PURPOSE. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and users' perspectives of a novel virtual reality (VR) game-based rehabilitation intervention for people with stroke. METHOD. Six people with upper limb hemiplegia participated in a 6-week intervention that involved VR games. A series of eight progressively complex games was developed that required participants to navigate a submarine in a virtual ocean environment. Movement of the submarine was directed by forces applied to an arm interface by the affected limb. Outcome measures included assessments of arm function, questionnaires evaluating the intervention and a semi-structured interview concerning the participants' opinion of the intervention. RESULTS. All participants improved their performance on the games, although there were limited changes in clinical measures of arm function. All participants reported that they enjoyed the intervention with a wide range of overall perceptions of the experience of using VR. Three themes emerging from the interview data were: stretching myself, purpose and expectations of the intervention and future improvements. CONCLUSIONS. Participants found that taking part in this pilot study was enjoyable and challenging. Participants' feedback suggested that the games may be motivating and engaging for future users and have provided a basis for further development of the intervention.
Based on data gathered via survey questionnaire and follow up in-class discussion, the paper explores the ways undergraduate students think of themselves as writers and readers. Data drawn from a pilot survey in 2007 and a second in 2009 provides the impetus for discussion of issues of literacy and identity in a digital world. Of interest is 1) what first-year students anticipate they need to do and know, and 2) how final-year students reflect on what they have learnt in terms of academic literacies and related skills. A key issue is the way students bring a particular identity as readers and writers to university, and how this is transformed and re-inscribed through their studies. The importance of teaching for the development of rhetorical dexterity in a digital environment is highlighted because students" digital literacy is a core element in their literacy identity. The paper also asks "how far should educators go in working into the space of digital literacies?"
Virtual reality-based games are becoming increasingly popular as rehabilitation interventions for people with movement disorders. The goal of this study was to perform a qualitative evaluation of a novel system for upper limb stroke rehabilitation to provide guidance for future system development. Participants completed 18 sessions with the intervention over six weeks. They found the intervention to be enjoyable and challenging. The concept of being stretched, the scoring and feedback systems, and the scope for competition were important aspects that influenced participant response to the intervention.
This paper argues for recognition of shared goals and purposes for all teachers of writing (professional, creative, academic, technical) while acknowledging the intrinsic differences in their domains. It argues as well for an assertion of a discipline of writing, in professional and public contexts, so that the public including our students might acknowledge the activities and processes of the discipline. While the debates on these matters have been aired in TEXT and other forums for some time, the proposition enunciated here is prompted by reflections on the preliminary findings of a study, part of a collaborative international project, to examine students' perceptions of their writing and reading practices and of their needs as writers in transition into and through an undergraduate writing program. Early data about student perceptions and expectations have raised issues relevant to the debates about teaching writing (and reading) and how writing courses are perceived, prompting the reflections offered in this paper. Such speculations lead to the suggestion that as writing teachers we adopt a pedagogical principle of supporting all our students to develop inter alia what Shannon Carter (2007: 574) has termed 'rhetorical dexterity', and that this might be aligned with an acceptance of the imagination as a tool in all writing [1] particularly as the digital medium changes reading and writing practices and the design, production and reception of texts.
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