Computer-supported Activities Research Articles

Real-Time Prediction of Students’ Activity Progress and Completion Rates

In classrooms, some transitions between activities impose (quasi-)synchronicity, meaning there is a need for learners to move between activities at the same time. To make real-time decisions about when to move to the next activity, teachers need to be able to balance the progress of their students as they work at different paces. In this paper, we present a set of estimators that can be used in real time to predict the progress and completion rates of students working on computer-supported activities that can be divided into sequential subtasks. With our estimators, we investigate what effect the average progress rate of the class, a given number of previous steps, or weighting the proportion of progress assigned to each subtask has on predictions of students’ progress. We find that accounting for the average class progress rate near the beginning of the activity can improve predictions over baseline. Additionally, weighted subtasks decrease prediction accuracy for activities where the behaviour of faster students diverges from the average behaviour of the class. This paper contributes to our ability to provide accurate student progress predictions and to understand the behaviour of students as they progress through the activity. These real-time predictions can enable teachers to optimize learning time in their classrooms.

BLENDED LEARNING A CONVERGENCE OF ONLINE LEARNING AND FACE-TO-FACE EDUCATION FOR IMPARTING BETTER EDUCATION IN INDIA

Student sector in the developing world are frequently cited as being among the most important beneficiaries of online education initiatives such as massive open online courses (MOOCs). All over the world the concept of online learning is spreading at higher speed rather it is in junior education or in higher education. The convergence of online learning and face to face conversation to a different fold refers to a concept of Blended learning. Blended learning method refers to “mixing of different learning environments”. It combines traditional face-to-face classroom methods with more modern computer-supported activities using Internet and other advanced technology. According to History of Indian Education, Traditional teaching method is most popular method of teaching in Indian school which involves face to face interaction and cannot be eliminated from Indian education culture. Online learning, web based learning, intelligent tutor systems are the new technologies in education which helps in profound improvements. Online learning has unique abilities to provide students with enriched learning experiences, to extend learning beyond the school day, and to support more successful differentiated learning strategies that personalize students’ educational experiences. Web based learning has the advantage of learning through animations, multimedia, videos and chats etc. Blended learning is the teaching practice that combines teaching methods from both face-to-face and online learning and is going to prove as a powerful method of educational transfer.. So the objective of this paper is to explain how blended learning is essential in departing education. The paper not only describes the characteristics of blended learning but also put light on pillars of this learning scheme. Evidences are also there for the working of blended learning. Issues are also described for the need of blended learning in case of technical education in India which can be implemented with the concept of Massive Empowered Classrooms (MEC). Keyword: MOOC Traditional learning, Online Learning, Blended learning, Web based learning, Multimedia, Animations, MEC.

Are the OECD guidelines at 30 showing their age?

Three decades have passed since the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) promulgated Guidelines on the Transborder Flows of Personal Data, and still the issue of transborde...

Collaborative Service Clouds

Thanks to Web 2.0 technologies, many computer-supported activities are provided on-line, which enhances the possibility of sharing information and resources. In particular, the concept of service cloud is emerging as a paradigm for offering Web-based services based on an open distributed architecture. In this paper, the authors propose a framework supporting the management of Collaborative Service Clouds, i.e., open, Web-based environments that enable the integration of heterogeneous services, and provide a user-centered unified management of business and private activities. The management of Collaborative Service Clouds is enabled by an open architecture, which provides services and data synchronization, coupled with a set of core applications supporting essential aspects of the functionality of the environment.

Touch Is Everywhere: Floor Surfaces as Ambient Haptic Interfaces.

Floor surfaces are notable for the diverse roles that they play in our negotiation of everyday environments. Haptic communication via floor surfaces could enhance or enable many computer-supported activities that involve movement on foot. In this paper, we discuss potential applications of such interfaces in everyday environments and present a haptically augmented floor component through which several interaction methods are being evaluated. We describe two approaches to the design of structured vibrotactile signals for this device. The first is centered on a musical phrase metaphor, as employed in prior work on tactile display. The second is based upon the synthesis of rhythmic patterns of virtual physical impact transients. We report on an experiment in which participants were able to identify communication units that were constructed from these signals and displayed via a floor interface at well above chance levels. The results support the feasibility of tactile information display via such interfaces and provide further indications as to how to effectively design vibrotactile signals for them.

Acid-base titration curves in an integrated computer learning environment

The topic of acid-base reactions is a regular component of many chemistry curricula that requires integrated understanding of various areas of introductory chemistry. Many students have considerable difficulties understanding the concepts and processes involved. It has been suggested and confirmed by research that students may benefit from computer-supported activities such as data logging, simulation and modeling. In this paper we review the different methods of using computer acquisition and modeling to examine acid-base titration and we discuss how a versatile, integrated computer learning environment can be successfully applied to this end. The environment integrates, amongst other things, measurement, a control tool, and a modeling tool: using an inexpensive step-motor buret, automated pH measurement in acid-base titration can be realized and measured data can then be compared graphically and in tabular form with data computed via the (text-based or graphical) system dynamics modeling tool. In this paper we discuss concrete examples, taken from an in-service teacher training course and culminating in the student practical investigation of analysis of acid in soft drinks. We also show how computer algebra can assist to find the mathematical formulas needed for computing a titration curve. We discuss the design of instructional materials and the didactical approach of integrating data logging and modeling in acid-base chemistry education.

Supporting Annotation as a Scholarly Tool--Experiences From the Online Chopin Variorum Edition

In a meeting at King's College London in May 2000, John Unsworth proposed a list of seven 'scholarly primitives' which he claimed were 'self-understood' functions forming the basis for 'higher-level scholarly projects, arguments, statements [and] interpretations' (Unsworth, 2000). He claimed that his list summarized activities that were 'basic to scholarship across eras and across media', and went on to say that an analysis of these scholarly primitives might result in a clearer sense of how computing tools could support the scholarly endeavour. Here we focus on the primitive that was second on Unsworth's list, after 'Discovering': 'Annotation'. Our work on annotation arises out of a developing awareness that established Humanities Computing (HC) areas of interest, do not seem always to connect with the actual process of the research work being carried out by most humanists. We claimed in Bradley (2005) that a fundamentally different usage paradigm than those in operation in established HC was necessary to even notice, and then follow-up on, the potential of scholarly annotation as a computer-supported activity. This article presents our experiences, and the eventual outcomes, of the process of developing annotations tools for the Online Chopin Variorum Edition project (OCVE). 1 Beginning with a brief overview of activities related to annotation in Humanities Computing and Computing Science, we introduce the visible parts of the OCVE project, and address some discussion to the structures behind the scenes that support what it does, reporting what worked and what did not. We conclude by analysing the significance of our findings and describing the direction we think our annotation tool will take.

Teaching Line Graphs to Tenth Grade Students Having Different Cognitive Developmental Levels by Using Two Different Instructional Modules

This study was undertaken to explore two ways of teaching line graphs and to compare line-graphing skills of tenth-grade students having different cognitive developmental levels. Two chemistry classes participated in the study, which lasted approximately three weeks near the beginning of fall semester of 2000. Two intact classes were randomly assigned into one of the two treatment groups; one group completed a line-graphing unit with computer-supported activities called Treatment 1 ( n 1 =22), while the other group completed a line-graphing unit with non-computer-supported activities called Treatment 2 ( n 2 =23). The same teacher taught both treatments to the groups. It was determined that there were no statistically significant differences on line graphing mean scores, as measured by both Individualised Test of Graphing in Science (I-TOGS) and Performance Assessment Test (PAT), between the groups. The results of analysis of variance indicate that there were statistically significant differences among mean scores of the students having different reasoning levels. Analysis of pairwise comparisons among reasoning levels data indicate that formal reasoners significantly outperformed concrete reasoners in line-graphing post-test scores, while there was no significant difference in the line-graphing mean scores between concrete and transitional reasoners. Also Significant main effect was not found between mean scores of transitional and formal reasoners. Data collected indicate that there were no statistically significant interaction effects among treatments and scientific reasoning levels.