News - Page 8 of 38 - EduTec Science

Oct72024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Learning At and From a Virtual Conference

In light of the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis, many academic conferences have switched from face-to-face to virtual or hybrid conferences. The advantages of completely virtual conferences are clear. The organizers don’t need to look for physical rooms to book or need to organize food or drinks for participants. For the participants, this form of conferences can also be advantageous because there are no travel expenses and no travel time. Those participating from other countries can even take part in the conference despite being in different time zones or continents. The advantages go hand in hand with the disadvantages of limited personal interaction: no scientific (or leisurely) discussions during a coffee break or a chance to get to know fellow researchers seated nearby before a session begins. With all…

Oct22024 by Atezaz AhmadNo 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…

Sep302024 by Sebastian WollnyNo Comments

Exploring the Future of Learning: Edutec at the Frankfurt Science Festival 2024

Event, Transfer Activity

The Edutec team successfully participated in the Frankfurt Science Festival 2024 at the Rossmarkt square, organized by the Frankfurt Alliance, and was present at the DIPF booth. Under the motto "Try Out Learning Technologies," visitors had the chance to explore a variety of innovative technologies. Our Highlights: Strategic Running Training: Experience the "Pacing" running strategy through Virtual Reality and take part in a virtual race through the streets of Frankfurt. Supporting Climate Protection through Games: Two engaging games – a quiz game and a dilemma game – offer insights into climate protection. These games are part of a Horizon Europe project in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program. Pilates Feedback: Discover a new Pilates experience with our app, offering real-time feedback and exciting video game elements to make your…

Sep192024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

From Office Talks to Lecture Halls: Congratulations and Farewell to Joshua Weidlich

Team

It doesn’t happen often that one can witness a colleague taking an inspiring leap into a new and exciting chapter of their careers. But today, we celebrate just that, as we send our warmest congratulations to our esteemed colleague Dr. Joshua Weidlich as he takes up a tenure track professorship at the University of Zurich and the Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich starting in October. To embark on this new journey, Joshua will be swapping the Frankfurt Skyline for the Swiss mountains. We are excited for him for this change of scenery, but will miss him dearly. Joshua has been part of the EduTec family for 3.5 years – which accounts to roughly 1,278 cups of coffee and probably even more team and project meetings. His incredibly helpful and consistently friendly nature…

Sep142024 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

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…

Sep142024 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

HILA goes to school – Keynote at ISDT24, Linnaeus University, Sweden

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Feedback, Keynote, Learning Analytics, School

What happens when Highly-Informative Learning Analytics (HILA) goes to school? That’s exactly what Hendrik Drachsler explored during his keynote at the 3rd International Symposium on Digital Transformation (ISDT24) in Linnaeus University Växjö, Sweden. His talk highlighted the impact of the AFLEK project, a transformative initiative under the HILA research program, which focuses on improving learning outcomes in secondary schools through actionable data and AI-driven tools. The keynote wasn't just about theoretical advances; it presented real-world applications that are actively shaping how secondary education functions today. Through three key publications, Drachsler demonstrated how the integration of Data-Enriched Learning Activities (DeLA), teacher dashboards, and empirical research has paved the way for improved teaching practices and measurable student success. Let’s dive into what happens when HILA meets the classroom. Key Highlights from Hendrik…

Sep92024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

A Warm Welcome: Our Guest Researcher Víctor Alonso-Prieto Begins His Visit

Team

We are very excited to welcome Víctor Alonso-Prieto, who has just joined the EduTec team as a visiting researcher from the University of Valladolid, Spain. His three-month research visit from 10.09 till 15.12.2024 promises to inspire new collaborations and bring fresh insights into the field of educational technologies. His research stay at DIPF will be supervised by Dr. Daniele Di Mitri and he will work together with members of the HyTea project as well as other researchers from the EduTec and EduCS team. We look forward to this time of research and exchange! Here is a short introduction of our visitor Víctor: Current PhD project Víctor is currently pursuing a PhD in Transdisciplinary Research in Education. Víctor’s PhD project, which is co-supervised by Dr. Sara Lorena Villagrá-Sobrino and Dr. Yannis…

Sep42024 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Keynote at #LearningAID24, Bochum Germany

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Event, Higher Education, Keynote, Learning Analytics, Learning Design

At the recent #LearningAID24 conference in Bochum, Germany, Hendrik Drachsler delivered a keynote that challenged conventional perspectives on Learning Analytics and AI in education. He opened the discussion by examining the often ambiguous boundary between Learning Analytics and AI in education, posing a thought-provoking question: are these two areas truly distinct, or do they converge into one shared domain? Beyond theoretical discussions, Hendrik presented early empirical findings from the research program on Highly-Informative Learning Analytics (HILA), advocating for a more evidence-based approach to integrating Learning Analytics and AI into education. The goal, he argued, should be to ensure that these technologies effectively meet the informational needs of learners, providing meaningful and actionable insights. He framed the 2nd conference day around the theme: INFORMED PRECISION - This concept captures the need…

Jul182024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Revolutionizing Essay Scoring with Hierarchical Rater Models

Artificial Intelligence, Assessment, Higher Education, Journal, New Pub

For a special issue on Natural Language Processing in Psychology we proposed a hierarchical rater model-based approach to address the challenges in automatic essay scoring. Essay writing tests are an integral part of educational systems, essential for assessing students' critical thinking, articulation and understanding. Since the manual scoring process requires significant resources and time, teachers are beginning to use Automated Essay Scoring (AES), which is potentially capable of alleviating the manual effort involved. #AutomatedEssayScoring #NaturalLanguageProcessing #FormativeAssessment #EducationalTechnology #MachineLearning #AIinEducation #HierarchicalRaterModel #EdTech #ScoringAutomation #AI #AssessmentTools #MeasurementInvariance #TransformerModels #EducationResearch #UniversityTesting #AIModels #TechInEducation There are an abundance of available models and each one has its own unique features and scoring methods. Thus, selecting the optimal model is complex and challenging, especially when different aspects of content have to be assessed over a number…

Jul122024 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Advancing Automated Analysis of Concept Maps at AIED24

Artificial Intelligence, Feedback, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Publication, School, Workshop, Workshop

The 25th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2024), held from July 8-12 in Recife, Brazil, was a significant event for the Highly Informative Learning Analytics Research Programme. This year marked the first Brazilian-German cooperation in this field, supported by the Alexander Humboldt Foundation, the DIPF in Frankfurt and IPN in Kiel under the ALICE project. Two workshop papers presented at the conference showcased innovative approaches to automatically analyze concept maps, promising to automate the way educators assess and understand the student-created context. #AIED24 #LearningAnalytics #ConceptMaps #AIinEducation #EducationalTechnology #MachineLearning #CulturalDiversity #RealTimeFeedback #EdTech #AI #Education #CrossCulturalCollaboration Paper 1: The Influence of Diverse Educational Contexts on Concept Map Structures Authors: Laís P. Van Vossen, Isabela Gasparini, Elaine H. T. Oliveira, Berrit Czinczel, Ute Harms, Lukas Menzel, Sebastian Gombert, Knut Neumann,…