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The spread of approaches like making, tinkering, coding, robotics and 3D modelling in schools leads necessarily to a rethinking of teaching practices. At the same time, there is the opportunity to frame such practices in methodological approaches that promote the development of cognitive strategies in support of deeper learning processes. This article illustrates an iterative design methodology called IDeAL that proposes a learning path focused on the production of virtual and physical objects. The methodology provides useful tools to promote analytical skills and creative aptitudes necessary to foster the development of transversal competences. The aim of this article is to present and describe the teaching methodology, for meeting the interest of teachers and researchers in the sector. IDeAL: Una metodologia per costruire artefatti e promuovere le competenze trasversali in classeLa diffusione in ambito scolastico di pratiche di making, tinkering, coding, robotica e modellazione 3D porta ad un necessario ripensamento delle pratiche didattiche. Al contempo, si pone l’opportunità di inquadrare tali pratiche in percorsi metodologici che sappiano promuovere lo sviluppo di strategie cognitive a sostegno dei processi di apprendimento. Questo articolo illustra una metodologia progettuale chiamata IDeAL che propone un percorso di apprendimento incentrato sulla produzione di oggetti virtuali e fisici. La metodologia fornisce strumenti utili per promuovere capacità analitiche e attitudini creative necessarie per favorire lo sviluppo di competenze trasversali. Il contributo intende presentare e illustrare la metodologia, con l’auspicio che possa incontrare l’interesse di insegnanti e ricercatori del settore.

The utilization of creative design methodologies plays a pivotal role in nurturing innovation within the contemporary competitive market landscape. Although Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) has been recognized as a potent methodology for engendering innovative concepts, its intricate nature and time-consuming learning and application processes pose significant challenges. Furthermore, TRIZ has faced criticism for its limitations in processing design problems and facilitating designers in knowledge acquisition. Conversely, Environment-Based Design (EBD), a question-driven design methodology, provides robust methods and approaches for formulating design problems and identifying design conflicts. Large Language Models (LLMs) have also demonstrated the ability to streamline the design process and enhance design productivity. This study aims to propose an iteration of TRIZ integrated by EBD and supported by an LLM. This LLM-based conceptual design model assists designers through the conceptual design process. It begins by using question-asking and answering methods from EBD to gather relevant information. It then follows the EBD methodology to formulate the information into an interaction-dependence network, leading to the identification of functions and conflicts required by TRIZ. Lastly, TRIZ is used to generate inventive solutions. An evaluation is carried out to measure the effectiveness of the integrated approach. The results indicate that this approach successfully generates questions, processes designers’ responses, produces functional analysis elements, and generates ideas to resolve contradictions.

Students are becoming less motivated towards current education. For this reason, teachers are investigating several innovative methodologies to learn how they affect student motivation, such as gamification. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of gamification on the motivation of elementary physical education students. A total of 72 elementary school students from two different Spanish elementary schools participated (38 boys and 34 girls), separated into a gamified group (n = 35) and a control group (n = 37). Ten gamification sessions were performed using a technological app called ClassDojo. The gamified proposal was based on both a PBL model and an MDA model. A questionnaire, “Motivation Questionnaire in Physical Education” (CMEF-EP) was used to measure the motivation of the students before and after the intervention. An increase was observed in all the variables for the gamified group: intrinsic motivation (p < 0.001), identified regulation (p < 0.001), introjected regulation (p = 0.001), and external regulation (p = 0.002), except for the amotivation (p = 0.120). No changes were observed in the control group. A significant interaction effect over time was seen only for intrinsic motivation for the gamified group versus the control group (F(1) = 5.263; p = 0.025; η2 = 0.070). The results show the efficacy of gamification to increase the motivation of elementary physical education students. However, it does not decrease amotivation. This will enable the subject to contribute to achieving the United Nations’ proposed Sustainable Development Goal 4, which is to ‘Improve Quality Education’.

Alternative learning methods such as the Jigsaw Puzzle (JP) technique have gained prominence over traditional teaching to promote the acquisition of skills in Higher Education. The aim of this research was to compare the academic performance and satisfaction of students depending on whether the JP technique or traditional group work was used. This is a cross-sectional study that involved 61 students in their 2nd year of the Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (20.11 ± 0.43 years). In one class group, the JP technique was applied (n = 29), while the traditional technique was used in the other group (n = 32). After the end of the workshop, the grade and the degree of satisfaction obtained with the techniques used were evaluated. The JP group obtained a grade (X = 8.52; SD = 0.5) and a degree of satisfaction (X = 7.28; SD = 1.5) which were significantly higher than the traditional group (rating: X = 5.58; SD = 0.6; satisfaction: X = 6.34; SD = 1.6) (p ˂ .001 and p = .023, respectively). A correlation was found between grade and satisfaction (ICC = .360; p = .004). In conclusion, conducting a one-off session based on the JP technique versus using a traditional technique yields better grades and greater satisfaction with the teaching-learning process.

Although the number of quasi-experiments conducted by health researchers has increased in recent years, there clearly remains unrealized potential for using these methods for causal evaluation of health policies and programs globally. This article proposes five prescriptions for capturing the full value of quasi-experiments for health research. First, new funding opportunities targeting proposals that use quasi-experimental methods should be made available to a broad pool of health researchers. Second, administrative data from health programs, often amenable to quasi-experimental analysis, should be made more accessible to researchers. Third, training in quasi-experimental methods should be integrated into existing health science graduate programs to increase global capacity to use these methods. Fourth, clear guidelines for primary research and synthesis of evidence from quasi-experiments should be developed. Fifth, strategic investments should be made to continue to develop new innovations in quasi-experimental methodologies. Tremendous opportunities exist to expand the use of quasi-experimental methods to increase our understanding of which health programs and policies work and which do not. Health researchers should continue to expand their commitment to rigorous causal evaluation with quasi-experimental methods, and international institutions should increase their support for these efforts.

Designing Effective Web Surveys is a practical guide to designing web surveys, based on empirical evidence and grounded in scientific research and theory. It is designed to guide survey practitioners in the art and science of developing and deploying successful web surveys. The author guides the researcher through the steps involved, from the basic building blocks and suggests ways to increase visual impact and interactivity. Throughout, he considers the importance of layout and design, and attention is also given to the way questions are put together. The book is intended for academic, government, and market researchers who design and conduct web surveys.

There is currently concern about the decrease in physical activity participation among university students. To address this issue, different pedagogical approaches have been developed to improve participants’ motivation, with gamification standing out among them. Gamification integrates game design elements into learning environments to increase responsibility, motivation, and engagement in physical activities in different educational stages through intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, although evidence is limited and diverse. Therefore, this study investigates how gamification affects the motivational profile of university students in the context of physical activity. The study was conducted with university students of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (n = 72), using an experimental design that included a gamified group (GG) and a control group (CG) without gamification. A questionnaire was used to measure motivation before and after the intervention. The results showed a significant increase in intrinsic motivation and a decrease in amotivation in the gamified group, while no significant changes were observed in the control group. However, there were increases in extrinsic motivation in both groups. These findings suggest that gamification can be effective in improving intrinsic motivation and reducing amotivation in university students for physical activity as well as enhancing extrinsic motivation considering the rewards used.

Information technology has been used as a solution for improving productivity and service quality by enterprises, and software systematization supported by information technology has increasingly become the foundation for enterprise service. Innovation towards enterprise architecture improvement is usually necessary to provide high-quality service and create new value. This paper proposes a methodology aiming at stimulating innovation by evaluating the value provided by software system while visualizing the enterprise architectures. In this paper, the constituents of traditional business modeling methods are analyzed and integrated. Next, an innovation methodology based on ArchiMate framework is described and the detailed steps are defined. To evaluate the effectiveness of this proposed method, a case study on a Japanese convenience store information system is conducted and a controlled experiment is carried out.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to document and analyse the processes underpinning the Southern African Social Innovation Camp (the Camp). This paper details the theoretical basis on which the Camp was designed and assesses the ways in which the participants experienced the camp in light of these theoretical principles. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design was used with four sources of data: participant reviews of the Camp, in-depth interviews with stakeholders, the researcher’s field notes and a reflective blog posted online by one of the participants. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings Three themes emerged from the analysis. The Camp as a foreign but safe space that moves people out of their comfort zones, enabling innovative thinking; the importance of discipline and rigour in self-organising groups; and the interplay of diversity feedback and trust/mistrust. The theoretical principles which informed the design of the Camp were clearly evident in these themes. Research limitations/implications No evaluation of the degree of innovativeness/quality of the prototypes. While the focus of the study was on participants’ experiences, a clearer indicator of the innovativeness and usefulness of the prototypes would have provided greater insight. Originality/value The study describes a theoretical framework for designing innovation groups and establishes the usefulness of the framework for analysing the group processes. Based on the results, recommendations for effective functioning in innovation groups are proposed: group diversification; discipline and rigour in group facilitation; vigilance in eliminating hierarchy; and managing the interplay between diversity, feedback and trust.

While the diffusion and evaluation of healthcare innovations receive a lot of attention, the early design stages are less studied and potential innovators lack methods to identify where new innovations are necessary and to propose concepts relevant to users. To change this, we propose a structured methodology, Radical Innovation Design (RID), which supports designers who want to work on the unstated needs of potential end users in order to create superior value. In this article, the first part of RID is introduced with its two subprocesses: Problem Design and Knowledge Design. In this first period, RID guides innovators to systematically explore users’ problems and evaluate which ones are most pressing in terms of innovation, taking into account existing solutions. The result is an ambition perimeter, composed of a set of value buckets, that is, important usage situations where major problems are experienced and the current solutions provide little or no relief. The methodology then moves on to Solution Design and Business Design (which are not detailed in this article) to address the value buckets identified. With its emphasis on problem exploration, RID differs from methods based on early prototyping. The RID methodology has been validated in various industrial sectors and is well-adapted for healthcare innovation. To exemplify the methodology, we present a case study in dental imagery performed by 10 students in 8 weeks. This example demonstrates how RID favours efficiency in Problem Design and allows designers to explore unaddressed and sometimes undeclared user needs.