Serious games baseados em realidade virtual para educação médica

A evolução tecnológica tem permitido utilizar novas abordagens no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Os serious games se relacionam com uma categoria especial de jogos, voltados a conteúdos e finalidades específicos, nos quais o jogador utiliza seus conhecimentos para resolver problemas, conhecer novas problemáticas e treinar tarefas. Uma das tecnologias propícias à construção de serious games é a Realidade Virtual, que oferece ambientes computacionais tridimensionais com formas avançadas de interação capazes de prover maior motivação ao processo de aprendizagem. No contexto da educação médica, tais aplicações apresentam um nicho ainda pouco explorado, se observados sua relevância e impactos na sociedade. Este artigo apresenta os serious games baseados em Realidade Virtual como uma proposta para o ensino de conteúdos específicos da área médica. Para isso, categoriza-os e apresenta o que tem sido desenvolvido nos últimos anos, seus componentes, características de desenvolvimento e suas potencialidades como oportunidades de pesquisa, desenvolvimento e negócios.

Tecnologia educacional no contexto do ensino de histologia: pesquisa e desenvolvimento de um ambiente virtual de ensino e aprendizagem

Discutem-se as mudanças constatadas no ensino da Histologia, como a tecnologia tem sido empregada nos contextos de aprendizagem, os aspectos pedagógicos inerentes à utilização de recursos, tais como atlas digitais e microscópios virtuais, e apresenta-se pesquisa sobre o desenvolvimento de um ambiente virtual de ensino-aprendizagem de Histologia, que contou com a participação de alunos e professores em sua construção. Verificou-se que os ambientes virtuais e outros recursos didáticos baseados nas Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação (TICs) procuram atender à atual tendência de complementar a educação presencial com ferramentas de educação a distância, que podem ser utilizadas facultativamente no estudo extraclasse continuado. Concluiu-se que, embora as novas tecnologias possam contribuir para o ensino de Histologia, os materiais didáticos baseados em TICs devem se adequar às expectativas docentes e discentes e aos aspectos pedagógicos e ergonômicos, e precisam ser adotados pelos professores não como ferramentas isoladas, mas integrados às estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem.

Desenvolvimento de um ambiente virtual de ensino em histologia para estudantes da saúde

As tecnologias da informação e da comunicação (TICs) têm sido amplamente utilizadas no ensino da saúde. As plataformas usadas para o desenvolvimento do ambiente virtual de ensino (AVE) geralmente apresentam uma linguagem de informática complexa. O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um AVE em Histologia voltado para estudantes da área da saúde, disponibilizado na internet com o uso de uma plataforma de uso gratuito e livre. O material elaborado utilizou diferentes TICs, como: animações, vídeos, atlas virtual, aulas virtuais, simulados online e chat. Foi desenvolvido um AVE com uso da plataforma online wordpress.org, que apresentou as seguintes vantagens: fácil manipulação, gerenciamento e atualização do site; interface simples; ampla quantidade de plugins disponíveis, que supriram as necessidades primárias do AVE; e utilização gratuita e livre. Embora esse recurso possa facilitar o aprendizado em Histologia, é preciso avaliar sua efetividade.

Ambiente Virtual de Avaliação de Competências no Manejo do Diabetes Mellitus

RESUMO O diabetes mellitus apresenta inúmeras lacunas na efetividade do seu tratamento, e a avaliação em serviço necessita ser contínua, sistemática e com dimensão orientadora de seus elementos intrínsecos: processo formativo e avaliação de competências profissional. Objetivo Apresentar o desenho didático de construção de ferramenta de avaliação de competências que o médico possui sobre o manejo do diabetes mellitus, com base em sua fisiopatologia. Métodos Estruturada como uma pesquisa participativa, o Ambiente Virtual de Avaliação de Competências, por meio de casos clínicos virtuais simulados, propõe um desenho aberto que vai sendo construído, avaliado, corrigido e melhorado durante sua execução. Resultados Com Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), o instrumento foi desenvolvido no âmbito de uma pesquisa de mestrado vinculada à Telessaúde da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Goiás. Validado o instrumento, viabilizou-se sua utilização por discentes e profissionais. Considerações As ações interativas propostas pelo ambiente virtual possibilitarão avaliar conhecimentos e identificar padrões que poderão melhorar conteúdos para manejo do DM. Propõe-se sua utilização na rede básica de saúde para confirmar sua validação, a fim de alcançar seus objetivos.

Virtuaalisen yhteistyön mahdollisuuksia maavoimien tutkimus- ja kehittämistoiminnassa

Hajautettujen ryhmien käyttöä ja virtuaalista yhteistyötä on tutkittu runsaasti. Useat tutkimukset ovat kuvanneet globaalien tiimien toimintaa ja keskittyneet yritysmaailmaan. Puolustusvoimissa on tutkittu virtuaalisen työskentelyn hyödyntämistä, mutta tutkimukset painottuvat opiskelumenetelmiin. Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää virtuaalisen yhteistyön edellytyksiä ja sen tarjoamia mahdollisuuksia maavoimien tutkimus- ja kehittämistoiminnassa. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa tarkasteltiin hajautetun organisaation rakennetta ja johtamista, virtuaalisen yhteistyön edellytyksiä sekä eri viestintävälineiden soveltuvuutta erilaisiin tehtäviin. Empiirinen osuus toteutettiin haastattelututkimuksena kolmessa fokusryhmässä laadullisen analyysin menetelmin. Tutkimuksessa saatiin selville, että rakenteelliset ja tekniset edellytykset virtuaalisen yhteistyön hyödyntämiselle ovat olemassa, mutta organisaation sisäinen vuoropuhelu ei toimi. Tämä osin estää virtuaalisen yhteistyön, koska työryhmiä ei muodostu tai ryhmillä ei ole selkeitä tavoitteita. T&K -toiminnan prosessi on kuvattu varsin tarkasti, mutta prosessi ei toimi kuvatulla tavalla. Tutkimus- ja kehittämistoiminnan ohjaus ei onnistu, mikä johtaa epäselvyyksiin resurssien käytön suunnittelussa. Yhtenä tekijänä suunnittelun epäonnistumisessa on projektijohtamisen ja projektinhallinnan osaamattomuus.

Avaliação do treinamento de operadores de harvester com uso de simulador de realidade virtual

Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar os potenciais ganhos de operadores de harvester no treinamento com uso de simuladores de realidade virtual. Foram coletados dados durante o treinamento de 39 operadores, avaliando-se os seus desempenhos nas variáveis: tempo de execução no corte da árvore, direção de queda, altura de corte, eficiência no processamento, eficiência no empilhamento e produtividade. Os resultados permitiram a conclusão de que o simulador de realidade virtual é uma ferramenta viável do ponto de vista técnico e essencial no apoio ao treinamento de operadores de máquinas florestais, possibilitando a obtenção de elevados ganhos de qualidade e produtividade. O melhor desempenho dos operadores ocorreu com a variável produtividade, cujo ganho médio foi de 41,3% em relação ao início do treinamento, seguido pelo tempo de execução, com 38,8%; e pela direção de queda, com ganho médio de 36,1%.

Diameter structure of stratum and ecological groups of a Semideciduous Forest area in Dionísio-MG

The objective of this study was to obtain homogeneous groups of species and information on their density, dominance and volume, in terms of ecological group and diameter structure of an area of Submontane Semideciduous forest (Mata do Mumbaça) in Dionísio, MG. This work was conducted with data of the diameter distribution per species from floristic and phytosociological (Mata do Mumbaça) survey of 120 plots with 10 x 10 m each one. The 120 plots were contiguous and corresponding to a total sample area of 12,000 m² distributed over the topographic units (Low Ramp, Lower Slope, Upper Slope and Hill Top). The topographic units Low Ramp, Lower Slope and Upper Slope were in the middle stage of succession as they presented incipient stratification into two strata (canopy and understory) i.e. canopy ranging from 5 to 12 m high. However, the stratum Hill Top was classified as intermediate/advanced succession because it had a total height equal to or greater than 12 m. The distribution of individual trees of the four strata on diameter classes showed a typical J-inverted pattern that is, high concentration of individuals in smaller diameter classes and a sharp reduction towards the larger classes. In relation to absolute dominance and total volume of species, the ecological group that stood out in the four strata (Low Ramp, Lower Slope, Upper Slope and Hill Top) was the initial secondary, which were in the intermediate stage of secondary, rapidly developing into the mature phase.

Uuden tiedon luominen blogiviestinnässä

Virtuaaliset yhteisöt ja erilaiset virtuaaliset välineet yhteisöllisyyden mahdollistamiselle ovat kasvavan tieteellisen mielenkiinnon kohteena. Tässä tutkimuksessa tutkittiin uuden tiedon luomisen prosessia blogiviestinnässä. Tämä tehtiin käyttäen tietojohtamisen tieteenalalla perusteoriana pidettyä Ikujiro Nonakan uuden tiedon luomisen SECImalliia. Blogiympäristöä tarkasteltiin niin ikään Ikujiro Nonakan bakäsitteen avulla. Aihetta tarkennettiin pohtimalla ryhmäytymistä ja sen ilmenemistä virtuaalisessa viestinnässä. Tutkimus toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksena, ja tutkimuskohteena oli Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston opintojaksolla ”Virtuaalinen yhteistyö ja tietotekniset työkalut” käytetty verkko-oppimissovelluksen tarjoama blogialusta. Tutkimuksen empiirisen osan muodostaa aineisto, joka rakentuu opiskelijoiden omista opintojaksoon kuuluvista blogikeskusteluista. Tutkimuksen tärkeimpänä johtopäätöksenä havaittiin, että blogiviestintä edistää uuden tiedon luomista. Edelleen todettiin että blogialusta tukee välineenä uuden tiedon luomisen prosessia, ja tarjoaa tiedon luomiselle hyvän virtuaalisen ympäristön, ba:n. Uuden tiedon luomiseen vaikutti luottamus niin teknistä alustaa, opettajia kuin yhteisöä kohtaan. Avaintekijöiksi nousi avoimuus, tahto jakaa omaa tietämystään, mielenkiinto aiheeseen sekä ryhmäkoheesio. Uuden tiedon rakentumisen huomaaminen, ja virtuaalisen yhteisön uuden tiedon luomisen potentiaalin ymmärtäminen nostivat kollektiivisesti tahtoa rikastaa yleistä keskustelua, heijastaa omia kokemuksia muiden kokemuksiin, sekä jakaa yhteiset johtopäätökset, eli sosiaalistaa, ulkoistaa, yhdistää ja sisäistää kollektiivisesti luotu tieto yksilön kokemukseksi.

Thinking Outside the Box: Enhancing Science Teaching by Combining (Instead of Contrasting) Laboratory and Simulation Activities

The focus of the present work was on 10- to 12-year-old elementary school students’ conceptual learning outcomes in science in two specific inquiry-learning environments, laboratory and simulation. The main aim was to examine if it would be more beneficial to combine than contrast simulation and laboratory activities in science teaching. It was argued that the status quo where laboratories and simulations are seen as alternative or competing methods in science teaching is hardly an optimal solution to promote students’ learning and understanding in various science domains. It was hypothesized that it would make more sense and be more productive to combine laboratories and simulations. Several explanations and examples were provided to back up the hypothesis. In order to test whether learning with the combination of laboratory and simulation activities can result in better conceptual understanding in science than learning with laboratory or simulation activities alone, two experiments were conducted in the domain of electricity. In these experiments students constructed and studied electrical circuits in three different learning environments: laboratory (real circuits), simulation (virtual circuits), and simulation-laboratory combination (real and virtual circuits were used simultaneously). In order to measure and compare how these environments affected students’ conceptual understanding of circuits, a subject knowledge assessment questionnaire was administered before and after the experimentation. The results of the experiments were presented in four empirical studies. Three of the studies focused on learning outcomes between the conditions and one on learning processes. Study I analyzed learning outcomes from experiment I. The aim of the study was to investigate if it would be more beneficial to combine simulation and laboratory activities than to use them separately in teaching the concepts of simple electricity. Matched-trios were created based on the pre-test results of 66 elementary school students and divided randomly into a laboratory (real circuits), simulation (virtual circuits) and simulation-laboratory combination (real and virtual circuits simultaneously) conditions. In each condition students had 90 minutes to construct and study various circuits. The results showed that studying electrical circuits in the simulation–laboratory combination environment improved students’ conceptual understanding more than studying circuits in simulation and laboratory environments alone. Although there were no statistical differences between simulation and laboratory environments, the learning effect was more pronounced in the simulation condition where the students made clear progress during the intervention, whereas in the laboratory condition students’ conceptual understanding remained at an elementary level after the intervention. Study II analyzed learning outcomes from experiment II. The aim of the study was to investigate if and how learning outcomes in simulation and simulation-laboratory combination environments are mediated by implicit (only procedural guidance) and explicit (more structure and guidance for the discovery process) instruction in the context of simple DC circuits. Matched-quartets were created based on the pre-test results of 50 elementary school students and divided randomly into a simulation implicit (SI), simulation explicit (SE), combination implicit (CI) and combination explicit (CE) conditions. The results showed that when the students were working with the simulation alone, they were able to gain significantly greater amount of subject knowledge when they received metacognitive support (explicit instruction; SE) for the discovery process than when they received only procedural guidance (implicit instruction: SI). However, this additional scaffolding was not enough to reach the level of the students in the combination environment (CI and CE). A surprising finding in Study II was that instructional support had a different effect in the combination environment than in the simulation environment. In the combination environment explicit instruction (CE) did not seem to elicit much additional gain for students’ understanding of electric circuits compared to implicit instruction (CI). Instead, explicit instruction slowed down the inquiry process substantially in the combination environment. Study III analyzed from video data learning processes of those 50 students that participated in experiment II (cf. Study II above). The focus was on three specific learning processes: cognitive conflicts, self-explanations, and analogical encodings. The aim of the study was to find out possible explanations for the success of the combination condition in Experiments I and II. The video data provided clear evidence about the benefits of studying with the real and virtual circuits simultaneously (the combination conditions). Mostly the representations complemented each other, that is, one representation helped students to interpret and understand the outcomes they received from the other representation. However, there were also instances in which analogical encoding took place, that is, situations in which the slightly discrepant results between the representations ‘forced’ students to focus on those features that could be generalised across the two representations. No statistical differences were found in the amount of experienced cognitive conflicts and self-explanations between simulation and combination conditions, though in self-explanations there was a nascent trend in favour of the combination. There was also a clear tendency suggesting that explicit guidance increased the amount of self-explanations. Overall, the amount of cognitive conflicts and self-explanations was very low. The aim of the Study IV was twofold: the main aim was to provide an aggregated overview of the learning outcomes of experiments I and II; the secondary aim was to explore the relationship between the learning environments and students’ prior domain knowledge (low and high) in the experiments. Aggregated results of experiments I & II showed that on average, 91% of the students in the combination environment scored above the average of the laboratory environment, and 76% of them scored also above the average of the simulation environment. Seventy percent of the students in the simulation environment scored above the average of the laboratory environment. The results further showed that overall students seemed to benefit from combining simulations and laboratories regardless of their level of prior knowledge, that is, students with either low or high prior knowledge who studied circuits in the combination environment outperformed their counterparts who studied in the laboratory or simulation environment alone. The effect seemed to be slightly bigger among the students with low prior knowledge. However, more detailed inspection of the results showed that there were considerable differences between the experiments regarding how students with low and high prior knowledge benefitted from the combination: in Experiment I, especially students with low prior knowledge benefitted from the combination as compared to those students that used only the simulation, whereas in Experiment II, only students with high prior knowledge seemed to benefit from the combination relative to the simulation group. Regarding the differences between simulation and laboratory groups, the benefits of using a simulation seemed to be slightly higher among students with high prior knowledge. The results of the four empirical studies support the hypothesis concerning the benefits of using simulation along with laboratory activities to promote students’ conceptual understanding of electricity. It can be concluded that when teaching students about electricity, the students can gain better understanding when they have an opportunity to use the simulation and the real circuits in parallel than if they have only the real circuits or only a computer simulation available, even when the use of the simulation is supported with the explicit instruction. The outcomes of the empirical studies can be considered as the first unambiguous evidence on the (additional) benefits of combining laboratory and simulation activities in science education as compared to learning with laboratories and simulations alone.

Virtual Battlespace 2 Panssarikoulun opetuksessa : tapaustutkimus sotilaspedagogiikan näkökulmasta

Tutkielmani tavoitteena oli tutkia tapauksena Bohemia Interactive Simulationsin valmistaman Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2) -tietokonepelisimulaattorin käyttöönottoa Panssariprikaatin Panssarikoulun varusmieskoulutuksessa. Tutkimuskysymysten avulla oli tarkoituksena selvittää, mitkä tekijät ja tapahtumat vaikuttivat siihen, että VBS2 otettiin käyttöön, minkälaisin perustein koulutus suunniteltiin ja järjestelmän käyttö varusmieskoulutuksessa käynnistettiin. Lisäksi ajatuksena oli aineiston mahdollistamissa puitteissa tutkia VBS2:n käytöstä tähän mennessä kertyneitä kokemuksia kouluttajien näkökulmasta, tavoitteena tuottaa myös perustietoa tulevaisuuden VBS2-koulutuksen suunnittelua ja toteuttamista varten. Tutkimusmenetelmänä oli tapaustutkimus, jonka aineisto kerättiin toteuttamalla teemahaastatteluita. Tutkimusta varten haastateltiin kahta VBS2-järjestelmää ensimmäisenä varusmieskoulutuksessa käyttänyttä kouluttajaa. Haastatteluaineisto käsiteltiin aineistolähtöisen sisällönanalyysin menetelmin. Tuloksia tarkasteltiin sotilaspedagogiikan näkökulmasta ja suhteessa oppimisympäristöjen sekä oppimisprosessin suunnittelun teorioihin. Tutkielma rakentuu johdannosta, menetelmäluvusta, yhdistetystä teoria- ja tulosluvusta sekä johtopäätös- ja pohdintaluvusta. Tutkimuksen tuloksina ilmeni, että Virtual Battlespace 2:n käyttöönotto Panssarikoulussa oli aktiivisten ja innovatiivisten henkilöiden aikaansaannosta, jossa spontaanin, ennakkoluulottoman ja opetuksen laadun kehittämiseen tähtäävän kokeilun myötä otettiin käyttöön uudenlainen koulutusväline. Samalla saatiin aikaan myönteisiä oppimistuloksia ja kiinnostavia muutoksia yhden joukkoyksikön koulutuskulttuuriin ja totunnaisiin koulutuksen käytäntöihin. VBS2:n käyttöön liittyviä keskeisiä teemoja ovat oppimisprosessin kokonaisvaltainen hallinta, eli VBS2-koulutuksen huolellinen suunnittelu ja integrointi osaksi muuta koulutusta, koulutustapahtumien valmistelujen ja kouluttajien ammattitaidon merkitys, koulutustapahtumien johtamisen paikoin muusta sotilaskoulutuksesta poikkeavat käytännöt sekä VBS2:n aikaansaaman oppimisen ymmärtäminen. Kouluttajien kokemusten perusteella VBS2 on avoin oppimisympäristö, joka ei korvaa mitään olemassa olevista koulutusmuodoista, mutta täydentää niitä tehokkaasti tarjoten uudenlaisia ulottuvuuksia sotilaskoulutukseen. Sen avulla voidaan tehokkaasti kehittää erityisesti sotilaan henkistä ja sosiaalista toimintakykyä sekä siirtää koulutuksen painopistettä soveltaviin maastoharjoituksiin. Tutkielma avaa näkökulmia VBS2:n ja muiden virtuaalisten oppimisympäristöjen pedagogiselle pohtimiselle ja tuleville aiheeseen syventyville tutkimuksille. Lisäksi se herättää keskustelua varusmieskoulutuksemme parhaista käytänteistä ja kehitystrendeistä.

Realidade virtual e robótica em cirurgia: aonde chegamos e para onde vamos?

Minimally Invasive Surgery, Telesurgery, Robotics and Virtual Reality represent the technological frontiers that have revolutionized operating practices nowadays. These new technologies aim at improving the quality of assistance offered to patients; thus, they demand from the medical staff more effective measures as far as scientific research, training and expenditure of time and financial resources are concerned. In the past, surgeons have led several medical revolutions, such as the use of antiseptic surgical methods by Semelweiss, the use of anesthesia by Warren, antibiotic therapy, the transplants and the onset of the minimally invasive surgery by Mouret and Perissat. The objective of this article is to present the outreach of this new technology which comprises minimal access, computing, robotics and teletransmission. We have concluded that the new technologies developed in the medical field in the last decades, will offer new options and challenges for the treatment of the surgical patient, leading the scientific knowledge to a new era, the one of the virtual environment.

Collaborative information behaviour : a case study of two research groups

The aim of the licentiate thesis is to examine researchers' information practices in research groups. The researchers were involved with study communication and media related issues within Social Sciences and Humanities Faculties. The theoretical framework of the study comprises the new holistic models of information seeking (for example: Meho and Tibbo, 2003; Seldén, 1999) and the collective aspects of information behaviour (Prekop, 2002 ; Talja, 2002; Talja and Hansen, 2006). The research questions are: 1. How do scholars seek information in research groups? 2 What kind of collaborative information behaviour occurs in the research groups? The research data was gathered by interviews and observations. Three meetings of a research group at the University of Tampere were observed during the autumn of 2004. The group members and the group leader of the research group were interviewed in the spring of 2005. The research group members and the group leader of a research group at the University of Jyväskylä were interviewed in the autumn of 2005. Altogether, two research group leaders and eight researchers were interviewed. The significance of the research group for information seeking is more important in closeknit research groups than in rather loose research groups. The significance of the research group for information seeking can be at least threefold. First, research group members can inform the group about relevant information resources and potential library or other information services. Second, the research group can to some extent compensate for the information seeking systems of libraries by distributing material and information resources. Third, information seeking can be carried out in collaboration in research groups. The significance of the research group was found to be most important in informing about new information services and marketing library systems. Recommendations from colleagues were often needed to mobilize researchers into using new library services. The significance of colleagues in informing about library services is in line with earlier studies. The present study showed that sometimes information from colleagues was regarded as more important than information distributed directly by the local library. A culture of information sharing, including mutual trust, seemed mainly to be reflected in collaboration and collaborative information seeking in the research groups studied. The timing of the onset of individual research seemed to be related to the information sharing culture and social networks in research groups. The simultaneous onset of the research work by group members seemed to promote the growth of unbiased collaboration, also in information seeking.