Layered evaluation of interactive adaptive systems : framework and formative methods

Peer reviewedPostprin

Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

Assessing the Effectiveness of Personalized Computer-Administered Feedback in an Introductory Biology Course

Though often held in high regard as a pedagogical tool, the role of feedback within the learning process remains poorly understood. The prevailing feedback literature reveals a history of inconsistent if not contradictory findings. This already complicated state is made worse by the recent introduction of learning analytic tools capable of providing students with ongoing personalized computer-generated feedback; the effectiveness of which remains unknown. The present study contributed to this new domain of knowledge by evaluating one such circumstance where a learning analytic feedback intervention was implemented in an introductory biology course at the University of Saskatchewan. The system provided personalized feedback to half of the enrolled students differentiated according their individual characteristics. The remaining students received generic feedback that was common to all students within the condition. The effectiveness of personalized feedback was evaluated with respect to academic achievement (i.e., final grade) and feedback satisfaction. Results of the treatment effect analyses showed no significant differences in student academic achievement but a small significant difference in feedback satisfaction. Follow-up analyses revealed that these significant differences in feedback satisfaction were not consistent from one iteration of the course to the next and that mean feedback satisfaction was in steady decline since the system’s implementation. It is suspected that the lack of improvement in academic achievement pertained to poor adherence of the system with the theoretical underpinnings of good feedback practice. Limitations of the study and future directions are discussed

A Foundation For Educational Research at Scale: Evolution and Application

The complexities of how people learn have plagued researchers for centuries. A range of experimental and non-experimental methodologies have been used to isolate and implement positive interventions for students\u27 cognitive, meta-cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional successes in learning. But the face of learning is changing in the digital age. The value of accrued knowledge, popular throughout the industrial age, is being overpowered by the value of curiosity and the ability to ask critical questions. Most students can access the largest free collection of human knowledge (and cat videos) with ease using their phones or laptops and omnipresent cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Viewing this new-age capacity for connection as an opportunity, educational stakeholders have delegated many traditional learning tasks to online environments. With this influx of online learning, student errors can be corrected with immediacy, student data is more prevalent and actionable, and teachers can intervene with efficiency and efficacy. As such, endeavors in educational data mining, learning analytics, and authentic educational research at scale have grown popular in recent years; fields afforded by the luxuries of technology and driven by the age-old goal of understanding how people learn. This dissertation explores the evolution and application of ASSISTments Research, an approach to authentic educational research at scale that leverages ASSISTments, a popular online learning platform, to better understand how people learn. Part I details the evolution and advocacy of two tools that form the research arm of ASSISTments: the ASSISTments TestBed and the Assessment of Learning Infrastructure (ALI). An NSF funded Data Infrastructure Building Blocks grant (#1724889, $494,644 2017-2020), outlines goals for the new age of ASSISTments Research as a result of lessons learned in recent years. Part II details a personal application of these research tools with a focus on the framework of Self Determination Theory. The primary facets of this theory, thought to positively affect learning and intrinsic motivation, are investigated in depth through randomized controlled trials targeting Autonomy, Belonging, and Competence. Finally, a synthesis chapter highlights important connections between Parts I & II, offering lessons learned regarding ASSISTments Research and suggesting additional guidance for its future development, while broadly defining contributions to the Learning Sciences community

THE EFFECT OF HAPTIC INTERACTION AND LEARNER CONTROL ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN AN ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSE

Today’s learners are taking advantage of a whole new world of multimedia and hypermedia experiences to gain understanding and construct knowledge. While at the same time, teachers and instructional designers are producing these experiences at rapid paces. Many angles of interactivity with digital content continue to be researched, as is the case with this study. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a significant difference in the performance of distance education students who exercise learner control interactivity effectively through a traditional input device versus students who exercise learner control interactivity through haptic input methods. This study asks three main questions about the relationship and potential impact touch input had on the interactivity sequence a learner chooses while participating in an online distance education course. Effects were measured by using criterion from logged assessments within one module of a distance education course. This study concludes that learner control sequence choices did have significant effects on learner outcomes. However, input method did not. The sequence that learners chose had positive effects on scores, the number of attempts it took to pass assessments, and the overall range of scores per assessment attempts. Touch input learners performed as well as traditional input learners, and summative first sequence learners outperformed all other learners. These findings support the beliefs that new input methods are not detrimental and that learner-controlled options while participating in digital online courses are valuable for learners, under certain conditions

The Effectiveness of READ 180 with Fourth-Grade African American Male Students

Fourth grade African American male students have the lowest rate of reading proficiency in the nation and are more likely to require remedial reading programs. Prior research suggested reading interventions that considered student ability, instructional practices, and curriculum rigor improved reading ability. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the influence of a remedial reading program, READ180, on 4th grade African American male students\u27 reading comprehension as measured by 2 different standardized reading tests, TerraNova (TN) and Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) that are administered annually to all students. The theoretical framework was Vygotsky\u27s theory of cognitive development. Research questions examined the differences in TN scores between students who received READ180 instruction compared to students who received traditional instruction as well as the effect on SRI scores of 7 students before and after participating in READ180. For data analysis, archival data were available for 2 years of SRI scores, but only a year of TN scores. An independent t-test for the TN scores between TN scores of READ180 students (n = 7) and traditionally instructed students (n = 19) showed no statistical difference (p = .092). A paired t-test indicated a significant (p \u3c .009) increase in SRI posttest scores of READ180 students. The small number of subjects were under-powered and a result of available archival data, but the data met test assumptions. Implications for social change are that academically disenfranchised students may achieve reading proficiency when reading programs provide direct instruction that target, monitor, and intentionally support individualized learning needs

Complete 2018 Program

Program and schedule of events for the 29th Annual John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference