Design and evaluation of a case-based system for modelling exploratory learning behaviour of math generalisation

Exploratory learning environments (ELEs) promote a view of learning that encourages students to construct and/or explore models and observe the effects of modifying their parameters. The freedom given to learners in this exploration context leads to a variety of learner approaches for constructing models and makes modelling of learner behaviour a challenging task. To address this issue, we propose a learner modelling mechanism for monitoring learners’ actions when constructing/exploring models by modelling sequences of actions reflecting different strategies in solving a task. This is based on a modified version of case-based reasoning for problems with multiple solutions. In our formulation, approaches to explore the task are represented as sequences of simple cases linked by temporal and dependency relations, which are mapped to the learners’ behaviour in the system by means of appropriate similarity metrics. This paper presents the development and validation of the modelling mechanism. The model was validated in the context of an ELE for mathematical generalisation using data from classroom sessions and pedagogically-driven learning scenarios

Characterizing Comment Types and Levels of Engagement in Video-Based Learning as a Basis for Adaptive Nudging

Video is frequently used as a learning medium in a variety of educational settings, including large online courses as well as informal learning scenarios. To foster learner engagement around instructional videos, our learning scenario facilitates interactive note taking and commenting similar to popular social video-sharing platforms. This approach has recently been enriched by introducing nudging mechanisms, which raises questions about ensuing learning effects. To better understand the nature of these effects, we take a closer look at the content of the comments. Our study is based on an ex post analysis of a larger data set from a recent study. As a first step of analysis, video comments are clustered based on a feature set that captures the temporal and semantic alignment of comments with the videos. Based on the ensuing typology of comments, learners are characterized through the types of comments that they have contributed. The results will allow for a better targeting of nudges to improve video-based learning

Rule based networks : an efficient and interpretable representation of computational models

Due to the vast and rapid increase in the size of data, data mining has been an increasingly important tool for the purpose of knowledge discovery to prevent the presence of rich data but poor knowledge. In this context, machine learning can be seen as a powerful approach to achieve intelligent data mining. In practice, machine learning is also an intelligent approach for predictive modelling. Rule learning methods, a special type of machine learning methods, can be used to build a rule based system as a special type of expert systems for both knowledge discovery and predictive modelling. A rule based system may be represented through different structures. The techniques for representing rules are known as rule representation, which is significant for knowledge discovery in relation to the interpretability of the model, as well as for predictive modelling with regard to efficiency in predicting unseen instances. This paper justifies the significance of rule representation and presents several existing representation techniques. Two types of novel networked topologies for rule representation are developed against existing techniques. This paper also includes complexity analysis of the networked topologies in order to show their advantages comparing with the existing techniques in terms of model interpretability and computational efficiency

Pattern-based emotion classification on social media

Sentiment analysis can go beyond the typical granularity of polarity that assumes each text to be positive, negative or neural. Indeed, human emotions are much more diverse, and it is interesting to study how to define a more complete set of emotions and how to deduce these emotions from human-written messages. In this book chapter we argue that using Plutchik’s wheel of emotions model and a rule-based approach for emotion detection in text makes it a good framework for emotion classification on social media. We provide a detailed description of how to define rule-based patterns for Plutchik’s wheel emotion detection, how to learn them from the annotated social media and how to apply them for classifying emotions in the previously unseen texts. The results of the experimental study suggest that the described framework is promising and that it advances the current state-of-the-art in emotion detection