Event Archives - EduTec Science

Mar242025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Best Senior Reviewer Award Presented to Hendrik Drachsler

At the LAK 2025 conference in Dublin, Ireland, Hendrik Drachsler was honored with the Best Senior Reviewer Award. We congratulate Hendrik for this high level of recognition for his outstanding contributions to the scientific peer-reviewing process! The Best Senior Reviewer award is not just a statement of appreciation, it represents a commitment to academic integrity, knowledge exchange and high-quality research. At a time when the peer review process is under increasing pressure, recognizing and valuing reviewers is a crucial step in maintaining the credibility and advance of Learning Analytics as a discipline. Especially in fast-moving fields like Learning Analytics and AI in education there has been a rapid increase of academic publications, which has created a large bottleneck in the peer review process. Many journals and conferences struggle to find…

Mar42025 by Jane YauNo Comments

GREAT Consortium Meeting in Frankfurt – 27-28.02.2025

Event, Project meeting

The GREAT project team met for the 3rd in-person consortium meeting at the DIPF Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education in Frankfurt Am Main, Germany on 27-28 February 2025. At the project coordinating institute, Hendrik Drachsler (project coordinator) and Jane Yau (project manager) welcomed collaborating partners: Joaquin Alonso, Dai Griffiths (UNIR, Spain) Anna Merry (Frederick University, Cyprus) Paul Watson, Paul Hollins, Rebecca Harris, Anchal Garg, Celestine Iwendi (University of Bolton, England) Jude Ower, Joost Schuur (PlanetPlay, England) Katharina Koller, Claudia Fabian (Centre for Social Innovation, Austria) Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen (Serious Games Interactive, Denmark) The two-day event included elaborate discussions on strategies to achieve the remaining project goals, targets and key performance indicators, as well as upcoming case studies and publications to undertake in order to help us achieve our…

Dec32024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

PhD Defense: Achieving Gender Equity in STEM Education With CSCL

Computer-supported collaborative learning, Gender, PhD defense

Our treasured colleague, Dana Kube, successfully defended her PhD thesis on November 29th at the Open University in Heerlen, Netherlands. We warmly congratulate Dr. Kube for her great academic achievements and advancements in the field of CSCL and gender research! In her dissertation titled “Gender & CSCL – Exploring the Relation of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and Gender Bias in Research and Practice”, Dana emphasizes that gender equity is not just a goal, but a necessity for sustainable development and illustrates the role of gender in research and practice. It remains a challenge to understand which aspects of gender are most important in research, and how to interpret findings in the context of pervasive gender stereotypes and biases. This issue is especially pressing in the field of STEM, where gender…

Dec22024 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

PhD Defense: A Bridge between Learning Analytics and Learning Design

Book, Event, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Learning Design, Multimodal Learning Analytics, PhD defense, Publication, School

We warmly congratulate our esteemed associate partner, DR. Marcel Schmitz, on successfully defending his PhD thesis on November 29, 2024. Marcel is a senior lecturer and researcher in Data Intelligence and the Applied Data Science & Artificial Intelligence program at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. In his dissertation, titled “Towards Learning Analytics-Supported Learning Design”, he focused on how education can be better personalized by incorporating learning analytics already in the design and course planning. His dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler (DIPF | Leibniz Institute & Goethe University Frankfurt), with co-supervisors Prof. Dr. Maren Scheffel (Ruhr University Bochum) and Dr. Roger Bemelmans (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences). Marcel's dissertation provides actionable strategies not only for higher education but also for other educational sectors. His work envisions a future…

Nov82024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

PhD Defense on Software Infrastructure for Contextualized Learning Analytics in Online Education

Learning Analytics, PhD defense

We warmly congratulate our esteemed alumni George-Petru Ciordas-Hertel on the successful defense of his PhD thesis this past Tuesday, 05.11.2024! Way to go, Dr. George! We are proud of you for achieving this milestone! At universities we have seen a big shift to online education in the past ten years, as universities have continuously integrated technology into educational environments. This development has brought students and educators new possibilities, but also challenges. A promising method is Learning Analytics (LA), which uses data to gain insights into learning behaviors and enhance educational outcomes. In his dissertation, George highlights a critical limitation in traditional learning analytics: they often overlook significant aspects of learners’ digital and physical environments. His research proposes that integrating contextual information from these environments could make LA even more effective.…

Nov72024 by Daniele Di MitriNo Comments

Guest Talk at Monash University

Feedback, Invited talk

During his recent research visit to Australia, Daniele Di Mitri had the privilege of presenting at Monash University, specifically at the Centre for Learning Analytics Monash (COLAM). His talk, titled “The Quest for Automated Feedback,” explored the evolving role of AI in education, particularly in providing meaningful feedback to students. As generative AI tools like ChatGPT become increasingly popular among students seeking feedback on their essays, a critical question arises: How effective is this feedback? Daniele's research delves into the complexities of generating automated feedback, emphasising that it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Feedback is inherently context-dependent, influenced by various factors, including the learner’s needs, the task at hand, and the feedback modality. The literature on feedback is vast and nuanced. Daniele referenced several foundational models, including Hattie & Timperley (2007) and…

Oct222024 by Daniele Di MitriNo Comments

HyTea Project Meeting with BMBF: A Day of Insight and Collaboration

Project meeting

On October 22nd, 2024, the HyTea project team gathered on the 12th floor of DIPF for a pivotal meeting with representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The agenda was packed with insightful presentations, discussions, and collaborative planning, all aimed at advancing the project's goals. The formal proceedings started with a warm welcome by project leader Daniele Di Mitri and the presentation of engaging trailers of the prototypes developed for the HyTea project. The two prototypes are systems (AI tutors) that can be used to train presentation skills. After that, Jan Schneider took the stage to show the starting point of the HyTea project: the Presentation Trainer. His presentation offered valuable insights into the project's training components, emphasising innovative approaches and research gaps. The doctoral candidates Nina…

Oct172024 by Dana KubeNo Comments

Girls and Women in STEM Forum of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT)

Artificial Intelligence, Award, Conference, Digitalisation, Event, Transfer Activity

Our Co-Worker Dana Kube was selected to be a jury member of this year's Girls and Women in STEM Award of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) in Budapest. Read her report: I'm still buzzing with the energy from the Women and Girls in STEM Forum 2024! It was an inspiring day filled with conversations on AI, inclusion, and the future of STEM with girls and women from all over Europe. The keynote speakers, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen and Ilaria Tagliavini, emphasised the urgent need for more women to lead the next generation of scientists in Europe, highlighting the European Commission’s commitment to this mission through strategic plans for STEM education. Ilaria celebrated Girls Go Circular’s expansion to 32 countries, recognising the need for a mindset shift towards greater…

Oct92024 by Daniele Di MitriNo Comments

Exploring Complexity in Human Learning at the Johanna Quandt Young Academy School

Feedback, Invited talk

On Monday, 7th October 2024, Dr. Daniele Di Mitri had the pleasure of presenting at the Johanna Quandt Young Academy School, held at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften in Bad Homburg. This event was a fantastic opportunity to delve into the intricate topic of "Complexity in Human Learning" alongside Dr. Elena Galeano Weber. Dr. Di Mitri's segment of the presentation focused on "Supporting Learning with AI through Feedback." He explored the multifaceted nature of complexity in human learning and discussed the critical aspects to consider when designing meaningful AI-automated feedback. The goal was to highlight how AI can be leveraged to enhance learning experiences by providing timely and relevant feedback, thus supporting learners in navigating complex educational landscapes. Understanding complexity in human learning is crucial for developing effective educational tools and strategies.…

Oct22024 by Jane YauNo Comments

GREAT Project at the Science Festival Frankfurt

Event, Promotion activity

GREAT project manager, Dr. Jane Yau, was at the Science Festival Frankfurt on 28.9.2024. This Science Festival was the first one that took place in Frankfurt and was located at Rossmarkt at the city centre. The festival had a multi-faceted program with 16 stands with experiments, workshops and exciting entertainment, plus discussions, talks and rap on the main stage. As part of the GREAT (Games Realising Effective and Affective Transformation, www.greatproject.gg) project, Jane had the pleasure of being there to showcase the new Play2Act: Gaming for Climate and Nature Survey, made in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program. Jane talked to several citizens who expressed their interests and concerns for the climate emergency and wishing to participate and do more. A number of participants also filled in the survey, which…