Development of procedures to assess problem-solving competence in computing engineering

In the context of higher education, a competence may be understood as the combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and abilities that underpin effective and/or superior performance in a professional area. The aim of the work reported here was to design a set of procedures to assess a transferable competence, i.e., problem solving, that is basic for learning, in both academic and professional life, and crucial for engineering. The study involved a total of 71 students enrolled at three universities at two different stages of their studies. The development phases of the assessment device included an analysis of the competence and its facets, the design of the assessment task, the development of criteria to rate student performance, and the analysis of the basic psychometric properties for assessment methods in the area of education. The conclusion was drawn that the training process and the elaboration of scoring criteria are costly but necessary if objectivity in the interpretation of results is to be guaranteed. The main achievement of this project was the development of a procedure that measures learning outcomes and, more specifically, problem solvin

Assessment of problem solving in computing studies

The assessment of learning outcomes is a key concept in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) since credits are awarded when the assessment shows the competences which were aimed at have been developed at an appropriate level. This paper describes a study which was first part of the Bologna Experts Team-Spain project and then developed as an independent study. It was carried out with the overall goal to gain experience in the assessment of learning outcomes. More specifically it aimed at 1) designing procedures for the assessment of learning outcomes related to these compulsory generic competences; 2) testing some basic psychometric features that an assessment device with some consequences for the subjects being evaluated needs to prove; 3) testing different procedures of standard setting, and 4) using assessment results as orienting feedback to students and their tutors. The process of development of tests to carry out the assessment of learning outcomes is described as well as some basic features regarding their reliability and validity. First conclusions on the comparison of the results achieved at two academic levels are also presented

Logros y retos en analítica del aprendizaje en España: La perspectiva de SNOLA

As in other research fields, the development of learning analytics is influenced by the networks of researchers that contribute to it. This paper describes one of such networks: the Spanish Network of Learning Analytics (SNOLA). The paper presents the research lines of the members of SNOLA, as well as the main challenges that learning analytics has to address in the next few years as perceived by these researchers. This analysis is based on SNOLA’s archival data and on a survey carried out to the current members of the network. Although this approach does not cover all the activity related to learning analytics in Spain, the results provide a representative overview of the current state of research related to learning analytics in this context. The paper describes these trends and the main challenges, among which we can point out the need to adopt an ethical commitment with data, to develop systems that respond to the requirements of the end users, and to reach a wider institutional impact.Tal y como ocurre en otros campos de investigación, el desarrollo de la analítica del aprendizaje está influido por las redes de investigadores que contribuyen al mismo. Este artículo describe una de estas redes: la Red Española de Analítica de Aprendizaje (SNOLA). El artículo presenta las líneas de investigación de los miembros de SNOLA, así como los principales retos que la analítica del aprendizaje tiene que afrontar en los próximos años desde la visión de estos investigadores. Este análisis está basado en datos de archivo de SNOLA y en una encuesta realizada a los actuales miembros de la red. Aunque esta aproximación no cubre toda la actividad relacionada con analítica del aprendizaje en España, los resultados proporcionan una visión general representativa del estado de la investigación relacionada con analítica del aprendizaje en dicho contexto. El artículo muestra cuáles son estas tendencias y los principales retos, entre los que se encuentran la necesidad de adoptar un compromiso ético con los datos, desarrollar sistemas que respondan a las necesidades de los usuarios y alcanzar mayor impacto institucional

Evaluation of the Development of Metacognitive Knowledge Supported by the KnowCat System

The aim of this study was to examine the development of the metacognitive knowledge of a group of higher education students who participated actively in an experiment based on a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning environment called KnowCat. Eighteen university students participated in a 12-month learning project during which the KnowCat learning environment was used to support scaffolding process among equals during problem-solving tasks. After using KnowCat, the students were interviewed over their work in this shared workspace. Qualitative analysis revealed that the educational application of KnowCat can favour and improve the development of metacognitive knowledge

Del vídeo educativo a objetos de aprendizaje multimedia interactivos: un entorno de aprendizaje colaborativo basado en redes sociales

The multimedia resources, in particularly the video media, have been used in several learning experiences, which have shown that they are relevant for supporting educational material in teaching-learning processes. However, traditional methods of creating and editing multimedia content are expensive and complex and they don't allow to be implemented as a generalized practice for teaching. We propose collaborative methods for reusing resources, to allow the composition of Multimedia-interactive Learning Objects supported by an open environment called Social Web Media Learning (SMLearning). This paper describes this environment and presents a summary of some experiences carry out, both with students of graduate and postgraduate courses, in the context of Educational Development Projects at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.Los recursos multimedia, y en particular los vídeos, han sido utilizados en diversas experiencias educativas que demuestran la pertinencia de dicho material en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Sin embargo, los métodos tradicionales de creación y edición de contenidos multimedia resultan costosos y complejos para ser llevados a la práctica en un contexto educativo generalizado. Nuestra solución consiste en la reutilización de recursos existentes, que combinados con métodos y prácticas colaborativas, permiten la manipulación y composición de objetos de aprendizaje multimedia-interactivos sobre un entorno Web abierto denominado Social Media Learning (SMLearning). Este artículo describe las características funcionales de dicho entorno y presenta el resumen de algunas experiencias de su uso, tanto en cursos de grado y postgrado, en el marco de proyectos para el desarrollo de las enseñanzas en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid