Story composition and process analysis using a computer tool based system

The performance of children in writing is a cause for concern: national testing at age 11 indicates that too many pupils underachieve in writing. The purpose of the project outlined in this thesis was to design a computer tool which would assist children aged between 7 and 11 years achieve a higher standard in narrative writing. The project involved four phases of research. First, a review of the research literature and government documents relating to literacy was undertaken, to establish differences between good and poor narrative writing, differences in the approach of mature and beginner writers, the natural course of children's writing development, effective methods of teaching, ways of assessing writing quality and approaches adopted by other computer applications. Secondly, a computer tool which scaffolds the narrative writing process was designed. HARRY delivers conversational prompts, stored in Microsoft Access databases, in a conference like-sitaation. The tool acts as a bridge between the writing approach adopted by beginner writers and the mature approach whilst demonstrating features of successful narrative writing. Thirdly, a method for automating the assessment of children's written grammar was devised. CHECK TEXT, a computer utility program, provides quantitative analyses of specific grammar features, facilitating comparisons between examples of stories written at Key Stage 2. Both applications use ASP and HTML files, for implementation on a web server. Finally, two small scale studies were conducted in a primary school - the first to investigate the effects of HARRY's assistance upon children's writing performance and behaviour, and the second to investigate the effects of using the system upon children's subsequent writing performance. The first study showed that when supported by HARRY, the children adopted a more reflective writing approach and they produced more successful narratives, provided they followed the advice. The second study showed that HARRY can accelerate children's writing development - most of the children wrote subsequently better stories and they all felt that they had improved. All the children liked using the tool and thought that HARRY made writing stories easier. HARRY's limitations are indicated, and potential developments and further investigations are proposed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Motivation Modelling and Computation for Personalised Learning of People with Dyslexia

The increasing development of e-learning systems in recent decades has benefited ubiquitous computing and education by providing freedom of choice to satisfy various needs and preferences about learning places and paces. Automatic recognition of learners’ states is necessary for personalised services or intervention to be provided in e-learning environments. In current literature, assessment of learners’ motivation for personalised learning based on the motivational states is lacking. An effective learning environment needs to address learners’ motivational needs, particularly, for those with dyslexia. Dyslexia or other learning difficulties can cause young people not to engage fully with the education system or to drop out due to complex reasons: in addition to the learning difficulties related to reading, writing or spelling, psychological difficulties are more likely to be ignored such as lower academic self-worth and lack of learning motivation caused by the unavoidable learning difficulties. Associated with both cognitive processes and emotional states, motivation is a multi-facet concept that consequences in the continued intention to use an e-learning system and thus a better chance of learning effectiveness and success. It consists of factors from intrinsic motivation driven by learners’ inner feeling of interest or challenges and those from extrinsic motivation associated with external reward or compliments. These factors represent learners’ various motivational needs; thus, understanding this requires a multidisciplinary approach. Combining different perspectives of knowledge on psychological theories and technology acceptance models with the empirical findings from a qualitative study with dyslexic students conducted in the present research project, motivation modelling for people with dyslexia using a hybrid approach is the main focus of this thesis. Specifically, in addition to the contribution to the qualitative conceptual motivation model and ontology-based computational model that formally expresses the motivational factors affecting users’ continued intention to use e-learning systems, this thesis also conceives a quantitative approach to motivation modelling. A multi-item motivation questionnaire is designed and employed in a quantitative study with dyslexic students, and structural equation modelling techniques are used to quantify the influences of the motivational factors on continued use intention and their interrelationships in the model. In addition to the traditional approach to motivation computation that relies on learners’ self-reported data, this thesis also employs dynamic sensor data and develops classification models using logistic regression for real-time assessment of motivational states. The rule-based reasoning mechanism for personalising motivational strategies and a framework of motivationally personalised e-learning systems are introduced to apply the research findings to e-learning systems in real-world scenarios. The motivation model, sensor-based computation and rule-based personalisation have been applied to a practical scenario with an essential part incorporated in the prototype of a gaze-based learning application that can output personalised motivational strategies during the learning process according to the real-time assessment of learners’ motivational states based on both the eye-tracking data in addition to users’ self-reported data. Evaluation results have indicated the advantage of the application implemented compared to the traditional one without incorporating the present research findings for monitoring learners’ motivation states with gaze data and generating personalised feedback. In summary, the present research project has: 1) developed a conceptual motivation model for students with dyslexia defining the motivational factors that influence their continued intention to use e-learning systems based on both a qualitative empirical study and prior research and theories; 2) developed an ontology-based motivation model in which user profiles, factors in the motivation model and personalisation options are structured as a hierarchy of classes; 3) designed a multi-item questionnaire, conducted a quantitative empirical study, used structural equation modelling to further explore and confirm the quantified impacts of motivational factors on continued use intention and the quantified relationships between the factors; 4) conducted an experiment to exploit sensors for motivation computation, and developed classification models for real-time assessment of the motivational states pertaining to each factor in the motivation model based on empirical sensor data including eye gaze data and EEG data; 5) proposed a sensor-based motivation assessment system architecture with emphasis on the use of ontologies for a computational representation of the sensor features used for motivation assessment in addition to the representation of the motivation model, and described the semantic rule-based personalisation of motivational strategies; 6) proposed a framework of motivationally personalised e-learning systems based on the present research, with the prototype of a gaze-based learning application designed, implemented and evaluated to guide future work

Motivating Learners in Secondary Science Classrooms: Analysis of a Computer-Supported, Inquiry-Based Learning Environment Using Self-Determination Theory

In spite of generally poor student reports about science instruction in K-12 classrooms and decreasing interest in STEM careers, some curricular programs have successfully motivated and engaged students. One such program is PlantingScience, an inquiry-based, computer-supported learning curriculum developed by the Botanical Society of America. PlantingScience uniquely utilizes professional scientists who serve as online mentors to K-12 students engaged in classroom inquiry projects. In an effort to determine why PlantingScience is successful, I began this dissertation with an extensive literature review discussing how technology and mentoring affect student motivation. Additionally, I conducted two original research studies using multiple data streams including classroom observations, teacher interviews, a focus group of teachers and scientists, and online dialogues between students and scientists. In the first study, I used Elliot Eisner’s Connoisseurship/Critique model of qualitative analysis to describe, interpret, and evaluate PlantingScience. More specifically, I created a grounded theory explaining how PlantingScience motivates and engages students. I subsequently compared these findings with self-determination theory to determine how the results could be explained in regard to autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In the second study, I used mixed methods to create a rubric measuring scientists’ online motivational support from the perspective of self-determination theory. I also measured student inquiry engagement using a preexisting rubric specifically designed for the PlantingScience program. Using these two measures, I investigated the associations between scientist-mentors’ motivational support and student inquiry engagement. The findings in this dissertation provided evidence that students are motivated to engage in PlantingScience in part because of student empowerment, online mentor interaction, and authentic scientific experiences. In particular, the relationships developed between students and scientists in the online asynchronous environments were critical to the success of the program. As a general rule, students engaged in the inquiry projects more thoroughly as their scientist-mentors’ motivational support increased. Perhaps the online mentoring partnership model offered by PlantingScience can be used on a wider scale to address the challenges of students’ lack of interest in classroom science and STEM career fields

Queensland Institute of Technology: Handbook 1984

The Queensland Institute of Technology handbook gives an outline of the faculties and subject offerings available that were offered by QIT

Using interactive multimedia (IMM) to help year four and five students identified as experiencing reading difficulties: A formative approach

This study involved four formative experiments, each of which investigated ways in which IMM (Interactive Multimedia) could be used to help children who experienced reading difficulties. In each of the four contexts, classroom teachers identified a number of students with reading difficulties, selected pedagogical goals for them and worked with the researcher to plan IMM-based activities that targeted the selected goals. The implementations were evaluated formatively and modifications were made accordingly, with the intention of \u27fine-tuning\u27 them to facilitate achievement of the pedagogical goals. Facilitative and inhibitive factors were identified during and after each formative experiment, as were unplanned outcomes. Finally, attempts were made to ascertain the preferability of the interventions, in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and appeal, as well as with reference to factors that facilitated and inhibited them. Two of the formative experiments took place at a private girls\u27 school. Boh of the participating classroom teachers, a Year 4 teacher and a Year 5 teacher, selected oral reading fluency as a pedagogical goal. A strategy that was termed \u27Interactive Multimedia Assisted Repeated Readings\u27 (IMMARR) using electronic storybooks was implemented, in addition to the creation of electronic talking books with the multimedia authoring program, Illuminatus Opus (2001), as a context for enhancing oral reading fluency. Many facilitative and inhibitive factors were identified during the implementations, although both teachers judged that the interventions had been effective and appealing. Post-intervention assessments also showed some gains in oral reading fluency, as well as unplanned outcomes, especially for the Year 5 group

Degrees of virtue :inculcating a professional academic habitus in the field of post 1992 higher education

This study aims to contribute original knowledge of the identity ofpost-1992 academics to inform the debate surrounding the professionalization of higher education teachers. The setting was a modem university in the East Midlands. Bourdieusian theoretical conceptualizations of the mediated relations between agency and structure (habitus/field theory) were applied to deconstruct/reconstruct the nature of these relations within the university's academic workforce. This investigation revealed disjunctions amongst staff members. The study's findings suggest that these might be addressed through structured training in the logic of practice for recruits. Bourdieu [1930-2002] developed a mixed methods methodology, combining positivist and phenomenological research paradigms to ensure breadth and depth in ethical data interrogations. This approach informed the sequential mixed design of the study. The first phase (survey) elicited profile and benchmarking data and perceptions of field forces and conditions from sixty respondents. Most lacked teaching qualifications or experience on entry. The second phase (fifteen interviews) captured personal narratives for subsequent thematic analysis. Current evaluation of primary data indicates three significant trajectories analyses: effective actionlbehaviour arising from the meaningful convergence of the individual's competences (mapped as habitus), the organizational environment (field) and the job's demands (practice). Data filtration through these lenses uncovered destabilizing divergences. Significantly, most participants eschewed identification as an 'academic'; seeing themselves as first and foremost a teacher. Their key concerns were negative perceptions of management and student demands as threats to personal efficacy, thus an accredited teacher training programme instilling a dual professionalism was broadly welcomed. This study provides timely sociological perspectives on the government's recent positive correlation between funding and new staff accreditation. Institutional reliance upon existing and contract staff, however, suggests their training needs warrant further investigation. This thesis argues for such training to make explicit the science of pedagogy and the art of teaching to all teaching staff through the conscious integration of habitus/field theory in higher education teacher training. In this way, both agent and field are strengthened, to their mutual advantage.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Queensland Institute of Technology: Handbook 1985

The Queensland Institute of Technology handbook gives an outline of the faculties and subject offerings available that were offered by QIT

Queensland Institute of Technology: Handbook 1985

The Queensland Institute of Technology handbook gives an outline of the faculties and subject offerings available that were offered by QIT

2010-2011 Course Catalog

2010-2011 Course Catalo