Collaboration Versus Cheating

We outline how we detected programming plagiarism in an introductory online course for a master's of science in computer science program, how we achieved a statistically significant reduction in programming plagiarism by combining a clear explanation of university and class policy on academic honesty reinforced with a short but formal assessment, and how we evaluated plagiarism rates before SIGand after implementing our policy and assessment.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 5 tables, SIGCSE 201

The creation of “Questions Bank" and introduction of 2.0. examination session

In the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora Jagiellonian University, with the support of the Distance Learning Centre at the Jagiellonian University was introduced an innovative method of examination based on empowering the students. During the 2014 session, the students were invited to create test questions. Accepted by the lecturer questions were used on he exam. Extensive “Questions Bank” may be used in subsequent examinations 2.0. The authors of the paper present practical advice on how to prepare and carry out such an examination. They share know how of practical suggestions from pedagogical to technical aspect of moving from teaching to learning while using the idea of Questions Bank. They discuss the impact on the motivation and creativity of students, the principles of achievement and assessment, methods of verifying the content of the questions and technical measures to make questions and hindering cheating. The use of innovative methods of preparing and conducting the exam based on the Questions Bank had a positive impact on the mobilization and involvement of students, which resulted in a very good performance evaluation questionnaires of the lecture

Impact of Using Personalized E-Course in Computer Science Education

At current e-learning platforms, is often seen non-efficient usage of their possibilities when creating educational content. This article deals with the possibilities of using adaptive tools that are offered by learning management system (LMS) Moodle when creating a personalised e-course. The methodology created by the authors of the article for personalised e-course adjusts the study content based on characteristics of each student stated by his or her initial knowledge, learning style, and motivation. The article is aimed at the presentation of the created methodology and its impact on the level of student's output knowledge as well as overall learning efficiency. By using the methodology, there was an opportunity to compare the impact of two different approaches – the personalised one and non-personalised. Statistical analysis revealed that the use of personalized e-course has a positive impact on students' activity, motivation, and their level of output knowledge. The results showed that the attended secondary school has no or only minimal impact on the output knowledge if the students studied through the personalized e-course. An interesting finding was that students in all surveys have a stronger tendency to prefer the same learning styles over the years

Reducing high attrition rate in a business statistics course using an interpretive approach encompassing diverse teaching and learning styles: Working paper series--03-11

An interpretive-learner-centered approach is implemented to improve students learning and address the issue of high attrition rate for a business statistics course. It focuses on the interpretation and implications of statistical results through real business problems and data while the mechanical steps of computation via formulae are relegated to the background. The philosophy that "students are responsible for their education" is embraced; thus, a mastery approach to learning was adopted utilizing pre-lecture, post-lecture and lab web quizzes all with multiple attempts allowed. Cooperative learning serves as a common thread in the design through the use of teams in lectures, labs and on two team projects. The projects result in business reports where all statistical jargon is translated into everyday language. Results from data collected on students learning style, pre and post assessments indicate a significant reduction in attrition rate and improved student learning

Development and Evaluation of an Internet-Based Airway Evaluation Tutorial

Airway evaluation and basic management are essential skills for all physicians. Identifying patients for whom mask ventilation or endotracheal intubation will be difficult to impossible is vital for patient safety. Despite this, training in airway evaluation is minimal in the curricula of most medical schools. To ensure a thorough understanding of airway anatomy and evaluation, as well as exposure to various abnormal findings, we developed an Internet-based module including interactive components, graphics, animation, video, and a self-assessment tool. The site received more than 1800 visits in its first nine months of operation, with uniformly laudatory comments. Eighty subjects over a six-month period completed a pre- and post-test quiz structured to evaluate the utility of the site. Of those completing the on-line survey, more than 76% rated the site very useful. Most felt their knowledge of airway examination improved after completion of the site (p<0.00004). The median amount of time spent on the site was 29.5 minutes. Judging from the overwhelming response to this site from around the world and across disciplines, such interactive training tools that exploit the technological capabilities of the Internet provide useful adjuncts to traditional teaching methods

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education)

Blink Rate Variability during resting and reading sessions

It has been shown that blinks occur not only to moisturize eyes and as a defensive response to the environment, but are also caused by mental processes. In this paper, we investigate statistical characteristics of blinks and blink rate variability of 11 subjects. The subjects are presented with a reading/memorization session preceded and followed by a resting session. EEG signals were recorded during these sessions. The signals from the two front electrodes were then analyzed, and times of the blinks were detected. We discovered that compared to the resting sessions, reading session is characterized by a lower number of blinks. However, there was no significant difference in standard deviation in the blink rate variability. We also noticed that in terms of complexity measures, the blink rate variability is located somewhere in between white and pink noises, being closer to the white noise during reading. We also found that the average of inter-blink intervals increases during reading/memorization, thus longer inter-blink intervals could be associated with a mental workload

SPC-based model for evaluation of training processes in industrial context

Purpose: This article aims to present successful practices in the management of training processes based on virtual reality and augmented reality, namely a strategy for evaluating the process with the principle of continuous improvement in mind, and monitoring its performance in terms of productivity and waste levels. It is proposed to apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) tools to develop control charts for monitoring individual events (i-charts). Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is based on a case study developed in an industrial project and is guided by a literature review on Work-Based Learning (WBL) and SPC. Findings: The developed work shows that SPC tools are suitable for supporting decision making in situations where the data to be analyzed is generated by human-computer interactions, e.g., involving students and virtual learning environments. Originality/value: The innovative aspect presented in the article lies in the evaluation of the effectiveness of pedagogical resources arranged in simulation environments based on virtual and augmented reality. The accumulated knowledge about the application of SPC in service areas, and others that demand data analysis, reinforces the hypothesis of the suitability of its application in the case presented. This is an original application of SPC, normally used in business processes quality control, but which in this case is applied in an innovative way to the evaluation of industrial training processes, with the same spirit for which it was designed, i.e. to provide the means to manage the quality of a processPeer Reviewe

DEVELOPMENT AND USABILITY EVALUATION OF PLATFORM INDEPENDENT MOBILE LEARNING APPLICATION (M-LA)

In today’s digital age, wireless technology and widespread use of handheld devices are going under a continuous advancement to provide information anywhere and at anytime. Furthermore, these technologies are being utilized in the field of education and called mobile learning (M-Learning). Hence, M-learning means using of mobile devices and wireless computing as a learning instrument and communication technology respectively. The limitations of M-learning include either hardware or software of mobile devices, content creation, and no standards for mobile learning system (M-LS), wireless technology, and security. The main objectives of this research are to study and design model for M-learning approach; to develop platform independent M-learning application (M-LA) for Fundamentals of Programming course; to design M-LS platform classification, and to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of the application. In addition, under the development of this application the following aspects are considered: learning theories, M-learning development principles, and some of the aforementioned M-learning limitations. To achieve the above mentioned objectives, ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) life cycle is adapted which is one type of instructional design model (IDM). The application has been developed using Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), and Extensible Markup Language (XML). It contains several sections, but the main modules are Lecture Materials, and Quiz. Quasi Experiment Design and usability attributes was used to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of the application respectively using Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS foundation students. Finally, the data was analyzed using quantitative and qualitative method. The quantitative data was analyzed using coefficient variance and independent t-Test, and Cronbach alpha used to measure the internal reliability of the data. Overall results show that M-LA is efficient to improve learners’ performance, makes learning enjoyable, support continuous learning and learning time is reduced, and fulfilled the usability needs