Computer-based Environment Research Articles

Covariational Reasoning of Prospective Mathematics Teachers: How Do Dynamic Animations Affect?

Covariational reasoning is about the ability of coordinating the variation in two simultaneously and dynamically changing quantities and being able to see these quantities at the same time by forming a multiplicative unit. Covariational reasoning ability has been considered as necessary and foundational to the understanding of many mathematical concepts ranging from elementary to tertiary levels. In this study, covariational reasoning abilities of prospective elementary school mathematics teachers and the effects of dynamic animations created in computer-based environments on these abilities have been investigated. Case study was used as a research design one of which is a qualitative research methodology. The participants of the study were 19 prospective elementary school mathematics teachers attending to an elective Computer-Assisted Mathematics Education course and four of them were selected for semi-structured interviews. The results showed the weakness in prospective elementary school mathematics teachers’ covariational reasoning abilities and the potential of dynamic animations in supporting covariational reasoning. The animations in dynamic computer environments seem to have minimal effect on paper and pencil solutions in general. However, these animations, if they were used with their data collection and graph drawing properties, affected prospective teachers ways of reasoning in two ways: (i) forcing them to revise and rethink about the current ways of reasoning used during paper and pencil solutions, and (ii) lowering the cognitive load or removing the necessity of deep thinking on the situation. For the first case, the activities supported with the dynamic animations play a supportive role in developing covariational reasoning. For the second case, the dynamic animations did not contribute to prospective teachers’ covariational reasoning, rather they just played a mediating tool role that helps them to find a result.

Analyzing prospective mathematics teachers\u2019 diagnostic processes in a simulated environment

Diagnostic competences are an essential facet of teacher competence. Many studies have investigated the quality of teachers’ judgments of students’ competences. However, little is known about the processes that lead to these judgments and about the ways to promote these processes in the early phase of teacher training. The aim of the research project on which we report in this paper was to develop a simulated computer-based environment that allows assessing and promoting the diagnostic processes of prospective teachers. In the simulated environment, ‘virtual third-graders’ solve mathematical problems. Participants are asked to diagnose the students’ competence levels according to a theoretical model, which has been empirically validated. Participants can repeatedly select mathematical problems of varying difficulty levels, assign them to a virtual student, and then receive the student’s written solution. In this paper, we present the conceptualization of the simulated environment. We also report on the results of a pilot study with 91 prospective primary school mathematics teachers to analyze whether the environment allows an assessment of individual differences in diagnostic processes. The majority of participants rated the environment as authentic and as one in which they could become immersed. Overall, participants were fairly accurate in their diagnoses concerning the student’s competence level. However, log data and participants’ written notes indicated that there was large variability in their diagnostic processes. Participants varied greatly in the number of mathematical problems they assigned to a student during their diagnostic process, and in how strongly the difficulty of these problems deviated from the student’s true competence level. Overall, the data suggest that the simulated environment has the potential to assess diagnostic processes in a valid way. We discuss open questions and issues for further development.

On the influence of software application for visualization in teaching double integrals

ABSTRACT In this paper the authors described the influence of the computer-based environment on students’ learning achievement of the multidimensional calculus, in particular double integrals. The research was conducted with the second year students at the University of Kragujevac, Serbia, with two groups of students: the experimental and the control one. During the learning process of the experimental group, the materials made in Wolfram Mathematica were used for visualization. Students from the experimental group used these materials in order to successfully solve their double integral tasks. In the control group, students did not use a computer. The students in both groups got the identical tasks in their learning process and for the exam. During the exam, the students from both groups were not allowed to use computers. The results of the students’ exam tasks were analyzed, with the emphasis on influence of visualization using computer environment, in determining the domain and integration bounds within solving double integrals. It was shown that the students from the experimental group had better results in all the exam tasks and that the software application for the visualization of multivariate functions contributed to better students’ achievements in determining the domain of integration and the integration bounds in order to solve double integrals.

Warm elaborated feedback. Exploring its benefits on post-feedback behaviour

This study provides evidence on the impact of including warm messages in elaborated feedback. These messages are aimed at the motivational process that can be mobilised by feedback and that which can condition its reception and the way students face the task (post-feedback behaviour). In a task where secondary school students had to learn a new strategy for improving their reading skills in a computer-based environment, we compared the use of elaborated feedback with the use of elaborated feedback enhanced with motivational messages (warm elaborated feedback) and a control condition (without feedback). The results showed that students receiving warm elaborated feedback revisited the text more often than those receiving only the elaborated feedback, and that both groups revisited the text more than the control group. This finding suggests that controlling the motivational aspects in feedback messages may increase the effectiveness of elaborated feedback.

Using a pedagogical agent to deliver conversational style instruction: What benefits can you obtain?

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the potential effects of two social cues on learning outcomes, cognitive load, and intrinsic motivation in a computer-based environment in an Asian context. A total of 98 Chinese college students were randomly assigned into one of four experimental conditions formed by a 2 (agent vs. no agent) X 2 (conversational style vs. formal style) factorial design. Results revealed that (a) learning with a pedagogical agent was more interesting than learning without a pedagogical agent; (b) learning from a lesson written in a conversational style enhanced retention but also resulted in increased pressure; and (c) a pedagogical agent delivering instruction in a conversational style led to an increase in mental effort, but instruction delivered in this style without a pedagogical agent led learners to perceive it as less difficult. These findings support the use of a pedagogical agent to deliver instruction in a conversational style to Chinese learners. But parsimonious instructional designs, such as a design to deliver instruction in a conversational style without an animated pedagogical agent, also have advantages under some circumstances, particularly when the learning materials are not so difficult and when advanced technology cannot be utilized or afforded.

Are Left- and Right-Eye Pupil Sizes Always Equal?

Eye movements provide very critical information about the cognitive load and behaviors of human beings. Earlier studies report that under normal conditions, the left- and right-eye pupil sizes are equal. For this reason, most studies undertaking eye-movement analysis are conducted by only considering the pupil size of a single eye or taking the average size of both eye pupils. This study attempts to offer a better understanding concerning whether there are any differences between the left- and right-eye pupil sizes of the right-handed surgical residents while performing surgical tasks in a computer-based simulation environment under different conditions (left-hand, right-hand and both hands). According to the results, in many cases, the right-eye pupil sizes of the participants were larger than their left-eye pupil sizes while performing the tasks under right-hand and both hands conditions. However, no significant difference was found in relation to the tasks performed under left-hand condition in all scenarios. These results are very critical to shed further light on the cognitive load of the surgical residents by analyzing their left-eye and right-eye pupil sizes. Further research is required to investigate the effect of the difficulty level of each scenario, its appropriateness with the skill level of the participants, and handedness on the differences between the leftand right-eye pupil sizes.

Design Science Research for Computational Thinking in Constructionist Education: A Pragmatist Perspective

[full article, abstract in English; abstract in Lithuanian]
 The article examines the modern computer-based educational environment and the requirements of the possible cognitive interface that enables the learner’s cognitive grounding by incorporating abductive reasoning into the educational process. Although the main emphasis is on cognitive and physiological aspects, the practical tools for enabling computational thinking in a modern constructionist educational environment are discussed. The presented analytical material and developed solutions are aimed at education with computers. However, the proposed solutions can be generalized in order to create a computer-free educational environment. The generalized paradigm here is pragmatism, considered as a philosophical assumption. By designing and creating a pragmatist educational environment, a common way of organizing computational thinking that enables constructionist educational solutions can be found.

An Experimental Study of the Effect of Computer Assisted Learning on Metacognitive Performance Development in Psychology Teaching

There is a growing interest in the use of computer-based learning environments to enhance learning in higher education, but the implications of this on the improvement of metacognition in higher education have yet to be adequately explored. In the current study, 175 students who enrolled in an introductory psychology course were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (computer-assisted vs. self-managed). In the computer-assisted condition, besides the lecture delivered four hours per week and for three months in total, students took a set of assignments based on evidence-based teaching in a computer-based environment. The control group, however, took these assignments as in-and-out class activities without using a computer environment. An assessment based on Bloom’s taxonomy was utilized to obtain metacognitive and competency scores for both groups. The results of the study showed that the students who completed the structured learning assignments as computer-based, self-learning environment showed better metacognition performance than those in the self-managed group, who did not engage with the online platform, even though there was no significant difference between the groups regarding competence on the course’s learning objectives. The current experiment offers an empirical validation for why instructors should use technology as a self-regulatory tool that enhances students’ metacognitive performance and competence of learning outcomes.

Tales from the Exam Room: Trialing an E-Exam System for Computer Education and Design and Technology Students

The Centre for Schooling and Learning Technologies (CSaLT) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was asked in 2016 to be the Western Australian arm of a national e-exam project. This project used a bespoke exam system installed on a USB-drive to deliver what would have been traditional paper-based exams in an enclosed computer-based environment that was isolated from the internet and any resources other than those provided by the lecturer. This paper looks at the two exams chosen by the Western Australian group for the trial; a programming exam for pre-service computing teachers and an occupational health and safety exam for pre-service design and technology teachers. Both groups were drawn from the Graduate Diploma in Education course at ECU. The paper looks at the nature of the exam environment and the procedure for creating e-exams. It also outlines the exam procedures used and examines the feedback provided by both the lecturers and students involved. Conclusions are drawn about the suitability of the e-exam system and improvements are recommended as well as a discussion about e-exams and digital assessment more generally.

Adding Communicative and Affective Strategies to an Embodied Conversational Agent to Enhance Second Language Learners\u2019 Willingness to Communicate

This paper describes an embodied conversational agent enhanced with specific conversational strategies aiming to foster learners’ readiness towards communication in a second language (L2). Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language is believed to have a direct and sustained influence on learners’ actual usage frequency of the target language. To help overcome the lack of suitable environments for increasing L2 learners’ WTC, our approach is to build embodied conversational agents that can help learners surmount their apprehension towards communication in L2. Here, we focus on the dialogue management aspects of our approach and propose a model based on a set of communication strategies (CS) and affective backchannels (AB) to foster such agents’ ability to carry on natural and WTC-friendly conversations with learners. We examined learners’ expected WTC after interacting with one of the following versions of the system: an agent featuring both CS and AB; an agent featuring only CS; and an agent featuring only AB. The results suggested that combining CS and AB empowers the conversational agent and leads to higher expected WTC among L2 learners. We also found that even the AB-only version of the system had the potential to enhance WTC to some extent. These findings are evidence of the feasibility of enhancing L2 learners’ engagement towards communication using a computer-based environment coupled with appropriate conversational strategies.

Using cognitive mapping to foster deeper learning with complex problems in a computer-based environment

Concept mapping has been widely used to foster meaningful learning and support the communication of complex ideas. With a focus on conceptual understanding, traditional concept mapping is found to be inadequate in supporting problem solving particularly in eliciting and representing the complex process of applying knowledge to practice. In this study, a computer-based cognitive-mapping approach was used to extend traditional concept mapping by allowing learners to represent the problem-solving process and the underlying knowledge in a visual format. By representing ideas both verbally and pictorially, the cognitive mapping approach has a high potential to foster effective thinking and reflection in problem-solving contexts. This study examined the effects of the computer-based cognitive-mapping approach by comparing it to a note-taking approach that represents ideas in verbal text only. Forty-nine senior year medical students participated in the study. The experimental group used the cognitive-mapping approach, while the control group used a note-taking approach, to articulate complex thinking and actions when working with simulated clinical diagnostic problems in a computer-based learning environment. The results show the promising effects of the cognitive-mapping approach on improving students' problem-solving performance, subject-matter knowledge, and intrinsic motivation to learn with complex problems.

Language teachers’ perceptions on the use of OER language processing technologies in MALL

ABSTRACTCombined with the ubiquity and constant connectivity of mobile devices, and with innovative approaches such as Data-Driven Learning (DDL), Natural Language Processing Technologies (NLPTs) as Open Educational Resources (OERs) could become a powerful tool for language learning as they promote individual and personalized learning. Using a questionnaire that was answered by language teachers (n = 230) in Spain and the UK, this research explores the extent to which OER NLPTs are currently known and used in adult foreign language learning. Our results suggest that teachers’ familiarity and use of OER NLPTs are very low. Although online dictionaries, collocation dictionaries and spell checkers are widely known, NLPTs appear to be generally underused in foreign language teaching. It was found that teachers prefer computer-based environments over mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and that teachers’ qualification determines their familiarity with a wider range of OER NLPTs. This research offers insight into future applications of Language Processing Technologies as OERs in language learning.

Assessing the performance of visual identification tasks using time window-based eye inter-fixation duration

The objective of this research was to develop a new eye-tracking metric to evaluate human performance of a visual identification task. According to prior research on eye tracking, eye movement metrics could examine relationships between task performance and eye gaze behaviors. However, little is known about the relationship between the eye movements and the performance on the identification task. In this study, by using the time window-based human-in-the-loop simulation representing an anti-air warfare coordinator, we studied the performance on the identification task and eye tracking data during the experiment. The performance was evaluated by the total number of correctly identified aircraft. Saccade duration (SD) and time windows-based inter-fixation duration (TWID) were used to analyze participants' eye tracking data. Transition number (TN) was also used as a metric to compare SD with TWID. The results indicated that both TWID and SD showed a significant difference between excellent performers and others. The participants who perfectly identified all unknown aircraft had much shorter inter-fixation duration compared to others who made mistakes. However, only the well-skilled performers’ average TWID was significantly related to TN. The findings of this research supported that TWID could be used as one of the eye movement measures to assess the performance of the identification task in a computer-based environment.

A DGS gesture dictionary for modelling on mobile devices

ABSTRACTInteractive or Dynamic Geometry System (DGS) is a tool that help to teach and learn geometry using a computer-based interactive environment. Traditionally, the interaction with DGS is based on keyboard and mouse events where the functionalities are accessed using a menu of icons. Nevertheless, recent findings suggest that such a traditional model of interaction has a steep learning curve and is inadequate to develop DGS for devices with multi-touch screens. Thus, we propose a new interaction model for DGS based on a gesture dictionary which enables the construction and manipulation of geometric objects without the need of accessing a menu of icons. The dictionary is divided into three types: (i) kernel gestures: which are the basis for defining gestures; (ii) navigation gestures: related to the manipulation and editing of geometric objects; and (iii) basic gestures of construction: to construct geometric objects. To validate our interaction model, a DGS for mobile device, GeoTouch, has been developed using the proposed dictionary. Usability tests were performed comparing GeoTouch with three other DGS for mobile devices. The results indicate that the GeoTouch interface has fewer usability problems than the other three DGS software and it is easier to learn and interact with.

Construct and face validity of the educational computer-based environment (ECE) assessment scenarios for basic endoneurosurgery skills.

In neurosurgery education, there is a paradigm shift from time-based training to criterion-based model for which competency and assessment becomes very critical. Even virtual reality simulators provide alternatives to improve education and assessment in neurosurgery programs and allow for several objective assessment measures, there are not many tools for assessing the overall performance of trainees. This study aims to develop and validate a tool for assessing the overall performance of participants in a simulation-based endoneurosurgery training environment. A training program was developed in two levels: endoscopy practice and beginning surgical practice based on four scenarios. Then, three experiments were conducted with three corresponding groups of participants (Experiment 1, 45 (32 beginners, 13 experienced), Experiment 2, 53 (40 beginners, 13 experienced), and Experiment 3, 26 (14 novices, 12 intermediate) participants). The results analyzed to understand the common factors among the performance measurements of these experiments. Then, a factor capable of assessing the overall skill levels of surgical residents was extracted. Afterwards, the proposed measure was tested to estimate the experience levels of the participants. Finally, the level of realism of these educational scenarios was assessed. The factor formed by time, distance, and accuracy on simulated tasks provided an overall performance indicator. The prediction correctness was very high for the beginners than the one for experienced surgeons in Experiments 1 and 2. When non-dominant hand is used in a surgical procedure-based scenario, skill levels of surgeons can be better predicted. The results indicate that the scenarios in Experiments 1 and 2 can be used as an assessment tool for the beginners, and scenario-2 in Experiment 3 can be used as an assessment tool for intermediate and novice levels. It can be concluded that forming the balance between perceived action capacities and skills is critical for better designing and developing skill assessment surgical simulation tools.

Homophobic hate discourse in the information society: from the impacts to the balance of the computer environment and to human sexuality

The changes arising from the techno scientific evolution have impacted the social model, fomenting the emergence of the Information Society and a computer-based environment. Along with these novelties, the discourse of hate, especially homophobic, has gained a new platform for it to spread, becoming responsible for violating the rights of sexual minorities. The objective of this research was to analyze, through the theoretical method, the discourse of homophobic hate as a degrader of the computer's environmental balance, as well as towards the exercise of human sexuality. In order to do so, we explored the Computer Society within the juridical-constitutional realm of the digital scope, listing it as an extension of the cultural environment. In addition, freedom to sexuality was defined as a right of personality, where the heteronormativity, based on homophobia, is materialized in a discourse of hate, solidifying prejudice, intolerance and discrimination towards the LGBTQ community. For this, we verified that the abuse towards the right to freedom of expression constitutes discursive acts of hate, manifested in social exclusion of sexual minorities, far from being a mere opinion.

CB language competences testing methods in the class of tourism management

Computer-based testing is a method of administering tests in which the responses are electronically recorded, assessed, or preferably both. The assessment is a testing tool which checks student´s knowledge, measures their progress and gathers information from students. The most important attributes to consider when creating an assessment in computerbased environment is threefold; the structure and types of questions included, deployment and setting options, and grading assessments and availability of multiple attempts. The paper focuses on computer-based testing methods applied in online English language course of Tourism Management in the Blackboard LMS. The aim of the presented paper is to monitor and assess the bachelor students´ proficiency of key language competences progress. The key language competences defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) are tested with a special view on students´ individual learning styles.

Computer-Based Post-Stroke Rehabilitation of Prospective Memory

We present a computer-based environment for rehabilitation of prospective memory in stroke survivors. Prospective memory (PM), or remembering to perform actions in the future, is of crucial importance for everyday life. This kind of memory is often impaired in stroke survivors and can interfere with independent living. Fifteen participants were recruited to participate in our study consisting of 10 sessions. The participants were first trained on how to develop visual images in order to remember time- and event-based prospective memory tasks. After the visual imagery training, participants practiced their PM skills using videos, and later in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The results show a significant improvement on PM skills as measured by the CAMPROMPT test, which remained stable 4 weeks after the treatment. VR-based training was well accepted by the participants.

Построение автоматной модели обучения в компьютерных обучающих средах

Построение автоматной модели обучения в компьютерных обучающих средах

Features of Computer-Based Decision Aids: Systematic Review, Thematic Synthesis, and Meta-Analyses.

BackgroundPatient information and education, such as decision aids, are gradually moving toward online, computer-based environments. Considerable research has been conducted to guide content and presentation of decision aids. However, given the relatively new shift to computer-based support, little attention has been given to how multimedia and interactivity can improve upon paper-based decision aids.ObjectiveThe first objective of this review was to summarize published literature into a proposed classification of features that have been integrated into computer-based decision aids. Building on this classification, the second objective was to assess whether integration of specific features was associated with higher-quality decision making.MethodsRelevant studies were located by searching MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and CENTRAL databases. The review identified studies that evaluated computer-based decision aids for adults faced with preference-sensitive medical decisions and reported quality of decision-making outcomes. A thematic synthesis was conducted to develop the classification of features. Subsequently, meta-analyses were conducted based on standardized mean differences (SMD) from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported knowledge or decisional conflict. Further subgroup analyses compared pooled SMDs for decision aids that incorporated a specific feature to other computer-based decision aids that did not incorporate the feature, to assess whether specific features improved quality of decision making.ResultsOf 3541 unique publications, 58 studies met the target criteria and were included in the thematic synthesis. The synthesis identified six features: content control, tailoring, patient narratives, explicit values clarification, feedback, and social support. A subset of 26 RCTs from the thematic synthesis was used to conduct the meta-analyses. As expected, computer-based decision aids performed better than usual care or alternative aids; however, some features performed better than others. Integration of content control improved quality of decision making (SMD 0.59 vs 0.23 for knowledge; SMD 0.39 vs 0.29 for decisional conflict). In contrast, tailoring reduced quality of decision making (SMD 0.40 vs 0.71 for knowledge; SMD 0.25 vs 0.52 for decisional conflict). Similarly, patient narratives also reduced quality of decision making (SMD 0.43 vs 0.65 for knowledge; SMD 0.17 vs 0.46 for decisional conflict). Results were varied for different types of explicit values clarification, feedback, and social support.ConclusionsIntegration of media rich or interactive features into computer-based decision aids can improve quality of preference-sensitive decision making. However, this is an emerging field with limited evidence to guide use. The systematic review and thematic synthesis identified features that have been integrated into available computer-based decision aids, in an effort to facilitate reporting of these features and to promote integration of such features into decision aids. The meta-analyses and associated subgroup analyses provide preliminary evidence to support integration of specific features into future decision aids. Further research can focus on clarifying independent contributions of specific features through experimental designs and refining the designs of features to improve effectiveness.