Serious Games

Abstract

One business school addressed the “zeitgeist” of the financial crisis by introducing in its inaugural seminar the cultural and ethical values too often absent from the types of transactions students are trained to manage. Drawing from cross-cultural and communication studies, the author tested “serious games”—cultural situations and personal development exercises aimed at rewarding rule-based cooperation, interpersonal communication, and cultural empathy. Observations made during the games fostered curriculum reform by integrating humanistic concerns considered vital for international finance careers. Linking such training to business learning objectives enhances accountability, rule-based action, and cultural awareness reform.

Near‐Surface [Ga]/([In]+[Ga]) Composition in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin‐Film Solar Cell Absorbers: An Overlooked Material Feature

“…To further reduce this intricate experimental uncertainty, we acknowledge that an experiment, including the thorough characterization of suitable reference compounds of known composition in the near-surface region, should ideally be performed in a single experimental endstation that allows tuning the excitation energy in a similar range (i.e., 150-5950 eV). Until access to such an infrastructure [of which only one is currently operational worldwide: I09 setup at Diamond Light Source (http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Beamlines/Surfaces-and-Interfaces/I09.html); and another one is about to get online: [10] as probed by X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF, displayed for comparison as the gray-shaded area in Figure 2a). The ID of the XRF analysis is estimated to be several tens of μm, an order of magnitude higher than the thickness of the studied absorber layers, [11] Figure S6, Supporting Information), we conclude that the lower Ga composition detected from the measurements with IMFP values <2 nm is not an effect of the KCN etch cleaning procedure.…”

Tackling the Survey: A Learning-by-Induction Design

“…Students undertake the four self-learning tasks within a 2-week period. The instructor publishes an imposed list of learning teams where students representing different nationalities, genders, and/or different bachelor’s degrees are mixed to obtain groups based on complimentary background disciplines rather than friendship ties (Witte, 2014). Group diversity should help lower researcher and question bias.…”

Gamification in the Business Communication Course

“…Games and game elements have been used to teach technical communication (Fisher, 2007; Russell & Fisher, 2009), cross-cultural workplace communication (Robinson et al, 2000), logistics and supply chain management (Reiners et al, 2012), history (Corbeil & Laveault, 2011), interpersonal relationships in an international business school (Witte, 2014), strategic management (Knotts & Keys, 1997), and team building (Beard, 1990; Scarfino & Roever, 2009), among others. Confounding factors make empirical study of gamification difficult, but there have been promising correlations with increased student engagement, motivation, and feelings of autonomy and control, factors that correlate with improved learning outcomes (Aguilar, Holman, & Fishman, 2015; Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014).…”