Search results

The purpose of the article is (1) to find out whether students instructed with Computer-Assisted Simulation Learning Games (CASLGs) will improve in their scholarly learning outcomes and (2) to ascertain if the biological construct of sex will affect students scholarly learning outcomes.

The study was experimental. The study sample comprised 120 students from four schools. The study instrument was the Scholarly Learning Outcomes Test (SLOT), drawn from the school syllabus. The study lasted six weeks. Before the experimentation, the students were pre-tested using the Scholarly Learning Outcomes Test (SLOT. After which, students were posttested to ascertain students' scholarly learning outcomes. The statistical mean was employed to analyse data generated from the pretest and posttest to provide answers for the research questions, while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) statistics was utilised to test the hypotheses.

The results show that CASLGs improved students' scholarly learning outcomes more than the face-to-face instructional approach and the biological construct of sex is of no effect on students' scholarly learning outcomes.

First, in performing the study, the regular instructors/teachers were utilized. The personalities of these instructors were not considered or scrutinized; this might have impacted the research outcomes.

Implications for future studies: One advantage is that it is part of a bigger initiative in which there are extra sources of data to study. This information or data from this study would help to throw further light on the predictors of student scholarly learning outcomes in the near future. One implication of this study rests on the confirmation that activity-based strategies such as CASLGs enhance students' scholarly learning outcomes.

This study is a product of the author’s doctoral thesis. It is the outcome of the investigation carried out by the author for the award of PhD; therefore, it is original. The study’s results are of immense value because they contributed to knowledge in the area of computer-based learning games.

The study explored the effect of information and communication technology-assisted instruction (ICTAI) on civic education (CE) students' academic performance and the effect of gender on students' performance. Specifically, the study addressed the facilitating effect of ICTAI on students' scholarly performance.

This study utilised the quasi-experimental approach. A sample of 255 senior secondary school students was the analysis unit. A teacher-made performance test was used as an instrument for the study. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics for the research questions, and hypotheses tested with paired sample t-test statistics.

The study results indicated that ICTAI improved student scholarly performance. The study also proved that gender had an impact on student academic performance.

Not all the students in intact classes that were used for conducting the study/research, and the background and gender of research assistants were not considered, and these could have affected the result of the study. The study implications are that this study is a piece of deeper ingenuity and innovation that provides an additional source of information to study. The study provided proof that innovative activity-based instructions such as computer-assisted instruction (CAI) boost students’ performance.

On the instructor, the study findings demonstrated the significant effect of ICTAI on the scholarly performance of CE students. Consequently, this study contends that CE instructors/teachers can benefit from the implications of these findings by comprehensively understanding that ICTIA usage enhances student performance and, thus, improves the students' performance. Additionally, the study's findings proved that gender affected students' performance when instructed with ICTAI. The study implies that CE instructors/teachers should pay special attention to students' gender, specifically female students, as gender affects the improvement of students' CE performance when instructed with ICTAI.

The study findings contribute to the literature on academic improvement and performance of CE students by enhancing the understanding of the effect of ICTAI on students' scholarly performance. The study recognises the existing gaps in previous literature and vivid understanding of the effect of ICTAI on students' performance and gender as a mediator.

Despite their motivational appeal to learners, innovative and technologically advanced computer simulation games targeting native English speakers frequently remain beyond the competence of ESL learners as independent didactic tools. Guided by Chapelle’s (2001) criteria for determining CALL task appropriateness, this paper illustrates how the popular authentic simulation, The SIMs, can be adapted to enhance vocabulary learning through supporting materials. Adult ESL learners completed a five‐week unit, experiencing different conditions of supplemental materials while completing tasks using The SIMs. The participants received mandatory supplemental materials in one condition, voluntary access to supplemental materials in the second, and no supplemental materials in the third. The results indicate a statistically significant increase in vocabulary acquisition for the first condition. Student feedback suggests the supplemental materials were beneficial for successful task completion. Thus, how authentic computer simulation tasks are structured and supported appears to have a considerable bearing on the appropriateness of the task.

The purpose of this paper is to report progress concerning the design of a computer-assisted simulation training (CAST) platform for developing decision-making skills in police students. The overarching aim is to outline a theoretical framework for the design of CAST to facilitate police students’ development of search techniques in complex interactions within the built environment, learning to apply and perform the five “quick peek” techniques for information gathering, and subsequent risk evaluation.

The paper draws on Luckin's ecology of resources model of learner context informed with perspectives on reflective thinking from John Dewey and Donald Schön. The paper discusses design issues within the ecology of resources model applied on CAST for complex police situations.

It is suggested that Luckin's framework with its focus on the interaction between different elements and filters in the learner's context together with Schön's perspective on reflection challenge educational designers to look beyond the immediate development of specific tools (such as the CAST in this project) and examine how these tools will be effectively embedded in the overall learning experience.

This paper has presented two theoretical perspectives, Luckin's ecology of resources model and Schön's perspective on reflective practice as foundations for the educational design of CAST. Applying Luckin's framework as informed by Schön helps focus attention on issues that are important in the design process in order to facilitate educational transfer.

Business simulations are increasingly used to facilitate knowledge transfer in management education. Although such simulations have already been widely applied in other disciplines, this method of facilitating learning has not yet been used much in financial education. This article reports on three studies that examine the value added by this experiential learning method in a financial management course, as perceived by students. The reasons for students’ experiencing this teaching method as positive are investigated. It would seem that financial education has much to gain from a wider application of business simulations.

Though the voices are much less strident than in the 1960s, we still hear some very bold assertions of the computer's potential as a training aid. These often come from computer enthusiasts, psychologists speculating on the practical value of their research and, particularly more recently, from computer manufacturers looking for new markets. Fortunately for the training manager, there is now more experience of computers in action as aids to teaching and learning, evidence to help him judge these claims and decide on the computer's relevance to his own situation. However, he will frequently have to extrapolate from educational or military training applications, because there are relatively few examples of industrial or commercial uses. Even in the USA, which has led the development and use of this particular instructional technology, the bulk of the work has an educational purpose.

The traditional distinction between computer‐assisted learning and simulator training is becoming increasingly blurred. Computers play an important part in training simulators and in turn computer‐assisted learning uses simulation techniques. In addition, a number of developments are reviewed which point to an increasing use of the computer terminal as a training device, many of them resembling the use of simulators.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of computer based business simulations in higher education as innovative tools of teaching and learning to enhance students' practical understanding of real business problems. Whether the integration of business simulation technologies will enable significant innovation in teaching and learning and will significantly enhance the quality and efficiency of traditional management teaching and learning methods is to be examined.

Previous research has established that simulations can be an effective integrative learning mechanism for the student participant seeking to understand management concepts, techniques and practices. A number of prominent training institutions have adopted simulations in order to increase business acumen, financial literacy and build competency.

The research carried out seems to confirm that simulations can be powerful, engaging, dynamic and effective teaching and learning tools. The immersive worlds of simulations can be designed to replicate actual economic, market and business events where students experiment in real time with alignment and commitment surrounding complex corporate strategies, business models and initiatives.

To achieve the required convergence of the business curriculum, the paper suggests that a broad‐based integrative approach needs to be adopted to overcome the silo effect of supply driven disciplinary models, which have traditionally prevailed in business education.

The megadimensional nature of the complex social systems of the twentieth century, and the increasing levels of interrelatedness, present the individual with a bewildering array of information sources and services.

The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of the shift to a knowledge society, where information and communication technology (ICT) and the widening spread of internationally distributed information are creating a “skill revolution”, as O'Hara suggests, there is a widening culture mismatch between what members of the knowledge society need to succeed and what current systems of higher education are geared to offer and to adequately prepare people and communities to thrive in the global knowledge society.

For universities, as the scope and complexity of the actual business environment grows, the changing landscape of business education needs to come to terms with a developing global environment that has impacted on business, demographics and culture which demands a change in managerial skills to lead sustainable enterprise.

Students need to master higher‐order cognitive, affective, and social skills not central to mature industrial societies, but vital in a knowledge based economy that include “thriving on chaos” (making rapid decisions based on incomplete information to resolve novel situations); the ability to collaborate with a diverse team – face‐to‐face or across distance – to accomplish a task; creating, sharing, and mastering knowledge through filtering a sea of quasi‐accurate information.

These skills, according to Galerneau and Zibit, are “the skills for the twenty‐first century”, as they are “the skills that are necessary to succeed in an ever changing global society where communications is ubiquitous and instantaneous, and where software tools allow for a range of creative and collaborative options that yield new patterns and results that we are only beginning to see”.