Adaptive Learning Tool Research Articles

Assessing the utility of an online adaptive learning tool in a large undergraduate psychology course

In this project we test the utility ofan adaptive e-learning study tool (LearnSmart) within the context of a large undergraduate psychology course. We measured student usage of the e-learning tool and the effect that this usage has on academic outcomes, while controlling for the effects of intellectual ability and personality traits such as conscientiousness and openness to experience. The results ofour analyses indicate that students who made use of the tool performed significantly better on the assessment tasks when compared to non-users. Further, regression analyses indicated that the extent to which students made use of the tool was a stronger predictor of academic performance than four personality variables that had previously been implicated in the literature as related to academic outcomes, and was a stronger predictor of academic performance than intellectual ability for two of the four academic tasks.

En Avant! Beginning French by Bruce Anderson, Annabelle Dolidon

THE FRENCH REVIEW, Vol. 89, No. 3, March 2016 Printed in U.S.A. Methods and Materials edited by Frédérique Grim 185 Anderson, Bruce, and Annabelle Dolidon. En Avant! Beginning French. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2016. ISBN 978-0-07-338646-1. Pp. 509. $197. Given the authors of this communicatively-oriented college textbook, it should be no surprise to those working in the field that its approach is centralized around principles of applied linguistics. Within this grounded framework, some of En Avant!’s greatest strengths include its systematic integration of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and culture into every chapter, including videos, readings, music, and film. This approach may aid instructors in preparing linguistically- and culturally-competent learners. Attending to intercultural competency, the book regularly prompts students to consider the similarities and differences between the target cultures and language with their native languages and cultures. The way the authors have presented the use of English in French cultures may allow for instructors to open cultural and linguistic discussions to the ways in which French is used in Anglophone contexts. New to the second edition,Le coin beaux-arts,which presents fine arts in each of the even numbered chapters, differentiates this textbook from many currently on the market.Additionally, the textbook includes both Québécois and French speakers, beginning to attend more concretely to la francophonie. For students, the Learn Smart” adaptive learning tool and the study tips guide learners toward taking ownership over their own education. Further, the systematic review and recycling of materials as well as the early presentation of late-acquired structures for recognition only allow students and instructors alike to more comfortably move through the material. Chapter sixteen is dedicated to a grammatical review, incorporating an additional opportunity for review and synthesis of the material into the textbook. The authors provide significant amounts of support to instructors such as communicative activities addressing all four skills throughout the textbook and a number of supplemental materials, which are compatible with Blackboard and MH Campus course management platforms. For this reason, En Avant! may be especially useful to instructors who are early in their careers. The Tegrity video creator may be particularly useful for those taking a flipped classroom approach and to those teaching blended courses. Further, the ACTFL standards are fully integrated into the supplemental Assignment Builder tool for instructors. Despite its numerous strengths, instructors seeking a beginning textbook written exclusively in French may not find the vocabulary glossed in English and the informational sections in English in chapters one through four ideal.However,the book does begin to transition the learner to primarily in French in the text of chapter five, retaining the English glosses in the vocabulary section at the end of the chapter and the learning objectives in English at the beginning of the chapter. University of South Dakota Kris Aric Knisely Blanco, José. D’accord 1: langue et culture du monde francophone. Boston:Vista, 2015. ISBN 978-1-61857-866-2. Pp. 352. $105.60. This textbook is attractive, well-organized, and comes with a wide variety of supplemental materials to meet the needs of any classroom. There are eight units although unit 8 is repeated as unit 1 in the level-two text. The units are divided into two parts related to a theme. The “A” and “B” sections each have a Contexte (vocabulary ), Roman-Photo, Culture, Structure, and Synthèse, followed by a single Savoir-Faire section. The vocabulary and concepts are illustrated with a mix of photographs and drawings. One point of confusion for some students is the fact that not all words are in the word list on the side of the page; some are included in text boxes, or as labels in the illustrations. There is a complete list at the end of each unit, but students will need to be directed to find that. The vocabulary lists are on the lengthy side, but teachers can choose to limit the number of words. The culture readings start off in English, and transition to French in chapter 3. This choice seems good as it gives students some information about France right away, and allows them to...

Informing and Performing: A Study Comparing Adaptive Learning to Traditional Learning

Technology has transformed education, perhaps most evidently in course delivery options. However, compelling questions remain about how technology impacts learning. Adaptive learning tools are technology-based artifacts that interact with learners and vary presentation based upon that interaction. This paper compares adaptive learning with a conventional teaching approach implemented in a digital literacy course. Current research explores the hypothesis that adapting instruction to an individual’s learning style results in better learning outcomes. Computer technology has long been seen as an answer to the scalability and cost of individualized instruction. Adaptive learning is touted as a potential game-changer in higher education, a panacea with which institutions may solve the riddle of the iron triangle: quality, cost and access. Though the research is scant, this study and a few others like it indicate that today’s adaptive learning systems have negligible impact on learning outcomes, one aspect of quality. Clearly, more research like this study, some of it from the perspective of adaptive learning systems as informing systems, is needed before the far-reaching promise of advanced learning systems can be realized.

Leveraging information technology to bridge the health workforce gap.

The International Telecommunication Union estimates that, in only four years (2007–2011), mobile broadband subscriptions in the developing world increased by more than tenfold: from 43 million to 458 million. Mobile de-vices and internet access are becoming increasingly necessary professional tools for health-care workers at all levels in developing countries. New fibre and wireless infrastructure, as well as the rapid growth of computer processing power, provide an unprecedented op-portunity to scale up health worker training and improve its quality, as well as to optimize health service delivery and strengthen health systems.Over the past 20 years, learning management systems have contributed greatly to the tremendous expansion of e-learning. The past five years have also seen an increase in massive open online courses. eHealth technologies, including electronic medical records, laboratory and pharmacy information systems, along with disease surveil-lance and supply chain information systems, are transforming health care. Mobile health (mHealth), which is the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices, extends these systems to the most remote and inaccessible parts of the developing world. In addition, the same mobile devices used to optimize communica-tion and support front-line health-care workers can be used to deploy multi-media training programmes and clini -cal decision support tools. The social media and the development of com-munities of practice have yet to be fully mobilized to support health workforce capacity building. The use of the social media by health workers has several potential benefits. Some examples are crowdsourcing of educational content, translations and localization (i.e. ad-aptation of the content to a particular region), peer-to-peer learning, joint problem solving and reflective prac-tice. In addition, ICTs can strengthen communication between providers and patients, increase community support for health worker capacity building and heighten the demand for high-quality clinical services.E-learning tools can support cur-riculum development and course sched -uling and management in ways that are conducive to blended learning approaches and that take advantage of multiple learning environments. Such tools can also be linked with national health professional registration and licensure systems, as well as with health workforce planning, management and in-service training systems, to provide information and support to the health workforce throughout the health worker lifecycle. Following pre-service train-ing, ICTs can be used to optimize the work of a health-care provider – the use of electronic health records, clinical decision-making, supply chain manage -ment and service quality control are examples – and to facilitate mHealth communications, continuing education and the establishment of professional social networks.Training methods based on video conferencing, webcasting, recording, localization and playback of training can enable global access to the very best educators and are more cost-effective than standard face-to-face educational programmes. Interactive content pro-grammes that incorporate gaming and adaptive learning tools can also be used.

Adaptive game modeling of deregulated power markets

We describe an adaptive game representation of a deregulated power market consisting of an independent system operator (ISO) and power generators (players) who submit their offers to the ISO in the form of curves. The power generators do not know the costs, the offers, or the payoffs of their competitors and, therefore, they use an adaptive learning tool to compensate for their lack of knowledge in trying to maximize their profit. The ISO purchases energy from the generators, starting from the more economical offer in order to cover the electricity demand. Sequential iteration of the game for different numbers of participants and with varied adaptation and reaction capabilities are conducted in order to study the impact on spot price convergence and volatility, and the corresponding cost for the ISO. After repeated runs of the simulation model, many interesting phenomenon have been observed regarding the spot price behavior and the stability of the market.