the usual interviews and video analysis for investigating the players’ experiences in larps. They might turn out to be too invasive and burdensome for useful research and also extremely difficult to generalize, but I would like to at least try them out.
JH – I doubt that larps will ever be as culturally pervasive as film or even theater. The main reason, I guess, is that larps tend to be cognitively, socially and affectionally (sometimes even physically) very demanding and many – if not most – people find very demanding entertainment (and art) out of their league. And if you make a larp less-demanding enough, it tends not to be about live role-playing anymore, but some kind of low participation theater. So somewhat paradoxically, a demanding larp will not get to be mainstream and a non-demanding larp is not a larp anymore!
JH – Sheesh, I was expecting easy questions! I do not think there is a common decisive factor relevant for all kinds of larps. It is more about the player’s personality and expectations about the larp, including peer commenting, available information about the larp itself, organizers’ previous larps, who is going to attend the larp and so on. For me, personally, the most important things are that the larp does not require much investment into physical items (e.g., having to make your own chain mail) and there are people I know who are also attending or running the larp. This also means that for lazy and shy people like myself, these are going to be the most important factors. I guess it is about feeling secure and comfortable socially even though the theme and the events in the larp itself could be extreme. For example, I guess most people would not like to play GR for the first time with complete strangers.
Jussi Holopainen is a Finnish game scholar whose main research focus has been on design and player experience principles for games of all kinds. He has long worked at the Nokia Research Center in Tampere. His publications include Patterns in Game Design co-authored with Staffan Björk and numerous conference and journal papers as well as various book chapters.
Evan Torner is a Ph.D. candidate in German and film studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is finishing his dissertation on representations of race and the global South in East German genre cinema. As co-editor of Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, he has also written on modernist film, German science-fiction literature and live-action role-playing, and is the official translator of the Filmmuseum Potsdam’s permanent exhibit “The Dream Factory: 100 Years of Babelsberg.”
Immersive Gameplay – Interview with Todd Nicholas Fuist
July 29, 2012
In honor of the release of Bill White’s and my co-edited volume with McFarland, Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, I am conducting interviews with some of my talented and erudite contributors.
The fourth interview is with sociologist Todd Nicholas Fuist. His article in the volume “The Agentic Imagination: Tabletop Role-Playing Games as a Cultural Tool” offers the notion of “agentic imagination” to explain the social interactions that pivotally shape narrative and identity within tabletop role-playing games. The essay combines ethnographic data with speculations about broader implications of role-playing research on the gaming hobby.
Here are my follow-up questions:
Evan Torner – In your article for Immersive Gameplay, you discuss a concept called “agentic imagination.” What is that exactly, and how does it help us understand how role-playing games work?
Todd Nicholas Fuist – The “agentic imagination” is a theoretical concept I have been developing out of my research on gaming. In the piece in Immersive Gameplay, I specifically describe it as “the active ability of social actors to shape their identities through immersive imagination.” There are two things you need to know as background to understand the concept, so I’ll talk about those first:
a) Some of this concept references the notion that, in sociology, we tend to think in terms of “agency” and “structure.” Structure is what is “hard” in social life: class position, the legal system, economics, politics, institutions, etc. It’s often defined as the things that pattern our behavior, relationships, and expectations. Agency, on the other hand, is what social actors can do on their own: free choice, independent thinking, being able to break out of the structures of society, so to speak. Sometimes these concepts are pitted against each other, as in “agency vs. structure.” This is a problematic way to approach it: agency and structure are two sides of the same coin. Agency only makes sense in a world that is structured, and structure only has meaning and relevancy if people can push against the edges of it sometimes.
b) The concept also draws on the sociological understanding of “identity.” Identity is, in sociology, largely about identification with social groups and how your particular pattern of identifications makes you both different from others as well as recognizable to others as a certain “kind” of person. With regard to gaming, one could say that “identification” with gaming as a hobby and a culture provides some of your “identity,” giving you and others a sense for who you are. As such, “identity” doesn’t refer to some kind of fundamental, static, core being. Your identity, in sociology, is an ongoing social process that requires active identification, either by you or others, to be a thing.
Now that we have the background, we can talk about the concept a little bit more.
I am, obviously, drawing on the idea of agency for the concept of the agentic imagination. Where does agency come from? Conversely, what stifles agency? I would strongly argue that part of what is required for agency is the ability to have some sense of how things are and how they could be. This requires a bit of a reading, perhaps an intuitive one, perhaps a conscious one, of both social structure and identity. A person might think “I am poor. I know this because the things that are unavailable to me that seem to be available to other people who live in different parts of the city than me.” That’s a reading of both social structure and identity. This person may also think “However, if I were to attend college, I could get a degree and become successful and change my lot in life.” Their ability to think and do this would represent their agency.
I would argue, however, that a large part of the background of agency comes through the ability to imagine. Can you imagine a different world? What about a different life for yourself? Can the hypothetical person in the example above imagine themselves as a doctor or an executive? Many social movements, I would suggest, have been predicated on the idea that “Another World is Possible” (to borrow the motto of the World Social Forum). The Feminist Movement, for example, involved women (and eventually men as well) imagining a world where women were able to participate in society in ways they currently were not. In my dissertation research, on progressive religious groups, a woman who is a member of the woman priest movement within Catholicism told me how soul-crushing it was to feel called to be a priest when she was a little girl but never see the female form represented on the altar or hear a woman’s voice saying mass. It was literally “unimaginable” that she could be a priest. When she heard about the woman priest movement, her perspective was radically shifted and she could suddenly imagine herself as a priest. Now, she says mass regularly at an alternative Catholic community.
This circles back around to the concept and what it has to do with role-playing. As the example above suggests, imagination is a powerful tool for shaping our identities and, as such, our ability to act in the social world. We envision possible futures, different versions of our self, and ways the world could be different. Role-playing games are a fascinating place to observe and practice this sort of agentic imagination.
One theme that has emerged through the interviews I have conducted for this project is that gamers use role-playing to “try on” various selves, model different ways of behaving, work through personal issues, connect with ideas bigger than themselves, and prefiguratively live out alternative social realities. While I’m not so naive to suggest that role-playing will end oppression or usher in some kind of new utopia, I was consistently intrigued by how many people reported to me being able to come to real understandings about who they are, what their social positioning is, how they feel about social problems, etc., through role-playing. As such, while I don’t believe that imagination is all it takes to change social structures, I do believe that imagination has liberatory potential, and the kinds of things that we feel capable of imagining shape the sorts of ways we conceptualize the world. As such, the creation of liminal spaces, such as is done when groups of people get together to role-play, where these sorts of imaginations can flow freely are potential sites of renewal and resistance for people.
ET – As a sociologist, what do you think the emerging field of game studies does well, and what could it do better?
TNF – I don’t profess to be an expert on game studies, but my exposure to it, through the International Journal of Role-Playing, the Game Studies Journal, and various books, suggests that game studies has two main strengths:
a) Authors in game studies seem to be doing some sophisticated theorizing. In my piece for Immersive Gameplay, I cite pieces by Arjoranta, Balzar, Hitchens and Drachen, and Montola that feature some interesting and useful theorizing.
b) Additionally, work in game studies seems enviably interdisciplinary. Many sub-disciplines would be thrilled to have people from so many different fields actively collaborating on their area of study.
Having said that, as a sociologist, I tend to want theorizing grounded in as much empirical data as possible, and I do feel that game studies could, as an emerging field, use more empirical research, particularly more interviews and participant-observation. I see a lot of gaming studies research that looks at the games themselves (i.e. examining the content a particular game) or theorizing out of what appears to be the author’s personal gaming experience. There’s nothing wrong with this, but gaming is a broad and varied hobby and, following audience studies media theorists such as Henry Jenkins and Ien Ang, it seems to me that we do ourselves a favor by concentrating more on the actual experiences of people who game. I would recommend Sarah Lynne Bowman’s book The Function of Role-Playing Games for a good example of qualitative empirical work into gaming.
ET – Participant-observer studies appear to be one of the best ways to do sociological work on RPGs. Are there other methodologies we could be using?
TNF – I had not really thought about this much prior to you asking this question, but something leapt immediately to mind when you asked this. In sociology, some researchers use a method called photo elicitation. This usually involves having someone take pictures of important things in their life (for example, you may ask someone to take a photo of ten things in their life that are important for their religious beliefs) and then the researcher would go through the photos with the subject, having them explain each one in turn. The idea is that this puts some power of interpretation in the hands of the interviewee and moves it away from the researcher. A researcher might ask “how do you feel when you go to church,” for example, assuming that “church” is where this person is “religious.” By asking, instead, “show me pictures of important religious things in your life,” you may find that “church” is not where this person feels religious, but other place, such as nature, their bedroom, or at work.
It seems like you could do a similar thing with gaming, but as opposed to using pictures, use gaming artifacts such as character sheets, maps, dice, and gaming books. In my research, I tend to argue that culture is best understood as being “embedded” in objects, relationships, and practices. Put simply, we tend to understand culture through things. As such, I think that interviewing someone about gaming is interesting, but actually having them pull their favorite gaming books or character sheets off their shelf and explain, say, why these particular books are their favorite, what they have meant in their life, etc. would be very revealing. I suspect that gaming artifacts like books and characters sheets, like many objects, are very much containers of relationships, culture, memories, and practices and may provide interesting data on the role gaming plays in people’s lives and how it shapes their social world and biography. This could also, as with photo elicitation, minimize the researcher’s understanding of what gaming is supposed to look like, feel like, and be about, and privilege the understanding of interviewee.
ET – How do you see RPGs as folk art and oral culture interacting with other wider social movements across the United States and, if I may, the world right now? Is there some kind of dialog between role-playing and the Occupy movement, for example?
TNF – That’s a really interesting question, and to be honest, I have no idea if there’s actual dialogue going on between any movements and the role-playing world. Having said that, I can see some points where I can imagine points of contact would be, including within the work I am doing.
“Play” and “storytelling” broadly, has become a big part of cutting edge research into social movements. I’m thinking in particular here of the work of Benjamin Shepard who wrote a book called Play, Creativity, and Social Movements: If I Can’t Dance it’s Not My Revolution, drawing on the wonderful Emma Goldman quote, as well as work by Francesca Polletta on storytelling in movements, particularly her book It was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics. This work tends to discuss a number of things, but a predominant theme is how play and storytelling bring emotions into social movement participation. Playful protest can diffuse tension at a high stakes protest, it can provide a bit of levity while dealing with difficult issues, and it can dramatize people’s experiences in a way that opens the space for multiple and varied interpretations, creating dialogue around issues.
Many social movements, I would suggest, already have a role-playing aspect built in. I remember being at a mass protest event in Buffalo, New York in 2001 and at the convergence center where all the activists were meeting people were doing training that involved playing out scenarios such as peacefully confronting police officers and dealing with a combative news reporter. The idea was that we would build up the skills necessary to be able to handle these difficult situations when they happened if we tried them out in a safe space, first.
This suggests a point of connection between movement activity and role-playing, related to what I was talking about with the agentic imagination in the piece in Immersive Gameplay. Nina Eliasoph, a sociologist of social movements, analyzes how important talk about politics is in her book Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life. What she finds that is so interesting is that people want to talk politics with each other, but often lack the spaces to do so. In my piece for Immersive Gameplay, I argue that gaming can provide safe, liminal spaces that are not “real” in that they take place in the shared imagined space of the game, but also not totally “fake” in that they represent actual interactions people are having with each other. It seems to me that these sorts of liminal, in-between, spaces are ideal contexts for serious talk about politics to happen, not necessarily in the way Eliasoph studies (linking the experiences of individuals to larger structural realities) but perhaps in the way Shepard and/or Polletta may understand (creating complex narratives that channel emotion and make room for dialogue). Part of what I suggest in the piece on the agentic imagination is that my interviewees were often able to work through complicated personal and social issues such as racism, sexism, and sexual identity through play in the safe space of role-playing.
On the gaming side of things, what games have this sort of liberatory potential? Theoretically, all of them, but I’d like to highlight a few. Robert Bohl’s science-fiction game Misspent Youth is very clearly designed to trigger the righteous indignation of the players. Players will spend the game feeling helpless before a powerful authority, as well as experience the excitement of direct action against that authority as the game progresses. Julia Bond Ellingboe’s Steal Away Jordan is designed to create a similar sense of feeling constrained by authority. Unlike Misspent Youth, however, Ellingboe’s game deals with the very real history of slavery in the southern U.S. I can imagine almost no better game for people to create stories where they develop empathy and experience powerful emotions with regard to a social issue than Steal Away Jordan. Joshua A.C. Newman’s game Shock allows players to create an alternate reality to exist in during the game, either dystopian or utopian, and provides rules to specifically explore the social consequences of living in such a world. If, as I suggest, imagination is an important component of liberation, then the ability to explore alternative realities and feel how they would be different than our own is a valuable tool. Finally, while I have little personal experience with them myself, I’ve heard some talk about jeepform games, which seem to place a high premium on immersively exploring a central theme. Having said all this, as mentioned in my piece in Immersive Gameplay, one of my participants said they learned about racism through playing Dungeons & Dragons. While I would suggest that certain games are more geared towards creating the kinds of liminal spaces I’m discussing here, I do believe that almost any space where people are given free reign to use their imaginations can develop liberatory potential.
To conclude and return to the original question, I would say that while I am unaware of any direct contact between social movements and role-playing, there does seem to be a number of places where social movements are exploring play and storytelling and role-playing games are confronting social and political issues. If there is any direct connection, say a social movement group that actively incorporates gaming into their work, I’d love to hear about it. If not, however, I can certainly imagine that the kinds of spaces fostered by role-playing games could have the kind of liberatory potential that scholars of social movements see in play, storytelling, and talk, and could imagine them becoming tools in movement activity in the future.
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Todd Nicholas Fuist is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Loyola University, Chicago. His work is on religious communities that have messages and projects which revolve around social justice. His other academic interests include gaming and gamer culture, social movements, media, and identity.
Evan Torner is a Ph.D. candidate in German and film studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is finishing his dissertation on representations of race and the global South in East German genre cinema. As co-editor of Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, he has also written on modernist film, German science-fiction literature and live-action role-playing, and is the official translator of the Filmmuseum Potsdam’s permanent exhibit “The Dream Factory: 100 Years of Babelsberg.”
Immersive Gameplay – Interview with Emily Care Boss
July 11, 2012
In honor of the release of Bill White’s and my co-edited volume with McFarland, Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media, I am conducting interviews with some of my talented and erudite contributors.
The second interview is with role-playing designer and theorist Emily Care Boss. She co-authored the article in the volume “Role-Playing Communities, Cultures of Play and the Discourse of Immersion” with Bill White and J. Tuomas Harviainen. In the article, she helps provide a breakthrough analysis of Nordic and American interpretations of role-playing immersion, contrasting emotionally resonant and creative play/design philosophies and advocating for a bottom-up definition of immersion, based on communities’ play experiences.
Here are my follow-up questions:
There is also a deep divide between different communities of play and the various analytical cultures. Players need not be troubled by theory when they enjoy a game, but it would make sense for designers to be aware not only of the discussion and analysis going amongst their colleagues, but also of what’s going on in other related fields. Just as the divide between the Nordic and the independent gaming communities is being bridged, better communication between academics and designers seems necessary.
ET – What recent games have you played that you think will create huge ripples in the way we think about, design and play games?
ECB – Microscope, by Ben Robbins. This is a game that takes many standard assumptions of a role-playing game (participation primarily via the use of an ongoing character, the presence of a Game Master or facilitator, chronological fiction, solitary world creation) and stands them on their head. In the game, the players share the creation of an over-arching storyline of an epic nature. Some examples are the rise and fall of an empire, the mythic beginnings of human culture, or a bloodthirsty war between interstellar species. Using an egalitarian, round-robin structure, the players create eras and specific events that create a timeline. Scenes are played out within events, in a fashion much like that found in any role-playing game. But the scenes’ purposes are to clarify and define the specifics of the overall sweep of events by answering a specific question about the event, rather than for the purposes of developing the characters or gaining mechanical advantage. It’s a unique storytelling engine that sweeps away blinders of limits we enforce on the medium, which, I hope, will help us better realize the full potential of this form. There is so much more we could be doing. Microscope is a great start.
ET – Given your famous aversion to the term “immersion,” do you think our title “Immersive Gameplay” does participatory media and role-playing games justice? Why or why not?
ECB – As I have the pleasure of still saying after all of these years, immersion is a broad, broad term that encompasses so many facets of the experience of role-playing that further refinement and further definition and re-definition are always needed. So here we are with our endeavor taking another look at ways people can immerse, feel, experience, revolt from, subsume, identify, over-identify and reframe their view of the world through play.
Looking at participatory media, immersion is a hallmark. Not unique to role-playing and first-person narrative forms like the video game, but certainly it establishes the engagement of the immersive experience in a unique way. By asking the players to make freeform choices that determine the direction of the narrative based on taking the role of a character within the narrative itself. The restrictions of a video game are blown wide open in tabletop and live-action role-playing. (Nearly) the full realm of human choice, negotiation and adjudication are available. There is no other narrative form that allows this. And whether you are looking at the word “immersive” from the point of view of it being the holy grail of gaming experience (i.e., having a full body/mind/spirit experience of “being” the role) or merely taking the stance of the narrative person you’ve been issued to portray, this is the touchstone of role-playing gameplay. Certainly it is not the full complement of what could be done (as the game Microscope so clearly shows) but it takes from the linear path of acting, and adds the sculpting of events that is writing, making a gorgeous new field of expression that is role-play.
Emily Care Boss is a writer, game designer and forester living in western Massachusetts and has independently published games since 2005. Her game Under My Skin won the Player’s Choice Otto award at Fastaval in Denmark. She has been published in Playground Worlds and Push: Volume 1 New Thinking About Role-playing. Her games can be found at Black & Green Games. | https://guyintheblackhat.com/tag/the-forge/ |
Author/Rothy, know the original address:
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/210896992
This article mainly focuses on the design of Roguelike games, starting from the following two points:
- What kind of games can be called Roguelike games?
- What is a good Roguelike game like?
What kind of game can be called a Roguelike game?
Starting from the Berlin interpretation in 2008, many Roguelike developers and enthusiasts have jointly formulated and stipulated that Roguelike games need to have the following important elements:
- Randomly generate a map:Use process to generate maps to increase replayability.
- Permanent death:The character will die permanently, and the archive cannot be used to recover the character from a permanently dead state.
- Grid map:With a turn-based, gridded map, players can have enough time to think about each step of the decision.
- Non-patterned state:The actions that the player can take do not change according to the state of the game.
- Non-linear process:The route is non-linear, and players can use different means to achieve the same game goal.
- Resource management:With resource management gameplay, players must rationally allocate their resource consumption to maximize the possibility of survival.
- Core battle:Focus on monster fighting, the player has no peace option to skip the battle.
- Encourage exploration:Encourage players to explore the map to obtain various items randomly distributed on the map.
Common Roguelike (including Roguelite) games are:
- The Binding of Isaac: Roguelike of the Dungeon
- Dead cells: Roguelike in the style of Galactic Castlevania
- Kill the Spire: Cards build Roguelike
- Vitality Knight: Pixel Dungeon Roguelike
But with the passage of time, today’s games have long been unable to meet the above conditions. Most of them do not have gridded maps, and they are no longer turn-based. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to continue to use extremely detailed game content to define this game category. In my opinion, today’s Roguelike games mainly satisfy the following three contents:
- Random content
- Permanent death
- Resource management
What is a good Roguelike game like?
According to the three three contents mentioned before, it can be concluded that a good Roguelike game needs the following characteristics:
1. Random content: rich and balanced decision-making pool
- Rich equipment and gain matching: Provide a variety of equipment and gains with different gameplay and effects.
- Effective equipment and gain collocation: There must be a certain synergy between equipment and gain, that is, 1+1>2.
- All of the player’s decision-making gains must be closely linked to the current game state, and the player is encouraged to accept the local optimal solution.
2. Permanent death: provide certain measures to restore death in a single cycle
- S/L mechanism
- Additional item combinations
3. Resource management: deep growth portfolio
- Intra-office growth: Emphasize the single game experience, pay attention to the current local optimal solution, and avoid the long-term global optimal solution.
- Outside growth: Dominate the player’s long-term decision-making and extend the game’s playability.
Permanent death
The permanent death mechanism means that the player needs to challenge from scratch every round, which means that the efforts made in the previous round have been exhausted to a certain extent, and the player still needs to replay the roughly same game flow. During this period, for the player, the complete abandonment of previous work will increase their psychological burden to a certain extent, and the S/L mechanism can help the player to avoid the punishment of permanent death to a certain extent; in addition, the game can also pass Additional game items, such as the relics and potions in the Slaughter Spire, help players increase their overall strength, thereby reducing the probability of death, and focusing on the game itself.
Random content
Roguelike games give players the most direct feeling that isUncertainty-Including the random map and a series of other randomly generated content (equipment, gain, etc.) in the game. From a narrative point of view, the player’s game experience in each round is unique and non-retrospective. When the player clears or dies, he will not only lose the effort of that period of game time, but also the memory of that period of time. Therefore, under the permanent death mechanism, the process generation system and the non-linear experience it brings have a certain two-sidedness for the player, which can avoid the high repetition of content and bring a unique game experience, but this kind of experience is impossible. Repeated and documented.
The “decision pool” of a game is the sum of the actions that players can perform at the moment that will have a profound impact on the game. According to the view of “meaningful choice”,All decision-making benefits must be closely linked to the current state of the game. The introduction of random elements to create a nonlinear experience has two important goals:
- Let players face more abundant situations when making decisions
- Encourage players to accept local optimal solutions
Random content makes it extremely difficult for players to choose to achieve global optimality. They must accept the fact that “non-optimal” choices are everywhere, pay attention to the current local optimal solution, reduce the player’s motivation to pursue long-term global optimal solutions, and shift their energy to “Continue the game” on this matter.
However, for inexperienced players, in a highly random game, it is difficult to always distinguish the pros and cons of the decision-making in the game and the current game situation. Therefore, when the high penalty for the death of a character arrives, players may tend to attribute it to “I failed because this game didn’t teach me”, or even “I failed because of bad luck”, instead of “There were a few decisions before.” If you do something wrong, you will fail.” Such a decision-making system, even if the player fails and wants to start all over again and learn how to master such a game, he will be unable to start because of the lack of relevant clues.
Resource management
At the level of resource management, Roguelike is more used in the “outside” game development part.Resource management enables players to prepare for the battle and the outcome of the battleGet quantified, Leading long-term decision-making, easy for players to learn from it. Although there is interference from random factors, the more resources the player has, the greater the help they can get; when the player fails and accepts the penalty of file deletion, the reason for the failure can be analyzed from the perspective of resources, so that the next time Reconfigure resource allocation when it comes. For the in-depth resource management gameplay, one situation that needs to be avoided is that the global optimal solution can be easily approximated and reached through numerical iteration; and in Roguelike, the randomly generated game content happens to be hidden and hidden to a certain extent. Limiting the global optimal solution helps to achieve the purpose of prolonging the replayability of the game. However, it should be noted that, for example, the blood-sucking equipment in the Battle Soul Inscription, due to its effect, after appearing during the game, the player still has a higher selection priority than other equipment, and it is not to a certain extent. Balanced,
additional
In addition to the three points mentioned above, the following characteristics can also help the playability of Roguelike games:
- Teaching-style level design: staged actual combat teaching, effectively helping players verify their current strength
- Repetitive experience cost reduction: Effectively enhance the early-stage differences of the game and reduce the early-stage repetitive experience cost
- Game content introduction pictorial: Collecting pictorials allows players to view the acquired content and clearly clarify its effects
In general, an excellent Roguelike game requires players to have sufficient motivation to challenge randomly generated content. There are various situations in the game waiting for the player, and the decisions they make have synergistic benefits and certain risks. By combining long-term resource management, players have a sense of growth and can withstand the loss caused by permanent death.
However, the cost-effectiveness of the Roguelike game that cannot be avoided in the later stage of the game will gradually decrease. The game’s playability can be improved by the following methods:
- Added indirect PVP gameplay, combined with Roguelike growth mechanism, allowing players to compete for growth speed and effects
- Random props have appropriate negative feedback, so that the combination of props also has a certain degree of gaming
In addition, Roguelike games still have some unavoidable problems:
Limited game difficulty:Roguelike’s highly random levels, monsters and rewards test players’ luck and understanding of the game mechanics, and it is difficult to have other methods of increasing difficulty; the latter will be quickly figured out by the player, leading to a highly difficult turn-based roguelike When squeezing values, it often becomes a pure face-seeing game. The face-seeing game combined with a high death penalty will bring ineffective repetitive labor and a bad experience.
Weak game plot:The non-linear game structure makes it impossible to effectively create conditions for the narrative, and the player cannot have a close emotional connection with the game character. For example, in
Insufficiency of the combination of gameplay and narrative ability:The game’s gameplay and narrative fusion ability largely determines the difference between the game and the competition from a commercial point of view. Roguelike games often pay more attention to the polishing of their core gameplay, but once they are unsuccessful, it will be difficult to compete This is why the experience of many Roguelike games has not changed much.
Source: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/210896992
. | https://electrodealpro.com/game-design-some-thoughts-on-roguelike-games/ |
Linearity. Emergence. Convergence pt.8
Straightforward and open level design exist on a spectrum. One of the reasons why I'm using these terms instead of linear and emergent level design is because the spectrum between the poles of straightforwardness and openness is continuous. This means that there is a smooth range of variation between straightforward level design and open level design.
In part 6 and 7 of this series I explained what happens to products that merge gameplay design with straightforward and open design. It turns out that the natures of these three types of design align in some ways and conflict in others. One key conclusion from the analysis is that open level design makes video games harder to develop, harder to keep clean (feedback), and harder to maintain a balance of skill-based play. Compared to straightforward design, open level design works against what games are and how they work.
All hope for open level design is not lost. There is a type of level design that combines the pros of straightforward and open level design while taking none of the cons. This type of design isn't a simply a balance between straightforward and open gameplay design found somewhere on the spectrum. The solution is a type of level design that truly represents the highest form of video game level design. It's powerful, flexible, and something that I've been talking about since the beginning of Critical-Gaming. The convergence of straghtforward and open level design is layered level design, and Super Mario Brothers has been doing it since 1985.
Design Convergence
Layered level design is a general term that describes a particular way a level creates density and variety of distinct gameplay challenges. This density is only achievable by including optional challenges, otherwise the level design would be classified as linear or straightforward. One method of creating layered levels involves designing straightforward gameplay challenges that are "stacked" on top of each other so that the player can experience the layers simultaneously or organically by moving back and forth between them. Another way to do layered level design is creating a level that presents distinct challenges based on what players bring to the challenge (co-op, powered up, etc.). This can be achieved through various kinds of locks and sequence breakable level design. For this article series, we'll focus on the stacking of straightforward challenges to create layers.
The core, mandatory challenge of Super Mario Bros (SMB) gameplay is maneuvering around environmental obstacles and enemies by JUMPing and engaging with gravity. We call this platforming. While some environmental elements are destructible and several enemies feature back and forth interplay, killing enemies and breaking bricks is mostly optional. Layered on top of this gameplay are the optional challenges of coins and secrets. Let's focus on the layers of environmental obstacles, enemies, and coins. In the image below depicts a section from level 1-2 in SMB. I've separated the layers to show how straightforward the challenge would be for players (see the colored lines).
Separate these layers are straightforward and a bit dull. In each layer, there isn't much to do outside of the lines I've drawn. It's important to understand that because these layers are straightforward, that these strategies (indicated by the lines) are also clear. When the layers are stacked together, players will understand their basic options which will significantly help them understand how these options fit together and support countless emergent possibilities. This understanding also builds more knowledge skills, which allows players to stress more of the entire DKART skill spectrum. Remember strategy, interesting choices, and gameplay is about making informed choices from evaluating the risks and rewards of potential gameplay actions.
Put these layers together and the challenge and gameplay exponentially increase in potential. Now, instead of overcoming each layer one at a time, the strategies cut into each other. In the image above, the red strategy line starting on the left is quickly broken up. Instead of just JUMPing across the stalagmite like obstacles, a coin block gets in the way. Players can go over and skip the coins or accept the challenge and fall into the gap. Inside there's a Goomba. If you try to ignore it, getting the coins is more difficult and risky. If you try to squash it or escape the coin block floating above makes that strategy more difficult. This is what I mean by level challenge density.
The section highlighted by the green dotted circle on the right is even denser. The smaller space makes squashing the Koopa more difficult. Without fire balls to eliminate the Koopa, they'll eventually walk to the left and turn back around for a second pass. If the layers were separate, this emergent u-turn wouldn't happen. If you kick a Koopa shell backwards, it'll also return as a threat. Going underneath the floating brick formation it is likely you'll JUMP over the Koopa and grab one of the coins placed at the bottom of the loops that hang over head. This is the first non-secret area in the game that features naked coins (coins not inside ?-blocks) and the first place where players can collect coins by punching the blocks from underneath.
The point is there is a lot to the design space of SMB and the layered level design creates scenarios to highlight the design in a clear context. By being influenced to do multiple things at the same time in the same space, players are never devoid of options. When engaging the mandatory challenges or an optional challenge, the players is likely to uncover new, well tuned emergent experiences because the layers that make up the level are straightforward. This is the kind of option rich, complex, dynamic, dense gameplay that gamers desire in open games. But instead putting great stress on the number of options players have moment to moment or struggling to create large environments without boundaries, layered design can convey challenge, context, and player options that dynamically ripple forward from relatively few gameplay elements. With layered level design there are still countless combinations of possibilities to explore, but they are presented in a much clearer context that allows us to understand how they came together, fit together, and are unique from each other.
The lines in the images above depict optimal strategies. The freedom and emergence of actual gameplay is much less focused. Sometimes players will hesitate at every JUMP. Some players will fall into the stalagmite like formations on the left side of the images above. Players will miss jumps and lose powerups by getting hit and countless other possibilities. As I begun to describe above, the density of SMB's layered level design in particular allows for these "sub-optimal" emergent possibilities to feed back into the core gameplay experience. JUMPing for and missing the coin block may put you in danger of a Goomba when you land. Kicking a Koopa shell backwards instead of forward will result in a new hazardous situation that may influence you to maneuver in a new way. By avoiding Koopa you may stumble upon the hidden Starman secret. Using the high amount of control that comes with straightforward design, developers have packed SMB with interesting challenges and discoveries in ways that will be encountered as long as players keep playing, challenging themselves, and embracing curiosity.
Normally, sub-optimal play in very open or emergent gameplay systems falls flat and fails to ripple forward to develop into interesting gameplay situations. And even when they do, it's often hard to understand the "story" of how things fell into place. These flat, confusing situations that players are uninformed about is what I mean when I say that open games have a greater "noise to sound" ratio and less "water tight" experiences. Another way of putting it is that in very open games there are so many situations that don't click, don't clearly convey information, and don't add up to anything meaningful or significant. They're simply the result of your actions and the system.
What layered level design can do is it build a rich context for the "noise" and turn it into music. Now where have I heard of this before? Where has a comparison between music design and level design been made? Oh yes, that's right! My Mario Melodies series. Four years ago I started my foray into understanding game design by breaking down the level design of Super Mario Bros. Though I hardly had the language that I do now, I did my best to explain how SMB worked. I coined the term counterpoint in level design to describe the dense type of layered level design I detailed in the paragraphs above. It's a kind of layered design that's very dynamic and cohesive giving you a lot of options that are clearly presented, yet you never leave the well designed, gameplay experience set by the core, mandatory challenges.
Problems Solved!
Layered design elegantly solves the problem of the ridged, fixed presentation of linear games by providing the player with optional challenges to pursue. It also smooths over some of the inherent jumps in the flow of information or the repetition of the experience by giving the player some control over what they experience and when. Remember the flow zone theory? Such an optimal mental state is much harder to achieve with straightforward or linear games. Without options in the gameplay there is no variable, player controlled difficulty. Without this, if players just don't click to the particular difficulty level of the game, they're likely never to find their zone. But with more open design comes flexible difficulty. Yet, achieving this openness through straightforward layers helps players make informed decisions about the challenges, which is key for players finding their zone. For there are many ways a gameplay challenge can be difficult from setting a high game speed, creating small timing windows, forcing complex controls, hiding information, etc. But it's much harder to design games that are as informative as they are difficult.
Layered design elegantly decreases the chaotic, sub-optimal possibilities that make gameplay experiences less tight by building the emergent foundation upon layers of straightforward layers. By starting off simpler and cleaner the emergent possibilities are easier to understand. The layered design makes more options more meaningful because of the clear context in which they occur. What gamers want from open level design are options that are meaningful. No illusion of choice. And no illusion of function. With layered level design, the concentration of challenges allows for more player actions to ripple forward in time. As you interact with one layer in a unique way, you will inevitably affect another in a unique way, which will then affect something else in a unique way.
Playing skill-based, challenging video games inherently involves a lot of repetition. As we learn, and fail, and fail to learn the complexities of a game we repeatedly engage in gameplay. A dense, layered gameplay experience that informs players and gets more clear as they delve deeper is a great quality because it meshes well with the repetition of gameplay. In Mario's case, the forward rippling effects of even the smallest gameplay actions create experiences that are usually different every time you play without relying heavily on random elements. On top of this, any slowness of progress due to the slowness of player learning can be smoothed over somewhat if the player decides to play it safe and take the easy road through the game. In other words, it's hard to be bored or overwhelmed when you have a lot of control over the difficulty of your experience.
So from the nature of linearity, layered design takes the focused, direct, clear conveyance of the gameplay challenges, and it retains a great amount of control over when, where, and how the audience receives information. From the nature of emergence, layered design takes the countless possibilities and unexpected situations. Therefore when gameplay is most important, layered design takes all the pros and none of the cons of linear and emergent systems. This is why layered level design is most effective form of level design.
Do realize that games don't need to have such dense layers like Super Mario Brothers to be great games or to take advantage of layered level design. After analyzing the extreme versions of straightforward and open design, I wanted to present a game that represents the extreme end of layered design. Instead of 3+ layers in Super Mario Bros (counterpoint), you can do a lot with just 2 layers. There is much more to uncover about layered level design. And I plan to do so soon.
In part 9 I wrap up the series by addressing a few lingers issues and making some final clarifications. | http://critical-gaming.com/blog/2012/6/29/linearity-emergence-convergence-pt8.html |
Your heart races in a moment of despair, as your airplane descends from the sky. Defying the odds, you survive the crash and the fear you once had transforms itself in curiosity, as a lighthouse invites you in. As you step inside, your footsteps echo through the room and the door behind you shuts for good. There is only a single path to follow. The only way to go is down. What will happen next will forever dwell in your memory. Welcome to Rapture.
Developed by 2K and Irrational Games, BioShock is the spiritual successor of System Shock 2 and received praise from critics and players upon release in 2007. With a score of 9.6/10 on Metacritic (PC version), the franchise received another entry in 2010, but it swam in familiar waters, as the setting of the sequel remained the city of Rapture. In 2013, the series gave its farewells to the underwater dystopian society, as it flew above the clouds to present players to the city of Columbia, the locale of BioShock Infinite.
The third installment of series allows the player to live the role of Booker DeWitt, a former soldier who receives the task of traveling to a floating city in the sky, in order to rescue Elizabeth, a girl who spent her entire life imprisoned in a tower. With a peculiar premise, the game divided the waters of the gaming community.
A portion of the players claimed it was not a masterpiece, as critics were preaching. The gameplay mechanics presented therein followed the core design used in the first entry of the franchise, but the team at Irrational Games made sure to alter the old formula.
Not every change was positive; however. This article details how BioShock surpassed Infinite in one aspect, combat, and how developers could have implemented the lessons learned from the first installment of the series in the third one, in order to create a more compelling experience.
In BioShock, players fought mutated human beings, known as Splicers. In appearance, they resembled zombies. In Infinite; on the other hand, the player faced soldiers, who were mundane in their looks. The enemies in the former; however, felt more human than those from latter. In several occasions throughout the experience of BioShock, the game presented players with the opportunity of observing the enemies from a distance.
Through actions and dialogues, players could get a glimpse on their stories and personalities, thus adding depth to their characters and to the universe of the game. This humanized feel made the enemies seem as real people, as opposed to simple shooting targets. By killing them, players felt they were reaping a life.
The best example of this technique in action is the Big Daddy. It looks as a monster, yet players can easily create an emotional bond with them, because it will not attack unless attacked first. This gives to the audience the opportunity to simply follow and observe its relationship with the Little Sister. What they do and the sounds they produce, communicate plenty about who they are and what their personality is.
This element is rarely present in Infinite, which leads to the notion that the foes are nothing but lifeless bots, with the sole purpose of serving as a statistic of how many soldiers the player murdered throughout the game. Ideally, the game should allow for stealth gameplay mechanics, in order to permit the player to eavesdrop on conversations and witness the activities of the enemies.
The more the player knows about the enemies, the better, for this will allow them to have a deeper emotional connection with them, thus making combat more meaningful and improving the overall experience by creating a deeper universe, populated by real people, as seen in BioShock. There are other methods to achieve this objective and they work in conjunction, as the next topic explains.
What you wear communicates a lot about who you are. This principle holds true whether the subject is a real person, or a fictional character. Foes in BioShock wear a vast variety of outfits and each one tells a bit, regarding who that person once was, prior to the events of the game. In BioShock this principles serves the purpose of reinforcing the notion that the enemies are real people, with lives that went wrong.
In Infinite; however, the majority of enemies are soldiers, who wear uniforms. Their standardized appearance works against the overall experience, because it makes them feel as lifeless characters; bots that only exist for the player to slaughter, one by one.
In order to avoid the said scenario, developers could have changed the main enemy of the game. Considering that the inhabitants of the city perceived Booker DeWitt, the protagonist, as the “False Shepard”, the development team could have added them as the primary enemies, who would do anything within their grasps to drive away the “demon” and protect their city. This would add variation in clothing, which would make the enemies more human and, as previously stated herein, add depth to the experience.
Through the two techniques presented herein, BioShock created unique enemies, who engaged the players in memorable fights. Each time players entered a battle was an event unto itself and they rarely encountered more than one enemy at once. This allowed the game to implement its vision of communicating to the audience that the citizens of Rapture are people as well. With few enemies on screen at the same time, it is possible for the player to listen and observe them; which would be impossible if dozens of enemies populated the area.
In Infinite, on the other hand, enemies may appear by the dozens, which makes it impossible for the player to get an insight on who they are. Without this contextualization, the human aspect is lost, thus making fighting them a less appealing task. While BioShock emphasizes the importance of the battles by means of their scarcity, in Infinite, combat occurred often, thus making it lose its significance, due to repetition. As the saying goes “if everything is highlighted, then nothing is.” This is not to say that in order to make defeating foes a more appealing task, all developers need to do is reduce the number of fights.
This approach worked in BioShock due to the number of areas the player could explore apart from the main course of action of the story. This gives to players an interesting thing to do while not in combat, whereas in Infinite, the lack of locations for the audience to dive into, in order to uncover details of the city, did not give much for the player to do asides from proceeding with the story and fighting with enemies.
With this said, in order to create a more meaningful combat experience in BioShock Infinite, the developers could have reduced the number of fights and enemies, whilst expanding the map of the game, in order to incentivize exploration. There is; however, another element from BioShock that would need to be implemented, in order to make this approach work.
Another factor from BioShock that made it combat experience compelling was the element of mystery. The close quarters nature of the city of Rapture made it impossible for players to know what awaited for them in the very next corner. There could be another enemy or perhaps just another empty hallway, but the player would never know until getting there.
Through the audio design, this led to several heart racing moment, for players tended to expect the worst. In Infinite, due to the outdoors nature of the city of Columbia, the element of mystery was lost, as players had an ample field of view.
To implement the element of mystery in Infinite, this concept would need to be adapted, due to the divergence between Rapture and Columbia. The previous being a narrow set of corridors, while the latter is an outdoors environment.
With this said, level designers could have used the buildings from the floating utopia to deliver the “fear of the unknown” element in Infinite, by placing enemies inside them, that would shoot the player through the windows. This scenario gives to the Artificial Intelligence of the game the possibility of engaging the players in ambushes, as there would be no way for the audience to tell whether a building is occupied by bloodthirsty soldiers.
This suggestion would also increase the options of the enemies to get to cover from the player’s fire, thus making combat harder and forcing players to spend more time to defeat an enemy, which would, in turn, help to lessen the number of enemies in each combat sequence. Creating; therefore, a more meaningful combat experience.
I praise the developers of BioShock for developing a new approach, rather than sticking with their original formula. While I regard Infinite as one of the best games I have ever played, I cannot be delusional. There are aspects in it that could have been better. Combat was one them.
The objective of this article was to show how the techniques used in the original title could have improved Infinite if developers had implemented them therein.
Which elements from BioShock do you think should have been carried over to Infinite? Let us know in the comments! | https://www.gameskinny.com/5mm1r/what-can-bioshock-teach-to-bioshock-infinite |
Art:
Josh Jones
Tyler Woods
Tatsuang "Tan" Tantakosol
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|Release date||2008 (PC)|
|Genre||Puzzle, first-person action|
|Mode(s)||Single player|
|Age rating(s)||Ratings Missing|
|Platform(s)||Windows (DX9)|
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|Input||Keyboard, mouse|
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|Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough|
Tag: The Power of Paint is a first-person action and puzzle hybrid video game, developed by Tag Team, a group students from the DigiPen Institute of Technology, for the personal computer (PC) in 2009. The game's core mechanic is the use of a special paint sprayed from the player's paint gun to impart physical properties to surfaces, which, in turn, affect the user's movement. Tag won the Independent Games Festival Student Showcase award in the same year. The project team has since been hired into the Valve Corporation, using the concepts of Tag as new puzzle elements to their game Portal 2.
Gameplay
The player is tasked with maneuvering through greyscale cityscapes, which serve as platform-orientated puzzles. To solve each puzzle, the player must use a paint gun that has the capacity for an unlimited quantity of three types of unique surface-altering paint. However, the cans for each paint type must be located in the level before the player can use that particular color. The earliest to be accessed is the green paint, which allows players to jump on horizontal surfaces, or bounce off of vertical surfaces. The second paint, red, causes the player to rapidly gain momentum. Blue paint, the final type, enables the player to walk on any surface, regardless of whether it is a vertical plane or ceiling. The paint gun also has a removal feature, which erases any paint that has been sprayed down. Players are able to use a combination of the paints to help solve the puzzles: the player can coat two sides of a narrow vertical space with green paint to execute a wall jump to climb up, or can lay a path of red paint followed by green paint to create a long-distance jump. The player can only die if they fall from a great height, though should this happen they would invariably be revived either at the start of the level or at the most recent checkpoint.
Development
Tag was developed by a team of seven students as part of their course at DigiPen, and took approximately 18 months to create. This process included the writing of a complete 3-D game engine from scratch. Their initial concept involved emulating the playground game of tag, using paint to tag other players; the development of their base engine for this prototype took about four months. However, this idea was dropped when they found that the painting mechanic was more enjoyable than the actual tagging. For the second prototype, team included the former with additional power-ups that could be collected. Yet this decision was also revised and power-up functionality was finally transferred to the paint itself, a process that required the developers to redesign the game substantially five months before its projected release. While gauging the initial reactions to Tag, they found that players were easily frustrated with elements of the game. In response, the team developed an in-game editor to quickly iterate playtesting feedback into the level design. Although the developers chose to limit the length of the game to around a half-hour, to render it eligible for the Independent Games Festival, they agreed to produce a more professional version once they had obtained sufficient funding.
Reception
Tag won the Student Competition at the Independent Games Festival in 2008. The developers have been praised by industry journalists for the music, the complexity of the puzzles, and the integration of the graphics with the game's mechanics. IGN proclaimed it to be the second best independent game of 2008, a "compelling piece of puzzle design", and one they hoped would develop into a full-scale commercial product. Gamespot commented that the game was a cross between Portal and Mirror's Edge, and applauded the simple and integrated mechanics.
Since the release of Tag, the students have been brought on as developers for Valve Corporation. Their work was incorporated into new puzzle elements involving the paint concept into Portal 2, in a similar manner that another DigiPen project team, Narbacular Drop, was brought into Valve with their work forming the basis of Portal.
References
- ↑ Template:Citeweb
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tejeev Kohli. (2009-04-17). Independent Games Festival Student Showcase Winners, 2009. [Interview]. Chroma Coders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd1bogHS58A. Retrieved 2010-03-08. | https://gamicus.fandom.com/wiki/Tag:_The_Power_of_Paint |
We’re looking for a Gameplay Engineer to join our team at Hypixel Studios, which collaborates remotely from around the world. Our members range from industry newcomers to experts with 25+ years of experience. Team members come from a diverse set of backgrounds, but share a common passion for building polished player-focused, community-powered games.
Join us on our mission to bring players together in an inviting, immersive world where they can make their mark. Hytale empowers creative expression across a spectrum of experiences including sandbox adventure, social play, minigames, and creativity using a suite of powerful and accessible tools.
As a Gameplay Engineer, you will be responsible for building and fine-tuning the game systems that drive our player experiences. You will prototype, implement, troubleshoot, and enhance the game systems, scripts, and tools that support content creation. You will also support our team of Technical Designers to help turn game designs into amazing player experiences. You will be the first customer of our game systems, using those systems to build the game while driving improvements to them.
Who you are:
- You have strong fundamental programming skills and can build highly flexible systems.
- You care about the whole player experience, including audio, art, animation, and the finely-tuned, moment-to-moment look-and-feel of the game .
- You understand the needs of designers and are passionate about giving them the tools to realize their vision
- You enjoy collaboration with colleagues from both Technical and Creative disciplines.
Some of your role:
- Implement, maintain, and troubleshoot game experiences in both high-quality C++ and well-structured scripts.
- Develop and improve extendable gameplay modules and scripting systems that can be used and customized by our technical designers.
- Work with Senior Engineers to design and prototype new game systems.
- Collaborate with Designers, Artists, and other Creatives to iterate upon the game experiences that bring Hytale to life.
Essential Traits:
- 4+ years of professional programming experience in C++
- 2+ years working in a game engine (commercial or proprietary)
- 1+ years experience with scripting systems (e.g., Lua, etc).
- Strong knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and game engine fundamentals
- Proficient at communicating with both technical and non-technical individuals
Bonus Traits:
- Experience working in an Agile/Scrum software development process
- Deeply and/or broadly played in the block-, voxel-, and/or survival-game genres
- Experience developing and tuning melee and ranged combat systems
- Experience with networked, multiplayer gameplay
We can offer:
- Competitive salary
- Annual Performance Bonus (APB)
- Quality of Life increases
- Christmas closure
- A chance to work on a new game project with an extremely motivated team
- Opportunities to learn and grow personally and professionally
- A stable and secure work environment
- The ability to work remotely
We’re looking for applicants who are self-driven, put players first, and that have a history of making cool stuff. In return, we can offer an environment that values and supports individual creativity and passion and believes in fostering new talent. We recognize the value of diversity in every sense and actively encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply. | https://remotewoman.com/job/software-engineer-ii-gameplay-11/ |
Ubisoft and the future of AI
The nucl.AI Conference – held in Vienna last summer – gathered together leading artificial intelligence programmers from various creative industries. Among them were Philip Dunstan, lead AI programmer at Massive Entertainment and senior AI programmer on The Division, and Chris Seddon, AI team lead from Ubisoft Toronto, who worked on Far Cry Primal. The two presented their AI designs at the event and spoke to how they overcame the challenges they faced along the way.
Philip and his teams faced many challenges, as they had to design AIs that would work effectively together and let The Division’s post-pandemic New York run smoothly. Meanwhile, Chris and the Far Cry team created an open world that feels alive thanks to dynamic wildlife, companion beasts that follow your commands, and a systemic design that ensures there’s always something happening in the world. Creating responsive and efficient artificial intelligence was essential to both open worlds.
Philip Dunstan, Lead AI Programmer at Massive Entertainment
How would you define your mission as AI developers?
PD: I see my mission as all about supporting the player experience. A lot of my focus is working with the game designers and level designers to create an AI that matches the game’s gameplay and setting.
What do you see as the most interesting aspect of AI design?
PD: I love it when simple systems combine to create interesting behaviors. The complexity of our games nowadays has reached a point where it is extremely difficult to design and maintain a single system to handle all of the gameplay possibilities. Instead, we try to design smaller, separated systems to solve individual problems, such as deciding the best position a character should move to, or choosing which target an enemy should attack. When these systems are run together, the emergent result is often better than you could have achieved with a single design.
How did you overcome potential performance issues?
PD: The biggest impact came from decisions made early during the development process. The team knew that performance was going to be a challenge, and several key design decisions about the way AI-controlled characters move and how we create the player’s and enemies’ skills were very important to creating a good base for performance. I talked about both of these decisions at the nucl.AI Conference.
Later in development, it became very important to be able to measure the performance of the game in our nightly tests. This is a difficult task to do when you consider that we run servers [for The Division] with a thousand simultaneous players. To help measure performance, we created AI-controlled bots to run around and simulate the performance impact of that many players.
How did Snowdrop help you achieve The Division’s AI system?
PD: My favorite feature of Snowdrop is how it lets us iterate quickly on AI. Having spoken to a lot of AI developers at GDC and nucl.AI, I believe that our AI tools are some of the best in the industry. Our behavior editor lets us see visually how a decision is made and we can change the behavior of our AI characters while the game is running and see the results instantly. The Snowdrop engine makes it really easy for developers at all levels to create test levels to try out their changes. For AI, this was particularly useful, as we could quickly create test scenarios to see how the AI would respond in different situations.
In 2013, nucl.AI founder Alex J. Champandard predicted that the next step for game AI was scientific artificial intelligence. Do you believe academic AI and gaming AI are converging towards the same expertise?
PD: While there have been a couple of standout instances of academic AI feeding directly into game AI, mostly the two groups are trying to solve very different problems. It can be difficult to quantify the type of experience we want from the AI in the way that is required for academic research.
Nevertheless, it’s important that the gaming AI industry keeps an eye on what is happening in academic AI. Even though much of the research may not be that useful inside our games there is already a lot of evidence of non-gaming AI becoming useful in the tools that we use to create our games. It will be on the production side of game development that I believe we will see the biggest impact.
Chris Seddon, Team Lead Programmer at Ubisoft Toronto
How would you define your mission as AI developers?
CS: I think each AI developer on a team has a unique impact on a final product. For me, my mission is to create AI tools that give players the ability to create their own stories. With the right set of tools, each player experience can be different and exciting.
What do you see as the most interesting aspect of AI design ?
CS: The world of AI is exploding with new and innovative ideas. I think the most interesting part of AI design is the endless possibilities of what could be done to improve the player experience and immersion.
You experimented with Companion AI with Shangri-La’s tiger in Far Cry 4, which was a great success. How did it help you for Far Cry Primal’s beasts?
CS: The Shangri-La Tiger from Far Cry 4 was unique in that we had created the Companion AI to complement the overall Shangri-La experience. After having great success in Shangri-La, we wanted to bring Companion AI to the forefront of the action, so it felt like a natural stepping stone to migrate from linear side missions to the open world. Many of the basic “how do we handle that?” situations were known from our experiences in Shangri-La, so it allowed us to focus on making Companions that introduced new gameplay moments to the player.
Wildlife behavior needed to feel realistic while being viable gameplay-wise. How did you achieve that?
CS: Balancing gameplay and open-world systemic behavior that contributes to realism was very tough for us. Knowing that our companion’s primary role was to be used as a weapon, we focused on enhancing the gameplay elements surrounding the fantasy. To retain the realism of the animals, we allowed them to return to systemic behavior, when the player was idle. This retained the natural animal instincts the player would expect, while still maintaining their gameplay reactivity.
How did you manage to create a balance between the player’s enjoyment and a realistic eco-system?
CS: From the beginning, we wanted our Companions in Far Cry Primal to be fun and complement the player. When we had to choose between gameplay and realism, we chose gameplay. Fun is always more important than realism.
In 2013, nucl.AI founder Alex J. Champandard predicted that the next step for game AI was scientific artificial intelligence. Do you believe academic AI and gaming AI are converging towards the same expertise?
CS: I believe we’re entering a golden age for artificial intelligence where we’ll see some convergence of academia and gaming. I think it’s important for both worlds to work together while perusing their own individual objectives. | https://blog.ubi.com/en-GB/ubisoft-future-ai/ |
While the openness of the game world is an important facet to games featuring open worlds, the main draw of open-world games is about providing the player with autonomy – not so much the freedom to do anything they want in the game (which is nearly impossible with current computing technology), but the ability to choose how to approach the game and its challenges in the order and manner as the player desires while still constrained by gameplay rules. Examples of high level of autonomy in computer games can be found in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) or in single-player games adhering to the open-world concept such as the Fallout series. The main appeal of open-world gameplay is that it provides a simulated reality and allows players to develop their character and its behavior in the direction and pace of their own choosing. In these cases, there is often no concrete goal or end to the game, although there may be the main storyline, such as with games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim .
An open world is a level or game designed as nonlinear, open areas with many ways to reach an objective. Some games are designed with both traditional and open-world levels. An open world facilitates greater exploration than a series of smaller levels, or a level with more linear challenges. Reviewers have judged the quality of an open world based on whether there are interesting ways for the player to interact with the broader level when they ignore their main objective. Some games actually use real settings to model an open world, such as New York City.
A major design challenge is to balance the freedom of an open world with the structure of a dramatic storyline. Since players may perform actions that the game designer did not expect, the game's writers must find creative ways to impose a storyline on the player without interfering with their freedom. As such, games with open worlds will sometimes break the game's story into a series of missions, or have a much simpler storyline altogether. Other games instead offer side-missions to the player that do not disrupt the main storyline. Most open-world games make the character a blank slate that players can project their own thoughts onto, although several games such as Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole offer more character development and dialogue. Writing in 2005, David Braben described the narrative structure of current video games as "little different to the stories of those Harold Lloyd films of the 1920s", and considered genuinely open-ended stories to be the "Holy Grail we are looking for in fifth generation gaming". Gameplay designer Manveer Heir, who worked on Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect Andromeda for Electronic Arts, said that there are difficulties in the design of an open-world game since it is difficult to predict how players will approach solving gameplay challenges offered by a design, in contrast to a linear progression, and needs to be a factor in the game's development from its onset. Heir opined that some of the critical failings of Andromeda were due to the open world being added late in development.
Some open-world games, to guide the player towards major story events, do not provide the world's entire map at the start of the game, but require the player to complete a task to obtain part of that map, often identifying missions and points of interest when they view the map. This has been derogatorily referred to as "Ubisoft towers", as this mechanic was promoted in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series (the player climbing a large tower as to observe the landscape around it and identify waypoints nearby) and reused in other Ubisoft games, including Far Cry , Might & Magic X: Legacy and Watch Dogs . Other games that use this approach include Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . Rockstar games like GTA IV and the Red Dead Redemption series lock out sections of the map as "barricaded by law enforcement" until a specific point in the story has been reached.
Games with open worlds typically give players infinite lives or continues, although some force the player to start from the beginning should they die too many times. There is also a risk that players may get lost as they explore an open world; thus designers sometimes try to break the open world into manageable sections. The scope of open-world games requires the developer to fully detail every possible section of the world the player may be able to access, unless methods like procedural generation are used. The design process, due to its scale, may leave numerous game world glitches, bugs, incomplete sections, or other irregularities that players may find and potentially take advantage of. The term "open world jank" has been used to apply to games where the incorporation of the open world gameplay elements may be poor, incomplete, or unnecessary to the game itself such that these glitches and bugs become more apparent, though are generally not game-breaking, such as the case for No Man's Sky near its launch.
The mechanics of open-world games are often overlapped with ideas of sandbox games, but these are considered different terms. Whereas open world refers to the lack of limits for the player's exploration of the game's world, sandbox games are based on the ability of giving the player tools for creative freedom within the game to approach objectives, if such objectives are present. For example, Microsoft Flight Simulator is an open-world game as one can fly anywhere within the mapped world, but is not considered a sandbox game as there are few creative aspects brought into the game.
The combination of open world and sandbox mechanics can lead towards emergent gameplay, complex reactions that emerge (either expectedly or unexpectedly) from the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics. According to Peter Molyneux, emergent gameplay appears wherever a game has a good simulation system that allows players to play in the world and have it respond realistically to their actions. It is what made SimCity and The Sims compelling to players. Similarly, being able to freely interact with the city's inhabitants in Grand Theft Auto added an extra dimension to the series.
In recent years game designers have attempted to encourage emergent play by providing players with tools to expand games through their own actions. Examples include in-game web browsers in EVE Online and The Matrix Online ; XML integration tools and programming languages in Second Life ; shifting exchange rates in Entropia Universe ; and the complex object-and-grammar system used to solve puzzles in Scribblenauts . Other examples of emergence include interactions between physics and artificial intelligence. One challenge that remains to be solved, however, is how to tell a compelling story using only emergent technology.
In an op-ed piece for BBC News, David Braben, co-creator of Elite, called truly open-ended game design "The Holy Grail" of modern video gaming, citing games like Elite and the Grand Theft Auto series as early steps in that direction. Peter Molyneux has also stated that he believes emergence (or emergent gameplay) is where video game development is headed in the future. He has attempted to implement open-world gameplay to a great extent in some of his games, particularly Black & White and Fable .
Procedural generation refers to content generated algorithmically rather than manually, and is often used to generate game levels and other content. While procedural generation does not guarantee that a game or sequence of levels is nonlinear, it is an important factor in reducing game development time and opens up avenues making it possible to generate larger and more or less unique seamless game worlds on the fly and using fewer resources. This kind of procedural generation is known as worldbuilding, in which general rules are used to construct a believable world.
Most 4X and roguelike games make use of procedural generation to some extent to generate game levels. SpeedTree is an example of a developer-oriented tool used in the development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and aimed at speeding up the level design process. Procedural generation also made it possible for the developers of Elite , David Braben and Ian Bell, to fit the entire game—including thousands of planets, dozens of trade commodities, multiple ship types and a plausible economic system—into less than 22 kilobytes of memory. More recently, No Man's Sky procedurally generated over 18 quintillion planets including flora, fauna, and other features that can be researched and explored.
There is no consensus on what the earliest open-world game is, due to differing definitions of how large or open a world needs to be. Inverse provides some early examples games that established elements of the open world: Jet Rocket , a 1970 Sega electro-mechanical arcade game that, while not a video game, predated the flight simulator genre to give the player free roaming capabilities, and dnd , a 1975 text-based adventure game for the PLATO system that offered non-linear gameplay. Ars Technica traces the concept back to the free-roaming exploration of 1976 text adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure , which inspired the free-roaming exploration of Adventure (1980), but notes that it was not until 1984 that what "we now know as open-world gaming" took on a "definite shape" with 1984 space simulator Elite , considered a pioneer of the open world; Gamasutra argues that its open-ended sandbox style is rooted in flight simulators, such as SubLOGIC's Flight Simulator (1979/1980), noting most flight sims "offer a 'free flight' mode that allows players to simply pilot the aircraft and explore the virtual world". Others trace the concept back to 1981 CRPG Ultima , which had a free-roaming overworld map inspired by tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons . The overworld maps of the first five Ultima games, released up to 1988, lacked a single, unified scale, with towns and other places represented as icons; this style was adopted by the first three Dragon Quest games, released from 1986 to 1988 in Japan.
Early examples of open-world gameplay in adventure games include The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) and The Lords of Midnight (1984), with open-world elements also found in The Hobbit (1982) and Valhalla (1983). The strategy video game, The Seven Cities of Gold (1984), is also cited as an early open-world game, influencing Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987). Eurogamer also cites British computer games such as Ant Attack (1983) and Sabre Wulf (1984) as early examples.
According to Game Informer 's Kyle Hilliard, Hydlide (1984) and The Legend of Zelda (1986) were among the first open-world games, along with Ultima. IGN traces the roots of open-world game design to The Legend of Zelda, which it argues is "the first really good game based on exploration", while noting that it was anticipated by Hydlide, which it argues is "the first RPG that rewarded exploration". According to GameSpot, never "had a game so open-ended, nonlinear, and liberating been released for the mainstream market" with The Legend of Zelda. According to The Escapist , The Legend of Zelda was an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay, with an expansive and cohesive world, inspiring many games to adopt a similar open-world design.
Mercenary (1985) has been cited as the first open world 3D action-adventure game. There were also other open-world games in the 1980s, such as Back to Skool (1985), Turbo Esprit (1986) and Alternate Reality: The City (1985). Wasteland , released in 1988, is also considered an open-world game. The early 1990s saw open-world games such as The Terminator (1990), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1991), and Hunter (1991), which IGN describes as the first sandbox game to feature full 3D, third-person graphics, and Ars Technica argues "has one of the strongest claims to the title of GTA forebear". Sierra On-Line's 1992 adventure game King's Quest VI has an open world; almost half of the quests are optional, many have multiple solutions, and players can solve most in any order. Atari Jaguar launch title, Cybermorph (1993), was notable for its open 3D polygonal-world and non-linear gameplay. Quarantine (1994) is an example of an open-world driving game from this period, while Iron Soldier (1994) is an open-world mech game. The director of 1997's Blade Runner argues that that game was the first open world three-dimensional action adventure game.
I think [ The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is] one of those games that people can 'project' themselves on. It does so many things and allows [for] so many play styles that people can easily imagine what type of person they'd like to be in game.
IGN considers Nintendo's Super Mario 64 (1996) revolutionary for its 3D open-ended free-roaming worlds, which had rarely been seen in 3D games before, along with its analog stick controls and camera control. Other 3D examples include Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (1997), Ocarina of Time (1998), the DMA Design (Rockstar North) game Body Harvest (1998), the Angel Studios (Rockstar San Diego) games Midtown Madness (1999) and Midnight Club: Street Racing (2000), the Reflections Interactive (Ubisoft Reflections) game Driver (1999), and the Rareware games Banjo-Kazooie (1998), Donkey Kong 64 (1999), and Banjo-Tooie (2000).[ citation needed ]
1UP considers Sega's adventure Shenmue (1999) the originator of the "open city" subgenre, touted as a "FREE" ("Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment") game giving players the freedom to explore an expansive sandbox city with its own day-night cycles, changing weather, and fully voiced non-player characters going about their daily routines. The game's large interactive environments, wealth of options, level of detail and the scope of its urban sandbox exploration has been compared to later sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto III and its sequels, Sega's own Yakuza series, Fallout 3 , and Deadly Premonition .
Grand Theft Auto has had over 200 million sales. Creative director Gary Penn, who previously worked on Frontier: Elite II , cited Elite as a key influence, calling it "basically Elite in a city", and mentioned other team members being influenced by Syndicate and Mercenary. Grand Theft Auto III combined elements from previous games, and fused them together into a new immersive 3D experience that helped define open-world games for a new generation. Executive producer Sam Houser described it as " Zelda meets Goodfellas ", while producer Dan Houser also cited The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 as influences. Radio stations had been implemented earlier in games such as Maxis' SimCopter (1996), the ability to beat or kill non-player characters date back to titles such as Portopia (1983), and Valhalla (1983) and the way in which players run over pedestrians and get chased by police has been compared to Pac-Man (1980). After the release of Grand Theft Auto III, many games which employed a 3D open world, such as Ubisoft's Watch Dogs and Deep Silver's Saints Row series, were labeled, often disparagingly, as Grand Theft Auto clones, much as how many early first-person shooters were called "Doom clones".
Other examples include World of Warcraft , The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series of games, which feature a large and diverse world, offering tasks and possibilities to play.
In the Assassin's Creed series, which began in 2007, players explore historic open-world settings. These include the Holy Land during the Crusades, Renaissance Rome, New England during the American Revolution, the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, Paris during the French Revolution, London at the height of the Industrial Revolution, Ancient Egypt and Greece during the Peloponnesian War. The series intertwines factual history with a fictional storyline. In the fictional storyline, the Templars and the Assassins have been mortal enemies for all of known history. Their conflict stems from the Templars' desire to have peace through control, which directly contrasts the Assassins' wish for peace with free will. Their fighting influences much of history, as the sides often back real historical forces. For example, during the American Revolution depicted in Assassin's Creed 3 , the Templars often support the British, while the Assassins often side with the American colonists.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was developed by GSC Game World in 2007, followed by two other games, a prequel and a sequel. The free world style of the zone was divided into huge maps, like sectors, and the player can go from one sector to another, depending on required quests or just by choice.
In 2011, Dan Ryckert of Game Informer wrote that open-world crime games were "a major force" in the gaming industry for the preceding decade.
Another popular open-world sandbox game is Minecraft , which has since become the best-selling video game of all time, selling over 238 million copies worldwide on multiple platforms by April 2021. Minecraft's procedurally generated overworlds cover a virtual 3.6 billion square kilometers.
The Outerra Engine is a world rendering engine in development since 2008 that is capable of seamlessly rendering whole planets from space down to ground level. Anteworld is a world-building game and free tech-demo of the Outerra Engine that builds upon real-world data to render planet Earth realistically on a true-to-life scale.
No Man's Sky , released in 2016, is an open-world game set in a virtually infinite universe. According to the developers, through procedural generation, the game is able to produce more than 18 quintillion (18×1018 or 18,000,000,000,000,000,000) planets to explore. Several critics found that the nature of the game can become repetitive and monotonous, with the survival gameplay elements being lackluster and tedious. Jake Swearingen in New York said, "You can procedurally generate 18.6 quintillion unique planets, but you can't procedurally generate 18.6 quintillion unique things to do." Updates have aimed to address these criticisms.
In 2017, the open-world design of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was described by critics as being revolutionary and by developers as a paradigm shift for open-world design. In contrast to the more structured approach of most open-world games, Breath of the Wild features a large and fully interactive world that is generally unstructured and rewards the exploration and manipulation of its world. Inspired by the original 1986 Legend of Zelda, the open world of Breath of the Wild integrates multiplicative gameplay, where "objects react to the player's actions and the objects themselves also influence each other." Along with a physics engine, the game's open-world also integrates a chemistry engine, "which governs the physical properties of certain objects and how they relate to each other," rewarding experimentation. Nintendo has described the game's approach to open-world design as "open-air".
The Legend of Zelda is a high fantasy action-adventure video game franchise created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Capcom, Vanpool, and Grezzo. The gameplay incorporates action-adventure and elements of action RPG games.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in November 1998, and in PAL regions the following month. Ocarina of Time is the fifth game in The Legend of Zelda series, and the first with 3D graphics.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube home video game console. The tenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series, it was released in Japan in December 2002, in North America in March 2003, and in Europe in May 2003.
The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is an action role-playing video game with platforming elements. This second installment in The Legend of Zelda series was developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System on January 14, 1987. This is less than one year after the Japanese release, and seven months before the North American release, of the original The Legend of Zelda. Zelda II was released in North America and the PAL region for the Nintendo Entertainment System in late 1988, almost two years after its initial release in Japan.
A role-playing video game is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character immersed in some well-defined world, usually involving some form of character development by way of recording statistics. Many role-playing video games have origins in tabletop role-playing games and use much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. Other major similarities with pen-and-paper games include developed story-telling and narrative elements, player character development, complexity, as well as replay value and immersion. The electronic medium removes the necessity for a gamemaster and increases combat resolution speed. RPGs have evolved from simple text-based console-window games into visually rich 3D experiences.
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2, and the fifth instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, the story follows a silent protagonist, Claude, who, after being betrayed and left for dead by his girlfriend during a robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge that leads him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main areas.
Grand Theft Auto 2 is an action-adventure game, developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games, for Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation in October 1999, and the Dreamcast and Game Boy Color in 2000. It is the sequel to 1997's Grand Theft Auto, and the second main instalment of the Grand Theft Auto series. Set within a retrofuturistic metropolis known as "Anywhere City", the game focuses on players taking on the role of a criminal as they roam a fictional futuristic city, conducting jobs for various crime syndicates and having free rein to do whatever they wish to achieve their goal. The game's intro is unique for a title in the series, as it involved live-action scenes filmed by Rockstar Games.
Link is a fictional character and the protagonist of Nintendo's video game series The Legend of Zelda. He is the mascot of the franchise and one of Nintendo's main icons. He was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Link was introduced as the hero of the original 1986 The Legend of Zelda video game and has appeared in a total of 19 entries in the series, as well as a number of spin-offs. Common elements in the series include Link travelling through Hyrule whilst exploring dungeons, battling creatures, and solving puzzles until he eventually defeats the series' primary antagonist, Ganon, and saves Princess Zelda.
A video game genre is a classification assigned to a video game based on its core gameplay rather than visual or narrative features. A video game genre is normally defined by a set of gameplay challenges considered independently of setting or game-world content, unlike works of fiction that are expressed through other media, such as films or books. For example, a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of where or when it takes place.
Action-adventure is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
The Master Sword is a fictional divine magic sword in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. It is also known as "The Blade of Evil's Bane", the "Sword of Resurrection", the "Sword that Seals the Darkness", and the "Sacred Sword". It was introduced in the 1991 action-adventure video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and has since appeared in numerous other games in The Legend of Zelda series. The sword is the signature weapon of the hero, Link and has become an integral part of the character's visual identity and destiny in Zelda mythology. In the narrative of the Zelda series, it is a powerful, sacred weapon that Link repeatedly uses to defeat the main antagonist, Ganon and other forces of evil. Throughout the Zelda series, it is shown to have various magical powers, including the capability to repel evil, alter the flow of time and emit light beams to attack surrounding enemies. In addition to The Legend of Zelda series, the Master Sword has also appeared in various other video games, media and merchandise, including Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors. It has been recreated in fan art, cosplay and weaponry and has become a widely recognisable image in video gaming.
Multi Theft Auto (MTA) is a multiplayer modification for the Microsoft Windows version of Rockstar North games Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that adds online multiplayer functionality. For Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the mod also serves as a derivative engine to Rockstar's interpretation of RenderWare.
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the eleventh instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the single-player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high-profile criminals. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands, and the neighbouring state of Alderney, based on New Jersey.
A video game with nonlinear gameplay presents players with challenges that can be completed in a number of different sequences. Each player may take on only some of the challenges possible, and the same challenges may be played in a different order. Conversely, a video game with linear gameplay will confront a player with a fixed sequence of challenges: every player faces every challenge and has to overcome them in the same order.
A Grand Theft Auto clone is a subgenre of open world action-adventure video games, characterized by their likeness to the Grand Theft Auto series in either gameplay, or overall design. In these types of open world games, players may find and use a variety of vehicles and weapons while roaming freely in an open world setting. The objective of Grand Theft Auto clones is to complete a sequence of core missions involving driving and shooting, but often side-missions and minigames are added to improve replay value. The storylines of games in this subgenre typically have strong themes of crime, violence and other controversial elements such as drugs and sexually explicit content.
A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that gives the player a great degree of creativity to complete tasks towards a goal within the game, if such a goal exists. Some games exist as pure sandbox games with no objectives. These are also known as non-games or software toys. More often, sandbox games result from these creative elements being incorporated into other genres and allowing for emergent gameplay. Sandbox games are often associated with an open world concept which gives the player freedom of movement and progression in the game's world. The "sandbox" term derives from the nature of a sandbox that lets children create nearly anything they want within it.
In video games, a silent protagonist is a player character who lacks any dialogue for the entire duration of a game, with the possible exception of occasional interjections or short phrases. In some games, especially visual novels, this may extend to protagonists who have dialogue, but no voice acting like all other non-player characters. A silent protagonist may be employed to lend a sense of mystery or uncertainty of identity to the gameplay, or to help the player identify better with them. Silent protagonists may also be anonymous. Not all silent protagonists are necessarily mute or do not speak to other characters; they may simply not produce any dialogue audible to the player.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 2017 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U consoles. Breath of the Wild is the nineteenth installment of The Legend of Zelda franchise and is set at the end of the Zelda timeline. The player controls Link, who awakens from a hundred-year slumber to defeat Calamity Ganon and restore the kingdom of Hyrule.
Amazingly, open-world games can be traced back to the days of mainframes—namely, to the 1976 text-only game Colossal Cave Adventure for the PDP-10. Adventure at its core wasn't much different to the GTAs, Elites, and Minecrafts of today: you could explore, freely, in any direction, and your only goals were to find treasure (which is scattered throughout the cave) and to escape with your life.
Colossal Cave Adventure was a direct inspiration on 1980 Atari 2600 game Adventure. Its open world may have been sparse and populated by little more than dragon-ducks and simple geometric shapes, but its relative vastness enabled players to imagine magnificent adventures of their own making.
Lords Of Midnight's wonderful storyline (inspired, unsurprisingly, by The Lord Of The Rings), open-world gameplay and elegant graphics were one thing - its seemingly effortless welding of the traditional adventure game to these features set a new standard for software that remains an amazing feat over 30 years later.
The game's design even proved to be a precursor to key elements of modern day open world games like BioWare's Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Baldur's Gate series.
Still, for a pre-King's Quest graphic adventure, Valhalla remains pretty unique with its open-world aspects. Being able to kill anyone and anything can be great fun, and seeing what weird things the NPCs will do on autopilot is strangely endearing.
Pirates! was probably the second open-world game after Seven Cities of Gold.
'Seven Cities of Gold,' an Ozark Softscape title produced for EA in 1984 that eventually became the best-selling game of Bunten's career, was one of the first video games to take a stab at an 'open world' concept, allowing players to explore a virtual continent and set their own path rather than follow a regimented series of events.
Seven Cities of Gold was one of the first games with randomized maps and an open world...
Zelda, alongside games like Ultima and Hydlide, are among the first to be considered open world.
The sequel to Skool Daze is even better than the first and a prime example of the '80s approach to open world adventure.
While [Turbo Esprit] sounds like a racing game, this quite revolutionary release is actually a very early example of an open-world driving game.
The first game to feature an open-world environment was the 1986 Turbo Esprit for the ZX Spectrum.
Wasteland, which launched in 1988, spawned the Fallout series and won plaudits for its open-world design.
With nothing but 1990s 3D technology, it presented an open world action game set in modern-day Los Angeles...
An open-world taxi game set in a hyperviolent dystopian futurecity, 1994's Quarantine is hugely exciting in my foggy memory. | https://wikimili.com/en/Open_world |
Tutors:
- Allison Crank
Brief
Nature and its relationship to the human body has been studied, mapped and analyzed for centuries- that architecture should respond to the proportions of the body. Building codes and patterns defined by Da Vinci, Le Corbusier (or, even better, Charlotte Pierrand), Leon Alberti, among many others exist today based on general universal measurements, from bodily relationship of one’s elbows to the foot, arm, palm, etc. The perfection of Cindy Crawford itself.
As architects, we are equipped to think on a human scale, the gestures that accompany each bodily movement increase user presence. We’ve been taught to design in regards to the program of space, to create emotional landscapes that intensify the physicality of a users’ gestures as they circulate, augmenting feelings of presence. Just like how we intuitively manipulate physical objects, architecture can manipulate how a user inhabits a space. We must crouch or crawl in small tunnel spaces, descend with ease down a ramp. Simple elements that make up a building, their proportions and material qualities push the user to move and react. Breaking one of these codes can be dangerous: like the obnoxious “women staircases” designed by men in the 70s to fit the perfect “female stride” that satisfy nobody but cause people (both women and men alike) to misstep and plummet down the steps… Afterall, form follows function.
In this course, students have designed a level for a virtual reality game. The game’s core mechanic is based on the concept of The Lighthouse and requires navigating and using a 2 x 2 meters area as an infinite plane to inhabit the world. An endless lighthouse effect. Each level uniquely plays with space, physicality and gestures in the physical and virtual world. Students did this by learning game design, user experience design, supernormal interactions and building these spaces with new proportions. Students experimented with non-Euclidean architecture, interaction design, and did case studies on VR experiences that have physicality in terms of navigation and perception of virtual architecture.
For more information about the student work and brief please visit the official page by TygerTyger:
https://aavs.tygertyger.io/outcomes-2021
Project:
The Labyrinth
Student:
Brief
Concept
The project brief is to build a VR puzzle game to examine and develop a new set of rules and techniques for designing user embodiment in virtual space. I chose to explore the phenomenological aspects of space and multisensory perception of the human body in virtual architecture through the labyrinth game concept.
Game description
The Labyrinth is a sensorial retro adventure set in the enchanting VR maze. Traverse through the portal to uncover a visually stunning, sonically pleasing, and immersive non-euclidean universe from your own little room. In the Labyrinth, players explore levels with the different environment that draws inspiration from the 80s Synthwave visual aesthetic. Manipulated light, sound, and space deconstruct the players’ senses: vision, hearing, and touch. The levels are tailored to change the way the players feel, sense, interact in a rich spectrum of sensory environments while finding their way out.
Project:
Infinity – Imagining Fantasy & Illusion
Student:
Brief
This game explores the theme of illusion that attempted to create an immersive dreamland for player to feel a sense of illusion, either through their eyes or by changing their perception about the space. The game is about escaping the fantasy that the lighthouse keeper breaks into the space of new dimension and the rule in reality does not work anymore here. The player is trapped in this new dimension, in a dream, in a fantasy, in an illusion. Thus, the player needs to escape this infinite space of illusions, otherwise, you will be trapped in this illusion space forever.
To create the illusion, the game focused on the optical illusion and the change of gravity. The main mechanics is that player can use the portal to achieve the change of gravity so that he can walk on different planes and escape this 3D maze. The use of a portal can achieve a seamless transition between different spaces. There is one main maze room where it has lots of portal connecting some small puzzles. The game tends to create some infinite scene to make the player feel disorientated and trapped in the endless loop. Thus, this game invites the player to break the rule to find solutions for the puzzles and escape some of the “infinite” room.
This game is more about walking and experiencing the space of illusion. Therefore, in terms of locomotion, the player will need to use their whole body to walk. To be specific, they need to swing their arm to walk in the game, not only for enhance the immersive experience but also to reduce the motion sickness. | http://newpaper.space/portfolio/architecture-as-level-design-the-lighthouse/ |
Video games, as an art form, are always a collaborative effort between at least 2 parties: the developer, and the player. Without the developer, be it a single person or a 300-employee studio, the game wouldn’t exist. Without the player, the game couldn’t perform as a piece of art. This is an endlessly fascinating relationship caused by the interactive nature of the medium. Within this collaboration, there are many non-diegetic positions the developer can traditionally fulfill: the storyteller, the toymaker, the referee, the dungeon master, etc. But on occasion, developers choose to engage in a diegetic relationship with the player, morphing the friendly relationship from artist to audience to one of rivalry and contention. This is another example of folding traditionally non-diegetic elements, in this case the developer, into the diegetic realm of the game.
The idea of the developer being the rival to the player, of being in an antagonistic relationship with the player, is a fascinating but common one. John “TotalBiscuit” Bain stated his view of single player games as this: “I view single player games as competitive… I view it as the notion of competing with the developer’s challenges, the things that the developer has prepared for me.” (Bain)
At its most basic, the purpose of a game is to create a set of challenges for the players entertainment, and then give them a toolkit of actions that, if performed in some correct sequence, will result in overcoming the challenge. In some games there is only one way to complete a challenge; other games offer multiple different strategies a player can execute to complete a given challenge. This notion hearkens back to the traditional table top role-playing game model, with a “Game Master” or “Dungeon Master” who is “the person who organizes or directs the story and play in a role-playing game” (Game Master) and players who compete against the challenges the game master has set up for them. Most players opt to tackle the challenges head on through traditional in game mechanics, but some players find much more enjoyment in subverting the creator’s plans by pushing the limits of the presented ruleset for a given game. In Creative Player Actions in FPS Online Video Games, the author discusses these kinds of behaviors as “creative player actions” and “creative innovations”;
Play is not just "playing the game," but "playing with the rules of the game" and is best shown in the diversity of talk, the creative uses of such talk and player behavior within the game, plus the modifications of game technical features… as in any human performance, creativity of execution is the norm… This creative subversion of game rules occurs consistently in the many debates over "cheating" within the game…. what is consistent is the bending of conventional game rules, as we have seen in this example, which can easily be viewed as a creative innovation within the game. (Wright)
In some games players can, through experimentation with the toolbox they are given, find a unique combination of in-game actions to perform that went totally unpredicted by the game’s designer. These creative player actions often undercut the intended skill check and associated challenge the game was meant to provide. Players who are likely to engage in creative player actions typically enjoy this breaking of rules. These players are referred to as “Transgressive Players” (Aarseth), and the psychological motivations of transgressive players are explained by a section of Progress in Reversal Theory;
For example, conforming to the rules and rituals of some club that one is honored to be a member of can be a pleasure in itself, as can defying the rules of some petty authority or bureaucracy which appears to be restricting one’s activities unnecessarily. Conversely, failure to conform in the conformist state or failure to defy in the negative state will both contribute some degree of displeasure to the overall hedonic tone at the time in question. (Cowles)
One of the most famous (and comedic) examples of creative player actions can be found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The player can, at any point in the game, pick up and move around items within the game world and drop them wherever they want. The player can also, at any time, attempt to steal items from NPCs in the game. If they are caught doing so by an NPC, they are then confronted and punished for their attempted theft. But, if the player places a pot or basket over the head of all the present NPCs, their line of sight is totally cut off and they cannot detect the player stealing items from them. This leads to humorous instances where the transgressive player is casually robbing a merchant, while the merchant stands obliviously, acting normally with a kettle covering his head (Figure 2). This also removes all risk and challenge from the situation, undermining the developers intended challenge and risk/reward system involved with stealing.
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Figure 2, Screenshot from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
When a transgressive player can execute creative player actions, the result tends to break the immersion of the player, reminding them of the artificiality of the digital realm they’re interacting with. These situations draw the player out of the experience, pulling them from full immersion in a well simulated world to a non-immersed state with an obviously digital simulation. Traditionally these exploits are seen as disruptions to the game’s intended narrative, as they subvert the presentation of conflict intended to give plot and tone to the world the player interacts with. Indeed, the interactive nature of video games themselves provides difficulty in explicitly conveying narratives, as stated in A Case Study in the Design of Interactive Narrative: The Subversion of Narrative;
“The difficulty is that the exercise of interactive choice and a conscious volition can disrupt the immersion into narrative and story. In comparison to reading a book or watching a movie, some disruption of the narrative experience is inevitable. (Bizzocchi)
However, in some games, especially those in which the developer assumes a diegetic competitive role towards the player, the opportunities for creative player actions are often a bait-and-switch and create more immersion for already defiant players who attempt them. Players think they’ve found a loophole, a way to exploit the game that the developer didn’t consider, but it’s actually a trap laid by the developer to then return fire on the player for trying to circumvent the game’s logic. The developer has thought through the exploits the player might try and placed faux opportunities at likely points to bedevil them[ZS1] . They really aren’t catching the transgressive players acting unpredictably; they’re forming outcomes around things they anticipate the transgressive player to do, things the player might think are unpredictable. They’re folding what would usually be considered as non-diegetic exploits of the ruleset of the game into a diegetic position in the narrative. These exploits become diegetic maneuvers of the player against a diegetic game master, expanding the game narrative beyond the traditional on-screen plot elements into a player/dungeon master competitive narrative around game rule experimentation.
One of the best games that successfully exemplifies this relationship is ICEY. ICEY is a side scrolling brawler that relies on a very simple directional arrow system and a guiding narrator to direct the player where to go. The entire game can be played following the arrow, fighting enemies and experiencing the story of the titular main character in the “correct” way. The player can also choose to deviate from the arrows and explore at any time, and the game will acknowledge the transgressive player’s “disobedience”. The game’s narrator will make sarcastic, disparaging comments about the player, and the game will lead the player to weird secrets and present a wholly different experience. These “unintended paths” lead the player to unfinished levels, rooms with videos of prototype versions of the game, and continuous dialogue from the narrator about how much harder video game players make his life because of their insistence on testing the boundaries of the game instead of just playing it like it was meant to be played. The developer of ICEY designed the game specifically to tempt players into veering off the intended path so he could express his frustration with this habit players have in regular games, creating a metanarrative around this concept about the rigors of game development with an uncooperative audience. The game’s description on Steam states:
ICEY is a Meta game in disguise. The narrator will constantly urge you in one direction, but you must ask, "Why? Why am I following his directions? Why can't I learn the truth about this world and ICEY's purpose here?" Fight against his tyranny and uncover what's really going on for yourself! (Buy ICEY)
This purposefully challenges players to rebel against the game, it’s narrator, and ultimately, it’s developer, pushing the normal player to become transgressive. Narrators in games and other mediums are often perceived as the author themselves, being that “The narrator is always either a character who narrates or the author” (Alber). ICEY’s narrator is the game’s lead developer. “Fight against his tyranny” is not a call to fight against the tyranny of the voice the player is hearing, but the tyranny of the game, the tyranny of the rules the developer has set in place. It is a call to fight the rules and systems the developer prepared, the purposeful design and well-planned challenges they laid out, the carefully prepared story they penned for the player’s enjoyment. The object of the player’s crusade becomes the intent to try overturning the original design and taking control of the game’s world.
This very explicitly brings the game’s player and developer into a diegetic struggle for control. The narrative stops being about the adventures of the protagonist characters in the game and becomes a faux competition between developer and player, with the player defiantly competing against the developer they believe is antagonizing them, and the developer playing the part of the authoritative opposing force to actively encourage the player to explore and discover. This clever design philosophy rewards players not with just the traditional rewards inherent to overcoming a challenge in a game through intended actions, but a more intense reward that comes with the need for creative innovations through gameplay. As stated by Bain, “One of the things I really enjoy about this game is trying to outsmart the developer… and the discovery that …the developer has outsmarted me, not the other way around. That is a very joyful feeling indeed” (Bain). The experience of being rewarded for cleverness and exploration is one that doesn’t rely on fast reflexes or clever strategy, but on ingenuity. The enjoyment comes not from quick combos or good aim, but in being acknowledged as thoughtful enough to find hidden rewards and think independently of developer hand holding. In ICEY, the sarcastic insults prompted by disobedience are a thinly veiled reward to the player, an acknowledgement of respect from the developer to the player for uncovering the secrets of the game.
Furthermore, the creator of ICEY offers a critique to players who do dig far enough into his game; knowing that players who persist in creative gameplay actions are most likely ones who have done so before and will do so again, he offers up a frustrated dialogue about how the audience will disparage a game that they can find a way to exploit.
In reality, it’s very difficult to make a game, and it’s very easy for problems like this to appear… Unknowingly, 10 years flew by in the blink of an eye. With all the effort I spent, I think a few scattered bugs or missing features are entirely acceptable… Games are about entertainment. Don’t place too much value on a few mishaps here and there. (“Icey”)
What the developer does here is masterful; he presents situations in which he pretends as if the player has found a bug or exploit in the game, but really, it’s an intended experience in the game to push players who do find one of these situations into a clearer understanding of the frustrations experienced by game developers. It takes what is usually a peak behind a curtain into a disenchanting, immersion-ruining scene, and turns it into an immersive, personal moment between developer and player.
The execution of this design technique is dissectible into three parts. First, the game must present a “correct” or “intended” way of playing the game. Second, the game must have opportunity, whether explicitly encouraged or implicit, to stray from the “intended” route through the game. It is important to note that this encouragement can also take form in reverse psychology, and more often than not does, for purposes of comedic entertainment. Finally, the game must provide a feedback system of some kind, whether explicitly positive rewards (such as points or achievements) or sardonic rewards, such as annoyed responses from characters or the narrator, to encourage the player to keep playing and pushing boundaries.
Successful execution of this technique often involves layered subversions of video game tropes, in order to lead players into situations they expect to be able to exploit. The final step also requires acknowledgement of the player and/or developer as diegetic forces in the narrative. This provides motivation and immersion to the player in the experience, changing their creative player actions into the diegetic solutions in a game of wits against the developer , instead of breaking their immersion through unintended creative player actions. While diegetic adjustment is not explicitly required to execute this kind of intended creative player action focused game design, the purpose it serves in maintaining immersion is key to keeping players invested in a game with any sort of intentional narrative.
My personal experiences with this technique revolve around my game A Very Bad Clock Game, a game that I developed in my alternative game development class. The primary objective of the game is to drop a ball onto the hands of a real time clock in order to shepherd it into the goal. The game is intensely not fun ; the way I provided motivation to the player was through directly antagonizing them. I informed them that the game wasn’t fun or impressive in any way, that it’s a waste of their time, etc. This provided an interesting conflict in the game; not between the player and the rather tedious puzzles, but between the player and the developer (me) in who had the most patience. I found it best to approach the player early with the antagonistic relationship, since the game is intentionally encouraging its players to give up before they even find the extended fiction elements of the game.
Very few video games, or mediums of art in general, diegetically acknowledge the people who created them or their audiences. And even fewer of those games acknowledge in any way those who push at the limits of the software, finding their own creative ways of overcoming challenges. Games that not only acknowledge these methods of gameplay but are designed specifically to reward this type of play, provide unique narratives in the realm of games. Rather than just preventing transgressive player actions from breaking game systems, a task that consumes millions of assurance and bug fixing hours a year, the developers instead anticipate these actions and, in surprisingly good spirits, playfully put the players in their place. The games that account for a mass amount of gameplay variance with sarcastic commentary are perhaps the most honest expressions of the frustrations of the game development process that we have, and a playful acknowledgement of the creativity of players.
To read other entries in this series, check out my Gamasutra blog http://gamasutra.com/blogs/AustinAnderson/1028242/, or check out the full thesis on my website at http://austinanderson.online/thesis
A game “developer” is a common term for anyone who works on the creation of a video game.
A skill check is a term derived from tabletop RPG’s that refers to testing the abilities of a player. | https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/extended-fiction-in-game-design-icey |
Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot is an Action, Stealth, Platform, and Metroidvania video game developed by Vatra Games and published by Konami for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game features Single-player mode only, and it acts as the sequel to Rush’n Attack, released in 1985. The storyline of the game revolves around the protagonist named as Sergeant Sid Morrow, an American special agent who is sent on an epic mission with his team to recover a prisoner from the secret military base of Russia. The game is heavily inspired by many action gameplay elements from the original game. It is played from an isometric perspective, with the protagonist being able to move vertically or horizontally. There are several new features over its predecessor, such as stealth combat, non-linear levels, usable equipment, and attack combos. The main character is equipped with a knife in the start of the game, but the player can pick up other temporary-use weaponry such as rifles, grenades, and rocket launchers. Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot includes prominent features such as Shank Combos, Temporary Weapons, Isometric Gameplay, Several Levels, and more. Check it out, and have fun.
#2 Bionic Commando Rearmed
Bionic Commando Rearmed is the perfect mix of Platform and Metroidvania elements developed by Grin and published by Capcom for Multiple Platforms. The game supports both Single-player and Co-op Multiplayer modes and offers exciting gameplay that players have never experienced before. It follows the protagonist named Nathan Spencer, the commando with a bionic left arm that can be used as a weapon. According to the storyline, the protagonist is sent on an epic mission to demolish a weapon called the Albatross project under construction by the Badds. The game borrows the plot from the NES version of the game, and it mainly revolves around two main factions such as the Empire and the Federation. The game starts with the imperial forces finding classified documents regarding the secret weapon’s development called the Albatross project. The protagonist explores several areas to eliminate enemies along his way. As the player advances, he discovers new technology and journey deeper behind the enemy lines. Bionic Commando Rearmed includes prominent features such as Side-scroll Action, Platform Gameplay, Detailed Graphics, Several Levels to Complete, and more. Try it out, and you’ll like it.
#3 Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond is a Shooter video game developed by Vicious Cycle Software and published by D3 Publisher. The game is the sequel to Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard and the storyline of the game follows the main protagonist named Matt Hazard, returned from the previous installment, goes back in time to revisit his previous game to fend off an evil corporation known as Marathon MegaCorp from killing him. Unlike the previous title, which was set in the 3D environment, this game revolves around 2D side-scroll shooting game to evoke the feel of the retro game. However, developers of the game use the 3D graphics. In the game, the player is capable of using upgraded weapons with limited ammo to kill enemies. The player is also to get into the prevision aim mode by hitting the shoulder buttons. Levels in the game comprise boxes enabling the player to power-up. The game has three level difficulties such as Wussy, Damn this is Hard, and Fuck This Shit. With immersive gameplay, superb graphics, and cool controls, Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond is the best game to play.
More About Sundered: Eldritch Edition
Sundered: Eldritch Edition is an Adventure, Roguelike, 2D, Single-player, and Multiplayer video game developed by Thunder Lotus Games for multiple platforms. During the game, the player takes on the role of a protagonist named Eshe, who comes to face multiple enemies in the challenging world.
The player gets trapped in the caverns with terrifying creatures. In solo mode, the player has to face the dangers alone, but the multiplayer mode offers the player to form a team of four members and embrace altogether. As the player makes progress, the complexity of the game gets expanded and requires the player to show off more skills.
The character can respawn after attaining the death but for a limited time. The player can upgrade the character’s abilities and modify him as per desire. The defeated enemies can respawn themselves to keep the player in action, but he must use his different abilities to take them down forever. | https://www.moregameslike.com/sundered-eldritch-edition/xbox360/ |
The original Shining Soul was only an RPG because of the different character classes and the ability to "level up" the characters in battle through experience. It was weighed heavily towards the action side of things, essentially a Game Boy Advance version of Diablo. For the sequel, the developers tweaked the balance to bring the game more to the side of an RPG adventure, giving players more opportunity to learn about the game's story through conversations with the locals and side-quests outside of the battles. These definitely make the player feel more involved with the Shining Soul universe, but the text (or at least, the localization of the original Japanese) is so poorly written; characters say in multiple paragraphs what could have been blurted out in a sentence or two. Worse, a lot of the text is set in a very slow type setting that's almost painful to sit through...especially if you've already spent the time to read it once before with another character or two. Or seven.
But again, it's all about the action in Shining Soul II, and the developers bump up the gameplay for the sequel by allowing for more "maze-like" areas to hack through. Though the areas are linearly designed to lead to the end boss, there are plenty of "hidden" locations in each sub-area to score treasure, health, armor, and weapons. They've been laid out better to allow for the multiplayer aspect, and they're slightly larger in size so that players can be in more extreme locations off-screen when fighting in the cooperative modes. There's also been much more focus placed in special attacks, giving players the ability to charge up offensive strikes to higher levels...as well as level these attacks up by performing them over and over. The action's more strategic in the sequel, too, since the collision detection's pulled off better and lets players get away from cheap hits from the enemies a lot more efficiently.
The designers still put the player in a "real time" setting, which means levelling up and equipping as the world continues to move. This works in a multiplayer setting since it would irritate the other players if a partner kept pausing the game while he or she accessed the menus. But there's no reason why the game has to keep going in the single player mode, and again there's no "pause" menu while in battle...to take a break players will have to save the game, which immediately kicks them to the title screen. This awkwardness in design is minor, but it adds up as a significant irritation. Dying in battle seems slightly meaningless since you're teleported away to heal up, and have the ability to teleport right back to the spot you died...so saving your coin for a bunch of healing potions doesn't seem like that big of a focus this time around.
Verdict
Overall, Shining Soul II is a significant improvement over last year's original and a lot more fun and playable. The developers worked to make the sequel a much more realized action RPG than the original Shining Soul. Even with the awkward "adventure" design elements, this sequel is enjoyable both in single and multiplayer...but because of the multiplayer focus the real fun is finding one, two or three friends to join the battle. Because the game shares similarities with Diablo, Shining Soul would work best as an online game since local linking isn't the easiest thing to organize on the Game Boy Advance...so perhaps if there's ever a third game in the series, it'd be worth it for Sega to approach the sequel for Wireless play on the GBA...or even the Nintendo DS. | https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/04/26/shining-soul-ii-3 |
We had a good session at the ELT Unconference this week about games and gamification in online courses. We spent some time talking about the differences between games and gamification, which seems to break down like this:
- Game: Competitive or cooperative scenario with rules, chance, and the possibility of strategy
- Gamification: Something that isn’t a game but that has game elements (narrative, concrete goals, rewards) added to it
- Simulation: A (sometimes) game-like environment meant to provide opportunity for practicing a real-life scenario
To gamify a college course, then, we were picturing an overlay of new game mechanics to the student’s path through the materials, activities, and assessments of a course. Perhaps a progress tracker that awards points or abilities, or a new terminology for things like tests and quizzes–“challenges” or “quests” perhaps?
Novelty aside, is there a potential improvement in student learning? Is student motivation increased, leading to increased engagement, leading to improved performance on course assessments? (Or are there other dimensions involved that I’m not thinking of?) When you replace or mask the course’s traditional extrinsic motivators, who benefits?
Here’s my small class of students: one who really cares about the subject, a bunch who mostly care about their grades, and one who doesn’t really care at all. Greatly simplified, obviously, but probably not overly deceptive.
|Intrinsically motivated||Extrinsically motivated||Not motivated|
|“I want to learn this!”||From “I have to get an A” to
|
“I just have to pass this”
|“Why am I here?”|
So what happens when you add game elements?
Here are my guesses:
- Intrinsically motivated student: Either a slight increase or decrease in engagement or motivation. They may be amused by the game elements or may be slightly turned off (based on their feelings about video games, perhaps?). There may be a net positive effect from their perception that the instructor is being thoughtful about teaching.
- Extrinsically motivated student who wants an A: Little change in motivation; slight decrease in satisfaction with the course. I’d guess a student who insists on getting an A in the class will probably not become more motivated when game elements either replace or supplement traditional grade motivators. And if she is more motivated, what’s the benefit if she now has additional non-intrinsic motivation? I’m going to guess that she may well find the game elements to be an obstacle, or an obfuscation of her path, to a good grade.
- Extrinsically motivated student who just wants to pass: I’m not completely sure. Are extrinsic motivators always cumulative, or will they conflict? And what’s the benefit if he cares about getting to Level 100 but leaves the class not caring about the subject matter, and never transferring what he learned out of the classroom? (Assuming that if the student found out during the semester that he loved biology, he would’ve done so through the activities themselves and not the motivators–either grades or points.)
- Unmotivated student: Possibility of more (any) motivation to progress through the material and activities. This seems like a potential net positive: a greater chance that the student may complete the course activities, and a possibility that engaged exposure to the material may create unexpected intrinsic motivation.
Any other thoughts? Am I far too off base by making these clear distinctions? Does a real-life student with mixtures of motivators benefit differently? | https://u.osu.edu/muir.25/2013/10/ |
How do we respond to ongoing problems of student engagement? What if we could use key elements of what inspires millions of video gamers around the world to motivate students in their learning? This workshop explores opportunities afforded by gamification to harness student agency, choice, and exploration for learning and teaching. Workshop facilitators Emily Wade, Danielle Teychenne and Adam Brown will showcase Digital Learning innovations from different faculties, with a particular focus on the application of real-world social media to build student community and portfolios, and the possibilities of using interactive and transmedia storytelling to engage diverse cohorts in ways that promote active learning.
Presenters will highlight lessons learned from the ‘Open World Learning’ research and teaching project, which pivots on immersive and narrative-based gamified solutions to enhance student motivation and engagement. Drawing on audience participation and aspects of gamification within the session itself, the panel will unpack the broader relevance and possibilities for educators of replicating elements of arguably the most popular of game genres: ‘sandbox’ style (open-world) games. This genre’s emphasis on exploratory environments, user agency and continuous learning promises considerable value in the Digital Learning space.
When: 28th July
Where: Across all Deakin campuses (excluding Warrnambool) and online via Skype for business.
Facilitator: Danielle Teychenne
Registration: | https://healthdigitalresourceworkshops.deakin.edu.au/2020/02/05/open-world-learning-gamifying-student-motivation-and-engagement/ |
The aims of placing game elements in a non-game environment might be driving engagement (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011; Kapp, 2012; Zichermann & Linder, 2013), motivating action, promoting learning, solving problems (Kapp, 2012), or aiding behaviour management (Muntean, 2011). Several psychological theories have been applied to gamification to explain how it is possible to achieve these aims by utilising game elements (Kapp, 2012). This section will summarise how gamification can benefit from motivational theories in an educational context.
With the use of rewards and punishment, Skinner (referred to by Kapp, 2012; Werbach & Hunter, 2012) conditioned animals to perform actions and found that different behaviour patterns could be established with different reinforcement schedules. Skinner’s reinforcement schedules can be used in game design to promote long-term player engagement (Kapp, 2012). If certain points, badges or other rewards are supplied on a variable basis, students in the gamified learning environment will be more likely to perform those actions in the future. In the variable reward schedule “a prize or reward [is] delivered on some nonpredictable basis, such as the payoff of a slot machine” (Werbach & Hunter, 2012, p. 133). The effectiveness of the variable reward schedule can be attributed to the neuro-scientific finding according to which “uncertain rewards release more dopamine than predictable rewards” (Kapp, 2012, p. 102).
Behaviourism, the theory which includes operant conditioning, focussed exclusively on extrinsic rewards as motivational tools. The self-determination theory (SDT), a cognitivist approach, however, claims that intrinsic motivation, i.e. motivation which stems from one’s inborn appreciation for something, is more powerful (Werbach & Hunter, 2012). Ryan & Deci (2000), the formulators of SDT, identify three innate needs, which, when fulfilled, give room for intrinsic motivation. These needs are (1) autonomy, i.e. feeling in control, (2) competence, i.e. a feeling of mastery and the need for challenge, and (3) relatedness, i.e. being connected to others. Ryan, Rigby and Przybylski (2006) applied SDT to computer games and concluded that game enjoyment and intentions for future play were closely connected with experiencing autonomy, competence and relatedness throughout gameplay. Consequently, gamification systems should be built in a way that they satisfy these three needs. A feeling of mastery can be evoked by the feedback points and levels provision, the need for autonomy might be met by offering a great number of choices, and relatedness might be established by embedding options for sharing achievements on social networks such as Facebook (Werbach & Hunter, 2012) or by leaderboards displaying the names of people who have interacted with the system (Kapp, 2012).
When inherently interesting tasks are rewarded with extrinsic motivators, the original intrinsic motivation is likely to be substituted with an extrinsic one (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999). This phenomenon has been observed by various psychologists and has been labelled as overjustification, corruption effect, cognitive evaluation or crowding-out effect (Frey & Jegen, 2001). The crowding-out effect should be taken into consideration when gamification systems are devised so that intrinsic motivation remains unextinguished (Werbach & Hunter, 2012).
This does not mean, however, that extrinsic rewards are to be ruled out, as supplying them for dull, repetitive tasks is absolutely ideal (Werbach & Hunter, 2012). Another argument supporting the use of extrinsic reward structures is that intrinsic motivation is not the opposite of extrinsic motivation, and the two usually coexist, even within the same reward structure (Kapp, 2012). For instance, points, which are usually considered extrinsic motivators, can also provide feedback about students’ level of mastery and thereby strengthen their feeling of competence and generate intrinsic motivation (Kapp, 2012). Gamified systems should, therefore, feature both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators (Kapp, 2012; Werbach & Hunter, 2012), and their designers should pay special attention not to devise non-informative or functionally superfluous rewards (Kapp, 2012).
Deci, Koestner and Ryan (1999) differentiated between tangible and verbal rewards; expected and unexpected rewards; task-noncontingent, engagement-contingent, completion-contingent and performance-contingent rewards. Task non-contingent rewards, such as salary, are not connected to specific tasks nor to performance. Engagement-contingent rewards are provided “for engaging in a task, independent of whether the task is completed or done well” (p. 640), while completion-contingent rewards are obtained when the task is completed, whereas performance-contingent rewards are bound to performing well in a task. Deci, Koestner and Ryan’s (1999) summary of meta-analyses revealed that unexpected tangible rewards do not tend to undermine intrinsic motivation, and that verbal rewards could increase both free-choice behaviour and self-reported interest, the latter enhancement not applying to children but college students only. All the other types of rewards had a negative effect on intrinsic motivation, with the exception of performance-contingent rewards, which undermined free-choice behaviour but did not tend to decrease self-reported interest.
(1) “minimizing the use of authoritarian style and pressuring locution”, (2) “acknowledging good performance but not using rewards to try to strengthen or control the behaviour”, (3) “providing choice about how to do the tasks”, (4) “emphasizing the interesting or challenging aspects of the tasks” (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, pp. 656-657).
From the perspective of gamification, the fundamental weakness of the studies on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is that they had increased focus on tangible rewards, which gamification practitioners are less likely to offer (Kapp, 2012).
Gamification systems can provide a wider variety of rewards, which cannot be conveniently categorised as tangible nor as verbal rewards. Zichermann and Cunningham’s (2011) SAPS framework might better address the problem of classifying rewards in gamification. The SAPS framework groups rewards under four categories, arranged in an ascending order of price and a descending order of desirability.
The first category is that of status, which expresses “the relative position of an individual in relation to others, especially in a social group” (p. 10). Examples of status reward structures include badges, levels and leaderboards. Rewards which fall into the second category, access, open up exclusive opportunities, for instance more affording time constraints in case of a specific task (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011; Zichermann & Linder, 2013). Power rewards, the third category, give the player “a modicum of control over other players in the game” (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011, p. 12). The most expensive reward structure in the framework is called ‘stuff’, which refers to the use of tangible rewards such as giveaways, freebies, gift cards or cash (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011; Zichermann & Linder, 2013). Not only is ‘stuff’ the least cost-effective reward type, but also the least engaging one, as the incentive it provides only exists until the reward is redeemed (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011).
Another motivational theory gamification can benefit from is the flow theory. Its formulator, Csíkszentmihályi (1990) observed that games were capable of focusing attention and producing a state of flow. He also noted that tasks which resembled games brought more enjoyment due to the immediate feedback, the clear goals, the challenges and the variety they operated with. Gamification designers should therefore pay attention to the feedback their systems provide and establish the conditions necessary for users to enter into a state of flow (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011; Kapp, 2012; Werbach & Hunter, 2012).
Flow is a mental state in which the subject is so fully engaged in the activity that their concern for self disappears and they lose their sense of time (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990). Flow is only experienced “when a person’s skill is just right to cope with the demands of a situation” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1988, p. 32), otherwise the activity will result in boredom or anxiety.
In conclusion, gamifying the ESL classroom is a complex and thoughtful process, which means more than extending the assessment system by adding points, badges and leaderboards. If the underlying dynamics and motivational aspects are not given serious consideration, the harm caused by gamification can outweigh the benefits. A poorly designed gamification system is likely to undermine intrinsic motivation, whereas a well-designed one is able to engage students in the long term. Behaviourist experiments, the self-determination theory, the cognitive evaluation theory, the flow theory, other frameworks (see Appendix 2) and previous research ventures can inform language teachers who aim to create engaging, gameful experiences for their students. By implementing the variable reward schedule, offering a great deal of choices and informational rewards, defining clear goals, providing immediate feedback, embedding social sharing options and weaving stories into the system, one might expect positive outcomes.
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1988) "The Flow Experience and Human Psychology," in Csíkszentmihályi, M. and Csíkszentmihályi, I.S. (Eds.), Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness , New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 15-35.
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience . New York: Harper & Row.
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological bulletin, 125(6) , 627.
Ryan, R. M. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of personality and social psychology, 43(3) , 450.
Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 , 68–78.
Ryan, R.M., Rigby, C.S., & Przybylski, A. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach. Motivation and Emotion, 30 , 347–364. | https://ludus.hu/en/gamification/psychology/ |
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10609/86285
|Title:||A framework for agile design of personalized gamification services|
|Author:||Mora Carreño, Alberto|
|Director:||Arnedo Moreno, Joan |
González González, Carina
|Keywords:||gamification|
design
framework
personalization
Agile
|Issue Date:||18-Jun-2018|
|Publisher:||Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)|
|Abstract:||Interest in applying gamification techniques to different contexts has increased in recent years and has become a promising trend in many areas, such as human-computer interaction (HCI) and educational technologies. Unfortunately, many instances in which these techniques are used do not meet their motivational objectives, primarily due to poor design or a completely ad hoc approach. Findings reveal that a formal design strategy is the key to success. This thesis presents the development and validation of a framework for the design of personalized gamification services. This framework, called FRAGGLE (FRamework for AGile Gamification of personalized Learning Experiences), is based on the use of agile methodologies to obtain a fast design that is ready for testing and reproduction. It is aimed at applying different techniques, all the way down to the lowest levels of abstraction, through a guided, step-by-step process, including a design validation process of intrinsic motivation (SPARC). This approach was tested and assessed in two courses on an e-learning-based bachelor's degree in computer science, its goals being to encourage learners completing non-graded training activities, and to increase their sense of kinship and interest in the class group. The first case revealed a moderately positive assessment of the designed experience and student engagement in a "one-size-fits-all" proposal; meanwhile, the second case of study allowed assessment of which design elements had a greater impact on student engagement. Results from a further case of study also revealed that personalization worked better regarding students' behavioural and emotional engagement than previous generic approaches. Finally, the framework was also applied in a real healthcare environment through Preventive Neuro Health, a gamified, crowdsourcing-inspired tool developed for cognitive impairment prevention in healthy older adults. Aiming to motivate its regular use among these adults, it enabled a high degree of personalization both from clinical and engagement perspectives.|
|Language:||English|
|URI:||http://hdl.handle.net/10609/86285|
|Appears in Collections:||Doctoral Thesis|
Files in This Item: | http://openaccess.uoc.edu/webapps/o2/handle/10609/86285 |
Psychology is a valuable Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) discipline but one which could do far more at communicating its value to the wider public. This poster discusses Psychology’s inclusion in The University of Northampton’s STEM approach considering challenges surrounding activity provision recruitment engagement and cross-discipline collaboration. It will be suggested that these activities enhance the Psychology STEM journey by providing students with valuable professional experience and by fostering the development of employability-related skills beyond those obtained during their degree. Despite challenges Psychology STEM outreach activities not only improve participation and engagement but may also improve Psychology’s STEM membership.
Perceptions and attitudes of undergraduate students to reading
Biological Sciences
Dr Alison Graham Dr Sara Marsham Newcastle University
The study aimed to explore the attitudes perceptions and confidence of undergraduate students towards reading academic material with a view to identify any important themes that could be examined in future research. Focus groups were conducted with students from each undergraduate stage in the three Schools. Students were asked about their reading habits, confidence with reading and expectations for independent study. Students’ reading habits are influenced by several different factors and academic staff should consider these when designing courses.
Student ownership and rewards for group work
Biological Sciences
Dr Rachel Hallet
Bangor University
In higher education we can identify issues whereby grades-driven students have poor engagement with exercises designed to enhance transferable skills.In this poster presentation we aim to describe and appraise a classroom activity that attempts to counter some of these problems.
Students choose an activity (mini-lecture designing MCQs presenting clinical scenarios) to pursue in a group over the course of 6 weeks culminating in a student-led teaching session.
Grades-based reward comes in two forms. We reflect on the combination of pedagogical practices and their influence on student feedback concerning depth of engagement value perception and feelings of ownership of the learning.
Engineering design – problem based learning through a real life group project
General
Miss Xiaojun (Ping) Yin Dr Jude Clancy Swansea University
A real life on-going building project on the university campus was used as the basis for both teaching and assessment of the second year Civil Engineering Design Practice module at Swansea University. The problem based learning and the group work nature of this module has helped students to develop critical thinking teamwork and communication skills which are essential attributes for a successful graduate. The simulation of a real life design exercise has helped to improve student engagement. This poster session will outline the pedagogy assessment strategy of this design module and share the evaluation of its impact.
How can we ensure that students are engaging when flipping?
Psychology
Dr Elley Wakui Dr Mary-Jane Budd University of East London
We examined student engagement with the flipped classroom in our Foundation Year Psychology Research Methods module especially the pre-recorded lecture aspect. Benefits of flipping are increasingly reported but practicalities such as engagement with pre-recorded materials are less so. We gathered anecdotal experiences of students and tutors of this flipped class and understandings of reasons to flip and how best to make use of the material. Critical reflection raised issues around balancing surveillance motivation and necessity to view. In our class we suggest group quizzes with questions given in advance balanced scaffolding self-directed learning habits and monitoring whilst engaging our students.
Using GradeMark to Improve Feedback and Engage Students in the Marking Process
Biological Sciences
Dr Sara Marsham Dr Alison Graham Newcastle University
Students frequently express frustration with assessment and feedback. Our project aimed to improve the clarity of marking criteria and link feedback more explicitly to criteria. We began by developing new marking criteria and provided tutorials that gave opportunities for students to practice using the criteria to mark exemplars. GradeMark was trialled as an electronic platform to provide feedback on coursework. We developed libraries of feedback specific to a particular assessment and its marking criteria. Students were overwhelmingly positive about the tutorials and electronic marking system. We show clear benefits to students that are not heavily reliant on staff time.
Undergraduate research placements improve bioscience students’ engagement with their discipline and enhance their academic performance.
Biological Sciences
Dr Sarah Hall
Cardiff University
This project examined the impact of undergraduate research placements in engaging Bioscience students with their discipline and improving their academic performance. Students’ opinions and academic performance were analysed and the findings demonstrate the compelling value of the year as an authentic learning experience. Students recognised the comprehensive pedagogic value of the placement in developing their scientific expertise and refining their general academic skills; this is supported by evidence of superior academic performances particularly in final year research projects. Furthermore these students appreciated the value of the placements in enhancing their employability attributes and consolidating their career objectives.
Purple Pens: Enhancing Assessment Literacy and Student Engagement with Feedback through Students Writing Their Own Feedback
Physical Sciences
Dr David McGarvey Dr Laura Hancock Keele University
The aim of this session is to describe and illustrate our experiences of a deceptively simple but effective strategy for improving the quality and timeliness of assessment feedback in large classes through the use of a tutor-led dialogic technique that involves students writing their own feedback using distinctly coloured pens. The objectives are to stimulate discussion of the distinctions between passive receipt of tutor-written feedback and students writing their own feedback in a tutor-led dialogic environment with a view to further enhancing students’ engagement with feedback and feedback literacy.
Contextualizing an Engineering Student Learning Experience Through Linked Laboratories
Engineering and Materials
Dr Oliver Lewis Miss Farah Zahoor
Sheffield Hallam University
An Aerospace Materials module previously included laboratory sessions on polymers and composites. However links between the laboratories were minimal and the polymer laboratory included limited scope for engagement. Furthermore the industrial significance of the sessions was not readily apparent.
The curriculum development aimed to: create a new laboratory activity incorporating procedures processes and components relevant to the aerospace industry; develop links between laboratory sessions; provide students with the opportunity to use research facilities.
The outcomes were assessed by questionnaire. Results for each of the outcomes showed student enthusiasm for the laboratories. Student responses to the industrial context were particularly positive.
Interactive iPad tutorials improve student engagement performance and satisfaction
General
Dr Phillip Macdonald Dr Helen Jopling University of Manchester
Healthcare scientist training at postgraduate level requires students from a range of backgrounds to quickly master complex subjects and apply this knowledge in a clinical laboratory setting. We have used the approach of flipped learning to develop interactive teaching sessions using the iPad application ‘Nearpod’ to encourage engagement peer interaction and communities of practice. The participation of all students is monitored allowing those who are struggling to be identified and given additional support. We present a study which suggests this method of teaching has increased the understanding of our students from the previous didactic teaching methods improving student satisfaction with the course.
Breaking the coding barrier: transition from Stage 1 to Stage 2 programming
Computing
Ms Frances Chetwynd Dr Fiona Aiken Mrs Helen Jefferis
The Open University
In these three posters we discuss the results of a survey of Open University UK Computer Science students at the end of their first module studying Stage 2 programming. The research aims to establish how well students felt their Stage 1 studies in programming using Sense and RobotLab had prepared them for tackling programming in more complex languages such as Java and Python.
Using Facebook to develop a supportive online learning environment
Biological Sciences
Dr Becky Thomas
Royal Holloway University of London
This poster demonstrates how we have used a Facebook group in our teaching of field ecology to encourage a more supportive learning environment and peer-learning with our students. Creating an informal online learning environment enabled us to maximise student engagement outside of the classroom (and in this case over the summer break). Here we discuss how we used this approach the benefits and possible drawbacks from our own experiences as well as feedback from the students and explain how others could adopt this approach in their own teaching.
Teaching basic concepts in protein purification through a card game
Biological Sciences
Dr Rebecca Barnes
University of Sheffield
There is a growing interest in games and gamification to support active learning in higher education. I will showcase a simple card game designed to enrich teaching in Level 1 molecular bioscience practicals; specifically protein purification methods. The game is played in groups of 4 to 6 scalable to a large class. Players must consider proteins’ properties isolating their protein of interest from a mixture using appropriate purification methods and buffers. The game builds on students’ understanding of the principles underpinning different protein purification techniques as well as their skills in experimental design.
Developing practical skills in drug discovery and screening for a diverse student population
Biological Sciences
Dr Derek Scott Professor Alison Jenkinson
University of Aberdeen
When challenged to deliver a science practical class on the topic of drug discovery for a diverse student population reading subjects ranging from anatomy to divinity it is difficult to ensure the activities are both rigorous and accessible. We created simple but effective scientific tasks to help students understand the challenges extracting potential drugs from natural products. Drug screening was simulated using proprietary drugs to develop student awareness of strengths and limitations of such analytical approaches. Through various iterations we have found that very simple scientific practical skills are most effective and reliable in delivering an effective student learning experience.
Adapting Objective Structured Practical Examinations (OSPE’s) to assess laboratory science skills in pharmacology students.
Biological Sciences
Dr Derek Scott Dr James Hislop Professor Alison Jenkinson
University of Aberdeen
Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) assessments of theoretical practical and problem-solving skills at multiple stations have been adapted to examine practical skills in science disciplines to enhance employability and prepare students for research projects. We have recently expanded the range of students formally examined in communication and science laboratory practical skills by creating new assessment stations and adapting others to examine pharmacology practical skills. Using benchmark statements student staff and examiner feedback stations assessing contextualised skills such as numeracy graphic interpretation drug mechanisms and targets pharmacokinetics and use of physiological data to identify appropriate drug treatments have been developed.
Use of high fidelity human patient simulators (HFHPS) for science teaching
Biological Sciences
Dr Derek Scott
University of Aberdeen
High fidelity human patient simulators (HFHPS) offer opportunities to study challenging biological principles in a realistic environment without experimental human or animal models. These responsive mannequins are used clinically to help develop technical skills and teamwork. However the benefits for teaching scientific concepts to science students remains relatively unexplored. They offer an exciting method of learning compared to conventional passive approaches to learning where students may not engage with the material. We explain how we are using simulators to help students understand biological variation and the concept of ‘normality’ and study biological processes at a pace that suits them.
Exploring the relationship between student’s motivation self-efficacy and self-directed study behaviours
Psychology
Dr Alexander Coles Miss Sophie Meakin Newman University
Aims: We report a study exploring the relationship between student’s self-reported motivation academic self-efficacy and self-directed study.
Methods: 154 university students completed the AMS and S-ESAS online. Four students kept a diary for two weeks recording their study behaviours.
Findings: Regression analyses revealed amotivation was affected by gender. Intrinsic motivation was affected by year of study. Amotivation extrinsic and intrinsic motivation were all affected by self-efficacy.
Diaries revealed students to be focused on extrinsic behaviours pertinent to immediate goals.
Discussion: Students engagement as learners may be encouraged by focusing on their academic self-efficacy and mid-to-long term goals states.
Use of a flipped classroom approach to improve the learning experience and academic performance of pharmaceutical sciences students where English is not their first language
General
Dr Dan Corbett
Queen’s University Belfast
One of the most popular strategies for UK university internationalization has been the development of international branch campuses. However there are a wide range of educational problems faced by these initiatives including difficulties in educating students who may not communicate in English as their first language particularly with regard to the sophisticated material contained within various STEM-related degree courses. This session will describe how flipped classroom teaching can bring about improvements in student learning experiences understanding and success within courses taught at these campuses circumventing educational issues and enabling international students to develop critical skills that will ultimately allow them to embark on successful STEM careers.
To Flip or not to Flip?
Computing
Miss Colette Mazzola
Blackpool and the Fylde College
The aim of the session is to explore the concepts of Flipped learning as they relate to the teaching of Computing disciplines. The presentation will enable participants to:-
1. Implement a flipped approach to teaching and learning
2. Apply principles of Flipped Learning to own subject discipline
3. Evaluate the potential for engaging students and supporting their development beyond the classroom
The presentation will be an interactive opportunity to interrogate concepts of learning which directly apply to the Flipped online approach and to discuss applications benefits and potential pitfalls for practitioners.
Use of scenario based learning to inspire the next generation of Chemical Engineers
Engineering and Materials
Ms Folashade Akinmolayan Professor Eva Sorensen
University College London
The Department of Chemical Engineering at UCL has as part of its Integrated Engineering Programme introduced six week-long scenarios in the first and second year of study.
The topics for each scenario are chosen to reflect the material taught in the regular modules running that term thus supporting the students’ learning and providing an opportunity for them to test out their new knowledge on real world open-ended and complex problems.
This presentation will give an overview of our scenarios their development and execution and will summarise our main experiences so far including extensive student feedback
‘’Enhancing engagement of learners in Biotechnology discipline’’
Biological Sciences
Dr Nagamani Bora
University of Nottingham
Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary science centered around innovation. Engaging the learner in true nature of this discipline can be quite challenging. Whilst the need to equip the learner with lifelong learning skills is the goal for HE organizations this goal requires a multidimensional approach to implement authentic Biotechnology curriculum. The aim is to focus on responsive curriculum which can fulfill this goal. The session would highlight the approaches from learners and instructors perspective exemplifying a teaching model in this discipline.
Prepare to enjoy: lab handouts students really read
Engineering and Materials
Dr Chris Trayner
University of Leeds
Persuading students to prepare for labs is hard but this session presents a technique that works well and is popular with students.
Lab handouts are divided into three parts: pre-lab in-lab and post-lab. An online quiz at the start of the lab tests whether the students have read the pre-lab handout; they must pass this to see the online in-lab handout. This strongly incentivises proper preparation, maximising experimental work done.
The in-lab handout is as short as possible to minimise the time spent reading and maximise the time doing experiments. The session will be illustrated with a simple entertaining origami-style example.
Role of student mentors in an undergraduate STEM curriculum – ‘A win-win situation’.
Biological Sciences
Professor John Deane Dr Vivek Indramohan Ms Karolina Kimczak
Birmingham City University
The main aim of this session is to disseminate the findings of the pedagogic research exploring the role and impact of student mentor within an undergraduate STEM programme.
Subsequently this session will:
- Explore the magnitude of the rationale to undertake one such study
- Share the methodology adopted to implement the proposed intervention in response to the problems identified.
- Discuss various (potential) bottlenecks that a novice academic staff member may have to overcome while engaging in such an educational research
- Provide insight into some of the strategic approaches that the project team members adopted to overcome similar issues and
- Emphasise on the impact of such pedagogic interventions both within our institution and wider community.
Taking responsibility when studying: learning how to think like a Mathematician or a Scientist
General
Dr Peter Kahn
University of Liverpool
What happens when students fail to master some material such as a set of basic mathematical ideas? Do you teach it all again? This workshop draws on a model of student engagement in which the willingness and capacity of the student to deliberate on possible ways forward is central. How can we help students to persist in thinking about how best to tackle scientific and mathematical tasks? The workshop identifies key trains of thought to help students persist in working their way through challenging tasks and ideas; with discussion around practical ways to implement the ideas in different disciplinary settings.
Enhancing the Arrival Experience: Transition into Higher Education
Computing
Dr Samia Kamal
Oxford Brookes University
Pre-arrival Student Engagement (PASE) Hub is a webapp designed to engage students via subject specific activities before they arrive at university to start their degree programmes. This webapp helped students to engage with the course content earlier on and also to become part of a programme specific learning community. Furthermore it helps in fostering independent learning.
Students were given access to PASE Hub pilot before they start of their programme. These course related activities and competitions were linked to the induction program. The evaluation is looking at the role of these activities in fostering student communities and managing student expectations. | https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/stem-conference-2017-poster-abstracts |
As the first step in our project, all partners have researched the use and conditions of game-based assessment in general. Here is the summary of this extensive research:
There are several common threads in which the research documents present. They all agree to a point that Game-Based Assessments are meant to motivate, engage, and enhance user experience through game-designed elements more attractively and effectively than traditional methods. The examples offered in the research show a wide range of complexities, where some were straightforward to more complex programs, like a collaborative simulation.
Game-based vs Gamification
The research distinguishes the difference between Game-Based Assessment (GBA) and Gamification. GBA focuses more on the entertainment aspects of motivation and engagement, or principles that correspond to those of a game, while Gamification reveals the actual ability in a customized way, through traditional principles of test construction, to evaluate the user. While each research has a different approach to the GBAs, there are three main subjects: cognitive and aptitude skills, emotional intelligence, and personality. In an article entitled “Game-Based Learning and Information Literacy (IL)” presented by BGB-Serbia, a game was created in a profound, engaging, and fun way for students to build IL skills. In the game, students encounter real-world IL tasks such as collecting, evaluating and using information from different media types and formats. Problem-solving here, and in general, is a key component in practically all assessment cases.
Framework & Game Design
A framework is essential for an effective assessment, and research shows intersecting elements in gamification and game design. These frameworks contain essential elements such as the components (points, levels, roles), mechanics (challenges, competitions, rewards), and dynamics (narratives, storylines). Game design is approached in two ways: Serious Games, which are designed and created for educational and informational purposes and Game-Based Learning, which are games that already exist with pre-established mechanics and are adapted to get a balance between the subject matter, the game, and the user’s ability to retain and apply in the real world. Therefore, the layout and elements define the game.
Serious Games analytics open opportunities for assessments of engagement within game-based learning environments. The availability of real-time information about the learners’ actions and behaviours stemming from key decision points or game-specific events provides insight into the learner’s engagement during gameplay. Gameplay Loop and the Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics (MDA) framework are foundational in this type of GBA structure. Keywords, sentiments, and emotions can all be extracted from these models to provide meaningful insight from unstructured data making analytics-driven GBA a great way to look at engagement.
All the research considered a variety of elements and stages of a game. While the most common game elements were to enhance user experience, such as using points, badges, and levels of increasing challenges, assessments and assessment plans were important to evaluate the process efficiency, resource optimisation, and competencies. An interesting assessment was converting a multiple choice personality assessment into a story. This concept is called “Storification”. RV-Germany presented an effective digital literacy program assessment plan for seniors as a framework for evaluation. This gives vital context and pretext to the potential game-based elements and structure.
Examples, Pitfalls, & Recommendations
A Game-Based Assessment called Stealth Assessment takes a different approach. Research by IOETB-Ireland stated that “Bayesian networks are employed to create a system of conditional probabilities associated with individual behaviours within a game. These behaviours can then be used to create a real-time estimate of the player’s knowledge as it increases over the course of a game. The game’s purpose is two-fold: players are expected to learn as they play, but accurate assessment is still needed during the learning process”.
While research is mostly positive around gamification, the IOETB-Ireland research also pointed out key pitfalls. There is concern that adults will not take games seriously and question their authority and credibility. The problem is that gamified solutions often prefer game aesthetics to game design. For example, when you have to spend significant time explaining the game rules, you can quickly lose your learners’ interest; what they see is an unnecessary complication in their training. Not everyone is willing to play and is eager to change their learning routines. However, the research presented by RV-Germany gives recommendations on the selection, and use of game-based/gamified assessments in a way that fits the overall strategy of an employer yet is tailored to the target group. Sample assessments for digital competencies were also given, in which a self-assessment was presented before training. This presents a solution and guidelines for GBAs. Technological advancements have even brought some of these assessments to mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets, making GBA even easier to access. | https://digiblend.eu/en/research-on-game-based-assessment/ |
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10009994
The Impact of Gamification on Self-Assessment for English Language Learners in Saudi Arabia
Authors:
Wala A. Bagunaid
,
Maram Meccawy
,
Arwa Allinjawi
,
Zilal Meccawy
Abstract:
Continuous self-assessment becomes crucial in self-paced online learning environments. Students often depend on themselves to assess their progress; which is considered an essential requirement for any successful learning process. Today’s education institutions face major problems around student motivation and engagement. Thus, personalized e-learning systems aim to help and guide the students. Gamification provides an opportunity to help students for self-assessment and social comparison with other students through attempting to harness the motivational power of games and apply it to the learning environment. Furthermore, Open Social Student Modeling (OSSM) as considered as the latest user modeling technologies is believed to improve students’ self-assessment and to allow them to social comparison with other students. This research integrates OSSM approach and gamification concepts in order to provide self-assessment for English language learners at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). This is achieved through an interactive visual representation of their learning progress.
Keywords:
E-learning system
,
gamification
,
motivation
,
social comparison
,
visualization.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2571829
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References:
Al-Nasser, A. S., 2015. Problems of English language acquisition in Saudi Arabia: An exploratory-cum-remedial study. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(8), p.1612.
ELI Faculty Handbook 2015/2016. (2016). 1st ed. (ebook) Jeddah: King Abdulaziz University English Language Institute, p.13. Available at: http://eli.kau.edu.sa/Files/126/Files/150753_Faculty%20Handbook%20Sep2015%20.pdf (Accessed 9 Oct. 2017).
Kiryakova, G., Angelova, N. and Yordanova, L., 2014. Gamification in education. Proceedings of 9th International Balkan Education and Science Conference.
Hsiao, I. H., Bakalov, F., Brusilovsky, P. and König-Ries, B., 2011, July. Open social student modeling: visualizing student models with parallel introspectiveviews. In International Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation, and Personalization (pp. 171-182). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
de Sousa Borges, S., Durelli, V. H., Reis, H. M. and Isotani, S., 2014, March. A systematic mapping on gamification applied to education. In Proceedings of the 29th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (pp. 216-222). ACM.
Vonderwell, S. K. and Boboc, M., 2013. Promoting formative assessment in online teaching and learning. TechTrends, 57(4), pp.22-27.
Mitrovic, A. and Martin, B., 2007. Evaluating the effect of open student models on self-assessment. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 17(2), pp.121-144.
Brusilovsky, P., Somyürek, S., Guerra, J., Hosseini, R. and Zadorozhny, V., 2015, June. The value of social: Comparing open student modeling and open social student modeling. In International Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation, and Personalization (pp. 44-55). Springer, Cham.
Brusilovsky, P., Somyürek, S., Guerra, J., Hosseini, R., Zadorozhny, V. and Durlach, P. J., 2016. Open social student modeling for personalized learning. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing, 4(3), pp.450-461.
Hsiao, I. H., Guerra, J., Parra, D., Bakalov, F., König-Ries, B. and Brusilovsky, P., 2012, May. Comparative social visualization for personalized e-learning. In Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces (pp. 303-307). ACM.
Fouh, E., Akbar, M. and Shaffer, C.A., 2012. The role of visualization in computer science education. Computers in the Schools, 29(1-2), pp.95-117.
Hsiao, I. H. and Brusilovsky, P., 2017. Guiding and motivating students through open social student modeling: lessons learned. Teachers College Record, 119(3), pp.1-42.
Dicheva, D., Dichev, C., Agre, G. and Angelova, G., 2015. Gamification in education: A systematic mapping study. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 18(3).
Burke, B. (2014). Gamify: How gamification motivates people to do extraordinary things: Bibliomotion, Incorporated.
Reiners, T., & Wood, L. (2014). Gamification in education and business: Springer International Publishing.
Sandusky, S., 2015. Gamification in education.
Waris, M., Meer, F. I. and Alam, M., 2017. Gamification in education.
Ibanez, M.-B., Di-Serio, A., & Delgado-Kloos, C. (2014). Gamification for engaging computer science students in learning activities: A case study. Learning Technologies, IEEE Transactions on, 7(3), 291-301.
Kuo, M.-S., & Chuang, T.-Y. (2016). How gamification motivates visits and engagement for online academic dissemination – An empirical study. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, Part A, 16-27. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.025.
Domínguez, A., Saenz-de-Navarrete, J., de-Marcos, L., Fernández-Sanz, L., Pagés, C., & Martínez-Herráiz, J.-J. (2013). Gamifying learning experiences: Practical implications and outcomes. Computers & Education, 63, 380-392. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.12.020.
Caponetto, I., Earp, J. and Ott, M., 2014, October. Gamification and education: A literature review. In European Conference on Games Based Learning (Vol. 1, p. 50). Academic Conferences International Limited.
Carini, R. M., Kuh, G. D., & Klein, S. P. (2006). Student Engagement and Student Learning: Testing the Linkages*. Research in Higher Education, 47(1), 1-32. doi: 10.1007/s11162-005-8150-9.
Caton, H., & Greenhill, D. (2014). Rewards and penalties: A gamification approach for increasing attendance and engagement in an undergraduate computing module. International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), 4(3), 1-12.
Leaning, M. (2015). A study of the use of games and gamification to enhance student engagement, experience and achievement on a theory-based course of an undergraduate media degree. Journal of Media Practice, 16(2), 155-170. doi: 10.1080/14682753.2015.1041807.
Cheong, C., Filippou, J., & Cheong, F. (2014). Towards the gamification of learning: Investigating student perceptions of game elements. Journal of Information Systems Education, 25(3), 233.
Laskowski, M. and Borys, M., 2016. The student, the professor and the player: usage for gamification and serious games in academic education–a survey. In 8th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EDULEARN 2016), Barcelona, Spain (pp. 2933-2941).
Huynh, D., Zuo, L. and Iida, H., 2016, December. Analyzing Gamification of “Duolingo” with Focus on Its Course Structure. In International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance (pp. 268-277). Springer, Cham. | https://waset.org/Publications/the-impact-of-gamification-on-self-assessment-for-english-language-learners-in-saudi-arabia/10009994 |
Background: Finding ways to increase and sustain engagement with mHealth interventions has become a challenge during application development. While gamification shows promise and has proven effective in many fields, critical questions remain concerning how to use gamification to modify health behavior.
Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate how the gamification of mHealth interventions leads to a change in health behavior, specifically with respect to smoking cessation.
Methods: We conducted a qualitative longitudinal study using a sample of 16 smokers divided into 2 cohorts (one used a gamified intervention and the other used a nongamified intervention). Each participant underwent 4 semistructured interviews over a period of 5 weeks. Semistructured interviews were also conducted with 4 experts in gamification, mHealth, and smoking cessation. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis undertaken.
Results: Results indicated perceived behavioral control and intrinsic motivation acted as positive drivers to game engagement and consequently positive health behavior. Importantly, external social influences exerted a negative effect. We identified 3 critical factors, whose presence was necessary for game engagement: purpose (explicit purpose known by the user), user alignment (congruency of game and user objectives), and functional utility (a well-designed game). We summarize these findings in a framework to guide the future development of gamified mHealth interventions.
Conclusions: Gamification holds the potential for a low-cost, highly effective mHealth solution that may replace or supplement the behavioral support component found in current smoking cessation programs. The framework reported here has been built on evidence specific to smoking cessation, however it can be adapted to health interventions in other disease categories. Future research is required to evaluate the generalizability and effectiveness of the framework, directly against current behavioral support therapy interventions in smoking cessation and beyond.
doi:10.2196/games.5678
Keywords
Introduction
Smoking is responsible for 19% of all deaths in the United Kingdom, with a direct cost of £5.2 billion to the National Health Service (NHS) . It is a leading cause of chronic disease [ ], and has been declared as the most important cause of preventable morbidity and premature mortality worldwide [ ]. However, depressingly, there remains a significant disparity between individuals desiring to quit smoking (~68%), and those actually successfully quitting (~3%) [ ]. In 2013/14, the NHS Stop Smoking Services reached only 9% of individuals in the United Kingdom seeking to quit. Alarmingly, this represented a 19% year-on-year reduction [ , ]. As a result, the NHS 5-year forward view pledged ‘hard-hitting national action’ against preventable diseases including smoking, with a new set of smoking cessation services being outlined by Public Health England to promote healthier behavior [ ].
A Cochrane review concluded that high-intensity behavioral support combined with pharmacological intervention was the most effective method for smoking cessation with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence demonstrating a 35% quit rate compared with a 2% background quit rate. However, this approach is expensive with lifetime costs of £7010 per person, where behavioral support contributes to the bulk of the cost [ ]. The continuing economic and societal burden created by smoking suggests current smoking cessation techniques are underserving the population and begs the question: are there any other novel approaches we can take to tackle the addiction of smoking?
The rapid technological advancement of mobile phone technologies over the last decade has facilitated a burgeoning market for mHealth apps. However, while thousands of mHealth apps have been released, most have fallen short of their grand expectations owing largely to poor user engagement levels . User engagement was identified as a critical factor to the success of mHealth in an analysis of 945 mHealth apps [ ]. Thus, finding ways to increase user engagement with their target audience has become a significant focus of mHealth interventions [ ].
Gamification is ‘the use of game design elements in nongame contexts’ , making use of the potential motivational ability of games. Gamification empowers users to complete tasks more efficiently, while making them more enjoyable, with the aim of increasing engagement [ ]. Cugelman [ ] argues that gamification is only effective when used in conjunction with academically grounded behavioral change strategies, and goes on to identify 7 “core ingredients” that can be used as persuasive strategies to promote behavioral change.
The application of gamification in mHealth is an emerging field. Sparx, a digital game intervention developed to treat clinical depression in adolescents, represents a successful implementation of gamification. A randomized controlled trial demonstrated noninferiority of the game against traditional face-to-face counseling, along with significantly higher remission rates . From the perspective of health behavior, gamification has shown promising results in encouraging physical activity by turning the ‘work of exercise’ into a game [ ]. A recent review published in JMIR Mental Health found no studies had been published explicitly examining the role of gamification features on program adherence with Web-based interventions to manage common mental health disorders [ ].
Many health apps have attempted to replicate such success by promoting positive health behavior in a wider context, particularly in relation to smoking, albeit with variable success . A systematic literature review found that the implementation of game elements helps to create motivational affordances that lead to desired psychological outcomes and the consequent behavioral outcome ( ) [ ]. However, critical questions remain concerning the mechanism by which gamification exerts its influence, with a particular paucity in research surrounding gamification in the context of health behavior.
While gamification shows promise and has proven effective in many fields, research is required to investigate the beneficial effects on health behavior and disease self-management to warrant the implementation of such interventions . The aim of this study was to take a cognitivist approach, building on the evidence gathered from existing literature and our own data collection, to gain insight into the underlying thought processes and internal rules, which govern the way individuals react to a gamified smoking cessation intervention. Consequently, in this exploratory work, we aim to suggest how gamification might lead to a change in health behavior specifically with respect to smoking cessation.
|Game Components||Kwit 2||Puff Away|
|Store rating||Apple store - 4.5 /5||Google Play - 4.2 /5|
|Goal setting||Progress tracking |
Level system
|Nonexistent|
|Capacity to overcome challenges||Information facilitating growth |
Learning and development
|Nonexistent|
|Providing feedback on performance||Messages via achievement system||Nonexistent|
|Reinforcement||Rewards from levels and achievements |
Avoiding punishment associated with smoking
|Nonexistent|
|Comparing progress||Nonexistent||Nonexistent|
|Social connectivity||Facebook ||Nonexistent|
|Fun and playfulness||Minimal||Nonexistent|
Methods
Study Approach
We conducted a qualitative longitudinal study with 16 smokers in 2 cohorts. The first cohort used a nongamified mHealth intervention free of any game components, while the second used a gamified mHealth intervention.
Interventions
In order to isolate the game-specific effects we would require 2 identical apps, differing only by the presence of gamified features. To approach this level of distinction, we shortlisted, downloaded, and tested 12 apps to establish which, gamification aside, were the most similar in app mechanics to allow fair comparison. ‘Puff Away’ and ‘Kwit 2’ were chosen because they both used very similar mechanisms to engage the user, focussing on tackling user education and providing progress tracking. The additional game components in Kwit 2 are specified in[ ].
Participants
All participants met the following 4 criteria: a smoker currently intent on quitting; 18+ years old; English speaker; and owner of a smartphone. We excluded those with smoking-related illnesses. Participants were recruited from local smoking support groups and university campuses in London. Each participant was then randomly allocated to a cohort and asked to install the relevant app onto their own smartphones. Participants were not compensated for their time. Informed verbal and written consent was obtained prior to commencing the study. The study had approval from the Imperial College Research Ethics Committee.
Interview Procedure
We conducted semistructured, one-on-one interviews with participants (30 minutes). Four interviews were conducted with each participant over the course of 5 weeks. The first interview (week 0) assessed their smoking background and demographics. This was accompanied by a standardized set of instructions on how to use their specific app. Subsequent interviews were then conducted at weeks 1, 3, and 5, with changes in participant behavior and emotions being tracked and recorded. Interviewers were instructed to neither encourage nor discourage the participant’s smoking behavior so as to minimize any effect on their behavior. Interview questions were formulated and then discussed with 2 independent, experienced qualitative researchers. The participants were asked about their progress in relation to smoking cessation, their experience using the app, the effect of the app on their behavior and emotions, as well as the specific effects of the game components. The final interview incorporated an exit interview in which participants expressed their overall experience. We conducted an internal pilot to test our methodology with 5 participants. Week 0 and week 1 interviews were conducted with each participant, allowing us to refine the interview questions and confirm the suitability of the 2 apps selected. The methodology employed with the pilot study was deemed satisfactory for the main study and so the results of all 5 pilot participants were included in the full longitudinal study. A semistructured interview guide can be found in the Web-based supplement in.
Analysis Procedure
The 6-phase analytic framework was employed in our thematic analysis . Audiotaped interviews were transcribed and read by 3 researchers on 2 separate occasions. These interview scripts were then used to manually generate codes for recurring patterns across participants. The codes were then analyzed to form overarching themes, all of which were defined by the 3 researchers. Ambiguities were resolved in discussion. This was a recursive process, whereby researchers cycled back and forth through the phases to allow for iteration as required. Once the saturation point had been reached and no new themes were emerging, the recruitment of new participants was stopped, conforming to the grounded theory approach [ ]. All data regarding theme construction and interpretation was recorded in a reflexivity journal. Once the themes had been completed and defined, the researchers went back to the initial data sample to verify the accuracy of the overarching themes.
Expert Interviews
Semistructured interviews with 4 experts were conducted. The experts were initially shortlisted following our literature search, subsequently looking specifically at the research credentials of candidates. This shortlist was then narrowed to 4 based on their level of expertise within their respective fields of gamification, digital health, and smoking cessation. The experts were: Prof Scott Nicholson, Professor of Game Design and Development, and Director at Because Play Matters game lab, Wilfrid Laurier University; Prof Steven Johnson, Assistant Professor at Fox School of Business, Temple University; Dr Dominic King, Coauthor of the most cited editorial on Gamification and Health Behavior Change; and Dr Omar Usmani, Reader in Respiratory Medicine and Consultant Physician in Respiratory Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London & Royal Brompton Hospital. A semistructured interview was conducted with each expert affording an in-depth multifaceted exploration of both gamification and smoking cessation. The transcripts from these interviews underwent the same manual thematic coding procedure as outlined for the longitudinal participant interviews.
Results
Participant Characteristics
Of the 19 participants initially recruited, 3 participants dropped out after the week 0 interview. Of the 3 dropouts, 2 were in the gamified cohort and 1 was in the nongamified cohort. The reasons given for dropout were refusal of further contact (2) and problems with availability (1). The resulting analysis is of the remaining 16 participants: 9 used the gamified intervention and 7 used the nongamified intervention. All 16 participants reported daily use of their smartphones. All participants expressed a desire to quit smoking prior to recruitment to the study, with 31% (5/16) of the participants attempting to quit for the first time. Additional characteristics are summarized in
|Characteristic||Gamified Users |
(n=9)
|Non-Gamified users |
(n=7)
|n (%)||n (%)|
|Mean age||26.22 (range, 18-45)||28.1 (range, 20-52)|
|Cultural split|
|South Asian||5 (56)||2 (29)|
|Arab||2 (22)||1 (14)|
|Caucasian/British||2 (22)||2 (29)|
|East Asian||-||2 (29)|
|Gender|
|Female||3 (33)||2 (29)|
|Male||6 (67)||5 (71)|
|Occupation|
|Student (undergraduate and postgraduate)||6 (67)||6 (86)|
|Working(part-time or full-time)||4 (44)||2 (29)|
Longitudinal Participant Interviews
A total of 57 interviews were conducted across a 5-week period: 16 interviews at week 0, 16 at week 1, 11 at week 3, and 14 at week 5. Transcripts and audio recordings were available for all the interviews.
Three overarching themes that influenced the impact of the app intervention on health behavior were identified from the longitudinal participant interviews only, with 8 subthemes (): app engagement, game engagement, and external influences. App engagement refers to the components common to both gamified and nongamified interventions that helped to create engagement with the user. Game engagement refers to those game components unique to the gamified intervention that helped build engagement with the user. Finally, external influence describes the factors external to both interventions that impacted engagement with the app. The number of codes found in each subtheme can be found in .
Expert Interviews
There was a consensus among the experts that technology has the potential to support health care professionals, in providing the behavioral support necessary in certain segments of the population. However, the experts questioned the long-term impact of a gamified intervention, and stated it would be a challenge to maintain long-term user commitment. Experts suggested that gamification can only reinforce desired behaviors, interventions should aim to build intrinsic motivation, rewards should be variable, and that a self-relevant experience is a critical success factor to building engagement with the game.
Analysis of Results
Following a thorough analysis of our findings, we identified drivers and modifiers to health behavior change. Drivers describe the key mechanisms by which behavioral change is produced. Modifiers were identified as those factors whose presence and quality determined the strength of the drivers, and therefore how likely the app was to promote positive health behavior.
We recognized 3 drivers common to the mHealth interventions: attitude change, goal setting, and association (of the mHealth solution with the maladaptive health behavior). Additionally, 2 drivers were proposed as the method by which gamification promotes positive health behavior: perceived behavioral control and intrinsic motivation.illustrates the relationship between the themes from the participant interviews, the other data sources and the drivers to behavioral change.
Drivers and Modifiers Common to the mHealth Interventions
Driver 1 - Attitude Change
A change in attitude toward the maladaptive health behavior described by 1 participant in the following statement:
It makes me reconsider if I really need to smoke or not and sometimes that extra few seconds is enough to put my cigarette away… It makes you contemplate and double think ‘Do I really need a cigarette right now?’
This was seen repeatedly with another participant explaining the following:
When someone is trying to quit it’s like a battle in your head [between smoking and not smoking] … the app helps you in this battle [to not smoke].
This finding can be explained by the Health Belief Model, which states that positive behavioral change can arise from increasing perceived threat of the negative health behavior and increasing perceived benefit of the positive health behavior . Dr Usmani, with a background in smoking cessation, reinforced this by explaining how highlighting the implications of an individual’s actions may result in behavior change:
First of all contextualizing the advantage of stopping smoking gives them a scare, a bit of a shock… this is what happens in real life terms of making people want to quit smoking.
Driver 2 - Goal Setting
The progress tracking mechanism provided a simple visual means for participants to keep track of their efforts with participants appreciating the importance of such features:
It gives [me] nice visuals. Sometimes it’s hard to visualize exactly what a cigarette means but the bars help you visualize it.
Others felt the impact even more stating that:
it does help [motivate me] … especially with willpower.
Participants also reported a sense of commitment and duty toward the goals of the app:
It feels like I’ve committed to this, so I am more motivated to try and make it work.
With some this commitment was often expressed through some sense of guilt when they smoked:
When I smoked it’s like cheating… you betray yourself when you press the button… Now when I think about it I feel horrendously guilty [when I smoked].
This commitment was more common among users of the gamified intervention with only 1 participant expressing commitment in the nongamified cohort, but 4 expressing this feeling in the gamified cohort in week 1 interviews. PRIME theory states that in the context of smoking cessation, an intention or commitment is required before an individual can be motivated to change their behavior .
Driver 3 - Association
Participants began to associate the act of smoking with the mHealth interventions with a participant explicitly voicing this:
The app helped me create an associated between app and smoking.
Another user went further to explain the change in his habit with the following:
My routine has changed now, when I get my cigarette out I automatically get my phone out as well now. The app has become integrated into my smoking.
The five modifiers of mHealth interventions.
Extant knowledge: the usefulness of information provided was inversely proportional to the user’s existing knowledge. User’s persistently commented on meaninglessness of repeated information:
All this information is out there already; I need something with more information [that is not known by me].
Ease of use: perceived simplicity increased engagement. The less convenient and simple the app was to use the lower the level of engagement of the user:
[It’s] Impractical, when you reach for a cigarette the last thing you’re thinking about is pulling out your phone and update the app… you’ve made your decision and you’re over that dilemma.
Aesthetics: an attractive app design increased engagement with participants specifically mentioning unenticing visuals:
[It is] difficult to engage in the app due to poor presentation and poor visuals.
Initial motivation: the app was not able to change behavior if the user did not already possess the initial motivation to quit. This was a key point mentioned across all data sources as described in the following statement:
If I was on the path of trying to quit and desperately trying [to quit] then the game would help me, but due to not being in that mindset it did not [help me].
Physical distraction: the apps could act only as a supplementary tool in smoking cessation, as it was not able to address the physical side of the smoking habit. As is explained when one user said:
I chew some chewing gum…[it] just gives me something to do with my mouth.
This phenomenon reflects Pavlov’s Theory of Classical Conditioning, whereby the instinctive, unconditioned stimulus (the urge to smoke) is paired with a new, conditioned stimulus (drawing for the app) . However, it is important to note that merely forming an association between smoking and the app was in itself insufficient to change health behavior. In order to do so, it should be paired with intrinsic motivation as was emphasised by our expert interviews. Prof Nicholson stated:
If the app hasn’t built up intrinsic motivation and the user hasn’t found their own motivation to continue, then the health behavior will revert if there is no intrinsic motivation.
Modifiers Common to the mHealth Applications
We identified 5 modifiers of the mHealth interventions as shown in.
Drivers and Modifiers of Gamified mHealth Interventions
Driver 1: Perceived Behavioral Control
Our data indicated that breaking down challenges of changing health behavior into smaller milestones, helped to increase the perceived behavioural control (PBC) of the individual by increasing their control beliefs, illustrated in the following:
If the end goal is just to quit smoking it makes it so hard, but if you have a game it enthuses the idea of something to work towards and it can steadily reward or punish you by setting short term goals…
It has been further suggested that ‘Flow’ might be involved in shifting the locus of control from external to internal regulation, explaining how gamification might impact control beliefs and subsequently, PBC [, ]. Achievements and rewards stimulated self-efficacy by providing a feedback mechanism, and thus a form of performance monitoring [ ]. In this way, the conditional rewards would reinforce positive health behavior and in turn serve as a conditioned stimulus [ , ]; illustrated with the following users’ statements:
The (achievements) felt good… achieving something… makes you feel like you can do it.
It constantly reminds you, it’s like going on a streak, you feel proud of yourself.
The game (achievements) showed that I can resist sometimes and proved that I can resist.
Participants exhibited anxiety at the prospect of going down a level if they were to smoke a concept known as loss aversion :
It’s so annoying when you go down a level, I want to go up not down. I didn’t think much about gaining levels but I really did not want to lose levels.
It is essential to balance loss aversion against the possibility of negatively impacting self-efficacy by going down a level, and consequently reducing PBC.
PBC was also impacted by external influences, namely local networks (family, friends, and near acquaintances). If they did not support the idea of smoking cessation, it decreased self-efficacy, and thus PBC.
He [my husband] actually thinks that it’s possibly not the best time to do it [quit] because I have my exams coming in… so not go without any because… you’re going back to cigarettes.
This produced a negative effect as they discouraged the use of the intervention. Therefore, the local network had a profound effect in defining the level of perceived self-efficacy and their involvement should be minimized.
Driver 2: Intrinsic Motivation
Participants using the gamified intervention demonstrated greater levels of motivation and subsequent engagement than the nongamified cohort. Game elements such as rewards and level progression acted as motivational affordances leading to engagement. Participants in the nongamified cohort specifically mentioned game components with statements echoing the following quote: “If you put anything into a game it makes it more fun, and achieving something makes it more fun.”
Self-determination theory defines intrinsic motivation as ‘an activity one does because it is inherently enjoyable’ and extrinsic motivation as ‘doing something because it leads to a separable outcome’ . The motivational effectiveness of extrinsic rewards will reduce over time; in the context of smoking this increases the likelihood of relapse as engagement decreases [ ]. However, intrinsic motivation leads to increased frequency of behavior, and therefore increased engagement with the app [ ].
Intrinsic motivation was also impacted by external influences. If local networks supported the idea of smoking cessation, participants were more likely to receive words of encouragement regarding their progress. Studies have shown positive feedback to be associated with smoking cessation, with the reverse also being true . However, although words of encouragement from peers can lead to positive behavior change in the short term, the effects are unlikely to be lasting if the encouragement is not self-relevant. Reliance on extrinsic rewards, which create a sense of duty, should be avoided; especially if they are perceived as controlling:
The pressure does not help, you don’t want to be told what to do, you want to do it on your own merit and I want to quit when I want to. It feels very parental and ...having people shove their own ideas down my throat as if I am not aware of what I am doing is very patronizing.
Any such rewards will undermine the game and impact negatively on intrinsic motivation, thereby compromising engagement [, ].
Modifiers of Gamified mHealth Interventions
There are 7 modifiers that have determined the strength of the drivers specific to gamification: (1) personalization, (2) meaningful framing, (3) challenge-ability balance, (4) unpredictability, (5) user-centered design, (6) fun, and (7) social community.
Personalization
Participants cited that achievements of the gamified intervention lacked self-relevance : “Smoking is personal and should not have premade incentives, people should generate their own incentives and the app should empower [them].” The orientation of the individual affects how they will perceive extrinsic rewards; whether they perceive it as controlling (externally oriented), or informational (internally oriented) . An element of personalization can tailor an intervention to the individual, and thus account for an externally oriented user.
Meaningful Framing
Framing a challenge in a meaningful way works synergistically with the gamified reward system to enhance intrinsic motivation .
Challenge-Ability Balance
Ensuring a dynamic balance between the participants’ perceived ability and the perceived challenge is a core tenet of flow .
Unpredictability
Participants exhibited tedium after using the gamified intervention for some time, which led to disengagement : “Achievements became slightly repetitive and need to be more creative.” However, integrating variable rewards, which are informational and unpredictable in nature has been found to increase focus and engagement . In contrast, rewards that are contingent on engagement and performance alone should be minimized as far as possible, where do they not align with the individual’s intrinsic motivation, or they risk undermining it [ ].
User-Centered Design
Ensuring that the user’s needs and goals are the primary consideration at every stage of the process .
Fun
A common request from participants in the nongamified cohort was to add an element of fun to the game: “If it was a game with milestones and achievements and levels it would definitely be really cool… if it was a game I would definitely do that.” Fun can be defined as a type of intrinsic motivation that may play an important role in achieving a state of flow . It is important to note that ‘fun’ is the product of the relationship between an activity and an individual’s goals, rather than solely as a property of the activity itself.
Social Community
Users were unwilling to share their progress via Facebook and Twitter. With multiple participants sharing the sentiment in the following quote: “I actually think it [sharing on social media] is counterproductive. You do it for yourself, not other people.”
However, they expressed desire to interact with like-minded individuals, with whom they could better relate. Kwon et al reinforced these observations when they found that the motivations for social networking, and the motivations for building up reputation were not mutually exclusive.
Discussion
Framework
In this study, we compared 2 apps, 1 gamified and the other nongamified, in a longitudinal qualitative study and then analyzed our findings in the context of expert opinions and the extant literature. We sought to establish how best to exploit gamification as an effective tool to build and maintain engagement of mHealth apps designed to promote smoking cessation. This work culminated in the development of a framework to isolate the drivers and factors that govern effective gamification (). The framework suggests that a change in health behavior is dependent on the degree of engagement with the gamified intervention and that this was influenced by ‘critical factors’ and ‘drivers’ of game engagement.
Critical Factors
Critical factors were the 3 components that had to be present in order for users to engage with the game; absence of any one of these critical factors would lead to disengagement. A mHealth app looking to promote positive health behavior change needs a ‘purpose’ that is made explicit and clear to the user. However, this ‘purpose’ needs to align with the user’s own personal objective (‘user alignment’). This ‘user alignment’ is key to tapping into the user’s intrinsic motivation, ensuring sustained engagement with the intervention as explained by both experts and users alike.
The final critical factor is ‘functional utility’ or the perceived ability of the intervention to fulfil the needs and solve the problems of the participant. This was the most frequently coded code during the thematic analysis, with 39% (39/100) of codes referring to at least 1 of game or app functional utility. We found that when users’ perceived functional utility of the intervention was low, they became disengaged. To enhance functional utility, the intervention needs to be easy to use, designed around the user, and integrate a feedback mechanism to allow users to track their progress.
Drivers
We identified ‘perceived behavioral control’ and ‘intrinsic motivation’ as positive drivers, which when present, directly led to game engagement. In the context of health behavior, game engagement can be maximized by taking advantage of modifiers that boost self-efficacy and minimize control beliefs. We also observed intrinsic motivation to be a principal driver of game engagement, and should be maximized, by using the modifiers in the presence of the 3 critical factors.
The impact of positive drivers is determined by factors in the framework classed as modifiers. We identified 7 modifiers of gamified mHealth interventions: (1) personalisation: challenges and rewards that are self-relevant, (2) meaningful framing: link the challenge of changing health behavior to an overall self-relevant goal, (3) challenge-ability balance: a dynamic balance must exist between the perceived ability and perceived challenge, (4) unpredictability: unexpected rewards are perceived as least controlling types of rewards, (5) user-centered design: ensuring the user’s needs and goals are constantly met, (6) fun: the experience must be innately enjoyable, and (7) social community: create a community of like-minded individuals, where posting accolades will boost an individual’s reputation.
We also identified ‘external social influence’ as a negative driver, which should therefore be minimized to optimally promote positive health behavior. We observed that the presence of an external social influence negatively impacted self-efficacy and consequently decreased the individual’s perceived behavioral control and intrinsic motivation. For emphasis, ‘external social influence’ has been depicted to directly impact game engagement, although it does this by impairing the user’s PBC and intrinsic motivation.
Applicability of the Framework
Our aim is for our framework to be used as a guide for health care professionals and app developers in appraising whether a gamified app has the right ingredients to be successful in generating and promoting positive health behavior change. The successful implementation of gamified mHealth interventions will require a multidisciplinary approach, marrying input from clinicians, behavioral scientists, and game designers to build compelling apps . As such, a further application of this framework is to provide a theoretical basis around which the multidisciplinary teams could collaborate.
Limitations
Limitations to our study mainly relate to the infancy of gamification as a field, meaning only a limited number of interventions were available to us. Although the gamified intervention was identified as one of the leading apps implementing game mechanics, it fell short in a number of areas leading to a drop in engagement over time. However, it is unclear whether this was due to shortcomings solely within the app, or gamification itself. In order to fully understand the effect of a gamified intervention, we would have benefited from a more optimal implementation of gamification as well as testing interventions employing a wider range of game elements reflecting the variety of gamification strategies employed by different health apps. Moreover, while we tried to choose 2 apps that employed the same intervention content, bar the presence of gamified features in one and the absence in the other, there may well be some confounding variables responsible for our results that we were unable to identify in our analysis. To combat this, a further study would be required involving the creation, from scratch, of 2 interventions offering the same educational content and differing only by the use of gamified features. In addition, we were unable to examine the long-term impact of gamification beyond the 5-week study period. A more representative analysis of the overall smoking demographic could have been conducted with the inclusion of the diseased population and a larger sample of smokers from different geographical and socioeconomic contexts. A larger sample may also help to better elucidate the scale of the findings we present in the framework, for instance the extent to which external social influences result in a truly negative effect and whether there are instances where they may bolster an individual’s intrinsic motivation for example.
Policy Implications of Implanting Gamification in the National Health Service
Offering individuals a gamified mHealth intervention for smoking cessation could be the answer to the inability of current NHS smoking cessation services to serve the population, particularly for millennials who have grown up as ‘digital natives’ . A gamified mHealth intervention would confer the benefits of evidence-based behavioral therapy, while transforming the expensive interface of patient-doctor consultations, to one between patients and an app. Furthermore, the intervention will always be close at hand to the user helping to provide support when high-risk situations arise.
Gamified mHealth interventions should not be used in isolation, but rather be considered as an additional tool in the delivery of health care. For example, implementation among older, less technologically competent patients will prove challenging, with certain patients still favoring human-human interaction. As such, it will be important to continue to offer conventional behavioral support alongside a new intervention to optimize the effectiveness of the service.
Conclusions
Gamification holds the potential for low-cost, highly effective mHealth solutions that may replace or supplement the behavioral support component found in current smoking cessation programs. Our proposed framework has been built on evidence specific to smoking cessation. We propose that it can also be extended to pave the way toward new methods of public health education, as our findings showed that gamification could be an effective modality for engaging people with the provision of information. However, questions still remain in relation to the long-term effects of gamification. Future research is required to evaluate the effectiveness of the above framework against current behavioral interventions in smoking cessation.
Acknowledgments
Dr Omar S Usmani is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Respiratory Disease Biomedical Research Unit at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London.
Authors' Contributions
MA, YS, MM, SS, AAE, SI, and ZA were all equally involved in designing the study, conducting the research, analysing the data, and writing the paper. ABE helped with the study design, and data analysis. OSU was involved in writing the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
Six of the authors (AAE, MA, YS, SSI, MM, and SS) have, following completion of this study in 2015, become shareholders in Digital Therapeutics Ltd; translating the framework from this work into a gamified app () delivering cognitive behavioral therapy for smoking cessation.
Multimedia Appendix 1
Semi-structured interview questions.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 45KB
Multimedia Appendix 2
Thematic coding summary with codes and illustrative quotes regarding the expert interviews.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 34KB
Multimedia Appendix 3
Thematic coding summary with codes and illustrative quotes regarding the Drivers for mHealth interventions. Quotes taken from both participant and expert interviews.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 36KB
Multimedia Appendix 4
Thematic coding summary with codes and illustrative quotes regarding drivers for gamified mHealth interventions.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 33KB
Multimedia Appendix 5
Participant concerns with illustrative quotes regarding gamified mHealth interventions.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 31KB
Multimedia Appendix 6
British Thoracic Society Conference presentation December 2015.PPTX File, 5MB
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Abbreviations
|NHS: National Health Service|
|PBC: perceived behavioral control|
Edited by G Eysenbach; submitted 20.02.16; peer-reviewed by T Fleming, J Lumsden, J McClure; comments to author 06.04.16; revised version received 07.08.16; accepted 22.09.16; published 24.10.16Copyright
©Abdulrahman Abdulla El-Hilly, Sheeraz Syed Iqbal, Maroof Ahmed, Yusuf Sherwani, Mohammed Muntasir, Sarim Siddiqui, Zaid Al-Fagih, Omar Usmani, Andreas B Eisingerich. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (http://games.jmir.org), 24.10.2016.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Serious Games, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://games.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. | https://games.jmir.org/2016/2/e18 |
Everybody loves playing games, and even watching them. Research shows that games have the ability to pull the players towards the game where they follow the same steps repeatedly and strive to perfect their moves in the game. We need to find the magic mantra in these games and add it to the learning environment to make it a pleasurable experience.
Learning can be made fun, and learners can be kept engaged for longer, by applying game-design thinking to non-game applications. These gamification techniques aim to tap into learners’ basic desires such as competition, achievement, rewards and status, which drives deeper engagement, higher completion rates and stronger results.
Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Senior Adobe eLearning Evangelist, as she takes you through the basics of applying gamification principles to a learning paradigm and clear all the myths attached to gamification. She will also cover different examples of gamification scenarios and its impact on learner motivation, engagement and achievement. | http://www.adobejournal.com/gamification-webinar/ |
Background: Gamification is the process of adding game elements into classroom activities to encourage student participation and motivation. Classcraft® is a gamified learning system designed to integrate easily with normal classroom activities and to enhance collaboration and teamwork.
Educational activity and setting: This study explored the use of the Classcraft® system in an Immunology and Immunization Training course, specifically examining students’ motivation to use the system and potential impacts on their motivation.
Findings: Results showed that value and enjoyment motivated students to use Classcraft®. Furthermore, the ease of use of the system positively impacted students’ enjoyment of the system. Students’ choice regarding how much they were required to engage with the system positively impacted the value and enjoyment that they experienced with the system.
Summary: Students’ demonstrated motivation to use Classcraft® provides a foundation for further research into the use of gamified learning systems within pharmacy classrooms. Research is needed to understand if use of a gamified learning system positively impacts learning outcomes.
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Published 2020-11-18
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Copyright (c) 2020 Connie S. Barber, Konstantina Stavroulaki, Catherine D. Santanello
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Copyright of content published in INNOVATIONS in pharmacy belongs to the author(s). | https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/innovations/article/view/3328 |
Northern College, with campuses in Timmins, Moosonee, Haileybury and Kirkland Lake, serves an area of over 116,000 square kilometres in Northeastern Ontario. Northern offers 75 full-time, part-time, certificate, diploma, and apprenticeship programs and hundreds of face-to-face, web-based, and correspondence courses, as well as post-secondary and career-entrance preparation programs and academic upgrading to about 1,800 full-time and more than 6,700 part-time and continuing education students.
In order to better serve students in the catchment area, Dean Lessard, Dean of Business and Community Services, brought forward the idea of programs offering students enhanced flexibility, accessibility and personalization, built on concepts such as asynchronous access, content delivered in short, precise formats, accessible design for all students, and open registration. He describes this more flexible teaching and learning approach as better responding to the learning needs and life styles of not only millennial learners, but also working professionals and caregivers.
An environmental scan explored what the proposed program design might look like and how these goals might be achieved. A business model was developed, specifying funding required, project timelines, steps in development and testing, and pedagogical structure. Senior management of the college provided funding for the project to move ahead.
Innovation
William Durocher, Professor of Business, led the design and development of the Introduction to Business Concepts course, creating a new model for teaching and learning while developing key elements of the course for delivery. The core course curriculum was already approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and offered in face-to-face classes and by distance education at Northern. Professor Durocher lists his guiding principles for the design as: “accessibility, flexibility, and engagement for success”.
The Introduction to Business Concepts course has 12 online levels or modules, offering a consistent look and overall design with special features aligned to appropriate content at each level. The entire course is available to students when they register so they can work through modules at their own speed. The course consists of over 100 learning objects built in microlessons with interactive content.
Key features of the course design include:
- A plain language ‘why’ statement linking the learning objectives of each module to future career needs of students.
- Information offered as ‘micro-content’, presented so each component of a module requires no more than 15 minutes to complete. The content is designed for easy accessibility by all students, emphasizing clarity and consistency. The focus is on key concepts rather than full chapters of information.
- Multimedia resources to best present content, including voice-over slides, interviews, graphs and other visuals, readings, YouTube videos, quizzes, and interactive activities.
- The course can be completed anywhere, anytime using mobile devices and laptop and desktop computers.
- The Introduction to Business Concepts course is part of the online Business Fundamentals one-year certificate program. Professor Durocher developed a case study, built around a fictional company called Alpha Inc., as a metacontext for the program. Each course in the program features elements of the case study relevant to its content; for example, in the marketing course, the case study elements focus on marketing. In Introduction to Business Concepts, one of the modules talks about the influence of managerial values in an organization. Students then chose the values they think best describe them.
- Social learning activities fit into the case study as students gather around a fictional watercooler to discuss issues raised in the course. For example, students discuss the values they chose in the exercise mentioned above and what they mean for the organization. Social activities are in every module of each course in the program as part of the case study. The learning management system (LMS) shows only the most recent activity in the social activities, not the entire thread, so students are engaged and intrigued but not overwhelmed with content.
- A social network is also available so students can add profiles and communicate with professors and peers for support.
- Gamification is a key feature of the Alpha Inc. case study in which students earn points for their activities and engagement. As students go through the courses in the program, they can move up the management ladder of Alpha Inc – intern, full-time employee, manager, director of operations, and CEO. For example, after completing the second Marketing course, a student can become manager of marketing. As well, up to 5% of the final grade can be accumulated through these points. Professor Durocher describes the goal of the program-wide case study as: “encouraging students to think how they might act in the business world rather than within the context of the course”.
- As students reach certain levels of achievement in a course, they are awarded icons that appear on their course page. Over time, these icons fade; consistent with game theory, continued effort is required to renew them.
- Testing is built into the course with brief quizzes throughout the content and longer ones at the end of modules. As well as encouraging ongoing student attention and engagement, this strategy lessens pressure of writing only one exam for assessment.
The Northern College Digital Campus is the platform hosting the Business Fundamentals program, which is the only program developed in this format. The College offers this program through the Northern Training division to domestic students and off-shore, international students.
Benefits and Outcomes
The Introduction to Business Concepts course was pilot tested in February 2018, enrolling about 600 students. Student response was very positive – with students rating the flexibility, self-pacing and innovative design highly. The course is now offered for the first time through Continuing Education, accompanied by research on students and faculty experiences.
The beta test of the design showed 20% of students would, as described by Professor Durocher, binge on the content, which he compared with Netflix binge watching. Often on weekends, they spent considerable time working through and completing modules. The flexible design facilitates this choice of learning time.
Elements of gamification that encourage continued participation and effort toward achieving rewards are part of a strategy expressed by Professor Durocher as “making education addictive.”
Having quizzes and other exercises integrated throughout each course offers students insight into what they have not yet mastered, provides plentiful opportunities for feedback, and helps with prevention of cheating.
Challenges and Enhancements
The introduction of a new model for teaching and learning is disruptive to many aspects of the college, including faculty, administration, and financial practices, and so requires time to build understanding and support. Both internal and external stakeholders are part of the community whose perspectives are important to any change.
The case study was simplified after the beta test as students found the initial version offered too many ambiguous situations that were too challenging for what, for many, is a first course in business.
Potential
Dean Lessard characterizes the development and testing of this new model of design and delivery as building capacity and assessing options. Once they analyze the results of the research from the first offering of the course and its impact and potential, Northern College can determine the effectiveness of the model and its possible further deployment. | https://teachonline.ca/pockets-innovation/designing-learner-centered-online-programs-focused-accessibility-and-flexibility-northern-college |
Gamification at the The 12th Annual MEITAL National Conference
Mrs. Ganit Richter, a LINKS' Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Management and The Center for Internet Research at the University of Haifa, presented her paper on "The mathematics of knowledge sharing gamification".
During the last years there had been a wider use of game elements withing crowd wisdom systems. The aim of the gamification is to stimulate participants to make significant contributions and all this through pleasant games. However, existing models that explain Motivation digital games focus on the way the game creates the overall experience and are discussed individually as a single game element.We will discuss the common elements such as scoring, compensation and design.In addition we will argue that the scoring mechanisms, including the mathematical function that determines the scoring, influence the participation and the desired behavior (knowledge contribution). The lecture presented research tools and preliminary findings. | http://www.links.org.il/ar/node/517 |
Regression Analysis > Covariate
What is a Covariate?
In general terms, covariates are characteristics (excluding the actual treatment) of the participants in an experiment. If you collect data on characteristics before you run an experiment, you could use that data to see how your treatment affects different groups or populations. Or, you could use that data to control for the influence of any covariate.
Covariates may affect the outcome in a study. For example, you are running an experiment to see how corn plants tolerate drought. Level of drought is the actual “treatment”, but it isn’t the only factor that affects how plants perform: size is a known factor that affects tolerance levels, so you would run plant size as a covariate.
A covariate can be an independent variable (i.e. of direct interest) or it can be an unwanted, confounding variable. Adding a covariate to a model can increase the accuracy of your results.
Meaning in ANCOVA
In ANCOVA, the independent variables are categorical variables. For example, you might look at the effect of several different treatments for depression; the independent variables would be the type of treatment received. The dependent variable is a countable variable, like a score on a self-scoring depression scale. However, within the group, there is a lot of unexplained variation going on. In this example, people don’t enter the experiment with exactly the same levels of depression. The initial level of depression is something you need to control for.
In this context, the covariate is always:
- Observed/measured (as opposed to a manipulated variable)
- A control variable
- A continuous variable.
Another example (from Penn State): Let’s say you are comparing the salaries of men and women to see who earns more. One factor that you need to control for is that people tend to earn more the longer they are out of college. Years out of college in this case is a covariate.
References
Beyer, W. H. CRC Standard Mathematical Tables, 31st ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 536 and 571, 2002.
Dodge, Y. (2008). The Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics. Springer.
Everitt, B. S.; Skrondal, A. (2010), The Cambridge Dictionary of Statistics, Cambridge University Press.
Gonick, L. (1993). The Cartoon Guide to Statistics. HarperPerennial. | https://www.statisticshowto.com/covariate/ |
:
soft-skills
Instructions:
Answer 23 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.
This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Conditions in an experiment that is purposely changed; also known as the independent variable
responding variable
manipulated variables
data
communicating
2. When you explain or interpret what you observe; based on what you already know
scientific theories
observing
classifying
inferring
3. Making a forecast of what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence
conclusion
operational definition
predicting
scientific literacy
4. A well tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental results
scientific theories
scientific attitudes
inferring
scientific laws
5. Facts - figures - and other evidence gathered through observations
graph
scientific laws
data
inferring
6. The process of grouping together items that are alike in some way
classifying
quantitative observations
communicating
inferring
7. A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question; must be testable
scientific laws
hypothesis
quantitative observations
predicting
8. Means that you understand basic scientific terms and principles well enough that you can evaluate information - make personal decisions - and take part in public affairs
manipulated variables
scientific literacy
operational definition
scientific laws
9. Observations that deal with numbers or amounts
graph
making models
quantitative observations
observing
10. A statement that describes how to measure a particular variable or define a particular term
predicting
quantitative observations
qualitative observations
operational definition
11. Earth and Space Science - Life Science - and Physical Science
responding variable
data
branches of science
graph
12. Observations that deal with descriptions that cannot be expressed in numbers
quantitative observations
conclusion
qualitative observations
hypothesis
13. Using one or more senses to gather information
data
observing
scientific inquiry
responding variable
14. Factor in an experiment that a scientist wants to observe - which may change in response to the manipulated variable; also known as a dependent variable
responding variable
operational definition
conclusion
graph
15. Factors that can change in an experiment
variables
scientific laws
graph
responding variable
16. The sharing of ideas and experimental findings with others through writing and speaking
communicating
quantitative observations
scientific attitudes
hypothesis
17. An experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time.
qualitative observations
branches of science
variables
controlled experiment
18. Visual display of information or data
manipulated variables
inferring
scientific laws
graph
19. Curiosity - honesty - open-mindedness and skepticism - and creativity
scientific theories
conclusion
scientific attitudes
communicating
20. A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every time under a particular set of conditions
operational definition
graph
scientific attitudes
scientific laws
21. The ongoing process of discovery in science; the diverse ways in which scientist study the natural world and propose explanations based on evidence they gather. | https://basicversity.com/quiz/thinking-like-a-scientist |
Using your research topic, design a laboratory experiment to test a hypothesis. You should describe your experimental design, commenting on each component of a true experiment. Specify clearly how the independent variable will be manipulated and how the dependent variable will be measured. While you are not going to actually conduct this experiment, this should be designed in a way that the study could be conducted by you.
Please note: an experiment is NOT a survey. For your experiment, you must recruit a sample, then *randomly* assign participants to the experimental group or control group, then manipulate an independent variable for the experimental group. It is not enough to let people self-select into the experimental or control group, and then compare the two groups. The fact that your independent variable must be able to be feasibly manipulated means that your independent variable should not be something like gender or smoking status (although you could design an experiment that manipulates how many cigarettes are consumed).
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Hi there! Click one of our representatives below and we will get back to you as soon as possible. | https://homeworkcrew.com/2019/11/07/research-experiment-design/ |
From whimsical bedtime stories to action-packed book series, these books will be sure to inspire adventure during the summer.
“Red Emma, Queen of the Anarchists,” was admired for her defense of labor and women's rights. Watch tonight at 9:00 pm and stream more American Experience now on GPB.org.
New videos, a storybook, and interactive activities feature Karli, a new Sesame Street Muppet in foster care, and her foster parents.
The 'Football Momma' that makes it happen at Pike County
We explore the steps involved in creating and testing a hypothesis and introduce our third Science and Engineering Practice, planning and carrying out an investigation.
Host creates a testable hypothesis and procedure for testing collected samples from the Ogeechee River. Host introduces the Science and Engineering Practice: Planning and carrying out an investigation.
Students should have opportunities to plan and carry out several different kinds of investigations during their K-12 years. At all levels, they should engage in investigations that range from those structured by the teacher—in order to expose an issue or question that they would be unlikely to explore on their own (e.g., measuring specific properties of materials)— to those that emerge from students’ own questions. (NRC Framework, 2012, p. 61)
constant - also known as the controlled variable, any factor that is kept the same during an experiment.
hypothesis - a tentative explanation or prediction that can be tested by further investigation.
manipulated variable - also know as the independent variable, the one factor that changes within an experimental group.
meniscus - the curved surface at the top of the liquid in a tube.
model - a physical, conceptual, or mathematical representation of a real phenomenon whose purpose is to explain and predict what happens in real life.
observation - any information gathered using any of your five senses or lab instruments.
qualitative data - measurements that do not include numbers.
quantitative data - measurements that include numbers.
replication - data collected by different teams from samples gathered at the same location.
responding variable - also known as the dependent variable, the variable that is being measured as a result of the experiment.
significant figures - a term that represents the precision of a measurement.
SC6Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties that describe solutions and the nature of acids and bases.
SC6.cUse mathematics and computational thinking to evaluate commercial products in terms of their concentrations (i.e., molarity and percent by mass).
SC6.fUse mathematics and computational thinking to compare, contrast, and evaluate the nature of acids and bases in terms of percent dissociation, hydronium ion concentration, and pH. (Clarification statement: Understanding of the mathematical relationship between negative logarithm of the hydrogen concentration and pH is not expected in this element. Only a conceptual understanding of pH as related to acid/basic conditions is needed.)
The Chemistry Matters teacher toolkit provides instructions and answer keys for labs, experiments, and assignments for all 12 units of study. GPB offers the teacher toolkit at no cost to Georgia educators. Complete and submit this form to request the teacher toolkit. You only need to submit this form one time to get materials for all 12 units of study. | http://www.gpb.org/chemistry-matters/unit-1/investigating-the-problem |
What is independent variables and dependent variables?Nelliu53 - 6 Answers
The independent variable is typically the variable being manipulated or changed and the dependent variable is the observed result of the independent variable being manipulated. For instance, In measuring the acceleration of a vehicle, time is usually the independent variable, while speed is the dependent variable. This is because when taking measurements, times are usually predetermined, and the resulting speed of the vehicle is recorded at those times. As far as the experiment is concerned, the speed is dependent on the time. Since the decision is made to measure the speed at certain times, time is the independent variable....
The independent variable is the variable that is doing the explanation: it is uncaused. The dependent variable is the variable that is caused, or being explained. It is also called the response variable. For example, the price of a car can be expressed as a function of its age. Since age explains (or impacts) the car's price we call it the independent or explanatory variable. Since the car's price is the quantity being explained, we call it the dependent variable, ie, a car's price depends on the car's age....
To give an example, let's say that you are walking somewhere at three miles per hour.
You can describe this in an equation in terms of y = 3x, where x equals time and y equals distance travelled.
So if you have travelled for one hour, you will have travelled three miles. Two hours, then six miles.
The y variable is called the depedent variable because its value is dependent upon the value of x.
Let's consider a story. You're selling items and $5 an item, where x is the number of items sold, and y is the total money you received.
y=5x
x is the indepent variable, how many items you sold, for it isn't dependent on another number.
y is the dependent variable, total money received, for it is dependent on the independent variable. The value for y depends on the value for x.
The norm is: x is the independent, y is the dependent. x comes first. y depends on x. Whatever variable DEPENDS on the other is the dependent variable.
Does the amount of money earned depend on the number of hours worked? Or does the number of hours worked depend on the amount of money earned? | https://factanswer.com/q/469922/what-variables-variables-is-independent |
What does triplicate mean?
What does triplicate mean?
: consisting of or existing in three corresponding or identical parts or examples triplicate invoices. triplicate.
What does signed in triplicate mean?
When a document is prepared or written in triplicate, two exact copies of it are made also: The application has to be completed in triplicate, with the original being kept by the bank and the copies going to the customer and the tax office.
Why are experiments done in triplicate?
Triplicates in scientific experiments are important to validate empirical data or the observed results. In general, a research plan entails three replicates so that the results obtained from them can be verified. Thus, the relative differences of data from the three replicates can be measured and compared.
Why are there 3 replications?
Biological replicates are different samples measured across multiple conditions, e.g., six different human samples across six arrays. Using replicates offers three major advantages: Averaging across replicates increases the precision of gene expression measurements and allows smaller changes to be detected.
Why are apex experiments repeatable?
They need to be repeatable to prove that results from the expirement are viable, that it didn’t just happen because of a series of things outside of the scientists control. Repetition just makes the expirement seem more credible.
Does repeating an experiment increase accuracy?
Errors related to accuracy are typically systematic. Uncertainties related to precision are more often random. Therefore, repeating an experiment many times can improve the precision of experimental measurements via statistical averaging, but will not affect the accuracy, since systematic errors never “average away”.
Is control group necessary?
Yes. In an experiment, you need to include a control group that is identical to the treatment group in every way except that it does not receive the experimental treatment. Without a control group, you can’t know whether it was the treatment or some other variable that caused the outcome of the experiment.
What is a control group simple definition?
Control group, the standard to which comparisons are made in an experiment. A typical use of a control group is in an experiment in which the effect of a treatment is unknown and comparisons between the control group and the experimental group are used to measure the effect of the treatment.
What is an example of a control group?
A simple example of a control group can be seen in an experiment in which the researcher tests whether or not a new fertilizer has an effect on plant growth. The negative control group would be the set of plants grown without the fertilizer, but under the exact same conditions as the experimental group.
Why is a control condition important?
If the researchers included a control condition in this experimental design, they could make this comparison. Thus, including a control condition allows researchers to compare the way things are in the presence of an independent variable with the way things would have been in the absence of an independent variable.
What kind of control can be converted into control groups?
Use Tosca ControlGroups to put your controls view into a clear structure. This option is available for Radiobuttons, buttons and links. You can only use controls of the same type to create your control groups. If you combine several ModuleAttributes to a control group, the TestStepValues are also grouped accordingly.
What is control group in statistics?
A control group is a statistically significant portion of participants in an experiment that are shielded from exposure to variables. In a pharmaceutical drug study, for example, the control group receives a placebo, which has no effect on the body.
Why is it important to have a control group quizlet?
Why is it important that an experiment include a control group? Without a control group, there is no basis for knowing if a particular result is due to the variable being tested or to some other factor. If it is unknown which group subjects are in, it is less likely that results can be tampered with.
What is a control group in the scientific method?
The control group consists of elements that present exactly the same characteristics of the experimental group, except for the variable applied to the latter. 2. This group of scientific control enables the experimental study of one variable at a time, and it is an essential part of the scientific method.
Whats the steps of the scientific method?
Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation. Make a prediction based on the hypothesis. Test the prediction. Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions.
What are positive and negative controls?
A negative control is a control group in an experiment that uses a treatment that isn’t expected to produce results. A positive control is a control group in an experiment that uses a treatment that is known to produce results.
What is test and control group?
An experimental group is a test sample or the group that receives an experimental procedure. This group is exposed to changes in the independent variable being tested. A control group is a group separated from the rest of the experiment such that the independent variable being tested cannot influence the results.
What is test and control?
Test versus control is achieved by segmenting the audience into a minimum of two parts. Each segment receives an identical email, except for a single variable. Observed customer data is collected and analyzed to determine which audience segment took the desired action most frequently.
What are the four types of tests of controls?
Four Types of Test of Controls
- Inquiry.
- Observation.
- Inspection.
- Re-performance.
What is a control group in marketing?
A control group, or holdout group, is a subset of the total group of customers being exposed to a test. In marketing, control groups are used to measure the impact of a specific campaign or customer journey.
What’s a control?
Just what is a control in a science experiment? By definition the control in a science experiment is a sample that remains the same throughout the experiment. The control must remain the same or equal at all times in order to receive accurate results. You can have as many controls as necessary to achieve results. | https://answer-to-all.com/common-questions/what-does-triplicate-mean/ |
In this way, does repeating an experiment increase accuracy or precision?
Errors related to accuracy are typically systematic. Uncertainties related to precision are more often random. Therefore, repeating an experiment many times can improve the precision of experimental measurements via statistical averaging, but will not affect the accuracy, since systematic errors never “average away”.
Beside above, why would you repeat an experiment? 1) The first reason to repeat experiments is simply to verify results. Different science disciplines have different criteria for determining what good results are. 2) The next reason to repeat experiments is to develop skills necessary to extend established methods and develop new experiments.
Keeping this in view, how many times should you repeat an experiment to make it more reliable?
For a typical experiment, you should plan to repeat it at least three times (more is better). If you are doing something like growing plants, then you should do the experiment on at least three plants in separate pots (that's the same as doing the experiment three times).
What are two ways to improve the accuracy of a measurement?
The chief way to improve the accuracy of a measurement is to control all other variables as much as possible. Accuracy is a measure of how close your values are to the true value. Precision is a measure of how closely your successive measurements agree with each other.
How do you increase precision in an experiment?
How can you improve the accuracy of an experiment?
What are two ways to improve an experiment?
What makes an experiment reliable?
How do you measure validity?
What is the difference between precision and accuracy?
What affects validity?
Interaction of subject selection and research. Descriptive explicitness of the independent variable. The effect of the research environment. Researcher or experimenter effects. The effect of time.
Why is it better to repeat an experiment 3 times?
What is it called when you repeat an experiment?
Why is the measurement taken more than once?
How many trials should an experiment have?
Why is it important to use constants in an experiment?
How can experimental errors be prevented?
- Double check all measurements for accuracy.
- Double check your formulas are correct.
- Make sure observers and measurement takers are well trained.
- Make the measurement with the instrument that has the highest precision.
- Take the measurements under controlled conditions. | http://interesting-information.com/does-repeating-an-experiment-increase-accuracy/ |
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Chapter 1 The Study of Our World
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The Way Science Works Science Observing, studying, experimenting to find the way that things work and why Technology The application of science to make our lives easier
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The Way Science Works Scientific theory An explanation of why something happens Must be tested Must be repeatable Must be able to predict Scientific law A summary of what happens Does not explain why Neither are absolute
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The Way Science Works Critical thinking Using logic and reason to make observations and form conclusions Scientific method Following a series of steps in order to solve a problem Use critical thinking
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Scientific Method Step 1 Make an observation Write down some observations about the M&M bag Step 2 Ask a question (form a hypothesis) Ask a question about what may be inside the M&M bag
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Scientific Method Step 3 Test your hypothesis with an experiment Use different variables Independent (Manipulated) What you choose to measure against Dependent (Responding) What changes because of your experiment Constant What stays the same in the experiment Control What you measure against in the experiment Let’s try it!
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Scientific Method Identify the following in your M&M experiment Independent Dependent Constant Control Open your bag of M&M (Don’t drop them!) Separate the colors Count the number of each color
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Scientific Method Step 4 Analyze your data Look at your experiment results Record all your observations Answer questions Analyze your M&M data by answering the following questions Which color had the most? How many were in the bag? Which color had the least? Make comparisons between the colors.
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Scientific Method Step 5 Draw a conclusion Sum up what you found Tell whether your hypothesis was true or false Write 5 sentences about what you found in your M&M experiment Be sure to tell if your hypothesis was true or false and why
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Scientific Method Step 6 Communicate your results Be sure to let others know what you found Use graphs, tables, and pictures Present at a fair or in class Write a report that people can read Tell the class what you found in your M&M experiment
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Ways of Measuring and Reporting Use three main types of graphs Line graph Show change in data over time Bar graph Comparing data for several different events Pie graph Showing parts of a whole
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Line Graph Independent variable Dependent variable
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Bar Graph
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Pie Graph
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The Way Science Works Qualitative Data that is reported using statements to describe it Quantitative Data that is reported using numbers
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The Way Science Works Precision How close together all the measurements are Accuracy How close you are to what it really should be
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Ways of Measuring and Reporting Use the International System of Units (SI) Known as the metric system Base units of SI QuantityUnitAbbreviation LengthMeterm MassKilogramkg TimeSeconds TemperatureKelvinK Electric currentAmpereA Amount of substanceMolemol Luminous intensityCandelacd
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Measurements in Science Measurements made with different tools depending on what is needed Time Length Mass Volume Temperature Weight vs. Mass Mass = amount of matter Weight = Earth’s force pulling on matter
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Converting Measurements Kilo (k) Hecto (h) Deka (da) Meters Liters Grams Deci (d) Centi (c) Milli (m) 100010010.1.01.001 54 g to kg62 m to cm93 mL to hL 0.054 0.00093 54 62 6200 93
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How many times in science class have you collected some data, calculated some averages, and then created a conclusion based on those calculations? If you are like most students, you have done or will do this many times in your educational career. However, there is a big problem with this approach. You didn’t do an additional step to find out if your results were significant or not. Hopefully, you’re ready to take the next step in becoming a scientist: analyzing your results.
What are variables?A variable is a factor that can be manipulated or measured. The variable that is manipulated is called the independent variable, and the variable that is measured is called the dependent variable.
What is an operational definition?The operational definition states how the variables will be measured in a given experiment. For instance, the dependent variable growth could be measured in a variety of ways, some good and some less valuable. One way to measure growth would be to count the number of fruit a tree produced. Another operational definition for growth could be the increase in height of a plant. A given experiment must always define how the variables will be measured.
What is a hypothesis?A good third-grade definition of a hypothesis is "an educated guess." However, a much better definition exists that more closely aligns with scientific thinking. This defines a hypothesis as a "prediction based on prior information of what may occur that can be experimentally tested." A good form to write your hypothesis is, "the independent variable affects the dependent variable."
What is the sample size?The sample size is the total number of subjects or things in a study. For instance, if a study has two groups, with ten people in each group, the sample size would be 20. The accepted number most scientists generally use for the minimum sample size is 30. However, a larger sample size usually provides better experimental results.
What is the difference between a control and experimental group?In the control group, no experimental conditions are applied. This means that the control group is not manipulated in any way so that it can be used as a reference. The independent variable is applied to the experimental group so that its effect can be measured.
What is the mean (average)?The mean, or average, of a data set is a number that represents the general value of the data set. The mean is computed by adding up all the data and dividing this sum by the number of data. For instance, if you had five students who took a test and you wanted to compute the mean score, you would add up all five test scores and then divide this number by five.
What is a Student's t-test?A Student's t-test is a statistical test used to determine if a real, significant difference exists between the averages of two groups. The averages of two groups could be numerically different, yet those differences in values could be due to randomness in the data and not due to a cause-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The t-test determines whether the differences in the averages are real or not. When a t-test is calculated, a "p" value is determined. If the "p" value is less than 0.05, then a real difference exists between the group's averages and one variable does affect the other one. If the "p" value is greater than 0.05, then no real difference exists between the group's averages and one variable does not affect the other one.
Walkthrough
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Correlational studies are not uncommon in psychological research. Often, however, a researcher wants even more specific information about the relationships among variables—in particular, about whether one variable causes a change in another variable. In such a situation, experimental research is warranted. This drawback of the correlational approach—its inability to establish causal relationships—is worth considering for a moment. In the hypothetical study described above, the researcher may find that viewing considerable television violence predicts high levels of aggressive behavior, yet she cannot conclude that these viewing habits cause the aggressiveness. After all, it is entirely possible that aggressiveness, caused by some unknown factor, prompts a preference for violent television. That is, the causal direction is unknown; viewing television violence may cause aggressiveness, but the inverse (that aggressiveness causes the watching of violent television programs) is also feasible.
As this is a crucial point, one final illustration is warranted. What if, at a certain Rocky Mountain university, a correlational study has established that high levels of snowfall predict low examination scores? One should not conclude that something about the chemical composition of snow impairs the learning process. The correlation may be real and highly predictive, but the causal culprit may be some other factor. Perhaps, as snowfall increases, so does the incidence of illness, and it is this variable that is causally related to exam scores. Maybe, as snowfall increases, the likelihood of students using their study time for skiing also increases.
Experimentation is a powerful research method because it alone can reveal cause-effect relationships. In an experiment, the researcher does not merely measure the naturally occurring relationships between variables for the purpose of predicting one from the other; rather, he or she systematically manipulates the values of one variable and measures the effect, if any, that is produced in a second variable. The variable that is manipulated is known as the independent variable; the other variable, the behavior in question, is called the dependent variable (any change in it depends upon the manipulation of the independent variable). Experimental research is characterized by a desire for control on the part of the researcher. Control of the independent variable and control over extraneous variables are both wanted. That is, there is a desire to eliminate or hold constant the factors (control variables) other than the independent variable that might influence the dependent variable. If adequate control is achieved, the researcher may be confident that it was, in fact, the manipulation of the independent variable that produced the change in the dependent variable.
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We have all been there: turning to the refrigerator if feeling lonely or bored or indulging in seconds or thirds if strained. But if you suffer from bulimia, the from time to time urge to overeat is more like an obsession. | https://www.europeanmedical.info/psychology-basics/cause-and-effect.html |
Investigation Design Proposal:
Purpose of Experiment:
To determine the effect of concentration of reactants on the current produced by a galvanic cell.
Hypothesis:
The greater the concentration of solution in the two half cells reacting with the two metals to produce current, the greater the flow of current will be produced from the galvanic cell.
Independent Variable:
Concentration of both reactants (Zn2+ and Cu2+).
How the Independent Variable is changed:
Changed by diluting the 1 mol L-1 (Zn2+ and Cu2+) solution supplied with distilled water, while keeping a constant volume.
Dependent Variable:
Current flow produced by the galvanic cell.
How the Dependent Variable is Measured:
Using a multimeter, set on 2V (or lower depending on the current produced by the cell).
Other factors held Constant in the Experiment:
• Electrodes (metal strips of Zn and Cu)
• Electrolytes (both sulfate solutions)
• Volume of solutions used in the galvanic cell
• Length of saltbridge
• Saltbridge solution (0.1 M KCl solution)
• Surface area of electrode dipping into the electrolyte solutions.
Procedure:
1. Use 2x 50 mL beakers to make up the following half cells, fill with 25 mL 1M zinc sulfate and 1M copper sulfate solution in each beaker.
2. Use one 50 mL beaker, fill with 30 mL of 0.1M potassium chloride.
3. Soak filter paper strip in the potassium chloride (Keep the salt bridge same length for each repeated experiment).
4. Place zinc metal into the 25 mL zinc sulfate and the copper metal into 25 mL of copper sulfate in the two 50 mL beakers.
5. Connect the two half cells using the soaked filter paper strip (salt bridge).
6. Complete the circuit using wires and connected to the digital voltmeter and record voltage reading.
7. Discard used salt bridge and half cell contents, rinse and wash half cells (50 mL beakers) to be used.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 using diluted copper and zinc solution each time diluting solution to 2x, 4x, 6x and 8x dilution.
Part B
Table of Values 1.0
|Concentration |Current Flow | |(mol/L) |(Volts) | |0.125 |1.09 | |0.167 |1.097 | |0.25 |1.11 | |0.5 |1.122 | |1 |1.143 |
[pic]
Random Errors:
Not enough solution for the experiments, miscalculated quantity needed for the experiment, could afffect the precision and accuracy of the results.
Not measuring volumes at eye level (angle of paralllax) will affect the accuracy of results due to the wrong factor of dilution.
Systematic Errors:
Voltmeter not properly calibrated resulting in wrong measurement of direct current voltage reading.
Fixed solution concentration not the same suggested concentration affecting overall data record.
The importance of repeating the experiment for the number of samples in the experiment is to reduce the amount of error in the experiment and to make the the experimental measuring more accurate and precise.
Due to exposure of random and systematic errors the accuracy of the results may vary from the actual measurements of concentration and current, meaning that the recorded data was not accurate. The precision of the results did vary, there were points below the line of best fit suggesting random error. The experiment was not very precise, repeats of the experiment could improve this problem.... | http://shalom-retreats.com/essays/Chemistry-Galvanic-Cell-1420028.html |
Essential Questions: 1. How do scientists observe the world around them? 2. How do scientists use the observations to “make science?” 3. How do scientists share their ideas with others?
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vocabulary Control/constant Data Dependant/responding variable
Hypothesis Independent/manipulated variable Infer Interpretation Law Model Qualitative observation Quantitative observation Scientific method Theory Variable
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Qualitative – descriptions (Mary has red hair.)
Quantitative – numbers (Mary was walking two dogs today.) When doing observations we ask: “Who” is that “What” is that “When” is that happening “Where” is that taking place
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Observation: the fact, the cat is lying on the ground
Inference – logical conclusion based on reasoning The cat is dead. The cat is asleep. Why is the cat asleep? The cat is asleep because he is tired. Interpretation – observation plus our personal value system The cat is so cute!
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You will observe the following picture for a few seconds.
Look at everything you think might be important.
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Scientific Method Scientists use their observations to come up with questions and use the answers to solve problems. Scientists develop and TEST ideas using a systematic, step by step approach called the scientific method. The exact steps vary, but always include the following ideas.
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II. Steps of the Scientific Method
Posing questions, developing hypotheses, designing an experiment, collecting and analyze data, drawing conclusions, and communicating with other scientists. In other words, it’s a way to solve a problem.
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Step 1: Posing Questions
Define the focus of the research Observe the world around you using all senses to gather information. Read books or other scientists’ research Make sure your question is scientific Can be answered with evidence NOT answered with an opinion
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Step 2: Develop a hypothesis
A hypothesis is a testable, educated guess to answer your question or is a possible solution to the problem based on your research or observations Your prediction, use “I think…” Must be TESTABLE!!
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Step 3: Design an Experiment
Parts of an experiment: Parameter: something that can be measured The parameter being tested is the manipulated variable or independent variable. This is what you are manipulating or changing on purpose The parameter that you are measuring is called the responding variable or dependent variable. It changes in response to or because of the manipulated variable
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Step 3: Design an Experiment (cont)
The parameters that don’t change are called the controls or constants. Your control group is used for comparison. The controls DO NOT change so you can be more sure that your manipulated variable CAUSED your responding variable to change, A controlled experiment is an investigation where only ONE parameter is manipulated at a time.
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Step 4: Collecting and Analyze Data
Data are the facts figures and other evidence gathered through observations As you collect the data you got from your experiment, write it down. Organize your data into a chart, table, or graph Use pictures or photos to explain your results Analyze your data by writing a summary of what happened in your experiment.
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Step 5: Draw Conclusions
Do the results of your experiment support your hypothesis or not? A conclusion states whether or not the data supports the hypothesis. Do you need to revise your hypothesis and retest?
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Step 6: Communicate your results to others
Share what you found out from your experiment Scientists make presentations and write papers so others can repeat their experiments
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Step 6: Communicate your results to others (cont.)
Scientists use models, theories and laws to explain to people how the natural world works. Model: a picture, diagram or other representation when the real thing is not easy to see Theory: a conclusion backed up by many scientists with the same results Law: a theory that has been proven over and over again. A “rule” of nature.
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Chapter 1 Section 1 Mrs. Chilek Life Science – 4 th period What is Science?
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Science is a way of learning about the natural world. - scientists use skills such as observing, predicting, classifying and making models to learn more about the world.
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In science, we observe using our senses to gather information. - your senses include sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell - observations can be quantitative or qualitative - quantitative deals with numbers or amounts - qualitative deals with descriptions that can not be expressed in numbers.
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When you explain or interpret things you have observed, you are inferring. - an inference is based on reasoning from what you already know Scientists may also predict what may happen next in an experiment or observation. - predicting means making a forecast about the future based on past experience or evidence.
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You can also group objects and information by classifying them. - this is the process of grouping together items that are alike in some way. Using models involves creating representations of complex objects or processes - Examples: a globe, a map or a diagram of the human body Life Science is the study of living things. - Examples: Botanist, Park Rangers or Marine Biologists.
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Ch 1 Sec 2 Scientific Inquiry
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SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Scientific Inquiry is a diverse way in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather.
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Steps in the Scientific Method 1.Ask a question 2.Develop a hypothesis 3.Design an experiment 4.Collect and Interpret Data 5.Conclusion 6.Communicate your theory
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During an Experiment Variables – any factors that can change in an experiment An experiment that only one variable changes at a time is called a controlled experiment. Two types of variables: –Manipulated variable – one variable that you purposely change to test your hypothesis. – Responding variable – the factor in the experiment that may change in response to the manipulated variable.
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Ch 1 Sec 3 - Understanding Technology
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What is Technology? Technology is how people change the world around them to meet their needs and solve practical problems. The goal of technology is to improve the way people live - examples: refrigerators, eye glasses or contacts, thermometers or farm machinery
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Comparing Technology and Science Science is the study of the natural world to understand how it functions Technology changes, or modifies, the natural world to meet human needs or to solve problems. An engineer is a person who is trained to use both technology and scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.
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Overall, technology can have both positive and negative consequences for individual people and society as a whole.
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Ch 1 Sec 4 – Safety in the Science Laboratory
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Good preparation helps you stay safe when doing science activities. When accidents occur in the lab, always notify your teacher immediately. Then, listen to your teacher’s instructions and do them.
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The CCJS is involved in several projects that impact community safety. These projects cover a wide range of issues surrounding community safety, including policing, the court system, emergency management, demographics, and search & rescue. As concerns are raised in different areas of community safety, the CCJS is in a position to connect with stakeholders, locate researchers with relevant interests and expertise, and facilitate allocation of resources to embark on necessary research.
Aboriginal Policing Model Review
In order to better understand the challenges of Aboriginal policing, this review first presents a context that includes a review of Aboriginal population trends and the demographic characteristics of that population. The fact that the Aboriginal population is the fastest growing population group in Canada, and the youngest, has long-term implications for police services both on- and off-reserve. In addition to the impacts on victims, high crime rates have a corrosive effect on community relationships and especially opportunities that are lost. When responding to the after-effects of crimes that have already occurred and trying to prevent future offences consumes much of the creativity of a community, leaders lose opportunities to work toward job creation, promoting healthy lifestyles and relationships, helping youngsters succeed, or spending scarce resources on developing a community’s infrastructure rather than repairing the damages caused by crime.
There are three distinct types of agencies policing Aboriginal communities and peoples and each type faces a different set of challenges that are shaped by their role and geographic location as well as organizational size and history.
- Large networked police organizations, such as the RCMP and the Ontario Provincial Police.
- Self administered Aboriginal police services that range from small stand-alone agencies to larger regional police services.
- Specialized Aboriginal policing programs delivered by municipal or regional police services.
Each of these police services responds to the challenges of crime in a different manner. It is useful to examine these different strategies to determine best practices. To widen the available data for this exercise, policing strategies in other English-speaking common law nations with large Aboriginal populations is also explored.
Addressing the policy-related questions raised in this review of the literature will supply stakeholders a framework that will provide the evidence-based knowledge needed to inform emerging plans for the future of Aboriginal policing in Canada.
Publications
First Nations Policing: A Review of the Literature
Changing Demographics and Economy in Saskatchewan
The population of Saskatchewan has been steadily growing and this growth, including natural increase, non-permanent residents, interprovincial migration, and intraprovincial migration, are important to consider when examining how the population will impact policing and crime.
Not only is the population rising in the province, but the economy of Saskatchewan is also "booming." Saskatchewans' resource-based economy has led to an incread in consumer spending, employment, and construction to support the population growth. Areas such as housing, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and employment are changing rapidly, and these changes can be seen in many areas, including policing.
The basic questions for this research project are
- What are the socio-economic determinants of crime?
- How has the changing economy and demography influenced crime rates in Canada, and in Saskatchewan?
- How have changes in the economy and demography influenced crime rates (overall and by type) in specific regions of Saskatchewan?
- With regions of Saskatchewan projected to grow due to resource development, how will the local economy and demography change, and how should policing efforts respond?
- How will the incidence of specific types of offenses change in the coning years with expected economic and demographic change in Saskatchewan's major communities?
This project will compile data regarding economics, demographics, crime, and policing from across the country, and particularly from Saskatchewan. There will be a literature review conducted to examine the relationships between key socio-economic, demographic, policing, and crime variables. An empirical (econometric) model will be constructed to determine the extent of these relationships. Comparative case studies of key regions, cities, and towns will be completed. Possible scenarios for the future will be assembled from these case studies.
Publications
The Changing Economy and Demography of Saskatchewan and its Impact on Crime and Policing, Phase I Report: Overview of Demographic, Economic, Crime and Policing Trends in Saskatchewan
The Changing Economy and Demogrpahy of Saskatchewan and its Impact on Policing, Phase II Report: Influences on Criminal Behaviour - Theory and Evidence
Circles of Support and Accountability
Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) is a national program based on restorative justice principles designed to assist high-risk sexual offenders enter the community at the end of their sentence. Since its original inception in 1994 in Ontario, CoSA has grown into a viable community partner in 18 communities across Canada, 13 of which participated in the National Demonstration Project under the umbrella organization of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections. The Demonstration Project funding has enabled CoSA to grow substantially over the past five years.
The national evaluation of the CoSA Demonstration Project was designed as a participatory approach involving key stakeholder groups, many of whom were actively involved throughout the project as members of an Evaluation Advisory Committee. The evaluation design was based on a mixed method model intended to measure both process- and outcome-level data, to determine the effectiveness of CoSA, and to identify factors that have hindered and/or supported its successful implementation across different settings.
Publication
Economics of Community Safety
Governments at all levels are grappling with the challenges of increasing demands on police services at the same time that their budgets are threatened with cuts. Although Canada’s economy has weathered the financial crisis that started in 2008 with fewer disruptions than in the United Kingdom or the United States, there are signs that global economic conditions, especially in the European Union, continue to be uncertain and those challenges could have a substantial impact upon economic conditions in Canada. Economic uncertainty can have an impact on all government services, including policing.
Austerity Policing
In this project the research team will review the economics, management, and policing literatures to identify current trends in respect to the relationships between economics and policing, including how police services in other nations have managed austerity.
The RAND cost of crime calculator was introduced in 2010 as an instrument to be used by US police stakeholders to better understand the value proposition of policing. There are a number of shortcomings to this model that make it less efficient in estimating the benefits of policing in Canada. The investigators will identify how the calculator could be modified to inform provincial policing by a) adding additional offences to the calculator; b) updating the instrument using the results of cost-benefit and officer effectiveness research published since 2010, and: c) considering benefits to society other than reducing serious crimes (e.g., reducing traffic accidents).
The project is scheduled for completion Summer 2014
Publications
Published fall 2014 by University of Regina professors Rick Ruddell, Ph.D. and Nicholas Jones, Ph.D., Austerity Policing: Responding to Crime During Economic Downturns documents the difficulties and challenges faced by police forces operating with less funding and resources.
Published summer 2014 by University of Regina professors Rick Ruddell, Ph.D. and Nicholas Jones, Ph.D., The Economics of Canadian Policing Five Years Into the Great Recession aims to identify current trends in relationships between economics and policing as part of a proactive strategy to enable Canadian police agencies to plan well for the future.
Regina Police Service: Community Perceptions
Through a telephone survey of Regina residents, University of Regina professors Dr. Nicholas Jones and Dr. Rick Ruddell examine attitudes towards the Regina Police Service. The survey was conducted in 2013, and again in 2015.
Publications
Community Perceptions of the Regina Police Service, 2013
Search and Rescue Organization and Tasking
When situations of emergency search and rescue arise in Saskatchewan, there are several types and ways that search and rescue (SAR) teams help the RCMP. Conservation officers, Armed Forces, community volunteers, and volunteer pilots assist professional, trained and paid SAR teams. With these varied resources, what is the most effective and efficient way for search and rescue assets within Saskatchewan to be organized and tasked?
This project will produce a summary report concerning the issues facing the Saskatchewan SAR system, which will be gleaned from interviews of key stakeholders and from a literature review. Focus groups will be held with members of SAR agencies/groups (CASARA Saskatchewan, RCMP, EMS, Amateur Radio Emergency Service, and Search & Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers) to ascertain the issues being faced. A province-wide evaluation questionnaire will be developed and administered. Qualitative and statistical anayses will be undertaken on the focus group and survey data with SPSS, and a report will be generated to provide recommendations on the most effective and efficient SAR resource management within Saskatchewan.
The Duty to Disclose
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in applying business models and cost-benefit analyses to the criminal justice system, especially in terms of holding these core public services more accountable for their performance as publically funded agencies . As a result, there has been a determined focus and increase in the search for efficiencies within the criminal justice system. One area where, as a result of court decisions, there has been an increase in workload and costs is that of the requirements associated with pre-trial disclosure. | https://www.justiceandsafety.ca/centre-initiatives/community-safety.html |
The police service in Kenya is legally entrusted with the mandate of crime prevention. Towards this endeavour, the service is expected to adapt various crime prevention strategies such as community policing. The community policing concept was adopted in Kasarani in 2003. However, this has not wholly met public expectation since crime is still a major challenge to the citizens. This study sought to establish the influence of police institutional capacity on community policing implementation in Kasarani constituency, Nairobi County. A high crime rate can be an impediment to the achievement of Kenya’s aspiration in the social and economic development envisaged in the Vision 2030. This study, therefore, looked at the training of police officers in community policing as critical in imparting skills, values and appropriate attitude in community policing. Resource allocation to community policing were found to be insufficient this made it difficult for the operationalization of community policing. Police organization and administration of the police service was found not to be in line with community policing. The study also looked at community policing policies and found that community policing operations in Kasarani lacks legal rules and procedures. The System Theory was applied in examining the importance of collaboration between the community members and the police in crime prevention. The study took its independent variables as police training, resources allocation, police organization and administration, and community policing strategies. The intervening variables were support from the Government and community behaviour, while the dependent variable was effectiveness of police institutional capacity on community policing implementation. The study adopted a survey research design and targeted both regular and administration police officers in Ruai sub-county, a population of 240. A sample of 120 respondents were served with questionnaires for data collection and interview guide. Quantitative data were analysed with the assistance of SPSS while content analysis was done with qualitative data. The study found out that police officers involved in the maintenance of law and order needed community policing training to give them more awareness on crime prevention through community–police partnership to build their capacity and effectiveness in crime prevention. Provision of additional resources to community policing, police organizational and administration should be aligned to the community policing strategies. New police strategies should be adopted that can address issues of crime prevention effectively through community policing. | https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/21627 |
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