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- Creators: VanLehn, Kurt
- Creators: Buss, Ray R
- Status: Published
Description
This thesis is an initial test of the hypothesis that superficial measures suffice for measuring collaboration among pairs of students solving complex math problems, where the degree of collaboration is categorized at a high level. Data were collected
in the form of logs from students' tablets and the vocal interaction between pairs of students. Thousands of different features were defined, and then extracted computationally from the audio and log data. Human coders used richer data (several video streams) and a thorough understand of the tasks to code episodes as
collaborative, cooperative or asymmetric contribution. Machine learning was used to induce a detector, based on random forests, that outputs one of these three codes for an episode given only a characterization of the episode in terms of superficial features. An overall accuracy of 92.00% (kappa = 0.82) was obtained when
comparing the detector's codes to the humans' codes. However, due irregularities in running the study (e.g., the tablet software kept crashing), these results should be viewed as preliminary.
in the form of logs from students' tablets and the vocal interaction between pairs of students. Thousands of different features were defined, and then extracted computationally from the audio and log data. Human coders used richer data (several video streams) and a thorough understand of the tasks to code episodes as
collaborative, cooperative or asymmetric contribution. Machine learning was used to induce a detector, based on random forests, that outputs one of these three codes for an episode given only a characterization of the episode in terms of superficial features. An overall accuracy of 92.00% (kappa = 0.82) was obtained when
comparing the detector's codes to the humans' codes. However, due irregularities in running the study (e.g., the tablet software kept crashing), these results should be viewed as preliminary.
ContributorsViswanathan, Sree Aurovindh (Author) / VanLehn, Kurt (Thesis advisor) / T.H CHI, Michelene (Committee member) / Walker, Erin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Research in the learning sciences suggests that students learn better by collaborating with their peers than learning individually. Students working together as a group tend to generate new ideas more frequently and exhibit a higher level of reasoning. In this internet age with the advent of massive open online courses (MOOCs), students across the world are able to access and learn material remotely. This creates a need for tools that support distant or remote collaboration. In order to build such tools we need to understand the basic elements of remote collaboration and how it differs from traditional face-to-face collaboration.
The main goal of this thesis is to explore how spoken dialogue varies in face-to-face and remote collaborative learning settings. Speech data is collected from student participants solving mathematical problems collaboratively on a tablet. Spoken dialogue is analyzed based on conversational and acoustic features in both the settings. Looking for collaborative differences of transactivity and dialogue initiative, both settings are compared in detail using machine learning classification techniques based on acoustic and prosodic features of speech. Transactivity is defined as a joint construction of knowledge by peers. The main contributions of this thesis are: a speech corpus to analyze spoken dialogue in face-to-face and remote settings and an empirical analysis of conversation, collaboration, and speech prosody in both the settings. The results from the experiments show that amount of overlap is lower in remote dialogue than in the face-to-face setting. There is a significant difference in transactivity among strangers. My research benefits the computer-supported collaborative learning community by providing an analysis that can be used to build more efficient tools for supporting remote collaborative learning.
The main goal of this thesis is to explore how spoken dialogue varies in face-to-face and remote collaborative learning settings. Speech data is collected from student participants solving mathematical problems collaboratively on a tablet. Spoken dialogue is analyzed based on conversational and acoustic features in both the settings. Looking for collaborative differences of transactivity and dialogue initiative, both settings are compared in detail using machine learning classification techniques based on acoustic and prosodic features of speech. Transactivity is defined as a joint construction of knowledge by peers. The main contributions of this thesis are: a speech corpus to analyze spoken dialogue in face-to-face and remote settings and an empirical analysis of conversation, collaboration, and speech prosody in both the settings. The results from the experiments show that amount of overlap is lower in remote dialogue than in the face-to-face setting. There is a significant difference in transactivity among strangers. My research benefits the computer-supported collaborative learning community by providing an analysis that can be used to build more efficient tools for supporting remote collaborative learning.
ContributorsNelakurthi, Arun Reddy (Author) / Pon-Barry, Heather (Thesis advisor) / VanLehn, Kurt (Committee member) / Walker, Erin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University recently adopted a "technology infusion" approach to prepare teacher candidates (TC) to integrate technology into their instruction and meet the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Teachers (ISTE Standards*T) by infusing technology integration approaches into methods courses. At the onset of the technology infusion approach, one important ISTE Standard-T was neglected in the curriculum--that is, digital citizenship (DC), i.e., the responsible, legal, and ethical use of technology. To address this problem of practice, a suite of teaching materials and support services was created, the Technology Infusion Support System (TISS), to help instructors effectively teach DC. The suite consisted of four online modules on essential DC topics including copyright/fair use, digital footprint/social media, acceptable use policies, and responsible student behavior. The support component consisted of ongoing just-in-time support from a technology integration specialist, an instructor's guide, and a resource folder.
This mixed methods action research study was conducted to examine: DC instruction by those who used the TISS and the influence of DC instruction on TC's intention to promote and model DC in their future classrooms. With respect to the second objective, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) guided study efforts.
Participants included teacher education faculty members who taught DC in technology-infused methods courses, their students, and the technology infusion specialists who provided ongoing support to instructors throughout the duration of the study. Data gathered included survey data, observations, focus group interviews, instructor interviews, and researcher journal entries. Results suggested the TISS was a useful intervention in a college using a technology infusion approach. Course instructors provided consistent instruction on a topic outside of their area of expertise. Further, there was a significant increase in the students' intention to promote and model DC in their future classrooms. The discussion focuses on explaining: the effectiveness of DC instruction; how instruction in DC changes students' intentions to promote and model DC; and the usefulness of the TPB model in understanding how attitudes toward DC, and perceived behavioral control, i.e., efficacy, influence intention to promote and model DC.
This mixed methods action research study was conducted to examine: DC instruction by those who used the TISS and the influence of DC instruction on TC's intention to promote and model DC in their future classrooms. With respect to the second objective, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) guided study efforts.
Participants included teacher education faculty members who taught DC in technology-infused methods courses, their students, and the technology infusion specialists who provided ongoing support to instructors throughout the duration of the study. Data gathered included survey data, observations, focus group interviews, instructor interviews, and researcher journal entries. Results suggested the TISS was a useful intervention in a college using a technology infusion approach. Course instructors provided consistent instruction on a topic outside of their area of expertise. Further, there was a significant increase in the students' intention to promote and model DC in their future classrooms. The discussion focuses on explaining: the effectiveness of DC instruction; how instruction in DC changes students' intentions to promote and model DC; and the usefulness of the TPB model in understanding how attitudes toward DC, and perceived behavioral control, i.e., efficacy, influence intention to promote and model DC.
ContributorsLindsey, LeeAnn (Author) / Buss, Ray R (Thesis advisor) / Zucker, Stanley (Committee member) / Fritschi, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Lots of previous studies have analyzed human tutoring at great depths and have shown expert human tutors to produce effect sizes, which is twice of that produced by an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). However, there has been no consensus on which factor makes them so effective. It is important to know this, so that same phenomena can be replicated in an ITS in order to achieve the same level of proficiency as expert human tutors. Also, to the best of my knowledge no one has looked at student reactions when they are working with a computer based tutor. The answers to both these questions are needed in order to build a highly effective computer-based tutor. My research focuses on the second question. In the first phase of my thesis, I analyzed the behavior of students when they were working with a step-based tutor Andes, using verbal-protocol analysis. The accomplishment of doing this was that I got to know of some ways in which students use a step-based tutor which can pave way for the creation of more effective computer-based tutors. I found from the first phase of the research that students often keep trying to fix errors by guessing repeatedly instead of asking for help by clicking the hint button. This phenomenon is known as hint refusal. Surprisingly, a large portion of the student's foundering was due to hint refusal. The hypothesis tested in the second phase of the research is that hint refusal can be significantly reduced and learning can be significantly increased if Andes uses more unsolicited hints and meta hints. An unsolicited hint is a hint that is given without the student asking for one. A meta-hint is like an unsolicited hint in that it is given without the student asking for it, but it just prompts the student to click on the hint button. Two versions of Andes were compared: the original version and a new version that gave more unsolicited and meta-hints. During a two-hour experiment, there were large, statistically reliable differences in several performance measures suggesting that the new policy was more effective.
ContributorsRanganathan, Rajagopalan (Author) / VanLehn, Kurt (Thesis advisor) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Burleson, Winslow (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study purposed to determine the effect of an endogenously designed instructional game on conceptual understanding of the associative and distributive properties of multiplication. Additional this study sought to investigate if performance on measures of conceptual understanding taken prior to and after game play could serve as predictors of game performance. Three versions of an instructional game, Shipping Express, were designed for the purposes of this study. The endogenous version of Shipping Express integrated the associative and distributive properties of multiplication within the mechanics, while the exogenous version had the instructional content separate from game play. A total of 111 fourth and fifth graders were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (endogenous, exogenous, and control) and completed pre and posttest measures of conceptual understanding of the associative and distributive properties of multiplication, along with a questionnaire. The results revealed several significant results: 1) there was a significant difference between participants' change in scores on the measure of conceptual understanding of the associative property of multiplication, based on the version of Shipping Express they played. Participants who played the endogenous version of Shipping Express had on average higher gains in scores on the measure of conceptual understanding of the associative property of multiplication than those who played the other versions of Shipping Express; 2) performance on the measures of conceptual understanding of the distributive property collected prior to game play were related to performance within the endogenous game environment; and 3) participants who played the control version of Shipping Express were on average more likely to have a negative attitude towards continuing game play on their own compared to the other versions of the game. No significant differences were found in regards to changes in scores on the measure of conceptual understanding of the distributive property based on the version of Shipping Express played, post hoc pairwise comparisons, and changes on scores on question types within the conceptual understanding of the associative and distributive property of multiplication measures. The findings from this study provide some support for a move towards the design and development of endogenous instructional games. Additional implications for the learning through digital game play and future research directions are discussed.
ContributorsDenham, Andrew (Author) / Nelson, Brian C. (Thesis advisor) / Atkinson, Robert K. (Committee member) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / VanLehn, Kurt (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Online teacherpreneurs are current and former PreK-12 teachers who share their original classroom resources in online marketplaces where teachers download them for a small fee. Online teacherpreneurs’ resources are becoming prolific in classrooms today. Meanwhile, online teacherpreneurs stand to gain financially and professionally. This exploratory study drew on conceptual frameworks from entrepreneurship and teacher leadership to describe the practice of online teacherpreneurship in terms of the characteristics of the people who participate, the school environments in which they work, and the possible impacts they experience. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used. In phase one, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with online teacherpreneurs who ranked in the top 1% of sellers on TeachersPayTeachers.com for profits earned. In phase two, the results of the interviews were used to develop a quantitative survey, which was distributed to an international sample of 412 TeachersPayTeachers.com sellers with various levels of experience and sales success. Results from both phases were analyzed separately and together, indicating that online teacherpreneurs viewed themselves as helpful, hard-working, creative, and organized. While some online teacherpreneurs worked in supportive school environments, others worked in unsupportive or ambivalent schools. Most online teacherpreneurs kept their online business and classroom teaching separate. They reported that online teacherpreneurship involved a variety of practices including creating educational resources, collaborating with teachers, collaborating with fellow teacherpreneurs, and engaging in entrepreneurial endeavors such as marketing. They also believed they experienced impacts including improvements to teaching practice, teacher leadership opportunities, and some professional stressors. Implications for online teacherpreneurs and other stakeholders including teachers, school and district leaders, and teacher educators are considered.
ContributorsCrane, Catharyn Carisa (Author) / Archambault, Leanna M (Thesis advisor) / Buss, Ray R (Committee member) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The mathematics test is the most difficult test in the GED (General Education Development) Test battery, largely due to the presence of story problems. Raising performance levels of story problem-solving would have a significant effect on GED Test passage rates. The subject of this formative research study is Ms. Stephens’ Categorization Practice Utility (MS-CPU), an example-tracing intelligent tutoring system that serves as practice for the first step (problem categorization) in a larger comprehensive story problem-solving pedagogy that purports to raise the level of story problem-solving performance. During the analysis phase of this project, knowledge components and particular competencies that enable learning (schema building) were identified. During the development phase, a tutoring system was designed and implemented that algorithmically teaches these competencies to the student with graphical, interactive, and animated utilities. Because the tutoring system provides a much more concrete rather than conceptual, learning environment, it should foster a much greater apprehension of a story problem-solving process. With this experience, the student should begin to recognize the generalizability of concrete operations that accomplish particular story problem-solving goals and begin to build conceptual knowledge and a more conceptual approach to the task. During the formative evaluation phase, qualitative methods were used to identify obstacles in the MS-CPU user interface and disconnections in the pedagogy that impede learning story problem categorization and solution preparation. The study was conducted over two iterations where identification of obstacles and change plans (mitigations) produced a qualitative data table used to modify the first version systems (MS-CPU 1.1). Mitigation corrections produced the second version of the MS-CPU 1.2, and the next iteration of the study was conducted producing a second set of obstacle/mitigation tables. Pre-posttests were conducted in each iteration to provide corroboration for the effectiveness of the mitigations that were performed. The study resulted in the identification of a number of learning obstacles in the first version of the MS-CPU 1.1. Their mitigation produced a second version of the MS-CPU 1.2 whose identified obstacles were much less than the first version. It was determined that an additional iteration is needed before more quantitative research is conducted.
ContributorsRitchey, ChristiAnne (Author) / VanLehn, Kurt (Thesis advisor) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Committee member) / Hong, Yi-Chun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
With advances in automatic speech recognition, spoken dialogue systems are assuming increasingly social roles. There is a growing need for these systems to be socially responsive, capable of building rapport with users. In human-human interactions, rapport is critical to patient-doctor communication, conflict resolution, educational interactions, and social engagement. Rapport between people promotes successful collaboration, motivation, and task success. Dialogue systems which can build rapport with their user may produce similar effects, personalizing interactions to create better outcomes.
This dissertation focuses on how dialogue systems can build rapport utilizing acoustic-prosodic entrainment. Acoustic-prosodic entrainment occurs when individuals adapt their acoustic-prosodic features of speech, such as tone of voice or loudness, to one another over the course of a conversation. Correlated with liking and task success, a dialogue system which entrains may enhance rapport. Entrainment, however, is very challenging to model. People entrain on different features in many ways and how to design entrainment to build rapport is unclear. The first goal of this dissertation is to explore how acoustic-prosodic entrainment can be modeled to build rapport.
Towards this goal, this work presents a series of studies comparing, evaluating, and iterating on the design of entrainment, motivated and informed by human-human dialogue. These models of entrainment are implemented in the dialogue system of a robotic learning companion. Learning companions are educational agents that engage students socially to increase motivation and facilitate learning. As a learning companion’s ability to be socially responsive increases, so do vital learning outcomes. A second goal of this dissertation is to explore the effects of entrainment on concrete outcomes such as learning in interactions with robotic learning companions.
This dissertation results in contributions both technical and theoretical. Technical contributions include a robust and modular dialogue system capable of producing prosodic entrainment and other socially-responsive behavior. One of the first systems of its kind, the results demonstrate that an entraining, social learning companion can positively build rapport and increase learning. This dissertation provides support for exploring phenomena like entrainment to enhance factors such as rapport and learning and provides a platform with which to explore these phenomena in future work.
This dissertation focuses on how dialogue systems can build rapport utilizing acoustic-prosodic entrainment. Acoustic-prosodic entrainment occurs when individuals adapt their acoustic-prosodic features of speech, such as tone of voice or loudness, to one another over the course of a conversation. Correlated with liking and task success, a dialogue system which entrains may enhance rapport. Entrainment, however, is very challenging to model. People entrain on different features in many ways and how to design entrainment to build rapport is unclear. The first goal of this dissertation is to explore how acoustic-prosodic entrainment can be modeled to build rapport.
Towards this goal, this work presents a series of studies comparing, evaluating, and iterating on the design of entrainment, motivated and informed by human-human dialogue. These models of entrainment are implemented in the dialogue system of a robotic learning companion. Learning companions are educational agents that engage students socially to increase motivation and facilitate learning. As a learning companion’s ability to be socially responsive increases, so do vital learning outcomes. A second goal of this dissertation is to explore the effects of entrainment on concrete outcomes such as learning in interactions with robotic learning companions.
This dissertation results in contributions both technical and theoretical. Technical contributions include a robust and modular dialogue system capable of producing prosodic entrainment and other socially-responsive behavior. One of the first systems of its kind, the results demonstrate that an entraining, social learning companion can positively build rapport and increase learning. This dissertation provides support for exploring phenomena like entrainment to enhance factors such as rapport and learning and provides a platform with which to explore these phenomena in future work.
ContributorsLubold, Nichola Anne (Author) / Walker, Erin (Thesis advisor) / Pon-Barry, Heather (Thesis advisor) / Litman, Diane (Committee member) / VanLehn, Kurt (Committee member) / Berisha, Visar (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Colleges and universities have continued to refine their understanding of engagement, affinity, and retention. At Arizona State University (ASU), the goal has been to continually retain first-year students at a 90%+ retention rate. At ASU, two key aspects of the first-year experience have been employed to foster retention. First, ASU has grouped on-campus students so they lived in residential colleges, housing students with others in the same college, to aid retention of first-year students. Second, ASU has required first-year students to take a 101 class, an orientation to ASU resources (library, advising, etc.) and its community (student organizations, clubs, etc.). The residential college living experience has afforded students opportunities to intentionally engage in campus events, connect with other students, and develop a vision for success. The 101 class has provided students with opportunities to learn about resources and community that have enriched their first-year experiences. Together, these two key approaches have offered students pathways to building initial engagement at the institution. The current research study was conducted to examine the ways in which students became engaged during their initial semester at ASU. Student participants in this study all lived in the W. P. Carey (WPC) Residential College Community in Hassayampa Academic Village (HAV) and were enrolled in WPC 101—Student Success in Business. WPC 101 was focused on helping students navigate college and learn about campus resources.
In the study, the researcher infused three Engagement Workshops into the WPC 101 curriculum alongside pre-existing assignments to afford students learning opportunities for a richer, deeper exploration and reflection on their first-semester experience. Students participated in a pre- and post-intervention survey, contributed written narratives and reflections, and six students completed individual interviews.
Results of the study, particularly the qualitative results, indicated (a) quality of relationships, (b) ASU community, and (c) campus environment emerged as variables that served as the ‘roots of engagement’ for these first-semester students Thus, the current work extended previous research on engagement by identifying the initial developmental aspects of engagement among first-semester, university students. The discussion included detailed explanations of the results, limitations, implications for research and practice, lessons learned, and conclusions.
In the study, the researcher infused three Engagement Workshops into the WPC 101 curriculum alongside pre-existing assignments to afford students learning opportunities for a richer, deeper exploration and reflection on their first-semester experience. Students participated in a pre- and post-intervention survey, contributed written narratives and reflections, and six students completed individual interviews.
Results of the study, particularly the qualitative results, indicated (a) quality of relationships, (b) ASU community, and (c) campus environment emerged as variables that served as the ‘roots of engagement’ for these first-semester students Thus, the current work extended previous research on engagement by identifying the initial developmental aspects of engagement among first-semester, university students. The discussion included detailed explanations of the results, limitations, implications for research and practice, lessons learned, and conclusions.
ContributorsLeyson, Timothy Paul (Author) / Buss, Ray R (Thesis advisor) / Brown, Matthew (Committee member) / Shapiro, Cory (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This study was conducted to assess the performance of 176 students who received algebra instruction through an online platform presented in one of two experimental conditions to explore the effect of personalized learning paths by comparing it with linearly flowing instruction. The study was designed around eight research questions investigating the effect of personalized learning paths on students’ learning, intrinsic motivation and satisfaction with their experience. Quantitative results were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and split-plot ANOVA methods. Additionally, qualitative feedback data were gathered from students and teachers on their experience to better explain the quantitative findings as well as improve understanding of how to effectively design an adaptive personalized learning platform. Quantitative results of the study showed no statistical difference between students assigned to treatments that compared linear and adaptive personalized instructional flows.
The lack of significant differences was explained by two main factors: (a) low usage and (b) platform and content related issues. Low usage may have prevented students from being exposed to the platforms long enough to create a potential for differences between the groups. Additionally, the reasons for low usage may in part be explained by the qualitative findings, which indicated that unmotivated and tired teachers and students were not very enthusiastic about the study because it occurred near the end of school year. Further, computer access was a challenging issue at the school throughout the study. On the other hand, platform and content related issues worked to inhibit the potential beneficial effects of the platforms. The three prominent issues were: (a) the majority of the students found the content boring or difficult, (b) repeated recommendations from the adaptive platform created frustration, and (c) a barely moving progress bar caused disappointment among participants.
The lack of significant differences was explained by two main factors: (a) low usage and (b) platform and content related issues. Low usage may have prevented students from being exposed to the platforms long enough to create a potential for differences between the groups. Additionally, the reasons for low usage may in part be explained by the qualitative findings, which indicated that unmotivated and tired teachers and students were not very enthusiastic about the study because it occurred near the end of school year. Further, computer access was a challenging issue at the school throughout the study. On the other hand, platform and content related issues worked to inhibit the potential beneficial effects of the platforms. The three prominent issues were: (a) the majority of the students found the content boring or difficult, (b) repeated recommendations from the adaptive platform created frustration, and (c) a barely moving progress bar caused disappointment among participants.
ContributorsBicer, Alpay (Author) / Bitter, Gary G. (Thesis advisor) / Buss, Ray R (Committee member) / Legacy, Jane M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015