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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interactive learning materials on learners’ self-regulated learning processes and learning satisfaction. A two-group experimental design was employed for 285 primary school teachers involved in teacher training. Teachers in the experimental group utilised interactive learning materials along with training videos and guidelines for their self-development at the school level. Teachers in the control group conducted self-development only with training videos and guidelines. The result was analysed using self-regulated learning theory explaining how one’s self-regulation processes affect learning satisfaction. Five self-regulation processes were identified in this study: internal motivation, motivation for better assessment, planning and organizing skills, critical and positive thinking skills, and effort regulation. The analysis was conducted in two steps. First, t-test analysis was used to identify the significant differences between the experimental group and the control group. The analysis revealed: (1) teachers conducting self-development with interactive learning materials were highly motivated to achieve better teacher assessment, (2) teachers with interactive learning materials had higher learning satisfaction. Second, the study further investigated the effect of interactive materials on the relationship between self-regulation processes and learning satisfaction, using moderation analysis. The results showed that interactive materials significantly affect the relationship between motivation for better assessment and learning satisfaction, as well as the relationship between internal motivation and learning satisfaction. These results were complemented by qualitative analysis including interviews and focus group discussions with teachers.

In this study, an augmented reality-based mobile learning system is proposed for conducting inquiry-based learning activities. An experiment has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of learning achievements and motivations. The subjects were 57 fourth graders from two classes taught by the same teacher in an elementary school in northern Taiwan. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach is able to improve the students' learning achievements. Moreover, it was found that the students who learned with the augmented reality-based mobile learning approach showed significantly higher motivations in the attention, confidence, and relevance dimensions than those who learned with the conventional inquiry-based mobile learning approach.

The field of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) has undergone significant developments over the last twenty-five years. As we reflect on our past and shape our future, we ask two main questions: What are our major strengths? And, what new opportunities lay on the horizon? We analyse 47 papers from three years in the history of the Journal of AIED (1994, 2004, and 2014) to identify the foci and typical scenarios that occupy the field of AIED. We use those results to suggest two parallel strands of research that need to take place in order to impact education in the next 25 years: One is an evolutionary process, focusing on current classroom practices, collaborating with teachers, and diversifying technologies and domains. The other is a revolutionary process where we argue for embedding our technologies within students’ everyday lives, supporting their cultures, practices, goals, and communities.

Prior studies on the use of digital prototyping and virtual reality (VR) in designing as well as evaluating new products have shown that VR reduces both development time and costs whilst augmenting student motivation and creativity. The current study demonstrates that VR and 3D prototyping in the context of project-based learning (PBL) promote effective communication, increase problem solving skills, and enhance learning outcomes. VR and digital prototyping have been extensively used in industries for the purpose of product design and usability evaluation. In the context of engineering education, many research studies have attempted to explore the effect of VR on teamwork, engagement, retention, and motivation. In this paper, VR is used in conjunction with PBL in self-directed approach to design and implement a product using 3D software whilst also using virtual reality immersive CAVE display to evaluate their design. The hypothesis is that the use of VR with a project-based-learning approach to facilitate the attainment of desirable goals in the engineering design project, improved achievement of course learning outcomes and promoted effective communication. According to the research findings, VR approach significantly affected the distribution of cumulative project grades. Students’ project grades improved, particularly the implementation component. In addition, the course outcomes related to project design were better achieved in VR approach. The communication and problem-solving skills were improved in the VR approach as compared to traditional approach.

How to make the learning of complex subjects engaging, motivating, and effective? The use of immersive virtual reality offers exciting, yet largely unexplored solutions to this problem. Taking neuroanatomy as an example of a visually and spatially complex subject, the present study investigated whether academic learning using a state-of-the-art Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) yielded higher learning gains compared to conventional textbooks. The present study leveraged a combination of CAVE benefits including collaborative learning, rich spatial information, embodied interaction and gamification. Results indicated significantly higher learning gains after collaborative learning in the CAVE with large effect sizes compared to a textbook condition. Furthermore, low spatial ability learners benefitted most from the strong spatial cues provided by immersive virtual reality, effectively raising their performance to that of high spatial ability learners. The present study serves as a concrete example of the effective design and implementation of virtual reality in CAVE settings, demonstrating learning gains and thus opening opportunities to more pervasive use of immersive technologies for education. In addition, the study illustrates how immersive learning may provide novel scaffolds to increase performance in those who need it most.

The aim of this paper is to survey recent research publications that use Soft Computing methods to answer education-related problems based on the analysis of educational data ‘mined’ mainly from interactive/e-learning systems. Such systems are known to generate and store large volumes of data that can be exploited to assess the learner, the system and the quality of the interaction between them. Educational Data Mining (EDM) and Learning Analytics (LA) are two distinct and yet closely related research areas that focus on this data aiming to address open education-related questions or issues. Besides ‘classic’ data analysis methods such as clustering, classification, identification or regression/analysis of variances, soft computing methods are often employed by EDM and LA researchers to achieve their various tasks. Their very nature as iterative optimization algorithms that avoid the exhaustive search of the solutions space and go for possibly suboptimal solutions yet at realistic time and effort, along with their heavy reliance on rich data sets for training, make soft computing methods ideal tools for the EDM or LA type of problems. Decision trees, random forests, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, support vector machines and genetic/evolutionary algorithms are a few examples of soft computing approaches that, given enough data, can successfully deal with uncertainty, qualitatively stated problems and incomplete, imprecise or even contradictory data sets – features that the field of education shares with all humanities/social sciences fields. The present review focuses, therefore, on recent EDM and LA research that employs at least one soft computing method, and aims to identify (i) the major education problems/issues addressed and, consequently, research goals/objectives set, (ii) the learning contexts/settings within which relevant research and educational interventions take place, (iii) the relation between classic and soft computing methods employed to solve specific problems/issues, and (iv) the means of dissemination ( publication journals) of the relevant research results. Selection and analysis of a body of 300 journal publications reveals that top research questions in education today seeking answers through soft computing methods refer directly to the issue of quality – a critical issue given the currently dominant educational/pedagogical models that favor e-learning or computer- or technology-mediated learning contexts. Moreover, results identify the most frequently used methods and tools within EDM/LA research and, comparatively, within their soft computing subsets, along with the major journals relevant research is being published worldwide. Weaknesses and issues that need further attention in order to fully exploit the benefits of research results to improve both the learning experience and the learning outcomes are discussed in the conclusions.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of task and group awareness (TaGA) support provided to group members by a pedagogical agent (PA) in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) on the students’ attitudes towards collaborative learning and self-regulated learning skills (SRLS). A quasi-experimental research design with pretest and posttest control groups and mixed methods were used in this study. Participants were undergraduate students (n = 42) enrolled in the Computing II course in their first year. Of the 42 university student, 15 (35.7%) were male and 27 (64.3%) were female. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The findings of the study demonstrated that TaGA support provided to the members of the experimental group through the PA in CSCL fostered students’ attitudes towards online collaborative learning but did not affect their SRLS. The findings obtained from the qualitative data were in good agreement with the quantitative data. This study contributes to the field by providing practical suggestions on how the learning process and outcomes in CSCL can be improved through PA-based support and scaffolding.

The widespread availability of high-quality Web-based content offers new potential for supporting teachers as designers of curricula and classroom activities. When coupled with a participatory Web culture and infrastructure, teachers can share their creations as well as leverage from the best that their peers have to offer to support a collective intelligence or crowdsourcing community, which we dub crowdteaching. We applied a collective intelligence framework to characterize crowdteaching in the context of a Web-based tool for teachers called the Instructional Architect (IA). The IA enables teachers to find, create, and share instructional activities (called IA projects) for their students using online learning resources. These IA projects can further be viewed, copied, or adapted by other IA users. This study examines the usage activities of two samples of teachers, and also analyzes the characteristics of a subset of their IA projects. Analyses of teacher activities suggest that they are engaging in crowdteaching processes. Teachers, on average, chose to share over half of their IA projects, and copied some directly from other IA projects. Thus, these teachers can be seen as both contributors to and consumers of crowdteaching processes. In addition, IA users preferred to view IA projects rather than to completely copy them. Finally, correlational results based on an analysis of the characteristics of IA projects suggest that several easily computed metrics (number of views, number of copies, and number of words in IA projects) can act as an indirect proxy of instructionally relevant indicators of the content of IA projects.

In recent years, student-centered learning has undergone significant changes influenced by the introduction of the competency-based approach to the digital learning environment. The new approach places a teacher at the center of the educational process taking into account professional competencies and personal interests of educators to foster the improvements of methodological, organizational, and technological support of personalized learning. The sample (N = 36) consists of the 3rd year students of University (KazNPU). The research methodology uses the following metrics to test the psychological and emotional characteristics of students: Communication Skills Assessments and Analysis of Cultural and Value Orientations. The study revealed a background of discomfort with the current system of education - about half of the respondents experience psychological and emotional stress due to the current education format. In addition, after the implementation of the program it was found that the SCL configuration model, applied to distance learning, had a significant impact on students. Statistical analysis of the chi-square indices of general fit (χ2 = 122.77) shows a good fit to the set of data points. The results can be used by educators and in future research to analyze the feasibility and advantages of digital educational processes in other geographical regions.

Higher education has been pressured to shift towards more flexible, effective, active, and student-centered teaching strategies that mitigate the limitations of traditional transmittal models of education. Lately, the flipped classroom model has been suggested to support this transition. However, research on the use of flipped classroom in higher education is in its infancy and little is known about student’s perceptions of learning through flipped classroom. This study examined students’ perceptions of flipped classroom education in a last year university course in research methods. A questionnaire was administered measuring students’ ( n  = 240) perceptions of flipped classroom in general, video as a learning tool, and Moodle (Learning Management System) as a supporting tool within the frame of a flipped classroom model. The results revealed that a large majority of the students had a positive attitude towards flipped classroom, the use of video and Moodle, and that a positive attitude towards flipped classroom was strongly correlated to perceptions of increased motivation, engagement, increased learning, and effective learning. Low achievers significantly reported more positively as compared to high achievers with regards to attitudes towards the use of video as a learning tool, perceived increased learning, and perceived more effective learning.