Verónica López

Bio: Verónica López is an academic researcher from Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. The author has contributed to research in topics: Peer victimization & Classroom climate. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 84 publications receiving 1278 citations. Previous affiliations of Verónica López include Alberto Hurtado University & Valparaiso University.

Beyond Nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games for first and second grade students

Abstract: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the introduction of educational videogames into the classroom, on learning, motivation, and classroom dynamics. These effects were studied using a sample of 1274 students from economically disadvantaged schools in Chile. The videogames were specifically designed to address the educational goals of the first and second years of school, for basic mathematics and reading comprehension. The sample was divided into experimental groups (EG), internal control groups (IC) and external control groups (EC). Students in the EG groups, used the experimental video games during an average of 30 h over a 3-month period. They were evaluated on their acquisition of reading comprehension, spelling, and mathematical skills, and on their motivation to use video games. Teachers' expectations of change due to the use of video games, their technological transfer, and handling of classroom dynamics, were assessed through ad hoc tests and classroom observations. The results show significant differences between the EG and IC groups in relation to the EC group in Math, Reading Comprehension and Spelling, but no significant differences in these aspects were found between the EG and the IC groups. Teacher reports and classroom observations confirm an improvement in motivation to learn, and a positive technological transfer of the experimental tool. Although further studies regarding the effects of learning through videogame use are imperative, positive effects on motivation and classroom dynamics, indicate that the introduction of educational video games can be a useful tool in promoting learning within the classroom.

La sala de clases sí importa: incidencia del clima de aula sobre la percepción de intimidación y victimización entre escolares

Abstract: Research on peer aggression (bullying) places emphasis on individual characteristics of aggressors and victims, and scarcely on context variables. This article provides evidence of classroom climate acting as predictor of perceived peer aggression. 444 students enrolled in sixth, seventh, and eight grade were administered instruments measuring self-reported and peer-reported intimidation and victimization. We analyzed the effect of classroom climate on these indicators. For intimidation, the regression model proved significant even after controlling for socioeconomic status, and explained 40.1 % of variance; and for victimization, 33.5 % of variance. Specifically, the dimensions of classroom climate associated with peer aggression were friction, satisfaction, and competitiveness. These results are discussed within the framework of research on peer aggression from a social-ecological perspective.

Barreras Culturales para la Inclusión: Políticas y Prácticas de Integración en Chile

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze conceptions and practices involving integration in Chilean mandatory education, present both in the design of educational policies as well as in the translation into local practices. A qualitative design involving was used, which involved a discourse analysis of the Chilean educational policy on integration, and an empirical study in three public municipal schools of one commune through active interviews to local actors and non-participatory observations. Data were analyzed through pragmatic discourse analysis. Results. The Chilean educational policy is hybrid since it advocates for inclusion from within the logic of human rights, but prescribes a model of integration with a strong psycho-medical emphasis, which operates through individual diagnosis and pedagogical treatment on behalf of the special education teacher. Integration is also presented as an optional and complementary professional service through the form of school integration projects (SIP) financed through individual vouchers. Local discursive practices translate this policy as a policy for the “SIP children” that, those who participate in these projects and, therefore, have a diagnosis and receive additional voucher. These children are labeled, segregated, and discriminated. Responsibility for learning outcomes falls mainly in the hands of the special ed. teacher, whose work is encapsulated. Coordination between special ed. teachers and classroom teachers is difficult. Teachers believe that children´s learning possibilities depends on the level of disability and family support, a belief that draws the schools away from its pedagogical function. Discussion. From the viewpoint of inclusion, these practices and conceptions create a cultural barrier, since they situate the possibilities of educational change outside the educational scope and outside the regular classroom. This places at risk the possibilities for constructing an educational system with equity.

Giftedness and Social Adjustment: Evidence Supporting the Resilience Approach in Spanish-Speaking Children and Adolescents.

Abstract: Do gifted students adjust poorly to their social environment? There are currently two competing positions: one that sustains that giftedness is by itself a risk factor for social adaptation, and another that holds that high cognitive abilities involve distinctive features that are protective and hence increase individual resilience. Empirical support has been provided for both positions. This paper provides data from a study performed with 50 Spanish‐speaking gifted children and adolescents using a comparison group of 50 average‐ability peers matched by sex and chronological age. The results show no significant differences between gifted students and their peers on global measures of adjustment. Instead, they suggest that gifted students are neither significantly more poorly nor better adjusted than their peers during different age periods. Our analysis of the results provides moderate support for the resilience position.

Políticas de Inclusión Educativa en Chile: Tres Nudos Críticos

Abstract: Having achieved the coverage challenges following compulsory policies and a financing system via demand subsidy conditioned to enrollment and attendance, but faced with the scenario of school segregation, Chile has set itself the goal of advancing towards the right to an inclusive education and of quality. In this article we identify and analyze three critical nodes that affect the possibilities of achieving this goal: a) a tension between the logic of integration and educational inclusion, b) a market-based model that does not consider public values, and c) a new educational architecture, based on the logic of individual accountability, which places the possibility of educational improvement in individual incentive systems tied to the achievement of high performance tests. We discuss the need to address and unlock these nodes through transdisciplinary research.

Education at a Glance

Abstract: A detailed review of the education sector in Australia as in the data provided by the 2006 edition of the OECD's annual publication, 'Education at a Glance' is presented. While the data has shown that in almost all OECD countries educational attainment levels are on the rise, with countries showing impressive gains in university qualifications, it also reveals that a large of share of young people still do not complete secondary school, which remains a baseline for successful entry into the labour market.

Digital Game-Based Learning in high school Computer Science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation

Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the learning effectiveness and motivational appeal of a computer game for learning computer memory concepts, which was designed according to the curricular objectives and the subject matter of the Greek high school Computer Science (CS) curriculum, as compared to a similar application, encompassing identical learning objectives and content but lacking the gaming aspect. The study also investigated potential gender differences in the game's learning effectiveness and motivational appeal. The sample was 88 students, who were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which used the gaming application (Group A, N=47) and the other one the non-gaming one (Group B, N=41). A Computer Memory Knowledge Test (CMKT) was used as the pretest and posttest. Students were also observed during the interventions. Furthermore, after the interventions, students' views on the application they had used were elicited through a feedback questionnaire. Data analyses showed that the gaming approach was both more effective in promoting students' knowledge of computer memory concepts and more motivational than the non-gaming approach. Despite boys' greater involvement with, liking of and experience in computer gaming, and their greater initial computer memory knowledge, the learning gains that boys and girls achieved through the use of the game did not differ significantly, and the game was found to be equally motivational for boys and girls. The results suggest that within high school CS, educational computer games can be exploited as effective and motivational learning environments, regardless of students' gender.

Gamifying learning experiences: Practical implications and outcomes

Abstract: Gamification is the use of game design elements and game mechanics in non-game contexts. This idea has been used successfully in many web based businesses to increase user engagement. Some researchers suggest that it could also be used in web based education as a tool to increase student motivation and engagement. In an attempt to verify those theories, we have designed and built a gamification plugin for a well-known e-learning platform. We have made an experiment using this plugin in a university course, collecting quantitative and qualitative data in the process. Our findings suggest that some common beliefs about the benefits obtained when using games in education can be challenged. Students who completed the gamified experience got better scores in practical assignments and in overall score, but our findings also suggest that these students performed poorly on written assignments and participated less on class activities, although their initial motivation was higher.

A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games

Abstract: It is assumed that serious games influences learning in 2 ways, by changing cognitive processes and by affecting motivation. However, until now research has shown little evidence for these assumptions. We used meta-analytic techniques to investigate whether serious games are more effective in terms of learning and more motivating than conventional instruction methods (learning: k = 77, N 5,547; motivation: k = 31, N 2,216). Consistent with our hypotheses, serious games were found to be more effective in terms of learning (d= 0.29, p .05) than conventional instruction methods. Additional moderator analyses on the learning effects revealed that learners in serious games learned more, relative to those taught with conventional instruction methods, when the game was supplemented with other instruction methods, when multiple training sessions were involved, and when players worked in groups.