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Studying Commercial Games: Justifying Choices
Get PDFBefore researchers can perform studies using commercial games, they must choose which game or games to study. The manner in which that choice is made and justified is the focus of this paper. Ideally, research informs pedagogy and when looking at game education it is important to be able to justify and defend conclusions drawn from game studies so they can inform best practices in design and development. As the number and sophistication of titles released in a given year continues to rise, it becomes even more important to look more seriously at how we are choosing the games we study, the criteria we use for those studies, how we support our claims about the suitability of the game for our purposes, and how generalizations to other games should be limited or qualified. This paper is a report on a qualitative meta-analysis of the methods used in choosing games for study and the implications that holds for both researchers studying games and educators teaching about games and game development
Methods for studying the use of public spaces in libraries
Get PDFThis review examines selected methods for studying the use of public spaces in libraries, including mental mapping, observation, questionnaires and interviews. Although use of space research often features more than one method of inquiry, observation (in its various forms) is a key method. Information gathered from use of space research can be used for a variety of purposes from feeding into design and renovation projects to contributing to library promotion and funding initiatives
SoTL Writing Residency Questionnaire
No full textThis questionnaire is useful for SoTL would-be authors to think about their article's destination before a writing retreat. It was designed so that other participants who weren't familiar with the specific journal could still have enough info to offer meaningful feedback, but it also helps an individual writer think about their appropriate target journal, proportions, etc
Mechanical impacts analysis in judoists body of different weight categories
No full textThis study aimed to analyze the impacts generated in different body regions of judoists of different weight categories during falls cushioning. Four black belt judoist, with at least 14 years of experience, participated in this study: three “uke” half-light, half-middle and half-heavy categories were thrown in “ippon-seoi-nage” technique by a “tori” with 77 kg. A triaxial Brüel and Kjaer accelerometer was alternately fastened with straps in the “uke” fist, hip and ankle to verify the impacts. Descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA and Tukey test were applied, with p≤0.05. The bigger impact magnitudes occurred in vertical axis, in the fist and for the half-middle category judoist; the impact times were larger in the hip for all athletes and in vertical axis. According to Macaulay criteria, the impact values founded represents severe injury risks in fist and ankle and moderate risk in judoists hip. Initiatives should be taken to reduce the damage due to impact during judo training and competitions
Constitutional Secularization: Religious Pluralism and the Canadian Courts
Get PDFThis paper offers a brief overview of Canadian case law since the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982. At the same time that it has more firmly entrenched religious freedom, the Charter has placed explicit limits on the right of religious freedom. Canadian courts have shown themselves willing to intervene in the internal workings of religious institutions. Legal protection has been extended to include not only non-Christian religions but also non-religious beliefs more generally.The cumulative effect of these decisions has been to effectively erode the de facto separation between Church and State that has developed in Canada. The value of increased respect for religious pluralism is potentially offset by increasing judicial intervention and by the correlated effective imposition of secular values. The courts have been defining “religion” and “religious pluralism” in increasingly secular terms
Portrayal of interactions between humans and coyotes (Canis latrans): content analysis of Canadian print media (1998-2010)
No full textPrint media is one form of public discourse that provides a means to examine human-coyote interactions. We conducted a content analysis of 453 articles addressing coyote events reported in the Canadian print media between 1998 and 2010. We found 119 articles about human-coyote interactions, of which 32 involved a report of coyote biting (26) or attempting to bite (6) a person. 108 articles were about coyote-dogs and 32 about coyotes-cat interactions. Remaining articles were on topics unrelated to interactions (e.g. culls). Basing our analysis in grounded theory, we identified important descriptive and emotional themes surrounding these events. The most common words describing coyotes were: brazen, wiley, mangy, nuisance, wild and vicious.Interactions were described as attacks in 185 articles, while only 32 “attacks” were identified. Coyotes were portrayed as not natural in cities, as an invasive species, and more recently using language depicting criminal behaviour. Descriptions of coyotes killing or attacking people were inflammatory (e.g. savaged, ripped juts open), whereas descriptions of people killing coyotes were not (e.g. euthanized). Five emotional responses emerged describing humans involved in coyote interactions. Of these, statements of fear were most prevalent and yielded the richest understanding of perceptions about the risk of coyote-human interactions, including:fear for children’s safety (73), fear for disease (44), fear for pet safety (43), and fear for self or others safety(35). Traumatic response was reported in 28 articles, while sadness and grief were described in 17. Two other themes were: 1) animal welfare concerns, 2) frustration due to lack of agency response. Popular media plays a critical role in shaping public understanding and can influence people’s emotional experiences, perceptions and management consequences. We highlight that coyotes are prejudiced (and stereotyped) based on the isolated and sensationalized incidents. Coyotes in particular elicit a wide range of emotional responses in people, and there is often a wide gap between perception and reality of risk when understanding whether it is possible for humans and coyotes to co-exist. Hence, there is a strong need for media literacy about the unintended or intended maligning of coyotes to the general public, as the consequence can be social amplification of risk and the unwarranted persecution of coyotes
A umbanda e a glocalização
Get PDFThis paper interrogates a particular globalizing academic move: the appropriation of Afro-Brazilian religion by the academic study of religion in North America as a paradigmatic form of cultural mixture. Specifically, I ask what difference would it make if Umbanda were the key example of Brazilian cultural hybridity, rather than Candomblé serving as a more universal example of religious syncretism. I elaborate the concept of hybridity of refraction, according to which the ritual and doctrinal spectrum of Umbandas refracts the spectrum of social tensions in Brazilian society. Referring to recent theories of globalization, I argue that Umbanda’s internal variation manifests a variety of strategic appropriations by its practitioners of national and transnational concepts. This view reaffirms the contextualized autonomy of these religious agents, and it leads us to emphasize national aspects of religious glocalization, rather than transnational aspects of religious globalization
Identification of bird collision hotspots along transmission power lines in Alberta: an expert-based geographic information system (GIS) approach
No full textBird collisions with electrical transmission lines are a cause of avian mortality. The exact magnitude of the problem is not known because most avian mortality goes undetected; however, existing mortality estimates make this phenomenon a significant ecological, social and economic concern. Electric utility companies operate thousands of kilometres of transmission line, making it difficult and costly to identify problem sites and prioritize areas for mitigation. Existing research suggests that mortality is not evenly distributed, but spatially clustered in areas with particular combinations of environmental and physical attributes. We used a combination of a geographic information system (GIS) and multiple criteria evaluation (MCE) to predict collision risk hotspots at a landscape scale. Model predictions were validated through preliminary field sampling, which yielded strong evidence that this approach can successfully predict high-risk collision zones. Our spatial approach was a novel application of risk theory within GIS, was transparent, can be easily replicated, and is transferable to other areas with similar problems
Evaluating Student and Faculty Satisfaction with a Pedagogical Framework
Get PDFMost schools of nursing utilize technology to deliver courses,
and entire curricula, through a combination of face to face (f2f),
web-enhanced, and fully online strategies. Challenges
associated with course delivery may include geographic and
technological barriers, lack of instructional design support,
inconsistent, inadequate or unreliable support infrastructure,
and varying degrees of faculty and student experiences with
learning management systems
The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21-st Century
Get PDFThis paper takes a fresh look at the Clark/Kozma debate from the perspective of 21st century new media technologies in general and serious games in particular. After a brief re-cap of the key elements of the debate, a relatively recent article by R.E.Clark is summarized that brings serious games into the conversation. Clark’s allegations are addressed and the case is made that digital games form a distinct medium that can not easily be lumped in with other educational technologies. The author draws on over a decade of personal experience teaching with games to move the debate to the next level and offer some recommendations for when and how games can be used effectively in formal contexts