Affordances and limitations of learning analytics for computer-assisted language learning: a case study of the VITAL project

Learning analytics (LA) has emerged as a field that offers promising new ways to support failing or weaker students, prevent drop-out and aid retention. However, other research suggests that large datasets of learner activity can be used to understand online learning behaviour and improve pedagogy. While the use of LA in language learning has received little attention to date, available research suggests that understanding language learner behaviour could provide valuable insights into task design for instructors and materials designers, as well as help students with effective learning strategies and personalised learning pathways. This paper first discusses previous research in the field of language learning and teaching based on learner tracking and the specific affordances of LA for CALL, as well as its inherent limitations and challenges. The second part of the paper analyses data arising from the European Commission (EC) funded VITAL project that adopted a bottom-up pedagogical approach to LA and implemented learner activity tracking in different blended or distance learning settings. Referring to data arising from 285 undergraduate students on a Business French course at Hasselt University which used a flipped classroom design, statistical and process-mining techniques were applied to map and visualise actual uses of online learning resources over the course of one semester. Results suggested that most students planned their self-study sessions in accordance with the flipped classroom design, both in terms of their timing of online activity and selection of contents. Other metrics measuring active online engagement – a crucial component of successful flipped learning - indicated significant differences between successful and non-successful students. Meaningful learner patterns were revealed in the data, visualising students’ paths through the online learning environment and uses of the different activity types. The research implied that valuable insights for instructors, course designers and students can be acquired based on the tracking and analysis of language learner data and the use of visualisation and process-mining tools

Perceptions of involvement in advance care planning and emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancer

Purpose: Advance Care Planning (ACP) is positively associated with the quality of care, but its impact on emotional functioning is ambiguous. This study investigated the association between perceptions of ACP involvement and emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancer. Methods: This study analyzed baseline data of 1,001 patients of the eQuiPe study, a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer in the Netherlands. Patients with metastatic solid cancer were asked to participate between November 2017 and January 2020. Patients’ perceptions of ACP involvement were measured by three self-administered statements. Emotional functioning was measured by the EORTC-QLQ-C30. A linear multivariable regression analysis was performed while taking gender, age, migrant background, education, marital status, and symptom burden into account. Results: The majority of patients (87%) reported that they were as much involved as they wanted to be in decisions about their future medical treatment and care. Most patients felt that their relatives (81%) and physicians (75%) were familiar with their preferences for future medical treatment and care. A positive association was found between patients’ perceptions of ACP involvement and their emotional functioning (b=0.162, p<0.001, 95%CI[0.095;0.229]) while controlling for relevant confounders. Conclusions: Perceptions of involvement in ACP are positively associated with emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancer. Future studies are needed to further investigate the effect of ACP on emotional functioning. Trial registration number: NTR6584 Date of registration: 30 June 2017 Implications for Cancer Survivors: Patients’ emotional functioning might improve from routine discussions regarding goals of future care. Therefore, integration of ACP into palliative might be promising

Analyzing the impact of the adaptive clearing mechanism on algorithm accuracy in Variable Mesh Optimization

The area of population-based meta-heuristics has been researched extensively in recent years. The focus of this research has been on finding improvements and variations to existing algorithms while the inner details, that are treated as a black box, remain poorly understood. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the detailed behavior of Variable Mesh Optimization (VMO), a population-based meta-heuristic, and describe the patterns that drive the algorithm in finding new optima. Our results suggest that, in VMO, the improvement of the best solution is strongly correlated with its adaptive clearing mechanism. It is observed that each relaxation of the threshold that is used by the mechanism, is likely to increase the accuracy of the final solution. These findings suggest that future research, aiming to improve algorithm accuracy, could focus on improving the adaptive clearing mechanism in order to increase the likelihood of creating superior algorithms

Emotional functioning during bereavement after the death of patients with advanced cancer and associated factors

Objective The death of a loved one is considered to be the most stressful of all life events. However, the impact of bereavement on quality of life varies between individuals. The aim of our study was to assess emotional functioning (EF), which is a domain of quality of life, of bereaved relatives after the death of their loved one and its associated factors. Method A prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and quality of life of patients with advanced cancer and their relatives was conducted (eQuiPe). The association between EF of relatives during bereavement and the following factors was investigated: gender, type of relationship, educational level, pre-bereavement emotional and social functioning and global quality of life, social support pre- and during bereavement, anticipatory complicated grief, support of healthcare professionals during bereavement, age of patient and bereaved relative and duration of survival after primary cancer diagnosis. Results 150 bereaved relatives completed the bereavement questionnaire. In 41% of the bereaved relatives EF was ≤71, indicating clinically relevant low EF. Multivariable logistic regression showed that females experienced more often emotional problems (OR = 2.82). Emotional functioning pre-bereavement (OR = 0.96) and social support during bereavement (OR = 0.97) were associated with low EF during bereavement. Conclusions Almost half of the bereaved relatives of patients with advanced cancer experienced low EF and this was associated with low EF pre-bereavement and low social support during bereavement. Support for relatives should be initiated before the patient's death. Future research is needed to investigate the impact of such support on relatives' wellbeing during bereavement

Emotional functioning during bereavement after the death of patients with advanced cancer and associated factors

Objective: The death of a loved one is considered to be the most stressful of all life events. However, the impact of bereavement on quality of life varies between individuals. The aim of our study was to assess emotional functioning (EF), which is a domain of quality of life, of bereaved relatives after the death of their loved one and its associated factors. Method: A prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and quality of life of patients with advanced cancer and their relatives was conducted (eQuiPe). The association between EF of relatives during bereavement and the following factors was investigated: gender, type of relationship, educational level, pre-bereavement emotional and social functioning and global quality of life, social support pre- and during bereavement, anticipatory complicated grief, support of healthcare professionals during bereavement, age of patient and bereaved relative and duration of survival after primary cancer diagnosis. Results: 150 bereaved relatives completed the bereavement questionnaire. In 41% of the bereaved relatives EF was ≤71, indicating clinically relevant low EF. Multivariable logistic regression showed that females experienced more often emotional problems (OR = 2.82). Emotional functioning pre-bereavement (OR = 0.96) and social support during bereavement (OR = 0.97) were associated with low EF during bereavement. Conclusions: Almost half of the bereaved relatives of patients with advanced cancer experienced low EF and this was associated with low EF pre-bereavement and low social support during bereavement. Support for relatives should be initiated before the patient's death. Future research is needed to investigate the impact of such support on relatives' wellbeing during bereavement

Trajectories of emotional functioning and experienced care of relatives in the last year of life of patients with advanced cancer:A longitudinal analysis of the eQuiPe study

Objective Advanced cancer has a major impact on both patients and their relatives. To allow for personalized support, it is important to recognize which relatives will experience a decline in emotional functioning during the patient's last year of life, when this decline will occur, and what factors are associated with it. This study aimed to examine the trajectory of emotional functioning of relatives during that time and the characteristics associated with changes in this trajectory.MethodsA prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study in patients with advanced cancer and their relatives was conducted (eQuiPe). We analyzed relatives' changes in emotional functioning in the patient's last year using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and assessed associations with sociodemographic and care characteristics using multivariable mixed-effects analysis.Results409 relatives completed &gt;= 1 questionnaires during the patient's last year of life. Mean age was 64 years, 61% were female and 75% were the patient's partner. During this year, mean emotional functioning declined significantly over time from 73.9 to 64.6 (p = 0.023, effect size = 0.43). The type of relationship between relatives and patients (p = 0.002), patient' sleep problems (p = 0.033), and continuity of care (p = 0.002) were significantly associated with changes in emotional functioning.ConclusionsRelatives' emotional functioning declined during the patient's last year of life. Support for them, especially partners and relatives of patients with sleep problems, is important. Relatives who experienced more continuity of care had a less steep decline in emotional functioning

Perceptions of involvement in advance care planning and emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancer

Purpose Advance Care Planning (ACP) is positively associated with the quality of care, but its impact on emotional functioning is ambiguous. This study investigated the association between perceptions of ACP involvement and emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancer. Methods This study analyzed baseline data of 1,001 patients of the eQuiPe study, a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer in the Netherlands. Patients with metastatic solid cancer were asked to participate between November 2017 and January 2020. Patients’ perceptions of ACP involvement were measured by three self-administered statements. Emotional functioning was measured by the EORTC-QLQ-C30. A linear multivariable regression analysis was performed while taking gender, age, migrant background, education, marital status, and symptom burden into account. Results The majority of patients (87%) reported that they were as much involved as they wanted to be in decisions about their future medical treatment and care. Most patients felt that their relatives (81%) and physicians (75%) were familiar with their preferences for future medical treatment and care. A positive association was found between patients’ perceptions of ACP involvement and their emotional functioning (b=0.162, p<0.001, 95%CI[0.095;0.229]) while controlling for relevant confounders. Conclusions Perceptions of involvement in ACP are positively associated with emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancer. Future studies are needed to further investigate the effect of ACP on emotional functioning. Trial registration number NTR6584 Date of registration: 30 June 2017 Implications for Cancer Survivors Patients’ emotional functioning might improve from routine discussions regarding goals of future care. Therefore, integration of ACP into palliative might be promising

Prospective cohort study of patients with advanced cancer and their relatives on the experienced quality of care and life (eQuiPe study): A study protocol

Background: Palliative care is becoming increasingly important because the number of patients with an incurable disease is growing and their survival is improving. Previous research tells us that early palliative care has the potential to improve quality of life (QoL) in patients with advanced cancer and their relatives. According to limited research on palliative care in the Netherlands, patients with advanced cancer and their relatives find current palliative care suboptimal. The aim of the eQuiPe study is to understand the experienced quality of care (QoC) and QoL of patients with advanced cancer and their relatives to further improve palliative care. Methods: A prospective longitudinal observational cohort study is conducted among patients with advanced cancer and their relatives. Patients and relatives receive a questionnaire every 3 months regarding experienced QoC and QoL during the palliative trajectory. Bereaved relatives receive a final questionnaire 3 to 6 months after the patients' death. Data from questionnaires are linked with detailed clinical data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR). By means of descriptive statistics we will examine the experienced QoC and QoL in our study population. Differences between subgroups and changes over time will be assessed while adjusting for confounding factors. Discussion: This study will be the first to prospectively and longitudinally explore experienced QoC and QoL in patients with advanced cancer and their relatives simultaneously. This study will provide us with population-based information in patients with advanced cancer and their relatives including changes over time. Results from the study will inform us on how to further improve palliative care. Trial registration: Trial NL6408 (NTR6584). Registered in Netherlands Trial Register on June 30, 2017