HOW DO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SELECT AND USE THEIR LEARNING TOOLS? A MIXED-METHOD STUDY ON PERSONALISED LEARNING (21)

Universities often blend traditional learning and e-learning by providing software licenses, electronic learning materials, and access to Learning Management Systems. Following the idea of personalised learning in higher education, students are free to choose between a wide range of learning tools constructing their Personalised Learning Environment. However, the characteristics of the chosen tools need to match the characteristics of the learning tasks to support students adequately. In the present paper, a mixed-method approach is used to analyse which types of tools are used in practice and which types of learning tasks are performed using these learning tools. Furthermore, important factors influencing the decision to select learning tools are identified. This study shows that a wide array of learning tools is used in practice. Although students consider individual factors (such as perceived ease of use and task-technology fit) to be most important when selecting their tools, several exogenous factors such as the lecturers’ targeted pedagogy, social norm and the occurrence of higher order thinking skills limit the range of adequate learning tools

A Review of Work Based Learning in Higher Education

The idea of work based learning in higher education might sound like a contradiction in terms. Work based learning is surely in the the workplace. The senses in which it might also, under certain conditions, be in higher education are explored in this review. There are increasing arrangements whereby people can obtain academic recognition for learning which has taken place outside of educational institutions. In addition to traditional forms of professional education and sandwich courses, one can add a host of relationships between employers and higher education institutions which involve quite fundamental questioning of the roles and responsibilities of each in the continuing education and training of adults. Such developments can be related to broader themes concerning the organisation of knowledge in society, the changing nature of work and career, the learning society and the implications they hold for individual workers, their employers and educational providers. The Department for Education and Employment sponsored the study to produce a substantial literature review of progress and issues raised in the field of work based learning in higher education. The first part of the book provides a contextual and conceptual backdrop against which more practical aspects of work based learning are then considered in part two. The final part considers strategic issues of implementation for higher education institutions, employers and individuals, before turning to more wide ranging issues of policy

Representing decision-makers using styles of behavior: an approach designed for group decision support systems

Supporting decision-making processes when the elements of a group are geographically dispersed and on a tight schedule is a complex task. Aiming to support decision-makers anytime and anywhere, Web-based group decision support systems have been studied. However, the limitations in the decision-makers’ interactions associated to this scenario bring new challenges. In this work, we propose a set of behavioral styles from which decision-makers’ intentions can be modelled into agents. The goal is that, besides having agents represent typical preferences of the decision-makers (towards alternatives and criteria), they can also represent their intentions. To do so, we conducted a survey with 64 participants in order to find homogeneous operating values so as to numerically define the proposed behavioral styles in four dimensions. In addition, we also propose a communication model that simulates the dialogues made by decision-makers in face-to-face meetings. We developed a prototype to simulate decision scenarios and found that agents are capable of acting according to the decision-makers’ intentions and fundamentally benefit from different possible behavioral styles, just as a face-to-face meeting benefits from the heterogeneity of its participants.This work was supported by COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) within Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, by National Funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the Projects UID/CEC/00319/2013, UID/EEA/00760/2013, and the Ph.D. grants SFRH/BD/89697/2012 and SFRH/BD/89465/2012 attributed to João Carneiro and Pedro Saraiva, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Negotiated Tutoring: An Approach to Interaction in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

This thesis describes a general approach to tutorial interaction in Intelligent Tutoring Systems, called "Negotiated Tutoring". Some aspects of the approach have been implemented as a computer program in the 'KANT' (Kritical Argument Negotiated Tutoring) system. Negotiated Tutoring synthesises some recent trends in Intelligent Tutoring Systems research, including interaction symmetry, use of explicit negotiation in dialogue, multiple interaction styles, and an emphasis on cognitive and metacognitive skill acquisition in domains characterised by justified belief. This combination of features has not been previously incorporated into models for intelligent tutoring dialogues. Our approach depends on modelling the high-level decision-making processes and memory representations used by a participant in dialogue. Dialogue generation is controlled by reasoning mechanisms which operate on a 'dialogue state', consisting of conversants' beliefs, a set of possible dialogue moves, and a restricted representation of the recent utterances generated by both conversants. The representation for conversants' beliefs is based on Anderson's (1983) model for semantic memory, and includes a model for dialogue focus based on spreading activation. Decisions in dialogue are based on preconditions with respect to the dialogue state, higher level educational preferences which choose between relevant alternative dialogue moves, and negotiation mechanisms designed to ensure cooperativity. The domain model for KANT was based on a cognitive model for perception of musical structures in tonal melodies, which extends the theory of Lerdahl and Jackendoff (1983). Our model ('GRAF' - GRouping Analysis with Frames) addresses a number of problems with Lerdahl and Jackendoff's theory, notably in describing how a number of unconscious processes in music cognition interact, including elements of top-down and bottom-up processing. GRAF includes a parser for musical chord functions, a mechanism for performing musical reductions, low-level feature detectors and a frame-system (Minsky 1977) for musical phrase structures

Team Collaboration in Virtual Worlds: Editorial to the Special Issue

Virtual worlds are Internet-based three-dimensional (3D) computer-generated environments where users interact through “avatars” – a computer-generated representation of themselves that they control in terms of appearance and behavior. In recent years, virtual worlds have evolved into sophisticated social systems where millions of people regularly collaborate. For dispersed organizational teams, they represent a viable collaboration environment in which users can integrate different communication channels and manipulate digital artifacts that represent actual team deliverables. In this editorial to the Special Issue on Team Collaboration in Virtual Worlds, we discuss past research and highlight key findings with respect to five dimensions of collaborative work: technology, people, information, process, and leadership. We conclude with a discussion of the key research challenges that lie ahead to shape the research agenda for team collaboration in virtual worlds and metaverses

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: NL

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: N

Evidence synthesis on the occurrence, causes, consequences, prevention and management of bullying and harassment behaviours to inform decision making in the NHS

Background Workplace bullying is a persistent problem in the NHS with negative implications for individuals, teams, and organisations. Bullying is a complex phenomenon and there is a lack of evidence on the best approaches to manage the problem. Aims Research questions What is known about the occurrence, causes, consequences and management of bullying and inappropriate behaviour in the workplace? Objectives Summarise the reported prevalence of workplace bullying and inappropriate behaviour. Summarise the empirical evidence on the causes and consequences of workplace bullying and inappropriate behaviour. Describe any theoretical explanations of the causes and consequences of workplace bullying and inappropriate behaviour. Synthesise evidence on the preventative and management interventions that address workplace bullying interventions and inappropriate behaviour. Methods To fulfil a realist synthesis approach the study was designed across four interrelated component parts: Part 1: A narrative review of the prevalence, causes and consequences of workplace bullying Part 2: A systematic literature search and realist review of workplace bullying interventions Part 3: Consultation with international bullying experts and practitioners Part 4: Identification of case studies and examples of good practic

Contraception advice and provision for the prevention of under 18 conceptions and STIs : A rapid review

Report conducted by the Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care (CRIPACC

Predicting satisfaction: perceived decision quality by decision-makers in Web-based group decision support systems

In future, the organizations' likelihood to endure and succeed will depend greatly on the quality of every decision made. It is known that most decisions in organizations are made in group. With the purpose of supporting decision-makers anytime and anywhere, Web-based Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) have been studied. The amount of Web-based GDSS incorporating automatic negotiation mechanisms such as argumentation has been steadily increasing. Usually, these systems/models are evaluated through mathematical proofs, number of rounds or seconds to propose (reach) a solution. However, those techniques are not very informative in terms of the decision quality. Here, we propose a model that intends to predict the decision-makers' satisfaction (perception of the decision quality), specifically designed to deal with multi-criteria problems. Our model considers aspects such as: meeting's outcomes, decision-maker's intentions, expectations and emotional cost. To validate the proposed model in terms of its ability to predict decision-makers' satisfaction, we developed a prototype of a Web-based GDSS to be used in a case study where the participant had to make a joint decision. The decision process consisted in a set of 5 rounds, where the participant could (re) configure his/her preferences along the process. The satisfaction model ascertained its ability to predict the participants' satisfaction and allowed to understand that (as is stated in the literature) the inclusion of cognitive and emotional variables is essential to evaluate satisfaction more accurately.This paper is a revised and an expanded version of a paper entitled "Evaluating the Perception of the Decision Quality in Web-Based Group Decision Support Systems: A Theory of Satisfaction" presented at International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 2017, Porto, Portugal [12]. This work has been supported by COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) within project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, by National Funds through the FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the Projects UID/CEC/00319/2013, UID/EEA/00760/2013, NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-021958, and the PhD. grants SFRH/BD/89697/2012 and SFRH/BD/89465/2012 attributed to Joao Carneiro and Pedro Saraiva, respectively