Gudrun Wesiak

In-App Reflection Guidance for Workplace Learning

In-app reflection guidance for workplace learning means motivating and guiding users to reflect on their working and learning, based on users’ activities captured by the app. In this paper, we present a generic concept for such in-app reflection guidance for workplace learning, its implementation in three different applications, and its evaluation in three different settings (one setting per app). From this experience, we draw the following lessons learned: First, the implemented in-app reflection guidance components are perceived as useful tools for reflective learning and their usefulness increases with higher usage rates. Second, smart technological support is sufficient to trigger reflection, however with different implemented components also reflective learning takes place on different stages. A sophisticated, unobtrusive integration in the working environment is not trivial at all. Automatically created prompts need a sensible timing in order to be perceived as useful and must not disrupt the current working processes.

Towards an integrated assessment model for complex learning ressources: Findings from an expert validation

Todays e-learning systems meet the challenge to provide interactive, personalized environments that support self-regulated learning as well as social collaboration and simulation. At the same time assessment procedures have to be adapted to the new learning environments by moving from isolated summative assessments to integrated assessment forms. In this paper an integrated model for assessment (IMA) is outlined, which incorporates complex learning resources and assessment forms as main components for the development of an enriched learning experience. For a validation the IMA was presented to a round of experts from the fields of cognitive science, pedagogy, and e-learning. The findings from the validation lead to several refinements of the model, which mainly concern the component forms of assessment and the integration of social aspects. Both aspects are accounted for in the revised model, the former by providing a detailed sub-model for assessment forms.

Modern education and its background in cognitive psychology: Automated question creation and eye movements

In modern education, the automatic generation of test items out of texts becomes increasingly important. We have recently presented an enhanced automatic question creator (EAQC) that is able to extract the most relevant concepts out of a text and to create test items based on these concepts. Furthermore, from eye-movement research it is known that learners fixate potentially relevant information longer and more often. In the present study, we investigated whether the measurement of (individual) relevance of EAQC-concepts is related to the frequency and duration of fixations from learners when they read a text, learn it or manually extract concepts out of it. Overall, results showed a non-significant tendency that participants needed more fixations when learning the text as compared to when reading it or extracting concepts. Saccade lengths were reliably longer when participants extracted concepts than when they read them; no other differences were found. How long and how often a concept was fixated did not vary with the subjective relevance of the concept according to participants ratings. Future research is therefore necessary to investigate a possible relationship between eye movement behavior and automated concept extraction.

Automatic Test Item Creation in Self-Regulated Learning: Evaluating Quality of Questions in a Latin American Experience

The research area of self-regulated learning (SRL) has shown the importance of the learner’s role in their cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies to self-regulate their learning. One fundamental step is to self-assess the knowledge acquired, to identify key concepts, and review the understanding about them. In this paper, we present an experimental setting in Guatemala, with students from several countries. The study provides evaluation results from the use of an enhanced automatic question creation tool (EAQC) for a self-regulated learning online environment. In addition to assessment quality, motivational and emotional aspects, usability, and tasks value are addressed. The EAQC extracts concepts from a given text and automatically creates different types of questions based on either the self-generated concepts or on concepts supplied by the user. The findings show comparable quality of automatically and human generated concepts, while questions created by a teacher were in part evaluated higher than computer-generated questions. Whereas difficulty and terminology of questions were evaluated equally, teacher questions where considered to be more relevant and more meaningful. Therefore, future improvements should especially focus on these aspects of questions quality.

A Reflective Quiz in a Professional Qualification Program for Stroke Nurses: A Field Trial

Reflective learning is an important strategy to keep the vast body of theoretical knowledge fresh, stay up-to-date with new knowledge, and to relate theoretical knowledge to practical experience. In this work, we present how reflective learning prompts can enhance a medical quiz used in a qualification program for stroke nurses in Germany. In the seven-week study, 21 stroke nurses used a quiz on medical knowledge as additional learning instrument. The quiz contained typical quiz questions (“content questions”) as well as reflective questions presented at different points in time. The latter aimed at stimulating nurses to reflect on the practical relevance of the learned knowledge. The results show that by playful learning and presenting reflective questions at the right time, the participants were motivated to reflect and to transfer theoretical knowledge into practice.

Affective Metacognitive Scaffolding and Enriched User Modelling for Experiential Training Simulators: A Follow-Up Study

The ImREAL project is researching how to meaningfully augment and extend existing experiential training simulators. The services developed support self-regulated, goal-, and application-oriented learning in adult training. We present results from a study evaluating a medical interview training simulator that has been augmented by an affective metacognitive scaffolding service and by user modelling exploiting social digital traces. Data from 152 medical students participating in this user trial were compared to the results of a prior trial on an earlier technology version. Findings show that students perceived the learning simulator positively and that the enhanced simulator led to increased feelings of success, less frustration, higher technical flow, and more reflection on learning. Interestingly, this cohort of users proved reluctant to provide their open social IDs to enrich their user models.

Heuristics for Generating and Validating Surmise Relations across, between and within Sets/Tests

Generating and validating surmise relations across, between and within sets has been strongly stimulated for practical reasons. For instance, the number of psychological tests (sets of items) used simultaneously in diagnostic settings continues to grow. Therefore it is useful to develop new methods that economize assessment procedures and that allow for restructuring of tests. For this purpose, we replace the term ’sets’ and apply in this chapter the Surmise Relations across, between and within Tests (SRbT) approach. Applying the SRbT approach is however not restricted to tests (sets of items); it can be used e.g. in Educational Science for developing and restructuring curricula in order to obtain among other things a meaningful sequence of courses (Hockemeyer, Albert, & Brandt, 1998). Another example in Computer Science is (re-)structuring hypertext documents respecting prerequisites (Albert and Hockemeyer, 1997).

Complex Learning Resources Integrated with Emerging Forms of E-assessment: An Empirical Study

The emergence of Web 2.0 and the influence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have fostered e-education to be more interactive, challenging, and situated. As a result, learners felt empowered when they are engaged in collaborative learning activities and self-directed learning. New forms of integrated assessment to support students when it comes to use complex-learning resources (CLR) within learning activities have become highly required. This paper discusses an empirical study about emerging forms of assessment such as, automated assessment, peer-assessment, and group-assessment integrated with CLRs in self-directed and collaborative learning. The first findings show that students were intrinsically motivated towards this approach. Moreover, automatic and peer-assessment supported the students to achieve their learning goals.