Automating question generation from educational text

The use of question-based activities (QBAs) is wide-spread in education, traditionally forming an integral part of the learning and assessment process. In this paper, we design and evaluate an automated question generation tool for formative and summative assessment in schools. We present an expert survey of one hundred and four teachers, demonstrating the need for automated generation of QBAs, as a tool that can significantly reduce the workload of teachers and facilitate personalized learning experiences. Leveraging the recent advancements in generative AI, we then present a modular framework employing transformer based language models for automatic generation of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) from textual content. The presented solution, with distinct modules for question generation, correct answer prediction, and distractor formulation, enables us to evaluate different language models and generation techniques. Finally, we perform an extensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation, demonstrating trade-offs in the use of different techniques and models.Comment: Accepted to AI-2023 (Forty-third SGAI International Conference on Artificial Intelligence) as a long paper, link: http://www.bcs-sgai.org/ai202

Why First-Generation College Graduates Choose to Become Licensed Virginia Teachers: A Qualitative Study

Abstract There has been adequate research devoted to understanding why individuals choose to become teachers. From the research on why individuals choose to become teachers, there is evidence that certain motivators and influences impact an individual’s decision to become a teacher. The purpose of this study was to determine why some first-generation college graduates in an identified city school division is Southside Virginia chose to become licensed Virginia teachers. This study used a phenomenological method to investigate the question of why some first-generation college graduates choose to become licensed Virginia teachers. Data collection focused on using six open-ended interviews with six current licensed Virginia teachers in an identified Southside city school division. The FIT Choice model framework was used as the theoretical underpinning for this study to identify key factors, motivators, and personal experiences to understand the essence of why some first-generation college graduates choose to become licensed Virginia teachers

Preservice science and mathematics teachers’ acculturation into communities of practice: A call for undergraduate research in science and mathematics teacher preparation

Current mathematics and science standards, namely the Common Core State Standards of Mathematics (CCSSM) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), emphasize engaging students in mathematical and scientific practices. This review article is driven by the question: How can we expect science and mathematics teachers to appropriately engage students in the practices of the scientific and mathematical disciplines, when most teachers themselves lack experience practicing as scientists and mathematicians? To address this question, we review the literature on teachers’ understanding of their discipline’s practices, disciplinary practices as means to engage in inquiry, and how preservice teacher engagement in undergraduate research experiences may contribute to fostering desirable understandings of their disciplines’ practices. We further posit that the communities of practice framework allows teacher educators to conceptualize how undergraduate research can foster understandings of inquiry through engagement in science and mathematical practices, thereby enabling science and mathematics teachers to construct communities of scientific and mathematical practice, respectively, in their own classrooms. We conclude with a call to both provide undergraduate research experiences to preservice science and mathematics teachers as well as an exploration of research that is needed to fully conceptualize the benefits of undergraduate research for preservice science and mathematics teachers

Utilizing the Next Generation Science Standards as a Framework to Create a Climate Change Curriculum

The research question addressed in this project was, how can the Next Generation Science Standards be utilized as a framework to create a climate change curriculum? It documents the creation of the middle school climate change curriculum, Next Generation Climate. The curriculum integrates experiential education, argumentation, and modeling all using the most current climate change science. This curriculum was created out of the need for more resources that aligned with the NGSS and to provide educators with the tools to correctly provide climate literacy to their students. The author documents the details of writing the curriculum and uses research literature to validate the curriculum and back up the science. She describes both successes and struggles in writing and creating the lessons and provides a resource for teachers to educate students about the impacts, repercussions, and solutions of climate change

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE "QUESTION-SOLUTION-REFLECTION" FRAMEWORK

It is agreed upon in the literature that reflection is a vital part of learning, yet it is seldom focused on in the physics education context. This presentation will summarise three studies into reflective thinking in the physics education multimedia context, and the development of the “question-solution-reflection” framework. According to Dewey (1933) and Rogers (2002), reflection can be thought of containing phases - • An experience, and the spontaneous interpretation of that experience • The articulation of the problem or question that arises out of the experience • The generation of possible explanations for the question • The explanations need to be examined and tested The videos used, and developed for the present studies, followed these phases. In the first video, an experience was shown, and a question was asked. The students wrote down their answers to the question, and then watched the second video, which contained the solutions. The students were prompted to write down if they changed their answers, and the reasons for doing or not doing so. Over 3000 responses to this format have been received as part of the three studies, and we argue that the results show that this framework is effective at promoting reflective thinking. REFERENCES Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Courier Corporation. Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining reflection: Another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842-866

A Nemzetiszocialista Tanár Szövetség működése München - Felső-Bajorországban a hatalomátvétel után, 1933-1937

The situation and duties of German public-school teachers changed drastically after the period of national socialist takeover. They became more important for the state since the new ideology relied more on elementary schools, folk customs, and sports compared to the Republic and Empire before it. Knowledge and culture took a back seat, and physical education and instilling a sense of community became the focus of early education. It was the job of elementary school teachers to introduce these changes to society by raising the new national socialist generation in this spirit. To achieve this the regime first had to win over and retrain the teachers to be able to do their job effectively and in accordance with the ideology. The question is how the teachers reacted to this effort? What social and economic problems they had to face, and to what extent these problems could move them towards national socialist beliefs? What was their relationship like with the state? What kinds of organisations they had? This study aims to find the answer to these questions within the theoretical framework of professionalization by examining how the National Socialist Teachers League operated. The Munich City Archive was the primary source for this research, which granted insight into the local operations of the National Socialist Teachers League, and through that the changes in the teachers’ everyday lives

The Influences on K-2 Teachers\u27 Approaches Towards Assessment and Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Kindergarten-second grade teachers often have to navigate conflicting paradigms as they attempt to honor the developmentally appropriate practices best suited for their young learners while working within the demands of the current educational paradigm of high-stakes testing and standardization. This challenge is acutely experienced in the assessment of young children, yet little research has been done to look at how teachers in the early elementary years approach or use assessment in developmentally appropriate ways. The purpose of this study was to use a constructivist grounded theory approach to address the overarching question: How do K-2 teachers come to their conceptualizations regarding developmentally appropriate practices and strong classroom assessment practices? Thirty-five teachers were interviewed in reaching theoretical saturation. Through the constant comparative process of data generation, data analysis, and extensive memoing, the researcher generated a theory with I, They, and We phases to explain the influences on teachers. The study also revealed how teachers conceptualize assessment and the ways teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices interact with each other in regard to classroom assessment and developmentally appropriate practice. The influences of school district administration, teaching colleagues, and experience through time were some of the most considerable influences. Among its implications, the theory suggests a need for more dissemination of knowledge of best practices in early elementary education. The theory also provides a framework for future research to improve assessment decisions and inferences in early elementary classrooms

Is change on the horizon for Maori and Pacifica female high school students when it comes to ICT?

This paper explores some of the factors that discourage the participation of Māori and Pacific girls in ICT in New Zealand. Despite many ICT job opportunities, there has been a steady decrease in the percentage of girls, especial Māori and Pacific girls entering into ICT study, and pursuing ICT careers. This study used a modified version of the conceptual framework designed by Bernhardt (2014) based on the 'STEMcell' model. The STEMcell framework was used to explores the factors that discourage participation in ICT through such concepts as cultural, social, structural and social IT that contribute to the likelihood of student’s career choice in ICT. An online questionnaire gathered data from year 11 students studying at high schools within Wellington, New Zealand. The findings indicated that Pacific girl’s more than Māori girls reported that their family members were seen as role models, which could impact on their future career choices. The statistical results also show that stereotypes are still alive in both Māori and Pacific year 11 student’s perceptions and that both Pacific and Māori girls from year 11 are unlikely to follow a career in ICT. Currently, the number of Māori and Pacific girls enrolling in ICT subjects at secondary school is still substantially below that for boys and, until changes are made, Māori and Pacific girls going into the industry will be in the minority