{"title":"Introducing Computer Engineering Curriculum to Upper Secondary Students: An Evaluation of Experiences Based on Educational Robotics","authors":"M. Oreggia, C. Chiorri, F. Pozzi, A. Tacchella","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.85","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.85","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports a study about the usefulness of guidance experiences offered at the University of Genoa to upper secondary students. The goal of the experiences is to provide students with sufficient knowledge to choose a university curriculum in Computer Engineering with an improved confidence. Unlike traditional methods, the key aspects are not presented in an information-oriented way, but relying mainly on a hands-on robotic course which exposes students to the basic principles of programming, automation and embedded systems. The results suggest that the experience enhanced students' specific knowledge and skills, and helped them in making up their minds as far as continuing their university studies in Computer Engineering is concerned.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116432284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. Popescu, M. Dascalu, A. Becheru, S. Crossley, Stefan Trausan-Matu
{"title":"Predicting Student Performance and Differences in Learning Styles Based on Textual Complexity Indices Applied on Blog and Microblog Posts: A Preliminary Study","authors":"E. Popescu, M. Dascalu, A. Becheru, S. Crossley, Stefan Trausan-Matu","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.104","url":null,"abstract":"Social media tools are increasingly popular in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and the analysis of students' contributions on these tools is an emerging research direction. Previous studies have mainly focused on examining quantitative behavior indicators on social media tools. In contrast, the approach proposed in this paper relies on the actual content analysis of each student's contributions in a learning environment. More specifically, in this study, textual complexity analysis is applied to investigate how student's writing style on social media tools can be used to predict their academic performance and their learning style. Multiple textual complexity indices are used for analyzing the blog and microblog posts of 27 students engaged in a project-based learning activity. The preliminary results of this pilot study are encouraging, with several indexes predictive of student grades and/or learning styles.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126667235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Student Teachers' Online Commentaries Scaffold Student Writing","authors":"Shih-Hsien Yang, Hsiu‐Ting Hung, H. Yeh","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.76","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.76","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to examine how student teachers evaluated the effectiveness of their commentaries and formulated effective commentaries through Computer Supported Community of Inquiry (CSCI). An online system was developed in this study to create a CSCI environment, providing a virtual practicum for student teachers to serve as facilitators in scaffolding their students' text revisions by offering online commentaries. In terms of research design, this study adopted a qualitative method to examine a group of five student teachers' scaffolding experiences in facilitating ten student writers' text revisions. The results showed that the student teachers' reflections on their scaffolding experiences centered on three major themes: grammatical corrections, suggestions on text development, and modification of viewpoints. On the whole, the student teachers considered the virtual practicum a valuable experience, which prompted them to re-examine their assumptions and beliefs about effective writing instruction, and thus expressed a strong desire to participate in CSCI for future professional development.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":" 85","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120829535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Pilot Evaluation of the Chinese Learning System to Support a Flipped Classroom","authors":"Yi Hsuan Wang","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.1","url":null,"abstract":"The study is a multi-phase study. The researcher aims to conduct a series of study through several research stages to investigate how the use of learning technology could foster classical Chinese flipped learning. In this study, the researcher had developed the Chinese learning system based on the previous research results from the first stage research and conducted the experiment to evaluate whether the developed Chinese learning system could facilitate classical Chinese learning. The findings revealed that the students who learned with and without the developed system together with the flipped classroom learning all improved their Chinese performance. However, it was noticeable that the learners who used the developed system showed better motivation in terms of self-directed preview learning. The use of the developed has the potential to support the flipped classroom strategy for classical Chinese learning. Suggestions and future work are also discussed in the end of the paper.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127471579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sandra Katz, Pamela W. Jordan, Patricia L. Albacete
{"title":"Exploring How to Adaptively Apply Tutorial Dialogue Tactics","authors":"Sandra Katz, Pamela W. Jordan, Patricia L. Albacete","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.62","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.62","url":null,"abstract":"Prior research aimed at identifying linguistic features of tutoring that predict learning found interactions between student characteristics (e.g., incoming knowledge level, gender, and affect) and learning. This paper addresses the question: What do these interactions suggest for developing adaptive natural-language tutoring systems? We summarize two studies which investigated interactions between gender and learning in a tutoring system for conceptual physics. We argue that student characteristics such as gender are insufficient to guide the development of adaptive tutorial dialogue systems. A more fruitful approach is to consider the underlying factors and cognitive mechanisms that potentially mediate the relationship between student characteristics and learning from particular tutoring tactics.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129199862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chia-Ning Hsu, I-Ling Cheng, S. Chew, G. Wu, Chunyue Zhu, Pin-Yang Liu, N. Chen
{"title":"Gesture-Based Learning for Preschooler: A Case Study of Teaching English Alphabet and Body Parts Vocabulary","authors":"Chia-Ning Hsu, I-Ling Cheng, S. Chew, G. Wu, Chunyue Zhu, Pin-Yang Liu, N. Chen","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.73","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.73","url":null,"abstract":"English is a world recognized global language. Different methods used in teaching and learning English is widely discussed and researched in the education field. Due to the language's importance, the learning age of English is beginning at a younger age in Taiwan, some even started from toddlers. In our study, we are exploring the effects of preschoolers learning English using a gesture-based system compared to learning English using word cards. The system is designed to enhance and improve the preschooler's learning performance of the language. Our target subjects do not have basic knowledge of the language. The results of the study showed that there are no significant difference between the two learning groups. However, it was found that the participant's age and those having past experience of using gesture-based systems had shown to have significant effect on their learning performance. The limitation and future study of this study is also discussed.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130617792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sivaldo J. de Santana, R. Paiva, I. Bittencourt, Patrícia Ospina, Rafael de Amorim Silva, Seiji Isotani
{"title":"Evaluating the Impact of Mars and Venus Effect on the Use of an Adaptive Learning Technology for Portuguese and Mathematics","authors":"Sivaldo J. de Santana, R. Paiva, I. Bittencourt, Patrícia Ospina, Rafael de Amorim Silva, Seiji Isotani","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.58","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.58","url":null,"abstract":"Some recent studies discussed the pros and cons of gender difference in the use of intelligent educational technologies. According to these studies, there is a difference in behavior, attitude, learning and emotion. However, most of the studies were conducted for Mathematics and in a well developed ecological setting. In this work, we investigated the Mars and Venus Effect, by measuring together different variables, such as learning performance (in Portuguese and Mathematics), age, location area, and learning technology. The study was a random pre/posttest control group experimental design, on which 191 students from public schools in Brazil participated. The experimental group used an adaptive learning technology (called MeuTutor) for nine months, while the control group did not use any educational technology during the study. The most relevant results are: i) the use of the adaptive learning technology improves student's performance in Mathematics and Portuguese for both male and female students, ii) the improvement of male student's performance is more significant, against female students, iii) when we focus on technology, male students had better performance in mathematics, but no significant difference in Portuguese.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132876433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Visualization of Teacher Social Capital in a Computer-Supported Engineering Education Teacher Professional Development Program","authors":"Wei Zakharov, Johannes Strobel","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.142","url":null,"abstract":"This study uses social network analysis to analyze teacher social capital in a NSF-funded, DRK-12 cyber-enabled engineering education teacher professional development program. The social capital leveraged among the teachers can be visually represented by attributes such as schools, grades, cohorts, and subgroups. Each teacher's social capital is calculated to complement the analysis.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134304626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dietmar Zoerner, Jan Schütze, S. Kirst, I. Dziobek, U. Lucke
{"title":"Zirkus Empathico: Mobile Training of Socio-Emotional Competences for Children with Autism","authors":"Dietmar Zoerner, Jan Schütze, S. Kirst, I. Dziobek, U. Lucke","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.146","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the mobile app \"Zirkus Empathico\" is to strengthen socio-emotional competences in pre-and primary school children. It's holistic and natural training concept is based on current results of empathy research. Pilot testing of the app revealed it's good usability and comprehensibility. The effectiveness of \"Zirkus Empathico\" is currently investigated in a longitudinal clinical study with children aged 5 to 10.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133267497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Steven Lehr, Hong Liu, Sean Kinglesmith, Alexander L. Konyha, Natalia Robaszewska, Jacob Medinilla
{"title":"Use Educational Data Mining to Predict Undergraduate Retention","authors":"Steven Lehr, Hong Liu, Sean Kinglesmith, Alexander L. Konyha, Natalia Robaszewska, Jacob Medinilla","doi":"10.1109/ICALT.2016.138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2016.138","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents an application of educational data mining to predict undergraduate retention. The research provides valuable insight about data feature ranking, algorithm selections and validation methods based on unique types of data that come from educational settings. The data from a cohort of 972 students enrolled in 2008 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) were used to train and validate the predictive models. This research aims to provide decision recommendations to ERAU and similar institutions to make the timely intervention for improving retention.","PeriodicalId":188900,"journal":{"name":"2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133267882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}