Analytic frameworks for assessing dialogic argumentation in online learning environments

Over the last decade, researchers have developed sophisticated online learning environments to support students engaging in argumentation. This review first considers the range of functionalities incorporated within these online environments. The review then presents five categories of analytic frameworks focusing on (1) formal argumentation structure, (2) normative quality, (3) nature and function of contributions within the dialog, (4) epistemic nature of reasoning, and (5) patterns and trajectories of participant interaction. Example analytic frameworks from each category are presented in detail rich enough to illustrate their nature and structure. This rich detail is intended to facilitate researchers’ identification of possible frameworks to draw upon in developing or adopting analytic methods for their own work. Each framework is applied to a shared segment of student dialog to facilitate this illustration and comparison process. Synthetic discussions of each category consider the frameworks in light of the underlying theoretical perspectives on argumentation, pedagogical goals, and online environmental structures. Ultimately the review underscores the diversity of perspectives represented in this research, the importance of clearly specifying theoretical and environmental commitments throughout the process of developing or adopting an analytic framework, and the role of analytic frameworks in the future development of online learning environments for argumentation

Computer Assisted Language Learning For Spanish Oral Proficiency

ABSTRACT COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING FOR SPANISH ORAL PROFICIENCY by MAY RITTA BLUESTEIN December 2017 Advisor: Dr. Jazlin Ebenezer Major: Curriculum and Instruction Degree: Doctor of Philosophy This three-article five-chapter dissertation is focused on improving high school students’ Spanish oral proficiency through computer assisted language learning (CALL) voice-recordings, and examining the effect of the intervention on foreign language anxiety and integrative motivation. The main goals of the study as a whole were to (1) investigate students’ CALL voice-recordings to determine students’ Spanish oral proficiency development, (2) identify significant differences between the experimental and control group in terms of Spanish oral proficiency, anxiety and integrative motivation, and (3) investigate experimental and control students’ perceptions of their Spanish oral proficiency, anxiety and integrative motivation as a result of the CALL voice-recordings and traditional oral assessments, respectively. Overall, the study employed a mixed-methods approach. Article one consisted of an intervention on fourteen Spanish level-two high school students, engaging them in eight successive CALL task voice-recordings, which were transcribed verbatim and translated. The student scores for each of the eight CALL task voice-recordings were collected to assess the development of students’ oral proficiency. A post-intervention focus group interview and self-reflective journals were used to identify the qualitatively differing ways the students perceived their experiences using the CALL curricular unit for developing their Spanish oral proficiency. Articles two and three employed a mixed methods approach, using quantitative measures such as the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and the mini-Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) to find significant differences in anxiety and integrative motivation between the experimental and control group. FLCAS and mini-AMTB data were collected and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U tests comparing both groups; anxiety and motivation levels. Qualitative post-focus group interviews were conducted with experimental and control students, and experimental students’ perceptions were written in a self-reflective journal post-study. In article one, the qualitative results of the CALL tasks oral recordings revealed that the students’ Spanish oral language proficiency meaningful output was high, medium, or low. Specific areas of students’ growth in verb conjugation or weakness in pronunciation, expressions and vocabulary, and grammatical structures were also identified. The qualitatively differing ways students perceived CALL task recordings were as follows: anxiety decrease, motivation and confidence increase, and speaking improvement. Friedman’s tests were run to find significant differences in the students’ oral proficiency from one to eight consecutive tasks. The p-values 0.003, 0.007, 0.002, 0.003, and 0.007 of the students’ scores on CALL tasks (2, 4, 5, 6, and 7) respectively, when compared to task 8, show a significant difference. Too, these quantitative results indicate that students’ meaningful output significantly improved by the time they reached the last task. In article two, Mann-Whitney U tests were run to find significant differences in the experimental group’s anxiety in comparison to the control group’s anxiety, both pre-and post study. Pearson correlations were run to find that a strong correlation exists between post-FLCAS scores and students’ achievement, and the results of the post-focus group interviews and self-reflective journals show a decrease in anxiety by the end of the study, corroborating the negative correlation found between anxiety and achievement. In article three, Mann-Whitney U tests were run to find significant differences in the experimental group’s integrative motivation in comparison to the control group’s integrative motivation, both pre- and post-study. Pearson correlations were run to find that a strong correlation exists between post-mini AMTB scores and students’ achievement. The results of the post-focus group interviews, and experimental students’ reflective journals, show an increase in motivation and confidence by the end of the study, corroborating the positive correlation found between integrative motivation and achievement. The results of article one imply CALL task oral recordings accompanied by self-evaluation and teacher feedback help students develop oral proficiency, archive meaningful output, monitor their own learning, and experience lower anxiety, higher motivation, and confidence towards speaking Spanish. Article two implies that increased oral communication experience leads to decreased anxiety, CALL oral tasks specifically help in decreasing anxiety towards speaking, and such decrease in anxiety leads to achievement on other assessments. Finally, article three implies that increased oral communication experience leads to increased integrative motivation, CALL oral tasks specifically help to increase motivation towards speaking, and such increase in motivation leads to achievement on other assessments

A Dialogue-Act Taxonomy for a Virtual Coach Designed to Improve the Life of Elderly

This paper presents a dialogue act taxonomy designed for the development of a conversational agent for elderly. The main goal of this conversational agent is to improve life quality of the user by means of coaching sessions in different topics. In contrast to other approaches such as task-oriented dialogue systems and chit-chat implementations, the agent should display a pro-active attitude, driving the conversation to reach a number of diverse coaching goals. Therefore, the main characteristic of the introduced dialogue act taxonomy is its capacity for supporting a communication based on the GROW model for coaching. In addition, the taxonomy has a hierarchical structure between the tags and it is multimodal. We use the taxonomy to annotate a Spanish dialogue corpus collected from a group of elder people. We also present a preliminary examination of the annotated corpus and discuss on the multiple possibilities it presents for further research.The research presented in this paper is conducted as part of the project EMPATHIC that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 769872. The authors would also like to thank the support by the Basque Government through the project IT-1244-19

Teaching Multicultural Psychology as a Cultural Competence Intervention: An Empirical Evaluation of Course Components

Previous research has shown that a semester-long multicultural psychology course can effectively increase students’ cultural competence-related attitudes when students complete the class in-person and online. Cultural competence refers to the knowledge, awareness, and skills required to appreciate, recognize, and effectively work with members of other cultural groups. This dissertation examined several components of a multicultural psychology course: ethical grading, skill development, and intergroup contact. The first paper discussed techniques used to minimize grading bias and examined whether cultural competence shifts impacted grading. Students’ cultural competence scores did not relate to or predict their grades in the course, which supported the notion instructors can grade fairly and objectively regardless of students’ attitudes and values. The second paper highlighted the importance of social justice competence in addition to cultural competence, as well as the importance of targeting skill development in addition to knowledge and awareness. This study investigated the impact of adding a skills-focused Difficult Dialogues group assignment to the course on students’ shifts in cultural competence-related attitudes and social justice orientation and also discussed of implementation considerations for instructors. Results suggested that the Difficult Dialogues project had a particular impact on improving students’ social justice behavioral intentions. The third paper focused on the impact of intergroup contact with diverse others. The multicultural psychology course typically requires direct contact by attending at least three cultural events every semester. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this requirement was shifted to indirect contact activities. This study examined differential shifts on students’ cultural competence-related attitudes in sections where students were required to engage in direct intergroup contact versus students who were allowed to engage in indirect intergroup contact due to taking the course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results suggest that indirect contact contributed to positive shifts in cultural competence equally as well as direct intergroup contact. These studies advance the evidence-based teaching of multicultural psychology by empirically examining specific course components. The manuscripts provide useful information for educators, administrators, advocates, and policymakers about the impact of multicultural education, the efficacy of cultural competence training, and feasibility of ethical implementation in the classroom

Building the foundations of professional expertise: creating a dialectic between work and formal learning

Recent critiques of management and teacher education curricula and teaching pay particular attention to the disconnection between the de-contextualised, formal knowledge and analytical techniques conveyed in university programs and the messy, ill-structured nature of practice. At the same time research into professional expertise suggests that its development requires bringing together different forms of knowledge and the integration of formal and non-formal learning with the development of cognitive flexibility. Such complex learning outcomes are unlikely to be achieved through a 'knowledge transmission' approach to curriculum design. In this article we argue that in many ways current higher education practices create barriers to developing ways of knowing which can underpin the formation of expertise. Using examples from two practice-focused distance learning courses, we explore the role of distance learning in enabling a dialogue between academic and workplace learning and the use of 'practice dialogues' among course participants to enable integration of learning experiences. Finally, we argue that we need to find ways in higher education of enabling students to engage in relevant communities of expertise, rather than drawing them principally into a community of academic discourse which is not well aligned with practice

Transforming Experiential Learning in the Honors Interpersonal Communication Course: Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Drawing upon my own experience as an educator, I describe and reflect upon my experiential learning-pedagogical process of transforming my fall 2020 Zoom-based honors interpersonal communication course in which my students traversed through a series of experiential learning activities called Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys. Quantitative and written data revealed that students achieved desired learning outcomes and strengthened much-needed interpersonal connections despite the circumstances and stressors induced by the pandemic. Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys can be replicated to maximize the features of quality online courses identified by Kaufman and Vallade (2022), such as helping students develop personal connections in a positive learning climate and ensuring that “students are getting the information and interaction they need to be successful” (p. 153)

A framework to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is often based on written argumentative discourse of learners, who discuss their perspectives on a problem with the goal to acquire knowledge. Lately, CSCL research focuses on the facilitation of specific processes of argumentative knowledge construction, e.g., with computer-supported collaboration scripts. In order to refine process-oriented instructional support, such as scripts, we need to measure the influence of scripts on specific processes of argumentative knowledge construction. In this article, we propose a multi-dimensional approach to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in CSCL from sampling and segmentation of the discourse corpora to the analysis of four process dimensions (participation, epistemic, argumentative, social mode)

ARGUMENTATION-BASED COMPUTER SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING (ABCSCL): THE ROLE OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORTS

This paper investigates the role of instructional supports for argumentation-based computer supported collaborative learning (ABCSCL), a teaching approach that improves the quality of learning processes and outcomes. Relevant literature has been reviewed to identify the instructional supports in ABCSCL environments. A range of instructional supports in ABCSCL is proposed including scaffolding, scripting, and representational tools. Each of these instructional supports are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the extent to which and the way in which such instructional supports can be applied in ABCSCL environments are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future work and implications for the design of ABCSCL environments are provided.  Article visualizations

Redefining synchronous learning for the 21st century: a descriptive case study to examine multi-channel synchronous online communication and critical thinking

Students in the 21st century seek connection with each other through synchronous online avenues, yet the education community does not embrace the use of synchronous online tools within the formal process of schooling. This creates a disconnect between the way that students learn outside of school and the way that they are schooled. In addition to matching the communication patterns of students, synchronous online tools provide opportunities for participants to communicate using a number of channels (audio, text, and interactive media) within a single communication environment. An important and useful perspective in this regard is to view the multi-channel environment from the point of view of how it facilitates critical thinking. This is especially important since critical thinking has been determined as an essential skill necessary for life in the 21st century. This descriptive case study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. In a synchronous online conversation that is action orientated using a multi-channel interface (audio, text, and interactive media), what sort of talk occurs in each channel, specifically, does each channel facilitate a different function of communication? 2. What proportion of a synchronous online conversation using audio, text, and interactive media is occupied by critical thinking? Communication was analyzed within a multi-channel synchronous online environment, as used by 25 Technology Teacher Leaders (TTLs) from the Anchorage School District in Anchorage, Alaska during a 90-minute facilitated discussion on the topic of using Web 2.0 in education. Participants also completed a self-report demographic questionnaire. Study participants used the communication channels of audio, instant messaging, interactive whiteboard, and participant feedback tools, which included clapping, raising and lowering their hand, smiling, displaying a thumbs down, and registering a vote using the polling tool. The functions of communication studied included assertion, build logical reasoning, content questions, endorsement, off-topic/social/logistical, and reflect/think aloud. This study produced 5 significant findings that provide insight into synchronous online course design: an instant message backchannel exists; a logistics facilitator is needed; synchronous online communication supports social learning constructs; a link exists between synchronous online communication and critical and integrative thinking; and audio best facilitates critical and integrative thinking