2026 - EduTec Science

Nov22026 by Zhifan SunNo Comments

[NEW PUB] Two EduTech papers presented at the main track of EMNLP Conference

Two papers from EduTech have been accepted to the main track of the 2026 Empirical Methods in Natural Language Conference (EMNLP) and were presented at the conference in Budapest, Hungary. Paper1:Alice: A Large-Scale German Benchmark for Rubric-Based Multi-Dimensional Automatic Short Answer Scoring This paper presents the full Alice Dataset, a large-scale German student answer scoring benchmark. The novelty of the benchmark lies in the multidimensional scoring, where each student answer is scored according to three subtasks: Learning Performance, which measures how well the student answers the question directly; Knowledge Elements, where each answer is scored by how well the student masters and utilises the target concepts for each question; and Skill, which is the cognitive concepts required by each question. In addition, each available level in three subtasks is annotated…

Oct302026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

PhD Defense: A Multimodal Immersive Technology Approach in Running: Congratulations, Dr. Cardenas Hernandez!

Multimodal Learning Analytics, PhD defense

We extend our warmest congratulations to our dear alumni and associate, Fernando Pedro Cardenas Hernandez, on the successful defense of his PhD thesis on Thursday, 29.10.2026! Great job, Dr. Fernando! We’re so proud of you for achieving this milestone! In his dissertation “Beyond the Physical Toward Mental Training: Investigating a Multimodal Immersive Technology Approach in Running”, Fernando explores the potential of immersive technologies, like Virtual Reality (VR), to promote a holistic approach to learning and improving running skills. His research aims to address the gap in contemporary training practices that often focus on physical and biomechanical analysis while neglecting the cognitive dimensions of performance. [pdf-embedder url="https://edutec.science/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Slides_Fernando.pdf"] As a starting point for his research, he consulted experienced running coaches to identify four interdependent aspects of holistic running training: physical, technical,…

Oct282026 by Sebastian GombertNo Comments

[New Pub] How Do I Say It Best? What Prompt Optimisation Can Reveal About Optimal Prompt Formulation In LLM-based Automated Short Answer Scoring

New Pub

How much does the wording of a prompt matter when AI scores students’ answers? In our paper, we investigated this using three open-weight language models and two English-language short-answer scoring benchmarks. We compared human-written prompts with prompts automatically refined using ProTeGi, which analyses scoring errors and proposes improved instructions. Across 135 paired comparisons, optimisation delivered a median improvement of around two F1 points. Beyond improving performance, it also revealed patterns in effective prompt design: optimised prompts used more words that make logical relationships explicit, such as “if” and “because,” and shorter noun phrases. These features were also associated with better scoring performance, while more directive verbs were associated with poorer results. Our findings suggest that clear logical structure and simpler phrasing are promising principles for prompt design, and that automatic…

Oct272026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

A Warm Welcome to Our Guest Researcher Laís Pisetta van Vossen

Team

We are delighted to welcome Laís Pisetta van Vossen as a guest researcher in our team! Laís has recently completed her master’s degree in applied computing at UDESC University in Brazil. During her master’s studies she focused on the analyzation of conceptual map data and developed the concept map tool CoMEA. She has published and contributed to several peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings papers and has actively participated in recognized international conferences, such as AIED 2024 and ECTEL 2025. She will use her one year stay at DIPF as a research station to further develop her work, integrate it with the ongoing studies in the field and strengthen her research foundation before formally beginning a PhD in Germany. During her stay, she will work closely with the EduTec team, collaborating…

Oct192026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: How Students Think About and Act Upon Personalized, Automated Feedback on Transactivity

Computer-supported collaborative learning, Conference, Feedback, Higher Education, Publication

A key factor for success in collaborative learning environments is transactivity. This process, whereby learners engage with and build upon the ideas of others, is crucial for learning outcomes. In today's digital learning environments, AI-powered speech and text analysis can be used to measure the extent to which learners interact with one another. In a recent randomized field study involving 252 student teachers, a research team examined how different forms of automated feedback influence the transactivity in online discussions. The study compared basic feedback (BAF), consisting of general information and a performance summary, with highly informative feedback (HIF), consisting of highly personalized, detailed feedback on various aspects of transavtivity. The results were surprising: Although the participants rated the personalized feedback significantly more positively, it did not lead to any measurable…

Oct72026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Keynote: 5 years of Highly Informative Learning Analytics

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Feedback, Higher Education, Keynote, Learning Analytics, Learning Design, Research Methods, School

Five years in forty minutes On 7 October 2026, Hendrik Drachsler gave a keynote at the CBIE 2026 conference in Goiana, Brazil, that tried something unusual: time travel. He compressed five years of field research, seven projects and roughly 5,750 students into one forty-minute talk. The question behind the keynote was simple: after five years of developing and testing Highly Informative Learning Analytics (HILA) in real lecture halls, what do we actually know? Not what we hoped HILA might achieve back in 2020, but what five years of our own research and data now tell us. What HILA set out to do HILA starts with a modest observation: most lecture rooms still offer very little personalisation. Learning analytics promised to change that, but its rollout in Europe stalled on four…

Oct72026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

PhD defense: Congratulations, Dr. Manuel Valle Torre!

Artificial Intelligence, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, PhD defense, School

Today, 07.10.2026 at 15:00, Manuel Valle Torre successfully defended his PhD thesis "Sequences in Data to Represent Learning Processes: What have you tried until now?" at Delft University of Technology. Hendrik Drachsler was honoured to take part as an independent member of the doctoral committee. [pdf-embedder url="https://edutec.science/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Manuel-defense-slides.pdf"] Manuel's thesis starts with a question every programming tutor knows: "What have you tried until now?" Digital learning environments usually assess only the final product, so this question is hard for them to answer. In three phases, Manuel shows how sequences of learner actions can be used to understand learning processes and support them while they happen. He developed ELAT for analysing edX log data, reviewed the field of learning sequence analysis, and studied problem-solving in data science notebooks. He then built JELAI,…

Sep302026 by GianlucaNo Comments

mISPL: Mini Framework for Intelligent Systems for Psychomotor Learning @ ECTEL 26

Conference, Workshop

I recently had the pleasure of presenting my latest work at the MILeS 2026 workshop (Fourth International Workshop on Multimodal Immersive Learning Systems), held during the ECTEL 2026 conference in Valencia, Spain. It was an incredible week of pushing the boundaries of technology-enhanced learning, exchanging ideas, and building lasting professional bonds. Here is a quick recap of my experience, from early-stage frameworks to visionary futures and unforgettable social gatherings. Part 1: Introducing mISPL In the first part of the workshop, I presented my paper: "mISPL: Mini Framework for Intelligent Systems for Psychomotor Learning". While comprehensive frameworks like PsyLearn exist for building full-fledged psychomotor tutoring systems, they can often feel overwhelming for researchers in the early stages of development. That is where mISPL comes in. It is a streamlined, accessible "mini"…

Sep292026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Dr. Fabíola Gonçalves Joins the EduTec Group as Research Fellow

Team

We warmly welcome Dr. Fabíola Gonçalves as a new member of our EduTec team at DIPF. Dr. Fabíola is a postdoctoral researcher and has recently been awarded a CAPES-Humboldt Research Fellowship. Her project “AI-Supported Co-Design for Personalized Feedback and Teaching Enhancement” will be supervised by Prof. Hendrik Drachsler and focuses on the analysis, investigation and integration of AI support to enhance teaching and learning practices. Dr. Fabíola completed her PhD in Computer Science at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, in cooperation with the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. From 2013 to 2025, she worked as a professor and researcher at the Federal Institute Goiano, Brazil, contributing to teaching, student supervision and scientific projects in secondary and higher education contexts. Dr. Fabíola’s areas of expertise include Software Engineering, System Specification and Design, Project Management and Human-Computer Interaction. Currently, her research focus includes human-centered approaches, particularly in Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), Learning Analytics and the use of Large Language…

Sep252026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Implementation of AI-based Feedback and Assessment – IMPACT Project Evaluation Report

Artificial Intelligence, Feedback, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Publication, Report

How can universities provide individual feedback and useful support systems to every student when class sizes continue to grow and learner needs become increasingly diverse? Artificial intelligence offers promising opportunities to provide personalized learning and teaching support on a larger scale. Yet as regulations regarding data protection, transparency and the responsible use of AI continue to evolve, institutions face a difficult balancing act between innovation and regulatory compliance. These issues were addressed in the IMPACT project (Implementation of AI-based Feedback and Assessment with Trusted Learning Analytics in Higher Education Institutions), which explored how AI can support students and educators throughout the academic journey. Its goal was to develop AI-based methods for the semi-automated analysis of academic texts, to allow for more effective support in learning, teaching and assessment. A key…