Petek Askar

The Effect of an Embedded Pedagogical Agent on the Students' Science Achievement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of an embedded pedagogical agent into a tutorial on achievement.Design/methodology/approach – Research methodology is designed according to the post test control group model in which the experimental group (69 students) was exposed to a tutorial with an embedded pedagogical agent; control group (56 students) was exposed to the same tutorial without a pedagogical agent. The tutorial was developed by the researchers as educational software on the unit “Discovering Space” for 6th graders.Findings – The data analysis showed that the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group which indicated that using a pedagogical agent in a tutorial has a positive effect on the achievement. Another finding related to the gender differences is that girls performed better than the boys.Research limitations/implications – This research has some implications for designing educational software. Embedded pedagogical agent is improving l...

A comparison of paper-and-pencil and computerized forms of Line Orientation and Enhanced Cued Recall Tests.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether a computerized battery of neuropsychological tests could produce similar results as the conventional forms. Comparisons on 77 volunteer undergraduates were carried out with two neuropsychological tests: Line Orientation Test and Enhanced Cued Recall Test. Firstly, students were assigned randomly across the test medium (paper-and-pencil versus computerized). Secondly, the groups were given the same test in the other medium after a 30-day interval between tests. Results showed that the Enhanced Cued Recall Test–Computer-based did not correlate with the Enhanced Cued Recall Test-Paper-and-pencil results. Line Orientation Test–Computer-based scores, on the other hand, did correlate significantly with the Line Orientation Test–Paper-and-pencil version. In both tests, scores were higher on paper-and-pencil tests compared to computer-based tests. Total score difference between modalities was statistically significant for both Enhanced Cued Recall Tests and for the Line Orientation Test. In both computer-based tests, it took less time for participants to complete the tests.

Restructuring E-learning With Ontologies

This paper examines the role of ontologies in the e-learning environments. A brief review of various ontologies is discussed in three areas: Learning design, learning content and learner profile. A new perspective for curriculum and instructional design is proposed.

How Teachers and Students Depict Interactive Whiteboards and Tablet PCs in a 9th Grade Classroom

This paper describes a pilot project with the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of tablet PCs and interactive/smart whiteboard for 9th grade students and their teachers. The pilot study was designed to explore students’ and teachers’ perceived effectiveness of using tablet PCs and interactive/smart whiteboards. The participants included a total of 136 teachers from various state funded schools and 732 9th grade students, who were provided with tablet PCs and interactive/smart whiteboards and were trained in their use. A survey was distributed to the participants at the end of the semester. This paper describes the pilot project and the survey results. We observed that (a) teachers think that interactive/smart whiteboard would have more impact whereas students consider tablet PCs would have more, and (b) students are more anxious about using tablet PCs and interactive whiteboards during instructional processes than teachers.

Predicting Learner Answers Correctness Through Eye Movements with Random Forest

The aim of this research is to predict learners’ achievement by using a data mining technique: Random Forest (RF). For this purpose, learners eye movements were recorded by an eye-tracker and their answers to questions were collected via an online assessment tool. Online tests were administered to the students and computer interface was divided into two equal parts, which includes web browser and image processing software. Questions were asked through the browser and participants pencil usage (mouse click counts) was recorded by graphic tablet via the software. Results showed that eye metrics and mouse click counts can be used to predict the answer correctness. While mouse click counts were found to be an important factor for predicting answers in questions that require quantitative operations, fixation count and visit duration metrics are found to be important in questions which include visual elements like graphics. Total fixation duration, number of mouse clicks, fixation count and visit duration were found being the most important eye metrics that predict answers in reasoning questions. Results also showed that changing the presentation modality of a question causes changes in relative importance of each eye metric.

Computer science education in Turkey

This panel will focus on the current state of Computer Science education in Turkey. The panel will include invited members from a variety of institutions, including Computer Education and Instructional Technology departments and Computer Engineering departments. Invited panelists will discuss the current situation at various levels, including K12, vocational schools, undergraduate and graduate education. In addition, panelists will discuss policies, strategies, goals and needs as they relate to the Turkish education system. The panel will conclude with a discussion of future plans for supporting and improving computer science education in Turkey.

Digital Technology in Mathematics Education: Research over the Last Decade

In this survey paper we focus on identifying recent advances in research on digital technology in the field of mathematics education. We have used Internet search engines with keywords related to mathematics education and digital technology and have reviewed some of the main international journals. We identify five sub-areas of research, important trends of development, and illustrate them using case studies: mobile technologies, massive open online courses (MOOCs), digital libraries and designing learning objects, collaborative learning using digital technology, and teacher training using blended learning. These exemplary case studies may help the reader to understand how recent developments in this area of research have evolved in the last few years. We conclude the report discussing some of the implications that these digital technologies may have for mathematics education research and practice as well as making some recommendations for future research in this area.

From Blocks to Granules: An Alternative Approach to Designing Learning Objects

The idea of creating learning objects, making them reusable and storing them in databases for further use is blooming and becoming a new kind of challenge for instructional designers to quest how to design ldquoreusable, interoperable, and accessiblerdquo learning objects and to put them in a sequence in e-learning environments. On of the challenges is to determine the size of a learning object and a necessary requirement for them to be shared across networks and reused in different learning environments. This paper proposes a model to overcome this challenge by suggesting designing learning objects based on concept and skill ontologies developed from K-12 curricula. By using the learning space as a metaphor, design granules of a learning object has been modeled by separating expectations as skills and concepts.