Game-centred models and teaching in culturally diverse settings

This presentation draws on the observations and experiences that we, as teacher educators, have had using Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) as a pedagogical tool with generalist pre-service teachers in two different sites: Malaysia and Australia. TGfU is a game-centred pedagogy in which students learn the „Why‟ of game playing before the „How‟ of the skills associated with the game. This concept is based on a student-centred approach to learning. The benefit of this pedagogy to generalist teachers is the notion that they are not required to be a master of many sports. This narrative relates the observations and experiences of teacher educators of Malaysian and Australian generalist pre-service teachers confronted with teaching and learning TGfU for the first time in their culturally specific contexts. The two key issues arising from teaching the TGfU model were: the disparity in the cohorts‟ experiences arising from institutionalised conceptions by the pre-service teachers of what and how learning occurs in physical education; and the pre-service teachers‟ difficulty with implementing the TGfU model in a practical situation. Crossing the cultural divide for the Malaysian and Australian pre-service teachers required them to explore more fully the range of approaches to teaching and to recognise a more student-centred approach as a valid and authentic tool. As both teachers and observers of this process, our intention was to examine the two cohorts‟ learning and subsequent teaching with the aim of developing better understandings of the challenges when teaching TGfU in tertiary settings.

Aggressive tax planning : differentiating those playing the game from those who don't

The study reported in this paper examined a group of Australian taxpayers who have expressed a preference for a creative and aggressive tax agent. The study attempted to understand how high-risk taxpayers and high-risk practitioners form their partnerships by examining aggressive taxpayers' attitudes and perceptions of the Australian tax system. Data were taken from 2040 Australian taxpayers who had responded to a national survey on tax issues. Results from a series of independent sample t-tests revealed that there are a number of important differences between 'aggressive' and 'non-aggressive' taxpayers. Finally, a logistic regression analysis was used to determine which variables most effectively differentiated aggressive taxpayers from non-aggressive taxpayers. The findings are discussed in a regulatory context and possible solutions for how tax authorities might deal with this high-risk group of taxpayer are suggested.

Endogenous transportation technology in a cournot differential game with intraindustry trade

We investigate a dynamic Cournot duopoly with intraindustry trade, where firms invest in R&D to reduce the level of iceberg transportation costs. We adopt both open-loop and closed-loop equilibrium concepts, showing that a unique (saddle point) steady state exists in both cases. In the open-loop model, optimal investments and the resulting efficiency of transportation technology are independent of the relative size of the two countries. On the contrary, in the closed-loop case firms’ R&D incentives are driven by the relative size of the two countries. Policy implications are also evaluated.

Divide-the-Dollar game revisited

In the Divide-the-Dollar (DD) game, two players simultaneously make demands to divide a dollar. Each player receives his demand if the sum of the demands does not exceed one, a payoff of zero otherwise. Note that, in the latter case, both parties are punished severely. A major setback of DD is that each division of the dollar is a Nash equilibrium outcome. Observe that, when the sum of the two demands x and y exceeds one, it is as if Player 1's demand x (or his offer (1−x) to Player 2) suggests that Player 2 agrees to λx < 1 times his demand y so that Player 1's demand and Player 2's modified demand add up to exactly one; similarly, Player 2's demand y (or his offer (1−y) to Player 1) suggests that Player 1 agrees to λyx so that λyx+y = 1. Considering this fact, we change DD's payoff assignment rule when the sum of the demands exceeds one; here in this case, each player's payoff becomes his demand times his λ; i.e., each player has to make the sacrifice that he asks his opponent to make. We show that this modified version of DD has an iterated strict dominant strategy equilibrium in which each player makes the egalitarian demand 1/2. We also provide a natural N-person generalization of this procedure.

The communication skills used by deaf children and their hearing peers in a question-and-answer game context

Communication is frequently characterized by a sequence of questions and answers. Little is known about how well students who are deaf or hard of hearing (deaf/HH) understand their hearing classmates in the context of an inclusive setting. This study explored the communication skills used by deaf/HH children when asking and answering questions in a “trivia” game with their hearing peers. Thirty-four children with normal hearing and 34 children with a hearing loss ranging from mild to profound (>90 dB HL) participated in this study. Each of the 34 dyads included 1 child with normal hearing and 1 child with hearing loss, matched by gender and grade level at school. Dyads were videotaped and analyzed. Pairs were compared in terms of their capacity to repeat the question, strategies used to seek information, and accuracy of responses. Results showed that the group of hearing children was able to repeat more questions verbatim compared to the deaf/HH children. The deaf/HH group required a significantly greater number of repetitions, sought a greater number of general clarifications, and correctly answered more questions compared with the group of hearing children. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of peer communication and pragmatic skill development.

Game situation information in video-based perceptual decision making : the influence of criticality of decisions

This study examined the effects of game situation information, manipulated in terms of time and score, on decisions made in a video-based perceptual test in basketball. The participants were undergraduate university students (n=159) who viewed 21 offensive basketball plays, under two test conditions (low decision criticality; high decision criticality). To manipulate the conditions, prior to each clip, the
participants were presented with a description of the remaining time and score differential. High decision criticality situations were characterised by a remaining time of 60 seconds or less and score differentials of 2 points or less. Low decision criticality situations were characterised by remaining time of 5 minutes or more and score differentials of 5 points or more. The participants indicated their decision (pass, shoot, dribble) after the visual display had been occluded for each clip. The results indicated that decision profiles differed under the low and high decision criticality conditions. More pass decisions were made under high decision criticality situations and more shoot decisions under low decision criticality situations. These variations differed according to the type of main sport played but not for the basketball competition level. It was concluded that game situation information does influence decision making and should be considered in video-based testing and training.

Promoting a team ball game (Lifeball) to older people : who does this game attract and who continues?

Issue addressed: To describe the demographic and health-related characteristics (physical activity, self-reported health status, quality of life and falls history) of older people who enroll in a team-based game, Lifeball, and examine associations between continuation and participant characteristics. Reasons for stopping, participants' perceptions of the game and changes in health-related characteristics over 12 months were examined.

Methods: Telephone surveys were conducted with a cohort of Lifeball players at: baseline, soon after commencing playing and 12 months later.

Results: At baseline, participants were aged 40 to 96 years (mean 67). Most were female (84%), in good to excellent health (86%) and reported being sufficiently (>150 minutes per week) physically active (69%). Almost half (43%) were still playing 12 months later (continuers). Continuers were more likely to perceive Lifeball had helped them to: feel fitter and healthier (91%); improve their social life (73%); and be more active (53%). No significant changes in continuers' physical activity, self-reported health status and quality of life measures were reported. The main reason for stopping playing was illness/injury unrelated to Lifeball.

Conclusions: Lifeball mainly appealed to healthy, active older people.

Collaborative improvement : interplay but not a game

Collaboration literally means working together. Collaborative improvement is an extension of continuous improvement and can be defined as a purposeful inter-company interactive process that focuses on continuous incremental innovation aimed at enhancing the collaboration’s overall performance. Developing collaborative improvement is a protracted and difficult process. Previous research has identified a number of factors affecting that process and suggested that it is not so much the individual factors, but rather their interplay that determines the successful development of collaborative improvement. This article reports research aimed at developing a deeper understanding of that interplay. Ten relationships between ten factors are presented and discussed. It appears that vision, approach, trust and commercial reality are the strongest factors. These factors are, however, influenced by, or affect the other factors, notably national culture, partner characteristics and competences, the use of power, individual behaviour and commitment. The way this interplay develops varies from case to case and has great influence on the development of collaborative improvement.

Brain-boosting mathematics games : are you game?

Games are enjoyable, and research shows that learning to play games can boost learning. Many games use mathematical processes and strategies; this book outlines the context for using mathematics games in classrooms to promote active mathematics learning, curiosity and engaged thinking. There are suggestions for suitable commercially available games and explanations of the rules for card games, dominoes, alphabet games, dice games, drawing games and others. Ways of making a new game, or modifying an existing game are explored, and there are scores of ideas for using games to support mathematical concepts while having fun.