Jane, as the project-coordinator, presented HIKOF-DL in the Track – AI & Technology, at the University Future Festival on 27.4.2023.

Abstract:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we made use of artificial intelligence and learning analytics technologies for both lecturers’ and students’ online teaching and learning gains. Using these technologies, the team designed and implemented novel ways of providing highly-informative competence driven feedback (hicof) to large classes of university students (≈1000) for three innovative online assignments. We built machine learning models to automatically assess the assignments and reduced the time required for staff to manually grade them. High-informative feedback provides correct solutions, possibilities for improvement, hints on self-regulation and effective learning strategies (Wisniewski, Zierer and Hattie, 2020; Winne & Hadwin, 2008), and on two different levels – Feed Up (concerning their understanding of the learning goal) and Feed Forward (concerning their next steps in their learning process) (Hattie & Timberley, 2007). Competence driven feedback is feedback that is given to students based on a competence framework (set up by the course responsible) consisting of all the learning goals and objectives of the course, and the skills and knowledge that students should gain after  course completion. All of the course assignments are associated with a number of learning objectives, and feedback is given based on a calculation of the competences that students showed in their submitted assignments.

A pilot study (2021/22) was completed to collect students’ responses in their assignments in order to build machine learning models, which could be used to automatically assess them in the evaluation study (2022/23) and provide hicof to students. Learning analytics indicators were used to collect information relating to what students have understood. The three assignments are 1) a text-based essay where students should address ten items that were discussed in the (online) lecture and commonly presented in the short online tutorial, 2) a forum discussion assignment where students should collaboratively complete a learning task and 3) a concept map assignment, where students should demonstrate their overall understanding of the topics and subtopics being taught by displaying the branches and nodes in the correct arrangement. We also collected students’ feedback based on the hicof that was given to them.

15.3.2023 – HIKOF-DL Presentation at Technology-Based Assessment Research Group at DIPF

Additionally, Jane also presented and shared project findings with the TBA group. In order to enable more effective collaboration and communication between TBA and EduTech team members, the presentation introduced the project members, goals, results and findings, and the connection between other projects. The purpose of the presentation was as well to create more awareness of the existing projects currently being worked on at the DIPF.