Panagiotis Fotaris

Extending LMS to Support IRT-Based Assessment Test Calibration

Developing unambiguous and challenging assessment material for measuring educational attainment is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. As a result Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) tools are becoming widely adopted in academic environments in an effort to improve the assessment quality and deliver reliable results of examinee performance. This paper introduces a methodological and architectural framework which embeds a CAA tool in a Learning Management System (LMS) so as to assist test developers in refining items to constitute assessment tests. An Item Response Theory (IRT) based analysis is applied to a dynamic assessment profile provided by the LMS. Test developers define a set of validity rules for the statistical indices given by the IRT analysis. By applying those rules, the LMS can detect items with various discrepancies which are then flagged for review of their content. Repeatedly executing the aforementioned procedure can improve the overall efficiency of the testing process.

Facebook and Moodle Integration into Instructional Media Design Courses: A Comparative Analysis of Students’ Learning Experiences using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Model

ABSTRACT Despite the educational potential of Facebook and Moodle, there are still unanswered questions about their impact on the student learning experience in a well-defined instructional design framework. This study aimed to compare the learning experiences of students who used Moodle (control group) and Facebook (experimental group), in terms of Community of Inquiry (CoI) model presence indicators, that is, cognitive, teaching, and social presence. Several learning activities for the development of learning environments were carried out by ninety-seven (n = 97) students who were enrolled in instructional media design courses in higher education. Findings from quantitative and qualitative analysis indicated that students using either Moodle or Facebook as their learning platform had similar perceptions of teaching and cognitive presence; however, Facebook users had a better social presence using the CoI model than their Moodle counterparts. Another point worth noting is that the experimental group’s female participants had better teaching presence, cognitive presence, and overall learning experience than their male peers.

Performance Evaluation of the Small Sample Dichotomous IRT Analysis in Assessment Calibration

Item Response Theory (IRT) provides the accepted framework for examining student responses to individual test items so as to assess their quality. Moreover, IRT proves especially valuable in both improving items, which will be reused in future tests, and eliminating the ambiguous or misleading ones. However, to ensure all IRT parameters are correctly estimated, every single item needs to be tested on a large number of examinees to define its properties. As a result, IRT tends to be shunned by teaching staff who only have access to a relatively small number of students. Nevertheless, the accuracy of parameter estimates is of lesser importance in assessment calibration, when items whose parameters exceed a threshold value are flagged for revision. This study uses simulated data sets under various simulation conditions and introduces two new quality indices together with their respective IRT goodness-of-fit tests as a means to explore the feasibility of applying IRT-based assessment calibration to small sample sizes.

Augmenting the learning experience in Primary and Secondary school education: A systematic review of recent trends in augmented reality game-based learning

There is a significant body of research relating to augmented reality (AR) uses for learning in the primary and the secondary education sectors across the globe. However, there is not such a substantial amount of work exploring the combination of AR with game-based learning (ARGBL). Although ARGBL has the potential to enable new forms of teaching and transform the learning experience, it remains unclear how ARGBL applications can impact students’ motivation, achievements, and learning performance. This study reports a systematic review of the literature on ARGBL approaches in compulsory education considering the advantages, disadvantages, instructional affordances, and/or effectiveness of ARGBL across various primary and secondary education subjects. In total, 21 studies published between 2012 and 2017 in 11 indexed journals were analysed, with 14 studies focusing on primary education and 7 on secondary. The main findings from this review provide the current state of the art research in ARGBL in compulsory education. Trends and the vision towards the future are also discussed, as ARGBL can potentially influence the students’ attendance, knowledge transfer, skill acquisition, hands-on digital experience, and positive attitude towards their learning. This review aims to lay the groundwork for educators, technology developers, and other stakeholders involved in the development of literacy programmes for young children by offering new insights with effective advice and suggestions on how to increase student motivation and improve learning outcomes and the learning experience by incorporating ARGBL into their teaching.

LMS assessment: using IRT analysis to detect defective multiple-choice test items

Due to the computerisation of assessment tests, the use of Item Response Theory IRT has become commonplace for educational assessment development, evaluation and refinement. When used appropriately by a Learning Management System LMS, IRT can improve the assessment quality, increase the efficiency of the testing process and provide in-depth descriptions of item properties. This paper introduces a methodological and architectural framework which embeds an IRT analysis tool in an LMS so as to extend its functionality with assessment optimisation support. By applying a set of validity rules to the statistical indices produced by the IRT analysis, the enhanced LMS is able to detect several defective items from an item pool which are then reported for reviewing of their content. Assessment refinement is achieved by repeatedly employing this process until all flawed items are eliminated.