New Pub: Tracking students’ progression in developing understanding of energy using AI technologies

New Pub: Tracking students’ progression in developing understanding of energy using AI technologies

Artificial Intelligence, Journal, Publication, School
[caption id="attachment_7553" align="alignright" width="400"] Instructional unit, with pre- and post-test, as well as lesson-set-level assessment[/caption] In physics education, some students fail to have the foundational knowledge of energy concepts needed to engage in societal debates on climate change and energy transformation. A newly published study highlights the potential of AI to identify students with different learning trajectories and to help bridge the knowledge gaps. The researchers used a digital workbook designed to teach energy concepts to collect detailed interaction data from over 500 students. After applying exclusion criteria, data from 172 students were analyzed to identify their productive and unproductive learning curves. [caption id="attachment_7554" align="alignleft" width="400"] Example single choice pretest item[/caption] By using machine learning, specifically random forest models, and natural language processing (NLP), the researchers were able to classify…
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New Pub: Pedagogical Framework for Hybrid Intelligent Feedback

New Pub: Pedagogical Framework for Hybrid Intelligent Feedback

Artificial Intelligence, Feedback, Journal, Publication
[caption id="attachment_7525" align="alignright" width="300"] Principles of hybrid intelligent Feedback[/caption] ChatGPT and other Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools have quickly become an active part of everyday academic life. Both teachers and students use them regularly to do research, summarize texts or responses, create exercises or quizzes or explain course content. But GenAI needs to be used in a sensible manner and consistent with sound teaching principles. Otherwise, it could lead to an over-reliance on technology and neglect the important roles of teachers and students. Ideally, GenAI should be used to complement rather than replace human-centered education. When pedagogical practices combine the strengths of humans and AI, this can ultimately lead to enhanced creativity, empathy and academic comprehension of students. A recently published paper explores a promising field of human-AI collaboration in…
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ML2MT at the “AI and the Future of Society” Symposium

ML2MT at the “AI and the Future of Society” Symposium

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Event
At the final symposium “AI and the Future of Society” on April 23, 2025, the ML2MT project team presented key outcomes from their research on human-machine collaboration. Moving beyond traditional AI, the project explored how machines and humans can mutually benefit and learn from each other in a continuous loop. The results of this interdisciplinary project span multiple domains: In medicine, AI systems were found not only to assist diagnoses but also to promote reflection among professionals, encouraging deeper awareness of their decision-making processes. In education, adaptive AI tools were developed to analyze student feedback and help teachers identify learning gaps more effectively. In human-AI interaction, systems were designed to remember and apply user feedback, improving efficiency and reducing the need for repetitive input. Looking ahead, the project will focus…
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New Pub: On-Your Marks, Ready? Exploring the User Experience of a VR Application for Runners

New Pub: On-Your Marks, Ready? Exploring the User Experience of a VR Application for Runners

Multimodal Learning Analytics, Publication
Do you wish to be a better runner and ready to get going? Becoming a better runner is more than just choosing the right pair of running shoes and increasing your physical ability to perform a successful run. You also need to be mentally prepared to increase your running productivity. Here is where Virtual Reality (VR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help. Up until now, there have been limited options available for mental training using technologies like sensors and actuators. These technologies have primarily been used to improve physical training. A newly published study explores the possibilities that VR and CBT have to create a technology-based mental training for athletes. Our team carried out a formative study to explore the user experience by incorporating CBT techniques into VR technology,…
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New Pub: Enhancing User Onboarding in Virtual Reality Educational Applications

New Pub: Enhancing User Onboarding in Virtual Reality Educational Applications

Multimodal Learning Analytics, Publication
Learning in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment can be a captivating and immersive experience for students. Despite the potential that VR has to help students learn in new and exciting ways, many students may also struggle during their initial interactions with a given VR environment. Whether or not effective user onboarding takes place can be the make or break of an application’s success. A new publication sheds light on this key challenge of effective onboarding by exploring how pre-training methods impact the onboarding experience in VR educational applications. 36 people, primarily university students, participated in a study to understand how different approaches affected their ability to navigate VR environments and their overall satisfaction. The findings show that pre-training helps users get an orientation and slightly boosts satisfaction, but it falls…
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A Warm Welcome to Our Guest Researcher Paola Pavone Salafia

A Warm Welcome to Our Guest Researcher Paola Pavone Salafia

Artificial Intelligence, Team
We are pleased to announce that Paola Pavone Salafia, a doctoral researcher from the University of Macerata (UniMC) and the European University of Rome (UER), will be joining us as a guest researcher from 10.03 – 10.06.205. Paola's work focuses on the use of advanced technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), in education to foster inclusive and innovative teaching practices. Her research aligns closely with our ongoing studies on learning disabilities, educational accessibility and teacher agency, particularly in the context of AI-supported teaching methodologies. Paola's research aims to explore how AI can enhance personalized learning for students with special educational needs, as well as investigate the role of AI as a “dual teacher”, which works alongside educators to enrich teaching experiences. Paola will join the HyTea project led by Daniele Di Mitri…
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New Pub: Memorizing Plans With an App

New Pub: Memorizing Plans With an App

Journal, Learning Analytics, Publication, School, Self-Regulation
Mobile phones and devices are an integral part of the daily lives of students, and educators are increasingly trying to take advantage of this day-to-day usage for educational purposes. But how can mobile technologies, like app-based learning activities, be designed to effectively help students in the learning process? [caption id="attachment_7331" align="alignright" width="500"] Screenshots of the reading (A), puzzle (B), and emoji (C) activity[/caption] A newly published study from Daniel Biedermann, Jasmin Breitwieser, Lea Nobbe, Hendrik Drachsler and Garvin Brod tries to answer this question. Using the PROMT app, the team compared three types of learning activities used by children aged 9 to 14 years to memorize one learning plan per day over the course of 27 days. The activities varied in their planned level of cognitive engagement based on the…
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New Pub: The Student Feedback Literacy Instrument (SFLI)

New Pub: The Student Feedback Literacy Instrument (SFLI)

Feedback, Further Education, Journal, New Pub
In the context of higher education, feedback plays an especially important role in the learning process. For students it is not only important to receive feedback, but also to be able to understand and process this feedback in a manner which helps them make learning progress. The knowledge, skills and attitudes students need to navigate the feedback process successfully are referred to as feedback literacy. A recently published study presents a refined version of the Student Feedback Literacy Instrument (SFLI), which offers a powerful tool to measure feedback literacy construct across multiple languages and cultures. The SFLI aims to measure feedback literacy across two key dimensions: feedback attitudes and feedback practices. The full-length version of the instrument was recently refined and tested, alongside a short-form version (SFLI-S), in a multilingual…
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Legal Assessment of AI and Learning Analytics in Teaching and Learning

Legal Assessment of AI and Learning Analytics in Teaching and Learning

Artificial Intelligence, Learning Analytics, Press, Report
As with any new technology, the laws and regulations relating to them seem to always be one step behind and one can feel somewhat lost in a foggy, legal grey zone. The same is true for the use of AI. Using AI in a legally compliant way depends on its specific application, its range and the technical details. This has to be checked and regulated in accordance with the law in order to be able to use each AI technology safely, for the intended purpose and in compliance with data protection regulations. But how can universities know if they are using Learning Analytics and AI technologies in a legally compliant manner? In a first step in answering this question, the Goethe University has recently published an extensive legal assessment about…
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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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