Accord mooc lesson_3
- 1. accord-project.eu ACCORD PROJECT Attain Cultural Integration through COnflict Resolution skill Development Lesson 3
- 2. ACCORD MOOC LESSON 3 The use of Serious Games in the school context: ACCORD games for Teacher-pupils inter-ethnic and intercultural interactions
- 3. Introduction In this lesson, the ACCORD Game for Teacher-pupils inter-ethnic and intercultural interactions will be described. ? in Unit 1 it will be proposed the psychological modelling which has driven the development of ACCORD Game, starting from the integration and operationalization of two main dimensions: multicultural personality (Lesson 1) and conflict management styles (Lesson 2). ?Therefore, in Unit 2, the ACCORD Game will be described in depth, highlighting its main characteristics and providing instructions for its use.
- 4. UNIT 1 PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELLING: CONNECTING MULTICULTURAL PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES
- 5. Rationale of ACCORD Project The ACCORD project provides an innovative interactive virtual tool specifically developed on the basis of findings from research on the five dimensions of Multicultural Personality (i.e. Cultural Empathy, Open- mindedness, Social Initiative, Emotional Stability, Flexibility) (Lesson 1) and on the five conflict management styles (i.e. Integrating, Obliging, Dominating, Avoiding, Compromising) (Lesson 2). The development of the psychological model underpinning the ACCORD Game started from the consideration that promoting the reflection and the awareness concerning the appropriateness of the five conflict management styles to handle intercultural conflicts would, in turn, trigger and stimulate the awareness and the expression of multicultural personality characteristics that have been considered as relevant for the intercultural effectiveness. Therefore, considering both the relevance of possessing specific personality characteristics (i.e., Multicultural Personality dimensions) for teachers and educators to efficiently dealing with the actual increasingly multi-ethnic school context and their need of efficiently managing conflictual situations in the interactions with culturally different students, the ACCORD project moves from the interest in connecting these two key dimensions in secondary school teachers and educators.
- 6. ACCORD National Survey AIMS The ACCORD project aims to create constructive interactive virtual learning environments organised in role playing scenarios, addressing intercultural diversity in order to: ? promote secondary school teachers awareness of the appropriateness of the five conflict management styles to handle intercultural conflicts as well as the awareness of the significant role played by multicultural personality characteristics; ? support them to effectively manage intercultural conflicts which may arise in the school and in classes; ? promote effectiveness in teachers-pupils intercultural interactions and the inclusion of culturally diverse students. Thus, we have been firstly interested in understanding whether there were significant correlations between multicultural personality dimensions and the individuals¡¯ styles of handling conflicts in secondary school teachers and educators, to provide meaningful indications regarding which area and aspects the ROLE PLAYING LEARNING SCENARIOS should be focused. Therefore, within ACCORD project, a national survey was conducted across the five European project partner countries (Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Germany) in order to gain insight regarding teachers¡¯ multicultural personality and conflict management styles.
- 7. Multicultural Personality Factors Individual competence as successfully operating in a new cultural environment, feeling of psychological well-being in multicultural environment, and interest in and ability to deal with individuals from a different cultural background (Van der Zee et al., 2000). Conflict Management Styles General and consistent orientation toward the other party and the conflict issues, manifest in observable behaviours that form a pattern and share common characteristics over time (Kuhn & Poole, 2000; Rahim, 1983) CULTURAL EMPATHY OPEN-MINDEDNESSS SOCIAL INITIATIVE EMOTIONAL STABILITY FLEXIBILITY INTEGRATING DOMINATING OBLIGING AVOIDING COMPROMISING ACCORD National Survey: two key dimensions
- 8. ACCORD National Survey: Methodology A questionnaire was submitted online to secondary school teachers. It consisted of: oopen and closed-ended questions to collect Socio-demographic characteristics (Gender; Age; Country; Working Experience); ospecific information on the work context (i.e., Geographical Location of Institution; Working Position; Percentage of Students with immigrant background in Classroom; Participation to Intercultural Trainings); othe Multicultural Personality Questionnaire Short-Form (MPQ-SF; Van der Zee, Van Oudenhoven, Ponterotto, & Fietzer, 2013); othe Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II, Form B; Rahim, 1983; 2001). Overall 589 subjects agreed to be enrolled in the study. Statistical Analyses: data were analysed using Pearson¡¯s Correlations.
- 9. Results: correlations between Multicultural Personality dimensions and Conflict Management Styles DIMENSIONS OF MULTICULTURAL PERSONALITY INCREASED LEVELS OF: DECREASED LEVELS OF: Cultural Empathy Integrating, Obliging and Compromising styles Dominating style Open-Mindedness Integrating, Obliging and Compromising styles - Social Initiative Integrating, Obliging and Compromising styles Avoiding style Emotional Stability Integrating style Obliging and Dominating styles Flexibility - Dominating and Avoiding styles Findings from Person¡¯s correlations analysis (Pearson¡¯s r) highlighted significant correlations between Multicultural Personality dimensions and the different Conflict Management styles.
- 10. CULTURAL EMPATHY PERSONALITY DIMENSION INTEGRATING STYLE OBLIGING STYLE COMPROMISING STYLE DOMINATING STYLE Connection between Cultural Empathy Personality dimension and adopted Conflict Management styles Note. No significant connection between Cultural Empathy personality dimension and Avoiding style was found. h increasing presence of this Multicultural Personality dimension increasing adoption of this conflict management style decreasing adoption of this conflict management style
- 11. OPEN-MINDEDNESS PERSONALITY DIMENSION INTEGRATING STYLE OBLIGING STYLE COMPROMISING STYLE Connection between Open-mindedness Personality dimension and adopted Conflict Management styles Note. No significant connections between Open-mindedness personality dimension and both Dominating and Avoiding styles were found. h increasing presence of this Multicultural Personality dimension increasing adoption of this conflict management style
- 12. SOCIAL INITIATIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSION INTEGRATING STYLE OBLIGING STYLE COMPROMISING STYLE AVOIDING STYLE Connection between Social Initiative Personality dimension and adopted Conflict Management styles Note. No significant connection between Social Initiative personality dimension and Dominating style was found. h increasing presence of this Multicultural Personality dimension increasing adoption of this conflict management style decreasing adoption of this conflict management style
- 13. EMOTIONAL STABILITY PERSONALITY DIMENSION INTEGRATING STYLE OBLIGING STYLE DOMINATING STYLE Connection between Emotional Stability Personality dimension and adopted Conflict Management styles Note. No significant connections between Emotional Stability personality dimension and both Compromising and Avoiding styles were found. h increasing presence of this Multicultural Personality dimension increasing adoption of this conflict management style decreasing adoption of this conflict management style
- 14. FLEXIBILITY PERSONALITY DIMENSION AVOIDING STYLE DOMINATING STYLE Connection between Flexibility Personality dimension and adopted Conflict Management styles Note. No significant connections between Flexibility personality dimension and Integrating, Compromising and Obliging styles were found. h increasing presence of this Multicultural Personality dimension decreasing adoption of this conflict management style
- 15. Conclusions In conclusion, both the statistically significant associations between traits of the multicultural personality and styles of intercultural conflict management, and the specific quality of the emerged correlations supported the building of the interactive role-playing game developed in the ACCORD project. In order to build the game, these results were integrated with those emerging from the focus groups with the teachers of the 5 partner countries.
- 16. UNIT 2 Description of the ACCORD game
- 17. ACCORD implementation of the model of handling conflict In this unit will be described the way the psychological model of handling conflict underpinning is implemented in the ACCORD game, that is the process followed to create and identify meaningful learning game scenarios. As we have highlighted in lesson 2 within ACCORD effective conflict resolution has been identified as crucial skill for constructively managing conflicts and regulating interactions in intercultural conflicting situations that may occur in class. The specific idea of handling conflicts embraced within ACCORD is based on a concept of negotiation related to effective communication processes (assertive model), which mainly concern our way of communicating and the awareness of how we are perceived and understood by others. The basic assumption is that effective conflict resolution is a competence that can be effectively discovered, learnt, improved and developed through dedicated training and personal customised development programmes.
- 18. Introduction The project consortium organized focus groups across the five partner countries (i.e. Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain), in order to: ? gather information, feeling and thoughts regarding teachers¡¯ perspectives on intercultural conflict management within teacher-pupil interactions ? understand teachers' level of training and experience intercultural conflict and negotiation dynamics ? elicit teachers¡¯ training needs, and attitudes towards ICT and game-based learning Interestingly, focus group discussions allowed to understand at a deeper level than we could access with the national surveys, the existence of a connection between the styles of conflict management and the dimensions of the multicultural personality.
- 19. Focus groups Teachers were presented five possible scenarios evoking intercultural conflict situations within teacher-pupil interactions. The five scenarios have been selected among nine initially proposed scenarios, according to the underpinning theoretical foundation, and the suitability of their narrative to be transferred into the ENACT game, i.e., they allow to include all five possible styles of conflict management. The focus group discussions, along with a number of identified set questions and the administration of the emotional scale, allowed to: ? Understand teachers¡¯ perspectives on whether they consider the conflict scenarios proposed as intercultural or not ? Explore possible feelings and thoughts experienced if they were teachers and pupils involved in the discussed scenarios ? Investigate ways teachers manage intercultural conflicts, and attempt to reduce dysfunctional conflict outcomes ? Explore the feasibility of the proposed intercultural conflict scenarios to the different and specific teachers¡¯ educational contexts across the five European countries
- 20. Focus group informing the ACCORD role-playing scenarios In summary, in addition to the information gathered through the national surveys (MPQ-SF and ROCI II) the conduction of the focus groups have offered the opportunity, at a deeper level to ? seek clarification regarding ways of experiencing and manging intercultural conflicts ? highlight the existence of a cultural specificity in conflict management and more specifically to confirm the presence of a connection between the styles of conflict management and the dimensions of the multicultural personality, contributing to corroborate the research hypothesis discussed in lessons 1 and 2. All theses information have been essential to inform the design and development of the ACCORD role-play training scenarios simulating conflicting intercultural situations.
- 21. Approaches and models to negotiation The methodology used for the design of the ACCORD learning scenarios simulating intercultural conflicting situations that teachers encounter in real-world classroom settings is underpinned by two theoretical aspects described in lesson 2: ? Models of handling interpersonal conflict (Rahim & Bonoma, 1979) ? Models of assertive communication in effective interactions (Salter, 1949; Wolpe, 1958; Alberti & Emmonds, 1973; Lazarus, 1971)
- 22. ACCORD game Following will be described the methodology and characteristics of the ACCORD game an educational tool in the form of a 3D, single-player to train user¡¯s intercultural communication and negotiation skills in realistic scenarios during the interaction with arti?cial agents, to be employed by teachers in secondary school contexts. It aims to cross the boundaries between educational games and Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs), merging the importance of an online and dynamical learner training with the intrinsic and extrinsic motivating environment of serious games.
- 23. ACCORD main characteristics ACCORD game focuses on the simulation of a dialogue between two characters (an avatar controlled by a human player, and a BOT computer-controlled counterpart), in which behavioural characteristics such as the act of speech and some elements of body language play a fundamental role. As specified earlier the ACCORD simulation role play game are based on the 5 styles of handling interpersonal conflicts conceptualized of Rahim and Bonoma (1979): Integrating, Obliging, Compromising, Avoiding, Dominating. Each of the five style manifests itself in a pattern of observable behavioural indicators that we have identified in the communication model of assertiveness, passivity and aggression (Dryden and Constantinou 2004).
- 24. Conflict management style Conflict management style defined as a ¡°general and consistent orientation toward the other party and the conflict issues, manifest in observable behaviours that form a pattern and share common characteristics over time¡± (Kuhn & Poole, 2000). We have used the behavioural indicators based on the concept of assertiveness, passivity and aggression (Dryen & Constantonou, 2004; Boulle et al., 2008) in order to identify the behaviours characterising the different styles. For each style we have then identified 7 variables (4 verbal and 3 paraverbal) that we have groped in two dimensions: concern for self, as per Rahim model.
- 25. Rahim¡¯s model
- 26. ACCORD game description Within Accord both the user and the arti?cial agent with which the user interacts with during the game, are implemented as 3D avatars able to perform a range of basic expressions using verbal cues (vocal tone, shape of the speech bubble and structure of the sentence) and non-verbal indicators (facial expression, eye contact, body posture and gestures). The user is introduced to the game with a scene explaining the situation and the reason of the conflict that conduct the teacher to the stage of the virtual agent-user interaction. Each exchange between the two is organized in a five or seven state scene, which include one turn of speech for each party. In each state, the user can choose one among five/seven possible sentences, one for each of Rhaim¡¯s styles of handling conflicts: integrating, compromising, avoiding, dominating (appropriate and inappropriate); obliging (appropriate and inappropriate), that are complemented with gesture and facial expression.
- 27. Introduction to the ACCORD Game Scenario
- 28. 5 style possible sentences
- 29. The conflicting scenarios ? The 5 conflicting assessment scenarios have been designed according to the variables listed below, considered for both the agent and user: ? The negotiation style adopted by the virtual character that according to the Rahim and Bonoma model can be: Integrating, Compromising, Dominating, Obliging or Avoiding; ? Type of conflict: intercultural conflict that requires a resolution, a decision to be made. ? Gender: if the player and the agent can have the same or opposite gender, so that the interactions can results as male- male (or female-female) and male-female (or female-male); ? Ethnic variables: to allow a user-avatar interaction covering different ethnic groups.
- 30. User representation and avatars As introduced earlier, each scenario starts with a brief text explaining the situation in which the user has to play the game, the role assigned to the user and her goal within the given scenario. The user starts the game by pressing the ¡°play¡± button that brings the player on the game scene. Two characters are shown on the screen: the user¡¯s avatar is presented in a small window at the left upper corner of the screen, while the BOT represents the main character focused on by the camera. The user¡¯s five/seven possible choices are shown below the small avatar window, while the responses of the BOT are shown in text bubble appearing over its head. When the mouse is over one of the five user sentences (on the left-hand side of the screen), the animation (non-verbal behaviour) related to that sentence is shown in the top-left window. In order to choose a sentence, the user needs to click on it.
- 32. Training objective More specifically, the most pioneering aspect of ACCORD is the opportunity for the user to become aware of personal handling conflict styles, and related communication skills particularly relevant to effectively act in intercultural contexts. The feedback for the player is based on the preferred negotiation styles used during a series of negotiation scenarios, that is also important for automatic elaboration of identification of speci?c development areas of the player, in order to create an effective learner-centred environment, where the user activity is focused on the areas of behaviour that mostly require improvements.
- 33. Self-sustained development process The strongest points of the approach used within ACCORD is related to the fact that the tool offers a complete and self- sustained assessment and training process (presence of a real tutor is not indispensable). The player is constantly at the centre of the assessment and training processes developed within the software. The user can test her own personal attitude towards personal negotiation styles, can improve their understanding and practice with the support of the tutoring system provided.
- 34. Flexibility of the tool At the end of scenario, the teacher is invited to think about the interactions she had so far, and select among seven alternatives the way she would end the scenario. Final scenario IMAGE The teacher may select a completely different style to the predominant used during the game, or confirm her pattern of behaviuors. The teacher can revise the history of all the choices made during the scenario, and she is guided through the understanding of the possible hidden aspects the way she has been handling conflicts. After the game process has been completed the teacher is provided with a debriefing regarding the main path of negotiation styles adopted during the games, as well as the appropriateness of the style adopted according with the specified game scenarios: type of conflict, objectives of the game, personal concerns and interlocutor¡¯s concerns . IMAGE negotiation path
- 36. Tutoring system The tutoring system is available only after the user has completed the 5 proposed scenarios; thus, it will intervene during the training scenarios and at the end of the game session in order to provide useful information to the user about her performance related to the BOT she is currently interacting with and to her general behavior when managing con?icting situations. The user is given a pro?le based on the Rahim model related to the speci?c situations she played, together relevant information related to multicultural personality dimensions (e.g., Flexibility, Cultural empathy).
- 37. References Dell'Aquila E., Marocco D., Ponticorvo M., Di Ferdinando A., Schembri M., Miglino O. (2017). Educational Games for Soft-Skills Training in Digital Environments: New Perspectives, Springer. Kuhn, T. I. M., & Poole, M. S. (2000). Do conflict management styles affect group decision making? Evidence from a longitudinal field study. Human communication research, 26(4), 558-590. Rahim, M.A. (2001). Managing Conflict in Organizations. Quorum Books. Rahim, M. A. (1983). A measure of styles of handling interpersonal conflict. Academy of Management Journal, 26(2), 368-376. Van der Zee, K., Van Oudenhoven, J. P., Ponterotto, J. G., & Fietzer, A. W. (2013). Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: Development of a short form. Journal of personality assessment, 95(1), 118-124. Van Der Zee, K. I., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2000). The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A multidimensional instrument of multicultural effectiveness. European journal of personality, 14(4), 291-309.