Personalised correction, feedback, and guidance in an automated tutoring system for skills training

In addition to knowledge, in various domains skills are equally important. Active learning and training are effective forms of education. We present an automated skills training system for a database programming environment that promotes procedural knowledge acquisition and skills training. The system provides support features such as correction of solutions, feedback and personalised guidance, similar to interactions with a human tutor. Specifically, we address synchronous feedback and guidance based on personalised assessment. Each of these features is automated and includes a level of personalisation and adaptation. At the core of the system is a pattern-based error classification and correction component that analyses student input

Controls and guidance research

The objectives of the control group are concentrated on research and education. The control problem of the hypersonic space vehicle represents an important and challenging issue in aerospace engineering. The work described in this report is part of our effort in developing advanced control strategies for such a system. In order to achieve the objectives stated in the NASA-CORE proposal, the tasks were divided among the group based upon their educational expertise. Within the educational component we are offering a Linear Systems and Control course for students in electrical and mechanical engineering. Also, we are proposing a new course in Digital Control Systems with a corresponding laboratory

An evaluation of pedagogically informed parameterised questions for self assessment

Self-assessment is a crucial component of learning. Learners can learn by asking themselves questions and attempting to answer them. However, creating effective questions is time-consuming because it may require considerable resources and the skill of critical thinking. Questions need careful construction to accurately represent the intended learning outcome and the subject matter involved. There are very few systems currently available which generate questions automatically, and these are confined to specific domains. This paper presents a system for automatically generating questions from a competency framework, based on a sound pedagogical and technological approach. This makes it possible to guide learners in developing questions for themselves, and to provide authoring templates which speed the creation of new questions for self-assessment. This novel design and implementation involves an ontological database that represents the intended learning outcome to be assessed across a number of dimensions, including level of cognitive ability and subject matter. The system generates a list of all the questions that are possible from a given learning outcome, which may then be used to test for understanding, and so could determine the degree to which learners actually acquire the desired knowledge. The way in which the system has been designed and evaluated is discussed, along with its educational benefits

Psychometrics in Practice at RCEC

A broad range of topics is dealt with in this volume: from combining the psychometric generalizability and item response theories to the ideas for an integrated formative use of data-driven decision making, assessment for learning and diagnostic testing. A number of chapters pay attention to computerized (adaptive) and classification testing. Other chapters treat the quality of testing in a general sense, but for topics like maintaining standards or the testing of writing ability, the quality of testing is dealt with more specifically.\ud All authors are connected to RCEC as researchers. They present one of their current research topics and provide some insight into the focus of RCEC. The selection of the topics and the editing intends that the book should be of special interest to educational researchers, psychometricians and practitioners in educational assessment