A Learning Model for Cultivating Self-Awareness on Human Decision-Making in an Emergency Situation

People may have knowledge to handle a certain situation; however, often they might not be able to perform their behaviour well when encountering the actual situation. There are knowledge-to-action gaps that make ones do not aware the existing knowledge and act improperly. This research aims to motivate learner to become aware of their thought by proposing 1) a learning model using “surprise” as a trigger for motivating learner to realize their thinking process; and 2) a Relax-Half-Baked Microworld and its decision-making model which are used as a simulated environment. Learners could modify parameters, anticipate expected outcomes and compare observed simulated outcomes with their expected ones. Learners would feel surprise from unexpected results in the comparison, and used it to reflect their thought and to be aware of how did they make decision

An Analysis of Interactive Learning Environments for Arithmetic and Algebra Through an Integrative Perspective

International audienceThe analysis presented in this article tries to obtain a global view of the field of interactive learning environments (ILE) dedicated to arithmetic and algebra. As preliminaries, a brief overview of evaluation methods focusing on educational software is given and a short description of ten ILEs concerned by the study is provided as a kind of a state-of-the-art. Then the methodology of ILEs analysis developed in the TELMA project is explained consisting in the design and the refinement of an analysis grid and its use on the ten ILEs is mentioned. Next, a first level analysis of results leading to a compiled, analytic and synthetic view of the ILEs available and/or missing functionalities is given. A second level of the analysis is also proposed, with two concise representations of the ILEs, composed of graphical representations of the previous results, leading to a 3D map of ILEs dedicated to arithmetic and algebra. This map provides, as promised, a global view of the field and permits to define five sorts of ILEs according to two criteria: the first one is teacher-oriented and concerns usages enabled by the ILE; the second one is student-oriented and concerns control provided by the ILE to accomplish such usages

An Analysis of Interactive Learning Environments for Arithmetic and Algebra Through an Integrative Perspective

International audienceThe analysis presented in this article tries to obtain a global view of the field of interactive learning environments (ILE) dedicated to arithmetic and algebra. As preliminaries, a brief overview of evaluation methods focusing on educational software is given and a short description of ten ILEs concerned by the study is provided as a kind of a state-of-the-art. Then the methodology of ILEs analysis developed in the TELMA project is explained consisting in the design and the refinement of an analysis grid and its use on the ten ILEs is mentioned. Next, a first level analysis of results leading to a compiled, analytic and synthetic view of the ILEs available and/or missing functionalities is given. A second level of the analysis is also proposed, with two concise representations of the ILEs, composed of graphical representations of the previous results, leading to a 3D map of ILEs dedicated to arithmetic and algebra. This map provides, as promised, a global view of the field and permits to define five sorts of ILEs according to two criteria: the first one is teacher-oriented and concerns usages enabled by the ILE; the second one is student-oriented and concerns control provided by the ILE to accomplish such usages

A case study of an expert in computational thinking in the context of mathematics education research

We conducted semi-structured interviews with three experienced mathematics education researchers with great expertise in the design and use of digital technologies, including programming skills, to investigate their views and perceptions on computational thinking (CT) and its impact on mathematical learning. In this paper we report on our findings from one of them, Mark, and we suggest ways for adapting the very recent Mathematical Digital Competency (MDC) framework to encompass CT practices and dispositions. Our aim is to offer insights into how CT is perceived and understood by him, by prompting him to reflect on his own CT practices and competencies. We offer suggestions for an MDC framework for mathematics teacher educators that encompasses CT

Children challenging the design of half-baked games: Expressing values through the process of game modding

In this paper we look at the potential educational value of placing children in a dual role of identifying and changing rules and values embedded in digital games by hacking them. Children’s participation in the design of learning technologies is a difficult challenge to address, due to limitations in children’s domain-knowledge around which these technologies are developed. Their role in the design process is thus usually limited to that of a user or tester. In this paper we discuss the role of children as “hackers” of what we call ‘half-baked’ games. By hacking a pedagogically engineered half-baked game in order to improve or change it, children are expected to challenge the values, the mechanics and the rules of a fully functioning, but faulty, or inappropriate game originally designed to provoke students to modify it. This discussion uses an example of children modding such a game provocatively called ‘PerfectVille’, which was specially designed to raise problems around the issue of urban sustainability. The game itself was designed with the use of a GIS rule-based authoring tool for game design called ‘sus-x’. The children grappled with both value-laden issues and concepts embedded in the tool they used. The issue of taking children’s values into account but also of helping them to build understandings of wider contested societal values can be addressed by studying the process by which children design and change games affording such experiences. It also illuminated their own perspective and values, which they embedded in the games

Feedback Authoring for Exploratory Activities: The Case of a Logo-Based 3D Microworld

This paper presents AuthELO an authoring environment that can be used for the configuration of logging and authoring of automated feedback for exploratory learning objects (ELOs). ELOs are web components (widgets) that can be integrated with learning platforms to synthesise highly interactive learning environments. AuthELO has been developed in the context of the MCSquared project that is developing a platform for authoring interactive educational e-books. This platform comprises an extendable set of diverse widgets that can be used to generate instances of exploratory activities that can be employed in various learning scenarios. AuthELO was designed and developed to provide a simple, common and efficient authoring interface that can normalise the diversity of these widgets and give the ability to non-experts to easily develop or customise the feedback that is provided to students using a data-driven approach. In this paper we describe the architecture and design characteristics of AuthELO and a small-scale evaluation with activities in a logo-based 3D microworld called Malt+. We reflect on both the challenges of the authoring process and the pedagogical potential of the feedback when these activities are used by students