Research stories: A graduate forum #hwl #yreUBC #UBC #bced

Research Stories: A Graduate Forum

 How We Learn Media and Technology (across the lifespan)
Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy
University of British Columbia

Wednesday, November 19, 2014
10:00-11:30     Scarfe 1209
Year of Research in Education event

GIRLS DESIGNING GAMES, MEDIA, ROBOTS, SELVES, AND CULTURE
Paula (PJ) MacDowell
University of British Columbia

This research involved 30 co-researchers, girls aged 10–13, who were recruited into 101 Technology Fun, a series of intensive research camps offering learning labs in game design, video production, and robotics. Utilizing design-based and participatory techniques, including artifact production, mindscripting, and storymaking, this research examines how girls, through their artifact making and designerly practices, story themselves and express their understandings of technology. Highlighting the importance for girls’ voices to be recognized and given influence in research concerning their lives and learning circumstances, findings focus on the catalytic or generative artifacts and “little stories” that reveal how a team of girls analyze their experiences of girlhood-in-interaction-with technology.

MIGRANT MEXICAN YOUTH IN THE PACIFIC NORTWEST
Mike D. Boyer
Boise State University

 What are the stories of migrant, undocumented Mexican youth, as they struggle with language and acculturation in the English-speaking rural Northwest? As Michael Boyer describes, his own study of a set of such stories takes as its starting point narratives written and illustrated by students in his grade 7-12 ESL classroom some 10 years ago. Of course, these stories subsequently diverge as they continue to the present, and as these former students, now adults, connect back to their earlier experiences and reflect on the relation of these experiences to the present. The collection and investigation of these stories, new and old, and their relationship to past realities and future possibilities offers startling insights into the experiences of those othered and marginalized as “immigrant Hispanic children” in America. At the same time, it also entails the creative combination or a range of narratological, political and cultural categories and modes of analysis.

DESIGNING THINGS, PRACTICES AND CONCERN FOR THE GOOD LIFE
Yu-Ling Lee
University of British Columbia

 This research examines the complex relationship between design, the sacred and online learning, framed by matters of concern. It is the culmination of a yearlong ethnographic research project in the lives of Christian undergraduate students in Vancouver. Focal concerns in the form of things and practices have disclosive power if they are designed for the good life. The task of the designer, then, is to purposefully move away from matters of fact towards matters of concern. The interviews were open-ended and based on a loosely structured set of questions about faith background, Internet usage, online spiritual experiences, and other factors. Conversations and participant observations were then analyzed as matters of concern.

Brianna Wu: Rape and death threats against female gamers. Why haven’t men in tech spoken out? #GamerGate

Brianna Wu, Washington Post, October 20, 2014– They’ve taken down women I care about one by one. Now, the vicious mob of the Gamergate movement is coming after me. They’ve threatened to rape me. They’ve threatened to make me choke to death on my husband’s severed genitals. They’ve threatened to murder any children I might have.

This angry horde has been allowed to wage its misogynistic war without penalty for too long. It’s time for the video game industry to stop them.

Gamergate is ostensibly about journalistic ethics. Supporters say they want to address conflicts of interest between the people that make games and the people that support them. In reality, Gamergate is a group of gamers that are willing to destroy the women who have invaded their clubhouse.

The movement is not new. Two years ago, when Anita Sarkeesian tried to crowdfund a series of videos critiquing the hypersexualized female characters of video games, they threatened to kill and rape her. The movement reached fever pitch – and got its name — when a jilted former lover of indie game developer Zoe Quinn published transcripts of her life online. Gamers who were outraged over charges that Quinn’s game Depression Quest had received favorable reviews due to an alleged romantic relationship with a journalist, seized the opportunity to shame and terrify her into hiding. Now, Gamergate is a wildfire that threatens to consume the entire games industry.

The fact that Gamergate supporters went after Quinn and not the journalist says everything you need to know about the movement.

I became Gamergate’s latest target when I tweeted this joke about supporters of the movement:

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The next day, my Twitter mentions were full of death threats so severe I had to flee my home. They have targeted the financial assets of my company by hacking. They have tried to impersonate me on Twitter. Even as we speak, they are spreading lies to journalists via burner e-mail accounts in an attempt to destroy me professionally.

We’ve lost too many women to this lunatic mob. Good women the industry was lucky to have, such as Jenn Frank, Mattie Bryce and my friend Samantha Allen, one of the most insightful critics in games media. They decided the personal cost was too high, and I don’t know who could blame them.

Every woman I know in the industry is terrified she will be next.

The culture in which women are treated this way by gamers didn’t happen in a vacuum. For 30 years, video games have been designed by men, marketed to men and sold to men. It’s obvious to anyone outside the industry that video games have serious issues with the portrayal of women. It’s not just oversexualized examples, such as Ivy of the Soul Caliber series. Games are still lazily falling on the same outdated tropes involving women. Princess Peach, of Nintendo’s Mario games, has been kidnapped in 12 separate games since 1985. Perhaps the most disturbing of all is the propensity of games to have women thoughtlessly murdered as a motivation for the male hero, such as Watch Dogs.

Read More: Washington Post

Feminist Critics of Gaming Facing Threats #GamerGate

Photo Jim Wilson, New York Times

Photo Jim Wilson, New York Times

Nick Wingfield, New York TimesOctober 15, 2014– Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist cultural critic, has for months received death and rape threats from opponents of her recent work challenging the stereotypes of women in video games. Bomb threats for her public talks are now routine. One detractor created a game in which players can click their mouse to punch an image of her face.

Not until Tuesday, though, did Ms. Sarkeesian feel compelled to cancel a speech, planned at Utah State University. The day before, members of the university administration received an email warning that a shooting massacre would be carried out at the event. And under Utah law, she was told, the campus police could not prevent people with weapons from entering her talk.

“This will be the deadliest school shooting in American history, and I’m giving you a chance to stop it,” said the email, which bore the moniker Marc Lépine, the name of a man who killed 14 women in a mass shooting in Montreal in 1989 before taking his own life.

The #STEM Movement: Golden Opportunity or Trojan Horse? #OISE #UBC

OISE Centre for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Forum Series

The STEM Movement:  Golden Opportunity or Trojan Horse?

Thursday, October 30, 2014
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
OISE, NEXUS Lounge
Centre for Science, Mathematics & Technology Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)

This event will be video-recorded in front of a live audience
FREE admission – No RSVP required

Panelists:
Larry Bencze (OISE); Jason Foster (U of T Engineering Science)
Samson Nashon (University of British Columbia); Ana Maria Navas (OISE)
John Wallace (OISE)

Moderator:
Indigo Esmonde (OISE)

The past several years have seen a surge of activity in education around the acronym STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Much of this effort has been spurred by an economic agenda, that is, to produce more graduates in science-related fields for the job market. In many cases, governments, universities and school systems (sometimes in concert with private enterprise) are gearing their curricula and resources toward programs to attract students in STEM fields. For some commentators, this is seen as a golden opportunity to revive interest in science and mathematics related subjects, to improve scientific literacy and to attract more females and minorities to the field. Others see the movement as more like a Trojan horse, attractive on the outside, but focused mainly on skills training to feed the capitalist enterprise, to the detriment of general public education.

#HWL at STEM 2014

STEM2014-logo flowers

Researchers on the How We Learn (HWL) team are presenting in a symposium this afternoon at 3:00 at the STEM 2014 Conference.

Design and Engineering Cognition and
Design-Based Research

Stephen Petrina, Franc Feng, Mirela Gutica, Peter Halim, Yu-Ling Lee, Lesley Liu, PJ Rusnak, Yifei Wang & Jennifer Zhao

University of British Columbia

Symposium Chairs: Yifei Wang & Stephen Petrina

This symposium aims to generate discussion and understanding of design-based research (DBR) in design and engineering cognition. Seven empirical reports exploring design and engineering cognition or using DBR give the symposium depth and structure: Studies of 1) thirty tweenage girls in designing a mother’s day game, media, and robots; 2) fifteen elementary students testing a new educational video game; 3) nineteen young adults within an immersive virtual environment; 4) four teen students on the design of games; 5) six nursing students involved in a simulated learning environment; 6) Conceptual paper exploring technology and the “design” in DBR; and 7) Methodological paper connecting DBR with design and engineering cognition and ethical know-how. Arguably, new technologies along with a return of DIY or maker culture invite or configure everyone to employ inventive practices or “designerly ways of knowing.” Design now marks interaction with new technologies, making DBR increasingly important and relevant for STEM.

TL&T at STEM 2014 welcome

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TECHNOLOGICAL LEARNING & THINKING 2014: THE CULTURAL ROOTS OF HUMAN CREATIVITY

July 13-14, Vancouver, British Columbia

The TL&T 2014 international symposium will be held in conjunction with the STEM 2014 Conference at the the University of British Columbia on July 13-14.

TL&T SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

Sunday July 13: University Golf Club – 5185 University Blvd (TL&T authors and guests welcome)

  • 4 pm – Meet and greet – Westward Ho! Bar and Grill (cash bar)
  • 5:30 pm – Dinner (hosted by the How We Learn (Media & Technology) team, UBC)

Monday July 14: (Room 1209, Scarfe Building) – Faculty of Education, UBC

  • 8:30 am – 9:15 Paper and Discussion (Catharine Dishke, Western University, London ON) Cultural Theories of Creativity
  • 9:30 am – 10:00 am Paper presentation (Carrie Antoniazzi, Vancouver, BC) Moving from Consuming to Creating Content
  • 10:00 am – 10:30 am – Meet the Authors
  • 10:30 am – 11:15 am – Paper and Discussion (Marte Gulliksen, Telemark University College, Norway) Teaching and Learning Embodied Making
  • 11:15 am – 11:45 am – Paper presentation (Joel Lopata, Western University, London, ON) Cognitive Neuroscience and Creativity
  • 11:45 am to 1 pm – Lunch (hosted by the TL&T committee)
  • 1pm – 2:00 pm – Open forum – TL&T authors and guests welcome!
  • 5 pm – Point Roberts – Informal Barbeque and Celebration – (hosted by Ron and Elizabeth)

STEM Education and Our Planet: Making Connections Across Contexts

STEM2014-logo flowers

International STEM Education Conference

STEM Education and Our Planet: Making Connections Across Contexts

UBC Vancouver, July 12-15 – UBC Faculty of Education, in partnership with Queensland University of Technology (Australia) and Beijing Normal University (China), are hosting the third international STEM Education Conference in Vancouver.  This international event brings together educators and researchers from schools, post-secondary institutions, businesses, industries and other agencies to share and discuss innovative practices and research initiatives to enhance STEM Education.

The importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Education has been emphasized in numerous government policies in Canada, USA, Australia, China and across the globe.  The STEM Education Conference, developed by the Dean’s of Education of the partner institutions, provides a venue to promote international scholarly work including networking and research in STEM Education.

Learn more at http://stem2014.ubc.ca

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APIs: Is Code/Coding subject to copyright?

Can code/coding be itself subject to copyright? The answer to that question has broad implications for the unfolding of new technologies. With the binary code that underlies the infrastructure of modernity- for which presently, only a select few are able to understand, decode, or debug, the code that is used to regulate transactions of daily functions progressively moving, from desktops to portables, tablets and mobile devices- is there also a need to further define, that which is subject to copyright protection at the level of APIs running our mobile devices? The US Court of Appeal apparently thinks so; in a recent decision adjudicating competing claims by Oracle and Google. with Oracle alleging that the Android mobile operating system violated seven different Java patents. even though Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court had ruled differently, in 2012.

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Copyright in (cyber)space: Space Oddity

Here is a momentous instance: when copyright in cyberspace meets copyright from the depths of space! For according to Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, copyright permission he had been granted on May, 13, 2013, when as the first Canadian Commander of the International Space Station ISS for Expedition 35 , he played and recorded a tribute originally composed by David Bowie, expires on May, 13, 2014. As it appears, link for the popular culture oddity that Commander Hadfield had popularized from the depth of space, viewed 22 million times, has since expired on Youtube.

That said. a legacy remains, documenting the joint space odyssey, including the above historic transfer of space command, from Hadfield to Vinogradov, from Expedition 35 to Expedition 36, in English and Russian.

Commander Hatfield playing and recording in space

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3D Printing: Paper as media, in the 3rd Industrial Revolution

Interesting conference and expo, specializing in 3D printing technologies as the emergent third industrial revolution (perhaps Vancouver next, for its upcoming Expos?), where it has become possible, to print any content in any form (see the 3D printed guitar!) in any media- even paper, in full color 3D- dispelling possible prior preconceptions of paper, in which paper emerges as durable material, for our design considerations, that due of its unique properties, can also be coated, to extend its initial properties with the strength and properties of other as/more durable materials. 3D printing

Invitation to Mirela Gutica’s PhD Defense

Designing Educational Games and Advanced Learning Technologies:
An Identification of Emotions for Modeling Pedagogical and Adaptive Emotional Agents

by
Mirela Gutica

Abstract: Emotional, cognitive, and motivational processes are dynamic and influence each other during learning. The goal of this dissertation is to gain a better understanding of emotion interaction in order to design Advanced Learning Technologies (ALTs) and Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) that adapt to emotional needs. In order for ITSs to recognize and respond to affective states, the system needs to have knowledge of learners’ behaviors and states. Based on emotion frameworks in affective computing and education, this study responds to this need by providing an in-depth analysis of students’ affective states during learning with an educational mathematics game for grade 5-7 (Heroes of Math Island) specifically designed for this research study and based on principles of instructional and game design.

The mixed methodology research design had two components: (1) a quasi-experimental study and (2) affect analysis. The quasi-experimental study included pretest, intervention (gameplay), and posttest, followed by a post-questionnaire and interview. Affect analysis involved the process of identifying what emotions should be observed, and video annotations by trained judges.

The study contributes to related research by: (1) reviewing sets of emotions important for learning derived from literature and pilot studies; (2) analyzing inter-judge agreement both aggregated and over individual students to gain a better understanding of how individual differences in expression affect emotion recognition; (3) examining in detail what and how many emotions actually occur or are expressed in the standard 20-second interval; (4) designing a standard method including a protocol and an instrument for trained judges; and (5) offering an in-depth exploration of the students’ subjective reactions with respect to gameplay and the mathematics content. This study analyzes and proposes an original set of emotions derived from literature and observations during gameplay. The most relevant emotions identified were boredom, confidence, confusion/hesitancy, delight/pleasure, disappointment / displeasure, engaged concentration, and frustration. Further research on this set is recommended for design of ALTs or ITSs that motivate students and respond to their cognitive and emotional needs. The methodological protocol developed to label and analyze emotions should be evaluated and tested in future studies.

Defense:
When: March 17, 2014 @ 9:00 am
Where: Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, UBC

Using Learning Analytics to Understand the Design of an Intelligent Language Tutor

Using Learning Analytics to Understand the Design of an Intelligent Language Tutor– Chatbot Lucy

by
Yifei Wang & Stephen Petrina

Abstract—the goal of this article is to explore how learning analytics can be used to predict and advise the design of an intelligent language tutor, chatbot Lucy. With its focus on using student-produced data to understand the design of Lucy to assist English language learning, this research can be a valuable component for language-learning designers to improve second language acquisition. In this article, we present students’ learning journey and data trails, the chatting log architecture and resultant applications to the design of language learning systems.

Happy 30 Mac #apple #google

Would it have killed Google to show some respect and do a bit of logowork to wish Mac a happy 30th? No loyalty oaths necessary here. I bought my first Mac in yes, 1984. And 30 years later I tap out this text on a Mac. Had to replace the trackpad yesterday, which exorcised the ghost in the machine, but that’s minor in the long run of 30 years. Happy 30 Mac!

STEM 2014 conference Call for Papers #stem #education #yteubc

The University of British Columbia is hosting the 3rd International STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education Conference on its Vancouver campus in July 2014.  The Call for Papers is posted below and the submission deadline is December 9, 2013.

We hope those of you engaged in STEM Education will submit a proposal to present: detailed information on the submission process is on the STEM 2014 website.  Your assistance in sharing the Call for Papers with colleagues and networks would be greatly appreciated.

CALL FOR PAPERS

STEM 2014 Conference | July 12-15
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver, Canada

STEM Education and Our Planet:
Making Connections Across Contexts

 The International Conference of STEM in Education is an opportunity for educators and researchers from schools, universities, colleges, businesses, industries and other private and public agencies to share and discuss their innovative practices and research initiatives that may advance STEM education.

The conference will create opportunities for sharing:

  • information and knowledge through keynote addresses from world leaders in STEM education, papers, poster presentations, panels, workshops, symposia, and innovative showcases;
  • effective STEM pedagogical practices and strategies in and across a variety of education settings;
  • the most contemporary STEM research initiatives and their outcomes;
  • professional development approaches for STEM educators in a range of educational contexts;
  • experiences and networking between participants from across the globe.

Join us in the summer of 2014 at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver.  Submit your proposal to present at the STEM 2014 Conference at stem2014.ubc.ca.  Call for Papers closes December 9, 2013.

We invite proposals from educators, academics, education officers, industry partners, graduate and undergraduate students for papers, poster presentations, panels, workshops, symposia, and innovative showcases.  Proposals will be peer reviewed, and are invited in any area related to the overall focus of the conference, including:

  • Innovation in STEM Research
  • Innovative Resources for STEM Education
  • Transformation in Educational Practices through STEM
  • Sustainability Education and STEM
  • Interdisciplinary Approaches to Popular Science Education
  • Life-long learning in STEM
  • STEM learning in and across formal and informal contexts
  • Curriculum Theory and Development in STEM
  • Educational Philosophy and Theory about STEM
  • Educational Policy, Leadership and Management for STEM
  • Rural Education and STEM
  • Special Education and STEM
  • Educational Technology in STEM
  • Teacher Education and Professional Development in STEM
  • Design and Technology Education
  • Science Fiction and STEM Education
  • Disasters and STEM Education
  • Other related STEM topics will also be considered

Presenters whose papers are accepted for the Conference will be invited to submit their full papers to be published in the peer-reviewed online STEM 2014 Conference Proceedings. Author guidelines are available on the conference website.

Facebook waning for Teens but still popular

Of course still popular in terms of traffic for teens, currently Facebook is 2nd to Twitter among teens in terms of importance. Waning importance for teens is translating into lulls in traffic. Myspace, in 2012 less than 7% of the teens found it important, has now dropped out of the picture. Google+ is, hard to say what is happening…

See: Statista 2013 and  Statista 2012 for more