Feedback authoring for exploratory learning objects: AuthELO

This paper presents a tool for the configuration of logging and authoring of automated feedback for exploratory learning objects (ELOs). This tool has been developed in the context of a larger project that is developing a platform for authoring interactive educational e-books. This platform comprises an extendable set of diverse widgets that can be used to generate instances of exploratory activities that can be employed in various learning scenarios. AuthELO was designed and developed to provide a simple, common and efficient authoring interface that can normalise the heterogeneity of these widgets and give the ability to non-experts to easily modify — if not program themselves — the feedback that is provided to students based on their interaction. We describe the architecture and design characteristics of AuthELO and present a small-scale evaluation of the prototype that shows promising results

Building Bridges to Algebra through a Constructionist Learning Environment

Context: In the digital era, it is important to investigate the potential impact of digital technologies in education and how such tools can be successfully integrated into the mathematics classroom. Similarly to many others in the constructionism community, we have been inspired by the idea set out originally by Papert of providing students with appropriate “vehicles” for developing “Mathematical Ways of Thinking.” Problem: A crucial issue regarding the design of digital tools as vehicles is that of “transfer” or “bridging” i.e., what mathematical knowledge is transferred from students’ interactions with such tools to other activities such as when they are doing “paper-and-pencil” mathematics, undertaking traditional exam papers or in other formal and informal settings. Method: Through the lens of a framework for algebraic ways of thinking, this article analyses data gathered as part of the MiGen project from studies aiming at investigating ways to build bridges to formal algebra. Results: The analysis supports the need for and benefit of bridging activities that make the connections to algebra explicit and for frequent reflection and consolidation tasks. Implications: Task and digital environment designers should consider designing bridging activities that consolidate, support and sustain students’ mathematical ways of thinking beyond their digital experience. Constructivist content: Our more general aim is to support the implementation of digital technologies, especially constructionist learning environments, in the mathematics classroom

A study on eye fixation patterns of students in higher education using an online learning system

We study how the use of online learning systems stimulate cognitive activities, by conducting an experiment with the use of eye tracking technology to monitor eye fixations of 60 final year students engaging in online interactive tutorials at the start of their Final Year Project module. Our findings show that the students' visual scanning behaviours fall into three different types of eye fixation patterns, and the data corresponding to the different types relates to the performance of the students in other related academic modules. We conclude that this method of studying eye fixation patterns can identify different types of learners with respect to cognitive activities and academic potentials, allowing educators to understand how their instructional design using online learning environments can stimulate higher-order cognitive activities

A Talk on the Wild Side: The Direct and Indirect Impact of Speech Recognition on Learning Gains

Research in the learning sciences and mathematics education has suggested that ‘thinking aloud’ (verbalization) can be important for learning. In a technology-mediated learning environment, speech might also help to promote learning by enabling the system to infer the students’ cognitive and affective state so that they can be provided a sequence of tasks and formative feedback, both of which are adapted to their needs. For these and associated reasons, we developed the iTalk2Learn platform that includes speech production and speech recognition for children learning about fractions. We investigated the impact of iTalk2Learn’s speech functionality in classrooms in the UK and Germany, with our results indicating that a speech-enabled learning environment has the potential to enhance student learning gains and engagement, both directly and indirectly

Towards analytics for educational interactive e-Books: The case of the reflective designer analytics platform (RDAP)

This paper presents an analytics dashboard that has been developed for designers of interactive e-books. This is part of the EU-funded MC Squared project that is developing a platform for authoring interactive educational e-books. The primary objective is to develop technologies and resources that enhance creative thinking for both designers (authors) and learners. The learning material is expected to offer learners opportunities to engage creatively with mathematical problems and develop creative mathematical thinking. The analytics dashboard is designed to increase authors' awareness so that they can make informed decisions on how to redesign and improve the e-books. This paper presents architectural and design decisions on key features of the dashboard and discusses future steps with respect to the potential for exploratory data analysis

Using Social Network Analysis to gain insight into social creativity while designing digital mathematics books

Analysing the processes and products of creativity to better understand and support individuals and teams, is a difficult and elusive challenge despite years of research in creativity. In this article, we are particularly interested in social creativity in communities of interest. Building on Guilford's classic model of Divergent Thinking of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration, we employ Social Network Analysis to model the creative design process. The creative process in the current study takes place in a technological environment called the ‘MC-squared platform’, in which members of a community of interest collaborate in a social, co-creative process for designing digital, mathematical textbooks. Both the technological environment and the methodology are exemplified through two case examples, one on the design process of a digital book about a bioclimatic amusement park and one on the design process of a digital book about fractions. We conclude that, for these examples, both the technological tool and the data analysis approach provide insight into the social creativity process of the community of interest

Design and evaluation of teacher assistance tools for exploratory learning environments

We present our approach to designing and evaluating tools that can assist teachers in classroom settings where students are using Exploratory Learning Environments (ELEs), using as our case study the MiGen system, which targets 11-14 year old students' learning of algebra. We discuss the challenging role of teachers in exploratory learning settings and motivate the need for visualisation and notification tools that can assist teachers in focusing their attention across the whole class and inform their interventions. We present the design and evaluation approach followed during the development of MiGen's Teacher Assistance tools, drawing parallels with the recently proposed LATUX workflow but also discussing how we go beyond this to include a large number of teacher participants in our evaluation activities, so as to gain the benefit of different view points. We discuss the results of the evaluations, which show that participants appreciated the capabilities of the tools and were mostly able to use them quickly and accurately

Graph-based modelling of students' interaction data from exploratory learning environments

Students' interaction data from learning environments has an inherent temporal dimension, with successive events being related through the ``next event'' relationship. Exploratory learning environments (ELEs), in particular, can generate very large volumes of such data, making their interpretation a challenging task. Using two mathematical microworlds as exemplars, we illustrate how modelling students' event-based interaction data as a graph can open up new querying and analysis opportunities. We demonstrate the possibilities that graph-based modelling can provide for querying and analysing the data, enabling investigation of student-system interactions and leading to the improvement of future versions of the ELEs under investigation

Context and collaborative problem solving (Cps): The development of observable signifiers to inform the design of cps learning analytics

Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is a key skill for the modern workplace. We do not, however, have widely accepted ways of assessing and monitoring CPS to inform educators and learners and enable the provision of effective support. This paper reports the findings of an empirical study involving 15 school students aged 14-15 years taking part in a 2-day Hack Event. The analysis identifies the observable signifiers of CPS and offers a step towards the design of automated data capture protocols and CPS learning analytics

Visualisation and analysis of students’ interaction data in exploratory learning environments

Log files from adaptive Exploratory Learning Environments can contain prohibitively large quantities of data for visualisation and analysis. Moreover, it is hard to know in advance what data is required for analytical purposes. Using a microworld for secondary algebra as a case study, we discuss how students' interaction data can be transformed into a data warehouse in order to allow its visualisation and exploration using online analytical processing (OLAP) tools. We also present some additional, more targeted, visualisations of the students' interaction data. We demonstrate the possibilities that these visualisations provide for exploratory data analysis, enabling confirmation or contradiction of expectations that pedagogical experts may have about the system and ultimately providing both empirical evidence and insights for its further development