Multi-level pedagogical model for the personalization of pedagogical strategies in intelligent tutoring systems

Pedagogic strategies are action plans designed to manage issues related to sequencing and content organization, specifying learning activities, and deciding how to deliver content and activities in teaching processes. In this paper, we present an approach to personalization of pedagogical strategies in Intelligent Tutoring Systems using pedagogical knowledge rules in a Web environment. The adaptation of pedagogical strategies is made based on a multilevel pedagogical model. An Intelligent Tutoring Systems called FUNPRO was developed to validate the multilevel pedagogical model. The results of empirical tests show that the multilevel pedagogical model enables FUNPRO to improve the process of personalization of pedagogical strategies, due to the reduction of inappropriate recommendations

An Intelligent Debugging Tutor For Novice Computer Science Students

Debugging is a necessary aspect of computer science that can be difficult for novices and experienced programmers alike. This skill is mainly self-taught and is generally gained through trial and error, perhaps with some assistance from a professor or other expert figure. Novices encountering their first software defects may have few avenues open to them depending on the environment in which they are learning to program. The evident problem here is that the potential for a student to become stuck, frustrated, and/or losing confidence in their ability to pursue computer science is great. For a student to be successful when working professionally or progressing through academia they need to be able to function independently; trusting their own knowledge on par or above that of others so that their productivity does not rely on the knowledge of someone else. In order to solve this problem an Intelligent Tutoring System for teaching debugging skills to the novice utilizing Case Based Reasoning, Static Program Slicing, and the student\u27s preferred learning style was proposed. Case acquisition and automatic Exercise Generation were also explored. The system built for this research program was evaluated using novice students at the College and High School levels. Results of this evaluation produced statistically significant results at the p\u3c.05 and p\u3c.01 levels, with generated exercises exhibiting significance at the p\u3c.01 level. These results prove that the methodology chosen is a valid approach for the problem described, that the system does in fact teach students how to debug programs, and that the system is capable of successfully generating exercises on the fly

Sistema adaptivo de apoyo a los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje orientados a estudiantes con o sin discapacidad

Las herramientas tecnológicas son hoy en día un apoyo didáctico y fortalece el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje en las aulas de clase. Las políticas de inclusión social, permiten hoy en día en una misma aula de clase, estudiantes con o sin discapacidades y/o dificulta- des, siendo necesaria la implementación de estrategias metodológicas ajustadas a las características y patologías que pueden presentar los estudiantes. La variedad y cantidad de parámetros encontrados en los sistemas de información que apoyan procesos de aprendizaje, re- quieren de técnicas avanzadas para la toma de decisiones, con el fin de ajustar el contenido y el despliegue de la información a las características y necesidades de los estudiantes y al contexto en el que se desarrolla su proceso de aprendizaje. El presente documento de tesis de doctorado, muestra el desarrollo y la implementación de una plataforma que permite la adaptación del contenido y del despliegue provista a través de servicios educativos a estudiantes teniendo en cuenta la discapacidad y/o dificultades en su proceso de aprendizaje, sus preferencias, su estilo de aprendizaje.Technological tools, such as virtual learning environments can be an important help to improve the teaching and learning process in the classroom. One of the challenges to effectively incorporate this technology in the classroom derives from social inclusion. Social inclusion policies often require that students share the same class- room, regardless of their disabilities or learning difficulties. Therefore, teaching strategies must adapt to different kinds of students. Virtual learning environments have to address several different variables and parameters to effectively convey the information to different students. Specifically, advanced decision making strategies are required to properly adapt content and information display to an heterogeneous student population. This final document show the development and implementation of a platform that allow content and display adaptation to students, taking into account their disabilities, preferences, learning styles and learning difficulties.Doctor en IngenieríaDoctorad

Metamodel for personalized adaptation of pedagogical strategies using metacognition in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

The modeling process of metacognitive functions in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) is a difficult and time-consuming task. In particular when the integration of several metacognitive components, such as self-regulation and metamemory is needed. Metacognition has been used in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the performance of complex systems such as ITS. However the design ITS with metacognitive capabilities is a complex task due to the number and complexity of processes involved. The modeling process of ITS is in itself a difficult task and often requires experienced designers and programmers, even when using authoring tools. In particular the design of the pedagogical strategies for an ITS is complex and requires the interaction of a number of variables that define it as a dynamic process. This doctoral thesis presents a metamodel for the personalized adaptation of pedagogical strategies integrating metamemory and self-regulation in ITS. The metamodel called MPPSM (Metamodel of Personalized adaptation of Pedagogical Strategies using Metacognition in intelligent tutoring systems) was synthetized from the analysis of 40 metacognitive models and 45 ITS models that exist in the literature. MPPSMhas a conceptual architecture with four levels of modeling according to the standard Meta- Object Facility (MOF) of Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) methodology. MPPSM enables designers to have modeling tools in early stage of software development process to produce more robust ITS that are able to self-regulate their own reasoning and learning processes. In this sense, a concrete syntax composed of a graphic notation called M++ was defined in order to make the MPPSM metamodel more usable. M++ is a Domain-Specific Visual Language (DSVL) for modeling metacognition in ITS. M++ has approximately 20 tools for modeling metacognitive systems with introspective monitoring and meta-level control. MPPSM allows the generation of metacognitive models using M++ in a visual editor named MetaThink. In MPPSM-based models metacognitive components required for monitoring and executive control of the reasoning processes take place in each module of an ITS can be specified. MPPSM-based models represent the cycle of reasoning of an ITS about: (i) failures generated in its own reasoning tasks (e.g. self-regulation); and (ii) anomalies in events that occur in its Long-Term Memory (LTM) (e.g. metamemory). A prototype of ITS called FUNPRO was developed for the validation of the performance of metacognitive mechanism of MPPSM in the process of the personalization of pedagogical strategies regarding to the preferences and profiles of real students. FUNPRO uses self-regulation to monitor and control the processes of reasoning at object-level and metamemory for the adaptation to changes in the constraints of information retrieval tasks from LTM. The major contributions of this work are: (i) the MOF-based metamodel for the personalization of pedagogical strategies using computational metacognition in ITS; (ii) the M++ DSVL for modeling metacognition in ITS; and (iii) the ITS prototype called FUNPRO (FUNdamentos de PROgramación) that aims to provide personalized instruction in the subject of Introduction to Programming. The results given in the experimental tests demonstrate: (i) metacognitive models generated are consistent with the MPPSM metamodel; (ii) positive perceptions of users with respect to the proposed DSVL and it provide preliminary information concerning the quality of the concrete syntax of M++; (iii) in FUNPRO, multi-level pedagogical model enhanced with metacognition allows the dynamic adaptation of the pedagogical strategy according to the profile of each student.Doctorad

Development, implementation and evaluation of a programme to facilitate critical thinking in nursing education

D.Cur. (Nursing Education)Abstract: The purpose of the study is to describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a programme to facilitate critical thinking in nursing education. The researcher departed deductively from the recommendation of a Delphi study by exponents of critical thinking that researchers are to develop programmes and assessment tools of critical thinking. They came up with a consensus definition resulting from a concept analysis and defined critical thinking as a purposeful, self-regulatory judgement which results into interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference including explanation of the critical thinking process of contextual, conceptual, methodological, evidential and criteriological considerations on which the judgment is based. The researcher made use of the critical thinking framework that included contextual, conceptual, methodological, evidential and criteriological dimensions of critical thinking to develop a conceptual framework to facilitate critical thinking. The study is a qualitative, explorative and descriptive design for programme development that is contextual in nature

Ensimmäinen ja toinen käsikirjoitusversio väitöskirjaa varten

This publication contains the first and the second manuscript version for LauriLahti’s doctoral dissertation in 2015 "Computer-assisted learning based on cumulative vocabularies, conceptual networks and Wikipedia linkage".Tämä julkaisu sisältää ensimmäisen ja toisen käsikirjoitusversion Lauri Lahden väitöskirjaan vuonna 2015 "Tietokoneavusteinen oppiminen perustuen karttuviin sanastoihin, käsiteverkostoihin ja Wikipedian linkitykseen".Not reviewe