Assistive tool for collaborative learning of conceptual structures

The final publication is available at link.springer.comThere is a demand for computational methods assisting learners to generate relevantassociations for current context. Many concepts in natural language have ambiguous meaningsimplying alternative ways to define associations for them. It is crucial to develop collaborativemethods that support free experiments with promising conceptual structures in learning.Methods for evaluating these structures in respect to the person’s needs are also required. Wepropose a new collaborative ideation scheme and based on that we have implemented anassistive tool for learning conceptual structures in a collaborative Web environment.Peer reviewe

Analyse d’un dispositif de type fab-lab dans un contexte industriel

National audience— L'émergence des Fab Labs facilite l'accès à la fabrication numérique et au prototypage depuis quelques années. Cette émergence s'accompagne du mouvement des makers au travers du Do It Yourself. Parallèlement les grandes entreprises s'intéressent de plus en plus à ces nouveaux lieux pour la simplicité de mise en oeuvre de leurs outils et pour leur ouverture quant au partage de connaissance et au compagnonnage. Cependant ce phénomène n'a pas encore pénétré concrètement les entreprises de manière significative. Nous pensons que l'utilisation de ce type de lieu dans les phases de conception amont pourrait aider les phases de créativité en favorisant l'exploration des espaces de possibles, en générant plus de concepts ou en les rendant plus robustes et en permettant la confrontation des divers points de vues plus rapidement. Le maquettage ne serait donc plus réservé aux services de prototypage ou à l'ingénierie ; il serait rendu accessible aux différents acteurs tels que le design, le marketing et l'ergonomie. En associant ce type de lieu à une démarche inspirée du design thinking, le Groupe SEB créé un nouveau dispositif pour accompagner ses équipes d'innovation. Ces équipes multi-expertises vont pouvoir travailler en collaboration afin de générer des idées via des outils de créativité. Ces idées vont être décrites pour se transformer en concepts qui seront ensuite matérialisées pour devenir des démonstrateurs. I. INTRODUCTION Depuis l'apparition des ordinateurs, les technologies numériques n'ont cessé de progresser. L'accès à ces technologies dans le domaine de la fabrication grand public est rendu possible avec l'apparition des ateliers de fabrication numérique et plus particulièrement des Fab Labs. L'apparition des Fab Labs va donner un regain à la culture Do it Yourself au travers du mouvement des Makers. Les grandes entreprises s'intéressent de plus en plus à ces ateliers de fabrication numérique et à la culture qui les accompagne. Pour l'entreprise, les Fab Labs sont assimilés à un outil d'innovation ouverte facilitant l'accès aux dispositifs de prototypage rapide. Dans l'ouvrage de Fabien Eychenne consacré à l'étude de l'émergence des Fab Labs en France [1], une typologie permet de distinguer trois types de Fab Labs : grand public, éducationnels et privés business. Les Fab Labs de type privés business sont étudiés dans cet article

The benefits of synchronous collaborative information visualization: evidence from an experimental evaluation

A great corpus of studies reports empirical evidence of how information visualization supports comprehension and analysis of data. The benefits of visualization for synchronous group knowledge work, however, have not been addressed extensively. Anecdotal evidence and use cases illustrate the benefits of synchronous collaborative information visualization, but very few empirical studies have rigorously examined the impact of visualization on group knowledge work. We have consequently designed and conducted an experiment in which we have analyzed the impact of visualization on knowledge sharing in situated work groups. Our experimental study consists of evaluating the performance of 131 subjects (all experienced managers) in groups of 5 (for a total of 26 groups), working together on a real-life knowledge sharing task. We compare (1) the control condition (no visualization provided), with two visualization supports: (2) optimal and (3) suboptimal visualization (based on a previous survey). The facilitator of each group was asked to populate the provided interactive visual template with insights from the group, and to organize the contributions according to the group consensus. We have evaluated the results through both objective and subjective measures. Our statistical analysis clearly shows that interactive visualization has a statistically significant, objective and positive impact on the outcomes of knowledge sharing, but that the subjects seem not to be aware of this. In particular, groups supported by visualization achieved higher productivity, higher quality of outcome and greater knowledge gains. No statistically significant results could be found between an optimal and a suboptimal visualization though (as classified by the pre-experiment survey). Subjects also did not seem to be aware of the benefits that the visualizations provided as no difference between the visualization and the control conditions was found for the self-reported measures of satisfaction and participation. An implication of our study for information visualization applications is to extend them by using real-time group annotation functionalities that aid in the group sense making process of the represented data

Representational practices in VMT.

This chapter analyzes the interaction of three students working on mathematics problems over several days in a virtual math team. Our analysis traces out how successful collaboration in a later session was contingent upon the work of prior sessions, and shows how representational practices are important aspects of these participants’ mathematical problem solving. We trace the formation, transformation and refinement of one problem-solving practice—problem decomposition—and three representational practices—inscribe first solve second, modulate perspective and visualize decomposition. The analysis is of theoretical interest because it suggests that “situated cognition” is contingent upon not only the immediate situation but also the chronologically prior resources and associated practices; shows how inscriptions become representations for the group through an interactive process of interpretation; and sheds light on “group cognition” as an interactional process that is not identical to individual cognition yet that draws upon a dynamic interplay of individual contributions

Assistive tool for collaborative learning of conceptual structures

Abstract. There is a demand for computational methods assisting learners to generate relevant associations for current context. Many concepts in natural language have ambiguous meanings implying alternative ways to define associations for them. It is crucial to develop collaborative methods that support free experiments with promising conceptual structures in learning. Methods for evaluating these structures in respect to the person's needs are also required. We propose a new collaborative ideation scheme and based on that we have implemented an assistive tool for learning conceptual structures in a collaborative Web environment

Investigating 6th Graders' Use of a Tablet-Based App Supporting Synchronous Use of Multiple Tools Designed to Promote Collaborative Knowledge Building in Science.

At this pivotal moment in time, when the proliferation of mobile technologies in our daily lives is influencing the relatively fast integration of these technologies into classrooms, there is little known about the process of student learning, and the role of collaboration, with app-based learning environments on mobile devices. To address this gap, this dissertation, comprised of three manuscripts, investigated three pairs of sixth grade students’ synchronous collaborative use of a tablet-based science app called WeInvestigate. The first paper illustrated the methodological decisions necessary to conduct the study of student synchronous and face-to-face collaboration and knowledge building within the complex WeInvestigate and classroom learning environments. The second paper provided the theory of collaboration that guided the design of supports in WeInvestigate, and described its subsequent development. The third paper detailed the interactions between pairs of students as they engaged collaboratively in model construction and explanation tasks using WeInvestigate, hypothesizing connections between these interactions and the designed supports for collaboration. Together, these manuscripts provide encouraging evidence regarding the potential of teaching and learning with WeInvestigate. Findings demonstrated that the students in this study learned science through WeInvestigate, and were supported by the app - particularly the collabrification - to engage in collaborative modeling of phenomena. The findings also highlight the potential of the multiple methods used in this study to understand students’ face-to-face and technology-based interactions within the “messy” context of an app-based learning environment and a traditional K-12 classroom. However, as the third manuscript most clearly illustrates, there are still a number of modifications to be made to the WeInvestigate technology before it can be optimally used in classrooms to support students’ collaborative science endeavors. The findings presented in this dissertation contribute in theoretical, methodological, and applied ways to the fields of science education, educational technology, and the learning sciences, and point to exciting possibilities for future research on students’ collaborations using future iterations of WeInvestigate with more embedded supports; comparative studies of students’ use of synchronous collaboration; and studies focused on elucidating the role of the teacher using WeInvestigate - and similar mobile platforms - for teaching and learning.PhDEducational StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116748/1/casher_1.pd

Towards multilingual domain module acquisition

Máster y Doctorado en Sistemas Informáticos Avanzados, Informatika Fakultatea - Facultad de InformáticaDOM-Sortze is a framework for Semi-Automatic development of Domain Modules, i.e., the pedagogical representation of the domain to be learnt. DOM-Sortze generates Domain Modules for Technology Supported Learning Systems using Natural Language Processing Techniques, Ontologies and Heuristic Reasoning. The framework has been already used over textbooks in Basque language. This work presents the extension that adds English support to the framework, which is achieved with the modification of ErauzOnt. This is the tool that enables the acquisition of learning resources, definitions, examples, exercises, etc. used in the learning process. Moreover, some tests have been made to evaluate the performance of the tool with this new language. Principles of Object-Oriented Programming textbook for Object-Oriented Programming university subject is used for evaluation purposes. The results of this tests show that DOM-Sortze is not tight to a particular domain neither language