Identification of Affective States in MOOCs: A Systematic Literature Review

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a type of online coursewere students have little interaction,  no instructor, and in some cases, no deadlines to finisch assignments. For this reason, a better understanding of student affection in MOOCs is importantant could have potential to open new perspectives for this type of course. The recent popularization of tools, code libraries and algorithms for intensive data analysis made possible collect data from text and interaction with the platforms, which can be used to infer correlations between affection and learning. In this context, a bibliographical review was carried out, considering the period between 2012 and 2018, with the goal of identifying which methods are being to identify affective states. Three databases were used: ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore and Scopus, and 46 papers were found. The articles revealed that the most common methods are related to data intensive techinques (i.e. machine learning, sentiment analysis and, more broadly, learning analytics). Methods such as physiological signal recognition andself-report were less frequent

A case study on interdisciplinary collaboration in unfamiliar domains

This paper reports a case study in which two designers [one experienced and one inexperienced] and two experienced educators were observed while designing two chemistry educational interfaces for topics with different levels of complexity. The aim was to observe how the designers and educators would collaborate in unfamiliar domains. Variables related to collaboration and topic misunderstandings were measured. The variables related to topic misunderstanding did not point to an effect of topic complexity. Observations suggest an effect of personality interplay on collaborative construction, regardless of the experience of the professionals and the topic under consideration

Comparison of card and desktop versions of a game about periodic properties.

This paper presents the results of a comparison study of the learning outcomes of two versions of the same educational game about periodic properties of chemical elements, called Xe nubi. Our aim was to test C lark's "method- not- media" hypothesis, which predicts there will be no difference in student performance if the method of instruction is the same, regardless of media types. This study took place in a public technical school in southern Brazil and sought differences in pre-test and post-test scores between groups that played Xenubi as printed cards or on the computer. The results point to no significant difference between the two groups, although there was difference in the pre and post-test, indicating the game was effective. This is a confirmation of C lark's hypothesis

Identifying student behavior in MOOCs using Machine Learning: Goals and challenges

This paper presents the results literature review, carried out with the objective of identifying prevalent research goals and challenges in the prediction of student behavior in MOOCs, using Machine Learning. The results allowed recognizingthree goals: 1. Student Classification and 2. Dropout prediction. Regarding the challenges, five items were identified: 1. Incompatibility of AVAs, 2. Complexity of data manipulation, 3. Class Imbalance Problem, 4. Influence of External Factors and 5. Difficulty in manipulating data by untrained personnel

Comparison of card and desktop versions of a game about periodic properties

This paperpresentsthe results ofa comparisonstudy of the learning outcomes of two versions of the same educational game about periodic properties of chemical elements, called Xe nubi. Our aimwas to test C lark's "method- not- media" hypothesis, whichpredicts therewill be no difference instudent performance if the method ofinstructionis the same, regardless of mediatypes. Thisstudy took place in a public technical schoolin southern Brazil and sought differences inpre-test and post-test scores between groups that played Xenubi as printed cards or on the computer. The results point to no significant difference between the two groups, although there was difference in the pre and post-test, indicating the game was effective. This is a confirmation of C lark's hypothesis.Este artigo apresenta os resultados de um estudo que compara os resultados de aprendizagem de duas versões do mesmo jogo educativo sobre propriedades periódicas de elementos químicos, chamado Xenubi. Nosso objetivo era testar a hipótese "método-não- mídia" de C lark, que prevê que não haverá diferença no desempenho de um aluno se o método de instrução for o mesmo, independentemente do tipo de mídia utilizado. Este estudo aconteceu em uma escola técnica pública no sul do Brasil e buscou diferenças nos resultados dos pré e pós-teste de grupos que jogaram com cartas impressas ou no computador. Os resultados não indicam diferença significativa entre os dois grupos, embora tenha havido diferença no pré e pós-teste, indicando que o jogo foi efetivo. Este resultado é uma confirmação da hipótese de Clark

What affects permanence in a MOOC about Chemistry?

In this paper we analyze what influences the permanence of 1606 students in a MOOC on General Chemistry, using navigation records (log files). Permanence – quantified as the amount of course items viewed and tests completed – was compared regarding the following parameters: (1) showing the correct answers after completing evaluative questionnaires; (2) offering certificates of completion; (3) allowing non-linear navigation (free browsing). Results from the Mann Whitney tests revealed that offering a certificate and showing the correct answer to test questions influence the permanence. However, when considering a smaller cut of students - those who completed at least 30% of the activities - none of the parameters influenced permanence. From these results, it can be argued that these two configuration parameters are relevant in relation to permanence, since they are an incentive for students who perform fewer activities, and therefore are those who are at greater risk of evading

Projeto e avaliação de um jogo para dispositivos móveis sobre as propriedades periódicas dos elementos químicos

This paper presents the results of two studies on Xenubi, a computer/mobile game about periodic properties of the chemical elements. These studies were aimed at evaluating Xenubi in 3 dimensions: interface usability, user preferences and learning outcomes. The usability and user preferences study focused on the understanding of the game mechanics by students from a public state school and from a private school in Brazil. The learning outcomes evaluation study was conducted in a public technical school, and sought for differences in post-test score between groups that played Xenubi as printed cards and on the computer. The results point to a consistent better understanding of the game mechanics by students from the private school and a higher performance improvement for the students who played Xenubi on the computer.Este artigo apresenta os resultados de dois estudos sobre Xenubi, um jogo para computador e dispositivos móveis (celulares e tablets) sobre as propriedades periódicas dos elementos químicos. Os estudos realizados buscaram avaliar o jogo didático Xenubi em 3 dimensões: usabilidade de interface, preferências do usuário e resultados de aprendizagem. O estudo de usabilidade e preferências do usuário teve como foco a compreensão da mecânica do jogo por alunos de uma escola pública estadual e de uma escola particular. O estudo de avaliação de resultados de aprendizagem foi conduzido em uma escola técnica pública e por meio de pré e pós-testes se buscou analisar as diferenças na pontuação dos testes entre grupos que jogaram Xenubi com cartões impressos e com o computador. Os resultados apontam para uma melhor compreensão da mecânica do jogo entre alunos da escola privada e uma melhoria do desempenho dos alunos quando jogaram Xenubi no computador

Guidelines for eBook design

In this paper we intended to propose guidelines for novice designers, i.e., without prior experience with eBook design. The first step was a systematic literature review, which resulted in 1052 guidelines, which were iteratively analysed until reduced to a smaller amount. After that, 15 practicing designers evaluated the utility of these guidelines, and excluded the ones they considered not useful (to novice designers). In an effort to embed expert knowledge, we asked doctoral students to propose guidelines, which went through the same process of analysis and peer evaluation, and were added to the previous set, which resulted in 38 unique design guidelines. Finally, three doctoral students who also are practicing designers with experience in eBook design, commented each guideline and defined the final set. The result is a set of 13 guidelines.Neste artigo pretendemos propor diretrizes para designers iniciantes, ou seja, sem experiência anterior com o design de e-books. O primeiro passo foi uma revisão sistemática da literatura, que resultou em 1052 diretrizes, que foram analisadas iterativamente até serem reduzidas para uma quantidade menor. Depois disso, 15 designers experientes avaliaram a utilidade dessas diretrizes e excluíram as que consideraram não úteis (para designers iniciantes). Em um esforço para incorporar conhecimento especializado, pedimos a estudantes de doutorado para proporem diretrizes, que passaram pelo mesmo processo de análise e avaliação por pares, e foram adicionadas ao conjunto anterior, o que resultou em 38 diretrizes. Finalmente, três estudantes de doutorado que também são designers com experiência em design de eBooks, comentaram cada diretriz e definiram o conjunto final. O resultado é um conjunto de 13 diretrizes

Perception of Unfamiliar English Phonemes by Native Mandarin Speakers

In second language acquisition, speech sounds, or phonemes, not present in a learner’s native language often pose an extra challenge for speech production. When hearing one of these unfamiliar phonemes, the learner either maps it to a similar native phoneme, perceives it as a completely foreign sound, or does not perceive it as speech at all. In the first case, the learner is unable to perceive a difference between the unfamiliar phoneme and the native phoneme to which it is mapped. This mapping difficulty potentially creates problems for the learner during word recognition. The present research investigated the extent to which English phonemes absent from the Mandarin phonological inventory impact processing of native Mandarin speakers in an auditory lexical decision task. Results of this research will expand the understanding of second language perception, especially within the context of auditory lexical decision tasks. A list of ten phonemes—/ɪ/, /æ/, /ʊ/, /ɛ/, /v/, /z/, /ʒ/, /ɵ/, /ð/, /ʤ/—present in the English phonological inventory but absent from that of Mandarin were identified as unfamiliar to native Mandarin speakers. Data from the Massive Auditory Lexical Decision (MALD) database, in which participants decided whether recorded utterances were English words or made-up words, were utilized. The effects of the proportion of unfamiliar phonemes, proportion of unfamiliar vowels, and proportion of unfamiliar consonants on reaction time, representative of processing difficulty, were then calculated using statistical techniques. It was found that the proportion of all unfamiliar phonemes in an utterance had no significant effect on the reaction time of the native Mandarin speakers. However, when the list of unfamiliar phonemes was divided into vowels and consonants, a greater proportion of unfamiliar vowels was noticed to increase reaction time, while a greater proportion of unfamiliar consonants was found to decrease reaction time. Further research in this area is required to determine a concrete explanation for these results. Interestingly, when the same analysis was performed on the data of native English speakers, similar results were observed. This may reflect a common language processing mechanism in second language learners and native speakers

Fluxo e interesse desencadeados por um jogo digital educacional, no ensino de matemática

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo geral avaliar se a experiência de interesse e fluxo podem ser desencadeadas por um jogo educacional digital, comparando com uma atividade normal em sala de aula (sem computador e sem jogos). A pesquisa envolveu 89 estudantes do ensino médio noturno de uma escola pública de Porto Alegre, divididos em dois grupos: experimental – que usou o jogo “Em Busca do Santo Grau”, do tipo quiz - e controle – que realizou uma atividade de pesquisa em sala de aula. Também foram realizadas entrevistas com alguns alunos. Análises quantitativas feitas por meio do teste T de Student indicaram diferenças significativas entre os grupos controle e experimental. As análises qualitativas também evidenciaram resultados positivos, indicando interesse situacional desencadeado pela novidade e mantido pelo envolvimento na atividade, pelos alunos que utilizaram o jogo. Constatou-se que o jogo educacional teve impacto positivo no processo educativo, de maneira tal que aqueles que jogaram interagiram durante as aulas, proporcionando maior envolvimento e colaboração com os alunos que não jogaram