PhD Defense: Achieving Gender Equity in STEM Education With CSCL

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…
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PhD Defense: A Bridge between Learning Analytics and Learning Design

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

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.…
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PhD Defense: A Deep Dive into Visual Learning Analytics

PhD Defense: A Deep Dive into Visual Learning Analytics

Award, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, PhD defense, School
On September 13th, Hendrik Drachsler took on the esteemed role of opponent in the PhD defense of Artemis Mohseni at Linnaeus University, Sweden. The defense, which marked a pivotal moment in Artemis’s academic journey, centered around her innovative doctoral thesis titled "Development of Visual Learning Analytics Tools to Explore Performance and Engagement of Students in Primary, Secondary, and Higher Education." The evaluation commission was formed by: Associate professor Olga Viberg, Royal Institute of Technolgy, Sweden Associate professor Linnéa Stenliden, Linköpings University, Sweden Professor Johan Lundin, University of Gothenburg, Sweden Associate professor Fisnik Dalipi, Linnaeus University, Sweden Associate professor Arianit Kurti, Linnaeus University, Sweden It was an exciting defense that showcased Artemis’s research, which focuses on the potential of Visual Learning Analytics (VLA) to enhance teaching and learning by providing actionable…
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Successful PhD Defense: Understanding Self-Regulated Learning in Blended Learning Environments

Successful PhD Defense: Understanding Self-Regulated Learning in Blended Learning Environments

Learning Analytics, PhD defense, School, Self-Regulation
On the 28th of June Hendrik Drachsler had the honor of being a jury member for the PhD defense of Esteban Villalobos at the University of Toulouse. Esteban successfully defended his thesis titled “Developing a Learning Analytics framework to understand the temporal behavior of students in Blended Learning Environments“. Especially in Blended Learning (BL) settings, Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is crucial for student success. These environments require students to manage their learning not only in online, but also in traditional in-person activities. Esteban’s thesis advances our understanding of SRL in BL contexts through a comprehensive approach, using Learning Analytics (LA) techniques as well as the latest Sequence Analysis (SA) advancements to examine students’ behaviors via trace data and self-reported measures. One of the main goals of his thesis is the manifestation…
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PhD defense on Technological Responses to Distracting Media Multitasking in Digital Learning Environments

PhD defense on Technological Responses to Distracting Media Multitasking in Digital Learning Environments

Award, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, PhD defense, School, Self-Regulation
Today, we proudly acknowledge the remarkable achievement of our team member, Daniel Biedermann, in successfully defending his PhD thesis to become Dr. Biedermann. Woohoo, congratulations! In our modern world, the reality of digital distractions through the attention economy cannot be denied. Countries like the Netherlands, for instance, are planning to ban mobiles from classrooms starting from 2024. Daniel's PhD work centered on the complex challenges of digital media distraction, a phenomenon that's prevalent largely due to our pervasive use of social media and notification systems on our phones, PCs, and tablets. Presented in his disputation, Daniel argued the need for a context-sensitive system to gain a more profound understanding of digital media distraction. In addition, Daniel addressed the crucial subject of digital self-control tools (DSCTs). His research, which provided a…
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DGHD Nachwuchspreis for Joshua Weidlich

DGHD Nachwuchspreis for Joshua Weidlich

Award, Conference, Higher Education, PhD defense
At this year's DGHD2022 in Paderborn, the German Society for Higher Education Pedagogy (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hochschuldidaktik: DGHD) awarded Dr. Joshua Weidlich for his dissertation on the topic of social presence in online distance education. Supervised by Prof. Dr. Theo Bastiaens, he conducted his dissertation at FernUniversität in Hagen, the largest distance education provider in Germany. The jury commended the scientific merits of advancing this line of research while also providing ample practical implications for higher education teaching. The dissertation is available online here and further information about the award will be published here.
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PhD defense: Measuring the Unmeasurable? Towards Automatic Co-located Collaboration Analytics

PhD defense: Measuring the Unmeasurable? Towards Automatic Co-located Collaboration Analytics

Artificial Intelligence, Book, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Multimodal Learning Analytics, PhD defense, Press
Collaboration is one of the most important skills in the 21st century. Education, therefore, focuses on learning to cooperate, both in online and face-to-face settings. Learning Analytics is increasingly being used to analyse collaborations. Can face-to-face collaborations be analysed automatically by means of sensor technology? And what is the quality of the analyses generated by this? Sambit Praharaj developed a technical prototype to achieve automated collaboration analytics. On Friday 11 March 2022 at 1.30 pm Sambit defended his thesis 'Measuring the Unmeasurable? Towards Automatic Co-located Collaboration Analytics' at the Open University in Heerlen. Collaboration analytics using sensor technology Sambit Praharaj investigated the possibilities of automating collaboration analytics in face-to-face settings. He developed a prototype that measures the quality of collaboration. Praharaj also developed a dashboard that visualises the data and…
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PhD defense: Educational innovation towards organizational development: the art of governing open and online education in Dutch higher education institutions

PhD defense: Educational innovation towards organizational development: the art of governing open and online education in Dutch higher education institutions

Book, Higher Education, Open access, PhD defense, Press
Forms of open online education can bring about innovation in teaching and learning. Yet there is still little sign of this transformation at higher education institutions. How can open online education innovations be embedded in higher education institutions? And what organisational preconditions for open online education exist at various levels? On Friday 18 February 2022 at 4 pm, Martine Schophuizen defended her thesis entitled "Educational innovation towards organizational development: the art of governing open and online education in Dutch higher education institutions" at the Open Universiteit in Heerlen. Open Online Education (OOO) For years, there have been high expectations regarding the potential of forms of open online education (OOO), for example, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). However, research into the effects of OOO still provides too few insights into increasing…
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PhD defense by Tobias Rohloff: Learning Analytics at Scale Supporting Learning and Teaching in MOOCs with Data-Driven Insights

PhD defense by Tobias Rohloff: Learning Analytics at Scale Supporting Learning and Teaching in MOOCs with Data-Driven Insights

Learning Analytics, Lifelong Learning, PhD defense
Today I had the pleasure to participate in the PhD defense of Tobias Rohloff. The overall aim of this dissertation is to investigate the implementation of LA at the scale of MOOCs and to explore how data-driven technology can support learning and teaching in this context. To this end, several research prototypes have been iteratively developed for the HPI MOOC Platform. Hence, they were tested and evaluated in an authentic real-world learning environment. Most of the results can be applied on a conceptual level to other MOOC platforms as well. The research contribution of this thesis thus provides practical insights beyond what is theoretically possible. In total, four system components were developed and extended: (1) The Learning Analytics Architecture: A technical infrastructure to collect, process, and analyze event-driven learning data based…
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