Computers and Education Open最新文献

The adoption of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) worldwide has led to a considerable accumulation of process data as students interact with different learning topics within these systems. Typically, these learning topics are structured within ITSs (e.g., the fraction topic includes subtopics such as a fraction number line subtopic). However, there is a lack of methods that offer quick, data-driven insights into the content structure of ITSs, particularly through easily accessible visualizations. Here, we applied psychological network analysis to process data (230,241 students; 5,365,932 problem sets) from an ITS for learning mathematics to explore performance interdependencies between 40 different subtopics. We argue that the visualization of these content interdependencies allows for a quick empirical evaluation of the validity of the existing structuring of the respective learning content. These insights allow for deriving recommendations concerning potential changes in the ITS structure and are thus highly valuable for ITS developers. Our results are also relevant for researchers as the interdependencies illustrated through psychological network analysis can contribute towards a better understanding of the interplay between mathematical skills. Together, our results indicate that psychological network analysis represents a valuable data-driven method to evaluate and optimize ITSs.

This study took place at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when most schools worldwide were making the transition to online teaching and learning. Through this single-case study design, the study examined the learning experiences of a group of teachers engaged in interactive, inquiry-based professional learning focused on math, making and coding during a shift to emergency remote teaching. The primary objective was to identify promising practices for online professional learning (PL) focused on math and coding using a maker-pedagogies approach to teaching and learning, based on the teachers’ learning experiences. Study participants included 20 teachers from a rural school board in Northern Ontario, Canada. Findings indicated that the following may be considered as promising practices when developing and implementing virtual math and coding PL from a maker perspective. It is important to: a) balance sessions focused on specific math and coding content with more general sessions focused on learning the various maker-technology tools; b) include both synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities for the variety of teachers involved in the learning; c) include collaborative learning in the teacher PL and a virtual platform that can support this type of social learning; d) ensure the PL sessions are on-going as opposed to one-off or isolated sessions. This research suggests that online professional learning sessions need to consider three elements: the teacher, the content, and the learning environment and offers important recommendations for future work in this area.

This paper presents part of the findings of a phenomenographically-informed investigation into higher education (HE) teachers’ perceptions of personal learning networks in the context of the recent COVID-19 emergency-remote-teaching (ERT) period, with a specific targeting of perceived challenges. This ERT period has magnified teachers’ use of personal learning networks with an absence of a coherent institutionalized approach to ERT, which has presented itself as a unique opportunity through which to explore how Networked Learning (NL) can be incorporated to help teachers manage the longer term shift towards the technologization of HE. The research therefore aims to explore the perceptions of 18 Academic English teachers at a leading English-instruction university in Kazakhstan that was forced to move online at the beginning of COVID-19. The chapter reports the teachers’ perceived challenges of using their networks for online teaching and learning—particularly for connecting to people and resources online. The results suggest that teachers perceive the challenges of network use in at least five different ways: i) technological tools, ii) technological skills (training), iii) fractious group communication, iv) subdued communicative spontaneity and v) a sense of isolation. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for teachers and how the challenges can be overcome.