Anna Mavroudi

Adaptable Learning and Learning Analytics: A Case Study in a Programming Course

The focus of this case study is the exploitation of visual learning analytics coupled with the provision of feedback and support provided to the students and their impact in provoking change at student programming habits. To this end, we discuss mechanisms of capturing and analysing the debugging habits and the quality of the design solutions provided by the students in the context of an object-oriented programming course. We instrumented the programming environment use by the students in order to track the student behavior and visualize metrics associated with it, while the students developed programs in Java.

Supporting Adaptive Learning Pathways through the Use of Learning Analytics: Developments, Challenges and Future Opportunities.

ABSTRACT Learning Analytics (LA) and adaptive learning are inextricably linked since they both foster technology-supported learner-centred education. This study identifies developments focusing on their interplay and emphasises insufficiently investigated directions which display a higher innovation potential. Twenty-one peer-reviewed studies are identified via a systematic review and classified based on the dimensions of a proposed framework. The findings of the review suggest that interesting work has been carried out during the last years on the topic. We conclude with a need for more research on the topic in specific learning domains and settings. Recommendations include: a clear strategy for adaptation augmented by LA, the combination of on-task with pre-task measures, and the combination of system-controlled adaptation with user-controlled adaptation. Future trends include the emergence of constructivist-collaborative environments that provide insightful models of complex student behaviour.

Local communities of computing education in Norway

The paper seeks to examine how existing communities in computing education thrive in Norway and manage to empower school pupils and tutors realising their role in the digital society, learn programming, and become familiar with Computer Science and Information Technology. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with organisers and designers of activities that promote computing education and programming in Norway. Also, one focus group discussion was conducted with high school students that participated in a small number of learning activities on design thinking, programming and Internet of Things. The results were qualitatively analysed using the Grounded Theory in order to conclude how different aspects (cognitive, social, organisational, policy) are manifested and interweaved in these communities.

Let Me Do It: Towards the Implementation of Sustainable Instructional Patterns

We present the design of an online environment providing mechanisms for the exploitation of school ICT infrastructure by empowering teachers to discover and comment on educational activities (patterns, scenarios, experience reports) that can be implemented in their schools. To this end, our design approach will make explicit the linking between the patterns, the learning scenarios and other contextual information. The online environment will not only serve as a repository of educational activities but will help schools to analyze their infrastructure, to select proper scenarios that effectively exploit it and, potentially, to enrich these scenarios by commenting on them.

Insights on the Interplay between Adaptive Learning and Learning Analytics

In this paper, we consider the key dimensions of learning analytics applications in adaptive learning. We then review recent publications on the topic and map them to the dimensions of the reference model. Twenty one peer-reviewed articles are identified and analyzed. The findings of the review suggest that interesting work has been carried out during the last years on the topic. Yet, there is a clear lack of studies on school education and in topics outside STEM. In addition, there is a lack of studies that do not focus solely on the (self) reflection of students or tutors. Finally, the majority of the studies included look at student performance, as an adaptation parameter. Yet, a new trend of taking into account more complex student behaviors, like collaboration, is emerging.

An Adaptive E-Learning Strategy to Overcome the Inherent Difficulties of the Learning Content

In this paper we propose a strategy of adaptive e-learning that aims to help students overcoming the inherent difficulties of STEM-related subject matters for which they have known misconceptions. The paper reports on empirical findings derived from classroom interventions which were undertaken to investigate the impact of the proposed strategy. For each intervention, an adaptive e-course was developed and tested with encouraging results. Since the proposed strategy is descriptive in nature the paper can be used as the basis for future studies that validate it with other subject matters than those mentioned herein.

Motivating students with Mobiles, Ubiquitous applications and the Internet of Things for STEM (MUMI4STEM)

The special track “Motivating students with Mobiles, Ubiquitous applications and the Internet of Things for STEM (MUMI4STEM)”, within the “EDUCON20I7 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference”, integrates two main areas of interest in STEM education: I) motivating students with mobile devices and 2) exploiting ubiquitous computing and the Internet of Things. Following the growing interest of the educational and research community towards fostering STEM education, this special session aims at promoting the discussion about the motivational aspects of mobile learning and the benefits of ubiquitous applications and the Internet of Things (IoT), with special focus on supporting STEM education.

A Case of Career Consultancy in STEM for Youths

Career consultancy is an important but often downplayed aspect in technology-enhanced learning systems designed for youths although there is much learning in the career decision-making process. This case study focuses on identifying career consultancy services for STEM that can be useful and relevant to them. It involves participatory design for the school of the future in conjunction with workplace learning with a small group of adolescents. The paper provides an overview of existing online career consultancy services in STEM focusing on their unique characteristics, reports the findings of a group interview with participant STEM students about career consultancy, and presents future recommendations derived from the students themselves. The final student product involves a low-fidelity prototype of the envisioned career consultancy system. The case study can potentially inform practice on the topic of career consultancy in STEM education among youngsters.

Game-Based Learning for IoT: The Tiles Inventor Toolkit

This paper presents a Game-Based Learning Design Pattern for designing Internet of Things (IoT) applications, as well as an instance of this particular pattern, namely the ‘Tiles inventor game’. This educational game has been validated in various educational contexts aiming to understand IoT fundamentals. Due to lack of topics on IoT in the STEM curricula today as well as due to the lack of game-based learning design patterns, we propose these two artifacts, the pattern of designing IoT applications and the description of the Tiles inventor game, as a means of communicating best practice and contributing to bridging the gap between educational theory and informal practice in such a niche domain.

Language Assessment Literacy Enhancement: Any Room for Technology-Enhanced Language Learning?

English Language Teachers were asked to voice their opinion and preferences as to the format, content matter as well as types of tasks and activities they would find most favourable in the training materials/course on the ELT and Assessment and their levels confidence regarding their competencies on the use of ICT for educational purposes. The findings reveal that the suggested formats and methods were very well received by the participant teachers. Regarding the level of confidence of their competencies in using ICT in their classrooms they were diverse, but the average was mediocre. The findings also indicate small differences on the levels of this particular aspect on the basis of previous participation of the teachers in an online training course and strong correlations among the different competencies. These findings create the extra requirement to incorporate in the design of the blended training environment elements that will help the teachers feel more confident in that aspect, and especially empower those that have not participated in such a training course. The findings can be relevant and informative for the higher education authorities and teacher training institutions responsible for designing professional training schemes for ELT pre-and in-service teachers.