Motivation Modelling and Computation for Personalised Learning of People with Dyslexia

The increasing development of e-learning systems in recent decades has benefited ubiquitous computing and education by providing freedom of choice to satisfy various needs and preferences about learning places and paces. Automatic recognition of learners’ states is necessary for personalised services or intervention to be provided in e-learning environments. In current literature, assessment of learners’ motivation for personalised learning based on the motivational states is lacking. An effective learning environment needs to address learners’ motivational needs, particularly, for those with dyslexia. Dyslexia or other learning difficulties can cause young people not to engage fully with the education system or to drop out due to complex reasons: in addition to the learning difficulties related to reading, writing or spelling, psychological difficulties are more likely to be ignored such as lower academic self-worth and lack of learning motivation caused by the unavoidable learning difficulties. Associated with both cognitive processes and emotional states, motivation is a multi-facet concept that consequences in the continued intention to use an e-learning system and thus a better chance of learning effectiveness and success. It consists of factors from intrinsic motivation driven by learners’ inner feeling of interest or challenges and those from extrinsic motivation associated with external reward or compliments. These factors represent learners’ various motivational needs; thus, understanding this requires a multidisciplinary approach. Combining different perspectives of knowledge on psychological theories and technology acceptance models with the empirical findings from a qualitative study with dyslexic students conducted in the present research project, motivation modelling for people with dyslexia using a hybrid approach is the main focus of this thesis. Specifically, in addition to the contribution to the qualitative conceptual motivation model and ontology-based computational model that formally expresses the motivational factors affecting users’ continued intention to use e-learning systems, this thesis also conceives a quantitative approach to motivation modelling. A multi-item motivation questionnaire is designed and employed in a quantitative study with dyslexic students, and structural equation modelling techniques are used to quantify the influences of the motivational factors on continued use intention and their interrelationships in the model. In addition to the traditional approach to motivation computation that relies on learners’ self-reported data, this thesis also employs dynamic sensor data and develops classification models using logistic regression for real-time assessment of motivational states. The rule-based reasoning mechanism for personalising motivational strategies and a framework of motivationally personalised e-learning systems are introduced to apply the research findings to e-learning systems in real-world scenarios. The motivation model, sensor-based computation and rule-based personalisation have been applied to a practical scenario with an essential part incorporated in the prototype of a gaze-based learning application that can output personalised motivational strategies during the learning process according to the real-time assessment of learners’ motivational states based on both the eye-tracking data in addition to users’ self-reported data. Evaluation results have indicated the advantage of the application implemented compared to the traditional one without incorporating the present research findings for monitoring learners’ motivation states with gaze data and generating personalised feedback. In summary, the present research project has: 1) developed a conceptual motivation model for students with dyslexia defining the motivational factors that influence their continued intention to use e-learning systems based on both a qualitative empirical study and prior research and theories; 2) developed an ontology-based motivation model in which user profiles, factors in the motivation model and personalisation options are structured as a hierarchy of classes; 3) designed a multi-item questionnaire, conducted a quantitative empirical study, used structural equation modelling to further explore and confirm the quantified impacts of motivational factors on continued use intention and the quantified relationships between the factors; 4) conducted an experiment to exploit sensors for motivation computation, and developed classification models for real-time assessment of the motivational states pertaining to each factor in the motivation model based on empirical sensor data including eye gaze data and EEG data; 5) proposed a sensor-based motivation assessment system architecture with emphasis on the use of ontologies for a computational representation of the sensor features used for motivation assessment in addition to the representation of the motivation model, and described the semantic rule-based personalisation of motivational strategies; 6) proposed a framework of motivationally personalised e-learning systems based on the present research, with the prototype of a gaze-based learning application designed, implemented and evaluated to guide future work

Using Student Mood And Task Performance To Train Classifier Algorithms To Select Effective Coaching Strategies Within Intelligent Tutoring Systems (its)

The ultimate goal of this research was to improve student performance by adjusting an Intelligent Tutoring System\u27s (ITS) coaching strategy based on the student\u27s mood. As a step toward this goal, this study evaluated the relationships between each student\u27s mood variables (pleasure, arousal, dominance and mood intensity), the coaching strategy selected by the ITS and the student\u27s performance. Outcomes included methods to increase the perception of the intelligent tutor to allow it to adapt coaching strategies (methods of instruction) to the student\u27s affective needs to mitigate barriers to performance (e.g. negative affect) during the one-to-one tutoring process. The study evaluated whether the affective state (specifically mood) of the student moderated the student\u27s interaction with the tutor and influenced performance. This research examined the relationships, interactions and influences of student mood in the selection of ITS coaching strategies to determine which strategies were more effective in terms of student performance given the student\u27s mood, state (recent sleep time, previous knowledge and training, and interest level) and actions (e.g. mouse movement rate). Two coaching strategies were used in this study: Student-Requested Feedback (SRF) and Tutor-Initiated Feedback (TIF). The SRF coaching strategy provided feedback in the form of hints, questions, direction and support only when the student requested help. The TIF coaching strategy provided feedback (hints, questions, direction or support) at key junctures in the learning process when the student either made progress or failed to make progress in a timely fashion. The relationships between the coaching strategies, mood, performance and other variables of interest were considered in light of five hypotheses. At alpha = .05 and beta at least as great as .80, significant effects were limited in predicting performance. Highlighted findings include no significant differences in the mean performance due to coaching strategies, and only small effect sizes in predicting performance making the regression models developed not of practical significance. However, several variables including performance, energy level and mouse movement rates were significant, unobtrusive predictors of mood. Regression algorithms were developed using Arbuckle\u27s (2008) Analysis of MOment Structures (AMOS) tool to compare the predicted performance for each strategy and then to choose the optimal strategy. A set of production rules were also developed to train a machine learning classifier using Witten & Frank\u27s (2005) Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) toolset. The classifier was tested to determine its ability to recognize critical relationships and adjust coaching strategies to improve performance. This study found that the ability of the intelligent tutor to recognize key affective relationships contributes to improved performance. Study assumptions include a normal distribution of student mood variables, student state variables and student action variables and the equal mean performance of the two coaching strategy groups (student-requested feedback and tutor-initiated feedback ). These assumptions were substantiated in the study. Potential applications of this research are broad since its approach is application independent and could be used within ill-defined or very complex domains where judgment might be influenced by affect (e.g. study of the law, decisions involving risk of injury or death, negotiations or investment decisions). Recommendations for future research include evaluation of the temporal, as well as numerical, relationships of student mood, performance, actions and state variables

What a feeling! A multistage, multimethod Investigation of emotions and their antecedents in an Irish language MOOC

It has become widely accepted that emotions play a key role in the learning process. Therefore, understanding learners’ emotions in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has become an important area of inquiry as the demand for these resources continues to increase. To date, however, research has focused almost exclusively on one emotion, anxiety. Consideration of a much broader range of both positive and negative emotion would provide a more holistic insight in to the online language learning experience, and thus warrants further investigation. This research, presents an investigation in to the emotional experiences of learners participating in an Irish language, massive open online course (MOOC). Language learning MOOCs (LMOOCs) such as this one constitute an emerging and relatively unexplored CALL environment that has much to gain from emotion research. Using Pekrun’s (2006) Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions as the guiding theoretical framework, this study seeks to answer the over-arching research question: What are the sources of learners’ emotions experienced during an LMOOC? The research design adopted to address this question was iterative in nature with findings from prior stages contributing to the methodological instruments and procedure used in the main study. An experience sampling method was adopted to collect self-report data pertaining to learners’ emotions and their cognitive appraisals during the main study. This approach facilitated in-the-moment emotion reports from participants following various task-types and tested the Control-Value Theory at an intra-individual level. This data was further enhanced by weekly emotion diaries, which delved deeper into the learners’ perspective. This multiple methods study finds that learners experience a range of both positive and negative emotions while learning the Irish language online. A multilevel analysis of the quantitative data confirms that the cognitive appraisals of perceived control and subjective value both directly and interactively predict learners’ emotions at an intra-individual level during the MOOC. Furthermore, there are significant relationships that exist between task types and learner emotions, a finding that is of particular relevance to learning design and pedagogical strategies. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data supports these quantitative findings but also highlights other appraisals that appear to be relevant to the elicitation of emotions during the LMOOC. Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that learning a language online is not just a cognitive process but also an emotional one and educators, learning designers and even the learners themselves need to consider this when engaging in such courses

Integrating knowledge tracing and item response theory: A tale of two frameworks

Traditionally, the assessment and learning science commu-nities rely on different paradigms to model student performance. The assessment community uses Item Response Theory which allows modeling different student abilities and problem difficulties, while the learning science community uses Knowledge Tracing, which captures skill acquisition. These two paradigms are complementary - IRT cannot be used to model student learning, while Knowledge Tracing assumes all students and problems are the same. Recently, two highly related models based on a principled synthesis of IRT and Knowledge Tracing were introduced. However, these two models were evaluated on different data sets, using different evaluation metrics and with different ways of splitting the data into training and testing sets. In this paper we reconcile the models' results by presenting a unified view of the two models, and by evaluating the models under a common evaluation metric. We find that both models are equivalent and only differ in their training procedure. Our results show that the combined IRT and Knowledge Tracing models offer the best of assessment and learning sciences - high prediction accuracy like the IRT model, and the ability to model student learning like Knowledge Tracing

Understanding the lived experience of students who self-injure during an educational intervention based on neuroscientific and functional behavioural perspectives

Self-injury among adolescents is a problem that many school guidance officers and other professionals face every day. These professionals often express their desire to better understand this phenomenon in order to be better equipped to reduce or eliminate the incidence of self-injury and to prevent a possible fatal outcome in the form of suicide. Despite being a well-researched topic, there is a relative paucity of research that explains self-injury as a lived experience. Hermeneutic phenomenology provided an opportunity to the researcher to gain a qualitative understanding of the ‘in-the-moment’ experience of adolescents during self-injury incidents. Numerous treatment options for self-injury are available, such as face-to-face cognitive behaviour therapeutic approaches and online interventions. A number of these approaches hold the promise of being successful in treating self-injury, but more so in relation to treating the underlying symptoms of other comorbid conditions such as depression or eating disorders. These approaches were considered to be too expensive and require a commitment over a long period, which make them less feasible for use with adolescents. This thesis incorporates an understanding of self-injury from a number of perspectives. The information about the three adolescents who participated in this research was generated by means of instruments specifically developed for this study. These instruments were embedded in a brief, online educational intervention and focused on determining the reasons for the onset and continuation of self-injury from a functional behavioural viewpoint in terms of setting events, antecedents and the role of self-injury in maintaining consequences. Instruments included an initial questionnaire, quizzes, checklists, and an ecological momentary assessment instrument where the participants recorded their thoughts, feelings, and other circumstances at the time of self-injury. A website called ‘Help for Harm’ was developed for the purpose of both information (data) gathering and containing the intervention which provided the adolescents with knowledge and information about self-injury from both functional behavioural and neurobiological perspectives. Topics included behaviour basics, how the brain works, mindfulness, as well as explanations of how what had happened in the past led to problems encountered in the present, to the extent of leading to employing self-injury as coping mechanism. This was followed by alternatives to self-injury while still meeting the functions of self-injury, namely to relieve high negative affect, among other functions. This thesis also includes a presentation of the adolescents’ lived experiences in the form of narratives, and the identification of themes in the hermeneutic phenomenological tradition. The study confirmed, as setting events, the findings of numerous previous studies regarding trauma, insecure attachment and the quality of the family context, as well as several difficulties the adolescents experience as a result. The study also confirmed that self-injury continues to be a feasible, albeit maladaptive, coping strategy to alleviate high levels of negative emotions, and that the functions that self-injury have for the individual serve to maintain self-injury over time. Underlying these findings is the neuroscientific understanding of the various aspects of self-injury. The findings of this research expanded on the existing understanding of self-injury in a number of significant ways. This study provided an opportunity to assess the various thoughts and feelings that adolescents experience at the time of a self-injury incident, the strength of the various thoughts and feelings, other conditions that may influence the urge to self-injure, as well as the experiences immediately after an incident. Additional understanding regarding the lived experience of being involved in an online intervention also contributed to the existing understanding of self-injury. The adolescents reported that by being involved in the study they reduced the incidence of self-injury, and that further gaining an understanding of the maintaining consequences of self-injury enabled them to apply alternative behavioural choices to replace self-injury. We can only truly understand what the ‘in-the-moment’ experiences of those who self-injure are by approaching such experiences from a combined functional behavioural assessment and neurobiological viewpoint, which this study has successfully accomplished. Future research endeavours should seek to replicate this study among younger adolescents as well as diverse cohorts such as immigrants, those from mixed ethnic backgrounds, and persons of sexual orientations other than heterosexuality

An investigation of the impact of flipped instruction on EFL students’ engagement in academic writing classes: A case study of foundation students in Oman

Developing adequate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) academic writing skills is of paramount importance for students’ success in higher education in Oman. The traditional teaching approaches adopted in writing courses often lead to students’ disengagement, however. Although several studies have examined students and teachers’ perceptions of flipped instruction in various EFL courses, no study has examined the impact of flipping on students’ engagement in writing courses. This practice-based research project, where the instructor was the researcher, explored the impact of flipped teaching on 57 General Foundation Program (GFP) EFL learners’ behavioural, cognitive, emotional and agentic engagement in academic writing in a higher education institution in Oman, and the variations that exist in students’ engagement according to gender, age, English language proficiency and technology skills. The study adopted a mixed-methods design and used a student engagement questionnaire, focus group interviews and participant observations to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics and deductive and inductive analytical procedures were used to analyse the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The study presents new practicable knowledge about the implementation and implications of flipped instruction for Omani EFL students’ engagement in academic writing at the GFP level. It proposes flipping as an instructional approach which helps to address GFP students’ lack of 4 behavioural, cognitive, emotional and agentic engagement in writing courses in the Omani context. Behaviourally, students in the flipped classroom experience increased effort, improved concentration levels, persistence, communication and collaboration, and amelioration in their attitude to class attendance. It is reasonable to conclude that learners undergo cognitive growth and develop self-regulatory strategies and meta-cognitive awareness. At the level of emotional engagement, learners initially experience negative emotions such as anger and frustration, and then more positive emotions such as contentment and increased interest in the subject as they adapt to the flipped teaching-learning model. Flipping also seems to influence students’ autonomy and ability to ask questions and express opinions. It appears, however, that this approach does not influence students’ capacity to contribute to their own learning resources and activities. This study makes a valuable contribution to knowledge about students’ engagement in EFL writing courses. It revealed that a strong positive correlation exists between students’ behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement, and that a positive correlation exists between students’ technology skills and linguistic proficiency and several aspects of their engagement. The study demonstrated, however, that no correlation exists between gender and age and students’ engagement in the flipped classroom. Furthermore, this practice-based research indicated that although flipped instruction helps to address the problem of students’ disengagement in writing courses in our context, factors such as students’ linguistic proficiency and technology skills should be taken into consideration before implementing this instructional approach in the current setting

Measuring Perceived Stress Levels and Adaptive Coping Strategies in Undergraduate College Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study

This study aimed to analyze changes in perceived stress and physiological variables in undergraduate students and identify preferred adaptive coping strategies utilized over one semester. Additionally, the study aimed to assess the impact of demographic factors on the students\u27 perception of stress. A quasi-experimental study was conducted using non-random convenience sampling with 30 undergraduate students enrolled in an Introduction to Stress Management class at a small, regional institution in the upper Midwest in the fall of 2022. Data collection included the use of the Perceived Stress Scale (i.e., PSS-10), stress physiological variables (e.g., heart rate), demographic characteristics (e.g., sex, relationship status), and usage of coping strategies (e.g., mindfulness, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, power napping). Participants were surveyed three times using pre-, mid-, and post-treatment assessments. Both descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon-signed rank test were used to address the study\u27s research questions and null hypothesis. The findings showed a statistically significant difference (p \u3c .05) from pre- to post-treatment assessments in total stress scores (i.e., PSS-10, physiological variables), suggesting that coping strategies were effective. The findings did not indicate a significant decrease in PSS-10 scores from pre- to post-treatment. Data showed that undergraduate college students preferred power napping and social support, and sex accounted for some important differences. Students reported being moderately stressed, more so in their second year. Implementing adaptive coping strategies can effectively decrease perceived stress as well as the physiological manifestation of stress through academic classes or programs available to students through campus

Learning designs incorporating animated pedagogical agents: Their potential for improving academic writing competence, writing self-efficacy, and reducing writing anxiety

Academic writing can be extremely challenging, especially for new university students. This is compounded by the mass-migration of courses to online delivery, which further increases the complexity of acquiring writing skills. Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) have shown promise in addressing these problems, because they simulate authentic face-to-face social interactions thereby potentially increasing student engagement, motivation, and favourable emotions conducive to learning. This study’s first aim was to examine the impact of learning designs employing APAs on novice learners’ academic writing, writing anxiety, and writing self-efficacy. Its second aim was to examine the influence of various delivery options (didactic delivery or scaffolded questioning) with support messages (emotional, motivational or neither) on writing competence, writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy. These aims were achieved in a mixed-method study that included six experimental conditions tested using two multimedia academic writing lessons provided to 106 participants who were new to Australian tertiary studies. Quantitative data were collected immediately before and after the lessons (Phase 1), while qualitative data were obtained by interviews with a subset of participants after Lesson 2 (Phase 2). The impact of the independent variable combinations on the dependent variables were examined quantitatively (General Linear Modelling, t-tests) and qualitatively (thematic analysis). The results demonstrate that completing two academic writing lessons with APAs can increase writing competence and self-efficacy, and reduce writing anxiety. However, no significant differences were found between the support and delivery groups. Despite the lack of significant inter-group differences, more participants from the emotional group reported that their negative emotions were reduced because of the lesson. Also, all the participants in the motivational group reported perceptions of writing improvement as a result of attending the lessons. The overall positive result suggests promising possibilities for writing support delivered online to counter student under preparedness for academic writing

Exploring perspectives of people with type-1 diabetes on goalsetting strategies within self-management education and care

Background. Collaborative goal-setting strategies are widely recommended for diabetes self-management support within healthcare systems. Creating self-management plans that fit with peoples’ own goals and priorities has been linked with better diabetic control. Consequently, goal-setting has become a core component of many diabetes selfmanagement programmes such as the ‘Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE) programme’. Within DAFNE, people with Type-1 Diabetes (T1D) develop their own goals along with action-plans to stimulate goal-achievement. While widely implemented, limited research has explored how goal-setting strategies are experienced by people with diabetes.Therefore, this study aims to explore the perspectives of people with T1D on theimplementation and value of goal-setting strategies within DAFNE and follow-up diabetes care. Furthermore, views on barriers and facilitators to goal-attainment are explored.Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 people with T1D who attended a DAFNE-programme. Following a longitudinal qualitative research design, interviews took place 1 week, and 6-8 months after completion of DAFNE. A recurrent cross-sectional approach is applied in which themes will be identified at each time-point using thematic analyses.Expected results. Preliminary identified themes surround the difference in value that participants place on goal-setting strategies, and the lack of support for goal-achievement within diabetes care.Current stage. Data collection complete; data-analysis ongoing.Discussion. Goal-setting strategies are increasingly included in guidelines for diabetes support and have become essential parts of many primary care improvement schemes. Therefore, exploring the perspectives of people with T1D on the value and implementation of goal-setting strategies is vital for their optimal application