Tutorial missions are an essential part of video games. However, their significance is often not emphasized enough during development. This thesis presents a review of the literature related to tutorial design and combines information from the private sector and the academic sphere. The analysis outcome was organized into a clear set of rules. A tuto- rial mission for the cooperative game Silicomrades was designed based on these findings. Two distinct versions of the tutorial were created, centered on one of the conflicts iden- tified during the literature review - whether it is better to use Scaffolding (giving player necessary information right away) for a video game onboarding or Just in time approach (giving player information when he is unsure what to do). An experiment was conducted (n = 28) to identify differences between these two approaches. Participants of the expe- riments played one of the two versions, and then their performance was measured in the specialized mission. None of the experiment findings was of statistical significance, but the results indicated a superiority of the Scaffolding approach (based on the performance and subjective enjoyment). After the experiment, the tutorial mission was refined based on the feedback, and exciting directions for future studies were suggested. 1

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This research aims to understand what is being produced on the accessibility for individuals with disabilities in higher education of Universidade Federal de Santa Maria UFSM, in the period 2007 to 2010, in the official documents submitted by federal prosecutors (MPF) to UFSM and what it was answered by that educational institution. Given this, it is proposed to qualitative research, being used content analysis as methodology. The official referrals were analyzed from three categories: legal developments, university environment and accessibility in relation to MPF and UFSM. The questions that guided this study sought to understand, basically, what these documents have on accessibility policy in the academic context, particularly the speech of each of the institutions (MPF and UFSM). To familiarize the reader in analyzing the results and discussion were elaborated three theoretical chapters, the first being: The Brazilian constitution and the processes of in-exclusion, with the lifting of the processes of inclusion and exclusion in the constitutions of Brazil, in collaboration with Alves; Barbosa, 2006; Cury, 2005; Duarte, 2004; Fávero, 2007; Marquezan, 2009; Mazzotta, 2005; Pinto, 1999; Pieczkowski, 2011; Santos, 2009; Teixeira, 2008; Veiga Neto, 2001, and others. The second chapter: Accessibility policy in the context of UFSM presents the institution context and its policy of accessibility, with the support of Castro, 2010; Cruz; Dias, 2009; Glat; Blanco, 2007; Guerreiro; Almeida, 2010; Moreira, 2006; Pereira, 2006; Sassaki, 2005; Watzlawick, 2009, and others, and finally, the chapter: The education and their protection by federal prosecutors that displays the MPF, its role as guarantor of the right to education and tools to enforce this guarantee, with Boaventura, 2005; Chizotti, 2005; Lima, 2007; Silveira, 2007; Oliveira, 1995; Tessmann; Sangoi, 2009, and others. The results indicate the production of the accessibility for the MPF, the architectural bias, based on the discourse of Law and UFSM, for carrying out communication actions, attitudes and pedagogic. / Esta pesquisa visa a compreender o que está sendo produzido sobre acessibilidade para os sujeitos com deficiência na educação superior da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, no período de 2007 a 2010, nos documentos oficiais encaminhados pelo Ministério Público Federal à UFSM e o que foi respondido a este pela referida instituição educacional. Diante disto, propõe-se a pesquisa de cunho qualitativo, sendo utilizada como metodologia a análise de conteúdo. Os encaminhamentos oficiais foram analisados a partir de três categorias: desdobramentos jurídicos, acessibilidade no ambiente universitário e relação MPF e UFSM. Os questionamentos que nortearam este estudo buscaram compreender, basicamente, o que estes documentos produzem sobre acessibilidade no contexto acadêmico; particularmente, o discurso de cada uma das instituições (MPF e UFSM). Para familiarizar o leitor na análise dos resultados e discussão, foram elaborados três capítulos teóricos, sendo o primeiro: As constituições brasileiras e os processos de in-exclusão, com o levantamento dos processos de inclusão e exclusão nas constituições brasileiras, com a colaboração de Alves; Barbosa, 2006; Cury, 2005; Duarte, 2004; Fávero, 2007; Marquezan, 2009; Mazzotta, 2005; Pinto, 1999; Pieczkowski, 2011; Santos, 2009; Teixeira, 2008; Veiga Neto, 2001 e outros. O segundo capítulo: Política de acessibilidade no contexto da UFSM apresenta a instituição e a contextualização de sua política de acessibilidade, com o auxílio de Castro, 2010; Cruz; Dias, 2009; Glat; Blanco, 2007; Guerreiro; Almeida, 2010; Moreira, 2006; Pereira, 2006; Sassaki, 2005; Watzlawick, 2009 e outros e, por último, o capítulo: A educação e sua proteção pelo Ministério Público Federal que apresenta o MPF, sua função como garantidor do direito à educação e instrumentos para efetivar esta garantia, contando com Boaventura, 2005; Chizotti, 2005; Lima, 2007; Silveira, 2007; Oliveira, 1995; Tessmann Sangoi, 2009 e outros. Os resultados apontam a produção de acessibilidade pelo MPF, pelo viés arquitetônico, fundamentado no discurso da legislação e, a UFSM, pela realização de ações de comunicação, atitudinais e pedagógicas.

Magistro darbo tikslas – įvertinti dabartinę Lietuvos švietimo reformos būklę bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose ir apžvelgti pagrindines tobulinimo perspektyvas. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad dauguma apklaustųjų Vilniaus r. Buivydiškių pagrindinės mokyklos, Vilniaus Žemynos gimnazijos ir Vilniaus S. Kovalevskajos vidurinės mokyklos mokytojų, švietimo reformą, vykstančią jau 18 metų, vertina neigiamai. Išsiskyrė tik Trakų r. Onuškio vidurinės mokyklos mokytojų nuomonė, nes jie švietimo reformą vertina teigiamai. Bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų mokytojai nurodė pagrindines švietimo reformos kliūtis - neaiškūs švietimo reformos tikslai; reforma vykdoma neturint moksliškai pagrįstos švietimo strategijos; reforma vyksta neaprūpinant reikiamais finansiniais ištekliais; didelės visuomenės dalies nusivylimas reformomis. Respondentai išskyrė tris svarbiausias problemas šiandieninėje mokykloje - per mažas mokytojų atlyginimas; sunkiai įsisavinančių mokymą vaikų daugėjimas; bendras kultūros stygius visuomenėje, gyvenamojoje aplinkoje. Mokytojai išskyrė šias svarbiausias problemas vaikams šiandieninėje Lietuvoje - jie nėra apsaugoti nuo skurdo; per daug mato smurto, sekso scenų per televiziją, internetą; taip pat neapsaugoti nuo narkomanijos pavojaus. Rekomenduojama dažniau atlikti sociologinius tyrimus, gerinant švietimo reformos būklę Lietuvos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose; daugiau dėmesio skirti švietimo strategijai, konkretizuojant kai kuriuos švietimo vystymo aspektus. / The aim of this master thesis is to evaluate the present situation of Lithuanian education reform in comprehensive schools and overview the perspectives of its development. The results of the analysis show that most teachers-respondents from Vilnius region Buivydiskes Basic School, Vilnius Zemyna Gymnasium and Vilnius S. Kovalevskaja Secondary School express their negative opinion about the education reform taking place already eighteen years. Only teachers from Trakai region Onuskis Secondary School had positive opinion about the education reform. Comprehensive school teachers indicated the main disadvantages of the education reform, which are indefinite purposes of the education reform; the reform is implemented without scientifically proven education strategy and the necessary financial resources; the large majority of the society is disappointed with reforms. The respondents distinguished three main problems in a school today – salaries that are too low; the increasing number of students that have learning difficulties; the general lack of culture in the society and living environment. Teachers indicated such main problems for children in Lithuania – they are not protected from poverty; they watch too much violence, sexual scenes on TV and on the Internet; they are not protected from the danger of the drug abuse. In order to make the reform more effective in Lithuanian comprehensive schools it is recommended to carry out sociological researches more often, to pay more... [to full text]

Vaikų teisių apsaugos magistro darbo tema aktuali, nes šiandien ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugos Lietuvoje yra nevienodai prieinamos miesto ir kaimo gyventojams. Ikimokyklinės ugdymo institucijos rengia naujas ugdymo programas, kurių turinys turi užtikrinti ugdymo proceso kokybę. Iškyla probleminis darbo klausimas, kaip ugdymo turinys ugdymo procese atliepia šiuolaikinio vaiko poreikius, kaip užtikrinama ugdymo kokybė? Tyrimo objektas – ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų prieinamumo kokybinė raiška. Iškeltas darbo tikslas – atskleisti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų prieinamumo kokybę mieste ir kaime, tiriant 5-6 metų amžiaus vaikų kompetencijas. Siekiant įgyvendinti šį tikslą, iškelti uždaviniai: išanalizuoti ikimokyklinio ugdymo politikos kryptis ir teorinius aspektus Lietuvoje; išanalizuoti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų prieinamumą bei kokybę mieste ir kaime; palyginti 5-6 metų amžiaus vaikų, ugdomų ikimokyklinėse įstaigose gebėjimų lygmenį, šeimoje ir institucijoje pagal kompetencijas; apibendrinti ikimokyklinio ugdymo prieinamumo kokybę, vertinant 5-6 metų amžiaus vaikų įgūdžius ir gebėjimus. Šiems uždaviniams įgyvendinti 2008 metų rudenį atliktas tyrimas, kuris grindžiamas humanistine filosofine ugdymo kryptimi, kuri pabrėžia vaiko saviraiškos galimybių svarbą ugdymo procese. Empirinio tyrimo įgyvendinimui pasirinkta kokybinė tyrimų metodologija, naudojant tėvų ir pedagogų anketinę apklausą. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad kokybiškos ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugos labiau prieinamos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Nowadays pre-school education services are not equally accessible in city and countryside in Lithuania, therefore, the topic related with protection of children rights covered in this Master paper is relevant. Pre-school organizations prepare new curricula, whose content should ensure educational process’ quality. Here the question should be posed – in what way are modern children’s needs reflected in the educational process; in what way is the quality of education guaranteed? The subject of analysis is quality’s expression of pre-school education services’ accessibility. The paper’s main aim is to reveal the quality of pre-school education services’ accessibility in city and countryside investigating competencies of 5-6 year old children. To achieve this aim the following objectives are: to investigate the guidelines and theoretical aspects of pre-school education policy; investigate accessibility and its quality of pre-school education services in city and countryside; compare the abilities’ level in organization and family of 5-6 year old children who are educated in pre-school organizations; review the quality of pre-school education services’ accessibility comparing the abilities and skills of 5-6 year old children. To achieve the above mentioned objectives the investigation was carried out in autumn of 2008. The investigation was substantiated by humanistic philosophy education’s guideline emphasising relevance of child’s self-expression in educational process. To carry... [to full text]

Aim: This study aims to generate recommendations for enhancing the access and success of historically disadvantaged students to health science education at UDW, based on barriers identified within diverse schooling contexts and local conditions at UDW. Methodology: A case study approach was used to select five former DET schools within the DFR to constitute the sample of historically disadvantaged schools for this study. In order to capture the specific ecological milieu, social and cultural conditions pertaining to rural, urban and informal settlement contexts, three schools were strategically selected from each of these contexts (i.e. Sobonakhona, Ilanga and Inhlanhlayethu High schools respectively). In addition, two former DET schools that displayed relatively high achievement rates were also selected (i.e. Vukuzakhe and Zwelibanzi High schools), in order to contextually understand how barriers to positive educational outcomes might be overcome. A multistage sampling procedure was used to sample 40 standard seven and 40 standard ten scholars from each of the selected schools (n=400) and a purposive sampling procedure was used to obtain a sample of teaching staff involved in career counselling and/or science education in each school (n=16). In addition, saturation sampling was employed to obtain a sample of second year African students in the Faculties of Health Sciences and Dentistry at UDW (n=73). A combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was employed, with questionnaires being administered to standard seven and ten scholars as well as to historically disadvantaged health science students. In addition, a total of five focus groups were conducted with teaching staff from each of the selected schools. Results and discussion: It was evident that a complex and interwoven web of factors impacted on the access and success of historically disadvantaged students in health science education at UDW, including, inter alia, inadequate school instructional resources; limited community economic resources; a paucity of educational opportunities and experiences in the home environment; poverty status; low levels of self-efficacy in academic skill; inadequate school career counselling; university selection procedures with a eurocentric bias; adjustment difficulties in the transition from secondary to tertiary education; financial difficulties; a paucity of 'in-group' academic role models; inadequate ADPs and negative conditions in campus student residences. These results are discussed and interpreted within the context of relevant empirical literature as well as a taxonomy derived from over 60 multivariate school-effects studies undertaken in developing countries, comprising four dimensions, viz. ecology, milieu, social system and culture. Conclusions: On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations for enhancing the access and success of historically disadvantaged students to health science education at UDW are offered. While these recommendations pertain to a broad range of stakeholders, including the Education Ministry, the schooling sector and higher education institutions, particular attention is paid to the development of practical recruitment, selection and retention strategies to be employed by UDW and its Faculty of Health Sciences. Finally, the limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations for future research in this field are offered. KEY terms: access, success and equity; historically disadvantaged; health science education; educational outcomes. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1999.