Ellen S. Menaker

Intelligent Decision Systems, inc

The multidisciplinary nature of learning-games development is key to successful projects. In this book, field leaders in serious games and professionals in entertainment games share practical guidelines and lessons from their own experiences researching and developing learning games. This volume includes: • The key elements of design and developmen...

As you get started on your project to create a serious game for learning, it is important for you to recognize that you and your team will likely need the skills of several different disciplines to achieve success. Usually, this means that you will be working with colleagues who have been trained in a different field from yours. By better understan...

Expectations for learning anytime and anywhere are accelerating through the use of mobile technologies. While mobile devices are common for personal use, integration into learning systems poses multiple challenges. Organizations are expending great efforts to ensure connectivity and provide adequate security for users and information; however, thes...

Visualization is a critical command skill that must be acquired earlier in a leader's career than ever before. Training is needed that will improve commander's visualization through deliberate reflection and practice, coupled with performance assessment and expert feedback and guidance. To meet this requirement, the U.S. Army Research Institute for...

if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language." Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Designing serious games for learning is undoubtedly the most complex, multi-disciplined technology-based challenge existing in our training world and is increasingly popular for military training. Somew...

Instructional games are created when training is deliberately added to a gaming environment or when gaming aspects are deliberately incorporated into training. One type of game that is currently attracting the attention of the education and training field is the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG). Because evidence about learning outcomes from...

Purpose The purpose of this review was (a) to distinguish what has been empirically proven about learning/cognitive styles from what has popular appeal alone, and (b) to discuss implications for the design of effective and efficient learning experiences for all potential learners Lack of Empirical Evidence No single theory unites the literature on...

The purpose of this research was to design a computer-mediated training environment to help ground-component forces develop the cognitive and affective skills needed to meet the challenges of engaging as a Joint and Expeditionary force. These skills are critical for effective performance of Combat Arms, Combat Support, Combat Service Support, and R...

New technologies have invigorated the need to understand and apply experiential learning theory in ways to optimize learning. Large financial investments are being devoted to high-fidelity games and simulations for the purpose of learning. Integration of experiential learning into computer-based learning, games, and simulations for learning offers...

This research monograph on the social and emotional development of gifted students' is divided into four parts. Part 1 of the report focuses on analysis of the literature. Parts 2-4 present results of seven qualitative and quantitative studies of adolescent development. In Part 2, Studies 1 and 2 expand Lazarus and Folkman's cognitive appraisal par...

Increasingly, general classroom teachers are expected to be primary service providers for a full range of learners in inclusive classrooms. Research indicates that many veteran teachers are reluctant or unable to differentiate instruction for academically diverse learners in heterogeneous settings. This qualitative study examined the preservice exp...

The use of the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ), in its various forms, is recommended for use with gifted students, yet little psychometric data exist with respect to the use of these subscales with this population. The SDQ-II was administered to adolescents attending a summer residential program for academically gifted students (N = 459). Esti...

This study examines the relationship between self-concept and coping strategies of 457 academically gifted adolescents, aged 10 to 16 years. Frequently used strategies indicated that adolescents assumed responsibility for dealing with stressors and took action-focused approaches rather than ignoring problems. As predicted by the model of social and...

Increasingly, general classroom teachers are expected to be primary service providers for a full range of learners in inclusive classrooms. Research indicates that many veteran teachers are reluctant or unable to differentiate instruction for academically diverse learners in heterogeneous settings. This qualitative study examined the preservice exp...

The recent popularity of Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory corresponds with current efforts to move away from the use of standardized measures of achievement and ability to more authentic assessment techniques, including portfolio and performance-based assessment. Gardner and his colleagues have strongly encouraged the application of MI theory to...

A study examined the relationship between self-concept and coping strategies of 457 academically gifted adolescents (ages 10-16). Results found the adolescents used various strategies that assumed responsibility for dealing with stressors and took action-focused approaches rather than ignoring problems. They focused on the positive and on problem s...

This monograph describes Project START (Support To Affirm Rising Talent), a three-year collaborative research effort to develop and apply gifted identification procedures based on Howard Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences. Specifically, the study attempted to: (1) develop identification procedures; (2) identify high-potential primary...

This report presents findings of a three-year study to examine how preservice teachers develop an awareness of the needs of academically diverse learners, including gifted students, and implement and/or modify instruction to meet those needs. Preservice teachers were assigned to one of two treatment groups: either participation in an interactive fu...

Preservice teachers face formidable tasks of planning and management as they enter the classroom for the first time as professionals. They also bring with them mental imprints of what teaching and leaming are like, images gained not from their professional preparation programs, but from their years as students. Once in the role of teacher, those vi...

A multimethod approach was used to examine teachers' beliefs about retention in grades K-7. Questionnaire responses indicated that teachers at all grade levels believe retention is an acceptable school practice that prevents students from facing daily failure and motivates them to work harder. Factors including academic performance, maturity, abili...

Game-based training offers great potential for providing low-cost training systems for learning cognitive and procedural skills within the U.S. Navy. We introduce an effort, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, to harness, apply and harden this capability by creating validated training games for the Navy. Over the period of fourteen months, o...

Integrating technology into a curriculum can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the curriculum; however, technology integration represents a formidable instructional problem. A deliberate analysis must precede integration efforts to understand this problem and determine how to optimize the potential learning gains of technology integratio...

Modern computer gaming technology offers a rich potential as a platform for the creation of compelling immersive training systems, and there have been a number of game-based training systems developed in recent years. However, the field is still in its infancy. Improved understanding is needed on how to best embed instruction in a game and how to b...