PeerPigeon: A Web Application to Support Generalised Peer Review

Peer Review (also known as Peer Assessment) is an important technique in learning, but can be difficult to support through e-learning due to the complexity and variety of peer review processes. In this paper we present PeerPigeon, a Web 2.0 style application that supports generalised Peer Review by using a canonical model of Peer Review based on a Peer Review Pattern consisting of Peer Review Cycles, each defined in terms of Peer Review Transforms. We also demonstrate how PeerPigeon makes use of a Domain Specific Language based on Ruby to define these plans, and thus cope with the irreducible complexity of the flow of documents around a peer network

A Domain-specific Modeling Approach to the Development of Online Peer Assessment

Miao, Y., & Koper, R. (2007). A Domain-specific Modeling Approach to the Development of Online Peer Assessment. In T. Navarette, J. Blat & R. Koper (Eds.). Proceedings of the 3rd TENCompetence Open Workshop 'Current Research on IMS Learning Design and Lifelong Competence Development Infrastructures' (pp. 81-88). June, 21-22, 2007, Barcelona, Spain.Modelling a peer assessment using IMS LD and IMS QTI is difficult for average practitioners. In this paper, we apply domain-specific modelling technologies to develop a peer assessment modelling language, in which notations are directly chosen from the concepts and rules used to describe peer assessment. Thus, practitioners can easily understand such a high-level language and use it to specify online peer assessment. The paper also discuss some related issues to develop an authoring tool for modelling with the peer assessment modelling language and to map a peer assessment model represented in the peer assessment modelling language to a corresponding executable model represented in IMS LD and IMS QTI.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

A set of software tools to build an author assessment package on Moodle: Implementing the AEEA proposal

A set of new types of assessment is required for learning management systems (LMSs), and there is a need for a way to assess lifelong adaptive competencies. Proposed solutions to these problems need to preserve the interoperability, reusability, efficiency and abstract modeling already present in LMSs. This paper introduces a set of software tools for an author assessment package on the LMS Moodle being developed as part of adaptive e-learning engine architecture (AEEA). The principal features of this set are: 1) The set avoid editing items for a 360-degree feedback evaluation, 2) Whole items and tests are linked to levels of competencies acquisition, 3) The competency-based eassessment data model are based on e-learning specification and complemented with XML data on the appraised competencies, 4) Items and tests are storage in repositories, and 5) The tools are integrated within Moodle to facilitate the design of an assessment plan

Bridging the Gap between Practitioners and E-learning Standards: A Domain-specific Modeling Approach

Developing activity-centric e-pedagogies using IMS LD is difficult for average practitioners because pedagogical knowledge and technical knowledge is required. Through using peer assessment as an exemplary pedagogy, this paper presents a domain-specific modeling (DSM) approach to a new generation of LD authoring tool, for enabling practitioners to develop activity-centric e-pedagogies. Adopting a DSM approach, on the one hand, pedagogic experts develop a pedagogy-specific modeling language, in which notations are directly chosen from the concepts and rules used to describe pedagogic approaches. On the other hand, technical experts develop transformation algorithms, which will map the models represented in the pedagogy-specific modeling language into machine-interpretable code represented in an executable language like IMS LD. The feasibility of this approach has been demonstrated through developing a peer assessment authoring tool

Enabling Teachers to Develop Pedagogically Sound and Technically Executable Learning Designs

Miao, Y., Van der Klink, M., Boon, J., Sloep, P. B., & Koper, R. (2009). Enabling Teachers to Develop Pedagogically Sound and Technically Executable Learning Designs [Special issue: Learning Design]. Distance Education, 30(2), 259-276.A learning design is a description of a sequence of learning activities that learners undertake to attain some learning objectives, including the resources and services needed to complete the activities. Unfortunately, there exists not a learning design language which can be used by teachers to explicitly describe pedagogical strategies and then can be interpreted by machine. This paper proposes to support teachers’ design processes by providing pedagogy-specific modeling languages for learning design. Based on activity theory, we developed a conceptual framework, which can be used to specify pedagogical semantics and operational semantics of notations of a pedagogy-specific modeling language. We present our approach by using peer assessment as an exemplary pedagogy. Through investigating whether practitioners can describe and understand peer assessment designs and whether the peer assessment designs can be interpreted by machine, we conclude that enriching pedagogical semantics and operational semantics of notations is a promising approach to develop a new generation of learning design languages, which enable teachers to develop pedagogically sound and technically executable learning designs.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Enabling Teachers to Develop Pedagogically Sound and Technically Executable Learning Designs

A learning design is a description of a sequence of learning activities that learners undertake to attain some learning objectives, including the resources and services needed to complete the activities. Unfortunately, there exists not a learning design language which can be used by teachers to explicitly describe pedagogical strategies and then can be interpreted by machine. This paper proposes to support teachers’ design processes by providing pedagogy-specific modeling languages for learning design. Based on activity theory, we developed a conceptual framework, which can be used to specify pedagogical semantics and operational semantics of notations of a pedagogy-specific modeling language. We present our approach by using peer assessment as an exemplary pedagogy. Through investigating whether practitioners can describe and understand peer assessment designs and whether the peer assessment designs can be interpreted by machine, we conclude that enriching pedagogical semantics and operational semantics of notations is a promising approach to develop a new generation of learning design languages, which enable teachers to develop pedagogically sound and technically executable learning designs

An Efficient and Flexible Technical Approach to Develop and Deliver Online Peer Assessment

Peer assessment is a special form of collaborative learning, in which peer students learn through assessing others’ work. Recently, the design of collaboration scripts is a new focus area within the CSCL community. In this paper, we present a method based on open e-learning standards to script peer assessment processes. A standard-compatible tool can help users to script various forms of peer assessment in a machine-interpretable form. Such peer assessment scripts then can be executed on today’s open technical e-learning infrastructure. In comparison with typical software development approaches to support online peer assessment, this technical approach is more efficient and flexible

Experiences with GRAIL::Learning Design support in .LRN

The IMS-LD specification allow the transcription of almost any pedagogical model in a "Unit of Learning" (UoL), which is a package where contents and methodology are combined together in order to be deployed in a compliant software. Making use of GRAIL as the supporting tool inside the .LRN Learning Management System, this paper presents two real experiences of use where IMS-LD has been used to deploy pedagogical models with different levels of complexity