Supporting teachers in collaborative student modeling: a framework and an implementation

Collaborative student modeling in adaptive learning environments allows the learners to inspect and modify their own student models. It is often considered as a collaboration between students and the system to promote learners’ reflection and to collaboratively assess the course. When adaptive learning environments are used in the classroom, teachers act as a guide through the learning process. Thus, they need to monitor students’ interactions in order to understand and evaluate their activities. Although, the knowledge gained through this monitorization can be extremely useful to student modeling, collaboration between teachers and the system to achieve this goal has not been considered in the literature. In this paper we present a framework to support teachers in this task. In order to prove the usefulness of this framework we have implemented and evaluated it in an adaptive web-based educational system called PDinamet.Postprint (author's final draft

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

Fostering collaborative knowledge construction with visualization tools

This study investigates to what extent collaborative knowledge construction can be fostered by providing students with visualization tools as structural support. Thirty-two students of Educational Psychology took part in the study. The students were subdivided into dyads and asked to solve a case problem of their learning domain under one of two conditions: 1) with content-specific visualization 2) with content-unspecific visualization. Results show that by being provided with a content-specific visualization tool, both the process and the outcome of the cooperative effort improved. More specifically, dyads under that condition referred to more adequate concepts, risked more conflicts, and were more successful in integrating prior knowledge into the collaborative solution. Moreover, those learning partners had a more similar individual learning outcome

The contribution of data mining to information science

The information explosion is a serious challenge for current information institutions. On the other hand, data mining, which is the search for valuable information in large volumes of data, is one of the solutions to face this challenge. In the past several years, data mining has made a significant contribution to the field of information science. This paper examines the impact of data mining by reviewing existing applications, including personalized environments, electronic commerce, and search engines. For these three types of application, how data mining can enhance their functions is discussed. The reader of this paper is expected to get an overview of the state of the art research associated with these applications. Furthermore, we identify the limitations of current work and raise several directions for future research

Fostering shared knowledge with active graphical representation in different collaboration scenarios

This study investigated how two types of graphical representation tools influence the way in which learners use shared and unshared knowledge resources in two different collaboration scenarios, and how learners represent and transfer shared knowledge under these different conditions. Moreover, the relation between the use of knowledge resources, representation, and the transfer of shared knowledge was analyzed. The type of graphical representation (content-specific vs. content-unspecific) and the collaboration scenario (video conferencing vs. face-to-face) were varied. 64 university students participated. Results show that the learning partners converged in their profiles of resource use. With the content-specific graphical representation, learners used more appropriate knowledge resources. Learners in the computer-mediated scenarios showed a greater bandwidth in their profiles of resource use. A relation between discourse and outcomes could be shown for the transfer but not for the knowledge representation aspectIn dieser Studie werden die Wirkungen von verschiedenen Arten graphischer Repräsentation auf die Nutzung geteilter und ungeteilter Wissensressourcen in zwei verschiedenen Kooperationsszenarien untersucht. Des Weiteren wird analysiert, wie Lernende geteiltes und ungeteiltes Wissen unter diesen verschiedenen Bedingungen repräsentieren und transferieren. Schließlich wird die Beziehung zwischen der Nutzung von Wissensressourcen auf der einen Seite sowie der Repräsentation und dem Transfer geteilten Wissens auf der anderen Seite geprüft. Mit der Art der graphischen Repräsentation (inhaltsspezifisch vs. inhaltsunspezifisch) und dem Kooperationsszenario (Videokonferenz vs. face-to-face) werden zwei Faktoren experimentell variiert. 64 Studierende nahmen an der Studie teil. Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Lernpartner in ihren Profilen der Ressourcennutzung konvergierten. Lernende, die durch die inhaltsspezifische graphische Repräsentation unterstützt wurden, verwendeten angemessenere Wissensressourcen. Lernende in den computervermittelten Szenarien weisen eine größere Bandbreite in ihren Profilen der Ressourcennutzung auf. Eine direkte Wirkung vom Diskurs der Lernenden auf die Entwicklung geteilten Wissens konnte für den Transfer, aber nicht für die Wissensrepräsentation gezeigt werde

Fostering collaborative knowledge construction in desktop videoconferencing. Effects of content schemes and cooperation scripts in peer teaching settings

Video-conferencing is expected to become increasingly important for tele-learning environments. In contrast to asynchronous, text-based computer-mediated communication, video-conferencing facilitates cooperation tasks that require highly frequent and continuous coordination. Typical kinds of such cooperation tasks are found in peer teaching settings. Despite the growing application of video-conferencing, only little is known about possibilities of enhancing collaboration in video-conferencing settings. This study investigates the effects of different types of support for cooperation on the learning outcomes of peer dyads in a video-conferencing scenario. The main research question is how cooperation scripts and content schemes enhance the students' cognitive activities and foster the outcomes of cooperative learning. Two factors were varied experimentally: The content scheme (with/without) and the cooperation script (with/without). 86 university students of educational psychology participated in the study. Each student of a dyad received a text dealing with a psychological theory in the field of the nature-nurture-debate. The students' tasks were (1) to teach their partners the relevant contents of their text and (2) to reflect ideas that went beyond the scope of the text. Results indicate that in particular the cooperation script en-hances learning outcomes of collaborative knowledge constructionVideokonferenzen werden für die Gestaltung netzbasierter Lernumgebungen zunehmend interessant. Im Gegensatz zu asynchroner, textbasierter computervermittelter Kommunikation, ermöglichen Videokonferenzen Kooperationsaufgaben, die einen ho-hen Grad an Koordination erfordern. Typische Beispiele hierfür sind Peer-Tutoring- bzw. Peer-Teaching Arrangements. Trotz der zunehmenden Bedeutung von Videokonferenztechnologien ist bisher nur relativ wenig hinsichtlich der Förderung kooperativen Lernens mit diesem Medium bekannt. Diese Studie untersucht die Effekte verschiedener Fördermaßnahmen auf Ergebnisse der gemeinsamen Wissenskonstruktion beim dyadischen Lernen in einer Videokonferenz. Untersucht wird hierbei der Einfluss eines Kooperationsskripts und eines inhaltlichen Strukturschemas. In einem zweifaktoriellen Design wurden die beiden Einflussfaktoren Kooperationsskript (mit/ohne) und inhaltliches Strukturschema (mit/ohne) experimentell variiert. 86 Studierende der Pädagogik nahmen an der Studie teil. Jeder Teilnehmer erhielt einen Text über eine psychologische Theorie zum Thema der Anlage-Umwelt Debatte. Die Aufgabe der Studierenden bestand darin, (1) dem Lernpartner die relevanten Inhalte des eigenen Theorietextes zu vermitteln und (2) Ideen, die über die Inhalte des Textes hinausgingen zu elaborieren. Die hier vorgestellten Ergebnisse zeigen, dass insbesondere das Kooperationsskript den Lernerfolg steigert. Weitere Prozessanalysen sind notwendi

Knowledge convergence in computer-supported collaborative learning

This study investigates how two types of graphical representation tools influence the way in which learners use knowledge resources in two different collaboration conditions. In addition, the study explores the extent to which learners share knowledge with respect to individual outcomes under these different conditions. The study also analyzes the relationship between the use of knowledge resources and different types of knowledge. The type of external representation (content-specific vs. content-independent) and the collaboration condition (videoconferencing vs. face-to-face) were varied. Sixty-four (64) university students participated in the study. Results showed that learning partners converged strongly with respect to their use of resources during the collaboration process. Convergence with respect to outcomes was rather low, but relatively higher for application-oriented knowledge than for factual knowledge. With content-specific external representation, learners used more appropriate knowledge resources without sharing more knowledge after collaboration. Learners in the computer-mediated collaboration used a wider range of resources. Moreover, in exploratory qualitative and quantitative analyses, the study found evidence for a relation between aspects of the collaborative process and knowledge convergence