Atezaz Ahmad, Author at EduTec Science

Oct232023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

New Pub: Development and initial validation of an instrument to measure student feedback literacy

Empirical Study, Feedback, Higher Education, Journal, Open access, Publication

To ensure quality higher education, students should routinely receive feedback on their academic endeavors. Alongside the question of what makes feedback effective, there is also an emerging research literature about empowering students to understand and utilize that feedback effectively. These abilities and attitudes of students have recently been subsumed under the concept of feedback literacy. The concept of feedback literacy was conceived by Carless and Boud (2018) as “the understandings, capacities, and dispositions needed to make sense of information and use it to enhance work or learning strategies.” Since then, a vibrant research literature has developed theoretical frameworks, explored dimensions of feedback literacy, and investigated whether feedback literacy can systematically be enhanced, etc. However, what is still missing are larger-scale rigorous investigations of the extent to which feedback literacy actually…

Oct22023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

New Pub: Two Peer Commentaries on Aligning the Goals of Learning Analytics with its Research Scholarship

Commentary, General education, Learning Analytics, Open access

To promote cross-community dialogue on matters of significance within the field of learning analytics (LA), the editors-in-chief of the Journal of Learning Analytics (JLA) have introduced a section for papers that are open to peer commentary. The first submission that was open to peer commentary is “A LAK of Direction: Misalignment Between the Goals of Learning Analytics and its Research Scholarship” by Motz et al. (2023) in which the authors compare the current state of research with the definition of learning analytics by reviewing research published in the past three years in LAK and JLA. Their aim is to answer the question: Is the learning analytics community doing what it set out to do, i.e. understand and optimise learning? Two of the peer commentaries submitted in response to this article are…

Sep292023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

Conference: Demo and paper presentations at EARLI 2023

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Feedback, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Self-Regulation, Workshop

This year, the biannual EARLI conference took place between 21-26 August 2023 in Thessaloniki, Greece and EduTec member Ioana Jivet represented DIPF with two contributions. The 1.5-hour ICT demo Closing the Feedback Loop - A Moodle Plugin for (Semi-)automated Feedback introduced participants to the work of PhD student Tornike Giorgashvili, supervised by Hendrik Drachsler and Ioana Jivet, and the outcomes of the HIKOF project: LearnDashPlus, a Moodle plugin which helps teachers provide written feedback in large courses. This tool also prompts students to reflect on the feedback they received and allows teachers to explore if such feedback helps students to understand their learning behavior and improve their learning performance. Our tool is intended to work as an educational intervention and an instrument of dialogue between teachers and students and thus closing…

Sep292023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

Workshop: 5th CARLA Workshop at ECTEL 2023

Conference, Learning Analytics, Workshop

The fifth edition of Workshop on Culturally Aware Learning Analytics (CARLA) was organised by Ioana Jivet from Goethe University and DIPF together with Maren Scheffel from Ruhr University Bochum and Olga Viberg from KTH Stockholm. During the workshop, the participants were engaged in discussions around the design of educational technologies and rated the workshop positively. The rationale behind the workshop is that learning analytics (LA) have been implemented in various countries, often at a limited scale. We have also seen that LA have been used in different ways in different countries. This makes the transfer of LA solutions from one country to another challenging, due to varying contextual, technical, and cultural factors. In this workshop, we aim to identify and discuss possible cultural differences and also similarities–the factors that have…

Sep262023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

New publication: Use of digital self-control tools in higher education

Empirical Study, Higher Education, Open access, Publication, Research topic, Self-Regulation, Target group

Digital Self-Control Tools in Higher Education: A Dive into Effectiveness and Perception While the accessibility to information and the myriad of online learning resources offer a wealth of benefits, the potential for distraction can hinder academic progress. Addressing this paradox, our educational technologies research group has delved into the realm of digital self-control tools (DSCTs) to better understand their utilization, effectiveness, and perception among higher education students. Our findings have been published in the article "Use of digital self-control tools in higher education – a survey study" in the journal "Education and Information Technologies". A widespread issue among students today is the struggle between immediate gratification and the pursuit of long-term academic goals. Distractions such as social media browsing and video watching can often compete with essential study time. The…

Sep232023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

Jane at the 13th Brazilian-German Frontiers of Science and Technology Symposium

Event, Invited talk

From 21-24 September, 2023, Jane was invited to present the project GREAT: Games Realising Effective and Affective Transformation at the 13th Brazilian-German Frontiers of Science and Technology Symposium in Bremen, Germany. Jane was invited to present in the Healthcare session of the Symposium via invitation only. Each Symposium brings together 60 scientists from a wide range of disciplines (30 each from Germany and Brazil). The conference format allows for the exchange of ideas across disciplinary as well as national boundaries and, provides opportuniites for future binational collaborations and networking. This is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The aim of the talk was to make potential collaborations on the use of computer games to improve and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Jane participated in a 15-minute presentation followed…

Sep62023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

New Publication: Contextualized Logging of On-Task and Off-Task Behaviours During Learning

Journal, Open access, Publication, Report, Technical paper

We are happy to announce the publication of our latest research paper that delves into the intricate relationship between digital media usage and the learning experience. The paper addresses key challenges related to monitoring on-task and off-task behavior and suggests innovative solutions for a more effective and ethical study of learners' media habits.Traditionally, researchers have faced a myriad of challenges in accurately gauging how students utilize digital media while learning. Self-reported data often suffer from issues like faulty memory, subjective perceptions, and bias. Understanding whether digital media use enhances or hinders the learning experience is an incredibly complex issue. We identified and addressed four core challenges in logging digital media use during learning: The logging system must only be active during the learning period to capture relevant data. Data collection…

Aug222023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

Workshop: “Anwendungsfelder von (KI-) Lerntechnologien” Klausurtagung Landesamt für Schule und Bildung Sachsen

Transfer Activity, Workshop

Auf der 2. Klausurtagung des Landesamts für Schule und Bildung Sachsen, die am 22. und 23. August 2023 in Meißen stattfand, leitete Onur Karademir einen Workshop mit dem Titel "Anwendungsfelder von (KI-) Lerntechnologien". Der Schwerpunkt lag auf den Gelingensbedingungen für den Transfer von Bildungsinnovationen im Bereich EdTech in Schulen. Im Rahmen des Workshops wurden verschiedene Lerntechnologien im Bildungskontext vorgestellt, darunter Intelligente Tutorensysteme (ITS), Teacher-Dashboards sowie automatische Freitextauswertung und Feedback-Generierung. Besonderes Augenmerk lag auf der Diskussion des Potenzials von ITS und Adaptiven Lernsystemen. Diese Werkzeuge bieten die Möglichkeit zur skalierbaren Binnendifferenzierung, indem sie individuelles Lernen in eigenem Tempo und auf individuellem Niveau während Selbstlernphasen ermöglichen. Ein praktisches Beispiel für Teacher Dashboards wurde am Projekt AFLEK erläutert mit dem Learning Analytics Cockpit (LA Cockpit). Das LA Cockpit soll Lehrkräfte bei der Lernstandsdiagnose der…

Aug222023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

Common Purpose zu Gast beim DIPF (KI in der Bildung: Chancen und Risiken für die Gesellschaft)

Transfer Activity

Sebastian Gombert und Onur Karademir, Forscher am DIPF im Bereich KI in der Bildung und Learning Analytics, leiteten am 18. Juli 2023 unseren Workshop "Künstliche Intelligenz in der Bildung: Chancen, Herausforderungen für die Gesellschaft". Ziel war es, Schlüsselfragen anzugehen: Wie unterstützen KI-getriebene Lerntechnologien Lehren und Lernen? Welche Forschungsbeispiele illustrieren Möglichkeiten und Grenzen? Wie können wir mit KI-Sprachmodelle wie GPT oder LLaMA automatisiert wirksames Feedback erstellen? Welche Potenziale und Risiken ergeben sich aus KI-gestützter Bildungstechnologie? Nach einem kurzen Impuls durch Forschungs- und Praxisbeispiele traten Teilnehmende in den Fokus und berichteten über Ihre Perspektiven und Herausforderungen zu dem Thema. English Version: Sebastian Gombert and Onur Karademir, researchers at DIPF in the area of AI in Education and Learning Analytics, led our workshop "Artificial Intelligence in Education: Opportunities, Challenges for Society" on July…

Aug72023 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

New Pub: How well does teacher education prepare for teaching with technology?

Competence development, Digitalisation, Empirical Study, Higher Education, Journal, Open access, Publication

Despite large-scale investments into the technological infrastructure of K-12 education, research has repeatedly shown that many teachers lack the expertise to effectively incorporate technology into classroom teaching. To support teachers in this, there is a need to understand how and when the relevant knowledge develops during teacher training. To this end, Joshua Weidlich and Marco Kalz conducted a study at Heidelberg University of Education, sampling prospective teachers (N = 526) and analyzing their self-reported technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) across the seven dimensions of the framework. Specifically, they assessed (1) the extent to which students more advanced in their studies reported higher TPACK, (2) the effect of gender on these trajectories, and (3) the potential role of curricular cornerstones of the teacher education program. Regarding (1), they found that not…