On the Design of Constructively Aligned Educational Unit

Modern pedagogy is moving away from traditional transmissive approaches, and it is extensively embracing constructive theory of learning. A prominent practical embodiment of this paradigm shift is a method called Constructive Alignment (CA). This approach focuses on learners’ actions and starts from a clear communication of the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) of the focal unit. ILOs are made of content, a context, and an Educational Goal Verb (EGV). According to the Bloom Taxonomy, the EGV is the core of an ILO and refers to the action the learners are expected to be able to master after completing the educational unit. The ILO is then aligned to the course activity using the EGV (i.e., EGVs are enacted through Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) and verified through Assessment Tasks (ATs)). Despite the ILO definition being extensively investigated and described, the extant literature has poorly explored how to devise suitable TLAs and ATs, lacking comprehensive contributions that identify and describe the different kinds of TLAs and ATs available to course designers. In view of the above gap, the authors searched and reviewed the literature (scientific papers (i.e., top-down, deductive approach)) and practices in higher education (university websites and blogs (i.e., bottom-up, inductive approach)) to identify all the possible sources of TLA and AT descriptions available. The results propose standardized templates that support the course design process, providing extensive descriptions of TLA and AT based on the best practices identified. The proposed templates include the core dimensions that proved to be suitable for designing traditional and remote-learning activities. Finally, the examples provided in the paper show how to use these templates on a few kinds of selected on-campus and digital TLAs and ATs from the educational units identified in the Erasmus+ MAESTRO project, which is based on Industry 4.0 technological enablers and their application in support of manufacturing sustainability

Working Notes from the 1992 AAAI Workshop on Automating Software Design. Theme: Domain Specific Software Design

The goal of this workshop is to identify different architectural approaches to building domain-specific software design systems and to explore issues unique to domain-specific (vs. general-purpose) software design. Some general issues that cut across the particular software design domain include: (1) knowledge representation, acquisition, and maintenance; (2) specialized software design techniques; and (3) user interaction and user interface

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Engineering (RE) aims to ensure that systems meet the needs of their stakeholders including users, sponsors, and customers. Often consid- ered as one of the earliest activities in software engineering, it has developed into a set of activities that touch almost every step of the software development process. In this chapter, we reflect on how the need for RE was first recognised and how its foundational concepts were developed. We present the seminal papers on four main activities of the RE process, namely (i) elicitation, (ii) modelling & analysis, (iii) as- surance, and (iv) management & evolution. We also discuss some current research challenges in the area, including security requirements engineering as well as RE for mobile and ubiquitous computing. Finally, we identify some open challenges and research gaps that require further exploration

TwitSong: A current events computer poet and the thorny problem of assessment.

This thesis is driven by the question of how computers can generate poetry, and how that poetry can be evaluated. We survey existing work on computer-generated poetry and interdisciplinary work on how to evaluate this type of computer-generated creative product. We perform experiments illuminating issues in evaluation which are specific to poetry. Finally, we produce and evaluate three versions of our own generative poetry system, TwitSong, which generates poetry based on the news, evaluates the desired qualities of the lines that it chooses, and, in its final form, can make targeted and goal-directed edits to its own work. While TwitSong does not turn out to produce poetry comparable to that of a human, it represents an advancement on the state of the art in its genre of computer-generated poetry, particularly in its ability to edit for qualities like topicality and emotion

A Comparison of Complex Thinking Required by the Elementary New Jersey Student Learning Standards and Past New Jersey Curriculum Standards

Academic learning standards define the necessary skills and knowledge that students need to master in order to become college and career ready. The best 21st century learning standards are those that provide the opportunity to develop complex thinking skills including creativity, strategic thinking, and critical thinking. The learning standards that provide an insight into complex thinking are identified as critical thinking, creativity in practice, and strategic thinking. This dissertation’s intent was to examine the language of complex thinking of the newly adopted New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in Grades 4 & 5 Mathematics as compared to the language of complex thinking of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS) in Grades 4-5 Mathematics using the Webb’s Depth-of-Knowledge Module. This study aimed to reveal the extent that complex thinking skills are incorporated throughout these two specific sets of learning standards. This study utilized a mixed methods, including qualitative content analysis using Webb’s depth-of-knowledge to code the learning standards in both the former New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and New Jersey Student Learning Standards and descriptive statistics. Deductive category application was used to connect Webb’s depth-of-knowledge framework to the existing NJSLS and NJCCCS. Each depth-of-knowledge level represents a specific level of cognitive complexity. The higher the DOK level of a standard, the higher level of cognitive complexity is contained within that specific standard. The higher the cognitive complexity of a standard, the more complex thinking is embedded into that standard. Each standard was rated on a 1–4 DOK level based on Webb’s depth-of-knowledge methodology. To assist with reliability in coding each set of learning standards, a “double-rater read behind consensus model” was implemented as in other similar studies. The major findings in regards to the Mathematics Grades 4 & 5 NJCCCS and the Mathematics Grades 4–5 NJCCCS were compared using the DOK framework were: The mathematics Grades 4-5 NJCCCS were rated at an overall higher percentage of DOK Levels 3 and 4 than were the mathematics Grades 4-5 NJSLS. The mathematics Grades 4-5 NJSLS contained a higher percentage of lower rated standards, DOK Levels 1 and 2, as compared to the mathematics Grades 4 & 5 NJCCCS. This study suggests that more opportunities for developing complex thinking, which is essential to 21st century learning, is contained within New Jersey’s older, replaced set of learning standards found in the Mathematics Grades 4 & 5 NJCCCS when compared to the NJSLS adopted in 2017 Mathematics Grade 4 & 5

A Comparison of Complex Thinking Required by the Elementary New Jersey Student Learning Standards and Past New Jersey Curriculum Standards

Academic learning standards define the necessary skills and knowledge that students need to master in order to become college and career ready. The best 21st century learning standards are those that provide the opportunity to develop complex thinking skills including creativity, strategic thinking, and critical thinking. The learning standards that provide an insight into complex thinking are identified as critical thinking, creativity in practice, and strategic thinking. This dissertation’s intent was to examine the language of complex thinking of the newly adopted New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in Grades 4 & 5 Mathematics as compared to the language of complex thinking of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS) in Grades 4-5 Mathematics using the Webb’s Depth-of-Knowledge Module. This study aimed to reveal the extent that complex thinking skills are incorporated throughout these two specific sets of learning standards. This study utilized a mixed methods, including qualitative content analysis using Webb’s depth-of-knowledge to code the learning standards in both the former New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and New Jersey Student Learning Standards and descriptive statistics. Deductive category application was used to connect Webb’s depth-of-knowledge framework to the existing NJSLS and NJCCCS. Each depth-of-knowledge level represents a specific level of cognitive complexity. The higher the DOK level of a standard, the higher level of cognitive complexity is contained within that specific standard. The higher the cognitive complexity of a standard, the more complex thinking is embedded into that standard. Each standard was rated on a 1–4 DOK level based on Webb’s depth-of-knowledge methodology. To assist with reliability in coding each set of learning standards, a “double-rater read behind consensus model” was implemented as in other similar studies. The major findings in regards to the Mathematics Grades 4 & 5 NJCCCS and the Mathematics Grades 4–5 NJCCCS were compared using the DOK framework were: The mathematics Grades 4-5 NJCCCS were rated at an overall higher percentage of DOK Levels 3 and 4 than were the mathematics Grades 4-5 NJSLS. The mathematics Grades 4-5 NJSLS contained a higher percentage of lower rated standards, DOK Levels 1 and 2, as compared to the mathematics Grades 4 & 5 NJCCCS. This study suggests that more opportunities for developing complex thinking, which is essential to 21st century learning, is contained within New Jersey’s older, replaced set of learning standards found in the Mathematics Grades 4 & 5 NJCCCS when compared to the NJSLS adopted in 2017 Mathematics Grade 4 & 5

Capture and Maintenance of Constraints in Engineering Design

The thesis investigates two domains, initially the kite domain and then part of a more demanding Rolls-Royce domain (jet engine design). Four main types of refinement rules that use the associated application conditions and domain ontology to support the maintenance of constraints are proposed. The refinement rules have been implemented in ConEditor and the extended system is known as ConEditor+. With the help of ConEditor+, the thesis demonstrates that an explicit representation of application conditions together with the corresponding constraints and the domain ontology can be used to detect inconsistencies, redundancy, subsumption and fusion, reduce the number of spurious inconsistencies and prevent the identification of inappropriate refinements of redundancy, subsumption and fusion between pairs of constraints.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Retrieval-, Distributed-, and Interleaved Practice in the Classroom:A Systematic Review

Three of the most effective learning strategies identified are retrieval practice, distributed practice, and interleaved practice, also referred to as desirable difficulties. However, it is yet unknown to what extent these three practices foster learning in primary and secondary education classrooms (as opposed to the laboratory and/or tertiary education classrooms, where most research is conducted) and whether these strategies affect different students differently. To address these gaps, we conducted a systematic review. Initial and detailed screening of 869 documents found in a threefold search resulted in a pool of 29 journal articles published from 2006 through June 2020. Seventy-five effect sizes nested in 47 experiments nested in 29 documents were included in the review. Retrieval- and interleaved practice appeared to benefit students’ learning outcomes quite consistently; distributed practice less so. Furthermore, only cognitive Student*Task characteristics (i.e., features of the student’s cognition regarding the task, such as initial success) appeared to be significant moderators. We conclude that future research further conceptualising and operationalising initial effort is required, as is a differentiated approach to implementing desirable difficulties

Proceedings of the Seventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education

International audienceThis volume contains the Proceedings of the Seventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (ERME), which took place 9-13 February 2011, at Rzeszñw in Poland