Some Research Questions and Results of UC3M in the E-Madrid Excellence Network

32 slides.-- Contributed to: 2010 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), Madrid, Spain, 14-16 April, 2010.-- Presented by C. Delgado Kloos.Proceedings of: 2010 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), Madrid, Spain, 14-16 April, 2010Universidad Carlos III de Madrid is one of the six main participating institutions in the eMadrid excellence network, as well as its coordinating partner. In this paper, the network is presented together with some of the main research lines carried out by UC3M. The remaining papers in this session present the work carried out by the other five universities in the consortium.The Excellence Network eMadrid, “Investigación y Desarrollo de Tecnologías para el e-Learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” is being funded by the Madrid Regional Government under grant No. S2009/TIC-1650. In addition, we acknowledge funding from the following research projects: iCoper: “Interoperable Content for Performance in a Competency-driven Society” (eContentPlus Best Practice Network No. ECP-2007-EDU-417007), Learn3: Hacia el Aprendizaje en la 3ª Fase (“Plan Nacional de I+D+I” TIN2008-05163/ TSI), Flexo: “Desarrollo de aprendizaje adaptativo y accesible en sistemas de código abierto” (AVANZA I+D, TSI-020301- 2008-19), España Virtual (CDTI, Ingenio 2010, CENIT, Deimos Space), SOLITE (CYTED 508AC0341), and “Integración vertical de servicios telemáticos de apoyo al aprendizaje en entornos residenciales” (Programa de creación y consolidación de grupos de investigación de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid).Publicad

The Experience of Physical and Social Presence in a Virtual Learning Environment as Impacted by the Affordance of Movement Enabled by Motion Tracking

This research synthesizes existing research findings that social presence (sense of connection with others) and physical presence (sense of being there) increase learning outcomes in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) with findings that traditional motion tracking of participants wearing head mounted displays in virtual reality increases both physical and social presence. This information suggests that motion tracking in mixed reality VLEs has a positive impact on social presence and on physical presence. For this study, the affordance of free movement among virtual objects is enabled by Microsoft Kinect tracking of the user\u27s position that is translated to movement of the virtual camera to simulate user movement and proximity to elements of the virtual environment. This study used a mixed method, multimodal approach including qualitative, subjective, objective, and physiological data to measure social and physical presence. The testbed for this research was TLE TeachLivE™, a mixed reality classroom populated with virtual students. The subjective measures are 1) modified Witmer and Singer Questionnaire and 2) Social Presence Instrument (Bailenson, 2002b). The objective measure is a literature based Social Presence Behavioral Coding sheet used to record frequency of occurrences of factors of social presence. Finally, the physiological measure is heart rate as recorded by the MIO Alpha. The primary contribution of this study was that the hypotheses that the affordance of movement in a mixed reality classroom has a positive impact on user perception and experience of a) physical presence and b) social presence in a VLE were supported. This hypothesis was supported in all three measures. The secondary contribution of this research is the literature based Social Presence Behavioral Coding. The final contribution of this research is a research framework that integrates subjective, objective, and physiological measures of social presence in one study. This approach can be applied to various user experience research studies of various VLEs. Finally, in addition to general alignment of the physiological, objective, and subjective measures, there were anecdotal instances of factors of social presence occurring simultaneously with increased heart rate

Assessment for Experiential Learning

Chan’s book explores the challenges in assessing experiential learning, deepens our understanding, and inspires readers to think critically about the purpose of assessment in experiential learning. Experiential learning has been studied and proven to be effective for student learning, particularly for the development of holistic competencies (i.e. 21st century skills, soft skills, transferable skills) considered essential for individuals to succeed in the increasingly global and technology-infused 21st century society. Universities around the world are now actively organising experiential learning activities or programmes for students to gain enriching and diversified learning experiences, however the assessment of these programmes tends to be limited, unclear, and contested. Assessment plays a central role in education policies and students’ approach to learning. But do educators know how to assess less traditional learning such as service learning, entrepreneurship, cross-discipline or cross-cultural projects, internships and student exchanges? While the current assessment landscape is replete with assessments that measure knowledge of core content areas such as mathematics, law, languages, science and social studies, there is a lack of assessments and research that focus on holistic competencies. How do we assess students’ ability to think critically, problem solve, adapt, self-manage and collaborate? Central to the discussion in this book, is the reason students are assessed and how they should be assessed to bring out their best learning outcomes.　Offering a collection of best assessment practice employed by teachers around the world, this volume brings together both theoretical and empirical research that underpins assessment; and perceptions of different stakeholders – understanding of assessment in experiential learning from students, teachers, and policymakers. The idea of assessment literacy also plays an important role in experiential learning, for example, reflection is often used in assessing students in experiential learning but how reflection literate are educators, are they aware of the ethical dilemmas that arise in assessing students? These questions are discussed in detail. The volume also introduces a quality assurance programme to recognise student development within experiential learning programmes. The book will be particularly informative to academic developers, teachers, students and community partners who struggle with the development and assessment for experiential learning, those who plan to apply for funding in experiential learning, and policymakers and senior managements seeking evidence and advice on fine-tuning curricular, assessment designs and quality assurance

SOCIAL GROUP WORK IN ACTION: A SOCIOMETRY, PSYCHODRAMA, AND EXPERIENTIAL TRAUMA GROUP THERAPY CURRICULUM

The demand for group work in social work practice has steadily increased while the group work education provided in social work programs has exponentially declined. Social work education and social work practice are intimately linked – one cannot be examined without considering the other. The historical, theoretical, and clinical intersections of social work with groups and the triadic system of J.L. Moreno (sociometry, psychodrama, and group psychotherapy) will be explored. Moreno’s work will be framed through a social work lens with primary concepts defined. Two trauma-specific psychodrama models (Therapeutic Spiral Model and Relational Trauma Repair Model) will be outlined with their emphasis on strengths, containment, and safety. The clinical research and integrated neurobiology research will be presented as a growing evidence base for psychodrama and experiential trauma therapy. Next, an overview of the state of sociometry, psychodrama, and experiential group psychotherapy education will be outlined to provide a global and historical contextualization with an emphasis on experiential education and its complimentary nature with social work education. Finally, an MSW course curriculum will be provided to mediate the existing hole in social work education resulting from the decline of group psychotherapy training