Seiji Isotani

An Ontology Engineering Approach to the Realization of Theory-Driven Group Formation

One of the main difficulties during the design of collaborative learning activities is adequate group formation. In any type of collaboration, group formation plays a critical role in the learners’ acceptance of group activities, as well as the success of the collaborative learning process. Nevertheless, to propose both an effective and pedagogically sound group formation is a complex issue due to multiple factors that influence group arrangement. The current (and previous) learner’s knowledge and skills, the roles and strategies used by learners to interact among themselves, and the teacher’s preferences are some examples of factors to be considered while forming groups. To identify which factors are essential (or desired) in effective group formation, a well-structured and formalized representation of collaborative learning processes, supported by a strong pedagogical basis, is desirable. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to present an ontology that works as a framework based on learning theories that facilitate group formation and collaborative learning design. The ontology provides the necessary formalization to represent collaborative learning and its processes, while learning theories provide support in making pedagogical decisions such as gathering learners in groups and planning the scenario where the collaboration will take place. Although the use of learning theories to support collaborative learning is open for criticism, we identify that they provide important information which can be useful in allowing for more effective learning. To validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this approach, we use this ontology to form and run group activities carried out by four instructors and 20 participants. The experiment was utilized as a proof-of-concept and the results suggest that our ontological framework facilitates the effective design of group activities, and can positively affect the performance of individuals during group learning.

An algorithm for automatic checking of exercises in a dynamic geometry system: iGeom

One of the key issues in e-learning environments is the possibility of creating and evaluating exercises. However, the lack of tools supporting the authoring and automatic checking of exercises for specifics topics (e.g., geometry) drastically reduces advantages in the use of e-learning environments on a larger scale, as usually happens in Brazil. This paper describes an algorithm, and a tool based on it, designed for the authoring and automatic checking of geometry exercises. The algorithm dynamically compares the distances between the geometric objects of the students solution and the templates solution, provided by the author of the exercise. Each solution is a geometric construction which is considered a function receiving geometric objects (input) and returning other geometric objects (output). Thus, for a given problem, if we know one function (construction) that solves the problem, we can compare it to any other function to check whether they are equivalent or not. Two functions are equivalent if, and only if, they have the same output when the same input is applied. If the students solution is equivalent to the templates solution, then we consider the students solution as a correct solution. Our software utility provides both authoring and checking tools to work directly on the Internet, together with learning management systems. These tools are implemented using the dynamic geometry software, iGeom, which has been used in a geometry course since 2004 and has a successful track record in the classroom. Empowered with these new features, iGeom simplifies teachers tasks, solves non-trivial problems in student solutions and helps to increase student motivation by providing feedback in real time.

When is it best to learn with all worked examples

Worked examples have repeatedly demonstrated learning benefits in a range of studies, particularly with low prior knowledge students and when the examples are presented in alternating fashion with problems to solve. Recently, worked examples alternating with intelligently-tutored problems have been shown to provide at least as much learning benefit to students as all tutored problems, with the advantage of taking significantly less learning time (i.e., more efficiency) than all tutored problems. Given prior findings, together with the prevailing belief that students should be prompted to actively solve problems after studying examples, rarely have all worked examples been tried as a learning intervention. To test the conventional wisdom, as well as to explore an understudied approach, a study was conducted with 145 high school students in the domain of chemistry to compare alternating worked examples / tutored problems, all tutored problems, and all worked examples. It was hypothesized that the alternating condition would lead to better results (i.e., better learning and/or learning efficiency) than either all examples or all tutored problems. However, the hypothesis was not confirmed: While all three conditions learned roughly the same amount, the all worked examples condition took significantly less time and was a more efficient learning treatment than either alternating examples/tutored problems or all tutored problems. This paper posits an explanation for why this (seemingly) surprising result was found.

The foundations of a theory-aware authoring tool for CSCL design

One of the most useful ways to enhance collaboration is to create scenarios where learners are able to interact more effectively. Nevertheless, the design of pedagogically sound and well-thought-out collaborative learning scenarios is a complex issue. This is due to the context of group learning where the synergy among learners interactions affects learning processes and, hence, the learning outcome. Although many advances have been made to support the designing of collaborative learning scenarios through technology, a more systematic approach is lacking. With the limitations of the current designing methods and tools, it is difficult to develop intelligent authoring systems that can guide users in order to produce more effective collaboration. One of the main difficulties with creating a more consistent (computer-understandable) approach to designing collaboration is the necessity of proposing better ways to formalize the group learning processes. In this paper, we present an innovative approach that uses ontologies and concepts from learning theories to create a framework that represents collaborative learning and its processes. Ontologies provide the necessary formalization to represent collaboration, while learning theories provide the concepts to justify and support the development of effective learning scenarios. Such an approach contributes to establish the foundations for the development of the next generation of intelligent authoring systems referred to as theory-aware systems. To verify the viability and usefulness of our proposed ontological framework in the context of systematic design, the development and use of an intelligent authoring tool for CSCL design is presented. This system is able to reason on ontologies to give suggestions that help users to create theory-compliant collaborative learning scenarios. We carried out several experiments with teachers in a geometry drawing course and the results indicate that the system helps teachers to create and interchange their scenarios more easily and facilitates the selection of important pedagogical strategies that influence positively the designing and effectiveness of group activities.

Can erroneous examples help middle-school students learn decimals?

This paper reports on a study of learning with erroneous examples, mathematical problems presented to students in which one or more of the steps are incorrect. It is hypothesized that such examples can deepen student understanding of mathematics content, yet very few empirical studies have tested this in classrooms settings. In a classroom study, 255 6th, 7th, and 8th graders learned about decimals using a web-based system under one of three conditions - erroneous examples, worked examples, and partially-supported problem solving. Although students performance improved significantly from pretest to posttest the learning effect for erroneous examples was not better than the other conditions, and unlike some earlier empirical work, the higher prior knowledge students did not benefit more from erroneous examples than from worked examples or problem solving. On the other hand, we were able to identify certain key decimal misconceptions that are held by a high percentage of students, confirming earlier mathematics education studies. Also, the incidence of misconceptions declined over the course of the lesson, especially for the worked example group. Overall, these results could indicate that erroneous examples are simply not as effective for learning as we (and other) researchers hypothesize. The results could also indicate that the manner in which erroneous examples were presented to the students in this study somehow missed the mark in promoting learning. It is also possible that erroneous examples, like some other e-learning techniques, do not work as well in classroom as they do in a laboratory setting. We discuss these possibilities and how we are redesigning the treatments to be more focused and appealing to learners for a subsequent study.

Estado da Arte em Web Semântica e Web 2.0: Potencialidades e Tendências da Nova Geração de Ambientes de Ensino na Internet

As tecnologias educacionais com base na Web tem obtido excelente resultados nas ultimas decadas. Atualmente, diversos cursos no exterior e no Brasil sao oferecidos na modalidade “educacao a distância” onde a Internet e a plataforma base de comunicacao e interacao entre alunos e professores. Com os grandes avancos da Internet e a necessidade de oferecer formas mais eficazes de aprendizagem na Web, duas linhas de pesquisa estao em crescente expansao. A primeira delas e a Web Semântica que desenvolve tecnologias que permitem ao computador compartilhar e manipular as informacoes contidas na Web de forma adequada e inteligente. Com o uso desta tecnologia ambientes de aprendizagem ou agentes de software podem interagir entre si, trocar informacoes e auxiliar professores e alunos a selecionar, combinar e classificar o conteudo disponivel na Web. E a segunda e a Web 2.0, ou web Social, onde os usuarios sao beneficiados por diversas ferramentas para compartilhar e construir “conhecimento” de forma simples, interativa e colaborativa. O objetivo deste trabalho e estimular as pesquisas nacionais nestas areas apresentando o estado da arte sobre o uso da Web Semântica e da Web 2.0 no cenario educacional e a recente intersecao destas tecnologias para promover a nova geracao de ambientes educacionais para Web 3.0.

Deployment of ontologies for an effective design of collaborative learning scenarios

Two of the most important research subjects during the development of intelligent authoring systems (IAS) for education are the modeling of knowledge and the extraction of knowledge flows from theory to practice. It bridges the gap between theoretical understanding about learning and the practical foundations of design the knowledge of intelligent systems that support the learning process. Developing an IAS for collaborative learning is especially challenging in view of knowledge representation because it is based on various learning theories and given the context of group learning where the synergy among the learners interactions affect the learning processes and hence, the learning outcome. The main objective of this work is to introduce an ontological infrastructure on which we can build a model that describes learning theories and to show how we can use it to develop programs that provide intelligent guidance to support group activities based on well-grounded theoretical knowledge.

Adventures in the Boundary between Domain-Independent Ontologies and Domain Content for CSCL

One of the main problems facing the development of ontology-aware authoring systems (OAS) is to link well-designed domain-independent knowledge (ontologies) with domain content. Such a problem comes from the fact that all OAS developed to date require end-users (non-experts) to create their own domain ontologies to run the system in real scenarios. In collaborative learning (CL), this problem hinders the development of OAS that aid the design of pedagogically sound CL sessions with strong technological support. In this paper, we propose a framework that connects an ontology for CL (CL ontology) with domain content without the use of domain ontologies. To check its usability, we present an example to model a geometry drawing course demonstrating that it is feasible to instantiate the CL ontology to represent a specific domain and connect it with adequate learning objects.

An authoring tool to support the design and use of theory-based collaborative learning activities

Design of pedagogically sound collaborative learning (CL) activities is a complex task, but necessary if the goal is to support learning Through the design of CL scenarios, a designer can define structures that increase the chance for learning to occur It means that the effectiveness of the collaboration depends on the transformation of the designers intentions into elements that will constitute the learning scenario To support the creation of CL scenarios this paper presents an intelligent authoring tool that is equipped with the knowledge about different pedagogies and practices related to collaboration Through the use of this information, the tool can provide intelligent guidance that support designers to create more effective CL scenarios The results of an experiment suggest that our tool helps teachers to more easily introduce CL activities in classroom and creates favorable conditions for students to perform collaboration improving their overall learning performance throughout the year.

Theory-Driven Group Formation through Ontologies

Group formation plays a critical role in collaborative learning (CL). It affects the acceptance of group activities by learners and the success of the collaborative learning process. Nevertheless, proposing an effective and pedagogically sound group formation is a very complex issue due to the multiple factors that influence group arrangement. The main goal of this paper is to present an ontology that works as a framework based on learning theories that facilitates group formation and CL design. To validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this ontology we present a method to use it and the results of an experiment carried out with four instructors and twenty participants. The results suggest that our ontology can be used adequately and the concepts represented on it can positively affect the performance of individuals during group learning.