A case study exploring the effects of using an integrative STEM curriculum on eighth grade students’ performance and engagement in the mathematics classroom

To address the need to improve student achievement in STEM disciplines, effort has been made to develop a new of tools for STEM education (Bybee, 2013). The Robotics and Engineering Design Curriculum (REDC) provides students an opportunity to develop systems thinking abilities while integrating science and mathematics concepts. Using an exploratory case study approach within a situated cognition framework, this study examines the effects of using REDC on 54 eighth grade students’ performance and engagement during 5-week integrative STEM instruction in the mathematics and science class. Situational factors that contribute to students’ success in learning STEM concepts are also examined. This study employed mixed-methods techniques. The quantitative data collected included pre/post achievement tests and pre/post motivation and engagement scale (MES) surveys. Quantitative data analysis included reliability analyses and paired sample t-tests. The results of the reliability analyses for the achievement test and MES survey report acceptable Cronbach’s alpha (.843 and .787, respectively). Qualitative data collected included semi-structured interviews, field notes and student artifacts (engineering notebook and printed prototypes). Qualitative data analysis used coding procedures suggested by Saldana (2012) where patterns were identified and grouped to allow the emergence of themes. Collectively, the data was triangulated to support six emerging themes. The emerging themes regarding the effect of using the curriculum are as follows: (1) the developing anthropomorphic relationship with the robot enhances engagement, (2) engagement is impacted by purposeful and intentional physical action, and (3) purposeful collaboration promotes engagement through the construction of meaning and interaction. Three themes emerged identifying factors that contribute to success: (1) learning environment must have transformative learning potential, (2) learning experiences underpinned by design thinking contribute to success and (3) contextual relevance is enhanced when students have the freedom to their design learning journey. This study addresses the need for research into the implementation of 3-D design and manufacturing in the middle school classroom. Bybee, R. W. (2013). The case for STEM education: Challenges and opportunities. National Science Teachers Association. Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (No. 14). Los Angeles, Ca: Sage

Decoding learning: the proof, promise and potential of digital education

With hundreds of millions of pounds spent on digital technology for education every year – from interactive whiteboards to the rise of one–to–one tablet computers – every new technology seems to offer unlimited promise to learning. many sectors have benefitted immensely from harnessing innovative uses of technology. cloud computing, mobile communications and internet applications have changed the way manufacturing, finance, business services, the media and retailers operate. But key questions remain in education: has the range of technologies helped improve learners’ experiences and the standards they achieve? or is this investment just languishing as kit in the cupboard? and what more can decision makers, schools, teachers, parents and the technology industry do to ensure the full potential of innovative technology is exploited? There is no doubt that digital technologies have had a profound impact upon the management of learning. institutions can now recruit, register, monitor, and report on students with a new economy, efficiency, and (sometimes) creativity. yet, evidence of digital technologies producing real transformation in learning and teaching remains elusive. The education sector has invested heavily in digital technology; but this investment has not yet resulted in the radical improvements to learning experiences and educational attainment. in 2011, the Review of Education Capital found that maintained schools spent £487 million on icT equipment and services in 2009-2010. 1 since then, the education system has entered a state of flux with changes to the curriculum, shifts in funding, and increasing school autonomy. While ring-fenced funding for icT equipment and services has since ceased, a survey of 1,317 schools in July 2012 by the british educational suppliers association found they were assigning an increasing amount of their budget to technology. With greater freedom and enthusiasm towards technology in education, schools and teachers have become more discerning and are beginning to demand more evidence to justify their spending and strategies. This is both a challenge and an opportunity as it puts schools in greater charge of their spending and use of technolog

Constructing the Learning Environment in Classroom Convivial Computer Tools for Higher Education

New education technologies are coming on stream, enabling connectivity among teachers, facilitators and students. Students have to learn how to access Managed Learning Environments each time they move to different course websites. These barriers can hinder the real understanding of the subject matter for a course. This research calls for a rethink of pedagogical process towards blending together commonly used emerging social software and legacy educational tools rather than developing new tools for the classroom. Indeed, a learning tool should fit well to the learning model and philosophy of that course. Three case studies were conducted through different courses in the Digital Media master program and Informatik program at the University of Bremen, Germany. Students worked in small groups to design digital media and learning portal that should make learning more interesting and meaningful for them. At the end, this research proposes the concept of Constructing the Learning Environment in classroom and Convivial Computer Tools for higher education, where students and teachers, via dialogues in the class, can negotiate to deploy a set of selected tools and functions to match their learning needs. It is also to show that a tool with too many functions can cause confusion, rather than enhance effectiveness. To empower collaborative, interactive and personal learning, this work proposes the blended learning and classroom procedures for a convivial selection of educational tools. At the end, our innovative attempt is to bring constructionist learning into the higher education context

Enhancing Free-text Interactions in a Communication Skills Learning Environment

Learning environments frequently use gamification to enhance user interactions.Virtual characters with whom players engage in simulated conversations often employ prescripted dialogues; however, free user inputs enable deeper immersion and higher-order cognition. In our learning environment, experts developed a scripted scenario as a sequence of potential actions, and we explore possibilities for enhancing interactions by enabling users to type free inputs that are matched to the pre-scripted statements using Natural Language Processing techniques. In this paper, we introduce a clustering mechanism that provides recommendations for fine-tuning the pre-scripted answers in order to better match user inputs

The student-produced electronic portfolio in craft education

The authors studied primary school students’ experiences of using an electronic portfolio in their craft education over four years. A stimulated recall interview was applied to collect user experiences and qualitative content analysis to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that the electronic portfolio was experienced as a multipurpose tool to support learning. It makes the learning process visible and in that way helps focus on and improves the quality of learning. © ISLS.Peer reviewe

"Arte Factus" : estudo e co-design socialmente consciente de artefatos digitais socioenativos

Orientador: Maria Cecília Calani BaranauskasTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: Atualmente, a tecnologia computacional tornou-se cada vez mais pervasiva por meio de computadores de diferentes tamanhos, formas e capacidades. Mas avanços tecnológicos, embora necessários, não são suficientes para tornar a interação com tecnologia computacional mais transparente, como preconizado pela computação ubíqua. Sistemas computacionais atuais ainda exigem um vocabulário técnico de entradas e saídas para serem utilizados. No campo da Interação Humano-Computador (IHC), a adoção da teoria da cognição enativa pode lançar luz sobre um novo paradigma de interação que preenche a lacuna entre ação e percepção. Sistemas computacionais enativos são um promissor tema de pesquisa, mas seu design e avaliação ainda são pouco explorados. Além disso, sistemas enativos, como já proposto na literatura, carecem de consideração do contexto social. O objetivo desta tese de doutorado é contribuir para o design de tecnologia computacional dentro de uma abordagem da cognição enativa, além de também sensível à aspectos sociais. Portanto, esta tese investiga os conceitos de sistemas enativos e socioenativos por meio do co-design de arte interativa e instalações. Para atingir esse objetivo, é proposto um arcabouço teórico-metodológico chamado "Arte Factus" para apoiar o estudo e o co-design socialmente consciente de artefatos digitais. O arcabouço "Arte Factus" foi utilizado em três estudos de design relatados nesta tese: InterArt, InstInt e InsTime. Esses estudos envolveram a participação de 105 estudantes de graduação e pós-graduação em Ciência da Computação e Engenharia de Computação no co-design de 19 instalações. O processo envolveu o uso de tecnologia pervasiva do tipo Faça-Você-Mesmo ("Do-It-Yourself, DIY"), e algumas dessas instalações foram estudadas em oficinas de prática situada que ocorreram em cenários educacionais (escola e museu exploratório de ciências). O arcabouço "Arte Factus", como a principal contribuição desta tese de doutorado, mostrou-se eficaz no apoio ao co-design socialmente consciente de instalações interativas que materializam o conceito de artefatos digitais socioenativos. Além disso, através do estudo dos artefatos criados no contexto desta investigação, esta tese também contribui para a construção teórica do conceito de sistemas socioenativosAbstract: Currently, computational technology has become more and more pervasive with computers of different sizes, shapes, and capacities. But technological advancements, although necessary, are not enough to make the interaction with computational technology more transparent, as preconized by the ubiquitous computing. Current computational systems still require a technical vocabulary of inputs and outputs to be interacted with. Within the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), the adoption of the enactive cognition theory can shed light on a new interaction paradigm that bridges the gap between action and perception. Enactive computational systems are a promising subject of research, but their design and evaluation are still hardly explored. Furthermore, enactive systems as already proposed in the literature lack a social context consideration. The objective of this doctoral thesis is to contribute towards the design of computational technology within an enactive approach to cognition, while also being sensitive to social aspects. Therefore, this thesis investigates the concepts of enactive and socioenactive systems by enabling the co-design of interactive art installations. To achieve this objective, a theoretical-methodological framework named "Arte Factus" is proposed to support the study and socially aware co-design of digital artifacts. The "Arte Factus" framework was used in three design studies reported in this thesis: InterArt, InstInt, and InsTime. These studies involved the participation of 105 Computer Science and Computer Engineering undergraduate and graduate students in the co-design of 19 installations. The process involved the use of pervasive "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) technology, and some of these installations were further studied in workshops of situated practice that took place in educational scenarios (school and exploratory science museum). The "Arte Factus" framework, as the main contribution of this doctoral thesis, has shown effective in supporting the socially aware co-design of interactive installations that materialize the concept of socioenactive digital artifacts. Moreover, through the study of the artifacts created in the context of this investigation, this thesis also contributes towards the theoretical construction of the concept of socioenactive systemsDoutoradoCiência da ComputaçãoDoutor em Ciência da Computação2017/06762-0FAPESPCAPE