Scaffolding citizen inquiry science learning through the nQuire toolkit.

Citizen science is a popular paradigm of research collaboration between scientists and non-professional members of the public with the aim to contribute data to natural and physical science projects such as species identification. We have utilised this paradigm to scaffold online personal inquiry learning within informal settings. The nQuire Missions toolkit is a web platform to host the development and management of personal inquiry missions by young people combined with a sensor-based mobile application to support the collection of data on mobile phones. Scaffolding citizen inquiry science is a challenging task, as proposed missions should be personally meaningful, use recognised methods of data collection and analysis, and be valid and ethical.The concept, design and example science missions have been developed through a partnership with Sheffield University Technical College (UTC) where teachers and students acted as design informants. The result of the design exercise has been a specification for the nQuire Missions software and examples of missions which use the mobile phone to collect and share data

nQuire for the OpenScience Lab: supporting communities of inquiry learning

We have developed a platform to support Citizen Inquiry activities, based on the nQuire Toolkit software which was originally de- signed to support inquiry-based learning activities for schools. Citizen Inquiry is an innovative way for learners to engage in practical scientific activities, in which they take the role of self-regulated scientists in informal learning contexts. The platform will be integrated with the OpenScience Laboratory and will allow individuals or groups to create inquiries that rely on virtual scientific instruments for collecting scientifically reliable data. A demonstration inquiry has been created using the Open University Virtual Microscope that enables learners to conduct investigations of lunar geology by studying rare and authentic samples of Moon rock collected during the Apollo programme. Inquiries created using such instruments are intended to arouse a sense of wonder in members of the public, attract learners to science, and build communities of users around non-professional yet authentic scientific activities. This demonstration will show the nQuire authoring tools and the prototype inquiry, focusing on the integration of the scientific tool and features that facilitate collaboration in citizen inquiries

The added value of implementing the Planet Game scenario with Collage and Gridcole

This paper discusses the suitability and the added value of Collage and Gridcole when contrasted with other solutions participating in the ICALT 2006 workshop titled “Comparing educational modelling languages on a case study.” In this workshop each proposed solution was challenged to implement a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning situation (CSCL) posed by the workshop’s organizers. Collage is a pattern-based authoring tool for the creation of CSCL scripts compliant with IMS Learning Design (IMS LD). These IMS LD scripts can be enacted by the Gridcole tailorable CSCL system. The analysis presented in the paper is organized as a case study which considers the data recorded in the workshop discussion as well the information reported in the workshop contributions. The results of this analysis show how Collage and Gridcole succeed in implementing the scenario and also point out some significant advantages in terms of design reusability and generality, user-friendliness, and enactment flexibility

InstanceCollage: a tool for the particularization of collaborative IMS-LD scripts

Current research work in e-learning and more specifically in the field of CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) deals with design of collaborative activities, according to computer-interpretable specifications, such as IMS Learning Design, and their posterior enactment using LMSs (Learning Management Systems). A script that describes such collaborative activities is typically designed beforehand in order to structure collaboration, and defines the features that determine the behavior of the LMS, for instance, the sequence of activities or the groups/role distribution. In CSCL settings, group management and composition are especially relevant and affect the chances of achieving the expected learning outcomes. This paper presents a software tool, named InstanceCollage, which aims at facilitating the configuration and population of groups for IMS-LD scripts created with the authoring tool Collage, and discusses the implications of the IMS-LD specification with respect to this task. InstanceCollage is designed to process collaboration scripts based on CLFPs (Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns). Using this type of patterns, InstanceCollage focuses on the importance of understanding the function of groups within the learning strategy of the script. This paper describes the approach taken in InstanceCollage to facilitate this understanding for non-expert users. Additionally, two case studies are presented, which represent complex authentic collaborative learning scenarios, as a proof of concept of the functionality of this tool. The case studies are also used to illustrate the requirements of group configuration tools and to show that InstanceCollage complies to such requirements

COLLAGE: a collaborative Learning Design editor based on patterns

CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) constitutes a significant field that has drawn the attention of many researchers and practitioners (Dillenbourg, 2002). This domain is characterized by the coexistence of very different expectations, requirements, knowledge and interests posed by both collaborative learning practitioners and experts in information and communication technologies. In other words, CSCL is an intrinsically interdisciplinary field that implies a need for mutual understanding among the implied stakeholders. This need demands the active participation of all these stakeholders during the whole development cycle of CSCL solutions. Participatory Design (PD) approaches (Muller & Kuhn, 1993) propose a diversity of theories, practices, etc. with the goal of working directly with users and other stakeholders in the design of social systems. That is, PD methodologies define processes where users and developers work together during a certain period of time, while they identify the requirements of an application. In the CSCL case, it has been shown that it is not efficient enough to simply perform the identification and analysis of requirements for the development of CSCL solutions that support effective ways of learning. Collaborative learning practitioners also become active players in the process of customizing technological solutions to their particular needs in every learning situation. PD poses a new requirement that CSCL developers should tackle: how to obtain technological solutions for collaborative learning capable of being particularized/customized by practitioners that usually do not have technological skills

PDBe-KB: a community-driven resource for structural and functional annotations.

The Protein Data Bank in Europe-Knowledge Base (PDBe-KB, https://pdbe-kb.org) is a community-driven, collaborative resource for literature-derived, manually curated and computationally predicted structural and functional annotations of macromolecular structure data, contained in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). The goal of PDBe-KB is two-fold: (i) to increase the visibility and reduce the fragmentation of annotations contributed by specialist data resources, and to make these data more findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) and (ii) to place macromolecular structure data in their biological context, thus facilitating their use by the broader scientific community in fundamental and applied research. Here, we describe the guidelines of this collaborative effort, the current status of contributed data, and the PDBe-KB infrastructure, which includes the data exchange format, the deposition system for added value annotations, the distributable database containing the assembled data, and programmatic access endpoints. We also describe a series of novel web-pages-the PDBe-KB aggregated views of structure data-which combine information on macromolecular structures from many PDB entries. We have recently released the first set of pages in this series, which provide an overview of available structural and functional information for a protein of interest, referenced by a UniProtKB accession

Incorporating assessment in a pattern-based design process for CSCL scripts

Scripting has already been shown to be a way of increasing the chances of effective collaborative learning, and especially when computer support is available. Formal specifications, such as IMS-LD, and software authoring tools have provided instructional designers and educational practitioners with mechanisms for the creation and automation of flexible collaborative learning scripts ready to run in real scenarios. Within the context of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) script design, the application of design patterns has been proposed as the basis for a design process that promotes the reuse of good practices, implemented in an IMS-LD authoring tool, Collage. However, it is well known that assessmentis a key aspect in real learning scenarios, and therefore it should be included in CSCL scripts. In this sense, this paper reports data and findings derived from two case studies performed to explore how assessment design can be included in the aforementioned pattern-based process. Results provide preliminary evidence that additional support is necessary for assessment design within this process for non-expert users. In order to tackle this limitation, the use of assessment patterns is analyzed. Evidence gathered in the case studies supports the need, adequacy and feasibility of a more systematic assessment-aware design process for CSCL scripts

Free- and open-source software for a course on network management: authoring and enactment of scripts based on collaborative learning strategies

This paper describes a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) case study in engineering education carried out within the context of a network management course. The case study shows that the use of two computing tools developed by the authors and based on free-and open-source software (FOSS) provide significant educational benefits over traditional engineering pedagogical approaches in terms of both concepts and engineering competencies acquisition. The Collage authoring tool guides and supports the course teacher in the process of authoring computer-interpretable representations (using the IMS learning design standard notation) of effective collaborative pedagogical designs. Besides, the Gridcole system supports the enactment of that design by guiding the students throughout the prescribed sequence of learning activities. The paper introduces the goals and context of the case study, elaborates on how Collage and Gridcole were employed, describes the applied evaluation methodology, and discusses the most significant findings derived from the case study

Coronavirus canSAR – a Data-Driven, AI-Enabled, Drug Discovery Resource for the Research Community

We describe an AI-enabled, integrated Coronavirus drug discovery knowledgebase, free for the research community. Its goal is to make accessible up to date information relevant to drug discovery for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses. It builds on great knowledge from across therapeutic areas and provides unbiased, systematic, objective information to empower the international effort.</p