Facilitating self-regulated learning with personalized scaffolds on student's own regulation activities

The focus of education is increasingly set on students' ability to regulate their own learning within technology-enhanced learning environments. Scaffolds have been used to foster self-regulated learning, but scaffolds often are standardized and do not do not adapt to the individual learning process. Learning analytics and machine learning offer an approach to better understand SRL-processes during learning. Yet, current approaches lack validity or require extensive analysis after the learning process. The FLORA project aims to investigate how to advance support given to students by i) improving unobtrusive data collection and machine learning techniques to gain better measurement and understanding of SRL-processes and ii) using these new insights to facilitate student’s SRL by providing personalized scaffolds. We will reach this goal by investigating and improving trace data in exploratory studies (exploratory study 1 and study 2) and using the insight gained from these studies to develop and test personalized scaffolds based on individual learning processes in laboratory (experimental study 3 and study 4) and a subsequent field study (field study 5). At the moment study 2 is ongoing. The setup consists of a learning environment presented on a computer with a screen-based eye-tracker. Other data sources are log files and audio of students’ think aloud. The analysis will focus on detecting sequences that are indicative of micro-level self-regulated learning processes and aligning them between the different data sources

Reconsolidation of traumatic memories protocol compared to trauma-focussed cognitive behaviour therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in UK military veterans: a randomised controlled feasibility trial

Background Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs more commonly in military veterans than the general population. Whilst current therapies are efective, up to half of veterans commencing treatment do not complete it. Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM) protocol is a novel, easy to train, talking therapy with promising findings. We examine the feasibility of undertaking an efcacy trial of RTM in veterans. Methods A parallel group, single-centre randomised controlled feasibility trial with a post-completion qualitative interview study. Sixty military veterans were randomised 2:1 to RTM (n=35) or Trauma Focussed Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) (n=25). We aimed to determine the rate of recruitment and retention, understand reasons for attrition, determine data quality and size of efcacy signal. We explored veterans’ perceptions of experiences of joining the trial, the research procedures and therapy, and design improvements for future veteran studies. Military veterans with a diagnosis of PTSD or complex PTSD, and clinically signifcant symptoms, were recruited between January 2020 and June 2021. Primary outcome was feasibility using pre-determined progression criteria alongside PTSD symptoms, with depression, recovery, and rehabilitation as secondary outcomes. Data were collected at baseline, 6, 12, and 20 weeks. Interviews (n=15) were conducted after 20 weeks. Both therapies were delivered by trained charity sector provider therapists. Results Participants’ mean age was 53 years, the mean baseline PTSD symptoms score assessed by the Post-trau?matic Stress Checklist (PCL-5) was 57 (range 0–80). Fifty had complex PTSD and 39 had experienced≥4 traumas. Data were analysed at 20 weeks for feasibility outcomes (n=60) and mental health outcomes (n=45). Seven of eight progression criteria were met. The RTM group experienced a mean 18-point reduction on the PCL-5. TFCBT group participants experienced a mean reduction of eight points. Forty-eight percent of the RTM group no longer met diagnostic criteria for PTSD compared to 16% in the TFCBT group. All veterans reported largely positive experiences of the therapy and research procedures and ways to improve them. Conclusion RTM therapy remains a promising psychological intervention for the treatment of PTSD, including complex PTSD, in military veterans. With specifc strengthening, the research protocol is fit for purpose in delivering an efficacy trial.</p

A framework for conceptualizing, representing, and analyzing distributed interaction.

The relationship between interaction and learning is a central concern of the learning sciences, and analysis of interaction has emerged as a major theme within the current literature on computersupported collaborative learning. The nature of technology-mediated interaction poses analytic challenges. Interaction may be distributed across actors, space, and time, and vary from synchronous, quasi-synchronous, and asynchronous, even within one data set. Often multiple media are involved and the data comes in a variety of formats. As a consequence, there are multiple analytic artifacts to inspect and the interaction may not be apparent upon inspection, being distributed across these artifacts. To address these problems as they were encountered in several studies in our own laboratory, we developed a framework for conceptualizing and representing distributed interaction. The framework assumes an analytic concern with uncovering or characterizing the organization of interaction in sequential records of events. The framework includes a media independent characterization of the most fundamental unit of interaction, which we call uptake. Uptake is present when a participant takes aspects of prior events as having relevance for ongoing activity. Uptake can be refined into interactional relationships of argumentation, information sharing, transactivity, and so forth. for specific analytic objectives. Faced with the myriad of ways in which uptake can manifest in practice, we represent data using graphs of relationships between events that capture the potential ways in which one act can be contingent upon another. These contingency graphs serve as abstract transcripts that document in one representation interaction that is distributed across multiple media. This paper summarizes the requirements that motivate the framework, and discusses the theoretical foundations on which it is based. It then presents the framework and its application in detail, with examples from our work to illustrate how we have used it to support both ideographic and nomothetic research, using qualitative and quantitative methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of the framework’s potential role in supporting dialogue between various analytic concerns and methods represented in CSCL

Randomized Trial of Oral Teriflunomide for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract BACKGROUND: Teriflunomide is a new oral disease-modifying therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. METHODS: We concluded a randomized trial involving 1088 patients with multiple sclerosis, 18 to 55 years of age, with a score of 0 to 5.5 on the Expanded Disability Status Scale and at least one relapse in the previous year or at least two relapses in the previous 2 years. Patients were randomly assigned (in a 1:1:1 ratio) to placebo, 7 mg of teriflunomide, or 14 mg of teriflunomide once daily for 108 weeks. The primary end point was the annualized relapse rate, and the key secondary end point was confirmed progression of disability for at least 12 weeks. RESULTS: Teriflunomide reduced the annualized relapse rate (0.54 for placebo vs. 0.37 for teriflunomide at either 7 or 14 mg), with relative risk reductions of 31.2% and 31.5%, respectively (P<0.001 for both comparisons with placebo). The proportion of patients with confirmed disability progression was 27.3% with placebo, 21.7% with teriflunomide at 7 mg (P=0.08), and 20.2% with teriflunomide at 14 mg (P=0.03). Both teriflunomide doses were superior to placebo on a range of end points measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Diarrhea, nausea, and hair thinning were more common with teriflunomide than with placebo. The incidence of elevated alanine aminotransferase levels ( 651 times the upper limit of the normal range) was higher with teriflunomide at 7 mg and 14 mg (54.0% and 57.3%, respectively) than with placebo (35.9%); the incidence of levels that were at least 3 times the upper limit of the normal range was similar in the lower- and higher-dose teriflunomide groups and the placebo group (6.3%, 6.7%, and 6.7%, respectively). Serious infections were reported in 1.6%, 2.5%, and 2.2% of patients in the three groups, respectively. No deaths occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Teriflunomide significantly reduced relapse rates, disability progression (at the higher dose), and MRI evidence of disease activity, as compared with placebo. (Funded by Sanofi-Aventis; TEMSO ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00134563.)

Randomized trial of oral teriflunomide for relapsing multiple sclerosis

Teriflunomide is a new oral disease-modifying therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis

The incidence and significance of anti-natalizumab antibodies - Results from AFFIRM and SENTINEL

Objective: To determine the incidence and clinical effects of antibodies that develop during treatment with natalizumab