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Applying motivational techniques for user adherence to adopt a healthy lifestyle in a gamified application
Get PDFNumerous applications have been developed using gamification in the field of health and well-being to help modify lifestyle factors associated with various diseases such as cancer, diabetes and many more. To improve well-being, an individual needs motivation, and this motivation is the key driving factor responsible for user engagement. This research aims to investigate strategies to encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle using gamification and identify the key factors responsible for retaining users. The study was not limited to certain activities such as the gym or sports but also motivated people to engage in small activities, for example, doing household work, walking and many others. Most of the existing physical activity gamification application focuses on elements such as reward, leaderboard and competition, while very few of them investigate various motivational elements using motivational techniques. Therefore, as a part of the project we found useful to develop a system with which to measure different ways to implement motivational elements and to identify which motivational technique works on certain age groups. The application was developed using Unity and C# supported by iOS, Harmony OS and Android. The main aspect of the research focused on motivational techniques such as Behavior Change Techniques (BCTs) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to tackle the issue of behavior change and user adherence. BCTs are techniques to help individuals change their behavior to adapt to a healthy lifestyle, and SDT is a theory in which individuals motivate themselves.
The pilots were conducted to measure the impact of BCTs and SDTs with organizations such as Middlesex University, Unitas and Hendon School. The participants were of different age groups. The strategy used is to gather feedback using questionnaires and collect data used in Performance Functions to measure the effectiveness of BCTs and SDT. Using Performance Functions, we measured each component of SDT and BCT, which is one of the contributions of this research. The results show that certain age group participants adopt certain characteristics. Therefore, the Purpose component of SDT motivates participants of all age groups to be physically active compared to other SDT components. In addition, the Daily Streak was popular among adults, while Active Travel was mostly used by teenagers and children in the Habit Formation category of BCT, which helped them to stay engaged for longer
The role of coaching psychology in addressing occupational/personal identity confusion in young adults aged 23–35 years in Israeli society
Get PDFThis doctoral paper presents a participant discipline of Occupational Coaching Psychology (OCP)/Career Coaching Psychology (CCP). The research presents an evidence-based concept of themes and a lucid framework that can be implemented with normative young adults. Young adults (between the ages of 18-35 Generation Y or Millennials) suffer from personal and occupational identity confusion. This phenomenon is becoming more prevalent among normative young adults without a history of mental disorders. They report manifestations of anxiety, depression, and a sense of helplessness.
This “millennial” age group is not profiled in the literature, instead included within various measurements of broader age groups aged 25-64, despite their unique characteristics. The studies conducted on this population are mainly within other segments of populations with mental illnesses or welfare groups. Most coaching methods in the literature related to young adults’ occupational confusion as a part of life coaching. Surveys and articles that were written about this age group recommended the development of meaningful intervention methods for this specific age segment.
This study examined if CCP can offer young adults pave their professional futures according to their personal and professional identities. The study is preliminary and exploratory and is, therefore, a qualitative study. the participants are those who report symptoms of confusion.
Seventeen young adults volunteered to participate in the study, following an online campaign. All participants completed the study and reported complete satisfaction. The research lasted over a year and produced over 500 hours of personal coaching.
The study showed that the concept of career planning and construction seemed alien to the participants, and previously most of them had made decisions that differ from their personal and professional identity, which had reached a crisis point in their 30s.
The study confirmed the need for in-depth coaching since family, friends and employers tend to provide biased opinions about young adults’ occupational possibilities. Academic education does not meet the g adults’ desires and abilities have a boomerang effect on their satisfaction and happiness. Furthermore, the study participants' confusion was not affected by more education.
No confirmation was found for the Self-actualization approach. On the contrary, some of the participants felt relieved when they were freed from the need to find at present, their unique calling. Furthermore, those who could adopt a flexible mindset towards their calling could pave faster their pave to a desired and successful position.
The research pointed to other typical phenomena in this age phase: life in the light of false self-truth; false positive and negative feedback; the “sticky floor”; “occupational scars”; and a quick path to happiness. It was found that the decade between the ages of twenty and thirty is significant for shaping the identity of the young adult.
This study has developed a variety of methods to deal with occupational and personal confusion with great success, while constantly assessing and adapting its flow. It would be expected that the next steps would be adjusting the OCP method to minority segments and challenging the methodology in dealing with other age groups. There would also be a benefit of the presentation of the research methodology to public and government entities dealing with young adult employment
A network of hardcore researchers: Punk studies, punk scholarship, punk pedagogy
No full textFor more than 40 years, hardcore and punk have promised to offer an alternative to what is perceived as the norm and as mainstream. Hardcore Research: Punk, Practice, Politics provides a comprehensive insight into the most active, outspoken, and widely received scholarly positions in the academic discourses on hardcore and punk and combines them with a variety of new and emerging voices. The book brings together scholars with personal ties to past and present hardcore and punk scenes, who present both insightful and critical examinations of the rich and varied histories of this subcultural phenomenon and its current reverberations at the intersection of cultural practice and academic research
The Krishnacore Chronicles #19 Miloš (Neven) Interviewed by Madhu Brata Das and Mike Dines
No full textMadhu Brata Das and Mike Dines interview Miloš, lead singer of the band Neven
The Krishnacore Chronicles #18: Madhu Brata das and Mike Dines interview Satya Brata Das from the bands Entrefuego and Standard
No full textThe Krishnacore Chronicles #18: Madhu Brata das and Mike Dines interview Satya Brata Das from the bands Entrefuego and Standard
Lego® Serious Play® and higher education: encouraging creative learning in the academic library
Get PDFInstructing students in how to utilize resources in an academic library is often considered a dry subject. Library induction is still primarily dominated by a didactic approach to learning, where the librarian shows the student how to do something correctly. In contrast, this article explores the methodology of Lego® Serious Play® (LSP) and its potential as an engaging and imaginative technique to explore student learning subjectively. In LSP workshops, participants are encouraged to build models of thoughts, issues or ideas, in an attempt to view a problem from a new perspective. In higher education, LSP is employed as a playful methodology in a wide range of educational scenarios, including group dynamics, assignment writing, academic integrity and dissertation planning. This article details how the author became an LSP facilitator and follows the subsequent development of a strategy to incorporate playful learning into his practice
iuSui
No full textiuSui is an ode to the visceral power of beauty, nature, freedom, and the vulnerability of the human psyche. You will be taken on an aesthetic and kinaesthetic voyage to what might be a very tangible place on earth or the most hidden site within the mind. From dark underwater depths to soaring above the clouds of Sweden, our female protagonist explores what it means to be human
Progress in the microbiological applications of mass spectrometry: From electron impact to soft ionization techniques, MALDI-TOF MS and beyond
No full textOver the past two decades, advances in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics and their key technologies, such as mass spectrometry (MS) and particularly matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS, have propelled microbiology to the forefront of life sciences, radically altering the workflow of diagnostic laboratories and subsequently expanding into environmental and industrial applications. The road map of microbial classification has been profoundly altered and has progressed from a phenotypic, determinative system to one based on phylogeny as new technologies have been incorporated, modified and applied. This transition has been complex, and hence to illustrate its impact, it is discussed here in the first instance in the context of a single genus, Bacteroides, first described in 1898 [1, 2]. This is the dominant taxon of the intestinal tract of humans and animals and therefore plays a pivotal role in health and disease. The nature of this multifaceted ecosystem is central to an understanding of the biology of humans and requires in-depth analysis of the physiology and diversity of its microbiome. MS has been the underlying technology used to probe this ecosystem since studies first commenced over six decades ago (see Drasar and Hill [3])
Schooling as a field of practice: Exploring teacher pedagogy and student learning in private secondary classrooms in the Republic of Guinea
Get PDFThis empirical qualitative research contextually examines teacher pedagogy and student learning in classroom interactional practices in Guinea. It adopts a sociocultural perspective drawing from the theories of Bourdieu and Bernstein in the analysis of data collected from sixty-one participants in three secondary schools and two teacher’s colleges in the regions of Labe and Conakry. The results build upon the work of Bierschenk in ‘State at work in West Africa,’ and suggest that teachers act more as interface pedagogical agents in negotiating with the pressure of multiple tensions inherent to their practices. These include the competing interests of a heterogeneous body of pedagogical agents; contradictions internal to the national education policy in that, in theory, it desires an emancipatory education end served by Learner-Centred Education (LCE) methods, yet in practice, its bureaucratic structures and strong power relations create objective conditions conducive to a Bernsteinian performance pedagogy; and practical imperatives including resource limitations and large class sizes. Linked to their individual and collective habitus, teachers adopt a ‘defensive teaching strategy’ through lecture (L), teacher-led dialogue (TLD), bureaucratic procedural teaching (BPT), quizzes, problem-solving and individual and group assignment methods to meet various pedagogical expectations and secure their positions. These practices influence students’ perspectives about learning as conformity with expectations for academic success. Based on their context, many teachers and students commonly value learning as apprenticeship. The research concludes that teachers could be better partners in closing the gap for successful LCE pedagogical experiences if trained and empowered as interface pedagogical agents in light of the field’s realities. The wider implications of these findings include certain conditions for the applicability of Bernstein’s concept of competence pedagogy in Guinea and similar contexts, and the international policy imperative of learner-centred education
Greenham Common’s archival webs: towards a virtual feminist museum
Get PDFThe Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common (1981-2000) was a women-only camp originally established in protest against nuclear proliferation and the Cold War ideology of deterrence that fuelled the arms race. The peace camp initiated a series of performative protest actions on and off site, including teddy bears’ picnics, and mock weddings of protesters to nuclear warheads by Shirley Cameron and Evelyn Silver. The perimeter fence of the airbase was soon transformed into a permanent if informal gallery of protest, hosting a wealth of visual and material interventions which were widely documented. The Greenham women used a range of print media to communicate amongst themselves and with the world beyond the camp, including newsletters, posters, postcards, and leaflets, most of which were richly illustrated with original artwork.
From an art historical perspective, this material teems with visual iconographies drawing upon ancient myths and symbols already mobilised in women’s movements since the 1960s. In addition to the reclamation of witches and witches’ circles, spider webs were successfully exploited in craftivist performance and evoked in drawing, as a motif of solidarity, connectivity, and soft strength. Mother-and-child iconographies were revisited and reconfigured, in evocation of the familiar maternalism of women’s peace movements yet at the same time sabotaging the visual supports of social reproduction. Many artworks were created at or in reference to Greenham, often by artists with direct experience of the camp, including textile and installation work by Janis Jefferies, Margaret Harrison’s multiple iterations of the reconstructed perimeter fence, Tina Keane’s films of protest and reverie, and Thalia Campbell’s textile collages and banners.
I suggest that Greenham, viewed through the lens of feminist intergenerational transmission, exemplifies Griselda Pollock’s formulation of the virtual feminist museum. Mobilising Aby Warburg’s Nachleben (afterlife/survival by metamorphosis), the virtual feminist museum untethers artefacts, images, and practices from their historical contexts and sets them in motion, tracing their travels, re-occurrences and transformations across time and space. For Pollock, virtuality is not opposed to actuality but vibrates with the possibility of imminent realisation. I propose a curatorial experiment that activates the virtual feminist museum of Greenham Common and feminist anti-nuclear activism more broadly, while also teasing out a repertory of anti-war, anti-patriarchal ‘pathos formulae’ or affectively charged tropes, from care rituals to failing phalluses, and including the playful reclamation of the perimeter fence from its intended function. The highly visual format of the ‘Animating the Archive’ series of British Art Studies helps test Warburg’s quasi-method of tracing iconographic correspondences across disparate spaces, times, and registers, through the dispersed and diverse visual archive of Greenham Common