Reading to young children has a number of benefits, including supporting the acquisition of vocabulary and literacy skills. Digital reading games, including ones with new modes of interface such as the Kinect for Xbox, may provide similar benefits in part by allowing dynamic in-game activities. However, these activities may also be distracting and detract from learning. Children (ages 5-7 years, N = 39) were randomly assigned to either i) jointly read a story with an adult, ii) have the story read by a character in a Kinect game, or iii) have the story read by a character in a Kinect game plus in-game activities. Both Kinect-Activities and Book Reading groups had significant gains for High Frequency Words, Active Decoding, and Total Reading Score, but only ICinect-Activities group had significant gain for Sight words (p < .05). Overall, these findings are encouraging for the next generation of digital literacy games. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

: This study investigates how multimodal interactions impact learning in digital learning environments. More specifically, the study argues that modern virtual manipulatives should offer a rich sensory experience by presenting information visually, aurally, and kinesthetically and that carefully designed perceptual experiences will facilitate learning in young children. To test this hypothesis, sixty ( N = 60) second grade students were randomly assigned to learn multiplication using software designed to vary the aural and kinesthetic experience while holding the visual presentation constant. The results reveal that both aural and kinesthetic interactions increased learning outcomes but in different ways and at different points. The paper concludes with a full discussion of the results as well as their theoretical and practical implications.

This paper will present a tool and a method to help game developers make decisions about creating visual assets such as game characters. It will also present results from a series of studies. The first study utilized this research tool to investigate middle school students’ attitudes toward sixty game characters in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in commercial games. The second study used the most liked and disliked characters (by gender) determined by the first study in an educational game as science mentors. After presenting the effects of using these characters in motivation of students towards the game, the paper will conclude with research-based implications for educational game designers wanting to maximize motivation through the use of game characters in STEM-related educational games. Readers will also be informed about a method useful for developing visual game assets, and insight about creating characters for STEM educational games.

The current study examines aspects of multimedia design in virtual learning environments. It compares touch and mouse input methods in conjunction with audio and visual feedback in an effort to improve young children's math learning. Fifty-nine (N=59) second grade students played Puzzle Blocks (PBs), a virtual manipulative designed to introduce students to the concept of multiplication through repetitive addition. All participants showed significant learning outcomes after playing PBs for five sessions. The results show that having auditory feedback is a more influential factor than input method. Implications are discussed.

Capacitive reactors for semiconductor processing must simultaneously balance many physical phenomena with engineering constraints to achieve the desired processing properties. Important phenomena include electromagnetic RF propagation, gas ionization, plasma heating, plasma transport, and nonlinear sheath effects. Constraints are driven by process uniformity, radical production, thermal control, and reactor-component lifetime. These phenomena and constraints are often modeled in isolation; however, in a real system, they can interact in ways that are not easily foreseen. It is highly desirable to have global models that can provide relatively quick feedback for the proposed modifications to these systems. While an approach based on fundamental physics models is highly desirable whenever possible, the system can quickly become too complicated for quick design evaluations. In this paper, we explore the interaction between several processes by combining fundamental physics models when reasonable, with simplified, heuristic, or even empirical models for processes that are difficult to model from first principles. The goal is to understand the interaction between these processes in a global system without becoming overly encumbered by details in the individual components of the model. We study the effects of static magnetic field on plasma transport and electromagnetic effects arising at high RF frequency. We also change the RF-coupled power and ionization efficiency in a simplified 2-D model geometry to contrast the various effects. We find that discharges with very high frequency and high plasma density can exhibit localized nulls in the RF fields caused by electromagnetic-propagation effects in the sheath region. We find that relatively low static magnetic fields can modify the radial-plasma density profiles. Good agreement is found between the radial-plasma profiles given by the model and those measured in an experiment where the currents in two concentric coils near the plasma are the only variables.

Involving future teachers in action research projects along with professors and/or teachers may provide opportunities for future teachers to develop content pedagogical knowledge, examine beliefs about teaching, and gain confidence. In this study, we focus on changes in the beliefs, knowledge, and confidence of 10 preservice teachers engaged in action research with a biology professor, a teacher educator, and a high school biology teacher to evaluate a National Science Foundation-sponsored project over a two-year period. The purpose of the NSF project is to enhance case-based learning in high school and university biology courses worldwide through the use of molecular biology computer simulations and Internet conferencing. Our results showed that engaging preservice teachers in action research studying the effect of case-based multimedia learning promoted reflection on beliefs about interacting with and monitoring students in computer lab situations, as well as dispositions of teachers. In addition, preservice teachers reported gaining confidence and developing more complex technological pedagogical content knowledge.

Over the past few years the world of industrial controls has borrowed substantially from the world of information systems. Technologies such as Ethernet and TCP/IP have made the interfacing of industrial equipment much easier, but there is now significantly less isolation from the outside world. Network security problems from the business network can be passed on to the process network, putting industrial production and human safety at risk. This paper evaluates these risks to industrial control systems from both accidental and malicious intrusion. The first portion summarizes an analysis of reported incidents in industrial environments and their effects on process systems. The second part describes a series of tests developed and conducted at the BCIT Internet Engineering Lab to determine possible security weaknesses in common programmable logic controllers. Based on these results, recommendations are presented on designing network security for critical industrial control installations.