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The purpose of this paper is to present principles for personalization of both learning content and gameplay in serious games for learning, which are based on a combined model of the student that comprises user, learner and player-related aspects of the student’s profile. Each of the considered user, learner and player sub-models has a static and dynamic group of characteristics. These characteristics assist general approaches for learning mazes game personalization applied to embedded mini-games (designed as information units, learning objects and educational tasks) so that to be adjustable and to enable learners to acquire knowledge more effectively.

A student modelling approach was applied to design the personalization of learning content in the educational maze game and each of them contained mini-games. To evaluate the student’s preferences about the types of mini-games and ways of their personalization depending on individual and group student characteristics, the authors conducted an online survey.

This study presents examples of personalization of four types of mini-games available in maze halls, namely, question, searching, arranging and action games. Next, the research discusses findings from an online survey aiming at the evaluation of the preferred types of mini-games and the way of their personalization. There are analysed results concerning the impact of the student model characteristics on the preferred ways of personalization in educational maze games, together with criteria for personalization of educational resources according to student’s level of knowledge, age, goals and learning style.

A significant limitation of the research is the relatively small number of survey participants and the lack of studying the impact of learning and playing styles over game personalization. Another limitation of the study is the inclusion of only some of the mini-games within the demonstration maze, which respondents play before answering the survey questions.

This paper presents original research on the personalization of educational maze game based on a model of the student profile that comprises both static and dynamic properties reflecting user, learner and player-related aspects of the student character, together with results obtained from an online survey.

The intelligent interpretation of simple sensor data enables Micromice to find their way around complex mazes.

Management training and development is currently in vogue. There appears to be a growing belief in the benefits of investment in training and development. When a market is buoyant is the time to consider and anticipate the consequences of a future downturn in demand. Such a downturn in demand may demonstrate increasing pressure to “justify” investment in training and development. There is a long established academic body of knowledge on the subject of evaluating training and development. From research evidence and the authors′ experience, the sponsors and the providers of training and development pay scant attention to systematic evaluation of these activities and investments. It is the authors′ contention that when the market′s critical assessment of the value of training and development increases there will be an increasing interest in evaluation. An overview of the history of evaluation traditions is provided and the state of play is commented upon. It is noted that there is a shortfall between theory and practice. It is argued that evaluation is a worthwhile and important activity and ways through the evaluation literature maze and the underpinnings of the activity are demonstrated, especially to management. Similarly the literature on evaluation techniques is reviewed. Tables are provided which demonstrate areas of major activity and identify relatively uncharted waters. This monograph provides a resource whereby practitioners can choose techniques which are appropriate to the activity on which they are engaged. It highlights the process which should be undertaken to make that choice in order that needs of the major stakeholders in the exercise are fully met.

The purpose of this study is to identify how ethical stances can be used to develop a frame set in the design of a web-based decision support system (DSS) for ethical decision-making and to test both the efficacy of these frames and the potential of such a tool for individuals and groups in both leadership development situations and organisational practice. Unethical behaviour by executives is a frequently cited reason for erosion of trust with other stakeholders.

Utilising action research, by choosing ethics frames such as heuristics, a web-based ethics DSS designed to enable users to explore ethical issues from multiple perspectives was constructed and this was beta-tested with a major UK bank and a global oil company.

In orchestrating constant revisions of the ethics frames in the tool, learning from each research cycle was identified, a new form of action research, a design action research, which emphasises the importance of collaboration in the design of such decision-making tools, was offered and the tool for management development and other applications was successfully beta-tested.

It was demonstrated to management developers how web-based systems might be designed by non-information technology professionals; the framing literature was added by demonstrating the value of engaging in dialogue about ethical issues of concern to managers and their organisations and thus improving decision-making; and additions were made to the literature on ethics and Information systems (IS) and contribution toward action research in the fields of IS and ethics was done.

Imagine trying to navigate through your environment while looking straight ahead through a narrow tube. These are essentially the conditions the operator of an ROV in teleoperation mode may have to contend with. We hypothesized that controlling ground-based ROVs would be easier if an operator developed an explicit overview of the space in which the ROV was maneuvering. Accordingly, we conducted a study in which we had naive undergraduate participants explore a maze-like virtual desert environment while drawing a map of the area. After completing a 30-min mapping task, participants re-entered the maze to search for and retrieve a target object. The virtual robots and landscape, which had minimal landmarks and a maze of navigable paths (see Fig. 1), were created using CeeBot (see Chadwick, Gillan, Simon, & Pazuchanics, 2004, for a discussion of the CeeBot tool). Maps drawn by participants were rated independently by three raters (graduate psychology students) for the usefulness of the map for navigating the area on a scale from 1 (not at all useful) to 7 (extremely useful). Cronbach's alpha was computed as a consistency estimate of inter-rater reliability at 0.96.

Response to Intervention (RtI) models require valid assessments for decisions regarding whether a student should receive more intensive intervention, whether interventions improve performance, whether a student has improved sufficiently to no longer need intervention, or whether a student should be considered for a formal evaluation for special education. We describe assessment tools used currently in RtI models in reading in kindergarten through third grade, along with how these tools function in multiyear implementations of RtI. In addition to the measurement tools, we describe concerns regarding when RtI models are judged for their effects on reading improvement and the attrition that may inflate these results.

Public sector policymakers have been preoccupied with quality, performance and impact initiatives, which constrain and define the strategic and operational objectives of public sector bodies. This theoretical article aims to review the quality, performance management and impact assessment regimes that currently impact on public and academic libraries in the UK, and to explore the challenges for managers in finding their path through this quality maze. Much of the literature focuses on individual initiatives, with little reference to the wider quality management context. Also seeks to urge consideration of the cumulative impact of such initiatives, with their different notions of quality, on public sector organisations and their quality management processes.

The article is an opinion piece that offers some conceptual frameworks, based on an analysis of literature, practice and web sites gathered over many years' investigation and observation. The tension between externally‐focused quality assurance and internally‐focused quality enhancement is taken as a point of departure. A further source of complexity is the quality management agendas that impact on library and information services from different levels in the organisation, otherwise described as the quality hierarchy.

A review of the approaches to collecting customer evaluations of service quality, enhancing quality and performance, and the accreditation of quality and performance illustrates the complexity associated with accommodating agendas arising from different contexts, and the competing notions of quality that are embedded in these different approaches.

The range of different influences on quality management, the sheer complexity and dynamism of the landscape and the management challenges associated with maintaining an appropriate quality management regime for any specific information service, are key messages that emerge from this review. Information managers in different posts experience the quality maze differently. Further research and reflection on practice are necessary.

This paper provides useful information for those managers trying to implement quality, performance and impact assessment regimes.

Classical definitions of motivation typically involve two main components: direction and activation. Motivated behavior is directed toward or away from particular stimuli (i.e., appetitive and aversive motivation). Furthermore, activational aspects of motivation refer to the observation that motivated behavior is characterized by substantial activity, vigor, persistence, and exertion of effort in both the initiation and maintenance of behavior. Although separate neural systems direct organisms toward distinct motivational stimuli (e.g., food, water, sex), there appears to be a common circuitry regulating behavioral activation and the exertion of effort. Mesolimbic dopamine is one of the brain systems mediating activational aspects of motivation and exertion of effort. This system integrates aspects of motivation and motor control functions involved in the instigation of action. Research on the neurobiology of effort has contributed to our understanding of the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders that are characterized by motivational dysfunction.