Collaborative Multi-professional Narrative Based e-learning. An application to teaching Medical Stat
The present paper describes e-CNA (e-Collaborative Narrative Analysis), a web based multi-agent environment where different agents contribute to the exploration and social co-construction of the meanings of a set of narratives. The paper also describes an action-research e-learning experiment aimed to involve the students of different courses and a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals in a blended online educational project on qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in hea
Introduction of Computer Studies to non-science university students: The Sri Lankan experience
Introduction of computer studies as a subject to students in the Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences in Sri Lankan universities is a relatively recent experience. University of Kelaniya was the first university in Sri Lanka that offered computer studies as a subject to its Bachelor of Arts Degree programme starting in 2001. This paper attempts to analyze the relative performance of science and non-science students offering the same module under the new computer studies curriculum.
Important Ornaments: The Impact of Graphics and Rule Systems on Academic Wiki Use
Collaborative websites, or wikis, are being used in the classroom to recruit user attention and to disseminate information [1). These wikis place a heavy emphasis on text, while generally neglecting graphics. Little to no research has examined the impact of this textual approach. This paper examines the use of graphics and rule systems as motivating tools in academic wikis. It reports the results of a 6 month long experiment involving 21 10th and 11th grade users to determine the impact of diffe
Surmonter linterférence culturelle et linguistique à laide de CALL
This research project aims to design a CALL system (Computer-Assisted Language Learning). The goal of the system is to help users overcome cross-linguistic difficulties, that is to say, transfer and interference stemming from a native language (L1) in the process of acquiring a second or foreign language (L2). It is built following an ontological engineering methodology, which is well-known in
the artificial intelligence community. In this article, we describe what is cross-linguistic influence,
Integrating Collaborative Concept Mapping Tools with Group Memory and Retrieval Functions
The provision of shared visual representations is considered to be an important facilitator for creative processes in group working and learning scenarios. Although reusability is an inherent feature of computerised representations in general, a comparative analysis of existing tools shows clear deficits in this respect. We are convinced that reusability and thus sustainability of the results of co-constructive group work can be much enhanced by integrating visual environments with functions for
Analysis Methods for Collaborative Models and Activities
A classification of analysis methods for CSCL systems is presented which uses as one dimension the distinction into summary analysis and structural analysis and as another distinction different types of raw data: either user actions or state descriptions. The Cool Modes environment for collaborative modeling enables us to explore the whole spectrum of analysis methods. Action logging is based on the MatchMaker communication server underlying Cool Modes. Example instances for several analysis met
Structuring collective activities with tasks and plans
Symba is a Web-based framework designed to support collective activities in a learning context. In order to make students explicitly work out their organization it dissociates an "organizational level" and an "activity level" and allows students to describe their organization as plans composed of tasks.
Cowos: A Model of Collective Work Situations to Support Modelling and Simulation Based Approaches of
This paper describes an operational model of collective work situations. This model is rooted in the CHAT theory. It allows creating multi-agent simulations where the agents behaviour is defined in terms that make salient organization issues, and allows building learning situations that focus on making students consider explicitly these issues.
Using mobile technologies for multimedia tours in a traditional museum setting
Mobile technology was used to deliver learner-centred experiences to visitors at a geology museum without compromising the museums aesthetic appeal. Two Flash-based multimedia tours were developed for the Hypertag Magus Guide system and trialled with 25 visitors in November 2005. Trial participants found the system fun and easy to use, though they requested headphones in order to hear the audio clearly. Several suggestions were provided to improve the tours including creating stronger links b
PRAXIS - Pervasive Rehabilitation of Aphasia with an eXtensible Interactive System
This thesis describes computer-assisted (CA) methods for the treatment of acquired language impairment in adult aphasics. A key design objective of this project was the elimination of the indirect manipulation of keyboard and mouse (in CA speech language therapy sessions) in favour of the direct manipulation of virtual and physical objects afforded by touchscreen display and radio frequency identification technology (RFID).
While computer-assisted treatment of aphasia has been used since the 196
Physics learning with a computer Algebra systems: Towards a learning environment that promotes enhan
To become proficient problem-solvers, physics students need to form a coherent and flexible understanding of problem situations they are confronted with. This is important both for solving problems and for interpreting solutions. Still, many students have only a limited representation of the problems they are working on. Therefore, we devised an instructional approach to promote students' understanding of these problems, and to support them in forming associations between problem features and so
Combining heuristics and formal methods in a tool for supporting simulation-based discovery learning
This paper describes the design of a tool to support learners in simulation-based discovery learning environments. The design redesigns and extents a previous tool to overcome issues that came up in a classroom learning setting. The tool focuses on supporting learners with experimentation to identify or test hypotheses. The aim is not only to support learning domain knowledge, but also learning discovery learning skills. For this purpose the tool uses heuristics and formal methods to assess the
Improvement of JXTA protocols for supporting reliable distributed applications in P2P systems
In any distributed application, the communication between the distributed processes/nodes of the distributed systems is essential for both reliability and efficiency matters. In this work we address this issue for distributed applications based on JXTA protocols. After a careful examination of the current version of JXTA protocols, we observed the need for improving the original JXTA protocols, such as pipe services, to ensure reliable communication between peer nodes and the discovery and prese
Adaptive and Intelligent Web-based Educational Systems
daptive and intelligent Web-based educational systems (AIWBES) provide an alternative to the traditional just-put-it-on-the-Web approach in the development of Web-based educational courseware (Brusilovsky & Miller, 2001). AIWBES attempt to be more adaptive by building a model of the goals, preferences and knowledge of each individual student and using this model throughout the interaction with the student in order to adapt to the needs of that student. They also attempt to be more intelligen
Do two heads search better than one? Effects of student collaboration on Web search behavior and sea
This study compared Pairs of students with Single students in Web search tasks. The underlying hypothesis was that peer-to-peer collaboration encourages students to articulate their thoughts, which in turn has a facilitative effect on the regulation of the search process as well as search outcomes. Both hypotheses were supported by the results. Pairs located the target information more often and in less time than Singles did. Pairs also employed a richer repertoire of search strategies and were
Une typologie des fonctions des modèles formels : l'exemple de la biologie
Une typologie des fonctions des modèles est construite à partir dun cadre théorique (Nifle) permettant de définir le rapport entre modèle et expérience. Il est admis quil existe un lien entre la manière dont on modélise en tant quexpert ou chercheur et la manière dont on apprend à modéliser en tant quétudiant, et que ce lien repose sur le rapport expérience/modèle. La typologie est construite pour le cas particulier des modèles formels (utilisant un formalisme mathématiqu
Internal and external collaboration scripts in web-based science learning at schools
Collaboration scripts can help learners to engage in argumentation and knowledge acquisition. However, they might have differential effects for learners holding differently structured knowledge (internal scripts) on argumentation. We investigated how external scripts interact with learners internal scripts concerning collaborative argumentation. 98 students from two secondary schools participated. Two versions of an external collaboration script (high vs. low structured) supporting argumentati
Lutilisation dun arbre des tâches pour concevoir et analyser des situations dapprentissage :
Afin de prendre en compte les difficultés que les élèves ont pour donner du sens aux activités expérimentales, ce qui leur fait perdre de vue lobjectif initial du T.P. et les connaissances visées, nous proposons de leur faire concevoir le protocole des expériences. À travers trois exemples de situations de T.P. mises au point et expérimentées dans des classes de Terminale S, nous montrons comment la structuration du protocole expérimental dans un arbre de tâche, permet d'analyser e
The evolution of research on collaborative learning
For many years, theories of collaborative learning tended to focus on how individuals function in a group. More recently, the focus has shifted so that the group itself has become the unit of analysis. In terms of empirical research, the initial goal was to establish whether and under what circumstances collaborative learning was more effective than learning alone. Researchers controlled several independent variables (size of the group, composition of the group, nature of the task, communication
Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future: a vision and research agenda
This report is the result of a series of workshops organized by the Computing Research Association and the International Society of the Learning Sciences with support from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. REC-0449247).
The purpose of the workshop series was to explore where we are in the application of pervasive computing power to education, and where we need to be. In particular, the intent was to develop a map of where NSF can strategically place its resources in creating the learni
