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--- communication_of_science [2007-10-12 08:53] – theunkarelse
+++ communication_of_science [2007-10-12 11:46] – theunkarelse
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-=== PCST: Public Communication of Science and Technology ===
+=== New Media and PCST: Public Communication of Science and Technology ===
 Notes from the __Sharing Knowledge__ conference organized by the __Da Vinchi Institute__ in Amsterdam.\\
+== Some of this may be useful for our research into an ARG for groworld, what attracts people, what problems are associated with informative games, etc. ==
-=== Communication of Science and New Media ===
-== Role of Gaming in PCST ==
+==== > Role of Gaming in PCST: ====
+----
-[[PCST Gaming]]
 Lecture by __Peter Vorderer__\\
-What attracts people to games or anything else for that matter?\\
+**What attracts people to games or anything else for that matter?**\\
 The standard way of looking at this is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_Gratifications_Theory|uses and gratification theory]]\\
 But Vorderer advocates the use of __entertainment research/theory__: effect-dependent theory of stimulus arrangement.
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 PSI/PSR affective dispositions. This is of mayor importance. The success of a tv-show or game (MMOG) or a film depends very much on the popularity or unpopularity of show-hosts, avatars, movie-stars. Do we feel related, this is crucial to success.\\
-== Conclusion: PCST has to target these three needs just like entertainment has to and gaming meets them better than any other media. ==
+=== Conclusion. ===
+**PCST has to target these three needs just like entertainment has to and gaming meets them better than any other media.**
-Notes:
+== Notes: ==
   * **the popularity of destruction**. We like things exploding, falling over, and crashing, especially old and expensive things. Vorderer speculates that this tapps into a deep longing for change and renewal and the liberation from existing structures. The collapsing of the World Trade Center has overtaken the Challenger-explosion as the most broadcast picture of all time.
   * **The budged for research into education in the USA is dominated by exploring the use of avatars as a learning tool**.
+==== > Games and Learning. ====
+----
+Lecture by Ute Ritterfeld.\\
+**Games, if kids would only devote this kind of attention to their education.**
+== Three ways to improve learning: ==
+  - motivation paradigm: making it more fun, and rewarding good results.
+  - reenforcement paradigm: combining different ways to deliver the message, text, graphics.
+  - blending paradigm: (as she calls it) enjoying the process of learning.
+== Serious Games, some statistics: ==
+Ritterfeld looked into serious games in the English language.\\
+In early 2007 they found some 650 of them:\\
+|        ^ subject area                ^ example           ^
+^ 60%    | academic education          | Reading Blaster   |
+^ 15%    | social change               | Darfur is Dying   |
+^ 10%    | occupation related training | the Business Game |
+^ 10%    | health knowledge            | Remission         |
+^  5%    | military training           | Americas Army     |
+^  1%    | consumer behavior           | The Arcade Wire   |
+My rough translation of her statistics:
+|        ^ age group        ^
+^ 40%    | elementary school|
+^ 40%    | high school      |
+^ 15%    | adult            |
+^  5%    | preschool        |
+|        ^ educational goal           ^ example          ^
+^ 50%    | skills                     | maths / reading  |
+^ 25%    | problem solving            | saving seals game|
+^ 20%    | discovery / exploration    | history          |
+^  5%    | awareness / attitude change| behaving well    |
+== Gaming environments; some results: ==
+In working with disadvantaged children in LA she found that it remains extremely difficult to engage children into a topic they are not already interested in, even with gaming-environments.
+They did an experiment where they presented the exact same content in 4 different ways:
+  - interactive game.
+  - just action replay.
+  - hypertext.
+  - text.
+(I will develop this further later.)
+== Determinants of presence. ==
+What holds the attention / increases engagement in educational games?
+  * aesthetics.
+  * challenge (at the optimal level).
+  * narrative, the power of which she feels, is only very recently acknowledged.
+  * personal relevance;
+    * as a private laboratory for identity development.
+    * developmental tasks such as dealing with competition, fear, joy, losing, winning.
+    * mimic past experiences, for instance to deal with traumatic experiences.
+    * enabling you to go beyond limitations, like a boy with muscular dystrophy who claims walking around a game environment are his happiest moments.
+    * physiological arousal.
+    * suspense / arousal due to the use of time and time-limits.
+== Some Interesting Experiments with Games: ==
+Virtual Cliff (Blascovich 2006)\\
+Person enters a room then gets a VR-headset which presents a cliff. The rendering is just with simple lines, nothing very intricate, and the person is asked to walk forward. 50% refuse to go there and 40% of those still refuse with a guide.
+Virtual Combat 1 (Rizzo et al. 2007)\\
+War veterans are helped to overcome their Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
+Virtual Combat 2 (Henderlite 2005)
+War veterans with and without combat experience are allowed to play for as long as they like.
+  * without combat experience - 4 hours.
+  * with combat experience - 9 hours.
+Temporary Suspension of Disbelief.\\
+From neurological data gathered on gaming in a MRI-scanner, Ritterfeld speculates that subjects when gaming are constantly engaged in a balancing-act between accepting the fiction as real and sometimes letting it collapse into disbelief.
+== Attributes of the Perfect Educational Game. ==
+  * scaffolding learning environment.
+  * encourages self regulated learning.
+  * is a safe and private environment.
+  * challenges you to go beyond impasses and problems.
+=== Conclusion.===
+  * Games can be shallow entertainment, but they can also give very meaningful experiences to people.
+  * Games are excellent at keeping the attention of individuals.
+  * deliberate and sustained practice is the most important factor in learning, not just talent.
+  * future games will respond to the learner state more closely to give the optimal challenge level by monitoring physical behavior:
+    * hart rate and other physiological measures.
+    * keyboard speed and correctness.
+    * monitor facial expression.
+    * body posture.
+    * monitor voice and language.
+==== > Transaction approach to Interactive Learning. ====
+Lecture by Jaqueline Broerse.\\
+----
+**Science communication and public health.**
+== Two Models: ==
+|        ^ model        ^ methods                             ^ influences ^
+^ old    | transmission | top down dissemination of knowledge | public     |
+^ new    | transaction  | consultation / dialog / discussion  | scientists |
+In the transaction model scientists and general public meet on equal terms and share their knowledge.
+This leads to a win /win situation:
+  - More contextualized science.
+  - More societal legitimacy of science.
+  - More implementation of research.
+Anticipated problems:
+  * small impact on policy and science.
+  * little public interest.
+  * results are not representative in any general sense.
+  * expensive.
+  * how to deal with science-illiteracy among non-scientific participants.