Tien-Chi Huang · Ting-Ting Wu ·

João Barroso · Frode Eika Sandnes ·

Paulo Martins · Yueh-Min Huang (Eds.)
LNCS 12555

Innovative Technologies
and Learning
Third International Conference, ICITL 2020
Porto, Portugal, November 23–25, 2020
Proceedings
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 12555

Founding Editors
Gerhard Goos
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Juris Hartmanis
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Editorial Board Members

Elisa Bertino
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Wen Gao
Peking University, Beijing, China
Bernhard Steffen
TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany
Gerhard Woeginger
RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Moti Yung
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
More information about this subseries at http://www.springer.com/series/7409
Tien-Chi Huang Ting-Ting Wu
• •

João Barroso Frode Eika Sandnes

• •

Paulo Martins Yueh-Min Huang (Eds.)

•

Innovative Technologies
and Learning
Third International Conference, ICITL 2020
Porto, Portugal, November 23–25, 2020
Proceedings

123
Editors
Tien-Chi Huang Ting-Ting Wu
National Taichung University of Science National Yunlin University of Science
and Technology and Technology
Taichung City, Taiwan Douliou, Taiwan
João Barroso Frode Eika Sandnes
University of Trás-os-Montes Oslo Metropolitan University
and Alto Douro Oslo, Norway
Vila Real, Portugal
Yueh-Min Huang
Paulo Martins National Cheng Kung University
University of Trás-os-Montes Tainan City, Taiwan
and Alto Douro
Vila Real, Portugal

ISSN 0302-9743 ISSN 1611-3349 (electronic)

Lecture Notes in Computer Science
ISBN 978-3-030-63884-9 ISBN 978-3-030-63885-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6
LNCS Sublibrary: SL3 – Information Systems and Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI

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 Preface

The International Conference of Innovative Technologies and Learning (ICITL 2020),

is a platform provided for those who are working on educational technology to get
together and exchange experience. Benefiting from using a variety of emerging
innovative technologies, the e-learning environment has become highly diversified
along the way. Diversified innovative technologies have fueled the creation of
advanced learning environments by adopting appropriate pedagogies. Moreover, those
technologies not only facilitate learning but also actively help students reach maxi-
mized learning performances. However, due to the rapid evolution of new technolo-
gies, how to make use of those technologies by complying with effective pedagogies to
create adaptive or smart learning environments has always been in demand. Therefore,
this conference intends to provide a platform for researchers in education, computer
science, and educational technology to share experiences of effectively applying
cutting-edge technologies to learning and to further spark brightening prospects. It is
hoped that the findings of each work presented at the conference can enlighten relevant
researchers and education practitioners to create more effective learning environments.
ICITL is always ready to the public to share their works.
Due to the unfolding COVID-19 outbreak and travel restrictions, this year’s con-
ference was held virtually and interactively. Therefore, all accepted papers in each
session were presented interactively in a virtual meeting room. This year, we received
127 submissions from 24 countries worldwide. After a rigorous double-blind review
process, 65 papers were selected as full papers and 2 paper were selected as short
papers, yielding an acceptance rate of 53%. These contributions cover the latest
findings in the areas, including: 1) Application and Design of Innovative Learning
Software; 2) Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Design, and Mathematics; 3)
Augmented and Virtual Reality in Education; 4) Augmented and Virtual Reality in
Education; 5) Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics; 6) Emerging Issues
and Trends in Education; 7) Innovative Learning in Education; 8) Online Course and
Web-Based Environment; and 9) Technology-enhanced Learning. Moreover, ICITL
2020 featured two keynote presentations by renowned expert and scholars: Prof.
Yi-Shun Wang and Prof. Carlos Fiolhais. They brought insight into Educational
Technology Systems Success Models as well as Prophecies and Fulfilments in
Computer-aided Education.
We would like to thank the Organizing Committee for their efforts and time spent to
ensure the success of the conference. We would also like to express our gratitude to the
Program Committee members for their timely and helpful reviews. And last but not
least, we would like to thank all the authors for their contribution in maintaining a
vi Preface

high-quality conference – we count on your continued support in playing a significant

role in the Innovative Technologies and Learning community in the future.

November 2020 Yueh-Min Huang

João Barroso
Frode Eika Sandnes
Tien-Chi Huang
Paulo Martins
Ting-Ting Wu
 Organization

Honorary Chairs
Yueh-Min Huang National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Conference Co-chairs
João Barroso University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Frode Eika Sandnes Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

Program Co-chairs
Tien-Chi Huang National Taichung University of Science
and Technology, Taiwan
Paulo Martins University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Ting-Ting Wu National Yunlin University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan

Program Committee
Ana Balula University of Aveiro, Portugal
Andreja Istenic Starcic University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
António Coelho University of Porto, Portugal
Arsênio Reis University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Chantana Viriyavejakul King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Thailand
Chi‐Cheng Chang National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
Claudia Motta Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Constantino Martins Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal
Danial Hooshyar University of Tartu, Estonia
Daniela Pedrosa University of Aveiro, Portugal
Grace Qi Massey University, New Zealand
Gwo-Dong Chen National Central University, Taiwan
Hana Mohelska University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Hanlie Smuts University of Pretoria, South Africa
Hugo Paredes University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
João Pedro Gomes Moreira University of Porto, Portugal
Pêgo
José Cravino University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
José Alberto Lencastre University of Minho, Portugal
Jun-Ming Su National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Leonel Morgado Universidade Aberta, Portugal
viii Organization

Lisbet Ronningsbakk UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway

Manuel Cabral University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Margus Pedaste University of Tartu, Estonia
Paula Catarino University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Paulo Martins University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Qing Tan Athabasca University, Canada
Rustam Shadiev Nanjing Normal University, China
Satu-Maarit Frangou University of Lapland, Finland
Shelley Shwu-Ching Young National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Synnøve Thomassen UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Andersen
Tânia Rocha University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Ting-Sheng Weng National Chiayi University, Taiwan
Wu-Yuin Hwang National Central University, Taiwan
Yi-Shun Wang National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan
Yuping Wang Griffith University, Australia

Technology Support
Yu-Cheng Chien National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Pei-Yu Cheng National Yunlin University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
Shih-Cheng Wang National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Hsin-Yu Lee National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Main Organizers

Co-organizers
 Contents

Application and Design of Innovative Learning Software

A Model of a Cooperative Learning Technique in a Flipped International

Marketing Management Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Noviati Aning Rizki Mustika Sari and Ting-Ting Wu

Combining EEG Feedback on Student Performance and Self-efficacy . . . . . . 13

Astrid Tiara Murti, Ting-Ting Wu, and Yueh-Min Huang

Design of Reciprocal Teaching-Collaborative Learning Approach

in Enhancing Students’ Reading Comprehension Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Olivia de H. Basoeki, Ting-Ting Wu, and Yueh-Min Huang

Mathematic Learning Efficiency Analysis of Story-Based Situated Learning

in Low-Achieving Elementary School Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chih-Wei Huang, Hong-Ren Chen, Sen-Chi Yu, Yi-Lun Su,
and Chia-Chen Chen

Implementation of an Individual English Oral Training Robot System . . . . . . 40

Chen-Yu Lin, Wei-Wei Shen, Ming-Hsiu Michelle Tsai, Jim-Min Lin,
and Wai Khuen Cheng

Pilot Study of Information Literacy Competency of the Elderly:

A Case Study of Multimedia Instant Messaging Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Yi-Chen Lu and Ting-Ting Wu

Study on Development of Mobile App Design as Learning Media

in Student Internship Support: Toward Strengthening Tie and Realistic
Feedback in University-Industry Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Andik Asmara and Ting-Ting Wu

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Design, and Mathematics

3D Digital Design to Support Elementary School Students’ Spatial

Visualization Skills: A Preliminary Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Pao-Nan Chou and Ru-Chu Shih

Developing the Scale of Technology Product Imagination Disposition . . . . . . 77

Yi-Jin Wang, Hui-Min Lai, Tien-Chi Huang, and Pei-ling Chien

Development of a VR STEAM Welding Project Course. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Chih-Chao Chung, Chun-Chun Tung, Yuh-Ming Cheng, and Shi-Jer Lou
x Contents

Enhancing Students’ Learning Outcomes of a STEAM Permutations

Course Through a Game Based Visual Programming Environment
with Qualifying Rank Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Yu-Che Huang, Yueh-Ming Huang, and Andreja Istenic Starcic

A LUPDA Assessment Model for Activities in STEAM Education . . . . . . . . 100

Yu-Cheng Chien, Pei-Yu Chang, Hsin-Yu Lee, Tai-Yi Huang,
and Yueh-Min Huang

Augmented and Virtual Reality in Education

A Testing Case of Simulation Learning in Nursing by Virtual Reality -

Subcutaneous Injection Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
ChinLun Lai and Yu-mei Chang

Experiential Learning Through Controlling and Monitoring a Real-Time 3D

House Using LabVIEW in a Virtual Laboratory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Bogdan M. Mîndruț and Claudiu A. Oprea

Students’ Attitude Toward Learning and Practicing English in a VR

Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Ying Ling Chen

The Impact of Applying Virtual Reality Technology to Spatial Ability

Learning in Elementary School Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Wen-Hung Chao and Rong-Chi Chang

Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics

Competence Mining to Improve Training Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Ildikó Szabó, Katalin Ternai, and Szabina Fodor

Personnel Learning Behavior in the Workplace: A Study of Workplace

Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Waristha Saengrith, Chantana Viriyavejakul, and Paitoon Pimdee

Required English Communication Skill Levels of Mechanical Engineers

at the Workplace in Taiwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Judy F. Chen and Clyde A. Warden

Research on the Implementation Status and Learning Satisfaction

of Off-campus Internship Courses in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering of the University of Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Dyi-Cheng Chen, Hsi-Chi Hsiao, Jen-Chia Chang, Su-Chang Chen,
Kuo-Cheng Wen, Jia-Yue Guo, and Yu-Chen Gao
 Contents xi

Reviewing the Changes in Core Competencies for Undergraduates

in Technological Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Jen-Chia Chang, Hsiao-Fang Shih, and Kuang-Ling Chang

Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Learning

Environment Model that Enhance Creative Thinking and Creative
Expression of Science for Medical Illustration Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Kan Komany and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Tracking At-Risk Student Groups from Teaching and Learning Activities

in Engineering Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Christopher Chung Lim Kwan

Where Are the Students? A Study of Norwegian Technology Students’

Perceptions of Emerging Trends in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Frode Eika Sandnes

Emerging Issues and Trends in Education

A Study of Learner’s Computational Thinking Using Constructivist

Universal Design Learning Package for Kindergarten Education . . . . . . . . . . 219
Chinnaphat Junruang and Issara Kanjug

Constructing an Information Search Platform Using Data Mining

to Improve Student Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Shu-Chen Cheng, Yu-Ping Cheng, Yueh-Min Huang,
and I. Robert Chiang

Digitalization of a Systematic Literature Review Process – Lean Startup

and Data Analytics Solution for Scholars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Zornitsa Yordanova

Effect of Facebook Use on Social Comparison Perceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Fu-Rung Yang, Chih-Fen Wei, and Jih-Hsin Tang

Hands-on Statistical Methods: A Case Study with Hidden Markov Models

Using Simulations and Experiments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Steinar Thorvaldsen

Integrating Big Data in Introductory Statistics Education - Challenges

for Instructors and Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Jane Lu Hsu and You-Ren Chen

Integration of LUPDA Theory and STEAM with Computational Thinking

Concepts to Develop Assessment Principles for an AI Based STEAM
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Chih-Hung Wu and Yueh-Min Huang
xii Contents

Project Management for Innovation Projects – State of Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Zornitsa Yordanova

Innovative Learning in Education

A Comparative Study on Ethics Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence

Across Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Tony Szu-Hsien Lee, Shiang-Yao Liu, Yin-Ling Wei, and Li-Yun Chang

Analysis on the Application of AI Technology in Online Education Under

the Public Epidemic Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Shuijing Li, Ming Yan, Xin Zhang, and Zhe Li

Design Aspects of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment to Assess

Knowledge Transfer in Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Johanna Steynberg, Judy van Biljon, and Colin Pilkington

Research on Evaluation of Smart Learning Environment in Universities

Based on AHP-FCE: A Case Study of Central China Normal University . . . . 317
Zhicheng Dai, Mengting Wang, and Feng Liu

The Development of Simulation Web-Based Learning Environment to

Enhance Ill-Structured Problem Solving for Engineering Students . . . . . . . . . 328
Thawach Thammabut, Sumalee Chaijaroen, and Suchat Wattanachai

The Study of Learner Context for the Development of Constructivist

Learning Environment Model Combined with Mixed Reality Flipped
Classroom to Enhance Creative Thinking in Product Design for the High
School Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Sathaporn Wongchiranuwat, Charuni Samat, Issara Kanjug,
and Suchat Wattanachai

Transparent Player Model: Adaptive Visualization of Learner Model

in Educational Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Danial Hooshyar, Emanuele Bardone, Nour El Mawas,
and Yeongwook Yang

Online Course and Web-Based Environment

A Study of Learner’s Mental Model and Motivation Using Constructivism

Online Learning Environment to Promote Programming in Rural School . . . . 361
Poramin Attane and Issara Kanjug

Building an Online Learning Question Map Through Mining Discussion

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Hei Chia Wang and Ya Lan Zhao
 Contents xiii

Creating Interactive Non-formal Learning Opportunities

in Resource-Deprived Distant Learning Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Petra le Roux and Corné van Staden

Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment

Model to Enhance Creative Thinking in Engineering Design Process
for Grade 8th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Pasatorn Puratep and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning

Environments Model to Enhance Scientific Thinking for Secondary
Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Autsanee Seenonlee Maneeratana and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model

to Enhance Problem-Solving and Transfer of Learning on Student
in Industrial: Integration Between Pedagogy and Neuroscience . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Chan Singkaew and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Digital Accessibility of Online Educational Platforms: Identifying Barriers

for Blind Student’s Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Isolda Lisboa, João Barroso, and Tânia Rocha

Effect Analysis and Method Suggestions of Online Learning Under

the Public Epidemic Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Huimin Yuan, Ming Yan, and Zhe Li

Effective Blended Learning – A Taxonomy of Key Factors Impacting

Design Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Hanlie Smuts and Corlia Smuts

Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning

Environment Model to Enhance Human Learning Efficiency Based
on Brain-Based Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Wanwisa Wannapipat and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Effects of AI Scaffolding on ZPD in MOOC Instructional RPGs. . . . . . . . . . 453

Clyde A. Warden and Judy F. Chen

Survey Results of Learner Context in the Development of Constructivist

Learning Environment Model to Enhance Creative Thinking with Massive
Open Online Course (MOOCS) for Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Benjaporn Sathanarugsawait, Charuni Samat, and Suchat Wattanachai

The Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments

to Enhance Learner’s Information Processing and Reduce Cognitive Load . . . 475
Nat Chaijaroen, Sarawut Jackpeng, and Sumalee Chaijaroen
xiv Contents

Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based

Learning Environment Model to Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Pitchaya Pimsook and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Technology-Enhanced Learning

A Study of Students’ Context-Aware to Be Used as a Basis for Designing

and Developing a Model of Mobile-Based Learning Environment to
Enhance Computational Problem Solving in Programming for the High
School Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
Kanyarat Sirimathep, Issara Kanjug, Charuni Samat,
and Suchat Wattanachai

Assistive Technologies for Students with Dyslexia: A Systematic Literature

Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
C. Smith and M. J. Hattingh

Assistive Technology for ADHD: A Systematic Literature Review . . . . . . . . 514

Emily Black and Marie Hattingh

Chinese Students’ Motivations to Adopt E-Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

James O. Stanworth

Designing Freirean-Inspired Community Relevant STEAM Curriculum

for Underserved Students in Pakistan Using Action Research Process . . . . . . 536
Midhat Noor Kiyani, Imran Haider, and Fahad Javed

Digital Natives and Educational Traditions. What Changes When

Exchanging Textbook Content with Internet Search? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Lisbet Rønningsbakk

Experiences Using Three App Prototyping Tools with Different Levels

of Fidelity from a Product Design Student’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Amanda Coelho Figliolia, Frode Eika Sandnes, and Fausto Orsi Medola

How Engineering Design Ability Improve via Project-Based Truss Tower

STEM Course? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Wan-Hsuan Yen and Chi-Cheng Chang

Improving Student Learning Satisfaction in Lectures in English

as a Medium of Instruction with Speech-Enabled Language
Translation Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Rustam Shadiev, Narzikul Shadiev, Mirzaali Fayziev,
and Yuliya Halubitskaya

Model of Technology Enhanced Affective Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Satu-Maarit Frangou and Minna Körkkö
 Contents xv

Outcomes of Problem-Solving Using Constructivist Learning Environment

to Enhance Learners’ Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Sumalee Chaijaroen, Issara Kanjug, Charuni Samat,
and Piyaporn Wonganu

Removing Digital Natives from Technological Illiteracy with the Weblog . . . 598
Michele Della Ventura

The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data in a Course on Basic Logic. . . . . 610
Peter Øhrstrøm, Steinar Thorvaldsen, Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen,
Thomas Ploug, and David Jakobsen

Towards a Knowledge Conversion Platform to Support Information

Systems Analysis and Design Industry Ready Graduates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Marie Hattingh and Lizette Weilbach

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Application and Design of Innovative
Learning Software
 A Model of a Cooperative Learning Technique
in a Flipped International Marketing
Management Classroom

Noviati Aning Rizki Mustika Sari and Ting-Ting Wu(&)

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology,

Yunlin 64002, Taiwan, R.O.C.
ttwu@yuntech.edu.tw

Abstract. The great changes in education have shifted the use of the traditional
pedagogical approach to the techno-pedagogical approach. However, business
or management education merely postulates the traditional one by the teacher-
centered method. The techno-pedagogical approach will be designed to
emphasize the use of flipped classroom and Jigsaw II cooperative learning
approaches to optimize the learning process. Therefore, this research proposes a
design of an innovative pedagogical model of teaching methodology with the
Flipped-Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning approach in order to promote an
effective learning environment of the International Marketing Management
course which is later expected to activate the important skills as the element of
the projected outcomes of the course. A deep interview has conducted to three
interviewees in verifying the proposed model from the teachers’ perspective.
The result shows that the proposed model is projected to facilitate the learning
process in order to attain the course’s outcome better than the traditional ones.

Keywords: Jigsaw II cooperative learning
Flipped classroom
Design model

of pedagogical approaches
International marketing management

1 Introduction

Business or management education merely postulates the traditional pedagogical

approach by the teacher-centered method. Accordingly, the great changes in education
are mainly caused by the use of technology [1] that has encouraged educational action
improvement, increasing the motivation and availability of an extensive list of new
pedagogical approaches [2, 3]. In order to stimulate students’ autonomy, motivation,
and interaction in the learning process, a new pedagogical approach should be applied,
such as a techno-pedagogical approach [4–6].
The techno-pedagogical approach will be designed to emphasize the use of flipped
classroom learning focusing on the use of time when students are outside the classroom
to interact the content through digital platforms and tools generated by teachers [4] as it
enables students and teacher to engage in both synchronous and asynchronous com-
munication [7]. Jigsaw II cooperative learning approach as one of the cooperative
learning techniques will be used to optimize the learning process throughout in-class
activities as a part of the flipped classroom learning.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 3–12, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_1
4 N. A. R. M. Sari and T.-T. Wu

This research aims to propose a design of an innovative pedagogical model of

teaching methodology with Flipped-Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning approach in order
to promote an effective learning environment of International Marketing Management
course which is later expected to activate the important skills as the element of the
projected outcomes of International Marketing Management course.
These general suggestions lead to several specific questions to be discussed in this
study on regard to the importance of the proposed pedagogical approaches.
RQ1. How is the design of the Flipped-Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning approach in
promoting a better learning environment compared to the traditional pedagogical
approach in the International Marketing Management course?
RQ2. How is the design of the Flipped-Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning approach
likely to be implemented in an actual class?
RQ3. How do the teachers value the design of the Flipped-Jigsaw II Cooperative
Learning approach?

2 Literature Review

2.1 Flipped Classroom

An approach called flipped classroom is considered as a form of blended learning
combining two learning environments that are an in-class environment where the
communication between teachers and students is face-to-face, and an out-of-class
environment, an online environment [8]. It reflects a set of pedagogical approaches that
(1) move most information-transmission in the teaching process out-of-class, (2) use
class time on active and social learning activities, and (3) require students to complete
pre and post-class activities to benefit from in-class activity [9, 10].
In the flipped classroom, teachers intend to transform the sequence of learning
arrangements to be literally flipped, learners begin with a self-study phase before class
that is normally supported by multimedia material in which they acquire knowledge at
their own pace [11, 12]. It is able to free up valuable class time to promote more active
learning and higher-level cognitive tasks [13–15].
Teachers will have pre-class materials prepared, such as online videos, online
presentations, digital textbooks, etc. Switching up homework assignments and class
time is aimed at providing more assistance to the students who demonstrate a lack of
understanding and practice the setup skills from the course objectives. Teachers will be
able to incorporate activities whose learning strategies promote higher-order thinking,
social learning, and 21st-century skills [15, 16].
To conclude, flipped classroom learning involves the lower levels of learning in
Bloom’s taxonomy, in which remembering and understanding will occur outside the
classroom at the student’s own pace. While the higher levels of learning in Bloom’s
taxonomy, such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating will occur inside the
classroom.
 A Model of a Cooperative Learning Technique 5

2.2 Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is able to optimize the cognitive, social, and affective outcomes of
education [17, 18]. By learning cooperatively, it leads to the importance of support and
mutual concern over the task within the group, which later enhance motivation on
learning and increase students’ academic achievement.
Jigsaw, one of the cooperative learning techniques, is based on group dynamics and
social interaction. It is considered as one of the pure cooperative learning techniques
[19]. The jigsaw technique allows students to actively participate in the learning pro-
cess in which they are expected to feel more comfortable about their roles.
Jigsaw II was developed by Robert Slavin in 1980 as a variation of Jigsaw tech-
niques in which home group members are assigned by the same materials but focus on
different chunks of the materials. Besides increasing students’ performance, it is pro-
jected to promote students’ communication abilities and interpersonal relationships.
Additionally, it allows students to focus on peer interaction and the cultivation of
important abilities, for instance, critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication,
independent thought, active exploration and research, clear expression, and teamwork
[7].

2.3 International Marketing Management

Marketing turns out to be an integral aspect of modern society all over the world. Entire
systems and social institutions that include culture, politics, entertainment, education,
health care, religion, and others are affected by marketing processes, principles, and
tactics. Since marketing extensiveness in modern international society is considered as
an important practical and applied business subject, it is worthy of study as a pure
scholarly subject as well [20].
Marketing educators tailor curriculum offerings to enhance students’ knowledge
and skills as required in the course outcomes. At the end of the learning process,
students are expected to master the formation of abstract concepts, appreciation of
cultural experiences, critical thinking, analytical skills, social and emotional judgment,
independent thinking, leadership skills, and oral/written communication [21].
As discussed earlier, Jigsaw II cooperative learning combined with a flipped
classroom are the proposed model of the pedagogical approaches designed to provide
support and contribution to the International Marketing Management course.

Fig. 1. The proposed pedagogical approaches and course outcomes linkage.

The overall course design is projected to facilitate the learning process in order to
attain the goals or outcomes of the course. As illustrated in Fig. 1, there is a linkage
6 N. A. R. M. Sari and T.-T. Wu

between the benefits of the proposed pedagogical approaches and the goals or out-
comes of the International Marketing Management course that contributes to the cul-
tivation of specific skills, namely interpersonal relationship, communication abilities,
critical thinking, problem-solving analytical skills, independent thought, and
teamwork-leadership skills to be mastered by the learners.

3 Conceptual Model
3.1 A Conceptual Model Using a Flipped Classroom

Fig. 2. Flipped classroom model.

Figure 2 adapted from a model proposed by [15] shows that flipped learning focuses on
dividing its learning process into two different learning environments; home-based and
school-based learning environments. Normally, teaching materials in the basic flipped
classroom will be categorized by using online videos, online presentations, digital
textbooks, and any other forms of media in order to enact them to be way more
accessible to a home-based environment.
The process that takes place at home is called the pre-class. The pre-class session
will begin with chunking and separating teaching materials by teachers into shorter
online videos, shorter online presentations, split parts of a topic in digital textbooks,
and any other divided forms of media. Online platforms will be used as the course
management system in which teachers can distribute the materials to the students.
Then, students will be requested to learn the provided teaching materials on their own,
which means students will have a self-paced learning environment. Students are
allowed to keep track of questions and concerns on which they need clarification [15].
The pre-class will be followed by an in-class session which will take place at school
or later called a school-based environment. In-class session facilitates face-to-face class
time in which students can use it to complete follow-up assignments as they come to
the class by having the pre-class materials prepared. In this session, the old term of
teacher-centered learning has shifted to student-centered learning as well as changing
teachers’ roles from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”. Face-to-face instruction
incorporates activities promoting higher-order thinking, social learning, and 21st-
century skills cultivation [15, 16]. Moreover, the implementation of learning activities
in-class encourages students’ responsibility for operating both group and individual
tasks.
 A Model of a Cooperative Learning Technique 7

3.2 A Conceptual Model Using Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning

Approach
The Jigsaw II cooperative learning approach involves regular instructional stages of
activities. There are six instructional stages of activities that should be conducted in the
implementation [19], as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Jigsaw II CL instructional stages of activities.

In this approach, each student needs to prepare a part of assignments outside the
classroom or later described as pre-work. Students organize pre-work as they already
assigned to groups. Each group represents a number of students that is called a home
group and has an obligation to cover the assigned subject provided by teachers. The
provided subject will be chunked into parts; thus, each member of the group will have a
responsibility to learn and understand the assigned part given to him or her. Then, in
the face-to-face class time, students will be split up from their original home group to
gather up in a new form of the group with other students from different groups who are
responsible for preparing the same parts of the assigned subject.
The new form of the group is called the expert group, in which students will have a
discussion on regard to the parts of the assigned subject to make it way more under-
standable for each other. Also, they prepare a plan on how they teach the subject to
their home group as well as preparing a report. Before going back to their home group,
each student will be assigned in a test which aimed at verifying their knowledge and
understanding the subject. The test can be performed in any kind of assessment format.
Afterward, they turn back to their home group to teach their subject and contribute to
preparing the report. In the last stage, teachers will facilitate learning activities by
evaluating and grading.

3.3 Roles of the Proposed Pedagogical Approaches in International

Marketing Management Course
The roles of the proposed pedagogical approaches with Jigsaw II cooperative learning
and flipped classroom in the International Marketing Management course are analyzed
through the proposed model, which is previously adjusted with referenced literature.
The roles of both pedagogical approaches [7, 19, 22, 23] are explained in Table 1.
8 N. A. R. M. Sari and T.-T. Wu

Table 1. Roles of the proposed pedagogical approaches.

No. Flipped classroom Jigsaw II cooperative learning
1 Students move at their own pace Raise the interdependence of students
and joint learning
2 Teachers have better insight into students’ Enhance interaction, competition,
difficulties and learning styles in class cooperation, and research in the
classroom
3 A more customize and update curriculum Promote students’ active participation
and a more effective and creative classroom and cooperation on their own roles
time
4 Increase the level of students achievement, Promote a sense of responsibility for
interest, and engagement students group performance
5 Learning theory supports the new Enhance the level of engagement and
approaches empathy
6 Appropriate technology usage for “21st- Promote specific skills cultivation
century learning”, and so forth

4 Course Design with Jigsaw II Cooperative Learning

Approach in a Flipped Classroom

4.1 Proposed Participants

This model of the Jigsaw II cooperative learning approach in a flipped classroom is
designed to be implemented in the actual class of the International Marketing Man-
agement course. The proposed participant will be one to two one-semester period
classes in a business or management department at a university, which includes one or
more teachers and a number of students. In these two classes, new pedagogical
approaches will be performed to support the learning activities in which teachers
deliver the International Marketing Management course.

4.2 Overall Design Procedure

Figure 4 exhibits the overall design procedure of the proposed model using two ped-
agogical approaches; Jigsaw II cooperative learning and the flipped classroom. Since
the course will be taught in the one-semester period, there are approximately eighteen
meetings in which different topics of materials have been prepared by the teachers. This
scenario of the proposed model will be applied in a week out of eighteen weeks with a
selected topic to be discussed. The major concern of this proposed model is the learning
environment offered; a self-paced at home and a student-centered at school.
Jigsaw II cooperative learning and flipped classroom will be combined together into
a harmonized pedagogical approaches in supporting learning activities. In the imple-
mentation, the very first process is the pre-class session. Students who already assigned
into groups are requested to perform an individual pre-work through a self-facilitated
trajectory of teaching materials in the form of online videos prepared by teachers,
 A Model of a Cooperative Learning Technique 9

Fig. 4. Overall design procedure.

which are distributed over online platforms. Each group, later called home group, will
divide the responsibility to cover a part of the chunked subject to each group member.
The following process is the in-class session. Students will have face-to-face class
time at school with a student-centered learning environment. Students from original
home groups will gather up in a new group called the expert group. In the expert group,
students will perform discussions in order to make the assigned subject more under-
standable. Then, they will have a test before leaving the expert group aiming at veri-
fying their knowledge and understanding over the subject. Students back to their
original home group to teach other group members and help to prepare the report. In
the end, teachers will facilitate the learning process to unify the class through evalu-
ation and grading supported by designed assessment tools. Score as the result of the
assessment will be given once to an individual student, then all group members’ scores
are averaged to generate a group score.

4.3 Teaching Materials and Assessment Design

Basically, the flipped classroom requires teachers to prepare teaching materials in
advance. Teachers organize class management through online platforms to distribute
teaching materials to the students outside the class. This proposed model adopts a
design of flipped classroom by using online videos. One-week topic out of the one-
semester course period will be chunked and separated into a much shorter video.
Since the proposed model will be conducted in a one-week topic out of the one-
semester course period, formative assessment will be used as a proper assessment tool.
Two stages in the Jigsaw II cooperative learning approach conducted in class require
suitable assessment tools to perform an appropriate evaluation by using peer assess-
ment and feedback to the team for expert group test stage and final report or presen-
tation for evaluation and grading stage.
10 N. A. R. M. Sari and T.-T. Wu

5 Result and Discussion

A deep interview has conducted to verify the proposed model of the Jigsaw II coop-
erative learning approach in a flipped International Marketing Management course.
There are three interviewees who participated in the interview, as described in Table 2.

Table 2. General information of the interviewee.

No. Participant Teaching institution Teaching Current teaching strategy
period
1 A Jendral Soedirman 4 yrs Case study and discussion
University
2 B Jakarta Global 2 yrs 21st-century learning
University
3 C Semarang State 29 yrs Teamwork, discussion,
Polytechnic and PBL

Three interviewees teach the International Marketing Management course in their

institutions. They would be explained the overall design model using the Jigsaw II
cooperative learning approach and the flipped classroom prior to the interview. Then,
they would be questioned in the interview, which is divided into three sessions with
fourteen questions in total. The first session of the interview is used to collect the
interviewees’ general information. While, the second and third sessions collect the
interviewees’ point of view toward the flipped classroom, Jigsaw II cooperative
learning, and the proposed design of pedagogical approaches.
The results of the interview show that three interviewees agreed that flipping the
learning process and using video lectures combined with Jigsaw II cooperative learning
are excellent approaches to be implemented. They believe that it will benefit both
teachers and students in accommodating learning activities and promoting higher-order
thinking, students’ autonomy, and learning effectiveness. Furthermore, they have the
intention to apply these fascinating approaches since students will have variation in the
learning process. However, they highlight the extra works teachers need to perform in
order to prepare materials for the pre-class session, and the effectiveness of this
approach may depend on the learning eagerness and readiness of both teachers and
students.

6 Conclusions

The overall course design with the Jigsaw II cooperative learning approach in a flipped
classroom is projected to facilitate the learning process in order to attain the goals or
outcomes of the course better compared to the traditional pedagogical approaches.
There is a linkage between the benefits of the proposed pedagogical approaches and the
goals or outcomes of the International Marketing Management course that contributes
 A Model of a Cooperative Learning Technique 11

to the cultivation of specific skills, namely interpersonal relationship, communication

abilities, critical thinking, problem-solving analytical skills, independent thought, and
teamwork-leadership skills to be mastered by the learners.
It is projected that the combination of both pedagogical approaches will work in
harmony together and contribute to performing better learning activities in the Inter-
national Marketing Management course from the teachers’ perspectives. The overall
course design promotes higher-order thinking. Moreover, this model is a prospect to be
implemented for its roles in accommodating learning activities as well as optimizing
cooperative learning. By these approaches, both teachers and students will be enriched
with knowledge and skills. Also, this approach promotes students’ engagement, cre-
ativity, activeness, self-efficacy, and autonomous learning.
Nonetheless, the learning eagerness and readiness of both teachers and students, as
well as the teaching facilities, would contribute to the successful accomplishment of the
proposed model. Teachers are advocated to perform extra works to have pre-class
materials prepared and to concern about technology and computer literacy issues.
However, it is projected that they will experience the benefit offered by this model as
their critical roles in the classroom will be shifted to be a facilitator and won’t be the
ones who deliver the teaching materials to the students any longer. Moreover, this
model plays an important role in optimizing cooperative learning and reducing the gap
in students’ knowledge and skills acquisition.

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 Combining EEG Feedback on Student
Performance and Self-efficacy

Astrid Tiara Murti1, Ting-Ting Wu1, and Yueh-Min Huang2(&)

1
National Yunlin University of Science and Technology,
Yunlin 64002, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2
Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan
huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Abstract. This study aims to investigate whether the feedback designed based
on EEG (electroencephalography) signals and mind-mapping contributes to
student attention, performance, and self-efficacy. The EEG headset was used to
collect and measure the participant’s attention levels. This study uses a mixed-
methods of quasi-experimental design. The participants were 30 graduate stu-
dents that randomly assigned to the control (non-feedback) group and experi-
mental (with-feedback) group. A random grouping was used to divide the
participants into two groups, control and experimental. The participants in
experimental group will receive both negative and positive audio feedback. The
research finding shows that the participants who receive the feedback had higher
attention state and significant influence of self-efficacy compared to those in the
groups without feedback. And the feedback does not influence the participant’s
performance. Meanwhile, participant’s mind-maps score and performance
between the two groups showed no significant influence. This study suggest for
future studies, to explore the effect of different types of feedback on students
attention.

Keywords: Electroencephalography
Feedback
Attention
Mind-maps

Performance
Self-efficacy
Plagiarism

1 Introduction

In the past, attention was measured using the attention scale and answered by partic-
ipants to measure their concentrations. Nowadays, researchers use a physiological
signal device named electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor and measure the
changes in the participant’s attention state [1, 2]. Depends on their states, different
types feedback signals were given [2, 3]. The feedback can help the participants to be
more conscious of the changes in their physiological states during the reading process,
and help them to improve the conditions. Previous studies have shown that EEG
feedback that is given according to participant’s levels of attention can improve the
attention in the reading process, which help them to achieve better reading performance
[1, 3–5]. Besides paying attention during the reading task, the participants also need to
organize the knowledge to generate ideas [6, 7]. Mind mapping is a note-taking method

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 13–22, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_2
14 A. T. Murti et al.

proposed by Tony Buzan in early 1970 that helps to distinguish words or ideas into a
hierarchical tree format [8]. The mind mapping approach could be useful in developing
cohesive and organized writing texts. The visual illustrations of mind maps assist with
managing, though, directing learning, and making connections.
Plagiarism is a controversial problem among higher education students. It can be
described as presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, without their
consent and full knowledge. The main concern is to acknowledge others’ work or ideas
not only to text but also to computer code, illustrations, graphs, etc. To avoid pla-
giarism, students demanded to learn the principles of good academic practice from the
beginning of the study.
The purpose of the study is to investigate whether the feedback designed based on
EEG (electroencephalography) signals and mind-mapping contributes to student
attention, performance, and self-efficacy. This study aims to solve the following
questions:
1. Does the feedback mechanism cause different brainwaves states in participants’
attention?
2. Does the feedback mechanism contribute to student performance and self-efficacy?
3. Does mind-mapping contribute to student performance?

2 Literature Review

2.1 Sustained Attention and EEG Feedback

Maintaining attention among students during learning activity for an extended period of
time is a challenging task [1]. The difficulty of concentrating is a significant cause of
ineffective processes of learning, which include frequent inattentiveness and the
inability to employ sustained attention [2]. Sustained attention is the ability to focus on
specific stimuli in order to complete a task over a period of time [9]. If the students are
inattentive while reading, they were likely to be impatient and distracted, as well as
weaken their comprehension of the content.
EEG is a type of psychophysiological measurement used to examine the relation-
ship between the physical and physiological processes. It was widely used in health and
medical research, especially in epileptic seizures, sleep disorders, and attention-
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [10]. In recent years, EEG has been put into
other fields, including computer interfaces, computer game development, neuro-
marketing research, and more rarely educational research.
In a study conducted by [4] and [2], the researchers used EEG feedback to help
monitoring the participants while completing the reading task. Research related to the
reading task often involves monitoring and measuring the attention level to achieve
better learning outcomes. The feedback can be in the form of audio, visual, or a
combination. Mostly the feedback were given in the form of audio voice, which is a
less intrusive form of feedback, especially during learning activities. This study also
uses audio feedback, which is a more appropriate choice for a reading task.
 Combining EEG Feedback on Student Performance and Self-efficacy 15

The feedback mechanism can be divided into two categories according to their
purpose. Encouraging positive feedback is to inform participants that their current
performances have reached or above the standard; studies shown that this type of
feedback promote longer attention during tasks. Whereas the reminding negative
feedback is to inform participants that their performance has not reached or lower than
the standard, reminder feedback was used to promote higher level of attention and
improve the reading performance [1–3]. This study attempted to explore whether
providing audio feedback that give both reminding and encouraging the participants
simultaneously would effectively improve their attention during reading process.

2.2 Mind-Mapping
A mind map is a non-linear visual tool for expressing ideas and the association between
the ideas [8], which help students explicate their mental models [11]. It is a graphic
organizer in which the major categories expand from a central point and lesser cate-
gories portrayed as tree branches. Mind mapping is a visual technique that presents the
knowledge, ideas, concepts, and the relationship between them in an individual’s
mental construction [12]. A simple and brief process of structure knowledge presen-
tation [13].
The mind map is a kind of divergent thinking tool. It could be applied in brain-
storming and create an association with something. In a study conducted by [6] the
mind map strategy can help the participants identify the main ideas of reading texts,
visualize and externalize their understanding, and develop summaries. [7] used mind
map tools to help students grabs the concept of reading tasks more effectively, espe-
cially within a gaming environment. Past research shown that mind-mapping has an
impact on student learning performance [7, 14].

2.3 Feedback, Performance, and Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to the confidence level of oneself to successfully complete a par-
ticular task [15]. [16] commented that the confidence in doing the task and the
expectation of success will directly influence the willingness to make an effort, and the
motivation to endure when faced on learning difficulties. Most research that explore the
relationship between EEG biofeedback and self-efficacy commonly in the domains of
medical research [10]. A study conducted by [17] found that applying a feedback of
electrodermal activities can promote additional feeling of self-efficacy during work-out.
In contrary, the research done by [2] shows a different result, where participants’ self-
efficacy and achievement between the two groups show no significant differences.
The majority of studies on feedback indicates that a timely and appropriate type of
feedback during the learning process can significantly improve the learning perfor-
mance. Moreover, feedback can aid the participants in maintaining a better self-
regulating behavior, thus leading to higher learning performance [2, 18]. This study
was expected that the feedback mechanism will promote the self-regulating behavior in
participants, so they can readily adjust their learning states and improving their per-
formance and self-efficacy.
16 A. T. Murti et al.

2.4 Plagiarism Education

Research was conducted to produce knowledge that able to improve human situations.
Unfortunately, during the creation of knowledge, there happens to be scientific mis-
conduct. Most of the academic scholars agree that plagiarism is a serious violation of
research ethics. Oxford English Dictionary defines the word “plagiarize” as an act of
fraud that involves copying or incorporating someone else’s work or ideas without
acknowledging the sources [19]. Plagiarism is a controversial issue in higher education
and its increasingly widespread among students [20]. No doubt, the challenges in
academic activities are due to the increasing number of students and the progress of
information technology.
In order to prevent plagiarism among students and young researchers, training, and
education on how to detect and avoid plagiarism are needed. The students must take the
initiative to search for internet information to acquire knowledge. Fortunately, some
universities provided a free access website and courses to learn about plagiarism and
how to avoid it, although the use of it is yet to be maximized. The instructional
materials of plagiarism were a collection of information from various resources that can
aids in developing a more comprehensive ideas of plagiarism. Combining the reading
material and feedback mechanism can facilitate the students’ depth understanding of
the reading topic. [1] mention that the sustained attention can be enhance using neg-
ative feedback mechanism that also enhance the self-efficacy [21].

3 Methods

3.1 Instruments
The instrument used in this research can be categorized into 3 types, such as experi-
mental, quantitative, and qualitative tools. The experimental tools included portable
EEG headsets that was developed by NeuroSky Inc, a feedback mechanism, plagiarism
instructional materials, and mind mapping tool. The portable EEG headsets is a type of
non-invasive brainwave sensor that can accurately reads the mindwave [10]. The EEG
headsets then connected to the computers, where a specific computer program has been
prepared to translate the signal into attention values [3]. The range of attention is
between 0 to 100; the higher the value, the more concentrated the participant.
The plagiarism instructional materials used in this study was a compilation and
summary of plagiarism information from various websites. The plagiarism instructional
material content includes the definition of plagiarism, and why it is unethical; the types
of plagiarism; how to avoid it; the importance of citations, references, and acknowl-
edging other’s work. This study used a mind-mapping mobile software named Sim-
pleMind Lite installed in a tablet device for more easy use. The scoring system of
mind-maps developed by [12] was used to calculate the score of mind-maps.
The quantitative tools consist of self-efficacy scale and plagiarism test, and an open-
ended questionnaire for qualitative tool. The self-efficacy sub-scale of Motivated
Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), developed by [22] was used. There was
a total of 8 questions, and a 5-point Likert Scale was applied. The plagiarism test was
compiled by the researcher to assess how well the participants understand the material.
 Combining EEG Feedback on Student Performance and Self-efficacy 17

A total of 5 items were asked. The open-ended questionnaire content for the experi-
mental group, asking their feeling about the equipment, the experimental mechanism,
and the state of their mind when receiving the feedback. While the questionnaire
content for control group only asking about their feelings toward the equipment and
experimental mechanism.

3.2 Experiment Procedure

As per the purpose of this study, to explore the impacts of the feedback and perfor-
mance, the Indonesian graduate students in Yuntech were invited to partake in the
experimental study. The students took turns in determining the sequence of partici-
pating. If the first student participates in a non-feedback condition, the next one will
participate in feedback condition, and continue to take turns.

Fig. 1. The experimental procedure.

The experimental procedure process, as shown in Fig. 1, was similar to the

experiment done by [2]. First, the researcher give an explanation about the procedure
and the content of experiment to the participants. Continued by signing the con-sent
form and perform the pre-test task. Followed by the experiment activity where par-
ticipants required to wear the EEG headsets. The activity involve reading the plagia-
rism instructional materials. The audio feedback would be given only to the
18 A. T. Murti et al.

experimental group, and not for the control group. The experimental group would
receive both the encouraging and reminding feedback, the audio feedback of “Please
pay attention!” provided when an individual brainwave indicated low concentration
(attention < 40, and lasted for 5 s), while the audio feedback of “You are doing great!”
will be provided when the brainwaves showed a very high concentration (atten-
tion > 60 and lasted for 5 s). When the reading task was completed, the participants
were requested to make a mind-map according to the reading materials. Afterwards, the
post-test, performance test, and open-ended questionnaire were filled out.

4 Result

4.1 Analysis of Attention Measured by EEG

ANOVA analysis was used to measure whether the feedback mechanism cause dif-
ferent brainwaves states in participants. The results of attention are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. ANOVA result of attention.

Group N Mean SD F P
Control 15 46.30 5.50 5.341 .028
Experiment 15 59.93 11.54

The ANOVA result of attention when reading the instructional materials

(F = 5.341, p = 0.028), showed that there were significant differences between the two
groups of participants. It means that providing a timely audio feedback when there
were changes in the attention state during the reading process can significantly improve
the attention.

4.2 Analysis of Mind-Maps

The mind-maps was assessed using the scoring system developed by [12]. The score
then was analyze using ANOVA analysis to measure there is a differences of mind-
maps score between two groups (Table 2).

Table 2. ANOVA result of mind-maps score.

Group N Mean SD F P
Control 15 126.53 69.98 .517 .478
Experiment 15 110.53 50.33

The ANOVA result for mind-maps score (F = 0.517, p = 0.478) shows that there
were no significant differences between the two groups of participants. Which can be
 Combining EEG Feedback on Student Performance and Self-efficacy 19

seen from the mean result that the control group has better performance than the
experiment group.

4.3 Analysis of Self-efficacy and Performance

ANCOVA analysis was used to measures the differences of self-efficacy between two
groups, while ANOVA analysis was applied to measure the differences in performance
scores.
The pre-test mean scores for the control group were 3.95, with the standard
deviation was 0.523, while the post-test mean scores were 4.03, and with the standard
deviation was 0.424. Furthermore, the pre-test mean scores for the experimental group
were 3.8, with the standard deviation was 0.406, while the post-test mean scores were
4.21, and with the standard deviation was 0.333. The ANCOVA analysis was per-
formed for comparing the self-efficacy between-groups. The result disclose that the
post-test score between the two groups showed a significant difference (F = 4.4913,
p = 0.35). It implies that the self-efficacy for learning about plagiarism can be influ-
enced by the feedback. Table 3 exhibit the ANOVA result of performance test
(F = 0.160, p = .692), that shows no significant differences between two groups. Its
mean that the feedback given to the participants did not able to influence their
performance.

Table 3. ANOVA result of performance test

Group N Mean SD F p
Control 15 81.33 17.67 .160 .692
Experiment 15 84.00 18.82

4.4 Analysis of Open-Ended Questionnaire

The open-ended questionnaire was used to explore the participant’s feelings regarding
this study. The questions for the two groups can be categorized as “the feeling about
the experimental mechanism”, “the feeling about the equipment”, and “the feeling
about the reading materials”; while the experimental group receive an additional
question of “what are they doing when receiving the feedback.”
The result of “the feeling about the experimental mechanism”, both the experi-
mental and control groups, participant believe that the experiment had an effect on their
attention states. It makes them more focused when reading. Most participants were
enthusiastic about participating as this is their first time being part of the experiment,
and the first time using EEG headsets. When asked about their “feeling about the
equipment”, whether it is using the EEG headsets and the mind-maps tool, the par-
ticipants from both groups give a similar answer. They thought that wearing the EEG
headsets was uncomfortable, especially for women, as they need to adjust their hijab
constantly. Meanwhile, for the mind-map tool, the participants are not accustomed to
using the mobile version and need to take time to be more accustomed. Regarding the
20 A. T. Murti et al.

“feeling about the reading materials”, the participants believe that the reading material
will help them avoid plagiarism. The additional questions to the experimental group of
“what are they doing when receiving the feedback” were answered as absentmindedly
thinking unrelated things to the instructional materials (reminder feedback) and paid
more attention to their reading (encouraging feedback).

5 Discussion

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of providing an audio feedback on
participant’s attention, mind-maps, self-efficacy, and performance. The results reveal
that (1) the feedback cause a higher attention value and significant influence of self-
efficacy compared to the group with no feedback; (2) the feedback does not have a
significant influence on the performance and the mind-maps score; and (3) using mind-
maps does not necessarily influence student performance.
The findings showed that the average attention states of the experimental group
were adhere with previous research that providing feedback to the students during
inattentiveness can help maintain better attention [1–3, 23]. The study also found that
the self-efficacy between two groups were significant different. This probably due to the
types of adopted feedback is both encouraging and reminding. When they receive the
encouraging feedback, the participants get a sense of pleasure. While the moment they
receive the reminding feedback, the participants will tried to maintain better
concentration.
Other than that, the exclusiveness of plagiarism topic, resulting in the similar result
for participant’s performance and mind-maps scores. Plagiarism is very important topic
for the graduate students, who become the participants in this study. Thus the novel
feeling for the special topic of plagiarism can arise. The answer to the open-ended
questionnaire was indistinguishable between the two groups. The participants from
both groups feel that wearing the EEG was uncomfortable and need longer time to be
accustomed of using one. The researcher expected that a novel feeling of participating
in this study plays a significant role in their response.

6 Conclusion

From this study we can conclude that, the participants who receive the feedback have
higher attention value and significant influence of self-efficacy compared to those in the
groups without feedback. And the feedback does not influence participants’ perfor-
mance and mind-maps score. Furthermore, the researcher believes that a novel feeling
of participating in this study plays significant role in their performance, seeing that this
is their first time participating in experiment study and wearing EEG Mindset. This
study focused on the graduate university student, and the topic of plagiarism. The topic
of plagiarism was very special and indispensable in academic practice; thus it also
plays significant role for the participants. It is suggested that for future research to use
greater number of participants; use different subject learning; and comparing how
different types of feedback can influence the attention.
 Combining EEG Feedback on Student Performance and Self-efficacy 21

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 Design of Reciprocal Teaching-Collaborative
Learning Approach in Enhancing Students’
Reading Comprehension Skill

Olivia de H. Basoeki1, Ting-Ting Wu1, and Yueh-Min Huang2(&)

1
Graduate School of Technological and Vocational Education,
National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliu, Taiwan
d10843012@gemail.yuntech.edu.tw, ttwu@yuntech.edu.tw
2
Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan
huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Abstract. Reading comprehension is one of the English language abilities for

academic learning and as a crucial component of lifelong learning. Through
reading, students will develop themselves and achieve progress in every aspect
of their life. Referring to the importance of reading, appear the question of how
to improve students’ reading comprehension skills. Therefore, teachers should
develop their method effectively and use appropriate learning strategies inde-
pendently to improve students’ reading comprehension skills. One best strategic
method to develop reading comprehension skills is the reciprocal teaching.
Therefore, this study was preliminary research to obtain perceptions about the
design of reciprocal teaching combine with collaborative learning in large
classes. This study conducted a qualitative approach to collect some perceptions
from the English expert. The participants were English teachers of Polytechnic
in Indonesia. Then, the result of the study was students predicted more inter-
active, communicative, active group discussion, critical thinking, motivation,
leadership, and cooperation.

Keywords: Reciprocal teaching (RT)
Collaborative learning (CL)
Reading

comprehension

1 Introduction

Generally, there are four abilities that should be mastered by language learners in
learning a language, namely reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Reading com-
prehension is one of the English language skills for academic learning and a crucial
component of lifelong learning [1]. It became necessary for students’ personal devel-
opment as an individual to improve their value of life. That is why reading taught at
every level of education, from elementary to university. Through reading, students will
develop themselves and achieve progress in every aspect of their life. As the saying
goes, that book is a window of science; by reading, people know any various infor-
mation throughout the entire world, both about history, science, and other essential
things.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 23–32, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_3
24 O. de H. Basoeki et al.

The primary goals of the reading process are to gain understanding, or compre-
hension, counterbalance knowledge related to the textual information, and its inter-
pretation [2–4]. Students cannot escape from reading in their daily activities. They are
surrounded by so many reading materials every day. By reading activities, students get
benefits for themselves, such as build a better vocabulary, lights up new ideas, improve
language skills, get new knowledge, think critically, and better writing skills. Referring
to the importance of reading, appear the question of how to improve students’ reading
comprehension skills. Teachers must use reading strategies effectively to help students
learn to apply reading comprehension strategies independently.
Therefore, teachers should develop their method and use appropriate learning
strategies to improve students’ reading comprehension skills. The excellent learning
strategy is the teacher’s role in shaping students into quality figures of science, inde-
pendence, democracy, and responsibility. It is related to the learning strategy according
to Oxford [5] that through the specific actions, the learner can create learning more
accessible, faster, enjoyable, self-directed, effective, and move transferrable to new
situations. Experts introduce the various strategy of developing reading comprehension
skills. One type of them is the reciprocal teaching strategy [6]. This teaching strategy is
in the form of multiple comprehension strategy usages that combine four thinking
techniques: predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. Reciprocal teaching
becomes one of the best strategic methods in teaching reading [7]. Many different
studies have been carried out to show the effectiveness of using its strategies [8–10].
One of the theories states that the positive results of reciprocal teaching more useful
while applied it with a small sample size [11]. This statement encourages the researcher
to try to use reciprocal teaching to combine with collaborative learning in large classes.
Since the English subject at universities is taught in large classes so that to reduce the
potential of some students not being active in learning reading, reciprocal teaching-
collaborative learning be used to know its effectiveness in large classes.
Moreover, the reason for using the collaborative learning strategy is to form groups
so that intertwined teamwork among the students to comprehend English text in a short
duration of time. Yet, this research has not been carried out. It is still in the form of a
design or preliminary investigation. The purpose of this study was to examine the
model by giving the leads in advance in order to make the students easier to com-
prehend the basic ideas of the text, developing questions about the passage, and also
summarizing the primary information of the reading text as the project outcome.
Specifically, the research question was how the design of reciprocal teaching-
collaborative learning approach in enhancing students’ reading comprehension skills
based on the experts’ point of view is?

2 Literature Review
2.1 Reading Comprehension
The definition of reading is a particular way by which the meaning of written text
understood [12], the process of receiving and interpreting information through the print
media, and a powerful means of sharing information with others through understanding
 Design of Reciprocal Teaching-Collaborative Learning Approach 25

written texts [13]. Reading becomes part of people’s activity. People read newspapers,
reports, books, notes, journals, and many other writings to increase their knowledge.
Reading comprehension is the competence to understand text, purpose, and to
integrate with what the reader already knows [7], or connection of previous knowledge
[14]. Deep comprehension needs more than mere interpretation of single words,
phrases, sentences, and entails aware attempts from the readers to collect related
information from the text and produce them into the meaning of the whole text.

2.2 Reciprocal Teaching (RT)

Reciprocal teaching is known as the instructional method in enhancing reading com-
prehension skills [15] designed by Palinscar and Brown [6] to meet the needs of
learners who were robust decoders but with weak comprehension skills. It is the
approach that teachers and students exchange the role in leading a dialogue of the text.
According to Palincsar and Brown’s study in 1984, reciprocal teaching has four major
approaches: predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing [6]. This method can
help students to increase their ability in reading comprehension.
Reciprocal teaching provides students with four specific reading strategies. In the
predicting, students must activate the relevant background knowledge they already
possess to the text they are working on. Questioning gives a student the opportunity to
identify their understanding of the text by making questions as a self-testing [6].
Clarifying has a purpose to train students to identify and analyze the unclear, com-
plicated, or unfamiliar words, phrases of a text. Then, summarizing is the process of
distinguishing between important and unimportant information in the text.

2.3 Collaborative Learning (CL)

Collaborative learning is an approach in teaching strategy that involving a small group
of learners work together to figure out a problem, or fill out the task [16]. In the
collaborative learning atmosphere, students are challenged to listen to different per-
spectives, begin to develop their idea, and not depend on an expert’s or a text’s scheme.
Students have the chance to discuss with their classmates, develop information
exchange, asking other ideas, giving feedback, and be actively involved. In collabo-
rative classrooms, teacher-centered or lecture-centered is the shift away. The process of
learning concentrates on students’ discussion about the subject material. Teachers
become a coach or instructor in the learning atmosphere than an expert to the learners
[17].

3 Research Design

This paper was conducting a qualitative research approach. The characteristic of

qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing data in order to understand
theories, assumptions, or experiences [18]. The most common qualitative methods are
observation, interview, focus group, survey, and secondary research.
26 O. de H. Basoeki et al.

3.1 Participants
The six English teachers from several Polytechnics in Indonesia were involved in the
interview (Table 1).

Table 1. List of participants.

No. Participants Position Polytechnic
1. P (1) Head of the Language Centre Shipping State Polytechnic of Surabaya
2. P (2) Secretary of English Dept. State Polytechnic of Sriwijaya Palembang
3. P (3) Head of the Language Centre State Polytechnic of Banjarmasin
4. P (4) English teacher State Polytechnic of Ujung Pandang
5. P (5) Head of the Language Centre State Polytechnic of Jakarta
6. P (6) English teacher Kupang State Polytechnic

3.2 Data Collection

Interviews were conducted from several participants of English teachers to obtain data
or respondent information related to the recent study of the research questions. The
interview was conducted by a question and answer to get information or opinions on a
specific matter [19]. The interview guideline includes participants’ views on the
weaknesses, strengths, and suggestions in the implementation of reciprocal teaching-
collaborative learning design.

3.3 Data Analysis

The grounded theory is used to analyze the researcher’s findings. Grounded theory
research design is a set of procedures used to arrange a theory that explains the process
of an important topic [20]. Data in grounded theory can be collected through inter-
views, observation, recording, or a combination of these methods [21].

4 Findings

4.1 Proposed Design

The method used in this research, quasi-experimental design study. It is aimed to
examine the amalgamation effectiveness of reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning
in enhancing students’ reading comprehension skills. The detailed of reciprocal
teaching-collaborative learning implementation procedure is shown in Fig. 1. The
design will be conducted in the academic year of 2020/2021 at Kupang State
Polytechnic (PNK), East Nusa Tenggara-Indonesia. The class will be held for eight
meetings, including pre-test and post-test sessions.
The subject will be the third semester of the Electrical Engineering Department of
PNK. Since the students have already got two semesters in English subjects, and they
can be assumed to have the same level. Then, the design will be applied in two classes.
 Design of Reciprocal Teaching-Collaborative Learning Approach 27

Each class will consist of 35 students, so the total is 70 students with the same English
subject, and the students have a homogeneous English proficiency level. These two
classes will assist by the same English teacher. The reason is there are no differences in
the assessment and teacher treatment of the two groups.
Two instruments are existing in this design, the pre-test, and the post-test. The pre-
test is used to measure students’ performance before reciprocal teaching treatments to
both groups. Then, the post-test will be conducted after reciprocal teaching treatments
to both groups. The reading comprehension pre-and post-test are consisting of the
reading passage in the ESP field, which is composed of multiple-choice, true-false, and
matching. The reading comprehension text of the post-test will different from the pre-
test.

4.2 Proposed Experimental Procedure

Fig. 1. Experimental procedure.

Each class will be treated about the four thinking strategies of reciprocal teaching. The
detail of four procedures:
Predicting. It helps students to link new ideas to prior knowledge by using cues from
the text, such as the title, illustrations, subtitles, and diagrams, to find a purpose for
reading. Students learn to guess what the author will discuss and then confirm or
disprove it.
Clarifying. When students are asked to clarify, they are taught to focus on unfamiliar
or new words, new or difficult ideas, unusual passages or paragraphs, and loss of
meaning. In clarifying, the students are encouraged to take necessary steps such as
rereading, using a dictionary, atlas, or other resources asking for help, or asking if
others need anything clarified.
28 O. de H. Basoeki et al.

Questioning. It gives students’ opportunity to identify kind of information that pro-

vides the basis of a good question, develop a question, find the facts that will enable
them to answer their questions, and help other students to answer questions. It also a
self-testing and encourage students being active in the reading activity.
Summarizing. Students try to identify the most crucial content of the paragraph or
section of the text, then combine relevant information in the whole passage. Summa-
rizing is a useful skill for remembering, studying, and self-review (Table 2).

Table 2. Example of reciprocal activity.

Procedure Activities example
Teacher: Could you please read to …
Predicting: I predict that … will occur next; I assume that the next section will be about
…
Clarifying: Does anybody need anything clarified? Is there something you would like to
share? I’d love to find out about … Means; What is this word?
Questioning: My question is …; What, Where, When, Which, Why, Who, How
Summarizing: The paragraph is about …; Could you please summary is …
Can you be the next ‘teacher’ please …

5 Discussion

This research is preliminary research before the actual research is carried out. Evalu-
ating whether the design is useful and can be implemented it takes participants’
opinions. The perception of participants about reciprocal-collaborative learning design
in enhancing students’ reading comprehension skills will be described. Generally, there
are some strengths and weakness from the participants’ point of view. They also give
suggestions to make the design more acceptable.
Based on the participants’ perception, the reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning
design will effective in helping students comprehend reading. In a group, students help
each other to learn. The members of the group have to achieve the goal of a course. The
evidence from participants that say:
…“In-group, the student, searching for understanding, solution, or meanings (P1), they work
as a team to solve the problem (P2), there is mutual cooperation (P3), work together to
complete the assignment (P4), they talk to each and through the talk that learning occurs (P5),
and togetherness to learn something (P6) …”

The perception above supported by many previous studies on reciprocal teaching

that show the effectiveness in reading comprehension [8, 9] as well as many studies
also indicate that collaborative learning in the past two decades is effective in pro-
moting the quality of ES/FL learning [22]. Besides that, reciprocal teaching-
collaborative learning is useful for students who have an average ability in reading
 Design of Reciprocal Teaching-Collaborative Learning Approach 29

comprehension [7]. The next strength is it trains the students to have critical thinking
skills. One of the participants stated that:
…“Students exchange their ideas or opinion among them can increase interest and also can
promote critical thinking (P5) …”

The students can learn to make a good question through the question section as one
of these four strategies of reciprocal teaching [24].
Other benefits of reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning design are establishing
interaction, communication, group discussion, and collaboration among students [25].
This testimony state by all of the participant as below:
…“Automatically in the group’s communication established (P1), discussions formed (P2),
certainly, cooperation exists because the sense of togetherness will arise between them (P3),
members of group encourage each other to learn (P4, P5), and interactions occur (P6) …”

It is emphasized by Carter that when students involved as the teacher and interacted
with their peers. It is enhanced their comprehension [26]. Then, leadership is also one
of its strengths. Leadership formed when students take turns leading groups discussion
about implementing four strategies. It can be stated that the sequence of reciprocal
teaching reflects learning from shared group tasks, interaction, scaffolding, shared
leadership, and also the responsibility.
The next strength is grouping makes students active. According to Pressley [27],
the essential point in reading comprehension strategies is that students should be active
during the process. It also states that collaboration becomes a trend in the twenty-first-
century. The requirement in community works together on several issues of serious
concern, changing an individual attempt to group work, from self-governing to
togetherness [28].
The engagement of students in the group is more reliable. In other words, the
students support each other in share knowledge, work together to solve problems,
complete a task [29]. Bright students can help unsuccessful students, or vice versa
sometimes causes weaker students can disclose some unexpected insights in a col-
laborative surrounding [25]. The witness from the participant that says:
…“Everyone is supposed to learn from everyone else (P5); every student has abilities,
achievements, and interests that sometimes have not been developed (P6) …”

The same thought came from Vygotsky [30] that group various knowledge and
experience make a positive contribution to the learning process. The group presence
minimizes students to be passive so that learning becomes more productive and pos-
itive. It is the same as [31] emphasized that collaborative learning provides an energetic
and more effective alternative to competitive ethnic, which influences much educa-
tional thinking today. Another strength is motivation. The evidence from the participant
that says:
…“Motivation to learn will be formed (P2); if students feel not smart, they overcome it by study
hard (P3), weaker students as possible to do their assigned part (P4) …”

Westera [32] stated that metacognitive instruction, as used in reciprocal teaching,

had a positive effect on both reading and dialogue while improving the skill of content
30 O. de H. Basoeki et al.

and motivation to learn. Another significant benefit gained is that students not only
have an understanding of reading, but students also simultaneously learn other lan-
guage skills such as listening, speaking, and writing. The evidence from participants
that say:
…“Under the big umbrella of learning reading, other abilities occur (P1), without being aware
students can speak when delivery opinion (P2), discussing to each other (P3), ability to listen
when they have to do clarification (P4), and writing skills when they have to make a summary
or paraphrase (P6) …”

From the various benefits obtained by students, there is also a value for the teacher.
The participant emphasizes teacher who works with reciprocal teaching is a good one.
It pointed as a pedagogical practice that more natural caring, inclusive, and cohesive
learning groups that teachers work smarter, not harder [6, 32].
In the reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning design, there must be weaknesses
that will address in future implementation. The gap noted is that not all students are
willing to be taught by their peers. The teachers must consider this situation. The
evidence from the participant says:
…“Not all children want to be taught by their peers. This case must receive special attention
from the teacher how to deal with students in this type (P2) …”

Another weakness is that teachers have to pay attention to class management. Class
noise is unavoidable in the groups of students. These two weaknesses are the major
concern in this model, so they need to be addressed and overcome when implementing
the design of reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning.
The suggestion also is given for the improvement of design implementation in the
future. The opinion is the teacher who will carry out the design have to understand the
application of reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning correctly. The workshop needs
to give to the teachers for 3–5 days, so they know this design well. Another opinion is
the three strategies implemented in the class, and one approach summarizing be a
student’s independent assignment at home. The reason is students can repeat learning
by sum up an essential part of reading text. Then, the last suggestion is the reciprocal
teaching-collaborative learning design in its implementation must consider the local
context or adapted to regional culture. The application does not have to follow the
original form of the origin country of reciprocal teaching.

6 Conclusion

The participants support this reciprocal teaching-collaborative learning approach

design to be implemented. The participants, who are English teachers at several
polytechnics in Indonesia, argue that this is a breakthrough in teaching reading and also
useful. Mostly the noticeable answer of participants shows that reciprocal-collaborative
learning helps enhance students’ reading comprehension skills. According to them,
there is some crucial benefit through this design, namely interactive, communicative,
active group discussion, critical thinking, motivation, leadership, and cooperation.
 Design of Reciprocal Teaching-Collaborative Learning Approach 31

Then, the goal of the reciprocal-collaborative learning approach is students com-

prehend English reading text with a short duration of time but have an enormous
impact. It means that at the time student learn reading, they also get another essential
skill, namely listening, speaking, and writing that integrated into its design. Besides
that, the teaching style in polytechnics is a collaboration where students have formed
collaborate in completing projects or assignments. As a result, the formation of groups
will be useful and also shorten the duration time of reading learning, especially reading
English text. Generally, good learning has to be positive and avoiding stressful learning
environments for students.

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technology-enhanced learning environment. System 31, 349–365 (2003). https://doi.org/10.
1016/S0346-251X(03)00047-2
2. Adams, T.L., Lowery, R.M.K.: An analysis of children’s strategies for reading mathematics.
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4. Rahimi, M., Sadeghi, N.: Impact of reciprocal teaching on EFL learners’ reading
comprehension. Res. Appl. Linguist. 6, 64–86 (2014)
5. Oxford, R.L.: Language learning styles and strategies: an overview. In: Learn Styles
Strateg GALA 2003 (2003)
6. Palinscar, A.S., Brown, A.L.: Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and
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7. Grabe, W.: Teaching and testing reading. In: M.H. Long, C.J. Doughty (eds.) The Handbook
of Language Teaching, pp. 441–462. Wiley, Hoboken. (2009). Handb. Lang. Teach. 412–
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8. Anjomshoaa, L., Golestan, S., Anjomshoaa, A.: The influences of metacognitive awareness
on reading comprehension in Iranian English undergraduate students in Kerman. Iran. Int.
J. Appl. Linguist. English Lit. 1, 193–198 (2012). https://doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.6p.193
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Graduate students reading comprehension and their attitudes toward reading strategies
instruction. 1, 39–55 (2011)
10. Okkinga, M.: Effects of reciprocal teaching on reading comprehension of low-achieving
adolescents. The Importance of Specific Teacher Skills, pp. 1–22 (2016). https://doi.org/10.
1111/1467-9817.12082
11. Rosenshine, B., Meister, C.: Reciprocal teaching: a review of the research. Rev. Educ. Res.
64, 479–530 (1994)
12. Richards, J.C., Schmidt, R.: Longman: Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied
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32 O. de H. Basoeki et al.

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 Mathematic Learning Efficiency Analysis
of Story-Based Situated Learning in
Low-Achieving Elementary School Students

Chih-Wei Huang1, Hong-Ren Chen1(&), Sen-Chi Yu2, Yi-Lun Su3,

and Chia-Chen Chen3
1
Department of Digital Content and Technology, National Taichung University
of Education, Taichung 403, Taiwan
hrchen@mail.ntcu.edu.tw
2
Department of Counseling and Applied Psychology, National Taichung
University of Education, Taichung 403, Taiwan
3
Department of Management Information Systems, National Chung Hsing
University, Taichung 402, Taiwan

Abstract. The objective of this study is to understand how story-based situated

learning affect low-achieving students’ learning performances and discuss their
impact on learning efficiency, math anxiety and differences in attitudes toward
mathematics. The subjects of this study were low-achieving 5–6th grade stu-
dents of an unnamed elementary school in Taichung of Taiwan. Experimental
group used story-based situated learning, while the control group used tradi-
tional lecture method. The study found the following: (1) Experimental group’s
post test scores regarding mathematic achievement exhibited significant differ-
ence in comparison with the control group. (2) Experimental group’s math
anxiety scale results had significant difference comparing to the control
group. Experimental group students were also found to be less anxious than
those of the control group. (3) Experimental group’s math attitude scale results
exhibited significant difference when compared to the control group. Experi-
mental groups were also found to have better attitude scores than the control
group.

Keywords: Low-achieving students
Story-based learning
Math anxiety

Math attitude

1 Introduction

Remedial teaching programs is already a common concept in Taiwan. Both the central
and local government have been promoting various after class remedial programs,
providing low-achieving students with a diversified and adaptive learning opportunity.
The students are then screened with a standardized exam system to determine which
low-achieving students should be admitted to the remedial program. However, despite
the programs were already in use for almost a decade, the results of remedial teaching
are still under heavy discussion between parents, there are also some researchers that
suggested remedial teaching programs should be held during summer and winter

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 33–39, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_4
34 C.-W. Huang et al.

vacations. Not only can students continue studying without having their study moti-
vation being interrupted by the long breaks, but also it would be much easier to recruit
teachers suitable for the program [1].
Ministry of Education’s PRIORI (Project for Implementation of Remedial
Instruction) website is the most widely-used platform for remedial programs in Taiwan.
The quality of its teaching materials and learning efficiency are also recognized by
many teachers. Thus, the study will mainly be using the materials available on said
website while making adjustment to incorporate narrative elements and applying them
to context-based teaching methods. Many students across the world face problems
when learning math. One of the most common phenomenon is that students are more
likely to achieve lower learning efficiency in learning math, which causes students to
drop out of majors that concern math or science. Many female students are also
discouraged from entering fields of science due to the difficulties they face in studying
math [2]. Thus, the study will be exploring the differences between how genders react
to math anxiety and their attitudes towards math.
The study will discuss the three following questions:
1. Discuss the learning efficiency differences of students taught using story-based
situated learning and traditional lecture methods in remedial teaching programs.
2. Understand the attitude differences of students taught using story-based situated
learning and traditional lecture methods in remedial programs.
3. Understand the change in math anxiety of students taught using story-based situated
learning as opposed to students taught utilizing traditional lecture methods in
remedial programs.

2 Literature Review

An effective context-based learning method can guide the learners to actively partici-
pate in the learning process. Combining environmental stimuli and technological
applications, the learning content can be further enhanced to inspire curiosity and
interest in the learners. In the age of the Internet, our lives are nigh inseparable from the
web; hence learning materials should be able to connect with the students’ experiences
in life in order to increase learning interest and effectiveness while also making students
able to apply the knowledge learned in class to real life [3]. Learners can actively
explore the value of knowledge in the web of information on their own, not just
passively receiving information from external influences. Learners are in charge of
whichever knowledge they choose to receive, giving learning a purpose [4]. Thus,
while students are learning 5th/6th grade math over the internet, they should be placed
in a familiar environment where they could explore and learn on their own.
Math anxiety is one of the key elements to the success of a student’s math learning,
hence math teachers are very aware of how it affects learning. Richardson and Suinn
[5] first developed the concept of math anxiety, which meant the emotional state in
which one processes or applying mathematic concepts. The Wei [6] stated that math
anxiety is a state anxiety which generates unease and nervousness during the pro-
cessing of numbers or utilization of mathematic concepts. Many researches also found
 Mathematic Learning Efficiency Analysis 35

that the math anxiety of females are significantly higher than males. However, Frary
and Ling [7] proposed a different finding which suggested students of different genders
did not exhibit significant differences in their math anxiety scale scores. Although most
research found females exhibiting significantly higher math anxiety than males, some
studies still oppose this conclusion; hence the study will not explore the anxiety dif-
ferences in genders.
In terms of the correlation between math learning efficiency and math anxiety, it
can be broadly categorized into examining the existence of a negative correlation
between learning efficiency and math anxiety or finding no correlation between the
two. Wu and Su [8]’s study found that in 4th, 5th and 6th grade students, totaling at 990
subjects, the higher the math anxiety in students, the more passive their attitudes and
the lower their achievements were. The Williams [9] focused his studies on high school
students and discovered that female students had a generally higher math anxiety.
Students’ learning achievements and MAQ negative emotional responses were sig-
nificantly negatively correlated, which showed the lower the learning achievement, the
more fearful or negative the emotions were. The Meece [10] illustrated that out of the
250 grade 7 to grade 9 students, math anxiety had no significant influence on the
students’ math scores.

3 Research Method

The test subjects of the present study were 38 students of an unnamed elementary
school in Taichung. The subjects included 18 fifth grade students and 19 sixth grade
students, of whom 21 were male 16 were female. The students were randomly assigned
to experimental group and control group, which contained 17 and 20 students
respectively. Experimental group utilized story-based situated learning method while
the control group were taught using traditional lecture. The math anxiety & attitude
scale was adapted from [6, 11 and 12] ’s designs. The scales were given to students
along with math achievement tests after being edited and put through factor analysis.
The story-based situated learning model of the study used a map akin to the board
game Monopoly. The map combined tourist attractions with math problems that
inspired active participation. Teaching in a Monopoly game-like fashion, the study
hoped to reduce anxiety and increase positive learning attitude and learning efficiency
in the students. Before each lesson, class instructors will spend 10 min explaining the
key points while the remaining 30 min will be group activities based on the narrative-
based learning model. The present study will be introducing the game background,
course content, game rules and schedules in the following paragraph. Game back-
ground: Shih and Gang are local students, they are troubled by how they should
introduce their homes to the class. Come on kids, do you know what sort of tourist
attractions are near their homes? Do you also know how you could introduce them?
Let’s help Shih and Gang and start exploring nearby! Course content: The game
consisted of question cards, chance cards, community chest cards, game board and a
die as shown in Fig. 1. Question cards contained fraction multiplication; chance and
community chest cards contained events that happened around the students. The game
board was designed with four different type of grids, including street grids, chance card
36 C.-W. Huang et al.

grids, community chest card grids and tourist attraction grids. The die used in the game
was a traditional six-sided die with numbers from 1 to 6.

Fig. 1. Board game Monopoly of story-based situated learning.

The board game rules are as follows and shown in Fig. 2. Every player should
choose a token to represent themselves and a grid as their residence before beginning
the game. Starting from the school grid, everybody will take turns to roll the die and
advance the number of grids in accordance with the die. Depending on which grid the
player arrives in, the following scenarios can happen: If the player reaches street grid,
they shall turn over a question card and answer, which they will get to keep after
answering it correctly; If the player reaches a chance card grid, they should turn over a
chance card do as the card requests; if the player reaches a community chest card grid,
they should turn over a community chest card and do as the card requests; Finally, If
the player reaches a tourist attraction grid, they will go into timeout for one round.
Every time a question is answered, the players can check with the instructor to see
whether the answer is correct. If the answer is correct, then the player can continue
playing; if the answer is incorrect, then the player should recalculate under the teacher’s
supervision. The player is allowed to receive an additional card after reaching their
residence on the game board and having answered the question correctly. In solo play,
each player will compete against one another to see who answers the most questions
correctly in a limited time; In team play, players will compete in groups to see which
team answered the most questions; If all questions are answered, the team who
answered the quickest wins. The teaching model is expected to last a total of 320 min
across 8 lessons, including pre-test (40 min), post test (40 min) and math anxiety &
attitude test (40 min).

4 Experimental Analysis and Results

4.1 Analysis of Learning Effect

According to ANCOVA summary Table 1, the independent variables (the two teaching
methods) had a significant treatment effect on the dependent variable (post-test scores)
after excluding the influence of the covariate variable (pre-test scores) had on the
 Mathematic Learning Efficiency Analysis 37

Fig. 2. Question and chance card.

dependent variable, F = 6.720*, which meant post-test scores will have significant
differences. The average test scores of the experimental group was 83.901, while the
control group averaged at 71.184. The results indicated that students of the remedial
programs had better math learning efficiency employing story-based situated learning
method as opposed to traditional lecture method.

Table 1. Summary of covariate analysis of math achievement test.

Source Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig. Partial eta squared
Pre-test 5329.967 1 5329.967 24.326 .000 .417
Group 1472.381 1 1472.381 6.720 .014* .165
Error 7449.665 34 219.108
Corrected Total 13772.973 36
*
p < 0.05

4.2 Analysis of Mathematics Anxiety

Results on Table 2 showed different groups of students perceived mathematics anxiety
differently (t = −3.193, p < 0.5). Students taught using traditional lecture method had
significantly higher anxiety (M = 77.35) than those who utilized narrative-based
learning method (M = 58.177). η2= .226, which indicated that the 22.6% variance in
general anxiety can be explained by the use of different teaching models. Judging from
the amount, a strong correlation exists between the different teaching models and the
38 C.-W. Huang et al.

general anxiety variable, with the statistical power indicating an 87.4% probability of
the foregoing hypothesis. Summarizing the statements above, the experimental group
exhibited lower math anxiety than the control group.

Table 2. Summary of t test of mathematics anxiety scale.

Variable N Mean S.D. t
Experiment group 17 58.177 18.211 −3.193*
Control group 20 77.350 18.196
*
p < 0.05

4.3 Analysis of Mathematics Attitude

Results on Table 3 showed different groups of students exhibited different “general
attitude” (t = 4.307, p < 0.5). Students taught using traditional lecture method were
significantly more negative (M = 49.700) than those who utilized narrative-based
teaching method (M = 61.824). η2= .346, which indicated that the 34.6% variance in
general attitude can be explained by the use of different teaching models. Judging from
the amount, a strong correlation exists between the different teaching models and the
general attitude variable, with the statistical power indicating a 98.7% probability of the
foregoing hypothesis. This part of the results indicated that the experimental group
exhibited a more positive math attitude than the control group.

Table 3. Summary of the statistical test the mathematical attitude.

Variable N Mean S.D. t
Experiment group 17 61.824 8.164 4.307*
Control group 20 49.700 8.832

5 Conclusions

The study found that students using story-based situated learning method fared better in
learning achievement than their peers taught traditionally. Students using story-based
situated learning also had both a lower math anxiety and a much positive attitude than
those who were taught using traditional lecture method. The study also advises future
research could understand individual learning differences while giving each equal room
for development. In the philosophy of teaching, taking initiative, engaging the public
and seeking for the common good are the three tenets of the future trend of education.
More and more experiments have proven that traditional lectures are no longer
applicable to all students, especially to those who lagged behind. Only through
designing a more suitable learning method and increasing the interaction between
students can it change how students view studying, lower their anxiety and increase
their learning efficiency.
 Mathematic Learning Efficiency Analysis 39

References
1. Chang, Y.-C.: The analysis of new immigrant families between the degree of perception to
teach, acceptance and digital online learning by remedial teaching policy. Sch. Adm. 108,
119–136 (2017)
2. Wei, L.-M.: The effects of self-regulated learning and affective factors on mathematics
achievement of primary students. Natl. Taichung Univ. Educ. Learn. Newsp. 11, 39–63
(1997)
3. Chen, Y.-C., OuYang, Y.: The design, development and evaluation of applying situated
learning in a netiquette education website. Curriculum Instr. Q. 18(1), 59–92 (2015)
4. Black, R.S., Schell, J.W.: Learning within a situated cognition on framework: implications
for adult learning. Retrieved from ERIC database (ED389939) (1995)
5. Richardson, F.C., Suinn, R.M.: The mathematics anxiety rating scale: psychometric data.
J. Counsel. Psychol. 19(6), 551–554 (1972)
6. Wei, L.-M.: The effects of self-regulated learning and affective factors on mathematics
achievement of primary students and the effectiveness of strategies training. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (1988)
7. Frary, R.B., Ling, J.L.: A factor-analytic study of mathematics anxiety. Educ. Psychol.
Meas. 43(4), 985–993 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1177/001316448304300406
8. Wu, M.-L., Su, G.-Y.: The study of the relationship between belief, attitude perception of
important others and mathematical attitude and mathematical achievement among the
students of national primary school control. J. Elementary Educ. 4, 181–200 (1995)
9. Williams, J.E.: The relation between efficacy for self-regulated learning and domain-specific
academic performance, controlling for test anxiety. J. Res. Dev. Educ. 29(2), 77–80 (1996)
10. Meece, J.L., Wigfield, A., Eccles, J.S.: Predictors of math anxiety and its influence on young
adolescents’ course enrollment intentions and performance in mathematics. J. Educ. Psychol.
82(1), 60–70 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.60
11. Wu, M.-L.: A study of the relationship between the socio-psychological factors of primary
and junior high school students and their belief and anxiety in math. Educ. Rev. 12, 287–327
(1996)
12. Shie, B.-H.: Construction of mathematics anxiety scale for younger pupils: verification of
theoretical models. National Taipei University of Education (2006)
 Implementation of an Individual English Oral
Training Robot System

Chen-Yu Lin1 , Wei-Wei Shen2 , Ming-Hsiu Michelle Tsai2 ,

Jim-Min Lin1(&) , and Wai Khuen Cheng3
1
Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Feng Chia
University, Taichung City 40724, Taiwan
qwe111845@gmail.com, jimmy@fcu.edu.tw
2
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, Feng Chia University,
Taichung City 40724, Taiwan
{wwshen,mhtsai}@fcu.edu.tw
3
Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Universiti Tunku
Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Malaysia
chengwk@utar.edu.my

Abstract. To improve oral English ability, in addition to learners’ willingness

to practice more, the learning effect will be more obvious if tutor assistance is
provided and can involve one-on-one individual tutoring. However, due to the
scarcity of English teacher manpower, teachers cannot take care of every student
in class, nor can they teach students one by one after class. Robot-Assisted
English Speaking may provide a feasible solution. Therefore, this research has
developed an educational robot system that can support individual tutoring of
English speaking after class. It is called “English Oral Training Robot Tutor
System (EOTRTS)”, which can actively lead students to learn through robots,
and help students improve their oral English practice through individual tutoring
and interactive methods. The implementation of this system is to use the social
robot NAO’s voice recognition, QR code scanning, humanized limbs, and
various sensor functions as well as the ability to interact with people and other
features to help students learn oral English after class. The experimental results
show that, in addition to a slightly lower satisfaction with the robot’s gesture
performance, the students’ acceptance of the EOTRTS system is promising.

Keywords: Educational robot
Robot assisted language learning
English

Oral Training Robot Tutor System (EOTRTS)
Google Cloud Automatic
Speech Recognizer (ASR)
NAO

1 Introduction

With the development of technology, many robots have been used in real life today,
and the existence of social robots allows us to interact with them through dialogue or
touch. The interaction with the robot has a positive impact on the body and mind [1].
Mubin et al. [2] also enumerate the various advantages of using robots in a teaching
environment, such as dull and boring tasks without fatigue and remote teaching. Kang
et al. [3] assumes that the robot is humanized and has the proper appearance to interact
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 40–49, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_5
 Implementation of an Individual EOTRS 41

directly with the person. Extending these ideas, robots are an attractive tool that is
brought into the second language learning arena and used to meet different teaching
needs. Kanda et al. [4] and others placed robots in the primary school classroom for
two weeks and compared the frequency of interactions between students and their
English test scores. Although the two-week robot-assisted learning did not have any
significant impact on students’ oral English and listening test scores, students who
showed great interest at the initial stage had significantly improved English scores.
In the previous research, most of the robots were used in the classroom. The
purpose of using robots in the classroom was to attract students’ attention and enhance
the interest of learning. An ETAR system [4] was implemented to be a teaching
assistant in class. It can help to improve the motivation of English learning in class and
bring convenience to classroom teaching for English teachers. Research [5] was also
proved to be effective. However, the robot cannot take care of every student in the
classroom; likewise, after the class, the teacher cannot teach each student individually.
Therefore, a robot system for after-school tutoring, called English Oral Training Robot
Tutor System (EOTRTS) [6] is proposed. This paper presents how the system is
implemented. In this system, the educational robot leads the students to learn in a one-
to-one manner, using a social robot NAO with interactive functions such as voice
function and touch as a personal lecturer for the learner to conduct after-school tutoring
for oral English training. Different from the past research, the robot instructor can
actively guide the learner to learn. It does not need to be triggered by the helper to
guide the coaching process. Instead, the robot instructor NAO actively guides the
students according to the progress of the student’s curriculum to practice single words,
recitation of texts, recording exercises, and evaluate the student’s speech rate and
correct reading rate through Google Cloud Voice to Text and Word Error Rate Cal-
culation Formula.
The structure of this article is as follows. Section 2 explains how the system is
designed, and describes the design of the student’s interaction with the robot. The
details of the experimental procedures is described in Sect. 3. Next, the analysis and
discussion of the result are then explained in Sect. 4. Finally, a brief conclusion is made
and the future research direction is explored in Sect. 5.

2 System Design

2.1 System Structure

Figure 1 shows the system structure of the educational robot (called EOTRTS) pro-
posed in this study. This article uses NAO robots to conduct after-school tutoring and
lead students to learn text materials. EOTRTS is mainly divided into three parts: cloud
services, servers, and robots. The system software functions are implemented in Python
language, and Socket is used as a network communication mechanism to connect
various system components. Cloud services use Google Cloud services.
Server. The server is responsible for accessing the database and the cloud, obtaining
course data to send to the robot, recording the session test data returned by the robot,
etc., and respectively storing each student’s recording files after reading the text. After
42 C.-Y. Lin et al.

Fig. 1. System structure of EOTRTS. Fig. 2. Choregraphe operational interface.

the server uploads the data and the data reaches the cloud, it uses Google Cloud Speech
to Text (STT) and Word Error Rate (WER) formulas to calculate the accuracy of
reading aloud and speaking rate of the text recording, and sends the recognition results
of the text and the recognition results of the conversation test through SMTP (Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol) after the session test of the unit is over.
Robot. The robot end mainly designs the functional process of the robot, including
scanning the QR code to log in to the account, requesting the server to confirm the
account, and returning the course progress and course data. The TTS technology of the
Nao robot itself is used for the pronunciation of the words, and the storage of audio
files, playback, and recording are implemented using the NAOqi SDK. Google
Cloud STT is used for the real-time recognition function of the conversation test. After
the result is recognized, the recording file is read to calculate the reading speed, and the
result is finally returned to the server.

• Hardware – NAO robot

The NAO robot has enough sensors, so it is quite helpful for this research. This
research uses sensors such as head and hand to enhance the interaction of tactile sense.
It is also possible to use touch to continue the course to enhance the motivation of
students to learn. There are 6 touch points (Head-front, Head-middle, Head-rear, Left
hand, Right-hand, Right foot) provided for users to interact with EOTRTS.
• Software development – Choregraphe
EOTRTS uses the Choregraphe development platform because Choregraphe can
directly use local calls to create modules for the use of various methods. The program
in Choregraphe is coded in a way that each functional module has a block, and then it
controls the process by connecting various modules. Therefore, it is relatively easy to
know how each function is performed in terms of the program structure, and the
process of after-school tutoring can also be simply modified according to the needs of
the tutor. Choregraphe can visualize each function using the Python programming
language. Figure 2 shows the operational interface of Choregraphe platform.
 Implementation of an Individual EOTRS 43

Fig. 3. Speech recognition block in choregraphe.

Fig. 4. Corresponding program python codes of Fig. 3

As shown in Fig. 2, there are many boxes, each of which is a module with the
specified functions. By connecting each box to integrate the system, the box is nor-
mally the code, but it can also be Block flow chart as in the middle of Fig. 3. The
advantage of developing on Choregraphe is that you can see which module is currently
actively running, which is convenient for programmers to control the process of the
system. However, the design of each module is not as simple as in writing usual
programs. It is necessary to set the input data type and output format with a specific
code-writing method for each module. Figure 3 and Fig. 4 illustrate the functional
design examples of the block. Figure 3 is the speech recognition block, and Fig. 4 is
the compiled version of the corresponding Python codes.
The entry point and exit point of each recognition box have their own input and
output to be set, which have different colors according to different output data types.
For example, the output string is blue; the type and length of the output data needs to be
properly set in advance, otherwise the program will have an error occurred or fail to
receive the data that should be obtained. For example, the voice recognition entry point
in Fig. 4 will go to def onInput_onStart(self): The method in this line will start to
operate. If one want to get data, he must set the data input in the box and set the data
type of the team, and then change the Python code part to def onInput_onStart(self,
data): to get the transferred data.
The above is briefly the preliminary process of designing each block. There are
requirements to use the microphone and so on. The ALSpeechRecognition and the
ALMemory modules can be used through the above mentioned NAOqi methods. Then
the voice recognition function can be turned on through the methods inside.
44 C.-Y. Lin et al.

Cloud Services. An important function of this system–“voice recognition”–is pro-

vided through cloud services. The robot saves the recording file of each student on the
server after the text is read aloud, and then uploads it to the cloud service from the
server. We use Google Cloud Speech-to-Text (STT) service to recognize the text
recording and then convert it into a corresponding text file. Finally, we use the Word
Error Rate (WER) formula to calculate the accuracy and speed of the student’s reading
aloud. After the end of the session test of a unit, the recognition result of the text read
aloud and the session test will be sent to the student via SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol) by email.

• Google Cloud Platform Speech-To-Text (STT) Service

Google Cloud Platform has a forward-looking infrastructure, powerful data analysis
services. EOTRTS uses Google Cloud Automatic Speech Recognizer (ASR) for speech
recognition and its STT API for speech to text translation, in which a powerful neural
network is added to the Cloud STT API. This model is convenient for developers to
convert their audio messages into text. Additionally, because it is a voice recognition
model, to have a higher recognition rate, it requires a complete and clear pronunciation
for single words to be read. Therefore, it is very suitable for students to practice reading
aloud. As a result, students would be able to read English clearly and completely,
thereby improving their reading ability. This API mainly has two functions, namely:
– Synchronous voice recognition: For short voice message (less than 1 min), the
recognized text will be recognized by a built-in STT function in NAO, and returned
in the response immediately. EOTRTS uses this part in the robot conversation test.
This function is particularly suitable for the conversation test as a conversation has
fewer sentences and needs to be quickly identified and then sent back.
– Asynchronous voice recognition: Performing voice recognition on batches of long
audio files will start long-running audio processing operations. Asynchronous voice
recognition is used to recognize an audio message that is longer than 1 min and
stored in Google Cloud Storage. The system then uses this API to identify the part
of the text to be practiced in the system.
The recognition rate can be obtained by comparing the original text with its
recording of student’s read aloud voice. The ASR recognition rate is more than 80%,
even up to as high as 92%, which is an acceptable recognition rate.
When using asynchronous voice recognition, only the audio files stored in Google
Cloud Storage. The system creates a bucket named speech_to_text_class on the cloud
platform to store the student audio files to be processed. Then we can upload audio files
to this bucket from the server. In order for the data to be reusable, we use the Regional
level storage space and grant permissions through Cloud Storage ID, so that project
members can access Cloud Storage data based on their project roles. Server-end
account access rights are also granted through Cloud Storage ID.
 Implementation of an Individual EOTRS 45

• Correct rate of reading aloud and calculation of speaking speed

WER is a common measurement of speech recognition or machine translation system
performance. It was proposed by Levenshtein [7]. The calculation formula is as Eq. (1).
The calculation method is as follows:
S is the number of different words in the original sentence, D is the number of
missing words, I is the number of inserted words, and N is the number of correct words.
The spaces, commas, and other symbols are removed in the calculation of correct rate.

SþDþI
WER ¼ 100  % ð1Þ
N
The formula for calculating the speed of reading aloud is as Eq. (2), and Eq. (3).

text length ðwordsÞ

Speaking Speed ¼ ; if  1 minute ð2Þ
recording timeðminÞ

text lengthðwordsÞ
Speaking Speed ¼ 60  ; if \ 1 minute ð3Þ
recording timeðminÞ

2.2 English Oral Educational Functions in EOTRTS

EOTRTS has 4 main oral English education functions: single-word pronunciation
exercises, text reading exercises, text recordings, and conversation tests. The robots in
the process have operation tips to prevent students from forgetting how to operate
them.
• Single-word pronunciation exercises
After entering the course practice, students begin to learn the vocabulary in the new
course. The robot reads the words first, and the students follow along. Students learn
the meaning of the words, so that the students will not have difficulty to read the new
words in the text reading practice afterwards. After reading a word, there is a waiting
interval of 3 s for students to practice the pronunciation of the word, and then NAO
will read the next word. Vocabulary practice is about two and a half minutes, and
students can follow their own abilities to choose whether to practice again.
• Text read-aloud exercises
The student touches NAO’s head to enter the text reading exercise. The NAO robot will
play the text audio files (real-person English pronunciation) of the practice unit, and can
make some actions to attract the students’ attention. It will stop at the appropriate
semantic paragraph. After students listen to the audio file and practice reading the
passage, they can listen to the audio file of the next passage by touching NAO’s right
hand or right foot. If they don’t understand this passage, they can repeat this audio file by
touching NAO’s head (front). Then NAO will play the text audio file of the whole unit.
If students want to practice again, they can touch NAO’s head (middle) to listen to the
entire audio file again. The estimated practice time for this process is around 10 min.
46 C.-Y. Lin et al.

• Text read-aloud recordings

When the text reading exercise is over, the NAO robot prompts, “Touch my front head
to start recording.” After that, NAO will not take any action and wait. When a student
thinks that he/she can start the next process, he/she will touch NAO’s front head to start
recording. After recording, the student can touch NAO’s middle head to stop recording.
Students choose whether to re-record the read-aloud again orally by saying “YES” or
“NO”. If students do not choose to re-record, the robot will upload the audio recording
file to the server.
• Conversation tests
EOTRTS will firstly read the questions of the conversation test in the textbook. In order
to train the student’s listening ability, the test paper we give will only have the answer
part, and the question will be read by the robot. The robot reads the question twice with
2 s apart each time. Student will first answer which choice (A-D) it is, and the robot
will ask the student to read the complete sentence of that answer choice next. For
example, if the student says, “A”, the robot will ask the student to read the sentence of
his answer choice. Students touch NAO’s forehead to activate its short speech
recognition function, and touch the middle of NAO’s head to end the function after
finishing reading. After that, an email with the text recognition content of the unit and
the recognition content of the conversation test will be sent immediately to the student.

3 EOTRTS Experiment

3.1 Participants
The experiment is aimed at students in the science-related departments of a university
in central Taiwan. The total number of students is 19, including 17 boys and 2 girls,
with an average age of 21.65 years and a standard deviation of 1.06. A total of 19
people in the experimental group and the control group participated in the experiment.

3.2 Teaching Material

The textbook used in this study is 4000 Essential English Words 1. It’s an English
textbook selected for freshmen. It has a certain correlation with the participating stu-
dents. Students have certain familiarity with the teaching materials, and the difficulty of
the teaching materials is relatively low. It is suitable for students of science and
engineering background for the purpose of improving their insufficient oral English
ability.

3.3 Procedure
The experiment lasted a total of 6 weeks. In the first week, the overall experimental
process and the pre-test group were introduced and the English learning motivation and
English learning anxiety questionnaire were filled out. In the 2nd to 5th weeks, the
experimental group and the control group were arranged in a quiet and undisturbed
 Implementation of an Individual EOTRS 47

room space. The experimental group used EOTRTS for learning, while the control
group learned English in a self-study manner. Participants spent half an hour per unit,
and 1 h for two units per week. There were four main learning steps for each unit:
single-word pronunciation practice, text reading practice, text reading-aloud practice
and conversation test. In addition, the two groups of students recorded their text
reading-aloud practices, and the session tests were recorded afterwards as well. The
experimental group used the robot to record, and the control group used the mobile
phone to record. In the sixth week, the two groups of students engaged in post-testing,
and filled out the English learning motivation and English learning anxiety question-
naires, while the experimental group also filled out the technology acceptance ques-
tionnaire, and the control group filled out the learning satisfaction questionnaire.

4 Results: Analysis of Technology Acceptance Questionnaire

Limited by the paper length, this paper will only report the analysis of the Technology
Acceptance Questionnaire. More results will be presented in our future papers. This
questionnaire is designed based on the five-point Likert scale. All questionnaires have
been evaluated by two English teachers to ensure that the questions are clear and
structured. The technology acceptance questionnaire was conducted in the experi-
mental group to understand students’ satisfaction and acceptance of EOTRTS. The
average of the item classification is shown in Table 1. Table 2 shows the questions
with answers of lower mean.

Table 1. Technology acceptance questionnaire topic classification.

Evaluation items Ease of use Usefulness
Sound 4.3 4.2
Action 3.4 3.9
Procedure 4.4 4.3
Interaction 4.1 4.1

In terms of ease of use, except for the part of the gesture “action”, the rest of the
evaluation items receive all 4.0 or more, which means that the usability in sound,
process, interaction, results and other items is acceptable. However, the action items
got the lowest point at 3.4. After asking most students in the experimental group, the
reason is that they think the robot had too many actions and big moves in its gestures.
As shown in Table 2, it is indeed as low as 3.6 and 3.3 points.
In terms of usefulness, except for the part of gesture action, the other evaluation
items all receive points above 4.0, which means that the usefulness of items such as
sound, procedure, interaction, and results also has a good effect. Although the robot’s
action can attract the attention of students, its excessive movements can also distract
students. The lowest-rated item in the questionnaire is the STT ability to recognize
speech. This is partly because EOTRTS is recognized through the STT function of
48 C.-Y. Lin et al.

Table 2. Technology acceptance questionnaire with answers of lower mean.

No Questions 1 2 3 4 5 Mean
3 I think the speed of the 11.1% 11.1% 22.2% 22.2% 33.3% 3.6
Educational robot is
appropriate
4 I think that the display 11.1% 11.1% 22.2% 44.4% 11.1% 3.3
of Educational robot
movements with spoken
content is appropriate
14 I am satisfied with the 0% 22.2% 33.3% 11.1% 33.3% 3.6
system ability to identify
the voice recognition
function of the server
(the identification result
sent back by email)
15 I am satisfied with the 0% 22.2% 44.4% 22.2% 11.1% 3.2
Educational robot’s
ability to read English in
real time
strongly disagree (1) ! strongly agree (5)

Google Cloud. It would have a great impact on the recognition of short speech,
including the speech sound level, environmental noise, and even the name of the
person, etc. Because the conversation test answer is a sentence, up to a dozen words, as
long as one or two words are not recognized, it would have a very big impact on the
scoring. Therefore, it would also affect the real-time STT recognition greatly, as shown
in Table 2 in which the average score is only 3.2. On the contrary, the impact of that on
the server’s text reading-aloud recording recognition ability is relatively lowered.
Because each text is more than 300 words, the impact on names or small number of
errors is not very large, and the average recognition rate is 0.4 higher than that of real-
time recognition.

5 Conclusion

This article proposes an educational robot system EOTRTS to provide individual

tutoring to students to improve their oral English ability. It also proposes to use Google
Cloud-STT and WER calculation formulas to evaluate the accuracy of students’
reading aloud, so as to improve the accuracy of their English reading and reading rate.
After six weeks of experiments, EOTRTS can indeed play the role of a tutor, helping
students learn English in a one-on-one manner. The results of questionnaires show that,
regardless of ease-of-use and usefulness, this system has good system acceptance for
users, except for the robot action factor. It signifies that using robots as a language
learning tool is a new way of oral English learning that can be accepted by students.
 Implementation of an Individual EOTRS 49

Future Works. EOTRTS can incorporate more robots with different functions,
appearances, and operating types in the future to support language learning on different
robots. In addition, EOTRTS can also be used for different foreign languages in the
future, such as Japanese and Korean, etc. because NAO robots can support multiple
languages. Furthermore, in the learning process, many people are attracted by the vivid
and interesting appearance and actions of the robot and the lively and delicate nature of
the interaction between the robot and the human. Therefore, EOTRTS can also be
combined with the previous research results of [8–10] in the future to design more
lively and vivid robot programs.

Acknowledgement. This study is partly supported in finance by the Ministry of Science and
Technology, TAIWAN under the contract numbers MOST106-2511-S-035-003-MY2,
MOST107-2511-H-035-004-MY2, and MOST108-2511-H-035-002-MY2.

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 Pilot Study of Information Literacy
Competency of the Elderly: A Case Study
of Multimedia Instant Messaging Applications

Yi-Chen Lu and Ting-Ting Wu(&)

Graduate School of Technological and Vocational Education,

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliou, Taiwan
ttwu@yuntech.edu.tw

Abstract. The aging of the population and the rapid development of digital
technology have brought many shocks to our world and changed the way of life
we take for grant-ed. The development of mobile technology provides many
opportunities for the elderly to improve their quality of life. A total of 20
subjects were enrolled in this study, with an average age of 71.5 years old.
Through this course, we summarized the factors affecting information literacy as
“learning motivation and attitude”, “whether the application is close to needs in
their lives”, and “whether the family and friends can help the study” through
observation and interviews. During the experiment we observed the information
literacy performance of the elderly in the use of multimedia instant messaging
applications. It is found that when learning digital technology and using mul-
timedia instant messaging applications, information literacy is not directly
related to age, education, or gender. It is mainly the acceptance attitude towards
technology and the link degree between applications and life that affect the
development of information literacy among the elderly.

Keywords: Information literacy
Elder education
Instant messaging

Multimedia
Application

1 Introduction

The two main challenges facing the world today are the socio-economic and cultural
challenges brought about by the rapid population aging and the development of digital
technology [1]. The aging of the population in most countries has entered an accel-
erated stage and has become a worldwide concern.
The rapid development of technology is accompanied by the rapid spread of
information. The development of mobile technology provides many opportunities for
the elderly to improve their quality of life [2]. The emergence of advanced Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) in all areas of our lives has increased the
importance of individuals’ ability to make full use of ICT [3]. ICT is a generic term for
any communication device or application, such as a mobile phone, computer, network
hardware or software, and the various services and applications associated with it [4].
With the widespread use of smart phones, the age distribution of users has become
more and more extensive, and APPs have become a trend [1]. With the evolution of
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 50–58, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_6
 Pilot Study of Information Literacy Competency of the Elderly 51

technology carriers, the form of communication between people has changed from the
traditional “face-to-face communication” to communication through the Internet and
then mobile APPs. Due to its functionality and convenience, various instant messaging
software has become an indispensable way of communication in people’s daily life.
With the development of touch screen technology, smart phones and tablets, the
problem of complex computer operation has been solved, and a variety of practical and
convenient applications can be run on smart phones through touch screens [1].
The proportion of mobile phone users over the age of 60 increased from 16.1% in
2016 to 20.2% in 2018 [5]. More and more elderly people are becoming technology
users. The constant development of technology means that individuals need to con-
stantly improve their digital literacy in order to maintain inclusiveness [6]. Despite a
growing understanding of older people’s acceptance and limitations of the Internet,
older people in areas with low Internet usage rates lag behind in their acceptance and
learning needs for touch-screen applications [1].
However, when thinking about the benefits of digital technology in increasing
social inclusion and social connectivity of the elderly, it is necessary to understand the
older people’s ability to accomplish tasks rather than their knowledge of specific tasks
[6]. Many older people are unable to use social media, which can affect their social
support and intergenerational relationships and lead to depression [4]. Information
literacy is an important concept for the elderly [7]. Therefore, the purpose of this study
is to explore the information literacy of the elderly in terms of their ability to learn and
use technology through their use of multimedia instant messaging applications.

2 Literatures

2.1 Information Literacy

Information literacy is also the foundation of lifelong learning, including the following
aspects [8]:
1. Traditional literacy: it refers to the ability to read, write and calculate. In terms of
library utilization, it means that people need to be able to understand library
functions, book data types and shelving catalogs, and write research reports using
literature.
2. Media literacy: it refers to the ability to use the non-print media to interpret,
evaluate, analyze, and produce.
3. Computer literacy: it refers to the ability to use computer hardware and software,
such as word processing, spreadsheet and other tools, to process data.
4. Network literacy: It refers to the ability to understand network functions, apply,
retrieve, process, utilize and evaluate network resources.
52 Y.-C. Lu and T.-T. Wu

2.2 Senior Citizen Education and Lifelong Learning

Elder education refers to a systematic and continuous teaching program for people over
the age of 65, with the aim of promoting changes in knowledge, attitudes, values, and
skills. Early studies mostly started from the perspective of “education”, so many
scholars and experts have published works on the theme of “elder education”. How-
ever, recent studies have turned to the perspective of learners, taking elderly learning
and the third age learning as the mainstream [8].
Cropley pointed out that lifelong learning consists of four aspects [9]: (1) time:
lifelong learning lasts from birth to death; (2) pattern: lifelong learning occurs in formal
and informal educational situations; (3) result: lifelong learning can lead to the
acquisition or updating of knowledge, skills and attitudes; (4) goal: the ultimate goal of
lifelong learning is to promote personal self-realization.

2.3 Instant Messaging

Instant Messaging (IM) is a real-time communication system through the network,
which allows two or more people to use the network to transmit real-time text mes-
sages, files, voice, and video communication. It usually provides services in the form of
websites, computer software or mobile applications.
Some popular instant messaging software include Line, What, WeChat, Telegram.

3 Method
3.1 Setting and Participants
The subjects of this study were 20 senior citizens over 65 years old (including 65 years
old) in Taiwan. Free courses are available to people of all ages in the Senior Citizens
Learning Center. The Senior Citizens Learning Center provides free learning services
for middle-aged and elderly people to expand their lives after retirement for the new
life.
The course aims to enable the elderly to learn about mobile applications through
smart phones, connect with the information age, and further enhance their media
literacy through multimedia instant messaging applications. During the experiment, a
group was set up to observe the interaction of the elders in the process of information
release and transmission and to examine their sensitivity to information.
Through the elderly learning to use smart phones, this paper discusses their
development of information literacy when using multimedia instant messaging
software.
 Pilot Study of Information Literacy Competency of the Elderly 53

3.2 Research Instrument

In this study, Line was used as multimedia instant messaging software for experiments.
Users can transmit information and watch videos and movies on the Internet at no
additional cost. They can also make purchases, mobile payments and obtain news and
information through other functions.
Its main features are as follows:
1. Ubiquitous free messaging: in addition to one-on-one chat, you can also set up a
group chat, or temporary chat room window.
2. Application accessibility: various carriers can be used, such as iPhone, Android,
Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Nokia Asha. Computer versions and network
versions are also used.
3. Visual communication/voice calls: currently available for iOS, Android, Windows
Phone, BlackBerry (voice call), and computer (Windows/Mac operating system).
Visual communication features not only filters, but also special effects and inter-
active games to enhance the fun of the dialogue.
4. Sticker/emoticon: apart from the basic built-in functions, users can choose and
purchase stickers and illustrations through Line online store to enrich text messages.
5. Easy information sharing: photos, videos, voice messages can be forwarded and
shared, and phone number, location and other information can be transmitted to
friends.
6. Dynamic messages: users can share updates with their friends via text, photos,
videos, and stickers, or keep up with their friends’ latest news.

3.3 Experimental Design

Before the experiment was carried out, the ability of the subjects to use smart phone
applications was ensured. There were 8 courses, 2 courses per week for 4 weeks, and
each course lasted 2 h.
In the first week, the subjects mainly learned and understood the application of
smart phones. In the second week, they got to know the multimedia instant messaging
software: the basic functions of Line include official account, service, stickers, themes,
news, wallet, etc. In the third and fourth weeks, practical exercises were carried out and
advanced applications were learned, including group creation, voting, location sharing,
game interaction, production of pictures, and album and notepad setting.
At the end of the experiment, participants were asked to share their experiences for
us to learn their feedback on the multimedia instant messaging software. The experi-
mental design is shown in Fig. 1.
54 Y.-C. Lu and T.-T. Wu

Fig. 1. Experimental design.

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Participants’ Characteristics at the Baseline

Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics and baseline of the participants in this
study. 20 elderly people (average age: 71.5 years old; aged 66 to 83 years old) par-
ticipated in the experiment and completed the course. The proportion of male and
female participants was 50%. 75% of the participants had a high school education or
equivalent. The more information is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Demographic characteristics and baseline.

Sex n
Male 10
Female 10
Age
65-70 11
70-75 4
75-80 4
80-85 1
Arrangement Age 71.5 years
Education
University/College 4
High School Vocational/College 11
Secondary 3
 Pilot Study of Information Literacy Competency of the Elderly 55

All 20 participants had experience in using smart phones, and all of them had basic
knowledge of using multimedia social communication software. Only one of them had
experience in using other advanced functions of the software, such as the production of
pictures and voice input.

4.2 Participants’ Feedback

Several elderly people said they had long wanted to learn the advanced features of
multimedia instant messaging applications so that they could interact with family and
friends and enhance their relationships. In class, many elderly people carefully recorded
each step (E9, E10, E12–E20) with paper and pens, and asked questions after class or
in groups. It was found that the elderly people aged about 60 (E11–E20) had a par-
ticularly high learning motivation and asked questions when they had problems (E13,
E20).
During the experiment, the researchers summarized the factors affecting informa-
tion literacy as “learning motivation and attitude”, “whether the application is close to
needs in their lives”, and “whether the family and friends can help the study” through
observation and interviews.

4.2.1 Learning Motivation and Attitude

Participants showed a strong interest in technology and applications that helped them
learn and improve. E5, E6 and E7 expressed that they wanted to learn other functions
of the mobile phone, but they don’t know how to use it. They were afraid of damaging
their phones, but they were confident in the knowledge learned in the course. Partic-
ipants with positive attitudes used the Internet and applications more frequently and
were constantly learning new applications [2]. These patients have gained a better
understanding of the course and become more proficient in the application, which is
consistent with previous studies.
E1 said he could keep up with the times and learn the latest technology through his
mobile phone. However, researchers found that E1’s mobile phone was not connected
to the Internet, and he needed to rely on the shared network, so he could not focus on
learning in class, and it was not easy to enjoy the participation process. While the
Internet may have a positive psychological impact on older people, there is still a lag in
technology adoption among older people [2]. Despite this, E1 has Wi-Fi at home, and
he is very positive in communication and feedback in the group.
One of the elders wanted to give up the course because it was too difficult and his
mobile phone was not good enough to keep up with his progress, but he persevered
with the encouragement of his peers. E18 felt that he could not use the knowledge he
had learned, and it was a little difficult. His mobile phone crashed frequently, but he
was very happy to study with his classmates. It can be seen that friendship is also one
of the driving forces affecting the learning of the elderly.

4.2.2 Applications Close to the Needs of Life

If the applications are relevant to their daily lives, the participants will be more
motivated to learn and use them. E4 said that he learned how to make a video
recording. Giving and receiving support through digital means can enhance people’s
56 Y.-C. Lu and T.-T. Wu

sense of connection and happiness [11]. E3 had always wanted to learn the video
function on his phone and was happy to chat face to face with friends he hadn’t seen for
a long time.
E11, E12, E14, E15, E16, and E17 said that in addition to application learning,
other added values such as finding data, asking questions in groups, sharing infor-
mation, and video-calling with grandchildren have benefited them a lot. As the younger
generation is keen to use technology, older people are also looking to strengthen their
connection with their children through social networking apps [2].
Participants with positive perceptions of the Internet and applications used them
more frequently and actively and learned new applications continuously [2]. In the
group observation, the researchers found that participants would forward information
about entertainment or health, while the same type of information would be repeated,
but this kind of situation gradually improved over time. At the same time, participants
asked questions to the group member and discuss with each other, thus promoting the
development of information literacy. If they could apply the application to their daily
life, such as communicating with people, getting the information they are interested in,
and keeping up to date, they would be motivated to use the application [2].
E2 has been recognized by its peers for its “daily sentence”. The self-expression of
the sender has its over-attribution of similarity, while the async use and self-fulfilling
feedback prediction enhance the sense of intimacy [6].

4.2.3 Study with Family and Friends

Participants were assisted by family and friends to overcome learning disabilities and
communicate with each other through communication applications [2].
E2 said his children could him how to operate, so he learned it more easily. E4,
E13, and E20 said that when they had problems in class, they would ask for the help of
a partner sitting next to them, so they didn’t feel stressed. If they didn’t understand,
they would ask the teacher. They also shared with each other and learned about new
technological tools.
Other studies have shown that older people’s motivation to learn improves when
they seek help or advice if they encounter problems [2].
Some participants said that they were worried about information security and fraud,
or were too afraid to use their phones for fear of breaking them. E6 said he was afraid
of being cheated and having his money stolen. E20 said he was worried about breaking
the phone. These fears are real for older people and discourage them. In these situa-
tions, they feel helpless in protecting, identifying, and solving problems. However,
once they overcome their fears and doubts about the safety of technology, they can
concentrate on learning and using it [6].

5 Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Work

We live in the age of information and technology [7]. With the rapid development of
technology, more and more have used communication software. Whether people are
familiar with each other or not, we can communicate and interact with each other
through the Internet media to shorten the distance between us. When the elderly
 Pilot Study of Information Literacy Competency of the Elderly 57

encounter difficulties in learning to use multimedia instant messaging software, they

need more technical support from family and friends. In addition, the elderly and their
families and friends can interact with each other through multimedia instant messaging
software, effectively enhancing their application of multimedia instant messaging
software and other additional information.
The results show that in highly interactive classes (such as courses on asking
questions and discussing ideas), learning from peers and working in groups were both
effective ways for the elderly to learn new things [2]. Walther [12] provided an
explanation of the hyperpersonal model. This model suggests that due to the com-
munication characteristics of the elderly, it is possible for them to have social rela-
tionships characterized by high intimate relationships through computer-mediated
communication. In addition, older people often have self-directed learning needs that
require more time and practice and technical assistance [2].
Promoting social inclusion, network linkage and social participation are key to
designing social resilience [6]. Older people don’t care whether the information is
correct or not. They only care about the popularity of the information. They are more
skilled in using technology, but their media literacy needs to improve. It is found that as
they get older, older people, aware of their limited time, tend to prioritize spending time
with close people and focus on the meaningful things in their lives, rather than
broadening their horizons and learning new information [13].
While identifying many positive aspects of technology, older people also recognize
that technology can also disempower people [2]. The mastery of information and
technology enables people to take more control over themselves, such as searching for
problems, solving problems, or seeking help in real time through the Internet.
Multimedia instant messaging software is a guiding software, and information and
communication technology (ICT) is not the only way to promote knowledge-related
goals. The use of ICT to achieve socially meaningful goals should be linked to well-
being [13].

5.1 Research Limitations

This is a pilot study with a small sample size and no control group. Training courses
with sufficient practice time and supportive environment are required to gain an in-
depth understanding of the differences and information literacy of the elderly before
and after use. However, assessing the information literacy of the elderly using multi-
media instant messaging software has not been explored in depth in other emerging
technologies, so this study can be shown as an important first step in this field.

5.2 Future Work

In this study, we found that the content of training and the psychological factors of
participants caused the learning difference of the elderly, so we will take a larger
sample number in the future, compare the results between the experimental group and
the control group, and consider the psychology of the elderly to understand the impact
of the implementation process on the elderly.
58 Y.-C. Lu and T.-T. Wu

In addition, basic personal data, including gender, life history, occupation, physical
and cognitive status, as well as experience of using 3C products should be thoroughly
investigated. These are likely to be important influencing factors and should be studied
experimentally.

References
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and learning needs of older adults using apps on touchscreen mobile devices: results from a
pilot study. Comput. Hum. Behav. 63, 189–197 (2016)
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theorizing media and information literacy through information technology capabilities. New
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using mobile devices. J. Aust. Libr. Inform. Assoc. 66(2), 174–175 (2017)
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(1994)
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Taiwan: a lifelong-learning-right perspective. Jiaoyu Kexue Yanjiu Qikan 63(2), 1 (2018)
10. Cropley, A.J. (ed.).: Towards a System of Lifelong Education: Some Practical Consider-
ations, vol. 7. Elsevier (2014)
11. Thomas, P.A.: Is it better to give or to receive? Social support and the well-being of older
adults. J. Gerontol. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 65(3), 351–357 (2010)
12. Walther, J.B.: Computer-mediated communication: impersonal, interpersonal, and hyper-
personal interaction. Commun. Res. 23(1), 3–43 (1996)
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to higher well-being among the oldest-old. J. Gerontol.: Ser. B 72(5), 761–770 (2017)
 Study on Development of Mobile App Design
as Learning Media in Student Internship
Support: Toward Strengthening Tie
and Realistic Feedback in University-Industry
Cooperation

Andik Asmara and Ting-Ting Wu(&)

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliu 64002, Yunlin,

Taiwan, R. O. C.
{d10743015,ttwu}@yuntech.edu.tw

Abstract. The development of technology was rapidly especially in the mobile

phone that equipped with various mobile apps. A mobile app was developed on
the purpose to help humans toward an easier and efficient ways. Education was
received resonance effect from mobile apps influencing to various fields.
Therefore, this study was a mixed-method research approach, were had a pur-
pose to obtain user responds on the engagement of mobile app into the student
internship program toward successfully of cooperation between university-
industry. The sample of this study was fifty-five students on engineering faculty,
two teacher, and four industry supervisors. Questionnaires and interviews were
used to collect the data as the mobile app user response which will be imple-
mented on an internship program. The result was realistic feedback will be
achieved through pictures and videos reporting that represent industry tech-
nology implementation, and through industry feedback that represents obser-
vation result on students’ performance during the internship.

Keywords: Mobile apps
Student internships
University-industry

cooperation

1 Introduction

As human life in the current era must feel rapid technology development particularly in
communication technologies, and common development and wear the majority
worldwide that is mobile phones [1, 2]. Rapid development from many sides, such as
electronic devices, software operating systems, and mobile applications (apps) bring
technology and usability changes. The development of mobile apps on a basis con-
siders usability (user needs) and benefits that want to achieve [3, 4]. In current
development, mobile apps can be implemented in various filed to reach more benefits,
such as health care [5, 6], education [7], and transportation or services. Particularly
digital era today had big roles such as mobile apps that offering user tools, helpers, and
the solver in education that free or purchase to wears.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 59–68, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_7
60 A. Asmara and T.-T. Wu

A mobile phone is one of device that proposed in past research’s as most suitable
device to promote learning media [7, 8]. The development of mobile app entrances to
the education field, such as e-book, e-learning, ubiquitous learning [9], and video
conference and learning [10]. Mobile apps as learning media have the flexibility and
innovatively unlimited based on user or designer purpose development. In [8]
described those mobile apps in the mobile phone which development by the user has
been innovatively designed to enhance the value of e-learning. The value just does not
come from the application itself; however, it is also usable, easy to use [11], ubiquitous
reliable [1] and everyone has (common wearable). Based on these, mobile apps
bringing education more flexible [2] and efficient to reach the goal and achieve the
purpose. In addition, mostly mobile apps development bringing new ideas into edu-
cation to enhance learning achievement and flexibility to merge with education
program.
One of the activities that giving meaningful experience [12], enhancing knowledge
and skills [13] to the student is the internship program. The internship facilitates
students to balance theoretical and practical knowledge and should be encouraged to
learn from classroom and real-life or work situations [14]. The benefit not just received
by students, however, schools also receive potential positive impacts through adjusting
the curriculum and programs accordingly [15] then had an alignment. The alignment
between industries’ needs and education outcome common importance [16], and could
be facilitated or touched by technology to optimize and more simplify the process.
Involved technology in education was begun to happen digital technologies be
discovered.
The fundamental functions touched by technologies are to improve internship
outcomes to more realistic or represent the industry’s needs. The innovations needed to
facilitate university and industry cooperation using touched by kinds of technology.
Technology bringing easy and simple steps to put feedback or communication with
each other members of cooperation. Possibly prior innovation involving mobile phones
into a collaboration between university and industry especially in the internship pro-
gram wasn’t been happening. What university needs and another side what industry
needs to be important consider notice in developing technology. Based on this intro-
duction this study had proposed to offer mobile app design and identify a university-
industry needs in the internship program. Furthermore, this study was conducted in-
depth to interview both parties to learn and understand what they need. This study had
a research question as follow:
1. What are students responding to in the mobile apps involvement to organize
internship programs?
2. What are University-Industry needs to improve the quality of cooperation through
mobile apps as an organizer of an internship program?
 Study on Development of Mobile App Design as Learning Media 61

2 Literature Review
2.1 Student Internships Program as One of Activities in University-
Industry Cooperation (UIC)
One of activities the cooperation program between university and industry is student
internship programs. This is positive strategies for the university to promote their
comprehensive curriculum [17] and in the future has an impact on outcome quality and
student’s intake. In addition, this is as a student learning and then applying knowledge
and skill from academic settings to real workplace settings [13]. Chen and Shen in
2012 describe the purpose of an internship, that is: expand cooperation between uni-
versity and enterprise; implementation of student knowledge into practice; and giving
students first experience in the real job [18]. Research by Kim and Park in 2013
mentions that the internships program become one of the most prominent indicators in
determining the quality of students [19]. Students have received knowledge and how
much their fluence use knowledge can be seen from applying to a real job or
workplace.
Cooperation between University and Industry not only on student internships
program, however development technology, research collaboration, human develop-
ment, patent and generation new products [20]. In order to create strong cooperation
and high potential bring in mutual benefit into student internships program, university
and industry constructing a mechanism to facilitate this program. The mechanism had
existed was constructed to utilize the website base technology information [12]. Def-
initely, this mechanism need supported from internet access and computer device,
included personal computer, laptop, and tablet.

2.2 The Role Mobile Apps on Education

Website platform was familiar mostly people around the world, in education viewpoint
this become world’s largest lesson [21]. The contains on the website has a lot of types
and brings advantages or disadvantages to the education field. The most students access
destination on web address is google and YouTube [22]. YouTube is a famous platform
where students can learn anything about knowledge, skills, and entertainment from
various fields. Students are able to upload, download, and streaming pictures or videos
based on they want and needs, particularly as related to learning media that support the
learning. YouTube is a video sharing provider and was integrated into the mobile
phone applications currently [21]. Further, mobile phone though the development of
mobile application (Mobile Apps) had prominent role to easier access and effectively
times.
The term of mobile learning rises in line with an increment of usability of mobile
phones for learning media. Through mobile learning user would be equip with easy
access on learning content by the tips of their finger. In fact that increasingly recognize
mobile learning in education institution was happening, due to the ubiquitous feature
on mobile device which distinguish them from other learning tools [7]. In addition,
several researchers previously had been proposing mobile phone is handle device that
most suitable to promote mobile learning [7, 23, 24]. Hence, mobile phones equip with
62 A. Asmara and T.-T. Wu

mobile apps benefitable if engagement in developing of facility that has a tie with
education, for instance, propose into student internships program.

3 Methodology

The mixed-method approach was used in this study, consist of a quantitative approach
using a Likert scale to collect data and a qualitative approach using the interview to
collect data.

3.1 Research Framework

The mobile application become a solution to manage student achievements on
internship program. This App facilitating user especially students to reporting many
achievements, such as; daily activities, final report, take photo of activity, record and
then upload video activity (see Fig. 2). The students as one of user who using mobile
apps to report their activity industries. Another else as users are teachers/lecturers and
supervisor in industries. Teacher as user have role to monitoring students’ activities and
maintain communication relationship with industries. Whereas supervisor of industry
has role to validation of student activities and give feedback to universities related to
knowledge, skills, and behaviors of students during the internship (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Research framework of mobile app facilitate student internships.

3.2 Population and Samples

The population of this study consist of three categories; they are university students,
university teachers or faculty members, and supervisors in industries. In order to collect
the data, selection of samples and participants use random sampling. Students category
were selected who has took internships program before, and got 55 students has return
the questionnaires. Further, participant from teachers are two persons who has expe-
rience as internships advisor and supervisors of industry are four persons who has
 Study on Development of Mobile App Design as Learning Media 63

experiences as student’s internships advisor. The sequence coding of interviewee

details as follow, (Participant codes = position – duration (years) as advisor):
P1 = Faculty internship coordinator – 5; P2 = Electrical department internship coor-
dinator – 1; P3 = Production manager – 5; P4 = Director of PT. PMCT – 6;
P5 = Marketing Manager – 5; P6 = R&D manager – 5.

3.3 Data Collection

The data collection consists to two ways; first is questionnaire to collect the data from
student’s interpretation about this mobile app will be implement. The question consists
of 17 point and using five Likert-scale, included three-dimension measure that is
components, content to reported and adequate of facilities. Second is interview to
collect and record the data from participant, included teachers and supervisors of
industries. The interview question consists of 12 point, and based on two-perspective
viewpoint.

3.4 Data Analysis

The type of questionnaire data is the Likert-scale; therefore, data were analyzed used
descriptive statistics using SPSS-22. In addition, the transcription of interviewee
answer was used verbatim technique, had mean the whole conversation were transcript
Indonesia language become English text. A Grounded theory were used to analyzing,
in order to obtained generating a theory through systematic data collection and analysis
[25].

4 Finding

4.1 User Interface on Mobile App

Figure 2 is user interface was design to propose facilitate the student during internship
activities in industries. The interface that offered provide for student level, teacher
level, and supervisor level in industries. The facilitate in application that include;
student such as daily activity, final report, video learning, picture learning, and note;
teacher and supervisor has similarity such as approval daily activity, approval final
report, and feedback.

Fig. 2. User interface on mobile app.

64 A. Asmara and T.-T. Wu

4.2 Validity and Reliability Test

The first step was the validity test, and the result got a score of Pearson Correlation start
.393 till .716 with n = 54. The result had meant more than r-table .279 (n = 50) and can
be explain that each point question was valid. Second, reliability test had checked using
Alpha Cronbach test to each category of the variable. The result was: purpose .763;
readiness .663; contribute in learning .789; components of facilitate .807; and total
.867. Based on the reliability test result the instrument used to collect the data can be
explain that questionnaire was reliable, had significant result more than .6.

4.3 Finding of Students, Teachers, and Supervisors

The questionnaire data was collected and continually analyzed to obtain the mean and
standard deviation. The result was (variable (mean), std. deviation): purpose (4.09),
.493; readiness (4.31), .586; contribution in learning (4.19), .462; and component that
facilitate (4.13), .476. This data has meant that majority answer from student got score
more than 4 point. Whereas the interview data was analyzed and found saturation
several statement question that raised. Another answer from participant would be
evidences of user responds, especially from teachers and industry supervisors.

5 Discussion

Based on the research finding, design mobile app that has provided in this research
could be fulfilled user needs. The evidence from a student’s viewpoint; the result of the
questionnaire had shown that purpose, contribute to learning, and component to
facilitate user (students) needs have mean score is more than 4 Likert scale. What
students need could be facilitated with all the menus that provide in the mobile app
were design and developing this research. What teachers and industry supervisors need
such as controlling, reporting, scoring and feedback was facilitation in this mobile
app. Moreover, teachers had given a good response to several menus (pictures and
videos attachment) as a breakthrough in education via a mobile app for reporting
internships program. This aligns with P2 argument that says;
“If using this mobile app, he/she can take pictures or video what they do and be updated every
day. It’s awesome and really-reporting and complete with evidence. And video could be shown
on class learning activities, automatically student know what skills and knowledge that
industry’s needs.” (P2)

This argues explaining and supporting that curriculums and technology in

school/university should be updated as represent industries need [26, 27]. So that using
pictures or videos that are attached to the mobile app as reporting internships, could
support educational needs and eliminate the lacks of knowledge between education and
industries, or between theory and practical reality [13, 17]. Through those media, the
schools/universities get updated knowledge and technology.
In order to give optimum advantages from constructing a mobile app on the
internship program needed responses from three group users, including students,
teachers, and industry supervisors. The responses here have meant to gathering what
 Study on Development of Mobile App Design as Learning Media 65

the user needs to facilitate, how to make an internship program running well, and how-
to bring effect on each party so can receive the benefits. Therefore, this study had
collected responses data from three group users to create strengthen tie with each other.
The group firstly, students respond on mobile apps to facilitate their reporting
activities. As long as, common reporting use paper-based and take longtime on
administration. The innovation in mobile app, and focus on electronic reporting could
be adjuster and trimer the situation previously, to be effectively and efficiently. It was
welcomed positively on students; they give high expectations that evident from high
score was gotten from questionnaire. The prominent interpretation from students’
answers are emphasis on the meaning of each part. Begin from purpose of this mobile
app has in line with student need to facilitate their activities on internship programs.
Further, this study was collected data about student readiness to used mobile app, and
brief conclusions is student have high readiness due to familiar with mobile phone [7].
Whereas, this mobile app could be contributing to education learning based on the
student’s viewpoint. Besides in order to facilitate students to submit administration
affairs, this application also has a facility to attach pictures and videos that purpose to
learning media in the class. Lastly, students had argued that components on the mobile
app was complete and fulfill what student wants.
The second group is teacher, have role to bridge between school/university and
industries [18], could be called as facilitator. Teacher every year will be touching with
this mobile app, so quite important to get a response from this user. A teacher has
familiar before with similar reporting into online system way, and system that offered
useful to help teacher effectively and efficiently. Efficiently meant the teacher has
reason to trim time on documents submission of internship to be shorter. Whereas,
effectively come from eliminate distance (construct digital bridge) industry locations
with school/university [28]. These got answer from teacher as a respondent said like as
below;
“I believe they ready, because all the faculty members have familiar with mobile phone and
Apps, and easy to access. … In addition, administration, communication, and controlling
student more efficient time, just use this app. … For instance, location on far in Jakarta, Bali, or
Lombok to direct monitoring come to in place considering the expensive cost. So, this mobile
app giving solution to this issue.” (P1)

The last user’s group is industry supervisor, and become consider to

school/university party to giving the best cooperation and services. Hence, this study
took participants from industries party more, more than teachers. The reason is to
obtain what industries need particularly in student internship programs. Based on data
results, showing that industries felt ready to implement mobile apps if begun used. Due
to the majority industry currently in industrial 4.0 was implements information tech-
nology in each part of the enterprise [29]. For instance, communication each other
employee and reporting were use mobile phone or online system. These had evidence
from respondent say as below;
“Previously, we use mobile phone technology to communicate, coordination and reporting,
such as WhatsApp group (P3, P5). Because this system simpler and effectively (P5).”
66 A. Asmara and T.-T. Wu

Further, related to facilitation provided on a mobile app that offered in this research,
industries were attracted. They are sure engagement mobile app in student internships
program bringing a lot of benefits. This system will be simplifying reporting, easily on
scoring, and make more students discipline. However, industries mention that social-
izes still needed to familiarize before widely implementations. It’s important, due to
several industries just follow what schools provided and unfamiliar with new tech-
nology. These concerns were gotten from participants answer as follow;
“I am agreeing this implemented. Scoring easier (P3, P4, P5, P6), more student discipline (P4),
and simplify reporting with paperless (P5, P6). … And we need to pay attention to do
socializing to industries and employees (P5).”

Another concern was pointed on taking pictures and videos to complete reporting.
It’s becoming students and teachers worries, due to industry prohibits to doing these
activities. However, it’s declined and industry is open, just several parts, the file needs
to keep secret. Students in their activity want to take pictures and videos should get
permits first.
Based on fact were gotten from samples on this research, engagement mobile app
on student internships program bringing more advantages. In addition, to achieve
realistic feedback in this mobile app was put several facilitations, such as picture and
video learning, final e-report, and suggestion from industry supervisors. Feedback
menu on this mobile app is quite important, due to giving personal suggestions from
supervisors (observer) to school/university related to students’ capabilities. It’s become
an improvement or evaluation for the school curriculum to improve or change with real
knowledge and skill needs [18]. So, in the future curriculum of schools/universities up-
to-date based on industries or workplaces needs [30]. In addition, the points are cur-
riculum, learning activities, technology insight in education represent of industries
situation currently.

6 Conclusion

The term of realistic feedback has meant included industry suggestions, the picture of a
technology that implements on the industry, and the knowledge from industry could
become an input to schools/universities improvement the curriculum quality. Through
mobile app creating new value on student internships program and all aspect become
effectively and efficiently. The students believed, and got good respond that implement
mobile app technology aligns with the purpose of the internship program, and could
facilitation on internship activities. Whereas two parties that have interests which are
school/university and industry felt welcome open to the implementation of a mobile
app in an internship program. It’s could be a breakthrough in quality improvement,
strengthen collaboration ties, and simplify-effectively process on internships.
 Study on Development of Mobile App Design as Learning Media 67

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Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts
and Design, and Mathematics
 3D Digital Design to Support Elementary
School Students’ Spatial Visualization Skills:
A Preliminary Analysis

Pao-Nan Chou(&) and Ru-Chu Shih

Graduate Institute of Technological and Vocational Education,

National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Taiwan
pnchou@g4e.npust.edu.tw

Abstract. This study aimed to investigate the effect of 3D digital design on

students’ spatial visualization skills. A 3D digital design program as one of
afterschool clubs was created in a public elementary school. 10 students vol-
untarily participated in the program. A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest
design was used to fulfill the research purpose. The educational experiment
lasted for six weeks. Prior to the study, students were given a spatial visual-
ization pretest. One week after the completion of the experiment, students
received the same post-test. The results showed that the 3D digital design
intervention significantly improved students’ spatial visualization skills.

Keywords: 3D digital design
STEM education
Spatial visualization

Education reform

1 Introduction

Our previous study showed that elementary school students receiving 3D computer
software instruction (Google SketchUp) significantly enhanced their basic engineering
knowledge, particularly for spatial ability [1]. Based on this findings, in other words,
the 3D digital design training had a potential for developing students’ spatial visual-
ization skill. In the current study, we adopted another 3D computer software (Tin-
kerCad) with 3D printers to design an instructional intervention whose goal was to
evaluate the effect of 3D digital design on students’ spatial visualization skills.
In the literature, several studies also attempted to incorporate 3D digital design with
3D printers into the curriculum. However, few studies adopted a scientific view to
evaluate the instructional effectiveness. For example, in McKay et al.’s study [2] high
school students used emerging maker technologies such as 3D printers and Laser
cutters to design their projects in one makerspace classroom. However, the study only
described the learning process and did not report further information regarding stu-
dents’ learning performances. Similarly, Kalsioloudis and Jones [3] only proposed
theoretical arguments regarding the learning benefits of 3D printers.
The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of one 3D digital design
program (TinkerCAD) on elementary school students’ spatial visualization skills.
Specifically, the research question was:

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 71–76, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_8
72 P.-N. Chou and R.-C. Shih

• Did students receiving 3D digital design instruction improve their spatial visual-
ization skills?

2 Research Method

2.1 Research Design

A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest without a control group design was used to
investigate the effect of 3D digital design on students’ spatial visualization skills. The
educational experiment lasted for six weeks. Prior to the study, students were given a
spatial visualization pretest. One week after the completion of the experiment, students
received the same post-test with different item numbers.

2.2 Research Participant

Ten forth-grade students (male: 5; female: 5) from a public elementary school in
Taiwan voluntarily participated in the study. Prior to the study, they had no experience
designing 3D objects by using computer software. Figure 1 shows a student engaging
in 3D digital design activities.

Fig. 1. A student engaging in 3D digital design activities.

 3D Digital Design to Support Elementary School Students’ 73

2.3 Research Instrument

A test developed by Ou [4] was used to measure elementary school students’ spatial
visualization. The test contains 15 multi-choice questions. The score range of the test
from 0 to 15. Ou [4] reported high validity and reliability of the test. Figure 2 shows
one question example.

2.4 Teaching Schedule

The educational experiment was conducted in a computer lab. The 3D digital design
program as one of after-school clubs lasted for six weeks (See Table 1). The weekly
class was scheduled in a 3 h session. Student participants used 3D computer software
called TinkerCAD to design their 3D objects. When students completed the 3D digital
design in each week, the instructor collected the digital files and subsequently trans-
ferred them to one 3D printer. In the upcoming learning session, students obtained their
tangible 3D objects.

Fig. 2. One question example from the test (adapted from Ou’s test).

2.5 Engineering Design Process

This study adopted Chou’s [5] three-stage learning progression model (see Fig. 3) as
engineering design process. In the first stage (copy), students only copy teacher-
provided 3D design. When moving the second stage (tinker), students might modify the
3D design by incorporating their own ideas. In the last stage (create), students were
asked to create their 3D objects.
74 P.-N. Chou and R.-C. Shih

Table 1. Teaching schedule.

Week Learning Unit (3h) Representative Picture

Tinker CAD and 3D

1
printer introduction

Project 1: My first 3D
2
design

Project 2: Hanging
3
decoration

Project 3: Small fig-

4
ure

Project 4: Small fur-

5
niture

6 Project 5: Pen holder

 3D Digital Design to Support Elementary School Students’ 75

Fig. 3. Chou’s three-stage learning progression model.

3 Preliminary Findings

Table 2 reports the results of t-test. The findings indicated that students’ spatial visu-
alization skills were significantly improved after a 6-week educational experiment
(t = 7.62; p < 0.01). In other words, the 3D digital design intervention might show a
learning benefit for elementary school students. The results supported Trumble’s [6]
study which reported that elementary school students significantly increased their
spatial ability after the completion of a summer camp.

Table 2. Results of t-test.

Comparison Mean difference t df Sig.
Post-test & Pre-test 6.2 7.62 9 0.00**
**
p < 0.01 (Pre-Test: M = 2.8/S.D. = 0.9; Post-Test: M = 9/
S.D. = 2.3)

4 Concluding Remark

Our preliminary research results indicated that the 3D digital design activity might
support students learning spatial visualization. One possible explanation was that
immerging in 3D digital design activities enabled students to greatly visualize spatial
rotations, which directly influenced their spatial visualization skills. Our next research
step was to interview students’ learning responses. It will be expected that the quali-
tative results may support quantitative findings.

References
1. Chou, P.-N., Chen, W.-F., Wu, C.-Y., Robert, C.: Utilizing 3D open source software to
facilitate student learning of fundamental engineering knowledge: a quasi-experimental study.
Int. J. Eng. Educ. 33(1b), 382–388 (2017)
2. McKay, C., Banks, T.D., Wallace, S.: Makerspace classrooms: where technology intersects
with problem, project, and place-based design in classroom curriculum. Int. J. Des. Learn. 7
(2), 11–16 (2016)
3. Katsloloudis, P., Jones, M.: Using computer-aided design software and 3D printers to
improve spatial visualization. Technol. Eng. Teach. 75(4), 14–20 (2015)
76 P.-N. Chou and R.-C. Shih

4. Ou, R.L.: The study on the problem representation of spatial ability for sixth-grade students.
Unpublished Master Thesis, National Taichung University of Education (2016)
5. Chou, P.-N.: Smart technology for sustainable curriculum: using drone to support young
students’ learning. Sustainability 10(10), 3819, 1–17 (2018)
6. Trumble, J.: 3D digital design and elementary students’ spatial visualization skills. In:
Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International
Conference, pp. 114–117, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education,
Austin (2017)
 Developing the Scale of Technology Product
Imagination Disposition

Yi-Jin Wang1, Hui-Min Lai2, Tien-Chi Huang1(&),

and Pei-ling Chien3
1
Department of Information Management, National Taichung University
of Science and Technology, Taichung 404, Taiwan
tchuang@gm.nutc.edu.tw
2
Department of Business Administration, National Taichung University
of Science and Technology, Taichung 404, Taiwan
3
Global Communication Faculty, Kobe Gakuin University, Kobe, Japan

Abstract. Due to the rapid development of information technology, not only

did people begin to think about the rapid development of wireless networks, but
also the development of products in other fields through various tools and
applications, including the rise of audio-visual platforms and the popularization
of mobile applications. They have made mobile games and mobile payments
closer to our daily life. In this way, technology education has been widely used
in the educational environment, showing the increasing demand for technology
products in education. This study aims to develop and verify the characteristics
of people’s imagination of technology products. A total of 135 objects over the
age of 18. Through exploratory factor analysis performed by principal compo-
nent analysis of the varimax orthogonal rotation; item analysis uses comparisons
of extreme groups so as to check item-total correlations and internal consistency;
Confirmatory factor analysis compares the goodness of fit indices of the first-
order model, the first-order four-factor model, and the second-order model.
These analyses are conducted to determine and construct validity and reliability.
A second-order model technology product imagination disposition scale is
constructed, which contains 17 items in four facets, namely practical evaluation,
positive preference, beyond reality and attitude, to measure people’s imagination
of technology products and help teachers understand the characteristics of
students.

Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis
Exploratory factor analysis

Technology imagination
Technology product
Scale development

1 Background

The rapid development of information technology has led to changes in various

industries and fields. The future things seen on TV and movies are people’s imagi-
nation of future inventions. Studies have pointed out that imagination is the foundation
of creativity [1], indicating the source of creativity and invention. Because of its rich
imagination, many inventions are mainly derived from people’s use of imagination,
through continuous thinking and experimentation, discovering many scientific theories

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 77–83, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_9
78 Y.-J. Wang et al.

and creating technologies that improve lives [2]. In the process of technology devel-
opment, not only did people begin to think about the rapid development of wireless
networks, but also the development of products in other fields through various tools
and applications, including the rise of streaming platforms and the popularization of
mobile applications. They have made mobile games and mobile payments closer to our
daily life.
According to the literature, technology is an adaptation to environment tools for
humans to use knowledge, tools, resources, and skills to solve life problems and
expand capabilities [3]. In recent years, science and technology education has fre-
quently appeared in the educational environment, showing the increasing acceptance of
education for technology products. In the past, many studies have demonstrated the use
of a single technology to help the learning environment [4–6], but there is very little
research on people’s imagination of technology. Therefore, this research aims to
develop the technology product imagination disposition scale, defining technology
products as covering software and hardware technologies, including APPs, websites,
self-media, videos, and required equipment created by individuals. Discuss whether
people have the qualities of imagining technology products so that teachers can
understand the extent to which students imagine technology products.

2 Methods

2.1 Participants
In this study, Taiwanese people aged 18-year-old and over were the main respondents.
To avoid the possibility of omission and mistakes caused by human error when
inputting the data and the limitation of time and space, online questionnaires were
selected for more distribution and questionnaire recovery. A total of 138 recovered
questionnaires, with 135 valid and 3 invalid.

2.2 Research Tools

The research tool used in this institute is the “Technology Product Imagination Dis-
position Scale”. This scale refers to the technology imagination disposition scale
proposed by Lin [7] to discuss the correlation between grit and Internet addiction. It
comes from three scale frameworks and is divided into six factors. Since this research is
to explore the characteristics of imaginary technology products, it will be followed by
an exploratory factor analysis. Based on the results of the item deletion, item analysis,
and confirmatory factor analysis is conducted to unify the factors of technology product
imagination.
The original scale is a Chinese version, without a translation process, a few
inappropriate items that do not meet the purpose of this study are semantically revised
or deleted and identified by four experts to delete the items that are not easy to
understand the meaning of the question. A total of 4 items were deleted, and the
 Developing the Scale of Technology Product Imagination Disposition 79

remaining items were adjusted and revised, leaving 20 items. This research scale uses
the 5-point Likert scale to quantify the measurement, and the scope ranged from
1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree.

2.3 Data Analysis

Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25.0 for
exploratory factor analysis and item analysis as the basis for screening items, and then
use Amos 26.0 for confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the construction validity of
the technology products imagination scale.

3 Results

3.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

In this study, the exploratory factor analysis was the first to be carried out. The factor
analysis was performed by principal component analysis of the varimax orthogonal
rotation. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.89 (>0.5), and Bartlett’s test of
sphericity was 942.956 (p < 0.05), knowing that this scale is suitable for factor analysis
[8]. Consider eigenvalue >1 [9], if the factor loading of the item is less than 0.5, or the
item falls in more than one factor, delete it. The analysis results are shown in Table 1.
A total of 3 items are deleted, resulting in 4 factors. By using the scale of Technology
Imagination Disposition based on Lin [7] as a foundation to develop a new form of
differentiation to distinguish the similar definition between the factors, which are
practical evaluation, positive preference, beyond reality, and attitude; given that the
fourth factor is a view refer to the way people feel toward a particular behavior [10], it
is named “attitude”. Practical evaluation refers to the possibility that individuals can
imagine the practicability, mass production, acceptance and widespread of technology
products; positive preference refers to the individual’s positive emotions and prefer-
ences for imaginary technology products, which will produce happiness and interesting
feelings, and the motivation to try to improve his imagination ability; beyond reality
refers to improving the imagination for individuals to break through the limitation in
the real world and construct unprecedented lifestyles or technology products as well as
imagine plots or human things that transcend real characteristics from their ideas;
attitude are used to assess the individual’s attitude towards imaginative technology
products. The variance explained is 62.19%.
80 Y.-J. Wang et al.

Table 1. Exploratory factor analysis results.

Construct Items Factor loading
1 2 3 4
Practical evaluation T3 0.792
T5 0.780
T7 0.639
T8 0.622
T10 0.592
T11 0.569
Positive preference T2 0.797
T4 0.714
T9 0.644
T17 0.588
Beyond reality T1 0.824
T6 0.738
T14 0.582
T15 0.567
Attitude T12 0.804
T13 0.693
T16 0.518

3.2 Item Analysis

The analysis of this research project uses comparisons of extreme groups so as to check
Item-total correlations and internal consistency. The extreme group comparison method
is to compare the difference between the total scores of the lowest 27% and the highest
27%. The difference in the results is called the Critical Ratio (CR). This was followed
by conducting an independent sample t-test. All project levels reached a significant
level (p < 0.05), ranging from 7.384 to 10.179 for practical evaluation, 6.935 to 8.903
for positive preference, 5.925 to 8.977 for beyond reality, and 3.788 to 6.968 for
attitude factor. The correlation test checks the total correlation of each item and the total
correlation of each item after correction. The correlation coefficient of all items is
higher than 0.3 [11] and reaches a significant level (p < 0.05), ranging from 0.607 to
0.713 for practical evaluation, 0.623 to 0.691 for positive preference, 0.564 to 0.670 for
beyond reality, and 0.443 to 0.653 for attitude factor. Furthermore, the corrected factor-
scale total correlations were also above 0.3, ranging from 0.374 to 0.664. The Cron-
bach a coefficient after used to calculate the reliability of each scale. The Cronbach a
coefficient after the deletion of all items did not exceed 0.903 of the original scale,
indicating good internal consistency of the scale.
 Developing the Scale of Technology Product Imagination Disposition 81

3.3 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

This study conducted a confirmatory factor analysis on the four-factor model and
observed the first-order model, the first-order four-factor model, and the second-order
model. As shown in Table 2, when the first-order model (v2 = 268.709, p = 0.000,
SRMR = 0.759, RMSEA = 0.097, TLI = 0.800, CFI = 0.825) is compared with the
first-order four factors (v2 = 230.292, p = 0.000, SRMR = 0.2118, RMSEA = 0.087,
TLI = 0.838, CFI = 0.864), most of them do not reach the ideal value in the goodness
of fit indices. The second-order model (v2 = 171.831, p = 0.000, SRMR = 0.0611,
RMSEA = 0.061, TLI = 0.921, CFI = 0.934), which is within the acceptable range
according to the standard results [12]. Overall, the second-order model and sample data
can be adapted, and the fit is good. The Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) =
126.82, which is used to select among competing models [13]. It also indicates that the
last measurement model is the most simplest as it displays the lowest value. Therefore,
the second-order model (see Fig. 1) was used as the model for confirmatory factor
analysis.

Table 2. Confirmatory factor analysis results.

df v2 (p) SRMR RMSEA TLI CFI AIC
Criteria <0.08 <0.08 >0.90 >0.90
First-order model 119 268.709 0.759 0.097 0.800 0.825 336.709
(0.000)
First-order four-factor model 114 230.292 0.2118 0.087 0.838 0.864 308.292
(0.000)
Second-order model 115 171.831 0.0611 0.061 0.921 0.934 247.831
(0.000)

Fig. 1. The second-order model of technology product imagination disposition.

4 Discussion and Conclusion

This study develops the scale by constructing a second-order model of the technology
product imagination disposition and distinguishes it into four factors, namely practical
evaluation, positive preference, beyond reality, and attitude. In the future, this scale can
be used to assess the tendency of students' technology product imagination. Students
82 Y.-J. Wang et al.

are evaluated before and after the implementation of relevant courses to evaluate the
teaching effect. Teachers are able to design teaching courses and activities for students
based on the four factors constructed in this study, using different teaching styles from
the past, for example, use virtual reality to help students understand the spatial structure
[14]. It not only increases the learning performance of students but also enables stu-
dents to increases the tendency of using technology products. With diverse teaching
methods, students are led to freely create personal works, from virtual to physical, to
guide students to imagine and implement through life experience and learning content
for enhancing the imagination ability of technology products.

Acknowlegments. This research is partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Tech-
nology (MOST), Taiwan (R.O.C.) under grant no MOST 108-2628-H-025-001-MY3, MOST
109-2511-H-025-005-MY3. We would like to thank them for its sponsorship and support.

Appendix

Items
1 I could easily imagine the technology products that do not exist
2 I improve my imagination in many ways, such as reading fiction novels, attending
creativity courses, and so on
3 I take practicality of my imaginative technology product into consideration
4 I found it pleasant to imagine technology product
5 I think of the presentation when imagining the technology product
6 I often think of the changes of the technology products nowadays
7 I take public acceptance of my technology product into account
8 I imagine the appearance and functions of technology product. Web screen, for instance
9 I consider that imagine technology product can spice up our life
10 I imagine technology product by combining different features, such as material,
software, hardware, and so on
11 I evaluate popularity of the imaginative technology product
12 I consider that imagination can help to design a new technology product
13 I am able to connect things from imagination as well as virtual system and object to
reality
14 I often imagine different kinds of tools that humans will use in the future
15 I expect customer demand from future technology product
16 I consider that imagination can help to create a technology product
17 I found it interesting to imagine technology product
 Developing the Scale of Technology Product Imagination Disposition 83

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2. Wang, C.C., Ho, H.C., Wu, J.J., Cheng, Y.Y.: Development of scientific imagination model:
a concept-mapping perspective. Think. Skills Creat. 13, 106–119 (2014)
3. Mohr, J.J., Sengupta, S., Slater, S.F.: Marketing of High-Technology Products and
Innovations, 3rd edn. Pearson, London (2010)
4. Aebersold, M.: Simulation-based learning: no longer a novelty in undergraduate education.
OJIN Online J. Issues Nurs. 23(2), 1–13 (2018)
5. Hainey, T., Connolly, T.M., Boyle, E.A., Wilson, A., Razak, A.: A systematic literature
review of games-based learning empirical evidence in primary education. Comput. Educ.
102, 202–223 (2016)
6. Sung, Y.T., Chang, K.E., Liu, T.C.: The effects of integrating mobile devices with teaching
and learning on students’ learning performance: a meta-analysis and research synthesis.
Comput. Educ. 94, 252–275 (2016)
7. Lin, M.H.: Developing the scale of technology imagination disposition and its correlation
with grit and with internet addiction. Master’s thesis (2019). http://rportal.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/
handle/20.500.12235/90597
8. Williams, B., Onsman, A., Brown, T.: Exploratory factor analysis: a five-step guide for
novices. Australas. J. Paramed. 8(3), 1–13 (2010)
9. Horn, J.L.: A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrika 30
(2), 179–185 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289447
10. Fishbein, M., Ajzen, I.: Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory
and Research. Addison-Wesley, Boston (1975)
11. Pallant, J.: SPSS Survival Manual. McGraw-Hill Education, London (2013)
12. Hu, L.T., Bentler, P.M.: Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis:
conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct. Equ. Model. Multidiscip. J. 6(1), 1–55
(1999)
13. Hu, L.T., Bentler, P.M.: Evaluating model fit. In: Hoyle, R.H. (ed.) Structural Equation
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 Development of a VR STEAM Welding Project
Course

Chih-Chao Chung1, Chun-Chun Tung2, Yuh-Ming Cheng3,

and Shi-Jer Lou4(&)
1
General Research Service Center, National Pingtung University of Science
and Technology, Neipu, Taiwan
2
College of Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science
and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
3
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering,
Shu-Te University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
4
Graduate Institute of Technological and Vocational Education, National
Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Taiwan
lou@mail.npust.edu.tw

Abstract. This research aimed to develop the teaching mode, ability indicators,
and course content of a “VR STEAM Welding Course” for the Engineering
Department of Universities of Science and Technology. The students of the
Electric Welding Course in Universities of Science and Technology were taken
as the subjects for the integration of the STEAM education concept, in order to
integrate the VR technology into the teaching of the welding course. The Fuzzy
Delphi Method was adopted as the research method, and an expert questionnaire
analysis was conducted. The conclusions are summarized as follows: (1) a three-
part, “student-centered” teaching mode was developed, which included welding
knowledge and skills training, STEAM integrated learning, and the practical
application of VR; (2) Eight ability indicators of the “VR STEAM welding
course” were established; (3) the “welding construction” ability indicator for
VR-assisted welding teaching was the most feasible; (4) the ability indicator of
“welding construction” for STEAM education had the highest integrality into
welding teaching; and (5) the mobile learning platform of the VR STEAM
welding course had high real-time characteristics. The findings can serve as a
reference for the subsequent content design, teaching activity planning and the
implementation of the experimental teaching of this course.

Keywords: VR
STEAM
Welding
Education reform
Welding project

course

1 Introduction

The rapid development of science and technology has brought about all kinds of
conveniences that people can enjoy. The digitalization of science and technology
knowledge makes it more convenient for people to accumulate, share, analyze, and
apply it, and it also expands the horizons of mankind and enables people to grasp
knowledge and information more accurately and predict the future [1]. A talent for

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 84–92, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_10
 Development of a VR STEAM Welding Project Course 85

innovation and invention, as well as a breakthrough and advancement in knowledge,

will also be required for technological advancement, especially in the 21st century.
Therefore, Virtual Reality (VR) is often used in operational learning activities; it allows
learners to repeatedly operate the technology, there-by overcoming the limited oper-
ation times of such skills [2, 3]. VR can also present a real situation that is very similar
to the actual situation, so it can effectively improve the motivation to learn and the
effectiveness of learning [4, 5].
However, according to a statistical survey of the U.S. Federal Department of
Education, most of the talent required for innovation and invention in the next 10 years
will be related to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM) [6]. In recent years, elements of Art (art and design thinking) have been
integrated into STEM education, which aim to promote the students’ problem-solving,
critical thinking and innovative abilities. Engineering or design methods that are based
on Mathematics and Science can be used to solve real-world problems, to restructure
art education into an inquiry-based and discovery-oriented discipline, and to encourage
creative problem-solving. This has become a new interdisciplinary STEAM course [7].
The integration of art encourages students to take risks, to tolerate different opinions,
and it attracts more young people to invest in the fields of Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics. It can be seen that the educational orientation of
STEAM contributes to the development and learning of an integrated curriculum in
Engineering education [8].
Furthermore, the most basic course in Engineering education is the Factory
Internship course. The main content of the course includes the training of students in
correct and safe working habits, as well as in the knowledge and skills related to
machine manufacturing, such as fitting, electric welding, lathing, mill machining, and
so on. In the above-mentioned machine-operated skills, the training of electric welding
skills is a primary and indispensable processing method in modern industry. Students
can be also coached to pass the Technician’s Certification examination that is organized
by the Labor Development Agency for welders, cold work, general manual electric
welding, electric welding, semi-automatic electric welding, argon gas tungsten elec-
trodes, etc. [9, 10]. At present, the professional skills of the welding personnel in
industry are considered for recruitment. Although there are currently robotic arms that
can support electric welding, their accuracy is still not as good as that of professional
masters. Welders need eye-hand coordination, and there are a wide range of employ-
ment opportunities for those with this skill [11, 12]. Coupled with the current gov-
ernment policies of promoting offshore wind power and national shipbuilding, the
demand for welding manpower is still rising, which shows the necessity and impor-
tance of improving the effectiveness of welding courses in this plan.
In view of this, in order to verify the effectiveness of the learning model, this study
planned to develop STEAM integrated welding courses and to teach design, and it also
emphasize the application of emerging technology and virtual technology to courses
and teaching [13], in order to construct the “VR STEAM welding course” curriculum
and ability indicators for future Universities of Science and Technology to carry out
practical applications and research. It is hoped that it will enable the students of
Universities of Science and Technology to get early exposure to the application of VR
technology and to opportunities for practical exercises and innovative ideas.
86 C.-C. Chung et al.

2 Research Design

This research was mainly divided into two parts, namely, the construction of ability
indicators, and the development of courses. Firstly, through a literature analysis and
research team meetings, the ability indicator framework of the “VR STEAM welding
course” was developed to prepare the “VR STEAM” expert questionnaires related to
welding courses. In addition, experts and members in related fields, such as VR
applications, STEAM education, welding, and other related fields, were invited to
participate, provide consultation, and implement the Fuzzy Delphi Method
(FDM) expert questionnaire survey and analysis, as well as to complete the con-
struction of ability indicators, which were used as the basis for curriculum develop-
ment. For curriculum development, the expert focus group interview method was used
to collect and gather opinions from all parties, and the literature analysis and research
team meeting results were used as the reference basis for this.
This study used the FDM to construct curriculum ability indicators. By combining
the Delphi method and the Fuzzy theory, the FDM makes use of triangular fuzzy
numbers that can improve the shortcomings of the traditional Delphi method and also
solve the limitations and ambiguity of human nature, and it is also an effective method
for constructing indicators [14, 15]. Therefore, this study invited 15 experts to conduct
an FDM expert questionnaire survey, in order to gather expert opinions. Then, ability
indicators were constructed, and curriculum models, teaching strategies, teaching
activities and a reference basis for the mobile learning platform were developed.

3 Results and Discussion

According to the purpose of this research and the literature review, the teaching mode,
course content, ability indicators, teaching strategies, mobile learning platform, etc. of
the “VR STEAM Welding Course” for the Engineering students of the Universities of
Science and Technology are described as follows:

3.1 Developing the Teaching Mode of the “VR STEAM Welding Course”
for the Engineering Students at Universities of Science
and Technology
The teaching mode of the “VR STEAM Welding Course” in this study is mainly
“student-centered”, as shown in Fig. 1. Curriculum planning, which incorporates
Problem-based Learning, includes three parts, namely, welding knowledge and skills
training, STEAM integrated learning, and VR Practical application. In the student
learning process, teachers can use virtual welding equipment, a digital learning plat-
form and welding factory classrooms and other diversified environments and equip-
ment to assist in their teaching, all of which emphasize the “learning-by-doing” mode.
This allows students to carry out the inquiry-based learning of STEAM welding
knowledge and skills in an appropriate way, to make a critical analysis of the data
obtained by various media, and then to construct their own knowledge, to carry out
meaningful learning, and to enhance their teamwork and problem-solving abilities. The
 Development of a VR STEAM Welding Project Course 87

main role the teacher is to assist, and a real and virtual hybrid method is used to become
an innovative teaching mode of the VR STEAM welding course. In the follow-up, the
research results will be evaluated to verify the effectiveness of the student’s learning
and the completeness and applicability of the curriculum design.

Fig. 1. Teaching mode.

3.2 Developing the Course Content of the “VR STEAM Welding Course”
for the Engineering Students at Universities of Science
and Technology
The course content of this “VR STEAM Welding Course” plans to apply VR tech-
nology mainly to the welding practice course, and it includes three major features,
namely, Immersion, Interaction and Imagination. This course uses the VR Welding
Simulator device to implement VR welding teaching. It enables students to enjoy pre-
learning in a high-safety, low-cost environment, while interacting with VR welding
scenes and interface devices, it provides a sense of presence, fun, immersive effect,
exploration, maneuverability, dynamic interaction and real-time visual feedback, and it
is a student-centered learning mode. While learning the skills of electric welding,
students can also understand the development and application status of VR technology,
so as to improve their scientific and technological literacy.
Fifteen experts and scholars were invited to give subjective scores on the “feasi-
bility of the teaching of VR technology-assisted electric welding ability indicators”,
based on the current situation of electric welding knowledge and VR technology
teaching applications, so as to obtain their evaluation of each question. The FDM
expert questionnaire analysis results from 11 valid questionnaires (with the effective
questionnaire recovery rate of 73%), are shown in Fig. 2. The teaching feasibility of
88 C.-C. Chung et al.

VR technology-assisted general manual welding scored between 0.635 points and

0.750 points. The item with the highest feasibility score was “welding construction”,
with a score of 0.750, followed by “drawing reading and drawing”, with a score of
0.710, “test material processing and combination”, with a score of 0.694, “welding
inspection”, with a score of 0.690, “operation preparation”, with a score of 0.687,
“industrial safety and hygiene”, with a score of 0.677, “welding bead cleaning”, with a
score of 0.640, and “professional ethics of electric welders”, with a score of 0.635.

Fig. 2. Histogram of the feasibility of ability indicators of three major characteristics of VR

auxiliary welding teaching.

3.3 Developing the Teaching Strategy of the “VR STEAM Welding

Course” for the Engineering Students at Universities of Science
and Technology
The teaching strategy of the “VR STEAM Welding Course” plans to integrate STEAM
education mainly into the welding course, so that students can develop integrated
thinking in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics, as well as other
disciplines. Furthermore, the plan to replace the traditional welding course with VR
welding courses and mobile learning platforms is to guide students to learn and provide
them with diversified learning channels.
Fifteen experts and scholars were invited to give a subjective score of the “Inte-
grality of STEAM Education and Welding Ability Indicators”, based on the current
status of the teaching application of welding knowledge and STEAM integrated
thinking education, in order to obtain the evaluation value of experts and scholars for
each question. The results of the FDM expert questionnaire survey on 11 valid ques-
tionnaires (with an effective questionnaire recovery rate of 73%) are shown in Fig. 3.
The integrality scores of the STEAM education and welding ability indicators were
between 0.633 and 0.736 points. The item with the highest integration score was
“welding construction”, with a score of 0.736, followed by “welding inspection”, with
a score of 0.715, “drawing reading and drawing”, with a score of 0.708, “test material
processing and combination”, with a score of 0.692, “industrial safety and hygiene”,
 Development of a VR STEAM Welding Project Course 89

with a score of 0.686, “operation preparation”, with a score of 0.665, “welding bead
removal”, with a score of 0.664, and “the professional ethics of electric welders”, with
a score of 0.633.

Fig. 3. Histogram of integrality of STEAM education and welding ability indicators.

3.4 Constructing a Mobile Learning Platform for the “VR STEAM

Welding Course” for the Engineering Students at Universities
of Science and Technology
In this study of the “VR STEAM Welding Course”, the mobile learning platform,
called the “Line Virtual Classroom”, was built. Students were encouraged to join the
“Line Virtual Classroom” course group, which provided them with a diverse learning
environment, with a high real-time performance and no time-and-space constraints. At
present, the most commonly-used communication software in Taiwan is the Line
application [16]. The mobile learning platform of this course was built on the Line
system because many teachers use Line social media to assist them in their teaching.
The Line’s group chat-room, notepad, photo album, reply, announcement, vote, and
other functions, were used to build a “Line virtual classroom”, as shown in Fig. 4.
After students join this course, teachers can set learning assignments in the virtual
classroom, according to the curriculum design, they can encourage students to explore,
or have flipped teaching and other learning activities. It also allows students to hand in
homework, they learn to give back and they can share their learned work.
1. Notepad: links to the textbooks of each unit, assignment announcement and sub-
mission, topic discussion.
2. Photo album: pictures of each unit course and submission of students’ actual works.
3. File: sharing of each unit’s extended learning files.
4. Other functions: voting, picking days, climbing ladders, etc. to be used by group
students.
5. Chat room: teacher-student interaction, consulting service.
90 C.-C. Chung et al.

Fig. 4. VR STEAM welding course mobile learning platform.

4 Conclusion and Suggestions

This study aimed to integrate STEAM education into welding courses, and to apply VR
technology and a mobile learning platform to assist in the teaching of welding.
According to the analysis results of expert questionnaires, the conclusions are sum-
marized as follows:

4.1 The “VR STEAM Welding Course” Develops a Student-Centered

Teaching Mode
This “VR STEAM Electric Welding Course” is a student-centered teaching model. The
key points of the course must include three parts: welding knowledge and skills
training, STEAM integrated learning, and a practical VR application. The course
planning was carried out from two directions, namely students’ perspective and
teachers’ assistance. The problem-oriented learning and teaching strategies were used
to guide students to learn electric welding knowledge and skills, to gain STEAM
integrated knowledge, as well as related knowledge and skills that are related to the VR
practical application.
 Development of a VR STEAM Welding Project Course 91

4.2 The Item “Welding Construction” Had the Highest Feasibility

in the Teaching of the VR Technology-Assisted Electric Welding
Course Content
The course content of this “VR STEAM Welding Course” was determined by an FDM
analysis. In terms of the feasibility of using VR technology to assist the teaching of the
electric welding course content, the item with the highest score was “welding con-
struction”, followed by “drawing reading and drawing”, “test material processing and
combination”, “welding inspection”, “operation preparation”, “industrial safety and
hygiene”, “welding bead removal”, and “professional ethics of electric welders”. In this
way, the students were guided to learn welding-related knowledge and skills through
the application of VR technology in the course planning and auxiliary course teaching.

4.3 The Item “Welding Construction” Had the Highest Integrality

in the Teaching Strategy that Adopted and Integrated STEAM
Education into the Welding Course
This research design integrated STEAM education thinking into the teaching activities
of the welding courses. After an FDM expert questionnaire survey and analysis, in
terms of the integration of this “VR STEAM Welding Course” and STEAM education,
the item with the highest score was “welding construction”, followed by “welding
inspection”, “drawing reading and drawing”, “test material processing and combina-
tion”, “industrial safety and hygiene”, “operation preparation”, “welding bead clean-
ing”, and “the professional ethics of electric welders”. These were used to develop a
teaching strategy for students to learn welding courses with STEAM integrated
thinking and to deepen the value of the students’ STEAM learning and application.

4.4 The Mobile Learning Platform of the VR STEAM Welding Course

Had High Real-Time Characteristics
The mobile learning platform of this course is based on the Line application, which is
the most commonly-used communication software in Taiwan. It uses the Line group
chat room, notepad, photo album, reply, announcement, vote, and other functions to
build a “Line Virtual Classroom”, it provides students with a diversified learning
environment that is not limited by time and space, and it is highly real-time. It also
provides a consultative and interactive communication platform between teachers and
students, as well as between students and students.

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Taking LINE as an Example. Department of Graphic Communication Arts, 345–352 (2015)
 Enhancing Students’ Learning Outcomes
of a STEAM Permutations Course Through
a Game Based Visual Programming
Environment with Qualifying Rank Strategy

Yu-Che Huang1, Yueh-Ming Huang1(&), and Andreja Istenic Starcic2

1
National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan ROC
yuche.kurt.huang@gmail.com, huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw
2
University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
andreja.starcic@gmail.com

Abstract. The main purpose of this research is to develop a visual program-

ming game with a Qualifying Rank strategy (QRVPG), allowing learners to use
this system to conduct a STEAM-oriented mathematics course, the content of
which is permutation. In the QRVPG system, learners can perform learning
tasks with lower cognitive levels in their personal game copies to understand
and construct knowledge, as the level of the game role increases, levels with
higher cognitive levels will also appear. Then, learners are necessary to analyze
and apply the knowledge they learned to complete more difficult learning tasks.
In addition, learners can compete in the QRVPG system. This research hopes to
introduce the qualifying rank strategy to allow learners with similar abilities to
compete with each other, through this way, enhance learners’ learning moti-
vation and engagement. In general, this research hopes to improve learners’ core
competence in all aspects of STEAM through the cooperation of game forma-
tion and the gradual development of cognitive level.

Keywords: STEAM education
Math learning
Game based learning
Visual

programming language
Computational thinking
Qualifying rank strategy

1 Introduction

In recent years, STEAM education has received increasing attention from educator [1].
Many studies have introduced different teaching strategies or teaching models into
STEAM education courses [2, 3]. In these studies, Project-Based Learning is often used
for teaching. In this way, learners can cultivate the core competence of STEAM
through the process of design and work practice [4, 5]. However, the content of
STEAM courses conducted by Project-Based Learning is usually more complicated,
and learners need to gradually combine trans-disciplinary knowledge during the
learning process. Such a learning process can easily increase the cognitive load on
learning. Therefore, in recent years, some studies have begun to introduce game
strategies into STEAM courses [6, 7], through this approach can not only increase
learners’ learning motivation and effectiveness, but also effectively reduce learners’

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 93–99, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_11
94 Y.-C. Huang et al.

cognitive load [8]. According to the results of a systematic review research from [9],
current STEAM-oriented game system uses cooperative learning as the bulk of the
process usually. However, the element of competition is also an important part of
game-based learning [10]. Similar to cooperative learning, the introduction of com-
petitive elements into games can also improve learning motivation and effectiveness
[11], but this kinds of research applications in STEAM teaching activities are still quite
rare. Therefore, the primary purpose of this research is to explore how to add a
competition mechanism to STEAM-oriented game-based teaching, and to explore the
impact of this teaching approach on the learners’ learning performance, learning
motivation. In addition, according to the research findings from Leonard et al. [12] and
Sengupta, Dickes and Farris [13], the ability of Computational Thinking (CT) skill is
closely related to learners’ STEAM core competencies. At the same time, there have
also been studies on applying Visual Programming Language (VPL) such (i.e. Scratch)
to the classroom for developing CT skills [12] and STEAM Competencies. Therefore,
this research will develop a VPL game which combined a Qualifying rank strategy of a
STEAM-oriented mathematic course. Then, it is hoped that learners can use VPL to
solve learning problems of STEAM concepts, and enhance learners’ STEAM core by
using CT skills.

2 Literature Review

2.1 GBL of STEAM Education

Game-based learning refers to the application of game or game elements in teaching
system. For students, it is an incentive to stimulate their learning motivation [13]. At
the same time, while game-based learning allows students to learn in the process of
learning through games, students need to have a clear learning goal on which they can
build their cognitive ability [14, 15]. At the same time, some studies have pointed out
that STEM courses conducted by Project-Based Learning can provide learners with a
clear learning goal, and can improve their learning ability in all aspects through the
practice of works.
The teaching concept of STEM means that subjects should not be taught in separate
subjects, but should be introduced into the curriculum through a series of cross-domain
knowledge learning activities, because these subject concepts are related to daily life
and will not appear in us alone [16]. In 2018, Yakman proposed to incorporate the
concept of “art” into STEM [17]. The “A” in STEAM not only refers to art in a narrow
sense, but also refers to beauty in a broad sense and the humanistic atmosphere cul-
tivated in STEM courses. Compared with STEAM, STEM courses without art indicate
the lack of creativity and design thinking goals. However, the curriculum content of
PjBL is usually more complex; learners need to combine cross-domain knowledge in
the learning process, which often results in the cognitive load of learners. Because of
this reason, in the recent years, some studies have begun to apply the game elements or
strategy in the STEAM curriculum of PjBL [6, 7], which can effectively reduce the
cognitive load of learners [8].
 Enhancing Students’ Learning Outcomes of a STEAM Permutations Course 95

In related research results, researchers found that the ability of CT is closely related
to the performance of learners’ STEAM core competence. Therefore, in recent years,
many studies have applied visual programming language (VPL) such as Scratch to the
classroom for developing CT ability, as a teaching tool for STEAM-oriented related
courses.

2.2 Qualifying Rank Strategy

According to the results of a systematic review research from [9], most of STEAM-
oriented game systems were based on cooperative learning. However, the element of
competition is also an important part of game-based learning [10]. Similar to coop-
erative learning, there have been many research point out that adding competitive
elements in the game can also improve learning motivation and effectiveness [11]. But
this kinds of research applications in STEAM teaching activities are still very few, so
this topic is still worthy of further exploration. However, learning with a normal
competitive strategy had some disadvantages. For example, learning through compe-
tition might let winners increase their sense of self-accomplishment with higher
motivation, but it might make those who fail feel depressed about learning, and reduce
their learning motivation or engagement [18]. The reason case this situation is that most
games use a ranking points as a competitive element. When this kind of game strategy
is used, when the score gap of the ranking is getting bigger and bigger, the students in
lower achievements with backward scores will gradually lose the motivation to learn.
Therefore, the elements of competition should be slightly modified when design a
learning game.
Qualifying is a very interesting element of game competition too; there are many
popular games in the game market in this way to allow players to engage in benign
competition. The main implementation method is to divide the quality level of com-
petition into several ranges. Players must compete with other players of the same level.
The winner of the game can increase the qualifying score, and the loser will reduce the
qualifying score. When the ranking score accumulates to a certain value, the quality
level of the competition area will be increased, which means that the player’s strength
in the game is higher than other players in the original range. On the contrary, if the
player’s strength is insufficient, the ranking points will be continuously lost and the
quality level of the competition area will be lowered. This phenomenon indicates that
the player’s ability is not enough to face other stronger players. Therefore, if this
strategy can be introduced into learning games, learners with different cognitive levels
and learning achievements can be separated, and learners of the same level can com-
pete, and then gradually cultivate learning in the process of continuous competition
ability. Through this way, the learner will not lack the motivation to learn because of
the large gap with other peers, and has a clearer learning goal.
96 Y.-C. Huang et al.

3 Research Method
3.1 Qualifying Rank Visual Programming Language Game (QVPLG)
In QVPLG, learners can perform game tasks in story mode. As more tasks are com-
pleted and the role experience accumulated in the game is worth increasing, the dif-
ficulty of the task will gradually increase. As shown in Fig. 1 below, learners can drag
the program grammar puzzle on the left to the execution area in the middle, and
observe the execution result of the program on the far right. If the learner can use the
grammar puzzle correctly to make the game character defeat the monster, the role will
be accumulated Experience points and gold coin rewards. After the character is
upgraded, the attack power in the game can be improved. Through this method of
developing strategies, learners can be more involved in the game. In addition, as the
difficulty of the task increases, it will echo with the development of game character
abilities and programming skills. The abilities developed in the story mode can also
give learners more advantages in the competitive mode.

Fig. 1. Player playing a copy of a lower cognitive level.

As shown in Fig. 2 below, when learners use QVPLG to compete with their peers,
two learners with similar programming abilities (qualifying score, QC) must each solve
game tasks of the same difficulty level. At the same time, two learners will be able to
watch the opponent’s problem solving states when they were solving the problem, this
design is to make the competition have a greater impact tension. In this mode, during a
competition, two learners will have to solve the game tasks of three competitions
respectively, and the content of the tasks of both parties are exactly the same. There-
fore, the learner who completes the three tasks first will win and the QC value will
increase. On the contrary, the other learner will lose the QC value due to the loss in the
game. All learners can gradually develop the ability of programming and computational
thinking in this process by constantly competing with others of comparable ability.

3.2 Research Framework and Hypothesis

The hypothetical diagram proposed by this study is shown in Fig. 3.
 Enhancing Students’ Learning Outcomes of a STEAM Permutations Course 97

Fig. 2. The screenshots of learners using the QVPLG to carry on a qualifying competition with
peer.

Fig. 3. The hypothetical diagram of this study.

This research intends to apply QVPLG to STEAM-oriented mathematics courses,

and the main content of its learning is permutations. In the first research aspect H1, the
main research question is to explore whether there is a difference in the degree of
learning participation between the experimental group and the control group. The
research items are the flow state of the learner, the score obtained by the learner in the
game, and the length of time the learner spends in the game.
In the second research aspect H2, the main research question is to explore whether
there is a difference in cognitive load between the experimental group and the control
group, which includes intrinsic cognitive load, extraneous cognitive load, and germane
cognitive load.
In the third research aspect H3, the main research question is to explore whether the
experimental group and the control group have differences in learning achievement
performance. This part will discuss the post-test scores of permutation ability and the
post-test scores of CT skills.
Finally, in the fourth research aspect H4, this research expected to analyze the
operational behavior records left by learners in the experimental teaching system
through lag sequence analysis (LSA) method, and to explore the learning behavior of
98 Y.-C. Huang et al.

learners with different gender and different learning achievements in the experimental
group and the control group.

4 Conclusions and Future Works

In this research, a visual programming language game (QVPLG) with a qualifying

competition mechanism will be developed and applied to a STEAM-oriented math
curriculum. Different from general game-based learning, learners can develop the
ability of game characters by completing problem-solving tasks in the game copy of
personal practice, and learn the knowledge of different cognitive levels in this way. In
addition, learners can compete virtuously with peers of equal learning level by par-
ticipating in qualifying competitions. Through this way, this research expects that as
learners’ ranking scores increase in the game, learners’ core STEAM competencies will
also grow.
In future experimental teaching, this research will use QVPLG to conduct STEAM-
oriented mathematics courses, and explore the impact of this teaching method on
learners’ learning performance, cognitive load, learning engagement and behavior
patterns. Then, according to the research findings, provide future researchers with more
foundation in this kind of STEAM-oriented GBL environment.

Acknowledgements. This research is partially supported by the Ministry of Science and

Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. under Grant no. MOST 109-2511-H-006-011-MY3 and MOST
106-2511-S-006-001-MY3.

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7. Schneider, J., Schaal, S.: Location-based smartphone games in the context of environmental
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8. Bressler, D.M., Bodzin, A.M., Eagan, B., Tabatabai, S.: Using epistemic network analysis to
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9. Gao, F., Li, L., Sun, Y.: A systematic review of mobile game-based learning in STEM
education. Education Tech. Research Dev. 68(4), 1791–1827 (2020). https://doi.org/10.
1007/s11423-020-09787-0
10. Rollings, A., Adams, E.: Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design. New Riders,
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 A LUPDA Assessment Model for Activities
in STEAM Education

Yu-Cheng Chien1, Pei-Yu Chang2, Hsin-Yu Lee1, Tai-Yi Huang3,

and Yueh-Min Huang1(&)
1
Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan
huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw
2
Graduate School of Technological and Vocational Education, National Yunlin
University of Science and Technology, Douliu, Taiwan
3
Department of Learning Technologies, University of North Texas,
Denton, USA

Abstract. The Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM)

has become the buzzword in the field of education. Many studies have revealed
the importance of STEAM education and proposed different strategies to
enhance it, nevertheless, these strategies are not in perfect alignment with five
disciplines of STEAM. Therefore, this study proposed an assessment model
which can match each discipline of STEAM activities respectively, including
Learning, Using, Practicing, Designing, and Applying (LUPDA). We piloted
and reviewed this model through the STEAM learning activities of the Micro:
bit-Obstacle Avoidance Car. Finally, the LUPDA model provides effective
measurement thorough STEAM hands-on activity.

Keywords: STEAM
LUPDA
Assessment

1 Introduction

The National Science Foundation (NSF) began to use the term “STEM” in the 1990s,
which represents the abbreviations for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
[1]. With the announcement of the “Education Innovation Plan” by former US Presi-
dent Obama in 2010, STEM has further drawn educators’ attention (House, 2010).
Many pieces of research and policy reports have indicated the demand of STEM
education. Even, some countries believe STEM education is a crucial factor to maintain
the competitiveness in the global economy [2–4]. Furthermore, Yakman [5] proposed
that arts should be included in STEM to become STEAM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) which help students to build engineering back-
ground with artistic aesthetics, particularly for engineering design.
Moreover, according to the employment forecast report issued by the U.S.
Department of Labor [6], it revealed that employment opportunities in future jobs will
be inextricably related to STEM-related occupations which will massively increase
from 2016 to 2026. However, to our best knowledge, few studies have focused on
developing a sound evaluation model corresponding to five disciplines of STEAM

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 100–105, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_12
 A LUPDA Assessment Model for Activities in STEAM Education 101

activities [7]. Therefore, this study aims to develop a model that includes those actions
of learn, use, practice, design and apply based on the intrinsic objective of STEAM
education.

2 Method

2.1 The Design of a LUPDA Evaluation Model

STEM education has become a global education trend. As a result, both formal learning
environments and informal learning environments have launched STEM education-
related courses. No matter in which learning environment, instructors always need to
plan a series of related learning activities to increase cross-field knowledge so as to
cultivate students’ interdisciplinary skills [8, 9].
This study identified the actions to be taken by students in STAEM activities as five
types: learning, using, practicing, designing, and applying, which correspond to sci-
ence, technology, engineering, art and mathematics respectively.
1. Science is the main subject for students to master scientific knowledge and scientific
laws to form a scientific spirit.
2. Technology is the concretization of science, that is, learners’ ability to master,
apply, and invent technology.
3. Engineering refers to the practical application of technology, which means that
learners can use technology to carry out a systematic development process and able
to evaluate or reflect.
4. Art asks learners to be innovate and able to think about design with the ingredient of
aesthetics.
5. Mathematics is that learners must master the knowledge of mathematics as a
foundation to synthesize other abilities.
The detailed descriptions are shown in Table 1.

2.2 Model Design

To measure these STEAM objectives and students’ skills, this study defines five actions
taken by students through learn, use, practice, design, and apply in STEAM activities.
In this study, we invited several researchers and experts to review the assessment
principles in scoring until consensus being reached. At the same time, they have piloted
and reviewed the rubric, as shown in Table 2.

3 Experimental Design

3.1 Participants
This study participants were fifth and sixth-grade students from five primary schools in
South Taiwan. A total of 30 volunteers were recruited to participate in training
workshop on the Micro:bit-Obstacle Avoidance Car (see Fig. 1). The participants were
102 Y.-C. Chien et al.

Table 1. LUPDA evaluation model.

STEAM element Qualities for evaluation
Science (Learn) 1. establish experimental hypotheses and verify them
2. collect data and analyze experimental results
3. summary and reasonable inferences based on the analysis
Technology (Use) 1. choose correct and suitable materials and tools
2. use materials and tools by following specifications
3. modify or design models according to device measurement
Engineering 1. understand the function of each component in the activity
(Practice) 2. combine components and build a system correctly
3. diagnose the correctness of the constructed system and make
corrections
Arts (Design) 1. designed system is aesthetic
2. show unique design ability
3. have imagination or creativity
Math (Apply) 1. use appropriate tools for measurement
2. display data in graphs
3. analyze the trend of data measurement

Table 2. Rubric for LUPDA evaluation model.

1-point (minimal) 2-point (solid evidence) 3-point (exceeds
expectations)
Learn Hypotheses and Collect and analyze Reasonable inferences
verify
Use Choose materials Use materials and tools Modify or design tool
and tools measurement
Practice Know each Combine components and Construct system and
component build a system make corrections
Design Designed with Show unique WITH imagination or
aesthetic creativity
Apply Use tools for Display data in graphs Analyze data from
measurement measurement

asked to complete a series of learning activities that are the hands-on activities related
the STEAM education. Because five students could not complete the experimental
procedure, their experimental data were deemed invalid and eliminated. To ensure that
all groups can able to complete the specific tasks, other 25 students (17 males and 11
females) were assigned to different groups according to their prior knowledge, and each
group is three to four students.
 A LUPDA Assessment Model for Activities in STEAM Education 103

Fig. 1. Micro:bit-Obstacle avoidance car.

3.2 STEAM Activity

In this study, the STEAM learning activity was designed as five-phased projects
centered on the micro:bit-Obstacle Avoidance Car. The activity tasks are divided into
five projects. The tasks classified according to the difficulty mentioned above, and the
difficulty are organized from easy to difficult. As shown in Table 3, this activity
conducted students a progressive way (from easy to difficult). Through this course,
students can have basic knowledge and concepts of programming.

Table 3. The task of Micro:bit-Obstacle avoidance car in STEAM activity.

No. Task Task content Level
1 Assembly Let the Obstacle Avoidance Car perform 4 functions: easy
forward, backward, left, and right
2 Basic Use the gray value sensor to complete the track easy
features
3 Follow Use ultrasonic sensors to avoid obstacles on the track medium
the line
4 Avoid Use Bluetooth to control Obstacle Avoidance Car’s left and medium
obstacles right to complete the track
5 Remote Accelerate Obstacle Avoidance Car in a straight line and Difficult
control complete the track

4 LUPDA for the Micro:Bit-Obstacle Avoidance Car Activity

4.1 Evaluation Implementation

This study develops a scoring rubrics for the Micro:bit-Obstacle Avoidance Car
Activity based on the LUPDA model. To pilot and review the LUPDA model and
rubrics, researchers and experts repeatedly revised the model based on Micro:bit-
Obstacle Avoidance Car Activity. Table 4 shows the LUPDA model with a detailed
assessment principle of this example.
104 Y.-C. Chien et al.

Table 4. LUPDA for Micro:bit-Obstacle avoidance car activity.

Element 1-point (minimal) 2-point (solid 3-point (exceeds
evidence) expectations)
Science Understand the task Repeatedly try their In addition to
(Learn) target and try their car car on the track, and following the route, it
that it can complete making it can follow can remotely control
forward, backward, the route their car through
left, and right Bluetooth
Technology Successfully operate According to task Control the degree of
(Use) gray value sensors and requirements, use the sensors: 1)
ultrasonic sensors correct sensors which different paths
are gray value sensor successfully detected;
or ultra-sonic sensor 2) read the distance
value and successfully
avoid obstacles
Engineering Assemble the car body Connect obstacle Connect gray value
(Practice) and install the battery avoidance car and sensor and ultrasonic
micro:bit sensor with their car
Arts Use LED of mircor:bit Design a unique and Design LED that fit the
(Design) on obstacle avoidance distinctive LED situation, such as
car marquee
Math Calculate the distance After judging the Make a successful turn
(Apply) between the obstacle distance of the before the their car
avoidance car and the obstacle, calculate the approaches an obstacle
obstacle turning angle

5 Discussion and Conclusion

With the development of STEAM education-related practices, educators need to

evaluate student work that does not rely on traditional knowledge and is not limited to
specific activities. This study’s contribution provides a framework called LUPDA,
which helps educators understand students’ interdisciplinary integration and measure
students’ learning performance in STEAM. Nevertheless, in terms of the required
resources and the applicability of education, to realize the LUPDA framework applies
to multiple STEAM activities, the measure remains to be solved.

Acknowledgements. This research is partially supported by the Ministry of Science and

Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. under Grant no. MOST 109-2511-H-006 -011 -MY3, MOST 109-
2811-H-006 -505 -, and MOST 107-2511-H-006 -014 -MY3.

References
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 A LUPDA Assessment Model for Activities in STEAM Education 105

2. Anderson, E., Kim, D.: Increasing the success of minority students in science and technology.
American Council on Education, Washington (2006)
3. Chen, X., Thomas, W.: Students who study science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) in post-secondary education. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
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4. Dowd, A.C., Malcom, L.E., Bensimon, E.M.: Benchmarking the success of Latina and Latino
students in STEM to achieve national graduation goals: Center for Urban Education (2009)
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6. U.S. Department of Labor, B. o. L. S. Computer and Information Technology Occupations
(2016). https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/. Accessed 15 July
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7. Marshall, J.A., Harron, J.R.: Making learners: a framework for evaluating making in STEM
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8. Bybee, R.W.: Advancing STEM education: a 2020 vision. Technol. Eng. Teach. 70(1), 30–35
(2010)
9. Lin, K.-Y., Yu, K.-C., Hsiao, H.-S., Chu, Y.-H., Chang, Y.-S., Chien, Y.-H.: Design of an
assessment system for collaborative problem solving in STEM education. J. Comput. Educ. 2
(3), 301–322 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-015-0038-x
Augmented and Virtual Reality
in Education
 A Testing Case of Simulation Learning
in Nursing by Virtual Reality - Subcutaneous
Injection Training

ChinLun Lai1(&) and Yu-mei Chang2

1
Communication Engineering Department, Oriental Institute of Technology,
New Taipei City, Taiwan
fo001@mail.oit.edu.tw
2
Nursing Department, Oriental Institute of Technology, New Taipei City,
Taiwan
fk001@mail.oit.edu.tw

Abstract. In this paper, a virtual reality based nursing skill training is proposed
to evaluate the learning efficiency improvement under the simulation learning
theory. To perform this goal, a VR subcutaneous injection scenario is constructed
and used as the skill training sample for the two-year college nursing students to
understand their experience during the VR training process. The constructed
training system includes completed step by step operations and the on line test
function to fulfill the interactive self-training and skill evaluation functions.
According to the designed goal, this learning methodology can achieve better
learning performance and increasing the learning motivation while reducing the
corresponding cost and effort significantly. It is observed from the students’
feedback that the learning strategy, compared with the traditional teaching
methods, can not only improves the student’s interest in skill training but also
enhances the learning performance. That is, the proposed teaching auxiliary
system can improve both the student’s interest and learning performance, and is
practical to extend into other skill training fields in the future.

Keywords: Nursing skills training
Simulation learning
Subcutaneous

injection
Teaching auxiliary system
Virtual reality technology

1 Introduction

The initiation of this research comes from two observation facts. First, it is observed
that the nursing profession is facing a problem of shortage of nursing manpower due to
the rapid development of high-tech medical care environment. Secondly, the simulated
learning/training method is a powerful and fast growing strategy in modern education,
which replicates the context of real case in a safe environment and provides interactive
and feedback activities for students to achieve learning effect [1–6].
The cultivation of basic nursing skills is not only the core of nursing education, but
also an important factor for clinical nursing staff to play their professional ability. The
current nursing skills education method is that, with the help of simulated patients,
nursing instructors first explain the principles of skills and then demonstrate the steps of

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 109–118, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_13
110 C. Lai and Y. Chang

skills. After that, students practice repeatedly according to the instructor’s demonstration
until they are familiar with whole process. At the same time, teachers can evaluate
students’ learning effect by observing students’ operation or actual tests. However, due to
the lack of standardization and repeatability of the instructor’s operation demonstration,
students lack of unified reference examples in practice, and students are not easy to detect
errors in the operation process, which affects the learning effect.
In recent years, AR/VR/MR technology has been widely used in different fields of
professional and technical fields, especially in the field of education [7, 8], thus edu-
cators must adapt teaching methods to develop the best teaching strategies. Since
virtual reality provides an immersive learner experience, it is very suitable for pro-
fessional skills training, and naturally also includes teaching in the field of medicine
and nursing [9–17]. Virtual reality based applications are evolving rapidly in the field
of health care due to the fact that VR applications can effectively save time and training
costs, can practice operations quickly, as well as help coordinate the skills of medical
professionals according to the relevant health care research. Kolb’s [18] study describes
how learners actively reflect on what they have learned in order to integrate new
experiences into the current knowledge base. After acquiring a higher level of
knowledge, learners actively try to integrate and reflect on knowledge in order to
internalize it for personal development. In addition, in learning theory, learning out-
comes are produced through continuous practice, rigorous evaluation and feedback
mechanisms [19]. By exploring various methods including false attempts, learners can
experience the immediate consequences and learn them. However, it is not acceptable
in a real clinical environment by such ‘tried by error’ approach. Under this consider-
ation, using VR operation does not cause patient safety risk and can provide learners
with valuable learning experience, thus this experimental learning theory can be
applied to the clinical education of VR simulation. In addition, numerous studies have
shown that this principle of education not only effectively helps students learn clinical
medicine, but also applies to expertise in aviation, sports, and musical performance.
The research shows that although nursing educators are incorporating immersive
VR into the curriculum plan, few people in Taiwan have carried out relevant research
on the application of immersive VR in nursing education. Compared with the tradi-
tional nursing teaching methods, simulation learning method will have more effective
learning effect, and involves the use of innovative technology to convey knowledge.
VR replaces reality with a computer-generated virtual environment, which inputs
objects and information into the environment and describes the environment to users.
Users can use sensors or controllers (for example, keyboard and mouse) to manipulate
or interact with objects in the virtual environment. The results show that virtual reality
education has greatly improved students’ psychomotor ability [12]. Other studies have
evaluated the learning results of VR education in students’ emotional aspects, such as
the improvement of communication ability and learning initiative, so the students can
achieve good learning effect through repeated skill learning process more quickly.
Subcutaneous injection nursing skill is a basic nursing skill. Through subcutaneous
injection, the drug can be absorbed slowly and produce continuous therapeutic effect.
The route of subcutaneous injection is in subcutaneous fat layer. Since it is slower than
intravenous injection, subcutaneous injection is often used as a way of administration
of vaccines and drugs such as insulin for diabetic injection. It is an important part of
subcutaneous injection skills to get into the appropriate depth. Medical staff suggest
 A Testing Case of Simulation Learning in Nursing by Virtual Reality 111

that the drug should be injected into the subcutaneous tissue, which is the fat layer
under the skin. If the injection is too deep, the drug will be absorbed by the muscle
layer, which makes the drug absorption faster and less lasting, thus will cause pain
when the injection is to the muscle. On the contrary, if the injection is too shallow and
does not reach the subcutaneous tissue, the drug will be directly absorbed by the
epidermis, which will also affect the initial action and the action time of the drug.
Therefore, injection technique is very important. In recent years, due to the increasing
prevalence of chronic diseases and the aging of the population, the demand for sub-
cutaneous injection has increased greatly. Through the correct nursing of subcutaneous
injection, not only can achieve effective therapeutic effect, but also effectively prevent
the occurrence of infection or side effects. Therefore, in addition to the clinical nursing
staff in medical institutions, the nursing staff working in the field of family care must
also be familiar with how to operate subcutaneous injection correctly, thus it is nec-
essary to give them good skill training. However, due to the limited patients cases of
volunteers in clinical practice, and the lack of a large number of nursing skills teaching
manpower, most of the nursing staff in learning can only practice by simulating patients
or mannequins themselves, resulting in poor training effect. On the other hand, in
addition to the limited space, time, equipment and guidance manpower arrangement, a
large amount of consumables consumption has also greatly increased the cost of
practice, hence resulting in the reduction of training willingness of institutions and
trainees.
In view of this, a simulated learning strategy for nursing skills training is imple-
mented based on virtual reality technology and the subcutaneous injection skill is used
as the training example to demonstrate the effect of this learning model. From this way,
this learning strategy fulfills the concept of learning by practice while reducing the
related cost and effort significantly. It is observed and expected, by some test samples
feedback from the implemented system, that the learning strategy can not only
improves the student’s motivation in skill training but also enhances the learning
performance than the traditional teaching methods. Furthermore, it is also easy to be
applied into other skill learning and training fields thus is practical for the future
education and training purpose.

2 The Research Methodology

Descriptions of the research methodology include two aspects: The system prototype
implementation and the experimental design. For the system platform design, the
helmet-mounted device with PC is adopted in hardware construction for good
immersive fusion consideration, while the unity3D software package is used as the
development platform for the reason of compatibility. On the other hand, simulation
scenario contents and the feedback data collection method are also important. The
whole research methodology concept is described as follows:
112 C. Lai and Y. Chang

2.1 Building up the Simulation Platform

In the initial stage of the system construction, a PC-based head-mounted device, like
HTC VIVE, is selected as the visual output equipment, while the complicated work of
building 3D contents is done by a powerful desktop computer with specific graphic
processing unit (GPU). At the same time, the UNITY3D software package is adopted
as the development platform to build up the whole system including the 3D objects
design, scenario flow, and interactive control strategies. The Maya software package is
also used in building much detailed and complex 3D objects and scenes. On the other
hand, to make the human–computer interaction easier and intuitive, the Leap Motion
hardware unit is used in gesture recognition work thus users are able to control and
interact with the system by simple hand gesture. Figure 1 shows the proposed VR
learning platform architecture of this paper.

2.2 Nursing Experts Conduction

In order to confirm the clinical nursing skill in developing VR learning module, clinical
expert consultation was built by six clinical practice experts. At the same time they are
also served as a collaborative teaching faculty for the industry sector and help to listed
important and basic clinical nursing skilled to be trained. These skills comprise sub-
cutaneous injection, nasogastric tube care, urinary catheterization, intravenous
administration, suction, and change position. In this paper, the VR subcutaneous
injection is implemented and tested. Thus, the corresponding steps are defined and
made according to the nursing textbooks and clinical nursing standards of major
hospitals. After that, those operation process are programmed into the VR learning
system as the training/learning contents.

2.3 Discussion on Learning Interest

Based on a small number of trainees, the change of learning interest and motivation
caused by VR training system are explored in this paper. Qualitative analysis and
interviews are used to understand the students’ learning motivation and interest, as well
as the experience feedback after using the self-learning system. The content of the
interview includes the experience of VR learning experience, the subjective differences
compared with traditional training methods, the subjective learning results caused by
the training system, and the difficulties encountered in using the self-learning system.
These results are used as the reference for future modification and improvement of the
VR training system.
The focus group approach is used to collect user experience feedback in this paper.
In the focus group interview, the researcher first introduced the basic process, defined
the discussion topic, and explained the interview task to the group. In addition, par-
ticipants were asked to approve the recording of interviews to ensure that they were
fully covered. Finally, the researchers guaranteed the confidentiality of the information
to the participants. In this paper, a teacher of the communication engineering depart-
ment is served as the co-project leader of the research and the moderator of the focus
group interview. The lecturer was trained to conduct quantitative research in focus
 A Testing Case of Simulation Learning in Nursing by Virtual Reality 113

groups. In addition, students’ responses did not affect their assessment of course per-
formance, thus protecting students’ rights and ensuring the anonymity of transcripts.
The relative experience materials discussed include: 1. The experience of VR skill
learning, 2. What are the main differences between practicing in VR skill learning
environment and using traditional skill learning methods, 3. How to help users to learn
VR skills, and 4. What are their difficulties in learning.

3 Simulation Results and Discussions

The simulated learning/training system is implemented in a Laptop PC which runs

Unity 2017 with i7 core, 16G RAM, and GeForce GTX 1070 display interface, while
the HTC VIVE HMD with Leap Motion sensor is used as the display platform and
intuitive gesture control unit. In order to achieve the reality effect, first of all, all the 3D
models related to the subcutaneous injection training including space environment,
equipment, and characters are constructed as Shown in Fig. 2, 3 and 4. Second, the
standard operating procedure steps recommended by the consulting experts and the
corresponding interactive action scripts are carried out by computer programming
work. Moreover, the automatic assessment, operation step prompts, operation history
video records, and the statistical analysis functions are also added into the designed
learning system to improve the learning performance and provide as the teaching
feedback usage. The implemented prototype and the snapshots during the training
process are shown in Fig. 5, 6, 7 and 8.
To evaluate the performance of the proposed prototype system, at first a small
number of sophomore nursing students in our school are examining the learning system
to verify its operational fluency through informal testing methods and then collect their
use experience feedback. After that, the system will be formally evaluated in the
teaching class. The effect analysis includes learning interest and learning efficiency, and
the results can be used as the basis for subsequent system modification and
improvement.
Experimental results show that students have a higher motivation and interest in
learning professional skills using this self-learning and training system than traditional
methods. In fact, students generally report that they are less stressed, not afraid of
operating errors, and willing to practice repeatedly. In addition, the feedback function
of video playback can enable students to understand the operation errors at the first
time thus they can correct the learning content immediately, so the learning efficiency
will be effectively improved. Furthermore, the statistical result feedback of the student
learning processes also helps the teachers to understand the students’ learning status
and can adjust their teaching strategies accordingly. These functional demonstrations
can be observed in Fig. 9. Due to the paper page limitation, detailed description about
interview questions and result tables are omitted.
Finally, the proposed learning system prototype was also presented in the 2019
ITEX International Innovation Invention Competition and won the gold medal awards
in favor of expert review, which further highlights the use of this learning strategy
while proves the advantages of adopting this self-learning/training system, and the
practical value of such teaching aid system.
114 C. Lai and Y. Chang

To sum up, the proposed teaching support system provides an eco-friendly and self-
learning practical environment anytime and anywhere with gaining immediate learning
feedback and practical experiences for the students. Thus, learning motivation, effec-
tiveness, and efficiency can be improved dramatically by the proposed learning system
than the traditional teaching auxiliary ones. Moreover, expensive resources such as
nursing teaching aid, educational hardware, and realistic material can be reduced sig-
nificantly by the virtual 3D models and scenario.

Fig. 1. The proposed VR learning platform architecture.

Fig. 2. The 3D models used in the VR system.

Fig. 3. The simulated patient 3D model.

A Testing Case of Simulation Learning in Nursing by Virtual Reality 115

Fig. 4. The simulated environment of the ward.

Fig. 5. The SOP directions of the SC operation process.

Fig. 6. A snapshot of the training process.

116 C. Lai and Y. Chang

Fig. 7. A snapshot of the training process.

Fig. 8. Completing the training without limitation of tutor manpower, space, and time.

Fig. 9. Immediate feedback (video and statistics) both for students and teachers.

4 Conclusions

This paper proposes a powerful self-learning/skill-training assistant system based on

virtual reality technique for learning performance evaluation. The subcutaneous
injection operation skill is implemented in a VR system and applied to nursing
department students for observation. According to the experienced feedback results, the
advantages of the self-learning/skill-training, as well as the practical value of the
 A Testing Case of Simulation Learning in Nursing by Virtual Reality 117

proposed learning assistant system can be approved. Moreover, expensive resources

such as teaching aid, educational hardware, and realistic material can be reduced sig-
nificantly by the virtual 3D models and simulation scenario. That is, the proposed
teaching support system provides an eco-friendly and self-learning practical environ-
ment in anytime and anywhere, in which the learning feedback and practical experi-
ences for both the students and teachers can be obtained immediately. Moreover, it is
also observed from the interview results that both the learning motivation and effi-
ciency are quite satisfactory in the determined nursing skill test items and can be easily
applied to other skill training fields, and can be a good simulation learning strategy in
the nursing field.

References
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National league for Nursing, New York (2007)
2. Waxman, K.: The development of evidence-based clinical simulation scenarios: guidelines
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20090916-07
3. Landeen, L., Nielson, A.: Focus on simulation-integrating simulation into teaching practice.
J. Nurs. Educ. 47(11), 487–488 (2008)
4. Khalaila, R.: Simulation in nursing education: an evaluation of students’ outcomes at their
first clinical practice combined with simulations. Nurse Educ. Today 34, 252–258 (2014).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2013.08.015
5. Ahn, H., Kim, H.: Implementation and outcome evaluation of high-fidelity simulation
scenarios to integrate cognitive and psychomotor skills for Korean nursing students. Nurse
Educ. Today 35(5), 706–711 (2015)
6. Handwerker, S.M.: Transforming nursing education: a review of current curricular practices
in relation to Benner’s latest work. Int. J. Nurs. Educ. Scholarsh. 9(1), Article 21 (2012).
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art and perspectives. In: Proceedings of eLearning and Software for Education (eLSE),
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burg, Sweden (2015)
9. Lai, C., Chang, Y.-m.: Improving the Skills Training by Mixed Reality Simulation Learning.
In: Wu, T.-T., Huang, Y.-M., Shadieva, R., Lin, L., Starčič, A.I. (eds.) ICITL 2018. LNCS,
vol. 11003, pp. 18–27. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99737-7_
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10. Jenson, C.E., Forsyth, D.M.F.: Virtual reality simulation: using three-dimensional technol-
ogy to teach nursing students. Comput. Inf. Nurs. 30(6), 312–318 (2012). https://doi.org/10.
1097/NXN.0b013e31824af6ae
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tracheostomy care education for nursing students: a randomized controlled trial. Nurse Educ.
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12. Elliman, J., Loizou, M., Loizides, F.: Virtual reality simulation training for student nurse
education. In: 2016 8th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious
Applications (VS-GAMES), pp. S1–S2 (2016)
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of virtual reality simulation. Nursing Educ. Perspect. 39(2), 99–101 (2018). https://doi.org/
10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000258
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students’ cognitive and affective knowledge of evidence-based practice. Worldviews Evid.-
Based Nurs. 14(2), 168–170 (2017)
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integrative review. PeerJ PrePrints 2, 1–22 (2014)
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developing a learning material for nurses in the Philippines and Thailand. IJODeL 2(1), 11–
24 (2016)
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care. Clin. Simul. Nurs. 12(4), 123–127 (2016)
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nursing education. Nurs. Educ. Perspect. (Natl. League Nurs.) 31(5), 314–317 (2010)
 Experiential Learning Through Controlling
and Monitoring a Real-Time 3D House Using
LabVIEW in a Virtual Laboratory

Bogdan M. Mîndruț(&) and Claudiu A. Oprea

Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Bogdan.Mindrut@mae.utcluj.ro

Abstract. This paper presents a new virtual laboratory based on a simulation

environment for educational purposes. This virtual laboratory covers an
important part of the smart home technology, acquiring and processing of dif-
ferent types of data and controls via the cloud technology. A smart house is a
regular house that uses intelligent technology to efficiently gather information
for the purpose of monitoring and controlling the home environment (e.g.
temperature, lighting) and its electronic and mechanical devices. Its purpose is
not only to make life easier for those who would benefit from these facilities on
a daily basis, but also to create as much comfort as possible and a safer living
environment. This paper presents a LabVIEW-based smart home simulator
automation. In addition to this software created by National Instruments, a home
simulator, HOME I/O developed by Real games, is used. The system can
monitor and adjust the home temperature and is able to automatically adjust the
brightness of every room’s light fixtures or of the outside lights. At the same
time, the alarm system can be controlled, with its motion sensors, doors and
windows opening sensors for the occupants’ enhanced safety and protection.
The software was also designed with energy saving mindfulness making the
home an eco-friendly place. To highlight the possibility of using the developed
technology in a real environment, a hardware part of the system was imple-
mented by using a MyRIO NI device.

Keywords: Smart home
Cloud control
Internet of Things
Virtual

laboratory

1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of Online Learning

Experiential learning has proven to be of great benefit to students. In universities, such
teaching techniques are commonly accomplished through laboratory experiments. With
the rapid rate of the development of new technologies, integration of industry practices,
as well as simulation of industry environment have never been more necessary.
However, the lack of facilities, equipment and laboratory space has been a major
constraint for universities in the country.

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120 B. M. Mîndruț and C. A. Oprea

Research in virtual environments, gamification and serious-games suggests that

those tools can be very effective for education, and in certain contexts they provide
unique advantages. Recent developments are making the technologies they are based
on more widespread, with technologies such as 3D becoming widely available through
web browsers and even on mobile devices [1].

1.2 Designing Smart Home Automations

Smart house is a system that uses information technology to monitor the environment,
control the electric appliance and communicates with the outer world, an automation
system that has been developed to automatically achieve some activities performed
frequently in daily life to obtain more comfortable and easier life environment [2].
A control system of a smart home using LabVIEW is presented in [3] that consists
of five parts, the most important devices being programed with the main objectives
being alarm, lights, temperature that were also considered for this paper.
Smart house can also provide a remote interface to home appliances or the
automation system itself, using wireless transmission protocols or the internet, to
provide control and monitoring via a smart phone or web browser [4].

2 Research in Virtual Laboratory and Gamification Learning

The paper presents a very useful, innovative and compact laboratory, which is both
simple and complex at the same time. HOME I/O is an interactive “smart house”
simulation that also makes use of the surrounding environment. It is designed to cover
a wide range of curriculum targets in science, technology and engineering. With the
help of these simulations, it was possible to treat automation topics such as thermal
behavior, light control, energy efficiency, even the protection provided by the alarm
system, topics that are part of everyday life. The main purpose of the Home I/O
simulator is to introduce the concepts of automation using an interactive smart home
[5].
Equipped with the most common automation devices, HOME I/O requires the
design of control solutions and the understanding of the energy impact of their com-
missioning. LabVIEW can be used to directly control Home I/O.
Alternatively, HOME I/O can also be used as an interface with external tech-
nologies, allowing the simulator to be easily connected with PLCs, Microcontrollers,
Modbus or many other technologies.
In Fig. 1 it is shown a block diagram of a smart house automation that uses
LabVIEW software as the main program and LabVIEW NXG for remote applications.

2.1 Communication Between Software

In order to communicate with the LabVIEW control program, in the Home I/O sim-
ulator all the inputs, respectively the outputs must be moved from the “wired” mode to
the “connect” mode.
 Experiential Learning Through Controlling and Monitoring 121

Fig. 1. Block diagram of the virtual laboratory.

This system uses LabVIEW for a logical design and LabVIEW NXG for devel-
oping the interface of the automated house to be used on almost every portable gadget
that can access a page on a browser. For connectivity between programs, .NET VI’s
(LabVIEW’s virtual instruments) are used from function palette, in the connectivity
category. These are used with the selected class of Engine I/O that makes the nodes
become memory maps for the simulator’s inputs and outputs as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Basic code for communication between the software.

2.2 Exemplification of a Simple Automation and Control

In the following chapter, the researchers have included a brief information on what this
virtual laboratory has to offer and how profitably can it be used for experiential learning
based on their experience of using the presented system.
Exterior Lighting. The Home I/O app benefits from several lighting fixtures outside
the house. Each lighting source has a memory address that is retrieved via the access
node by the LabVIEW program and is operated depending on the type of memory
using the property block. All of these parts of the exterior lighting can be controlled
both manually, from the LabVIEW program interface and automatically, depending on
the external brightness. This varies depending on the time elapsed in the simulator,
which can be accelerated with the use of the time bar. Students have the opportunity to
understand and control the virtual environment and give free rein to their imagination
to create different automated scenarios. For a brief example, in automatic mode, the
122 B. M. Mîndruț and C. A. Oprea

Fig. 3. House outside view and its exterior lightning command panel.

lights are turned on only in the evening according to the user’s desired brightness level
(Fig. 3).
Central Alarm. The alarm system of the house is provided with motion, windows and
doors sensors. At the same time, the simulator contains two sirens, an external one for
breaking open windows and doors, and one located inside, for the motion sensors. For
instance, in armed alarm mode, if the motion sensor in one of the rooms, marked on the
control panel as a LED, detects a movement, the internal alarm automatically starts and
the color of the LED changes, warning the user in which room the movement occurred.
Each value of the motion sensors is read via the memory map with the selected input
type and the memory address (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Example of the LabVIEW code within the logic of the burglar alarm.

Heating. The automatic heating system aims to create a comfort that is as pleasant as
possible from a thermal point of view for the people living in the house. By simply
setting the temperature on the thermostat, this control takes the information and adjusts
 Experiential Learning Through Controlling and Monitoring 123

it according to the environment. The Home I/O simulator provides the LabVIEW
control program with various parameters from the house sensors, such as the outside
temperature, the chosen temperature in the room for control and the temperature set on
the thermostat. The room temperature is influenced by both the radiator and the status
of the doors or windows. The outside temperature varies in time and can be set between
the minimum and maximum parameters on the Home I/O program interface.
Due to the existence of thermal inertia after turning off the radiator, a control loop
that sends the set value to the property node, depending on the difference between the
ambient temperature in the room and that set on the thermostat was used (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Automation code of the heating system.

A night heating cycle can be seen on the graph, and with its help the heating
phenomenon can be visualized. The set temperature is marked with green and it
remains constant as long as the thermostat suffers no changes. The existing temperature
in the room is marked with red and it is also greatly influenced by the outside tem-
perature, marked with white on the graph (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Night heating cycle. (Color figure online)

124 B. M. Mîndruț and C. A. Oprea

Depending on the difference between the outside and the room temperatures, the
program adjusts the value transmitted to the radiator so that at a larger difference, it
operates at a maximum power. When the two temperatures start having closer values,
in order to reduce the phenomenon of thermal inertia as much as possible, the value
transmitted by the control loop will decrease until the two temperatures reach an
approximately equal level.
Internal Lightning. The lightning scenarios can be a good way to learn how to create
a complex user-defined automation. A brief algorithm for studying the internal light-
ning system would be that the user can define the value of the brightness he wants via
the slider bar. During the day, if the cursor is set to the minimum brightness, the shades
can close automatically, creating the visual comfort desired by the user. Otherwise, if
the set brightness is higher than the room brightness, the shades will rise automatically,
or stop at a level so that the value set and the value read by the brightness sensor are
approximately equal. During the day, even if the desired brightness is set to maximum,
as long as the room light does not fall below a certain minimum threshold, for a more
efficient consumption, the LEDs do not light up. To create a pleasant comfort, in the
automatic mode during the night, all drapes are closed. A real-time view of the opening
and closing of the shades can be implemented in the front panel.
In Fig. 7, a loop is used in order to adjust the brightness in automatic mode, which
makes a difference between the brightness selected by the user and the brightness
outside.

Fig. 7. Closed PID control loop for automation.

To control the blinds, the program compares the set brightness values with the
interior of the room. If the set value is higher, the shades go up, as long as the two
values do not reach equality. In the case where the set brightness is lower, the shades go
down. When the two values become equal, the false value is sent to the curtain property
node, stopping.
 Experiential Learning Through Controlling and Monitoring 125

3 Experiential Learning and Cloud Control

3.1 MyRIO Implementation
Experiential learning is a process of acquiring knowledge through experience, and is
more specifically defined as hands-on approach to learning that moves away from just
the teacher at the front of the room verbally relaying their knowledge to students [6].
Experience-based learning is so effective because it helps establish lasting behavioral
change. Rather than simply learning a new subject or gaining a skill, it develops new
habits and behaviors, learning from trying new things, getting stuck and then resolving
an issue, getting used to stepping out of one’s comfort zone. In the field of engineering,
having practical workshops is imperative for the development of the students. For this
virtual laboratory, a MyRIO device from NI is used to demonstrates the basics of
electronics and sensors and learning sample LabVIEW code. There are a multitude of
usage options for this device that include a lot of sensors and measurements. This
device can either be connected through USB cable to the PC or via wireless, the logic
being made in LabVIEW (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8. MyRIO simple setup example for control of the brightness in a room.

For a simple demonstration, a MyRIO is used with a breadboard expansion, DIP

switches, a potentiometer, RGB led and a photocell to emulate real existing equipment
in a house. [7]. The switches can be assigned to do different tasks in the simulator, like
controlling on-off lights, alarm, roll up or down shades, etc. The potentiometer can be
used to manually control the brightness of the lights seen in the simulator. RGB Led
can be used for numerous purposes like motion detection indicators, electrical heater
indicator or even directly wired to show the brightness of the light controlled by the
analog potentiometer. The photocell is placed to acquire real brightness data that can be
126 B. M. Mîndruț and C. A. Oprea

then processed in LabVIEW to automate the lights in the simulator. There are a lot of
experimental ideas that can be developed in this virtual laboratory with a little bit of
imagination. Students given this opportunity, can start learning basic principles of
home automation using a microcontroller and understanding sample electronic com-
ponents (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9. Controlling the lights and shades from a smartphone.

3.2 System Link Cloud & NXG

As one of the core application domains in the Internet of Things, a smart home focuses
on meeting the increasing demands of a modern living environment. LabVIEW NXG is
used for the wireless control and monitorization of the simulator. After all, the logic of
the program is designed in the diagram panel in LabVIEW, and all the information
passes through one master VI that assembles the whole program via shared global
variables of different types. In the same VI, the System Link library is used to share the
desired data to the cloud, and then it is accessed by the webVI program developed in
NXG [8]. This gives the user the ability to access the smart house from any place on
any device that has an internet connection. The monitoring and the controlling of the
simulator is being made through the browser in real-time. The data from the simulator
is forwarded to the system link cloud via read or write tags, which can send or receive
data with the specific path and type.

4 Conclusion

Since the creation of the first household appliances, electronics have evolved a lot.
Today everyone can benefit from the slightest automation or control of electrical
devices. Automated homes have become a common thing in our daily lives and more
and more people can benefit from them. The increasing demand for specialists in the
field of automation technology has led universities to treating smart home automation
as a possible subject of learning. This research aims to bring an alternative solution to a
 Experiential Learning Through Controlling and Monitoring 127

laboratory that can have a lack of equipment and present safety concerns. The demand
for virtually held laboratories and workshops is greatly increasing as the world tries to
move as much as possible into an online environment.
The processes of the experiment can be executed multiple times, without any risk to
the user or the equipment. Moreover, students can enhance their learning skills by
using their creativity to discover and develop new scenarios of automation. This lab-
oratory is based on the possibility of controlling the most common electrical compo-
nents in a house. It can monitor and control home temperature, lights, alarm and even
the access through garage doors or gates. The system-design platform used to control
the simulator is LabVIEW which is a visual programming language used by techni-
cians who work in the field of automation and not only.
Based on the authors experience after using the presented system, it can be con-
cluded that the virtual laboratory is a great help for students and teachers. It is not only
a more cost effective solution but it can be repeated in countless ways allowing students
to use their imagination in creating something innovative and also fun.

Acknowledgement. This paper was supported by the project “Advanced technologies for
intelligent urban electric vehicles – URBIVEL - Contract no. 11/01.09.2016”, project co-funded
from the European Regional Development Fund through the Competitiveness Operational Pro-
gram 2014-2020.

References
1. Rodriguez-Gil, L., García-Zubia, J., Orduña, P: An architecture for new models of Online
Laboratories: educative multi-user gamified hybrid laboratories based on Virtual Environ-
ments. In: 13th International Conference on Remote Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation
(REV), p. 203 (2016)
2. Kumar, S.: Smart House Applications Control using LabVIEW, National Institute of
Technology Kurukshetra, Haryana-136119 (2013)
3. Hamed, B.: Design & implementation of smart house control using LabVIEW. J. Soft
Comput. Eng. (IJSCE) 1(6), 98–106 (2012)
4. Travis, Jeffrey, Kring, Jim: LabVIEW for Everyone: Graphical Programming Made Easy and
Fun, 3rd edn. Prentice Hall Professional, Upper Saddle River (2007). ISBN-10: 0131856723
5. Home I/O homepage: Simulation of a smart house and surrounding environment. https://
realgames.co/home-io/. Accessed 10 Sept 2019
6. Growth Engineering site about Experiential Learning. https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/
what-is-experiential-learning/. Accessed 10 Oct 2019
7. Doering, E. (ed.): NI myRIO Project Essentials Guide. National Technology and Science
Press (2014)
8. LabVIEW NXG page manual. http://www.ni.com/documentation/en/labview-web-module.
Accessed 11 July 2019
 Students’ Attitude Toward Learning
and Practicing English in a VR Environment

Ying Ling Chen(&)

Center for General Education, Oriental Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan,

Republic of China
Cil0226@mail.oit.edu.tw

Abstract. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been engaged in educational

content for students of all ages. A VR headset completes a new world with user-
friendly interface, gesture controls, customized educational resources, and
hands-on teacher controls. Learners are able to apply and practice their target
language. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate learners’ attitude
and usefulness toward the implementation of VR technique in L2 learning. VR
technique assists target language learning was designed according to the cur-
ricular objectives and the subject matter of a private electrical and technical
university. Mixed method was applied and 117 freshmen participated in the
study. A list of questionnaires of VR technique assists target language learning
was applied for the first phase of data collection. Furthermore, a semi-structure
interview and a field note techniques were carried out to be the main method for
the detailed qualitative data. 15 participants were randomly involved in
reflecting the experience of learning English in a VR environment. The results
indicated that learning the target language in a VR environment was a practical
intervention for developing independent motivator. L2 students have better
attitudes toward their learning experiences. Meanwhile, the perceived satisfac-
tion and usefulness positively affect learners’ behavioral intention of VR usage
and target language learning.

Keywords: Virtual reality
L2
Attitude
Usefulness

1 Introduction

Virtual Reality technology has become a part of civilization in enhancing better edu-
cation and quality life. Learning English has become a “must do” activity in Taiwan,
many people attend a cram school; a language teacher lectures the lesson and corrects
students’ mistakes. It is the most traditional and effective way. However, some people
do not have extra time to go to a private lesson, some people suggest they need more
opportunities to practice what they learned in class; some people think when they have
questions, they have trouble receiving assistance. There is another popular way of
learning by reading L2 magazines and watching movies or YouTube. Students listen to
the content and practice by themselves. Nevertheless, students may need help to dis-
tinguish if they perform their understanding correctly. In addition, Virtual Reality is
able to act like a supportive intervention in improving performance and understanding

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 Students’ Attitude Toward Learning and Practicing English 129

in L2. VR technology has been applied in many uses, it is the support of high inter-
activity and the abilities for educational and training purposes for presenting a virtual
environment that resembles the real world [1]. Consequently, this study was aimed to
investigate whether the integration of Virtual Reality helped increasing L2 learners’
learning attitude and usefulness. VR technology offers a platform about the autonomy
of the students and makes them more motivated and passionate. It gives not only a
groundbreaking way to mediate learning opportunities but also lead students to an
immersive learning environment by stimulating onto the learner’s physical reality.

2 Literature

2.1 Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is highly considered as a capable technology for both computer-
based training and simulation. An Immersive VR environment is usually performed on
multiple, room-size screen or through a stereoscopic, head-mounted display unit [2].
Language learning opportunities and possibilities have been created and supported by
the VR technology. VR has been employed extensively to a number of applications and
highly interactive environment which allows users to become participants in a
computer-generated world where they can interact with various stimuli [3]. VR is
practiced as a media to offer target language learners an opportunity to apply and
acquire the target curriculum in an ideal virtual space with reality essential. VR
computer simulation has been defined as a highly interactive, 3-D computer generated
program in a multimedia environment which provides the effect of immersion to the
users [4]. Educators are willing to minimize the gap between the textbook and the real
world. VR Scenario simulation practice makes leaning meaningful especially for stu-
dents to review or retry specific parts of the environments to experience them more
fully. Learning through specific customized contexts develop connections for learners
to their target language.

2.2 VR Technology Assists English Learning

In a traditional teacher centered language classroom, learners’ use of memory, cog-
nitive, social and affective strategies to learn their target language [5]. However,
learners these days are digital natives, they are keen on social networking via multiple
media and involving in a range of activities for self-expression, individual and coop-
erative learning and negotiation of meaning [6]. In order to satisfy learners’ needs and
apply what they had learned in a language classroom, technology plays an essential role
to offer more opportunities and make the proper use of practical activities on the
language appropriation. Technology should role as tools in improving students’ Eng-
lish communication skills and learning expertise [7].
VR technology creates opportunities for oral practice, VR technology also helps to
link the world to meet learners’ needs. Time and distance are not the obstacles because
VR is able to provide an instant interactive training practically [8]. VR technology is
full of potential for learners and educators to access flexibly. Additionally, users are
130 Y. L. Chen

always allowed to control, adjust, and modify the context, curriculum, target, and
theme when using VR to assists teaching and learning.

2.3 Attitude of Learning

Students’ learning and performance in the target language is affected by a number of
factors, including students’ attitude towards the subject, instructors, practices, and
environment. Learning attitude is the key to effectiveness and achievement. Suitable
assistance and support enable learners produce positive learning attitude for internal-
izing targeted information and knowledge. Researchers identified factors that influence
learners’ attitude include real life material and instructional material [9]. Previous
studies were conducted that students’ attitude and performance related to a significant
correlation [10]. Additionally, teachers’ background, teachers’ personality, teachers’
knowledge, teachers’ emotional support, instructional practices, and classroom man-
agement [11]. Therefore, the creativity and innovation of educators require significant
improvement in order to transform the learning attitude from a passive learner to an
active producer. Positive learning attitude enables L2 learners to identify questions,
participate classroom activities, and complete assignments.

3 Methodology

3.1 Design of VR L2 Learning System

In the VR English learning environment, the participants interact with the virtual
machine and tools in a multimodal way combining haptic, audio and visual feedback,
see Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. The VR L2 learning system provides an airport scenario in the
real world, that help and guide the users during the practical process. Unity is a well-
known game engine in dealing with 3D scene and objects, as well as a platform of
integrating hardware and software [7]. The common approach with the VR training
system emphasizes the physical interaction and literal skill to improve learners’ L2
listening and oral ability. There are many development kits to choose to cooperative
with unity such as Fuforia, MaYa, 3D Max, ARToolKit, Wikitude, and Unifeye. 3D
Max and Maya are selected as the development tool because they are more economic
and user-friendly. Thus, the support of unity, 3D Max and Maya enable L2 learners to
interact with the designed VR scenes in the classroom, participants’ positive learning
attitude are greatly enhanced. The designed L2 learning VR system prototype are
shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

3.2 Research Data Collection

This exploratory design mixed study investigated the essence of VR implementation
based on the daily life scenario toward L2 students. Quantitative research approach was
first used to discover the experience of participants after using the scenario-based VR
L2 learning system. Next, the researcher designed a qualitative study to define the
findings. Mixed methods research is valued for educational use and is discussed in the
 Students’ Attitude Toward Learning and Practicing English 131

Fig. 1. The prototype of the proposed VR language learning system.

Fig. 2. Demonstration of L2 practice by using the VR language learning system.

Fig. 3. Illustration of the airport scenario.

Fig. 4. Illustration of checking in at the counter by users.

research recently [12]. The use of quantitative and qualitative methods are components
in a mixed methods study [13]. Therefore, students’ experience in using VR to enhance
language learning offered valuable data to improve the teaching and the system.
117 freshmen (101 males and 16 females) participated in the study. A list of ques-
tionnaires of students’ attitude towards learning English via Virtual Reality learning
system was rated on a five-point Likert scale. The Likert scale items explain different
levels of formation toward changes in attitudes. L2 learners’ emotions, liking, disliking
(and the reason behind it) were designed and organized in the semi-structure interview
132 Y. L. Chen

questions to identify the factors that affected learners’ learning attitude toward English
learning. Participants were assigned to use VR language learning system with the given
scenario after the lesson was taught. 7 female and 8 male students were randomly
selected to provide the feedback on their VR learning practice. Observations on par-
ticipants were conducted for an entire semester in the classroom and while students
experienced the VR language learning system. A field journal was conducted for a
researcher to maintain self-awareness [14]. Furthermore, three instructors with English,
electronic engineering, and communication engineering backgrounds were the coun-
selors for ensuring open-ended questions were in the research scope.

4 Results and Discussions

4.1 Quantitative Data

Participants’ Positive Attitude of Learning English Through VR is Revealed. The

first part of the survey investigate the areas in which attitude of learning English
through VR system. Three characteristics of learning helpfulness, enjoyment, and
effectiveness toward the VR were evaluated. Table 1 shows the mean value of the
results. Students appreciate using VR to learn English was scored the highest
(M = 4.38). Learning through VR helps participants in learning English scored as
(M = 4.22). Learning from VR helps students remember and develop vocabulary
effectively was scored as (M = 4.02). The use of VR makes learning English easier and
faster was scored as (M = 4.01). Every part of participants’ positive attitude of learning
English through VR investigation was given ratings of above 4.0, students’ attitude of
learning English through VR is positive.

Table 1. Mean and standard deviation of student’s attitude of learning English through VR.
(from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”).
Items M S.D
Attitude in Learning English through VR:
Learning through VR helps me in acquiring English? 4.38 0.77
I like to use VR technology to learn and practice English? 4.22 0.54
Learning from VR helps me remember and develop vocabulary effectively? 4.01 0.95
The use of VR makes learning English easier and faster? 4.01 0.96

Areas Where Participants’ Negative Attitude of Learning English Through VR is

Revealed. The second part of the survey investigate the areas in which participants’
negative attitude of learning English through VR. Three characteristics of uselessness,
time waste, and dullness toward the VR English learning system were evaluated.
Table 2 shows the scores of the students’ feedbacks. Participants think the use of VR is
useless in learning was scored the highest (M = 1.48), which means most of the stu-
dents were rated between disagree and strongly disagree. Students feel bored while
 Students’ Attitude Toward Learning and Practicing English 133

learning through VR was rated as (M = 1.33). When using the VR English learning
system, students don’t need an instructor was scored as (M = 1.42), which means most
of the students still need the assistance from their instructor. Participants feel that they
waste their time by using VR learning system was scored as (M = 1.17). Participants’
negative attitude of learning English through VR were given scores of under 1.5,
students’ negative learning attitude toward VR system is very low (Table 2).

Table 2. The mean and standard deviation of students’ negative attitude of learning English
through VR: The Mean and Standard Deviation (from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”).
Items M S.D
Participants’ negative attitude of learning English through VR:
Using VR language learning system wastes my time? 1.17 0.58
I feel bored while learning through VR? 1.33 0.66
VR language learning system is useless? 1.48 0.84
I do not need an instructor when using a VR language learning system? 1.42 0.78

Areas Where Participants’ Perceived Usefulness in Learning English Through VR

System is Revealed. The third part of the survey investigates three characteristics of
usefulness, effectiveness, and enjoyment toward the VR English learning system. Item
1 presents the highest agreement of efficiency and effectiveness of VR and also indi-
cates VR develops high quality of English learning (M = 4.18). Students enjoy learning
English through VR language learning system (M = 3.93). Item 3 investigates by using
VR language learning system, it has encouraged users to have more motivation in their
learning (M = 4.02). Item 4 investigates that knowledge of capabilities is required to
use VR was rated as (M = 2.82). Item 5 the VR language learning system is hands-on
for learners was rated as (M = 4.32). Item 6 in participants’ opinion using VR language
learning system provides an effective way of solving problems in learning a target
language was scored (M = 3.18) (Table 3).

4.2 Qualitative Data

Research Question 1: How VR language leaning system facilitates target language

learning?
VR language learning system offers opportunities for students practice their target in an
effective way after school. L2 learners were impressed by the interaction with the
system during their use.
“I never thought I would use VR technology to learn and practice English. When I
was in the scenario of airport, it was fun and real. I handed my passport to the ground
crew and answered questions from her.” (June, female student)”
“I would give a positive feedback for this VR system. My classmates and I enjoy
having VR to facilitate our learning. I am more confidence in speaking English to a
134 Y. L. Chen

Table 3. The usefulness of VR in English learning.

Items M S.D
The usefulness of VR in English learning
VR language learning system provides an effective way of solving problems 4.18 0.87
in learning a target language
Learning English through VR language learning system is enjoyable? 3.93 0.80
I have more motivation learning English by using VR language learning 4.02 0.93
system
In order to use VR language learning system, knowledge of capabilities is 2.82 0.74
required?
The VR language learning system is hands-on for users? 4.32 0.89
In my opinion using VR language learning system provides an effective way 3.18 0.65
of solving problems in learning a target language

“VR” human instead of a real person. I practiced the conversation drills with less stress,
and I don’t worry about making mistakes. (June, female student)
“VR has given significant changes to my language learning; This is my first time
using it. I felt like I am in the real environment. English learning becomes more
entertained and interactive” (June, male student)
“VR provides opportunities for me to learn the target language which related to the
daily life situation. I can practice the target language which related to real-life and the
textbook material especially when I just learned from the class. I have ways to
memorize new words and grammar rules.” (May, male student)
Students addressed that feedback from the instructor is essential to facilitate
improvement in the learning outcome. Students expressed their opinions on teachers’
attitude and support; they anticipate their teachers to be well-prepared and motivated in
teaching.
“Although VR enables me to practice my English before and after class. I person-
ally like the instructor to provide specific feedback or suggestion to my practice right
away.” (June, female student)
“I think teacher with creative and innovative teaching method is important. Their
open-minded and knowledgeable toward new learning activity motivate students learn
and practice their English. (June, male student)
“I think interactive language learning is the best way to improve my English. If the
instructor is passionate for his or her class, Students’ learning outcome will be positive
and motivated. I like to learn English through real-life material and like to connect the
learning with VR” (May, female student)
Research Question 2: Students’ attitude of usefulness of how VR facilitates their
target language learning?
Opportunities of scenario-based learning were provided to L2 learners. Participants
were welcomed to use VR language learning system to achieve better learning
outcome.
 Students’ Attitude Toward Learning and Practicing English 135

“Using VR system to practice my English is very useful, I can image when I need
to go abroad or transfer in an international airport, I will not be too shy in speaking
English in the public. I will probably feel like I have understood the process of
checking in and going through the custom. Although Covid-19 keeps everyone away
from the airport, I believe when we have the cure. I will have the chance to go abroad
and use what I learned from the class.” (June, female student)
“I was shy in speaking English in the public, I used to worry that what should I do
when I need to work at the hospital and use those medical terms at the work place.
After practicing English with VR technology, I realize that speaking English is not that
difficult. I was very shy and lack of confident but VR is very helpful. I think I improve
a lot compares to the past.” (May, male)
“I was not sure if VR can improve my English. I thought it was useless at the
beginning. Then, I was forced to practice English with VR system after class. I think
the motivation in learning English is very important, I used to feel bored in class
because I don’t like to join any conversation or activity. Honestly, after practicing
English by VR technology, learning becomes real and assessable.” (June, male student)
“VR is a very useful technology. It really helps me a lot by providing me easy
access to the real-life English environment. Applying what I learned in the daily life is
fun and stress free. I am satisfied with the technology this course provided. This course
is valued and I become an active learner” (May, female student)

5 Conclusions

VR applications for language education will possibly become easier due to the
development and popularity. This study specified that VR language learning system
was a useful technology for developing autonomous language learners. According to
[7] VR technology offers instant interactive exercise and provides real-life opportunity
in language learning. Language learning with the technology support flourishes under
innovative and inspired education. Effective practical opportunities develop students’
positive attitude in L2 learning. VR English learning system plays a significant role in
enabling students deal with their shortages. VR allows educators to take advantage on
supporting students and reducing gap between lecture and practice. VR language
learning system assists L2 teachers to develop understandable instruction and adapt
curriculum-based activities and course work, moreover, assisting L2 learners improve
their learning outcome [8]. Participants in this study shows positive attitude and
motivation in using VR language learning system in acquiring their English ability.
A high functioning VR L2 learning environment can be an effective assistance or a
private tutor to meet the needs of the students before and after the class.

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San Juan (2014)
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 The Impact of Applying Virtual Reality
Technology to Spatial Ability Learning
in Elementary School Students

Wen-Hung Chao1 and Rong-Chi Chang2(&)

1
Department of Digital Media Design, Asia University,
Taichung City, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2
Department of Technology Crime Investigation, Taiwan Police College,
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
roger@mail.tpa.edu.tw

Abstract. This study explored the effects of virtual reality (VR) technology
applied to spatial ability learning in elementary school students. As supplement
materials to the Geometry Unit in the curriculum, the learning materials were
developed based on the mathematics competence indicators for fifth and sixth
graders in Taiwan. Designed to enhance spatial concept and logical thinking, the
materials tapped into VR technology to transform two-dimensional graphics into
three-dimensional spaces, in view of effectively solving the problem of learning
abstract 3D spaces. A quasi-experimental method was used to understand the
influence of different learning methods on students’ learning effectiveness and
interest in learning. The experiment found that (1) the use of interactive VR
learning materials significantly improved student’s spatial ability; (2) using VR
learning materials enhanced the learning effectiveness of students with low
achievement in mathematics; and (3) the introduction of VR learning materials
improved students’ motivation for learning spatial concepts. The findings
showed that the digital learning materials developed in this study were beneficial
to the teaching effectiveness of teachers and the learning needs of students.

Keywords: Spatial ability
Mathematics
Virtual reality
Physical blocks

Digital learning materials

1 Introduction

Spatial ability is an important building block to mathematical ability. Its learning

objectives include understanding the properties of geometric shapes, emphasizing the
use of visualization, spatial inference, and geometric patterns to solve problems. The
Geometry Unit in Taiwan’s fifth-grade mathematics curriculum includes recognizing
volumes and composite solids, where students are taught how to calculate the volume
of stacked solids. When elementary school students learn about volume calculation in
mathematics, they must be equipped with a basic understanding of spatial concepts.
Spatial ability is intimately tied to our everyday lives, as it helps us identify the
position, size, shape of objects in the real world. Smith [1] proposed that spatial ability
consists of three components: mental rotation, spatial visualization and spatial

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 137–144, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_16
138 W.-H. Chao and R.-C. Chang

orientation. In the real world, there is a need for spatial ability training. For instance,
space design, architectural modeling, graphic design and industrial design all require a
good spatial competency foundation before one can understand and produce engi-
neering and design drawings. Spatial orientation must be cultivated from a young age,
and its related learning contents, e.g., length, area, surface area, volume, have a great
impact on future ability development. Mathematics learning focuses on a logical
framework in a stepwise manner. Conventional teaching of spatial ability usually uses
three-dimensional perspective graphics as an aid to spatial concept formation. How-
ever, some students are unable to use perspective graphics to associate with three-
dimensional solids, leading to frustration in the learning process and refusal to learn.
In recent years, the popularization of VR technology has given rise to various
studies on VR in education [2]. The three characteristics of VR, i.e., immersion,
interactivity and imagination, allow learners to learn as if they are in a real situation
during the learning process, while the visual and auditory effects of VR create an
immersive and imaginative learning experience. VR is able to attract learner attention,
induce their feelings, and enhance the affective and cognitive learning effects [3, 4]. In
addition, the tactile simulation and sensory feedback in VR devices allow users to
interact with virtual objects [5] and promote active learner engagement [6, 7].
Learning mathematics should be an enjoyable experience, and its learning process
should be embedded into a context that develops ways of understanding and thinking.
In mathematics education, problem solving, a medium for learning math concepts and
skills, is considered an important part of the curriculum and is a topic of ongoing
interest by educational researcher [8]. In this study, an interactive VR-based three-
dimensional space learning platform was developed in view of enhancing the devel-
opment of spatial concepts on position, distance, and displacement in elementary
school students. With this learning platform, such concepts in three-dimensional space
can be enhanced through operating different actions, such as combination, stacking and
movement of solids, in a constructed virtual space. An experiment was designed to
understand the effectiveness of this platform on spatial ability learning and the impact
of VR introduction on the learning motivation of students.

2 Application Implementation

The system was developed using Unity 3D game engine and designed with 3D objects,
interactive scenes, learning situations and scoring functions. A complete VR interactive
learning environment was created through the use of VR headsets, controllers, and base
stations. The learning platform was designed with 2 units: unit 1 is the basic cognitive
sense of space and three-dimensional concepts, involving the learning of volume,
length, units and distance; and unit 2 focuses on the placement and creation of various
three-dimensional objects, where learners are taught to use operations such as flipping,
stacking, maneuvering, and assembling to construct three-dimensional structures.
Virtual characters were put in place to guide learners through the learning process and
score calculations (see Fig. 1).
 The Impact of Applying Virtual Reality Technology 139

Fig. 1. Interactive VR learning scenario.

3 Research Methods

3.1 Research Design

This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental pre-post-test design. Two classes
of fifth-grade students were the research subjects, where one class was the experimental
group who were taught spatial orientation using the VR learning system, and the other
class was the control group who were taught with the use of solid blocks. Before and
after the experimental teaching, tests were conducted, and questionnaires were
administered to the subjects to understand their spatial ability learning experience.
Figures 2 and 3, respectively, show the use of learning aids in the control group and the
experimental group.

Fig. 2. Control group students using physical blocks to assist in their learning.

3.2 Research Subjects

The subjects of this study were 50 fifth-grade students in an elementary school in
Taiwan. The experimental group consisted 24 students, including 14 boys and 10 girls.
The control group consisted 26 students, including 13 boys and 13 girls. At a total of
27 boys and 23 girls, the two classes were taught by the same teacher who had had 8
140 W.-H. Chao and R.-C. Chang

Fig. 3. Experimental group students using VR learning transform to assist in their learning.

years of mathematics teaching experience, and the learning content of the two classes
was the same.

3.3 Research Tools

Spatial ability test (pre-post-test): Test questions on three-dimensional building block
rotation, a common test for exploring spatial ability, were prepared to investigate
students’ spatial ability before and after the learning experiment.
Learning motivation scale: The learning motivation scale of this experiment was
adapted from Hwang et al. [9]. The questionnaire consisted of two dimensions, intrinsic
motivation and extrinsic motivation, with a total of 9 questions measured using the
Likert 5-point scale to analyze the learning motivation difference between the two
groups of students before and after the experiment.
The spatial ability pre-test and the learning motivation questionnaire were admin-
istered to both groups of students before the experiment started. At the beginning,
students in the experimental group were given an introduction and demonstration on
the operation of the VR system to ensure that they knew how to operate it. After that,
the two groups of students were subjected to different learning methods. After the
completion of the experimental course, the two groups were given post-tests and
questionnaires. Figure 4 shows the experimental process. The experimental analysis
and discussion are as follows.

4 Findings and Discussion

4.1 The Composition of the Experimental Group and the Control Group
The subjects of the experiment were 50 school students, including 24 students in the
experimental group (14 boys and 10 girls) and 26 students in the control group (13
boys and 13 girls). The mathematics scores of both groups in the previous semester
were analyzed. Independent sample t test showed that the mean score in the experi-
mental group was 87.2, and that of the control group was 86.6 (F(1, 48) = 0.051,
t = 0.25, p > 0.05), denoting no significant difference.
 The Impact of Applying Virtual Reality Technology 141

Fig. 4. Diagram of the experimental design.

4.2 Pre-post-Test Data Analysis of Experimental Group and Control

Group
As shown in Table 1, the pre-test mean of the control group was 84.10 and post-test
mean was 83.90, registering a slight 0.20 decrease. Meanwhile, the pre-test mean of the
experimental group was 79.80 and the post-test mean was 86.80. After the introduction
of VR learning materials, the mean score in the experimental group significantly
increased 7 points. Table 1 shows that the pre-test and post-test in the control group
using the conventional textbook did not reach a significant difference (t = 0.05,
p > 0.05). On the other hand, the pre-test and post-test results of the experimental
group using VR learning materials in the learning process were significantly different
(t = 5.22, p < 0. 001).

Table 1. t-test analysis of the learning motivation scale.

N Pre-test Post-test t
M S.D. M S.D.
Control group 26 84.10 9.94 83.90 14.08 −0.05
Experimental group 24 79.80 12.12 86.80 11.77 5.22***
***
p < 0.001
142 W.-H. Chao and R.-C. Chang

4.3 The Learning Effectiveness of Students with Different Mathematical

Abilities in the Experimental Group
Table 2 shows the data of the low-achieving subset, who were slower in math learning,
and the high-achieving subset in the experimental group of students after using VR
learning materials. According to data analysis, there were 14 students in the low-
achieving subset (pre-test scores between 60–79). Their mean pre-test score was 69.14
(S.D. = 7.98) and the mean post-test score was 79.64 (S.D. = 13.07). The mean dif-
ference between the pre- and post-tests was 10.50 (= 79.64–69.14). Meanwhile, there
were 10 students in high-achieving subset (pre-test scores between 80–100). Their
mean pre-test score was 89.12 (S.D. = 5.51) and the mean post-test was 93.90 (S.
D. = 5.41). The mean difference between their pre-test and post-test scores was 4.78
(= 93.90–89.12). Both the low- and high-achieving subsets reached a significant level
in the score difference (t = −4.89; t = −3.02). In terms of the degree of difference, the
enhancement of the learning effectiveness using VR materials in the low-achieving
subset was higher than that of their high-achieving counterparts.

Table 2. Analysis on the learning effectiveness of students with different mathematical abilities
in the experimental group.
NPre-test Post-test t
M S.D. M S.D.
Low achiever group 14 69.14 7.98 79.64 13.07 −4.89***
High achiever group 10 89.12 5.51 93.90 5.41 −3.02***
***
p < 0.001

4.4 The Learning Effectiveness of Students with Different Mathematical

Abilities in the Control Group
In the control group (Table 3), there were 10 students in the low-achieving subset (pre-
test scores between 60–79). Their mean pre-test score was 72 (S.D. = 8.42) and the
mean post-test score was 70.55 (S.D. = 13.80). The mean difference between their pre-
test and post-test score was −1.45 (= 70.55–72). On the other hand, there were 17
students in the high-achieving subset (pre-test scores between 80–100). Their mean
pre-test score was 89.23 (S.D. = 4.62) and the mean post-test score was 89.71 (S.
D. = 9.78). The mean difference between their pre-test and post-test score was 0.48
(= 89.71–89.23). Neither the low- and high-achieving subsets reached a significant
level in the score difference (t = −0.31; t = 0.25).

4.5 Comparison of Learning Motivation

A pre- and post-test analysis of learning motivation was conducted to understand the
influence of different learning materials on students’ spatial learning ability before and
after the experiment. From the data analysis (Table 4), the mean pre-test and post-test
scores in the experimental group’s learning motivation were 3.89 and 4.41, respec-
tively, which were statistically significant by the paired-sample t test (t = 3.51,
 The Impact of Applying Virtual Reality Technology 143

Table 3. Analysis on the learning effectiveness of students with different mathematical abilities
in the control group.
N
Pre-test Post-test t
M S.D. M S.D.
Low achiever group 10 72.00 8.42 70.55 13.80 −0.31
High achiever group 16 89.23 4.64 89.71 9.78 0.25

p < 0.01). In the learning motivation of the control group, the mean pre-test and post-
test scores were 3.97 and 3.77, respectively. The paired-sample t test (t = −0.16,
p < 0.876) did not reach statistical significance (as shown in Table 4). Student learning
motivation in the experimental group increased from 3.89 to 4.41 after using the VR
learning platform, showing the integration of VR learning materials in learning can
effectively enhance students’ learning motivation. Meanwhile, the learning motivation
of students in the control group dropped from 3.97 to 3.77, suggesting that the lack of
variation and innovation in the conventional textbook-based learning model can lead to
low learning motivation which in turn affects learning effectiveness.

Table 4. t-test analysis of the learning motivation scale.

NPre-test Post-test t
M S.D. M S.D.
Experimental group 24 3.89 0.79 4.41 0.58 3.51**
Control group 26 3.97 0.85 3.77 0.93 −0.16
**
p < 0.01

5 Conclusion

The VR learning materials developed in this study aimed to create an interactive

experience to enhance students’ spatial ability. Students were given the chance to use
rotation, stacking, maneuvering, and combination to explore the complete geometries
of three-dimensional objects, thereby strengthening their ability to understand three-
dimensional space. The experiment findings showed that the use of VR-assisted
learning materials can arouse the interest and curiosity of learners with low mathe-
matics ability, bringing into full play the advantages of integrating technology into
learning. Kang, Hong, & Lee [10] suggested virtual simulation is an educational
strategy that can effectively help students stay engaged in learning and achieve positive
learning outcomes. The virtual environment created by VR allows students to have
direct contact with the immersive, simulated world it presents, and the complete
interactive experience motivates students to learn. Characterized by its elements of
challenge and feedback, digital learning can reduce learning boredom or anxiety when
the learning process is an immersive experience. Increased learning motivation enables
learners to identify solutions through trial and error or imitation of examples [11].
144 W.-H. Chao and R.-C. Chang

Acknowledgement. This research is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology,

Taiwan, R.O.C. [grant number MOST 105-2511-S-261 -001 -MY2].

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Educational Data Mining and Learning
Analytics
 Competence Mining to Improve Training
Programs

Ildikó Szabó(&) , Katalin Ternai , and Szabina Fodor

Corvinus University of Budapest, Fővám tér 13-15, Budapest 1093, Hungary

{ildiko.szabo2,katalin.ternai,
szabina.fodor}@uni-corvinus.hu

Abstract. Analysing of competence and skill shortage or surpluses is essential

for educational institutes to prepare their students for satisfying labour market
needs in time and comprehensively. Currently, changes in labour market needs
are influenced by not just economical but also technological factors. ICT and
digitalization play key roles in transformations of business processes including
employees’ competences in executing these processes smoothly and effectively.
Our research goal is to develop a competence mining method to identify and
extract competences needed to fill job vacancies. Based on this new information
the educational programs can be refined. This paper presents how to use busi-
ness process models to extract competences from job vacancies and how this
method evolved in time and what its contribution is to the training development
based on learning outcome. Competence concept has a crucial role in this
method, but it is defined on a broad scale that causes terminological diversity.

Keywords: Training program
Competence
Text mining
Business process

model
Ontology transformation

1 Introduction

Educational institutes must meet different expectations. Globalization puts pressure on

institutes to train students who can adapt to different culture and environments during
their whole lifetime. Machines are unable to replicate judgement, empathy, persuasion,
the ability to collaborate and communicate, and be flexible, adaptable, and resilient,
though more AI change is coming [1]. These skills should be possessed by students. In
2018, JISC1 in the UK surveyed 22,000 university students and while more than 80%
of them felt that digital skills will be important for their chosen career, only half
believed that their courses were preparing them well for the digital workplace [2]. The
Universities need to start to develop an education 4.0 program in line with the 4th
industrial revolution. The education 4.0 program should aim at providing graduates
with capabilities and competencies required by the digital-driven industry [3]. The
newest industrial revolution is boosted by technologies that creates new requirements.
This transformation induced by Industry 4.0 requires continuous education processes

1
Formerly the Joint Information Systems Committee (https://www.jisc.ac.uk).

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 147–157, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_17
148 I. Szabó et al.

performed by humans, educational programs fitting to information technologies, pro-

viding multidimensional mind development and deep understanding of subjects. These
programs have to train such students who can learn and like analysing and discussing
problems [4]. Higher educational institutions need to address needs of the labour
market and this should be linked to research issues.
For the point of view to this study, monitoring competence needs of labour market
is essential for educational institutes. Job vacancies published on a job portal aggre-
gating posting from many sites (like indeed.com) are appropriate sources for ensuring
this activity. These job ads are numerous and time varying, hence reflect dynamically
changing needs well. The goal of our research is to develop a competence mining
method to identify and extract competences needed to fill job vacancies. Based on this
new information the educational programs can be refined. This paper presents how this
method evolved in time and what its contribution is to the training development based
on learning outcome. Competence concept has a crucial role in this method, but it is
defined on a broad scale that causes terminological diversity. Section 2 presents some
definitions and shows the role of this concept in training development. It clarifies this
topic from the point of view of our method. Section 3 sheds light on some current
research to emphasize our novelty in this field. Section 4 presents how competences
can be mined from 192 warehouse manager jobs published the one of top job portals
(indeed.com) in UK with using general text mining method and our process-based text
mining method. Finally, it presents a competence dashboard for educators to improve
their training programs. Conclusions and future works are drawn in Sect. 5.

2 Outcome-Based Training Development

Competence expresses “What is a human capable of?” [5]. Hecklau et al. [6] classified
future competencies into four categories based on macroenvironmental analysis.
Technical competencies are knowledge, skills and abilities related to work. Personal
competencies are motivations and attitudes of people. Social competencies are abilities
to cooperate, communicate with other people. Methodological competences are to
support decision making and problem solving. Wikle & Fagin [7] distinguished
hard/technical and soft skills as competences. Hard skills are learned or professional
competencies, soft skills are generic ones. Lippman et al. [8 pp. 4] defined soft skills as
“a broad set of skills, competencies, behaviours, attitudes, and personal qualities that
enable people to effectively navigate their environment, work well with other and
perform well”. In the previous decades, there was a paradigm shift in education that put
students in focus instead of teachers. European Qualification Framework represents this
endeavour well. It advises to focus on what “students are expected to achieve and how
they should demonstrate what they have learned” [9]. The emphasis was shifted from
the learning output to learning outcome possessed by students. Conceptualizing
learning outcomes helps in designing curriculum including teaching and learning
activities, assessment methods and in creating transparent training programs. In
Gagné’s theory, the planning of education programs starts with the identification of
learning outcomes followed by the construction of the task analyses – or in other
words, the learning hierarchy – that are responsible for execution of measurable
 Competence Mining to Improve Training Programs 149

activities [10]. Technical/methodological competency and hard skill are very similar
concepts. Social or personal competencies can be considered as soft skills. The original
goal of Benjamin S. Bloom was to elaborate a better way to compare results of various
training programs and test methodologies in 1956. His method provided guidelines for
elaborating various training programs subordinated to learning outcomes. Terminol-
ogy, structural changes, and changes in emphasis were made in its revised version. The
Revised Taxonomy contains six categories: Remembering, Understanding, Applying,
Analysing, Evaluating, Creating. Specific verbs are selected to describe these cate-
gories [11]. In summary, it was presented that outcome-based training development
requires well-defined and measurable learning outcomes which are expressed by
competences. Revised Bloom taxonomy presents six cognitive levels of complex
thinking that are measurable by tasks achieved by students. Verbs describing these
levels can be applied to extract competences or skills from job ads (see Sect. 4). Our
research goal is to develop a competence mining method to identify, extract compe-
tences needed to fill job vacancies in order that training programs can be adjusted to
this competence set. Business process model serves as a basis of this text mining
process because it contains tasks which activity part can be connected to the revised
Bloom taxonomy. It also provides additional information to understand the complexity
of these tasks and other related factors. Hard skills or technical/methodological com-
petencies are connected to tasks primarily that is why our purpose is to mine these
competences instead of soft skills or social/personal competencies.

3 Related Work

OECD2 Skills for Jobs database3 is designed to measure skill shortage and surplus.
Indicators to reveal these discrepancies were created based on five sub-indices: wage
growth, employment growth, hours worked growth, unemployment rate, under-
qualification growth. These macro-economic indicators are to estimate changes in
occupation groups and related skill sets [12]. CEDEFOP4 Skill Forecast uses quanti-
tative methods to forecast future trends in sector, occupations, and qualifications. Skill-
OVATE is an online vacancy analysis tool for Europe. It provides insight into skills
and jobs requested by employers. Data are fetched from job portals, employer’s portals
etc. but within a given time and not dynamically [13]. Bakhshi et al. [14] used
occupations ranked by experts to create machine learning method for analysing future
competence needs. Skill market gap analysis of SMART system is to identify gaps
between competences can be acquired by a tourism-specific training program and
labour market needs in tourism industry. This system also processes job ads but uses
domain ontology and not process ontology to identify competences in them [15]. Skill
gap analysis is a hot topic currently, hence the above-mentioned researches are just few
examples among different projects and initiatives. However, they are different in

2
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
3
https://www.oecdskillsforjobsdatabase.org.
4
Centre Européen pour le Développement de la Formation Professionnelle.
150 I. Szabó et al.

methods: quantitative and/or text mining, machine learning methods are applied. Our
approach distinguishes from that based on the fact that it provides a tool to monitor
labour market needs and it uses process ontologies as underlying knowledge.

4 Contribution: Process-Based Text Mining

Our main purpose is to analyse competences are required to fill a position. Several
positions can be digitally transformed due to technological innovations (like self-
driving forklift or mobile app). A reference business process model considering these
innovations holds background information to process job vacancies in meaningful
manner. The process-based text mining process is illustrated by Fig. 1. At the begin-
ning, the structure of a process model is designed (task as process step, role as job role
and required skill to execute this task by this role).
The business process model is implemented by using BOC ADONIS modelling
platform5. ADONIS is a graph-structured BPM language. The ADONIS modeling
platform is a business meta-modeling tool with components such as modeling, analysis,
simulation, evaluation, process costing, documentation, staff management, and import-
export. Its main feature is its method independence. Our approach is principally
transferable to other semi-formal modelling languages. The models can be exported in
the structure of ADONIS XML format. There are several parameters that can be set or
defined when modelling a business process. The shell of a business process can be
easily formed with activities, decision points, parallelism or merging objects, logical
gateways and events. A prototypical java tool was developed to transform the business
process into a process ontology in OWL format. For the mapping the conceptual
models to ontology models meta-modeling approach have been used. The “conceptual
model - ontology model” converter maps the Adonis model elements to the appropriate
ontology elements in meta-level. The general rule used in our approach is to express
each ADONIS model element as a class in the ontology and its corresponding attributes
as attributes of the class.
Meanwhile a Python crawler fetches information about job vacancies from the
selected job portal. Data cleaning and data prep process are executed before the text
mining. The process-based text mining identifies patterns of part-of-speech tags (e.g.
verb followed by noun) to get a list of expressions describing tasks (see Bloom tax-
onomy). The algorithm calculates the semantic distance of these expressions (e.g.
create quality) from the business process elements of the process ontology (e.g. check
quality). Similarity coefficients are used to do this calculation. The list of expressions is
filtered by the value of the selected coefficient and by the descriptions of process
elements. Remained expressions as descriptors identify process elements (like tasks) in
job ads. Job ads contain information about when and where these process elements
were required and by which position. An extended table is used to analyse task-related
competences regionally, in time and based on positions. The theoretical background of

5
BOC Group: Business Process Management with Adonis, http://www.boc-group.com/products/
adonis/en/.
 Competence Mining to Improve Training Programs 151

Fig. 1. Process-based text mining

this process has been presented in [16]. This paper presents how business process
models can provide additional information in processing job vacancies versus basic text
analytics method. The whole process is illustrated by the purchasing process including
activities performed by warehouse managers.

4.1 Business Process Model and Its Transformation

A process from logistics was selected to present the applicability of the method. The
warehouse manager has several responsibilities in this process, so this profession is
well applicable to illustrate our method.
The warehouse manager’s activities in the process are the following ones:
• Check Inventory: Stock-taking is the physical verification of the quantities and
condition of items held in the inventory or warehouse.
• Check Quality: The quality assessment will be based on predetermined require-
ments and standards previously set by the company.
• Unload Goods: Safely prepare, lift, position and restrain goods on a vehicle plat-
form and then unload goods at the destination.
• Manage Goods In: Provide the correct goods, at the correct amount, place, and time.
• Record Data: Record the purchasing information into the warehouse management
information system.
• Treat Scrap: Sort the scrap into recyclables and unusable waste.
• Record Report: Record the waste information into the quality management system.
For the transformation process, a prototypical software tool was developed which
transforms the BPMN model into OWL format6. The resulting file contains a partial
ontology including classes and individuals of the input file [16].

6
The BPMN model and the transformation program are available on the GitHub (https://github.com/
szabinaf/BPM2OWL/).
152 I. Szabó et al.

4.2 Job Vacancies and Data Preparation

192 warehouse manager jobs were fetched from the UK labour market7 by a Python
crawler into CSV file. It was discovered that the important part of job descriptions starts
with specific expressions such as responsibilities, accountability, looking for, candidate
and so on. The 90% of job vacancies met these expectations, but the remained ones did
not contain unnecessary texts (like company description). Hence the first part of these
descriptions was cut off to get the relevant part of them.
Spacy, pandas, re and text distance Python library were used. List was created from
the sentences of cleaned job descriptions. Sentences with at least 20 characters were
processed, lemmatized, tokenized and their part-of-speech tags were determined.

4.3 First Approach: Text-Mining Based on Job Vacancies

Our first approach was to extract competence information based on only data down-
loaded from the career website. The cleaned and tokenized job description field was
used for basic text analysis.

Fig. 2. Word and phrase cloud based on frequency

First, word, phrase frequency analysis was executed and word and phrase cloud
was generated (see Fig. 2). From the point of gathering competence the most used
words as “TEAM”, “WAREHOUSE” and “ENSURE” cannot add useful information.

7
uk.indeed.com.
 Competence Mining to Improve Training Programs 153

Looking into the most common terms like “COMMUNICATION SKILLS”, “CON-
TINUOUS IMPROVEMENT”, “HEALTH AND SAFETY” seem more relevant infor-
mation. Analysis of the top 25% (1247 out of 4986) of used phrases provides valuable
insight of needed competences such as “PROBLEM SOLVING”, “EXCELLENT
COMMUNICATION SKILLS”, and “MANAGING A TEAM”.

Fig. 3. The 10 most important words and phrases based on TF
IDF

Figure 3 shows the most important words and phrases of job descriptions according
to TF
IDF8. It provides good opportunity to find additional necessary competences like
“TEAM MEMBERS”, “ATTENTION TO DETAIL”, “PROBLEM SOLVING”.
Then co-occurrence analysis was performed and different similarity coefficients
(like Jaccard, Sorensen, Association strength, Adjusted Phi Coefficient) [17] were used
to measure the distance between “ability/able”9 keywords and words of job description
field data (see Fig. 4). In groups made with different coefficients, many common words
appeared like “DEMONSTRATE”, “WORK”, which confirms the importance of these
words among the competencies of the warehouse manager position. It is also worth
noting that among the words close to the keywords “ability” and “able” it can be found
a number of verbs also used in Bloom taxonomy, such as “DEMONSTRATE” (in
group Apply), “MANAGE” (in group Analyze), which confirms the effectiveness of
our research. It worth mentioning that the similarity scores of text analytics are very
low which indicates partial role in information.

8
TF
IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency): a statistical measure that evaluates how
relevant a word is to a document in a collection of documents.
9
The “ability” and “able” as keywords were used to describe the meaning of competence.
154 I. Szabó et al.

Fig. 4. 15 proximate words to “ability” and “able” based on different similarity coefficients

4.4 Second Approach: Process-Based Competence Mining

Please note that the even results of basic text analytics are too general, but it underlies
the usability of Bloom taxonomy. Hence expressions in the form of verb and noun were
extracted from these sentences. 1652 expressions were discovered in 4989 sentences.
After removing duplicates 1324 expressions left as corpus.
The process steps were extracted from the process ontology. Jaccard normalized
similarity coefficient was applied to determine which verb-noun expressions from the
corpus are related to our role (warehouse manager) semantically. Expressions with
greater than 0.5 Jaccard points were selected. Descriptions of process steps (see in
Sect. 4.1) provided background information about the basic tasks that a warehouse
manager has to do: check inventory (56% of 25), manage goods in (60% of 45), unload
goods (50% of 6), check quality (80% of 5), record data (0% of 16), treat scrap (0% of
19), record report (39% of 23). Please note that if business process manager does not
follow the professional terminology (e.g. treat scrap) or uses to general expressions
(e.g. record data), the process model does not help in extracting competences from the
descriptions. Otherwise it provides several descriptors to identify tasks in texts. All 57
descriptors were searched in each job descriptions. It was a good experience that not all
job ads contained one or some of them. The reason behind this is that positions usually
contain more than one role (e.g. executive, responsible roles etc.).
This study focused on only warehouse manager as a specific role. If the tasks executed
by this role were not emphasized in the job ads but tasks related to other role (e.g. team
leader activities) were, it diminished the hit rate aggressively. Our plan is to extend our
business processes with more tasks related to other roles based on this analysis and filter
our job ads by roles – not just positions - more precisely. Nevertheless, this method
 Competence Mining to Improve Training Programs 155

processed enough job ads to present how to use extracted tasks as technical/
methodological competences or hard skills to improve curricula of training programs.

4.5 Potential Improvements in Training Programs

All job ads have information about where and when job vacancies were created in
which position and at which company. The Python crawler stores this information
beside job descriptions in a table. This table is extended with new columns named the
above mentioned 57 descriptors and 7 process steps. Each row of these new columns
has 1 or 0 value, depending on the fact that the job description in the row contain the
given descriptor or not. Columns named process steps summarize these values. This
extended table is appropriate to analyse competence needs from different viewpoints
(regions, time, position, company, salary etc.). A new column was added to this table to
examine digitalization needs in warehouse manager positions. This column represented
that system knowledge was needed to fill the position or not. Advertising companies
used mainly warehouse management systems in that time (mentioned in 18% of the job
ads), but other 15 systems (such as stock control, operational management, ERP system
etc.) appeared in the ads as well.
Figure 5 shows the ‘manage goods in’ competence was required in the middle and
south of United Kingdom, meanwhile system knowledge was also needed to fill
warehouse manager positions there. It highlights the importance of this task and
knowledge that can be taken into consideration by educational institute in this region.
Additional information can be retrieved by other analyses. It can be presented timely
distribution of competence needs to examine seasonal requirements. Training programs
qualify students to fill given positions hence educators can be interested in seeing
timely distribution of competences needs related to a specific position. Data can be
drilled down in multidimensional analysis to reveal this kind of correlations. A system
built on this method is capable of continually monitoring the labour market needs and
providing information about competence trends and distributions. Future competence
requirements can be predicated based on the trends. Programme leaders can get
regional and temporal feedback to evolve their training programs with adjusting them
to the actual or future needs of relevant jobs.

Fig. 5. The ‘manage goods in’ competence in a regional analysis

156 I. Szabó et al.

5 Conclusion

This paper presents how to use business process models to extract competences from
job vacancies and how to use the results to improve training programs of educational
institute. It illustrates through an example what competences are provided to stake-
holders with using traditional text mining or process-based text mining Comparing
these methods, it revealed that additional information are required to filter the corpus or
glossary, to highlight system usage information, and to manage multiple roles in
positions. The process model ensures these information, because systems, executors
and tasks are connected in it. In this way, process-based text mining discovers more
specific competences versus traditional text mining. A tool built on this method is
capable of detecting what kind of systems and transactions should be operated by the
warehouse manager. Information about mass competences needs distributing regionally
and timely are used to reform training programs or optimize human resource training.
Stakeholders can reorganize the educational portfolios, and also manage capacities. The
key limitation of this study is that it largely depends on the phrases and terms used in
the process model. In the future, alternative terms will be incorporated into our model
and the scope of the business process model will be extended, and the pattern sets will
be expanded.

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 Personnel Learning Behavior
in the Workplace: A Study of Workplace
Habits

Waristha Saengrith(&), Chantana Viriyavejakul, and Paitoon Pimdee

Department of Industrial Education, Faculty of Industrial Education and

Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok,
Thailand
61603009@kmitl.ac.th

Abstract. Workplace learning is becoming an essential part for an organization

to enhance an employee’s knowledge and skill to deliver an enterprise’s busi-
ness sustainability. To develop a suitable model for workplace learning, this
paper aims to investigate learning behavior for personnel in a workplace and to
understand the factors that influence learning behavior for technical staff of a
plastic packaging company in Bangkok. The data was collected by using a
questionnaire that included 3 parts; 1) personal factors 2) learning behavior of
personnel in the workplace and 3) factors that influence learning behavior of
personnel in the workplace. The target group was 75 technical staff members by
a multi-stage sampling. The research findings were that from 3 ways of informal
learning behavior in workplace are self-directed learning, networking, and
coaching and mentoring, a target group behavior to agree with highest score of
self-directed learning at the average score of 3.62, compared with network
learning and coaching learning which neither agree nor disagree at average score
3.36 and 3.32, respectively. Moreover, challenges on their job is the most
influential factor of their learning behavior in the workplace at average score
3.64 followed by a confidence level and support from the company with an
average score 3.53 and 3.38, respectively. Results from the study show that
mostly staffs were interested in learning by themselves with encouragement
from challenges, confidence level, and support from the organization.

Keywords: Learning behavior
Workplace learning
Self-directed learning

Networking
Coaching and mentoring

1 Introduction

Nowadays, plastic packaging is the most contributing business to help grow economy
in Thailand. Among the ASEAN countries, Thailand has the competitive advantage on
production technology, services, and innovations over other countries in this region.
However, Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Com-
merce in Thailand, revealed that key challenges for growth in this business area in the
future will be a lack of labor and low skills of labor problems. [1] From the survey,
plastic manufacturers mentioned this root cause, the fundamental education system in

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 158–166, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_18
 Personnel Learning Behavior in the Workplace 159

Thailand, i.e. the teacher treating students to be followers not for leaders. In addition,
the education in the classroom does not facilitate learning activities to enhance self-
paced learning [2]. Therefore, when they were employed by enterprises, new workers
cannot utilize learning skills to find the answers for problem-solving situations and thus
impacting the efficiency of the enterprise for competition in the market. To eliminate
the labor skill problem, the enterprises would consider a method to develop knowledge
and skill of their employees, especially with technical staff, who are responsible in the
product quality control department and technical service support, as these are the most
critical topics for plastic packaging manufacturers in Thailand. Therefore, workplace
learning was focused on and defined as the Human Resource Development
(HRD) program for developing a superior workforce for organization and individual
employees who can achieve their work goals to best service the customers. That is the
key importance for enterprises; to develop new knowledge delivery method that
ensures skill competency. Moreover, lifelong learning and continuous learning were
highlighted both for individuals operating in the learning system and for organizations
competing in the international marketplace. In fact, workplace learning is recognized as
moving from institutional education into normal life situations, taking place at work
and other life areas and relating to improving the skills of employees and enhancing
their knowledge, which may be either formal or informal. Presently, informal learning
in the workplace has become an increasingly important tool for training employees.
However, there is no specific way to prove how to effectively deliver knowledge and
skill to employees in organizations since the differences of culture and the urgency of
the enterprises to develop their employees varies greatly. In addition, when we talk
about workplace learning, it is almost related to adult learning and can be defined as the
acquisition of knowledge and skills by formal or informal means that occur in the
workplace. To develop the suitable learning model for workplace learning, the
understanding of current situations of learning behavior for personnel in the workplace
is necessary. Therefore, the purpose of this study in context of workplace learning, or
working with learning, is to explore the current state of learning behavior for personnel
in workplaces around Thailand. Among the key research questions, two are very
important, as follows:
1. How is the learning behavior way for technical people in workplace settings today?
2. How is the comparison between the 3 factors influencing to learning behavior of
personnel in the workplace?

2 Literature Review

2.1 Workplace Learning

Since the early 1990s, workplace learning has expanded and recently the research in
this field is both wide-ranging and interdisciplinary. This expansion reason is that
learning, and working are both interconnected with the significantly rapid change in
society and working life as well as being increasingly used in the development of future
leaders and improve their impact on the effectiveness and competitiveness of an
160 W. Saengrith et al.

organization. Moreover, lifelong learning and continuous learning have become

important both for individuals operating in the learning society and for organizations to
compete in the international marketplace. Together with the business challenges in term
of employee skill, workplace learning is now, therefore, the most important topic for
discussion. There are various definitions of workplace learning, improving employee’s
skill and enhancing labor knowledge, which result from work-related interactions, a
fact that contributes to the learning of both the individual employee and the organi-
zation as a whole [3–5]. In addition, workplace learning is concerned not only with
immediate work competencies, but also better competencies to deal with problems and
future challenges [6]. However, even broadly speaking, on definitions and composition
of workplace learning, however, it was defined as the acquisition of knowledge and
skill by formal and informal ways that occur in the workplace. Formal learning consists
of qualifications and certified training, and no longer seen as the sole method of
learning. Qualifications are more concerned in terms of a board structure that concerns
workplaces and the employees, educational institutions, and various communities
within organizations. While informal learning is unstructured and takes place away
from traditional methods, or formal learning settings. It has no clear goals; often being
unplanned and self-directed by the learner. In addition, informal learning is often
conceived as learning that is tacit and integrated with normal work activities. From the
research evidence, it is shown that informal learning is the most important type of
learning for enhancing and developing skills and competencies in the workplace, while
formal learning, such as classroom-based learning or training, is of minor importance
[7–9]. Moreover, it was indicated that the employees learning only 20% learn from
structured training programs, a feature of informal learning can be deliberately
encouraged by an organization or it can take place despite an environment not highly
conductive to learning [10]. The ratio of work-related learning was defined at 80% can
occur informally through self- directed learning, networking, coaching, and mentoring
[11]. As employees can benefit from this type of learning, beyond training, learners are
self-directed, and the need to examine the context of and people involved with the
learning including learner behavior. Therefore, workplace learning also can include a
process of formal elements of learning, even if it is dominant due to being informal in
nature and is often incorporated with workplace social interactions and everyday
practices [12].

2.2 Learning Behavior in Workplace

Learning behavior in the workplace was defined by various approaches. The nature of
learning, strategies, learning processes, and techniques have also been discussed.
Examples of learning behavior are self-directed learning, networking, social learning,
mentoring, coaching, and performance planning systems used in various contexts. The
framework of self-directed learning practice [13] is considered to be the common
practice of learning at work. Many research papers have been studied in adult education
and andragogy, the need to examine and study as the multidimensional nature of self-
directed learning in the context of workplace learning has been highlighted [14].
Recently, Organizations have begun to transfer power from the organization to the
individuals in that organization learning for more flexible, effective, and faster
 Personnel Learning Behavior in the Workplace 161

operations [15]. Among the most recent learning behavior developments, is the forming
of organizational networking, learning with that goal, which is to enhance knowledge
sharing and creating new improved work practices. In Finland, the Ministry of Labor
has launched a national program for learning networks which aims to develop coop-
eration between research institutes and working life organizations to advance organi-
zational development. Network learning will establish with independent participants
who can be either be individuals or organizations and can also be defined as a kind of
loose organizations of learning in and outside of networks as a form of organizational
learning [16, 17]. A general aim of network learning is usually to provide a forum for
knowledge exchange, creation, and transformation. Therefore, typically for network
learning, there is an exchange of knowledge, which takes place mutually but not
necessarily symmetrically. From the training and development survey, it was found that
over 80% of UK organizations were using coaching and mentoring to develop at least
some of their employees in an organization [18]. This learning method concerned
improving an employee’s skills, performance, and behaviors within their present job
role as a task-oriented form of personally, tailored training typically short-term with a
task focus [19]. While mentoring is often oriented an exchange of support, learning or
guidance for the purpose, it is not only for task focus, but also includes personal, career
path and spiritual related areas. Together with 2 parts of coaching and mentoring,
coaching also supports and helps people to know the way to do something more
effectively in parallel to help deal with future changes and promotions.

2.3 Factors Influencing Learning in the Workplace

The factors influencing learning behavior in workplace broadly discuss both direct and
indirect factors and other kinds of effects that may influence learning behavior in the
workplace. The scope focuses on specific factors or on the overall culture of the unit,
including communications and feedback, industrial relations, work design, continuity
and training, as well as participation. The dominant finding from earlier research on
mid-career learning was interesting due to factors of confidence, challenge, and support
[20] that were mostly focused in this context. The relationship between all those factors
was defined from the context of learning during working and occurs through doing
something with the enthusiasm to seek for new learning opportunities that require a
person’s confidence. Therefore, being confident is the one key important factor to drive
people to learn in the workplace. Moreover, the confidence level also rose from one
person’s success story to meet their challenges during work hours. In addition, when an
organization provides sufficient support to learn, a person will be confident to deal with
other challenges. In conclusion, if there is neither a challenge nor sufficient support to
encourage learners to seek for or deal with challenges, then confidence level will
decline and create a need for conditions for learning in the workplace.
To better understand learning behavior of our target audiences for plastic packaging
manufacturers in Bangkok, this research has been conducted and defined as first step of
the analysis stage. Further stages will design and develop a learning platform to apply
for personal learning for final results with a learning model to enhance higher order
thinking skill in the organization.
162 W. Saengrith et al.

3 Research Objectives
1. To study and understand existing learning behavior.
2. To compare factors, influence to learning behavior for technical staff of flexible
plastic packaging enterprises in Thailand.

4 Research Methodology

From the reviewed research methodology used in this field [20], it was found the most
common ways have been survey study because it gave the proper approach to gain
quick feedback from target respondents who are working in the manufacturing enter-
prises. The study employed a quantitative research design and research data was
extracted from the fieldwork. A methodology based on inductivist approach was used
to explore the participants’ experiences, thoughts about learning behaviors.

4.1 Participants
The population on this research is technical staff who work for flexible plastic pack-
aging companies in Bangkok 248 people. The sample was selected from multistage
sampling from the location and size of the factory and become with 75 technical staff
who were undergoing some type of workplace learning, through participant surveyed.

4.2 Research Instrument

For this study, the questionnaire was deliberately developed by the researcher using the
previous study framework [11, 20]. It applied 5-points Likert’s scale defined as 4.50–
5.00 Strongly agree, 3.50–4.49 Agree, 2.50–3.49 Neither agree nor disagree, 1.50–2.49
Disagree and 1.00–1.49 Strongly Disagree. There are 3 parts questionnaires, first
section related to the surveys respondent’s background information about age, gender,
level of education, job responsibilities and location of the company. Second section to
survey the respondents’ perception through 3 learning modes are self-directed learning,
networking, coaching and mentoring and the last part is the comparison 3 factors;
confidence, challenges, and support that influence personal learning of technical staff in
the workplace. All those questionnaires were validated by three experts in the field of
human resources in the workplace and education. The validation on both construction
and content validity base on the Item Objective Congruent (IOC). A pilot survey was
implemented before real data collection. It revealed that the reliability measurement
using Cronbach’s alpha of 0.7 was considered acceptable.

4.3 Data Collection and Analysis

Questionnaires were distributed by an electronic form to survey personnel who work at
a technical department of flexible plastic packaging company in Bangkok with survey
responded rate about 75%. All the participants rated the questionnaire for 3 parts
 Personnel Learning Behavior in the Workplace 163

according to their individual opinions. The last stage for data analysis, the statistic
package, SPSS program, was used to analyze data gathered from questionnaires. With
descriptive statistics, described information with percentage, means and standard
deviation were computed and analyzed.

5 Results

According to the surveyed target audiences with 75 participants and data about general
characteristic, learning behavior and factors influence learning of personal in the
workplace were analyzed shown as follows.

5.1 General Characteristic of Respondents

From the above general characteristics, it was found most respondents is 59 females
accounted for 78.7% of all participants with age dominate range of 20–30 year 42
persons as 56.0%. Almost all respondents 64 people, held a bachelor’s degree at 85.3%
and responsible mostly in Research and development department for 38 persons as
50.7% (Table 1).

Table 1. General characteristics of respondents.

Characteristics Details Number of People Percentage
Sex Male 16 21.3%
Female 59 78.7%
Age 20–30 42 56.0%
30–40 31 41.3%
>40 2 2.7%
Education level Under bachelor’s degree 4 5.3%
Bachelors’ degree 64 85.3%
Master’s degree 7 9.4%
Job responsible Research and Development 38 50.7%
Technical customer service 29 38.7%
Quality control 8 10.6%

5.2 The Perception on Learning Behavior of Technical Staff

in Workplace
From the results of Table 2. It shows that the target audience agrees with learning
through self-directed learning. With the average score of 3.62, on the other hands,
network learning and coaching learning that neither agree nor disagree at average score
of 3.36 and 3.32, respectively.
From the results of Table 3. It shown that the target audience agrees that challenge
is the most influential factor to encourage labor learning with an average score of 3.64
164 W. Saengrith et al.

and followed by a confidence factor of average level of 3.53 and the last with support
from a company at an average score of 3.38.

Table 2. Learning perception of personal in workplace.

Learning mode 
X SD Level
Self-Directed Learning 3.62 0.52 Agree
Network Learning 3.36 0.57 Neither agree nor disagree
Coaching and Mentoring 3.32 0.44 Neither agree nor disagree

Table 3. Factors influence for personal learning in Workplace.


Learning mode X SD Level
Challenge 3.64 0.58 Agree
Support 3.38 0.64 Neither agree nor disagree
Confident 3.53 0.56 Agree

6 Discussion and Conclusion

Learning behaviors of personnel in the workplace were studied with technical

employees of flexible plastic packaging manufacturers in Bangkok. The results of this
study have helped us to find out the learning characteristics of target audiences. The
comparison of 3 learning types following research study of informal learning in
workplace through self-directed, networking, coaching and mentoring [11] was shown
that target groups were interested in learning through self-directed ways, followed by
coaching and mentoring and networking respectively. It is related to the previous
research on continuing vocational education learners in Thailand dominated by self-
directed learning [21]. Therefore, there are several ways that an organization enables
labor to enhance self-directed learning, such as providing proper facilities or preparing
a suitable environment for workplace learning. Moreover, the company could initiate
and approach the education technology platform such as e-learning, mobile learning,
chatbot learning and, etc. or their staffs as it is the basic knowledge of their employees
to study by themselves. Moreover, from the studied factors that influence personal
learning in the workplace, it was also found that challenges are the most influential
factor for personal learning, followed by confidence and the last by support, respec-
tively. That is related to the previous research from mentioned that high challenge task
is directly influenced to motivation working and learning of employee [22]. Therefore,
to motivate employees’ learning, a company should consider approaching using an
activity to enhance their challenge in order to build their confidence for working and
learning in parallel. Similarly, the competition or reward for staff, who have initiative
on new projects or may hold the conference for internal discussion between people in
the organization can support confident level for working and to support learning
behaviors of staff in the future.
 Personnel Learning Behavior in the Workplace 165

This study indicated that self-directed learning is the most attractive learning
behavior for a technical employee in Thailand to learn while they are in their work-
place. Since this survey research is the first stage on the analysis to understand learning
the characteristics of a person in the workplace. Therefore, the future, research is going
to study and identification of a self-directed learning platform that is suitable for
workplace learning and to come up with a final learning model to enhance personal
skills of staff in the organization. Especially for technical staff, who are the key factors
for plastic packaging manufacturers that the firm would like to use to increase business
in a professional way. Moreover, to enhance learning activities for personnel in the
workplace, the organization could consider creating activities to support challenge and
build the confidence level of staff, such as competition in the organization or rewarding
people [19] who have initiative for new projects to launch. A discussion session among
people in the company could enhance the confident level for personnel in order to lead
for learning behavior in future years to come.

References
1. Praveera, P.: Economic study report packaging industry, Bangkok (2018). http://oie.go.th/
assets/portals/1/files/study_report/packaging_praveera.pdf. Accessed 5 Aug 2020
2. Supratana, C.: Importance of packaging to creating added value for export products,
Department of Export Promotion Ministry of Industry Thailand, Bangkok (2003). https://
www.ditp.go.th/contents_attach/78353/78353.pdf. Accessed 1 Aug 2020
3. Doornbos, A.J., Simons, R.J., Denessen, E.: Relations between characteristics of workplace
practices and types of informal work-related learning: a survey study among Dutch police.
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(2005)
5. Fenwick, T.: Understanding relations of individual collective learning in work: a review of
research. Manag. Learn. 39(3), 227–243 (2008)
6. Boud, D., Garrick, J.: Understandings of Workplace Learning. Understanding Learning at
Work. Routledge, New York (1999)
7. Ashton, D., Sung, J.: Supporting Workplace Learning for High Performance Working.
International Labour Office, Geneva (2002)
8. Eraut, M.: Informal learning in workplace. Stud. Continuing Educ. 26(20), 247–273 (2004)
9. Skule, S.: Learning conditions at work: a framework to understand and assess informal
learning in the workplace. Int. J. Training Dev. 8(1), 8–20 (2004)
10. Marsick, V., Watkins, K.: Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace Victo-
ria J. Marsick & Karen Watkins. Routledge, London (1990)
11. Yeo, R.K.: How does learning (not) take place in problem-based learning activities in
workplace contexts? Hum. Resource Dev. Int. 11(3), 317–330 (2008)
12. Cacciattolo, K.: Defining workplace learning. Eur. Sci. J. 11(10), 234–250 (2015)
13. Knowles, M.: Self-directed learning. Chicago (1975)
14. Rana, S., Ardichvili, A., Polesello, D.: Promoting self-directed learning in a learning
organization. Eur. J. Training Dev. 40(7), 470–489 (2016)
15. Rigby, C.S., Ryan, R.M.: Self-determination theory in human resource development: new
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166 W. Saengrith et al.

16. Alasoini, T., Halme, P.: Learning Organizations, Learning Society. National Workplace
Development Programme Yearbook, Ministry of Labour, Helsinki, pp. 117–139 (1999)
17. Knight, L.: Network learning: exploring learning by interorganizational networks. Hum.
Relat. 55(4), 427–454 (2002)
18. Deeks E.: CIPD survey shows manual staff are poor relations in workplace training. People
Management, 10 (2001)
19. Silverman, M.: Supporting Workplace learning: a background paper for IES research
network members. The Institute for Employment Studies, pp. 1–22 (2003)
20. Eraut, M.: Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. Br. J. Educ.
Psychol. 79, 113–136 (2000)
21. Suwat, W.: Self-directed learning of continuing vocational education learner. Thesis Doctor
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 Required English Communication Skill Levels
of Mechanical Engineers at the Workplace
in Taiwan

Judy F. Chen1(&) and Clyde A. Warden2

1
Business Administration Department, Overseas Chinese University,
Taichung, Taiwan
jfc@ocu.edu.tw
2
Marketing Department, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
warden@dragon.nchu.edu.tw

Abstract. This study examines the required mechanical English communica-

tion skill levels in the workplace. We employed Google search tool to search job
openings of mechanical engineers in Taiwan and then analyzed the English skill
requirements listed on each individual mechanical engineer job opening. After
keying in mechanical engineer, Google shows a total of 119 job openings.
Among them, 12 job openings require high school degree, 49 job openings
require associate degree, 52 job openings require bachelor degree, and 6 job
openings require master degree. Associate and college required degrees account
for the most of the job openings. Beginning with the associate degree required
jobs, employers start to emphasize English communication skills. For the
bachelor degree required job openings, intermediate English skills are most
needed. Results of this study enable educators to prepare students to be equipped
with the skills needed by workplaces and enable them to be more employable.

Keywords: Communication skill
English for mechanical engineering

Workplace
English for specific purposes

1 Introduction

Mechanical engineering is the base of industry. In fact, it is the foundation of industrial

countries. All machinery and equipment must be designed by mechanical engineers. In
the history of scientific and technological progress, mechanical engineering has always
been the driving force behind the development of civilization. From the agricultural era
to the industrial revolution, to various computer products in the current high-tech era,
aerospace technology and micro-manufacturing, mechanical engineering has always
been the mainstream of the industry [1]. Taiwan lacks natural resources and is an
export-oriented country. It must rely on the creation, invention and innovation of
machinery to manufacture products required by consumers worldwide and sell them all
over the world. English is an international language. English communication skills are
important aspect as companies attempt to grow internationally [2] found that “fluency
in the English language is seen as an opportunity in engineering field to advance
towards becoming a global engineer [3–6].
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 167–171, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_19
168 J. F. Chen and C. A. Warden

Not only academia but also industry have stressed the importance of engineering
graduates’ communication skills [7]. Communication skill is often one area to be
examine when engineering programs are being evaluated for improvement [8].
Mechanical engineers not only have to possess mechanical skills (hard skills) but also
need to acquire soft skills such as English verbal and non-verbal communication skills,
presentation skills, selling skills, etc. [9]. Although English communication skills are
being emphasized across the world, Accordingly, this study, by exploring the job
openings of mechanical engineers, attempts to assess the required English communi-
cation skill levels of mechanical engineers at the workplace in Taiwan.

2 Method

For this study, we focus in the Taiwan’s workplace. We used Google search tool to
collect the data by keying in mechanical engineer (機械工程師), as shown in Fig. 1.
Then, we retrieved the information listed on the job openings. Afterward, we sorted out
the job openings based on the educational requirements. Next, we examined and
analyzed the specific requirements of English skills for high school degree, associate
degree, bachelor degree and master degree required jobs, respectively.

Fig. 1. Using Google (機械工程師) to search for mechanical engineer job openings.
 Required English Communication Skill Levels of Mechanical Engineers 169

3 Results

For the search of mechanical engineer job opening, Google shows a total of 119 job
openings. Among them, Among them, 12 job openings require high school degree
(Table 1), 49 job openings require associate degree (Table 2), 52 job openings require
bachelor degree (Table 3), and 6 job openings require master degree (Table 4).
Most of the high school degree required job openings do not specified the needs for
English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skill, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Proficiency requirements of English skills: high school degree required jobs.
Level Skill
Listening Ratio Speaking Ratio Reading Ratio Writing Ratio
Not specified 9 75.0% 9 75.0% 9 75.0% 9 75.0%
Elementary 3 25.0% 3 25.0% 3 25.0% 3 25.0%
Intermediate 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Advanced 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

For associate degree required job openings, we can see more companies specifies
the needs for English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skill, as shown in
Table 2.

Table 2. Proficiency requirements of English skills: associate degree required jobs.

Level Skill
Listening Ratio Speaking Ratio Reading Ratio Writing Ratio
Not specified 22 44.9% 22 44.9% 23 46.9% 23 46.9%
Elementary 14 28.6% 14 28.6% 14 28.6% 14 28.6%
Intermediate 13 26.5% 13 26.5% 12 24.5% 12 24.5%
Advanced 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

For the bachelor degree required job openings, 26(49%) companies require inter-
mediate English listening skill, 27(50.9%) companies require intermediate English
speaking, reading and writing skill level. Intermediate English skills are most needed.

Table 3. Proficiency requirements of English skills: bachelor degree required jobs.

Level Skill
Listening Ratio Speaking Ratio Reading Ratio Writing Ratio
Not specified 14 26.4% 14 26.4% 14 26.4% 14 26.4%
Elementary 12 22.6% 11 20.8% 11 20.8% 11 20.8%
Intermediate 26 49.1% 27 50.9% 27 50.9% 27 50.9%
Advanced 1 1.9% 1 1.9% 1 1.9% 1 1.9%
170 J. F. Chen and C. A. Warden

Out of six job openings that require master degree, three require intermediate level
of English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skill, as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Proficiency requirements of English skills: master degree required jobs.

Level Skill
Listening Ratio Speaking Ratio Reading Ratio Writing Ratio
Not specified 2 33.3% 2 33.3% 2 33.3% 2 33.3%
Elementary 1 16.7% 1 16.7% 1 16.7% 1 16.7%
Intermediate 3 50.0% 3 50.0% 3 50.0% 3 50.0%
Advanced 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

4 Conclusion

As the educational requirement goes up, the required English skill levels also go
up. Companies may expect employees who have college or master degree to be able to
use English to communicate fluently at the workplaces. From the listings of the four
English skills, we can see that when companies need employees to have the English
skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills are equally important.
In Taiwan, because of the large English class size for non-English major students,
most English classes for mechanical engineering college students focus on listening
and reading skills training. This study’s findings show that more resources need to be
put in for training college students’ speaking and writing skills in order to prepare them
for the workplaces.

Acknowledgment. The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Science and Technology of the
Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this research under Contract No. MOST
108-2511-H-240-001 –

References
1. Andrews, D.C.: An interdisciplinary course in technical communication. Tech. Commun. 50,
446 (2003)
2. Kassim, H., Ali, F.: English communicative events and skills needed at the workplace:
feedback from the industry. Engl. Specif. Purp. 29, 168–182 (2010)
3. Darling, A.L., Dannels, D.P.: Practicing engineers talk about the importance of talk: a report
on the role of oral communication in the workplace. Commun. Educ. 52, 1–16 (2003)
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Behav. Sci. 66, 529–536 (2012)
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7. Riemer, M.J.: English and communication skills for the global engineer. Global J. Eng. Educ.
6, 91–100 (2002)
8. Gunn, C.J.: Engineering graduate students as evaluators of communication skill. Age 9, 1
(2004)
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Mon. Refereed J. Res. Manag. Technol. 3, 1 (2014)
 Research on the Implementation Status
and Learning Satisfaction of Off-campus
Internship Courses in the Department
of Mechanical Engineering of the University
of Technology

Dyi-Cheng Chen1(&), Hsi-Chi Hsiao2, Jen-Chia Chang3,

Su-Chang Chen4, Kuo-Cheng Wen1, Jia-Yue Guo1,
and Yu-Chen Gao1
1
Department of Industrial Education and Technology, National Changhua
University of Education, Changhua 500, Taiwan
dcchen@cc.ncue.edu.tw,
{m0831005,M0731009}@gm.ncue.edu.tw,
calerqazwsx@gmail.com
2
Department of Business Administration, Cheng Shiu University,
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
hsichihs@gmail.com
3
Graduate Institute of Technological and Vocational Education,
National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
jc5839@ntut.edu.tw
4
Department of Marketing and Logistics Management,
National Penghu University of Science and Technology, Penghu, Taiwan
csc@npu.edu.tw

Abstract. This study explores 38 students of mechanical engineering at the

University of Technology. The experiment group and the control group are used
to compare the differences in the satisfaction of students with and without the
intervention of topic-oriented teaching materials, and to understand the situation
of learning satisfaction after the training with external students. This study uses
a questionnaire distribution method for analysis and research. The content of the
questionnaire is divided into two parts: student background attribute data and
student learning satisfaction. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and t
test correlation.
The results show that there are significant differences between interventional
teaching materials and student learning satisfaction. The value of “Course
Teaching” is 4.965 p < .001; the value of “Internship Environment” is 2.183
p < .05, and the value of “Internship Tutoring” is 4.423 p < .001. The study
found that the learning level of “Course Teaching”, “Internship Environment”
and “Internship Tutoring” has improved significantly. Before the internship,
students conducted project-based off-campus internship teaching material
teaching, so that students have a certain cognition for the enterprise during the
internship. Preparing knowledge and standards can also improve self-study
performance. Finally, on the basis of the research results, this study puts forward

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 172–181, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_20
 Research on the Implementation Status and Learning Satisfaction 173

related suggestions, project-based and future research for improving under-

graduate internships.

Keywords: Mechanical engineering
Off-campus internship
Learning

satisfaction
Project-based off-campus teaching materials

1 Introduction

With the rapid changes of the world economy, higher education should train student to
enhance their ability to face the future. Therefore, off-campus internships have played
an indispensable role in higher education. The main core of off-campus internship is to
strengthen and practice the employment. Off-campus internship is also to cultivate and
strengthen students’ sense of social responsibility, innovative spirit and practical ability
[1]. Students can accumulate their work experience during the internship. They can
gain an in-depth understanding of their strengths and weaknesses through internships,
and recover their shortcomings in theoretical knowledge as soon as possible. In the
future, they can enhance their competitiveness in the job market or develop their own
careers ability [2]. According to this research, for students, the core focus of off-campus
internship is to obtain employment experience. Students also highly value the expe-
rience of internship, and recognize that it is very beneficial to their future workplace
development [3].
According to the above literature, we know that students gain experience through
off-campus internships, and the lack of theoretical or business-related knowledge needs
to be returned to school to make up. However, if we can use the Project-Based off-
campus internship teaching materials as a guide, then we can understand the operation
and standardization of internship institutions, effective communication and prior
knowledge of teamwork before the internship, So that students can proceed smoothly
during the internship. This study hopes that by analyzing whether teaching materials
are involved in project-based off-campus teaching materials and after off-campus
internships, students can evaluate the differences in learning satisfaction during their
internships and understand the differences between off-campus internships and learning
satisfaction after teaching materials intervention. Provide further suggestions for school
teaching methods.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Analysis and Meaning of Learning Satisfaction

Education is an indispensable part of life, so effective learning is helpful to human
beings, especially students are very important to improve the quality of education [4].
However, learning refers to changing a person’s reaction or behavior due to experience.
Satisfaction is one of personality traits, an attitude, a feeling, and an abstract and fuzzy
term [5, 6]. Regarding satisfaction, many scholars have set many definitions. Learning
satisfaction is a learner’s pleasant feeling or attitude towards learning activities, that is,
his desires and needs are met during the learning process. [7]. The study of learning
174 D.-C. Chen et al.

satisfaction can understand the lack of courses and improve them, enhance the interests
of learners, and guide the direction of course development [8].

2.2 Status of Off-campus Internships

What motivated the need for students to participate in internships during college? The
main motivation is that most students say they want to understand the working envi-
ronment and collect practical work experience. They hope that when they enter the
labor market after graduation, they will help the workplace. Many people also hope that
internships will help them find work in the future. The use of internships as a means of
making money seems to be a secondary motivation [9]. Considering the impact of
internships on students, students choose internships to understand jobs or industries
that may be suitable for their profession [10].
According to the above research, in addition to the students’ basic professional
knowledge and skills, and the company’s expectations of the students’ ability to apply
to the workplace. It is necessary to pay attention to the learning process of students in
off-campus internships. Does the employer have the attitude and behavior to provide
timely counselling and assistance to students when they encounter difficulties or
obstacles? Analyze the learning satisfaction and make suggestions after researching and
discussing the research characteristics.

3 Research Methods

3.1 Research Methodology and Framework

This research mainly explores the learning satisfaction of graduates of related majors in
mechanical sciences from the University of Technology, allowing students to evaluate
their own satisfaction with their learning and their internship institutions when par-
ticipating in off-campus internships. Compare and discuss the differences between the
two with and without teaching materials. This research adopts a quasi-experimental
research method, which lasted 8 weeks of teaching activities; based on the teaching
experiment and teaching experiment data of off-campus practice teaching materials as
the analysis basis. The self-variable term is a teaching mode, which is divided into
teaching material intervention teaching, which is used in the experimental group, and
no teaching material intervention teaching, which is used in the control group; the
dependent variable is learning satisfaction, and the questionnaire survey is used for
students using the off-campus practice process as a test tool.
The research uses questionnaire survey methods and theoretical analysis methods to
make a questionnaire for the satisfaction of off-campus internship learning. The content
of the questionnaire is divided into two parts. In the first part, there are 10 options
related to the satisfaction of outside school internship learning, The second part is to
ask the interviewee’s personal information, including: gender, grade of internship, and
type of internship. Questionnaires were distributed to school students, and independent
sample t-tests and reliability analysis were performed.
 Research on the Implementation Status and Learning Satisfaction 175

3.2 Research Object

The research object is 38 students in the third grade of a mechanical field in a university
of technology, 19 students in class A (Control group) and 19 students in class B
(Experimental group). In order to avoid unduly affecting the operation of the school
and the normal teaching process, the second class of students taught by the researcher is
used in groups without changing the school class and class time. Teaching experi-
mental research, one class is experimental group. The experimental group has the
intervention of project-based off-campus teaching materials, and the professor teaches
the students in the classroom. One group is the control group, without the intervention
of teaching materials. There were 19 people in each group.

3.3 Teaching Syllabus Before Off-campus Internship

In the experimental group, before participating in the off-campus internship, there is a
project-based off-campus teaching material intervention teaching. The teaching mate-
rials before the off-campus internship is divided into five chapters, which are the
operation and standardization of internship institutions, effective communication and
teamwork, technical problem solving strategies, data collection, and internship report
writing. Through the teaching materials before the internship, students can understand
the prerequisite knowledge before the internship. It is hoped that the students can
participate in the off-campus internship through the teaching materials and have a
certain understanding of the enterprise specifications (Table 1).

Table 1. Teaching material units and outlines.

Course title Off-campus internship
Chapter Teaching unit
1. Operation and standardization 1-1 Understand the current status of the industry
of internship institutions 1-2 Company organization and department functions
1-3 Work norms and professional ethics
1-4 Standard operating procedures
1-5 Internship content
2. Effective communication and 2-1 Effective communication
teamwork 2-2 Teamwork (understand the meaning of teamwork)
3. Technical problem solving 3-1 Technical problem solving strategies
strategies
4. Data collection 4-1 Data collection (including patent search, application
network, technical manual query, etc.)
5. Internship report writing 5-1 Internship report writing skills
5-2 Internship report writing (including industry-
academia cooperation technology training experience
report, topics for practical topics)
*
New add item.
176 D.-C. Chen et al.

3.4 Questionnaire Design

Through Ghaith M. Jaradat’s perspective on training internship to explore the satis-
faction of mechanical engineering students’ out-of-school internship learning [11], and
then add and modify the proportional items to produce a questionnaire. This ques-
tionnaire uses Likert’s five-point scale. Subjects respond according to their actual
feelings, ranging from “completely agree” to “completely disagree”, with 5 to 1 points
respectively. The higher the score, the better the student’s learning satisfaction. The
first part of the questionnaire is divided into three aspects, namely course teaching,
internship environment, and internship guidance. Table 2 lists the Satisfaction Form of
Mechanical Engineering Students’ Off-campus Internship Study.

Table 2. Satisfaction form of mechanical engineering students’ off-campus internship study.

Dimension Indicator
1. Aspects of course 1-1 The internship helped me find a job after graduation
teaching 1-2 In the future, if the internship agency is willing to hire me, I
will be willing to go to work
1-3 Faculty’s course arrangements and training help to use and
complete internship tasks
1-4 When there are difficulties or obstacles during the
internship, the school instructor can provide me with guidance
and assistance in a timely manner
2. Aspects of the internship 2-1 When encountering difficulties or obstacles during the
environment internship, the internship institution can give me guidance and
assistance in a timely manner
2-2 The professional ability of the intern institution can meet
my skills development
2-3 Internship institutions provide my professional and safe
internship environment
3. Aspects of internship 3-1 I am satisfied with the administrative supporting measures
counselling of the internship system
3-2 Pre-departure briefing sessions (including industrial safety
and ethics workshops) helped me
3-3 The teaching methods of internship institutions can be
suitable for my learning

4 Results and Discussions

4.1 Attribute Analysis of Background Information of School Student

Questionnaire
In this study, 38 questionnaires were distributed and 38 were recovered, all of which
were valid questionnaires, and the recovery rate was 100%. The SPSS statistical
software was used to analyze the questionnaires. Table 3 shows the background
 Research on the Implementation Status and Learning Satisfaction 177

analysis results of the students. In the 38 samples, all students in the control group and
the experimental group all participated in off-campus internships, and most of the
students in the school participated in off-campus internships during the third year of
college. In terms of gender, male students in both the control group and the experi-
mental group accounted for 84.2% of the sample. For mechanical students, this ratio
reflects gender differences in the field of mechanical learning. The categories of
internship time for students are 100% for summer internships.

Table 3. Results of background analysis of questionnaires for school students.

Basic Control group Experimental group
information Times Percentage Times Percentage
1. Have you Yes 19 100% Yes 19 100%
taken an off- No 0 0% No 0 0%
campus
internship?
2. Grades Sophomore 1 5.3% Sophomore 2 10.5%
involved in Junior 11 57.9% Junior 12 63.2%
off-campus Senior 7 36.8% Senior 5 26.3%
internships
3. Field of Machinery 19 100% Machinery 19 100%
study field field
4. Gender male 16 84.2% male 16 84.2%
Female 3 15.8% Female 3 15.8%
5. Internship Summer 19 100% Summer 19 100%
category internship internship

4.2 Analysis of School Students’ Learning Satisfaction Questionnaire

In the study, the t test was used for analysis, and the categories with different learning
satisfaction were sorted out in Table 4 below. In the aspects of course teaching,
internship environment and internship counselling, the learning satisfaction of the
control group and the experimental group is very different.
In the aspects of course teaching, the question “The internship helped me find a job
after graduation” has a t-value of 2.927 p < .05, and this learning satisfaction has
improved significantly. “In the future, if the internship agency is willing to hire me, I
will be willing to go to work” The question t value is 3.543 p < .001, and this learning
satisfaction has improved significantly. “Faculty’s course arrangements and training
help to use and complete internship task”. The t value of the question is 5.906 p < .001,
and this learning satisfaction has improved significantly. “When there are difficulties or
obstacles during the internship, the school instructor can provide me with guidance and
assistance in a timely manner” The question t value is 4.170 p < .001, which has
significantly improved the learning satisfaction. The t value of the “Course Teaching”
facet is 4.965 p < .001, and the learning satisfaction of the “Course Teaching” has
improved significantly. On the issue of “The internship helped me find a job after
178 D.-C. Chen et al.

Table 4. Analytical results of the satisfaction table of students’ off-campus practice study.
Control group Experimental t test
N = 19 group N = 19
Mean SD Mean SD
1. Aspects of course teaching 3.11 .830 4.28 .606 4.965***
1-1 The internship helped me find a job 3.42 1.017 4.26 .733 2.927*
after graduation
1-2 In the future, if the internship agency is 3.00 1.247 4.16 .688 3.543***
willing to hire me, I will be willing to go to
work
1-3 Faculty’s course arrangements and 2.74 1.046 4.37 .597 5.906***
training help to use and complete
internship tasks
1-4 When there are difficulties or obstacles 3.26 .933 4.32 .582 4.170***
during the internship, the school instructor
can provide me with guidance and
assistance in a timely manner
2. Aspects of the internship environment 3.88 .705 4.33 .577 2.183*
2-1 When encountering difficulties or 4.05 .705 4.37 .597 1.490
obstacles during the internship, the
internship institution can give me guidance
and assistance in a timely manner
2-2 The professional ability of the intern 3.42 1.071 4.37 .597 3.368**
institution can meet my skills development
2-3 Internship institutions provide my 4.16 7.65 4.26 .653 .456
professional and safe internship
environment
3. Aspects of internship counselling 3.44 .609 4.32 .613 4.423***
3-1 I am satisfied with the administrative 3.58 .769 4.42 .692 3.548***
supporting measures of the internship
system
3-2 Pre-departure briefing sessions 3.47 .905 4.16 .688 2.623*
(including industrial safety and ethics
workshops) helped me
3-3 The teaching methods of internship 3.26 .991 4.37 .597 4.163***
institutions can be suitable for my learning
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

graduation”, although there are significant results, it is relatively low compared with
other issues in the aspect of curriculum teaching. The reason can be seen in Table 4 “In
the future, if the internship agency is willing to hire me, I will be willing to go to
work”. During the internship, I have a certain understanding of the current state of the
industry. If the internship institution is willing to continue to hire students in the future,
and willing to continue serving, so some people will continue to serve, and some will
look for work after graduation. The reason for the above four points is that when the
students first intern, they do not understand that the company will behave in a flustered
 Research on the Implementation Status and Learning Satisfaction 179

manner and cannot concentrate on the internship. However, the off-campus internship
course conveys work specifications, internship content, and standard operating pro-
cedures at work as well as the matters to be noted during the internship, these learning
items allow students to know what kind of study and preparation they need to do during
the internship, and can accurately focus on the internship project.
In the aspects of internship environment, the question “When encountering diffi-
culties or obstacles during the internship, the internship institution can give me guid-
ance and assistance in a timely manner” has a t-value of 1.490, which has not
significantly improved the learning satisfaction. The t-value of the question “Pre-
departure briefing sessions (including industrial safety and ethics workshops) helped
me” is 3.368 p < .01, which has significantly improved the learning satisfaction. The
question “Internship institutions provide my professional and safe internship envi-
ronment” has a t-value of 0.456. There is no significant improvement in learning
satisfaction. The t value of the “Internship Environment” facet is 2.183 p < .05, and the
learning satisfaction of the “Internship Environment” has improved significantly. The
“When encountering difficulties or obstacles during the internship, the internship
institution can give me guidance and assistance in a timely manner” problem can be
compared with the “When there are difficulties or obstacles during the internship, the
school instructor can provide me with guidance and assistance in a timely manner”
problem. It can be known that when encountering difficulties or obstacles during the
internship, they will still first seek the guidance and assistance of the school guidance
teacher.
In the aspects of internship counselling, the question “I am satisfied with the
administrative supporting measures of the internship system” has a t-value of 3.548
p < .001, a significant improvement in learning satisfaction. “The pre-departure
briefing session (including work safety and ethics lectures was helpful to me)” The
question t value is 2.623 p < .05, and this learning satisfaction has improved signifi-
cantly. The t value of the question “The teaching methods of internship institutions can
be suitable for my learning” is 4.163 p < .001, which is a significant improvement in
learning satisfaction. The face value of “Internship Counseling” is 4.423 p < .001, and
the learning satisfaction of “Internship Counseling” has improved significantly.

5 Conclusions

In this study, through the above analysis, the differences between school students’
satisfaction with off-campus Internship and teaching materials intervention were
compared. It is hoped that by analyzing the differences between students’ perceptions
of off-campus internships and student satisfaction with learning after teaching materials
intervention, further project-based for school teaching methods are proposed.
(1) Aspects of course teaching
Significant standards have been achieved in the teaching aspects of the curriculum.
Based on the results, it can be known that before the off-campus internship, it is
useful to carry out the project-based off-campus teaching materials. The teaching
materials mentions “Operation and standardization of internship institutions” and
180 D.-C. Chen et al.

“Technical problem solving strategies “, etc., to enable students to have a certain

understanding of off-campus internships and to effectively solve problems when
they encounter problems.
(2) Aspects of internship environment
In terms of the internship environment, only “The professional ability of the intern
institution can meet my skills development” has reached a significant level. When
the teaching materials were involved, “Technical problem solving strategies” were
mentioned. The professional teachers can also solve technical problems when
discussing professional technology, satisfy the students’ skills development, and
prove that teaching materials are useful.
(3) Aspects of internship counselling
In the aspect of internship counseling, they have reached a significant level,
because before the internship, the supporting measures such as topic-oriented out-
of-school internship teaching materials and pre-departure briefing sessions will be
made to allow students to study smoothly during the internship and improve their
self-improvement. Performance of learning satisfaction.
From the above three points, it can be seen that students conduct project-based off-
campus teaching materials for off-campus internships before internships, so that stu-
dents have certain prior knowledge and standards of the enterprise during the intern-
ship, and can also improve their self-study performance.

Acknowledgements. I am grateful to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, for its
support and funding for this research; Project Number (MOST 108-2511-H-018-014).

References
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engineering & computer science in technological universities. Int. J. Concept. Manag. Soc.
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8. Fujita-Stank, P.J., Thompson, J.A.: The effects of motivation and classroom environment on
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 Reviewing the Changes in Core Competencies
for Undergraduates in Technological
Universities

Jen-Chia Chang , Hsiao-Fang Shih(&) , and Kuang-Ling Chang

Graduate Institute of Technological and Vocational Education, National Taipei

University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Zhongxiao East Road, Taipei,
Taiwan
tch3214@goo.tyai.tyc.edu.tw

Abstract. The objectives of this study are to explore the core competency
content of electrical engineering & computer science students, as well as the
current situation of training. Literature review and focus group methods were
adopted to design the questionnaire survey content. In addition, first-year stu-
dents from the college of electrical engineering & computer science of a uni-
versity of technology underwent questionnaire surveys before and after 2 years.
There were 195 effective questionnaire copies, accounting for the effective
recovery rate of 60.9%. Targeting the survey results, paired sample t-test
analysis was carried out. The study found that the post-test scores of students
after 2 years were lower than those of the first grade, especially in terms of
general core abilities, and each ability had significant differences. It is recom-
mended that the teaching objectives and course content be consistent with the
core competencies. The curriculum content should also be designed for the core
competencies, using situational education, problem-based learning, and inte-
grated teaching methods and integrated teaching methods, so that students can
understand the learning goals and the focus of teaching is to promote students to
improve their core competencies.

Keywords: Core competency
Engineering technology education

Technology university

1 Introduction

Departments in the field of electrical engineering & computer science are closely
related to high-tech industry development. Improving the core competency of students
majoring in electrical engineering & computer science indeed ensures Taiwan’s leading
status in the global high-tech industry. Therefore, the core competency of students
majoring in electrical engineering & computer science is especially important. It can be
seen from the MOE’s various programs and technical and vocational education policy
outline contents that the MOE actively promotes collaboration between technical
colleges and the industry, emphasizing the core competency of students studying in
technical and vocational education in response to ever-changing future industrial
changes. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the current situation of the

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 182–188, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_21
 Reviewing the Changes in Core Competencies for Undergraduates 183

core competency of students majoring in electrical engineering & computer science.

We used a questionnaire related to core competency to investigate the students of the
Institute of Electrical Engineering and Technology in a domestic university of science
and technology. They surveyed that they had the core competency in the first year and
before the end of the sophomore year. In our research, we’d like to explore the fol-
lowing questions:
1. What is the core competency content of electrical engineering & computer science
students?
2. Will the core competencies of electrical engineering and computer science students
vary by grade?

2 Literature Review

In 2014, UNESCO proposed the “2014–2021 Education Strategy”. The strategy

emphasizes that the future of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training
system should aim to develop the world of work and emphasize evidence-based cur-
riculum design [1]. Currently, countries around the world are emphasizing the
importance of students’ core competency. They believe that core competencies are
related to future employability and combine core competencies with educational goals.
They want to build students’ ability to meet industry needs and the ability to work
immediately.

2.1 Higher Educational Goals and Core Competency

The educational objective is to train students to achieve professional and achievements
in three to five years after graduation in higher education [2]. Each school and
department consider the cultivation of students’ professional abilities related to future
employment when setting educational goals. It is expected that students will be able to
cope with various work problems when they are employed. Core competency refers to
the main and important competitiveness that the future environment and society should
possess [3]. The educational goal is to train graduates to achieve professional goals.
After students study, students are expected to have professional knowledge and abil-
ities, which is the core ability [4].

2.2 Core Competency in Engineering Education

The main mission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)
is to certify engineering and technology related departments and curriculums applied at
US education institutions. The ABET led the global engineering education certification
towards student learning result orientation in 2000, setting up new certification spec-
ifications known as EC2000. At present, the ABET deems the core competency of
engineering technology education (TAC) as: demonstrate the ability to solve gener-
alized engineering problems using mathematics, science, engineering, technology,
skills, and modern tools, demonstrate the ability to design systems, components, or
184 J.-C. Chang et al.

processes for broadly defined engineering technology problems, demonstrate the ability
to carry out written, oral, and graphical communication in a technical and non-technical
environment, demonstrate the ability to perform competency standard tests and mea-
sure, conduct, analyze, and explain experiments, demonstrate the ability to perform
effective work as a technical team member [5]. The Youth Guidance Committee of the
Executive Yuan of our country believes that the employment of college graduates
should be based on their work attitude and cooperation ability, career planning and
learning progress, and the ability to apply professional knowledge [6]. The Institute of
Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) pointed out at an engineering and technology
education seminar in 2019 that the core competency items expected of engineering
technology education (TAC) students are: demonstrate familiarity with knowledge,
technology, skills, and tool competencies required for engineering practice, demon-
strate the ability to properly execute standard operating programs and execute, analyze,
explain, and apply experiments in practical skills, demonstrate the ability to apply
creativity in engineering practical skills, demonstrate the ability to engage in plan
management, effective communication, and teamwork, demonstrate the ability to
confirm, analyze, and solve engineering practical and technical problems, recognize
current issues, understand the impact of engineering practical technology on the
environment, society, and the world, cultivate the habit and ability of continuous
learning, understand professional ethics, recognize social responsibility, and respect
pluralistic perspectives [7].

3 Research Method

In order to gain insight into the core competency of electrical engineering & computer
science students and whether or not their core competency is enhanced after course
learning, this study used document analysis, focus group, questionnaire survey, and
other methods to carry out relevant research. The research methods and research design
are described in detail below.

3.1 Document Analysis

Literature analysis is a form of qualitative research that uses systematic analysis of
literature evidence and answers specific research questions [8]. Through data compi-
lation and analysis of the current status of the core competency development of my
country’s Institute of Electricity and Information Technology, the teaching objectives
of the Institute of Electricity and Technology of the four universities of science and
technology are summarized, corresponding to the core competency that students of
engineering technology education should have after graduation. Among them, the
School of Electrical Engineering includes four departments: electrical engineering,
electronic engineering, optoelectronic engineering, and information engineering.
 Reviewing the Changes in Core Competencies for Undergraduates 185

3.2 Focus Group Interview

The focus group interview method refers to group interviews by selecting members who
meet specific research conditions, with the purpose of collecting qualitative information
[9]. Through the use of the “Focus Group,” to collect and integrate the opinions of people
with academic and practical experience in this field, analyze and discuss the content of the
questionnaire in the form of a focus group. In order to ensure the appropriateness of the
core competency questionnaire of the Institute of Electrical Engineering, the content of
the questionnaire was organized through data analysis, and professors in the field of
electrical engineering were invited to hold an expert meeting based on the core compe-
tency summary table of the Institute of Electrical Engineering, and confirm the ques-
tionnaire through discussion and exchange Content, developed the “Core Competency”
scale. After pre-examination by 90 students from the University of Science and Tech-
nology in the field of electric capital, experts, and scholars from different fields of electric
capital are invited to confirm the final content of the questionnaire.

3.3 Questionnaire Survey

This study took the first-year freshmen of the four technical day department of the
107th academic year of the School of Electrical Engineering (Department of Electrical
Engineering, Department of Electronic Engineering, Department of Information
Engineering, and Department of Optoelectronic Engineering) of T University as the
research object, and used a seven-point scale to investigate. This time, 320 question-
naires were issued and 294 valid questionnaires were recovered in the pretest. The
effective recovery rate was 91.9%, 241 valid questionnaires were recovered in the
posttest, and the effective recovery rate was 75.3%. According to the before and after
test data, there were a total of 195 before and after the test. Based on the survey results,
a paired sample t test analysis was performed.

4 Research Results and Discussion

The Cronbach a values measured before and after this questionnaire were .946 and
.969, indicating that the content had good internal consistency (Table 1).

Table 1. Reliability analysis of core competency questionnaire.

Cronbach a
Pretest Posttest
Core competency .946 .969

According to the results of the questionnaire, after 2 years of study, students of the
School of Electrical Engineering and Technology of T University of Science and
Technology clearly dissatisfied with their performance in terms of Generic core
competency, such as competitiveness regarding effective communication and team-
work, competency in discovering, analyzing, and handling problems, recognize current
186 J.-C. Chang et al.

issues, understanding the impact of engineering practical technology on the environ-

ment, society, and the world, cultivate the habit and ability of continuous learning,
competency in understanding professional ethics and social responsibility, work ethics,
and attitude cultivation, competency in understanding new knowledge and new
products, these core competency projects show that students feel that their performance
is worse than that in the first grade. In Professional core competency, there are
Competencies in mathematics, science, and engineering knowledge application,
Competency in analysis and explanation, Competency in techniques, skills, and tools
required for executing engineering practices, Competency in computer operations, and
other items up to a significant difference (Table 2).

Table 2. Table of core competency paired sample t-test (N: 195).

Core competency Paired sample t-test
Item Pretest Posttest t value
M SD M SD
Generic core competencies
5. Competency in effective communication and teamwork 5.49 1.03 5.09 1.35 3.53**
6. Competency in discovering, analyzing, and handling problems 5.51 0.98 5.13 1.32 3.51**
7. Recognize current issues, understand the impact of engineering 5.35 1.13 5.01 1.27 3.11**
practical technology on the environment, society, and the world,
cultivate the habit and ability of continuous learning
8. Competency in understanding professional ethics and social 5.42 1.13 5.03 1.31 3.63***
responsibility
10. Work ethics and attitude cultivation 5.63 1.07 5.11 1.40 4.61***
14. Competency in understanding new knowledge and new products 5.48 1.2 5.08 1.37 3.90***
Professional core competencies
1. Competency in mathematics, science, and engineering knowledge 5.31 1.23 4.88 1.33 3.76***
application
2. Competency in experiment design and execution 5.06 1.26 4.89 1.27 1.42
3. Competency in analysis and explanation 5.17 1.16 4.93 1.25 2.11*
4. Competency in techniques, skills, and tools required for executing 5.25 1.11 4.94 1.30 2.64**
engineering practices
9. Ability to design systems, components, or processes for broadly 4.73 1.38 4.56 1.34 1.29
defined engineering technology problems
11. Competency in computer operations 5.39 1.22 5.15 1.33 2.15*
12. Document processing and reference reading 5.13 1.23 4.90 1.32 1.96
13. Competency in a foreign language in the professional domain 4.68 1.40 4.64 1.30 0.37
15. Competency in intermediate and advanced program language and 4.49 1.08 4.53 1.33 -0.34
data structure and algorithm and software equipment
* ** ***
p < .05, p < .01, p < .001.
 Reviewing the Changes in Core Competencies for Undergraduates 187

In 2010, Haishan, Xue conducted a questionnaire survey on 742 students from five
universities in China and found that there were significant differences between students
in schools and grades. With the increase of grades, students’ self-study quality shows a
downward trend [10]. Juan, Yu conducted a self-directed learning questionnaire on 362
college students in 2005. Senior students’ self-directed learning was lower than that of
first-year students [11]. They consider that freshmen who have just entered college
have expectations of college life and are more willing to try than senior students. As
they grow older and adapt to university life, students’ interest and expectations for
learning will decrease. From the results of this study and other related research, we can
know that the students in the upper grades often feel that their learning performance is
lower than that of the first grades. In terms of Professional core competency, although
the students of the Institute of Electrical Engineering do not have too many significant
differences in projects, they also have no increased performance. It can be seen that
students still have insufficient self-confidence in the study of professional fields, and
they do not think they can learn effectively the Core competencies in their professional
field (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Pretest and posttest results of core competency.

5 Conclusions and Recommendations

This study divides the Core competency of students from the School of Electrical
Engineering into Generic core competency and Professional core competency. In the
research results, the performance of the Generic core competency of sophomore stu-
dents has a significantly lower self-evaluation than in the first grade. Professional core
188 J.-C. Chang et al.

competency also had 4 items with lower scores than the first grade, and obtained
significant differences. The results of this study are similar to those of scholars such as
Xue and Yu. With age, students’ learning and expectations will decrease. The research
results are different from our expectations. We think that after nearly two years of
study, students will think that their general core competency and professional core
competency have improved. Students are clearly dissatisfied with their performance.
This may be because the first-year freshmen believe that they can enter T Tech
University because of their excellent grades, so they are very confident in their per-
formance. After 2 years of study, students may become increasingly dissatisfied with
their performance, so the post-test scores are lower than the pre-test scores. In addition,
university courses will gradually become more difficult, especially in professional
courses, the second year courses are obviously more difficult than the first year, so
students will not be satisfied with their performance after 2 years.
The teaching objectives and core competencies of the School of Electrical Engi-
neering should be as close as possible. The curriculum content should also be designed
for the core competencies, using situational education, problem-based learning, and
integrated teaching methods and integrated teaching methods, so that students can
understand the learning goals and the focus of teaching is to promote students to
improve their core competencies.

Acknowledgement. The researchers would like to express our thanks to the Ministry of Science
and Technology’s financial support by MOST 107-2511-H-027-001.

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112–116 (2005)
 Theoretical and Designing Framework
of Constructivist Learning Environment Model
that Enhance Creative Thinking and Creative
Expression of Science for Medical Illustration
Students

Kan Komany(&) and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Department of Educational Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen

40002, Thailand
kan.mdi.kku@gmail.com, sumalee@kku.ac.th

Abstract. Creative thinking skills are one of the important skills of people in
the 21st century, especially with science and medical personnel that, in addition
to their scientific skills, they need creative expression of science together to
enable to communicate or present complex information interesting and effective.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to synthesize the theoretical and
designing framework of the learning environment according to constructivist
theories approaches to enhance creativity and creative scientific expression. This
research uses model research [3] that focuses on synthesis of the design process
and development of learning models. It consists of 3 main steps which are 1)
document analysis and learning context 2) analysis of learning theory principles
and learning design theory 3) Synthesize and create theoretical framework and
designing framework. The results show that the components of the theory that
can support the research to achieve its objectives consist of 5 components:
(1) learning theories, (2) Teaching model, (3) contextual base, (4) creative
thinking and creative expression of science, (5) Media theories. The designing
framework has 5 important goals which are (1) Stimulating the creation of
intellectual structures, (2) Supporting intellectual balance, (3) Promoting cre-
ativity, (4) Promoting Creative expression of science, (5) Promoting and helping
to balance intellectual. There are 7 components to designing this framework:
(1) Problem situation, (2) Learning Resources, (3) Critical Thinking Center,
(4) Collaboration Center, (5) Creative Thinking Center, (6) Creative expression
of science Center, (7) Scaffolding Center.

Keywords: Constructivist theories
Creative thinking
Creative expression of

science

1 Introduction

The progress of our world in the 21st century is a result of the advancement in
Technology and Innovation that has been continuously created from the past to the
present, an era in which Digital Technology plays a huge role in people. This makes

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 189–195, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_22
190 K. Komany and S. Chaijaroen

people in the society need to have the skills to search for more complex information
correctly and appropriately in order to combine new knowledge with their own
knowledge and experience and create a new piece of work. Therefore, the quest for
self-knowledge and creative thinking and creative expression skills are important skills
for people of today and the future. These skills should be practiced at an early age,
which allows students to have good skills before going into the real work context in
society.
Scientific and medical personnel are a group of people with full potential in science
that can help advance the global society. These groups can create new innovations,
including the transmission of new and complex information for people in society to
learn. Therefore, this group is highly necessary to have creative thinking skills in order
to create new ideas. Scientific and creative expression skills to make the data transfer
interesting and effective to the recipient. For this reason, the researcher sees the
importance of how to create learning for students, especially in science students to
develop intellectual skills, knowledge building skills, creative thinking skills and
creative expression of science. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to synthesize the
theoretical framework of the learning environment according to constructivist theories
approaches to enhance creativity and creative scientific expression. This research uses
model research (Richey & Klein, 2007) that focuses on synthesis of the design process
and development of learning models.

2 Research Purpose
2:1. To study the design and development of a learning environment model based
on constructivist concepts to enhance creative thinking and creative expres-
sion of science for medical illustration students.
2:2. To synthesize the theoretical framework and designing framework of con-
structivist learning environment model to enhance creative thinking and
creative expression of science for medical illustration students.

3 Research Methodology

This research uses the Model research [3] by dividing the process into three phases
which is currently in the process of Phase 1, that is the model development process by
studying and analyzing documents and survey research. The goal of Phase 1 is to
synthesize the theoretical framework and designing framework of constructivist
learning environment model.

3.1 Target Group

Target group in this research consisted of 3 experts for the evaluation of the theoretical
framework and the designing framework and 30 medical illustration students from
faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University.
Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Learning Environment Model 191

3.2 Research Instruments

Recording form for synthesize the designing framework of constructivist learning
environment model to enhance creative thinking and creative expression of science.
Evaluation form for the experts used in theoretical framework and designing frame-
work of constructivist learning environment model to enhance creative thinking and
creative expression of science.

3.3 Data Collection and Data Analysis

Gathering various information from research papers and documents related to theo-
retical principles and context of the sample group, for use in the study and synthesis of
the framework as follows: (1) Documents and data are collected which are related to
the theoretical framework such as Intellectual theory Constructivist theory, teaching
theory, learning design theory, media theory and research that related to the Con-
structivist Learning Environment Model that enhance creative thinking and creative
expression of science for medical illustration students. Then perform data analysis.
(2) Student opinions related to the learning context are explored. After that, take the
results from the survey for analysis by using summaries, interpretations and analytical
explanations. (3) synthesize the theoretical framework and then create the designing
framework through analysis by interpreting the data and using the descriptive analysis
in the framework synthesis record (4) The composition of the model is presented to the
consultant and experts to check the consistency between theory and designing
framework using assessment forms through data interpretation and descriptive analysis.
Its results and recommendations are used to improve the model.

4 Research Results

4.1 Theoretical Framework

The results of the synthesis of theories and research documents are found that the
theoretical framework consists of 5 fundamental: 1) Learning theories consisting of
Cognitivism and Constructivism, 2) Teaching model consisting of Open Learning
Environment (OLE), Constructivist Learning Environment (CLE), Select Organize
Integrate (SOI), 3) Contextual base of the target group is Medical Illustration (MDI),
Faculty of Medicine, Khon kaen University, 4) Media theories consisting of Media
symbol system and Color Theories that can stimulate creativity., and 5) Creative
thinking and Creative expression of science that consists of Guilford’s creative prin-
ciples and the creative scientific expression principles of Sherry-Ann Brown, Depart-
ment of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. (see Fig. 1).

4.2 Designing a Framework

The designing framework of Constructivist Learning Environment Model that enhance
creative thinking and creative expression of science for medical illustration students
(see Fig. 2) showed the four stages as follows:
192 K. Komany and S. Chaijaroen

Fig. 1. Theoretical framework of constructivist learning environment model that enhance

creative thinking and creative expression of science for medical illustration students

Stimulating the Creation of Intellectual Structures. It was designed on the basis of

Cognitive Constructivism by Piaget. This foundation believes that students who are
motivated by a problem situation lead to a state of intellectual conflict causing them to
try to balance their cognitive balance. The process of enabling into the learning context
or complex problems is another factor that helps students to create knowledge. Students
also need to be stimulated by creative thinking. Guilford, 1967, while solving problems
in various situations, with Functionalist theories of color is what helps stimulate cre-
ative thinking. All of this is the design of the Problem situation.
Supporting Intellectual Balance. This step is to help students adjust their cognitive
balance or knowledge building after students encounter complex situations. What
students are encouraged to do is chunking skills. Conceptualization of knowledge. Use
of cognitive tools. Using the media symbol system. Communication, exchange of
knowledge among students. All of this creates three important components: the
Learning Resources, Cognitive Center, Collaboration Center.
Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Learning Environment Model 193

Fig. 2. Designing framework of constructivist learning environment model that enhance

creative thinking and creative expression of science for medical illustration students.

Promoting Creativity. The component is designed according to Guilford’s creative

theory which consists of 4 areas: (1) Fluency, (2) flexibility, (3) originality, (4) elab-
oration. In which these skills are required for students to stimulate their creative
thinking skills. All of this creates the Creative Thinking Center.
Promoting Creative Expression of Science and Medical. Students also need creative
expression skills in addition to creative thinking skills that contains Imagery and
Metaphor, including Subjectivity and Diversity. This was the design of Creative
expression of science Center.
194 K. Komany and S. Chaijaroen

Promoting and Helping to Balance Intellectual. In the theory of Social construc-

tivism, it is believed that learners with lower skills or knowledge need to be helped to
upgrade and develop themselves. In Open Learning Environment (OLE) principles,
students need to be assisted in four areas: Strategic, Conceptual, Metacognitive, and
Procedural. Students need to receive advice or assistance from those who have
expertise. All of this was designed as a Scaffolding Center.

5 Summary and Conclusion

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the theoretical and designing framework of
the learning environment according to constructivist theories approaches to enhance
creativity and creative scientific expression. This research uses model research (Richey
& Klein, 2007) [3] that focuses on synthesis of the design process and development of
learning models. The results show that the components of the theoretical framework
consist of 5 components: (1) learning theories consisting of Cognitivism and Con-
structivism, 2) Teaching model consisting of Open Learning Environment (OLE) [5],
Constructivist Learning Environment (CLE) [14], Select Organize Integrate (SOI) [8],
3) Contextual base of the target group, 4) Media theories consisting of Media symbol
system [6] and Color Theories that can stimulate creativity., and 5) Creative thinking
and Creative expression of science that consists of Guilford’s creative principles [2]
and the creative scientific expression principles of Sherry-Ann Brown [10]. The
designing framework has 5 important goals which are (1) Stimulating the creation of
intellectual structures. It was designed on the basis of Cognitive Constructivism by
Piaget [4]. This foundation believes that students who are motivated by a problem
situation lead to a state of intellectual conflict causing them to try to balance their
cognitive balance that is consistent with the results of Sumalee [1], and Samat and
Chaijaroen [11] research that designed problem situations to encourage students to
create knowledge through problem solving. The process of enabling into the learning
context or complex problems is another factor that helps students to create knowledge.
Students also need to be stimulated by creative thinking (Guilford, 1967), while solving
problems in various situations, with Functionalist theories of color is what helps
stimulate creative thinking. (2) Supporting intellectual balance. This step is to help
students adjust their cognitive balance or knowledge building after students encounter
complex situations. What students are encouraged to do is chunking skills. Concep-
tualization of knowledge. Use of cognitive tools. Using the media symbol system.
Communication, exchange of knowledge among students. (3) Promoting creativity.
The component is designed according to Guilford’s creative theory [2] which consists
of 4 areas: fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration. (4) Promoting Creative
expression of science. Students also need creative expression skills in addition to
creative thinking skills that contains Imagery and Metaphor [10, 16, 17], including
Subjectivity and Diversity [10]. (5) Promoting and helping to balance intellectual. In
the theory of Social constructivism [13], it is believed that learners with lower skills or
knowledge need to be helped to upgrade and develop themselves. In Open Learning
Environment (OLE) principles [5], students need to be assisted in four areas: Strategic,
Conceptual, Metacognitive, and Procedural. Students need to receive advice or
Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Learning Environment Model 195

assistance from those who have expertise [12]. There are 8 components to designing
this framework: (1) Problem situation, (2) Learning Resources, (3) Critical Thinking
Center, (4) Collaboration Center, (5) Creative Thinking Center, (6) Creative expression
of science Center, (7) Scaffolding Center.

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technol-

ogy, Faculty of Education, Research Group for Innovation and Cognitive Technology, Khon
Kaen, University, and Research and Technology Transfer Affairs Division, Khon Kaen
University.

References
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3. Richey, R.C., Klein, J.D.: Design and Development Research: Methods, Strategies, and
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4. Piaget, J.: Part I: cognitive development in children: piaget development and learning. J. Res.
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5. Hannafin, M., Land, S., Oliver, K.: Open learning environments: foundations, methods, and
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New Paradigm of Instructional Theory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New York (1999)
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Instructional Design Theories and Models Volume II: A New Paradigm of Instructional
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9. Wilson, B.G., Cole, P.: Cognitive teaching models. In: Jonassen, D.H. (ed.) Handbook of
Research for Educational Communications and Technology. MacMillan, New York (1996)
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medical and science education. Front. Neurol. 6, 3 (2015)
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creative thinking and innovation skills for teacher training in the 21st century. In: 23rd
International Conference on Computers in Education, pp. 667–672. Asia-Pacific Society for
Computers in Education, Hangzhou (2015)
12. Brown, J., Collins, A., Duguid, P.: Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educ. Res.
18(1), 32–42 (1989)
13. Vygotsky, L.S.: Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1978)
14. Jonassen, D.: Designing constructivist learning environments. In: Instructional Design
Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. II, pp. 215–239.
Erlbaum, New-Jersey (1999)
15. Augello, A., Infantino, I., Pilato, G., Rizzo, R., Vella, F.: Binding representational spaces of
colors and emotions for creativity. Biol. Inspired Cogn. Archit. 5, 64–71 (2013)
16. Musolff, A.: Creativity in Metaphor Interpretation (2019)
17. Barnden, J.A.: Unparalleled creativity in metaphor (2008)
 Tracking At-Risk Student Groups
from Teaching and Learning Activities
in Engineering Education

Christopher Chung Lim Kwan(&)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

ceclkwan@polyu.edu.hk

Abstract. Tracking student groups, in particular, at-risk student group is a

challenging but meaningful work in a large class of an engineering mathematics
course, enabling instructors to ascertain how well students are learning and when
they need interventions of their studies during the delivery of teaching and
learning activities. In the paper, two unsupervised learning algorithms, hierar-
chical clustering and k-means clustering, are used and compared with the use of
LMS data such as the level of achievements in online class activities, assign-
ments, a mini-project and a mid-term test for tracking at-risk student groups at the
end of weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 in a 13-week semester of an academic year.
Notwithstanding the higher accuracy of both clustering, the k-means clustering
significantly outperforms the hierarchical clustering in terms of the precision,
recall and f-measure at the end of week 11. It is found that the k-means clustering
can be employed to track at-risk students with the recall of 0.640 and the f-
measure of 0.533 for the initial intervention of their studies by the end of week 7.

Keywords: At-risk student
Hierarchical clustering
K-means clustering

Precision
Recall
F-measure

1 Introduction

Traditionally, educational data, generally generated from results of many assessment

tasks like assignments, tests, laboratory reports and examinations, are used to grade
student performance at the end of a subject or a course, informing students of how well
they have learned for the progression of studies and graduation. These assessment
results are further analyzed by course instructors to measure the achievement of the
subject intended learning outcomes for quality assurance and accreditation purposes [2,
3, 11]. On the other hand, assessment can be regarded as formative feedback to stu-
dents, providing them with frequent responses and precise information on how well
they are on track during learning, and timely interventions of their studies if at-risk
student group can be identified and tracked as early as possible during the delivery of
teaching and learning activities [6, 7]. This is a particularly challenging work for
lecturing in large classes [9].
With advances in artificial intelligence, it is possible to identify at-risk students in
class and to predict students’ success in a course [4, 5, 7, 10]. Marbouti et al. [8] built

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 196–205, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_23
 Tracking At-Risk Student Groups from Teaching and Learning Activities 197

three logistic regression-based models to identify at-risk students in a large first-year

engineering course at weeks 2, 4 and 9 in a semester. These models are highly pre-
dictive in identifying at-risk students. However, these models like other supervised
learning models cannot be trained and tested in the absence of observed data or output
variable such as students’ final grade, addressing the value of creating unsupervised
learning models like hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering for tracking and
identifying at-risk student groups.

2 The Context of the Study

The dataset of an engineering mathematics course offered in a 13-week semester of an

academic year is used for the present study and extracted from Blackboard LMS for
hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering. In total, there are a total of 240 students
participating in class activities and various assessment tasks, designed on the basis of
the subject curriculum and the subject intended learning outcomes.
Identifying at-risk students with the aid of artificial intelligence is the focus of the
study. The present study thus aims at addressing the following research questions:
What is the performance of hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering for
tracking at-risk student groups in terms of the accuracy, precision, recall and f-
measure?
Which clustering can be employed to track at-risk students for timely intervention
of their studies by the end of week 7 with certain degrees of recall and f-measure?
For the dataset, there are 16 input variables such as 2 assignments, a mini project, a
mid-term test, and 12 online class activities held in each week of the semester. The
online class activities are done in face-to-face (F2F) sessions for recording the number
of multiple-choice questions correctly attempted as well as students’ attendance. The
score of the online class activities is not counted in the calculation of the coursework
assessment as these activities are designed for enhancing student engagement in class
and checking their understanding of the topics, concepts, and theorems. The input
variables used for hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering are summarized in
Table 1.
The output variable is the final examination score which is always an unknown
variable before the end of the 13-week course and is intended not to be used for
clustering. As the final examination score is made available at the end of the semester,
this variable is simply used for evaluating the performance of hierarchical clustering
and k-means clustering respectively at the end of weeks 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 11 in terms of
the accuracy, precision, recall and f-measure. A binary variable (i.e. 0 or 1) which
indicates whether the student is at-risk or not is also defined. An integer “1” can be
assigned to the binary variable which represents an at-risk student who either fails in
the final examination or is absent from the final examination. Conversely, an integer
“0” is assigned to a not-at-risk student passing the final examination.
198 C. C. L. Kwan

Table 1. Input variables used for hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering.
Input variable Completed by week Type Point
Assignment 1 5 Numeric 0–15
Mid-term test 7 Numeric 0–50
Mini-project 8 Numeric 0–20
Assignment 2 11 Numeric 0–15
1st Online class activity 1 Integer 0–3
2nd Online class activity 2 Integer 0–8
3rd Online class activity 3 Integer 0–4
4th Online class activity 4 Integer 0–6
5th Online class activity 5 Integer 0–2
6th Online class activity 6 Integer 0–3
7th Online class activity 7 Integer 0–6
8th Online class activity 8 Integer 0–2
9th Online class activity 9 Integer 0–3
10th Online class activity 10 Integer 0–3
11th Online class activity 11 Integer 0–1
12th Online class activity 12 Integer 0–1

3 Methodology

Initially, three input variables such as 1st, 2nd and 3rd online class activities are used for
hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering respectively at the end of week 3. At the
end of week 5, 1st–5th online class activities and assignment 1 are selected as input
variables for clustering. Because of an in-class mid-term test held in week 7, clustering
is also carried out for finding different groups of similar characteristics like at-risk
student groups by the end of week 7. In this connection, nine input variables such as
1st–7th online class activities, assignment 1 and mid-term test are selected. Furthermore,
twelve input variables such as 1st–9th online class activities, assignment 1, mid-term
test and mini-project are chosen for clustering by the end of week 9. At the end of week
11, fifteen input variables except the 12th online class activity are used for clustering as
shown in Table 1.
The goal of clustering is to categorize the data into similar groups. The distance
between two data points are generally defined by “Euclidean distance”, where k is the
number of independent variables.
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
dij ¼ ðxi1  xj1 Þ2 þ ðxi2  xj2 Þ2 þ . . . þ ðxik  xjk Þ2 ð1Þ

As distance is highly influenced by scale of variables, it is customary to normalize the

data first. Both hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering are then used and
compared with the use of LMS data such as the level of achievements in online class
 Tracking At-Risk Student Groups from Teaching and Learning Activities 199

activities, assignments, a mini-project and a mid-term test for tracking at-risk student
groups at the end of weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 in a 13-week semester of an academic year.

3.1 Hierarchical Clustering

This hierarchical clustering is a bottom-up approach to construct a cluster dendrogram.
The algorithm of hierarchical clustering is addressed as follows:
1. Assign a cluster to each data point initially such that ‘n’ clusters for ‘n’ data points;
2. Combine two nearest clusters by calculating the distance and the centroid;
3. Repeat to proceed the step 2 until all data points are in one cluster, then stop the
iteration.

3.2 K-Means Clustering

This method is also one of the simplest unsupervised learning algorithms [1]. The
algorithm of k-means clustering is used for categorizing groups of similar character-
istics. Firstly, the number of ‘k’ cluster centers is specified and initialized randomly.
Then, the distances between each data point and cluster centers are calculated by using
Euclidean distance formula. Secondly, assignment of the data points to that cluster
center whose distance from the cluster center is minimum as compared to all the cluster
centers is made. In other words, the minimum-distance classifier can be used to sep-
arate the above data into k clusters, where a data xt is in cluster i if kxt  mi k is the
minimum of all k distances. That is,

1 if kxt  mi k ¼ mink kxt  mk k
bti ¼ ð2Þ
0 otherwise

The algorithm aims to minimize an objective function which is defined as

  X X
E fmi gki¼1 jX ¼ t
bt kx  m i k2
i i t
ð3Þ

Thus, taking its derivative with respect to mi and setting it to zero yield
P t
b xt
mi ¼ Pt i t ð4Þ
t bi

The new cluster center can thus be updated by using the assigned data points and the
Eq. (4). Thirdly, the distances between each data point and new cluster centers are
recalculated by using the Eq. (2). Therefore, this is an iterative procedure. If there is no
reassignment of the data points, then the iteration is stopped. Otherwise, the second
step is repeated for assigning the data points.
200 C. C. L. Kwan

4 Result

The mean scores of five student clusters were determined from hierarchical clustering
and k-means clustering respectively at the end of weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 respectively.
In particular, it is found that Cluster 3 of hierarchical clustering is tracked and identified
to be the potential at-risk student group based on the mean scores of input variables up
to the end of week 7 as shown in Table 2. The mean scores of 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th
online class activities are not shown in Table 2 for simplicity. The number of students
in this cluster is 26. Students were not actively engaged in the online class activities as
a result of the second lowest mean score among five groups. Their performances on
both Assignment 1 and the mid-term test were also unsatisfactory as their mean scores
were the lowest among the clusters. In particular, the mean scores of Assignment 1 and
the mid-term test were 9.94 out of 15 and 19.06 out of 50 respectively. They thus
scored on average 29.00 out of 65 for the completed coursework comprising Assign-
ment 1 and the mid-term test. It is also found that the final examination score which is
the output variable not to be used for hierarchical clustering was also the lowest among
five groups. As identified to be the at-risk student group, 46.2% of students (i.e.
12 students) in this group can be correctly identified as at-risk students (i.e. true
positive), representing a precision of 0.462 of the present clustering. However, 53.8%
of students (i.e. 14 students) who are not-at-risk students can be misclassified (i.e. false
positive).

Table 2. Hierarchical clustering of student groups at the end of week 7 in a 13-week course.
Variable Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5
Group size 55 41 26 96 22
3th Online class activity 1.95 0.00 0.77 0.73 0.64
Assignment 1 13.21 13.45 9.94 12.63 13.16
6th Online class activity 2.38 0.00 0.04 0.97 1.09
Mid-term test 34.09 35.18 19.06 28.91 33.52
Coursework’s score (wk.7) 47.30 48.63 29.00 41.53 46.68
Final examination 53.24 44.73 35.65 41.44 49.64
At-risk student % 3.6 17.1 46.2 27.1 13.6

Among these five clusters, students of Cluster 2 did not participate in any online
class activity at all but they achieved the best performance on both Assignment 1 and
the mid-term test. They obtained the highest mean score of the completed coursework
up to week 7 but they only achieved the third highest mean score in the final exami-
nation. As Cluster 2 is identified to be the not-at-risk student group, 82.9% of students
(i.e. 34 students) belonging to this cluster can be correctly classified as not-at-risk
students (i.e. true negative). However, 17.1% of students (i.e. 7 students) who are really
at-risk students can be misclassified (i.e. false negative).
 Tracking At-Risk Student Groups from Teaching and Learning Activities 201

Students belonging to Cluster 1 not only actively participated in online class

activities, but also performed well on both Assignment 1 and the mid-term test. The
final examination score was the highest among other groups. As Cluster1 is not to be
identified as the at-risk student group, 3.6% of students (i.e. 2 students) assigned to this
group cannot be correctly tracked and classified as at-risk students for early inter-
vention (i.e. false negative) but 96.4% of students (i.e. 53 students) can be correctly
identified as not-at-risk students in this group (i.e. true negative).
Clusters 4 and 5 of hierarchical clustering are not identified to be groups of at-risk
students because students of Clusters 4 and 5 ranked the second lowest mean score and
the third highest mean score of the completed coursework up to the end of week 7
respectively. They were engaged in the online class activities as well. Overall, 72.9%
and 86.4% of students belonging to Clusters 4 and 5 respectively (i.e. 70 and 19
students) can be correctly classified as not-at-risk students (i.e. true negative). How-
ever, 27.1% and 13.6% of students assigned to clusters 4 and 5 (i.e. 26 and 3 students)
can be misclassified respectively (i.e. false negative).
Clusters 1 and 3 of k-means clustering are tracked to be the potential at-risk student
group based on the mean scores of input variables up to the end of week 7 as shown in
Table 3. The mean scores of 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th online class activities are not
shown in Table 3 for simplicity. Students belonging to Clusters 1 and 3 were not much
engaged in the online activities among other clusters. They obtained the second lowest
and the lowest mean score of the completed coursework up to week 7 respectively.
Even though the final examination score which is the output variable is not used for k-
means clustering as well, they ranked the lowest and the second lowest mean score in
the final examination respectively. As tracked to be at-risk student groups, 48.3% and
33.3% of students (i.e. 28 and 4 students) in these two groups can be correctly clas-
sified as at-risk students (i.e. true positive), representing an overall precision of 0.457 of
the present clustering. However, 51.7% and 66.7% of students (i.e. 30 and 8 students)
who are not-at-risk students can be misclassified respectively (i.e. false positive).

Table 3. K-means clustering of student groups at the end of week 7 in a 13-week course.
Variable Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5
Group size 58 57 12 44 69
3th Online class activity 0.47 1.12 0.33 1.84 0.25
Assignment 1 12.63 13.03 6.00 13.00 13.32
6th Online class activity 0.69 2.16 0.33 1.64 0.14
Mid-term test 22.03 31.18 20.29 35.17 35.94
Coursework’s score (wk.7) 34.66 44.20 26.29 48.17 49.26
Final examination 33.22 49.02 37.83 50.45 48.75
At-risk student % 48.3 8.8 33.3 6.8 14.5

Clusters 2, 4 and 5 of k-means clustering are identified to be not-at-risk student

groups because students of Clusters 2 and 4 actively participated in online class
activities and did the coursework well. Clusters 2 and 4 ranked the third highest and the
202 C. C. L. Kwan

second highest mean score of the completed coursework by the end of week 7
respectively. Students of Cluster 5 showed the least participation in the online class
activities but achieved the highest mean score of the completed coursework. As a
result, 91.2%, 93.2% and 85.5% of students belonging to Clusters 2, 4 and 5 respec-
tively (i.e. 52, 41 and 59 students) can be correctly identified as not-at-risk students (i.e.
true negative). Conversely, 8.8%, 6.8% and 14.5% of students assigned to these three
clusters (i.e. 5, 3 and 10 students) can be misclassified respectively (i.e. false negative).
Clusters 4 and 5 of hierarchical clustering are identified to be the potential at-risk
student groups based on the mean scores of input variables by the end of week 11 as
shown in Table 4. The mean scores of 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th–11th online class activities
are not shown in Table 4 for simplicity. Students assigned to Clusters 4 and 5 did not
actively participate in the online class activities. They also obtained the second lowest
and the lowest mean score of the completed coursework comprising two assignments,
the mid-term test and the mini-project up to week 11 respectively. In fact, students of
Cluster 4 did not submit Assignment 2 in week 11; some of them withdrew from their
studies due to difficulties in handling tremendous workloads from studying 7 courses in
a semester. Students of Clusters 4 and 5 ranked the lowest and the second lowest mean
score in the final examination respectively. As detected to be at-risk student groups,
90.5% and 45.5% of students (i.e. 19 and 5 students) in these two groups can be
correctly identified as at-risk students (i.e. true positive), representing an overall pre-
cision of 0.765 of the present clustering. However, 9.5% and 54.5% of students (i.e.
2 and 6 students) who are not-at-risk students can be misclassified respectively (i.e.
false positive).

Table 4. Hierarchical clustering of student groups at the end of week 11 in a 13-week course.
Variable Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5
Group size 79 51 78 21 11
3th Online class activity 1.57 0.00 0.77 0.33 0.18
Assignment 1 12.96 13.26 12.63 13.48 6.36
6th Online class activity 2.06 0.02 0.87 0.81 0.00
Mid-term test 33.19 30.84 29.97 28.52 17.64
Mini-project 17.59 15.98 17.05 14.57 5.27
Assignment 2 12.96 12.63 13.04 0.00 8.41
Coursework’s score (wk.11) 76.70 72.73 72.69 56.57 37.68
Final examination 53.28 47.45 46.09 7.86 33.64
At-risk student % 2.5 19.6 17.9 90.5 45.5

Clusters 1, 2 and 3 of hierarchical clustering are tracked to be not-at-risk student

groups because students of Clusters 1 and 3 were actively engaged in online class
activities and did the coursework well. Clusters 1 and 3 ranked the highest and the third
highest mean score of the completed coursework by the end of week 11 respectively.
Students of Cluster 2 had the least participation in the online class activities but
 Tracking At-Risk Student Groups from Teaching and Learning Activities 203

achieved the second highest mean score of the completed coursework. As a result,
97.5%, 80.4% and 82.1% of students belonging to Clusters 1, 2 and 3 respectively (i.e.
77, 41 and 64 students) can be correctly classified as not-at-risk students (i.e. true
negative). Nevertheless, 2.5%, 19.6% and 17.9% of students assigned to these three
clusters (i.e. 2, 10 and 14 students) can still be misclassified respectively (i.e. false
negative).
Clusters 2 and 3 of k-means clustering are tracked to be the potential at-risk student
group based on the mean scores of input variables up to the end of week 11 as shown in
Table 5. Students belonging to Clusters 2 and 3 were not much engaged in the online
activities. They obtained the lowest and the second lowest mean score of the completed
coursework up to week 11 respectively. They ranked the second lowest and the lowest
mean score in the final examination respectively, despite the fact that the final exam-
ination was not included in the clustering. As tracked to be at-risk student groups, 50%
and 91% of students (i.e. 6 and 20 students) in these two groups can be correctly
classified as at-risk students (i.e. true positive), corresponding to an overall precision of
0.765 of the present clustering. Conversely, 50% and 9% of students (i.e. 6 and 2
students) who are not-at-risk students can be misclassified respectively (i.e. false
positive).

Table 5. K-means clustering of student groups at the end of week 11 in a 13-week course.
Variable Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5
Group size 71 12 22 77 58
3th Online class activity 0.77 0.17 0.32 1.65 0.03
Assignment 1 12.57 6.83 13.45 13.01 13.21
6th Online class activity 0.97 0.00 0.77 2.10 0.02
Mid-term test 29.63 17.29 28.07 33.05 31.93
Mini-project 17.11 5.50 14.77 17.55 16.24
Assignment 2 13.00 8.33 0.27 12.95 12.97
Coursework’s score (wk.11) 72.32 37.96 56.57 76.55 74.34
Final examination 46.28 33.33 8.86 52.69 48.64
At-risk student % 16.9 50.0 91.0 2.6 17.3

Clusters 1, 4 and 5 of k-means clustering are classified to be not-at-risk student

groups because students of Clusters 1 and 4 were actively engaged in online class
activities and did the coursework well. Clusters 1 and 4 ranked the third highest and the
highest mean score of the completed coursework by the end of week 11 respectively.
Students of Cluster 5 showed the least participation in the online class activities but
achieved the second highest mean score of the completed coursework. Overall, 83.1%,
97.4% and 82.7% of students belonging to Clusters 1, 4 and 5 respectively (i.e. 59, 75
and 48 students) can be correctly classified as not-at-risk students (i.e. true negative).
However, 16.9%, 2.6% and 17.3% of students belonging to these three clusters (i.e. 12,
2 and 10 students) can be misclassified respectively (i.e. false negative).
204 C. C. L. Kwan

Accuracy, precision, recall and f-measure of a model are defined and calculated as
follows:

TP þ TN
Accuracy ¼ ð5Þ
TP þ TN þ FP þ FN
TP
Precision ¼ ð6Þ
TP þ FP
TP
Recall ¼ ð7Þ
TP þ FN
Prescision
Recall
F  measure ¼ 2
ð8Þ
Precision þ Recall

where TP: true positive; TN: true negative; FP: false positive; FN: false negative
The performance of the present models is further evaluated in terms of accuracy,
precision, recall (i.e. sensitivity), and f-measure as shown in Table 6. Despite the high
accuracy of both models, it is found that the k-means clustering has achieved the higher
recall of 0.640 and the f-measure of 0.533 by the end of week 7. Furthermore, it has
achieved the higher precision of 0.765, the recall of 0.520, and the f-measure of 0.619
by the end of week 11.

Table 6. Accuracy, precision, recall and f-measure of hierarchical clustering and k-means
clustering
Week 7 Week 11
Hierarchical K-means Hierarchical K-means
clustering clustering clustering clustering
Accuracy 0.783 0.767 0.858 0.867
Precision 0.462 0.457 0.750 0.765
Recall 0.240 0.640 0.480 0.520
F-measure 0.316 0.533 0.585 0.619

5 Conclusion and Future Works

It is concluded that the k-means clustering significantly outperforms the hierarchical

clustering in terms of the precision, recall and f-measure at the end of week 11. It is
found that the k-means clustering can be employed to track at-risk students with the
recall of 0.64 and the f-measure of 0.533 for the initial intervention of their studies once
the results of the 1st–7th online class activities, assignment 1, and the mid-term test are
made available at the end of week 7.
To further confirm that the differences between clusters of the five-cluster solution
are distinctive and significant, F statistics from one-way ANOVAs will be calculated to
examine whether there are statistically significant differences between the five clusters
 Tracking At-Risk Student Groups from Teaching and Learning Activities 205

on each of the clustering variables such as assignments, mid-term test and online class
activities, and each of two non-clustering variables such as coursework’s score and
final examination. The independent variable is cluster membership, and the dependent
variables are the clustering variables and two non-clustering variables. The results will
show that there are significant differences between clusters on most of these variables
with the p-value being below 0.05. The significant F statistics provide an evidence that
each of the five clusters is distinctive.

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3. Hong Kong Institution of Engineers: Professional Accreditation Handbook (Engineering
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 Where Are the Students? A Study
of Norwegian Technology Students’
Perceptions of Emerging Trends
in Higher Education

Frode Eika Sandnes1,2(&)

1
Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway
frodes@oslomet.no
2
Kristiania University College, 0153 Oslo, Norway

Abstract. Teachers in higher education in Norway have over the last decade
reported reduced physical attendance in lectures, students not using the text-
books, and low academic performance. Also, there is an intensified institutional
pressure to make use of digital tools and flipped classroom paradigms. To obtain
better insight into students’ perceptions of these issues a class of computer
science students’ perceptions were probed using a comprehensive questionnaire.
The results confirm some of the claims that students want more digital learning
such as videos, but perhaps not as black and white as it is often presented.
Implications of the results is that one should not simply follow a single approach
but employ an array of varied learning activities and materials.

Keywords: Student perceptions
Learning activities
Student preferences

Active learning
Textbook
Reading skill
Writing skill
Variation

1 Introduction

There are several key issues that emerged in higher education over the last decade and
some claim that higher education is undergoing a major transformation. One of the
widely discussed topics is that of distance education [1, 2] and digital education [3]
where students can engage in learning activities across time and place. Issues such as
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have received much attention [4]. More
specifically, the use of streamed lectures and recorded lectures is a topic that is much
discussed [5].
Another issue is to rely on the classical textbook versus emerging media [6].
Textbooks are often quality assured, and they are either purchased or borrowed. Tra-
ditionally, textbooks were only on printed paper but are increasingly being offered in
electronic format [7]. However, the traditional textbook regime is being challenged by
open and freely available online resources. Such resources take on many forms from
freely available books, articles, blogs, discussion forums and videos.
Third, the student and teacher populations are becoming increasingly diverse [8, 9].
Student diversity evolves around multiple dimensions such as motivation and aspira-
tion [10], background, and experience as well as socioeconomic and cultural
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 206–215, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_24
 Where Are the Students? A Study of Norwegian Technology Students’ Perceptions 207

backgrounds. The needs of such student populations are also diverse. The need for
individual follow-up seems more important than ever.
Yet, as reported by many educators, auditoriums rapidly become sparse as the
semester starts, students report not acquiring the textbooks, students do not contact the
teachers – at least the students who should be contacting the teacher. The motivation of
this study was therefore to obtain insight into students’ perception of key questions
related to current pedagogical issues. Our previous studies of student perceptions have
been used to probe a range of issues including plagiarism [11], university life [12],
internationalization and cultural differences [13], choice of university [14], learning
tools [15], to mention a few. It was decided to focus this study on the use of the classic
textbook, students’ future plans, and students prior experience including prior higher
education studies and work experience. Pedagogical issues addressed included the use
of video or streaming versus traditional lectures, group versus individual learning,
exams versus portfolio examinations, and so forth. Issues related to learning man-
agement systems [16] and digital organization of learning materials [17] were not
addressed in this study.

2 Method

2.1 Experimental Design

A questionnaire-based study was chosen with mostly closed questions. Some questions
were designed to allow for between group analyses, in particular for dividing students
along the lines of those who have acquired the textbook, who had previous higher
education experience (previous degree), previous work experience and future study
plans.

2.2 Context
The questionnaire was employed in an undergraduate course of Human Computer
Interaction where the students are taught a curriculum covered according to a tradi-
tional textbook [18]. This course is predominantly lecture-based but lectures are vol-
untary. The focus is on active learning through work on three projects, in which two are
group works and one is individual work. One of these group projects involves design
thinking which is intended to show train the students to get value from collaborating in
teams [19]. The second group project involves a controlled empirical experiment [20–
22]. The course is assessed based on a portfolio comprising three reports resulting from
the three practical projects. Students get formative feedback on the projects and could
submit a revised portfolio for assessment. The teacher was available for consultation
and supervision throughout the semester.

2.3 Participants
Approximately 150 students were initially taking the course. The total number is
approximate as some students sign up late and some students drop off and there is
208 F. E. Sandnes

therefore no well-defined total number. A total of 42 students responded to the ques-

tionnaire yielding an approximate response rate of 28%. The questionnaire was
anonymous and no information about demographic details were collected.

2.4 Materials
A comprehensive questionnaire with 58 questions were designed. Most of the questions
were closed with 46 5-item Likert scale questions, 4 yes/no questions and 8 open free-
text questions. The questionnaire addressed students’ attitudes towards textbooks,
streaming and video, details of the curriculum and usefulness and relevance. The
questionnaire was implemented using Google forms.

2.5 Procedure
The questionnaire was distributed electronically during two weeks of October 2019 as
part of the midterm course evaluation. This approach was chosen to prevent intro-
ducing an additional questionnaire but instead integrate the additional research-oriented
questions as part of the regular obligatory course evaluation questionnaire to prevent
evaluation fatigue. The questionnaire was totally anonymous and voluntary. The results
were later presented and discussed in class and used as a case for statistical analysis and
hence incorporated as part of the curriculum.

2.6 Analysis
The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using the statistical software JASP
version 0.11.0.0 [23]. Non-parametric statistical tests (mostly Mann-Whitney U tests)
were used as the Likert responses were ordinal. Only the questions related to the
research questions are discussed herein. The questions related to the general course
evaluation are not discussed herein.

3 Results

3.1 General Results

Figure 1 shows general responses to the questions. On the two extreme ends of the
scale the results indicate that students were very much in favor of portfolio evaluation
over traditional exams and video lectures – these items also have also few neutral
responses. On the lower end of the scale, students were not in favor of student pre-
sentations in class. Students appears to have prioritized coursework over part-time jobs.
On the higher end of the scale students prefer a mixture of physical and video
lectures, value developing writing abilities, students tend to prioritize other courses
over the current course, value developing reading abilities, prefer fixed assignments
over free assignments and value social interaction.
The responses to the remaining questions appear balanced on the scale and appear
neutral, that is regarding students’ opinions about the incorporation about research
 Where Are the Students? A Study of Norwegian Technology Students’ Perceptions 209

Fig. 1. Distribution of overall responses illustrated as a diverging stacked bar chart with issues
sorted according to their responses falling on the left to the right side of the scale. Magenta
responses (left) indicate the lower end of the Likert scales (1 and 2), and green responses (middle)
indicate the higher end of the Likert scales (4 and 5). Grey (right) indicates neutral responses (3).
(Color figure online)

articles, individual work, in-class discussions, group work, physical lectures and ple-
nary problem solving.

3.2 Effect of Textbook

Of the responses 21 had acquired the course textbook and 16 had not. When separating
the responses according the students who have acquired the textbook several interesting
differences were observed among the two groups. First, there was a significant dif-
ference in how the two groups valued the importance of developing ones writing
abilities (W = 235.0, p = .034). Those who had preferred the textbook had ranked the
importance of developing writing abilities higher (M = 4.1, SD = 0.8) than those who
had not acquired the textbook (M = 3.1, SD = 1.5). There was also a significant dif-
ference in the desire to have more scientific research articles in the curriculum
(W = 75.0, p = .013). Those who had not acquired the textbook exhibited more pos-
itive responses towards more academic articles (M = 3.4, SD = 1.2) than the students
who had acquired the textbook (M = 2.3, SD = 1.0).
There was also a significant difference between the two groups in terms of how
easy they found the textbook (W = 182.0, p = .022), how interesting it as (W = 209.0,
p < 0.001), and how relevant it was (W = 201.5, p = .003). Students who had acquired
210 F. E. Sandnes

the textbook found it easier (M = 4.6, SD = 3.7) versus (M = 3.7, SD = 1.2) more
interesting (M = 4.1, SD = 1.1) versus (M = 2.8, SD = 1.0) and more relevant
(M = 4.5, SD = 0.8) versus (M = 3.3, SD = 1.2). There was no significant difference in
the perceived cost of the textbook (W = 180.5, p = .106) as the mean indicate a neutral
response (M = 2.50, SD = 1.161). Moreover, there was no significant difference in the
perceived importance of training to read difficult texts (W = 200.0, p = 0.317) as the
mean responses tended towards neutral (M = 3.5, SD = 1.2). Moreover, there were no
differences across these student groups in any desire to have more video lectures
(W = 177.0, p = .764) as both groups indicated that they would prefer more video-
based lectures (M = 4.4, SD = 1.0). Moreover, both groups indicated a preference for a
mix of traditional lectures and videos (M = 3.9, SD = 1.2). The perception of the
importance of the traditional lectures was close to neutral (M = 3.2, SD = 1.3).

3.3 Effect of Plans for Further Study

Of the 42 participants 21 indicated that they had ambitions to pursue further education,
while 16 did not express such plans. There was a significant difference between these
two groups in terms of desire for more video lectures (W = 234.0, p = .021), as the
students with plans for further education were more positive towards more video
lectures (M = 4.6, SD = 0.9) than those without such plans (M = 4.0, SD = 1.1). There
also a significant difference in attitude towards working alone (W = 103.0, p = .042).
The students who wanted to continue their studies were significantly less enthusiastic
about working alone (M = 2.7, SD = 1.3) compared to those who did not want to
continue to study after obtaining their degree (M = 3.6, SD = 1.2). There was also a
significant difference in the perceived price of the textbook (W = 200, p = .045) as
those who had plans for further education perceived the textbook as less expensive
(M = 2.8, SD = 1.1) than those who had no further study plans (M = 2.1, SD = 1.5).
Interestingly, there were no observed significant differences in attitudes towards
developing writing abilities (W = 187.0, p = .555), developing abilities for reading
advanced texts (W = 189, p = .505), freedom to choose topics for assignments
(W = 191.5, p = .464), and the inclusion of more scientific articles in the curriculum
(W = 173.0, p = .440).

3.4 Effects of Prior Work Experience

Of the respondents who replied 18 indicated that they had several years of work
experience prior to their current studies, while 19 participants did not have any work
experience. When analyzing the data according to these two groups only one signifi-
cant difference could be observed, namely that of the perceived useful knowledge
acquired through the course (W = 107.0, p = .048). Those who had no previous work
experience were more positive about what they have learned (M = 3.7, SD = 0.9)
compared to those who had previous work experience (M = 2.8, SD = 1.5). Interest-
ingly, there was no significant difference between the groups in their perceptions of
how useful the course was to be in their future profession (W = 109.5, p = .056).
Overall, students were moderately positive towards the usefulness of the course
(M = 3.5, SD = 1.4). There was also no observed difference in attitudes over
 Where Are the Students? A Study of Norwegian Technology Students’ Perceptions 211

prioritizing part-time jobs over attending curricular activities (W = 157.0, p = .671).

Respondents indicated a negative attitude towards prioritizing part-time work
(M = 2.5, SD = 1.4).

3.5 Effects of Prior Higher-Education Experience

Of the valid responses 9 students indicated having studied at higher level prior to the
current study while 28 had not studied at higher levels before. There were two
noticeable differences between these two groups, namely in the opinion about the
adequacy of groups problem solving activities (W = 64.0, p = .026) and the perception
of the task difficulties (W = 44.0, p = .003). Those with no previous study experiences
expressed a stronger indication that there were too little plenary based problem-solving
activities (M = 2.1, SD = 1.5) compared to those who had studied before (M = 3.4,
SD = 1.2). Moreover, those who had not studied before found the coursework more
difficult (M = 3.1, SD = 1.1) than those with previous study experience (M = 1.8,
SD = 1.0). No significant differences could be observed for the importance of physical
lectures (W = 122.0, p = .899), more video lectures (W = 108.0, p = .475), usefulness
of class discussions (W = 95.0, p = .267), social contact with other students
(W = 144.0, p = .521), preferences for group work (W = 94.5, p = .259), compulsory
student presentations (W = 143.5, p = .518), exams versus portfolio evaluation
(W = 143.5, p = .503), importance of improving writing abilities (W = 128,
p = 0.956), abilities to read advanced texts (W = 94.0, p = .248) and preference for
freedom in choosing assignments (W = 111.5, p = .606).

4 Discussions

4.1 Effects of Textbooks

The results confirm the author’s impression that only a fraction of the students acquires
and actively uses the textbook, either through purchase, or via library loans. It is quite
interesting that students who use the textbook were also more concerned with their
writing abilities. One possible explanation is that some students were more text ori-
ented and if they prefer to read, they may also prefer to write, or value the importance
of good writing skills. On the other hands, students who were more hands-on who like
to learn by trial and error rather than reading, may also be more interested in the actual
artefacts created rather than describing these artefacts in words. One may also wonder
whether the teachers who themselves usually are academically trained are text oriented
and expect students to be so too, while some student may just want to get their degree
and pursue a practical profession. On the other hand, although computer science is a
practical field involving development and coding, it also involves reading of complex
documentation and writing of the same documentation although the focus on docu-
menting code has become less than what is used to be as code is to be self-
documenting. Another speculation is that students may have an inflated belief in
writing tools such as Grammarly [24].
212 F. E. Sandnes

It is somewhat surprising that the students who actively used the textbook were less
in favor of using more research articles. On possible explanation could be that some
students like predictability and system and a textbook with a complete presentation of
the syllabus may be an attractive benefit, while a set of research articles may come
across as less organized and more chaotic. Why those who do not actively use the
textbook were more positive towards research articles could be explained that they are
usually free of charge, or that articles can be more updated knowledge if used in such a
manner, and present a topic in a more focused manner compared to an introductory
textbook.
The students who used the textbook were all more positive regarding the textbook
in terms of how easy it was to use, how interesting it was and how relevant it was. This
raises the important question about how the students who do not use the textbook could
form an opinion about the book without having used it? Could it be that they had
browsed the textbook in a bookstore or library and decided that is was not suitable for
them, or were these responses based on an impression of textbooks in general? The
results did not support the commonly held impression that students do not purchase
textbooks due to their high cost.
The results did not show any evidence that textbook users were less in favor of say
videos than those who do not use textbooks. The results could be interpreted as if
students would like more videos, but not just videos. It seems the variety, and balance
of traditional lectures, reading and video when these respective parts are applied
sensibly, will contribute to learning.
It is somewhat concerning that the students in general, irrespective of being
text/textbook oriented or not, did not find it important to develop their abilities to read
difficult texts. Could this be because the students had not been exposed to sufficiently
difficult texts in their studies, or is it because they did not realize that they most likely
would have to read advanced documentation in their future careers?

4.2 Effect of Plans for Further Study

Students who reported ambitions for further study were both more positive towards
video lectures and group work than those who did not want to continue studying after
their degree. One possible explanation for these results is that a student who has further
study plans may by natural selection be more academically inclined and thereby more
independent with respect to getting hands-on help from the teachers. Yet, one could
argue that to appreciate the benefits of group work and slowing larger problems in
collaboration with their peers.
Students who were interested in further study also did not perceive the textbook as
expensive as those who did not want to continue studying. Again, could the perception
of textbook cost be linked to the appreciation of the actual value of textbooks? Will a
lower appreciation of the textbook result in the perception of higher cost?
It is a matter of concern that there was no difference between these two groups in
how they valued the importance of academic articles as an academic research article is
the stable ingredient of a researcher’s life and we should expect that students who were
purposing further study would have matured in their attitude towards research articles.
The results indicate that students were quite impartial to the use of research articles in
 Where Are the Students? A Study of Norwegian Technology Students’ Perceptions 213

the curriculum. Perhaps students need to be better prepared for further education by
motivating them for the importance and the general relevance of research articles?
Also, it is concerning that there was no difference between the groups in terms of
improving writing skills and abilities to read advanced texts as these are core academic
skills needed in higher education. However, the scores were on the positive side for
both groups suggesting that these skills were valued by most students.

4.3 Effects of Prior Work Experience

Although students were moderately positive towards the benefits of the course the
students with prior work experience were less so compared to those without work
experience. Possible explanations for this observation could be that the course perhaps
is too theoretical and not sufficiently practical and therefore not matching their
expectations. Or, perhaps these more experienced students simply were more critical
than students recently finished secondary school? Another explanation could be that
some of the students with prior work experience were already familiar with some of the
contents of the curriculum such that they do not perceive that they have learned as
much. However, it is also likely that their former work experience is not related to their
future career plans and if so, the curriculum should cover new elements. The fact that
there was no difference between the groups in terms of perceived usefulness for future
career support this view that past working experience is different from the future career.
The respondents therefore might have been unable to make an informed assessment of
this question.
The results suggest that students do not prioritize jobs over studies. This is contrary
to the impressions by the author and colleagues as students often report that they were
unable to attend lectures and supervision meetings due to job obligations. Conse-
quently, if students do not attend optional learning activities there may be other causes.
Perhaps students do not find enough value to merit the investment of time and effort to
attend?

4.4 Effects of Prior Higher-Education Experience

Students without previous higher education experience found there to be too little
plenary problem-solving activities (typical of primary and secondary school), as well as
finding the coursework more difficult is as we would expect. Students with more
experience have learned to become more independent and tackle more difficult
problems.
The results also revealed that there were no differences in perceptions of learning
writing and learning skills. This is somewhat surprising as one would expect more
experienced students to have realized the importance of written communication. But
the scores were generally positive, and it may therefore be unrealistic to observe any
difference.
214 F. E. Sandnes

4.5 Limitations
As the questionnaire was anonymous it is not possible to analyze the responses
according to who attended lectures and not. In hindsight, a control question about
lecture attending habits should have been included. One could expect that the per-
ceptions of those who do regularly attend lectures and those who do not could be
somewhat different.

5 Conclusions

A questionnaire-based study is reported where the goal was to probe students’ per-
ceptions towards emerging pedagogical issues in higher education. The results in
general align with the new pedagogical ideas. In conclusion, the results support a
mixed approach with a variety of learning activities and delivery methods are applied
instead of just a single “silver-bullet” fix-it-all approach. One should also be careful not
to necessarily follow requests from students uncritically, as students may prescribe the
wrong medicine for “symptoms” that may be better addressed using other means.

References
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emotion, cognitive load, and learning performance. Comput. Educ. 80, 108–121 (2015)
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reality learning compared to textbook learning on medical students: randomized controlled
pilot study. J. Med. Internet Res. 15(8), e182 (2013)
7. Irvine, V., Code, J., Richards, L.: Realigning higher education for the 21st-century learner
through multi-access learning. MERLOT J. Online Learn. Teach. 9(2), 172–186 (2013)
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culture, and socioeconomic status. In: Handbook of Research on Science Education, vol. 1,
pp. 171–197 (2007)
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Handbook for the Profession, vol. 4, pp. 45–52 (2003)
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1007/978-3-030-49282-3_19
Emerging Issues and Trends
in Education
 A Study of Learner’s Computational Thinking
Using Constructivist Universal Design
Learning Package for Kindergarten Education

Chinnaphat Junruang and Issara Kanjug(&)

Department of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education,

Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
issaraka@kku.ac.th

Abstract. Computational Thinking has been defined as an important skill for

students to have in learning, both from early childhood to college. To be able to
deal with common problems in daily life as well as other problems Easily and
systematically Combined with the advancement of science and technology
Resulting in the development of artificial intelligence Resulting in human
adaptation and learning the basic principles of artificial intelligence. The purpose
of this research was study learners’ computational thinking. The research par-
ticipants were 40 kindergarten academic year 2019 students of Demonstration
school of Khonkaen University. Experimental research was employed in this
study. The instruments used in the experiment were Constructivist Universal
Design Learning Package for Kindergarten Education. Data collection used the
computational thinking test for kindergarteners. The results revealed that: the
Learners’ computational thinking average score was 9.33 or 77.50%. Compu-
tational thinking of learners is at a good level.

Keywords: Constructivist learning environment
Universal design for

learning
Computational thinking
Learning innovation
Kindergarten
Education

1 Introduction

Computational thinking is a skill that has been talked about a lot in modern times.
Which is an important skill in problem solving using computer problem solving pro-
cess [1]. Combined with the advancement of science and technology That humans have
created technology or artificial intelligence That is as intelligent as humans It can think
logically and reasonably. Make decisions and learn by themselves, called “Artificial
Intelligence (AI)”. Therefore, to be able to live in a dynamic world and constantly
changing, that is, computational thinking. Computational Thinking is the prerequisite
skill for understanding the technologies of the future. It is a thought process, rather than
a specific body of knowledge about a device or language. Computational thinking is
often associated with computers and coding, but it is important to note that it can be
taught without a device. For that reason, computational thinking can be a part of any
classroom, including the classrooms of our youngest learners in the primary grades.
And, I would argue, it is quickly becoming a necessary foundational skill for students.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 219–226, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_25
220 C. Junruang and I. Kanjug

By explicitly teaching, and allowing space for the development of, computational
thinking, teachers can ensure that their young students are learning to think in a way
that will allow them to access and understand their digital world. Teaching computa-
tional thinking, in short, primes students for future success. Furthermore, it can be
integrated into existing routines and curricula [2]. Ability in problem solving of pre-
school children and found that Problem solving in children aged 1 or 2 years can easily
solve problems. And is a problem that is not complicated Until the child grows up, so
he can solve simple problems and is a problem that is not complicated Until children
grow up to be able to solve complex problems better. [3] Therefore, it is necessary to
cultivate computational thinking from kindergarten to education in order to prepare
according to the theory of development according to age. To the next level of complex
thinking
Learning environment Is a new context in teaching design in which designers have
to create situations or important events for learners with evaluation By allowing stu-
dents to interact with various sources of knowledge In a variety of ways In which the
learners are actively involved in the learning process And the new trend of learning
theories that give more importance to learning than teaching is constructivist Therefore,
the principles of environmental design in learning are based on constructivist concepts.
As basic principles in design to promote computational thinking in conjunction with
Universal design for learning (UDL) are well suited with each other because universal
design for learning is “a systematic decision-making method for differentiation” [4].
While UDL is a principle for design curriculum that provides each learner equal
opportunities to learn and support different learning need of divers student in inclusive
classroom by using flexible instructional materials, teaching methods, and assessment.
In this study Designing media for organizing learning experiences for a variety of
formats and methods of accessing learning According to the characteristics of the
learners with various learning styles Consists of 3 important principles which are 1)
Representation 2) Action & Expression and 3) Engagement [5].
Therefore, the principles of constructivist learning environment in accordance with
the Universal Design Principles are used as the basis for the Learning Package design
to promote computational thinking for students in kindergarten.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Computational Thinking

Computational Thinking as solving problems designing systems, and understanding
human behavior, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science.” [1].
Computational thinking skills in early childhood are included abstraction, algorithm,
decomposition and Pattern Recognition Apart from exploring the effectiveness of such
CT courses for K-12 students, the degree of preparedness of the teachers in teaching
CT is another important issue. When CT becomes a necessary form of literacy all
around the world, it will not only be a kind of expertise that, stereotypically, only
computer engineers use. On the contrary, everyone should have positive attitudes
toward CT in order to understand and make use of it.
A Study of Learner’s Computational Thinking Using Constructivist Universal Design 221

2.2 Constructivist Learning Environment

The constructivist estimate of learning can be discover to Piaget [6] who believed that
learning is not pass on passively but attained through well-defined stages by active
participation of a learner. [7] Designing an environment for student centered. Blending
between media and method base on Constructivist theory [8] with online learning by
using technology and internet.

2.3 Universal Design for Learning

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a principle for instructional designing by using
flexible instructional materials, teaching methods, and assessment in order to provide
access to a wide range of students with and without disabilities in inclusive classroom
[9]. Universally designed structures are more usable not only for individuals with
disabilities but also has led to improved usability for everyone [10] In this Construc-
tivist Learning Environment, the principles of designing a learning environment are
combined with universal design principles. By providing a variety of learning materials
such as images, videos, sounds, multimedia so that students can access learning equally
and efficiently.

3 Method and Result

3.1 Research Participants

The target group of this research were students in kindergarten level 1, Demonstration
School, Khon Kaen University. Kindergarten Department That are currently studying
in the second semester, academic year 2019. A total of 40 people. The sample was
chosen by Purposive Sampling. The average age of the students was 4.

3.2 Assessment Tool – Computational Thinking Ability Test

The learning performance of computational thinking includes four component of CT
which are abstraction, algorithm, decomposition, and Pattern Recognition. In study, the
research tools included the post-test of the computational thinking. The computational
thinking test sheets were developed by teachers. There is a way to find quality by
checking by experts. Evaluation Which has the following development steps 1) Study
the theoretical concepts and research related to computational thinking the study uses
the Wing 2006 framework. 2) Create a subjective test By defining the test of 4 items
that cover all 4 elements of computational thinking which are the identification of the
elements, finding the abstract thinking patterns and the algorithm 3) Create scoring
rubrics for evaluating computational thinking from the above tests The researcher has
assigned the scoring criteria in each question into 4 ranges from 0–3 points. 4) Set
criteria for evaluating the students’ computational thinking the researcher evaluated the
computational thinking skills according to the 6 level criteria of Ling [15]. 5) Present
the test and evaluation criteria which have been inspected by the advisor to the expert
To determine the consistency between the exams and the learning objectives (Index of
222 C. Junruang and I. Kanjug

Item Objective Congruence (IOC), including examining the characteristics of questions

and the correctness of language usage According to the expert’s consideration, all 4
tests have found that all tests have a consistency index of 0.67–1.00, which is con-
sidered to have passed the IOC of 0.5 or more, which the researcher has adjusted. Quiz
to be more appropriate according to the recommendations of experts.

3.3 Experimental Process

Before the experiment, the students were given time to get used to the Constructivist
Universal Design Learning Package for Kindergarten Education. Figure 1 shows the
flow chart of the experiment. Each period in the computer class is 60 min in kinder-
garten school. At the beginning, the instructor spent 1 weeks teaching introduce
learners about learning with a constructivist learning environment about component
and how to use.
Thereafter, 8 weeks was spend on the enhancement of applying the four phases of
CT and the integration of blockbased programming in a sixth-grade Mathematics
course. After the effectiveness of involving the CT process with mathematics was
confirmed in study one, this part (three periods) was later demonstrated in the teacher
training course for the newly appointed principals to experience and observe the
common sense of involving CT processes in learning. The students practiced this
method six times, each time taking half a period. Therefore, there were totally six
situated examples implemented during the three periods of the mathematics course.
Finally, they also spent one period on the post-test of the pen-and-paper-based
mathematics test for measuring their learning achievements. There were totally 15
periods spent on the experiment, which lasted for a total of around three-fourth of a
semester (i.e., 15 weeks). The experimental treatment after the pre-test was 5 weeks.

Fig. 1. Experimental process.

A Study of Learner’s Computational Thinking Using Constructivist Universal Design 223

3.4 Learning Assistive

The participants used Constructivist Universal Design Learning Package for Kinder-
garten Education to learning. This series of the parts are shown in Fig. 2. This set of
Learning Package is divided into two sections: the online learning material and the
offline learning material in the classroom. First use Let’s start with the problem situ-
ation. The teacher will guide students with problem situations before class. In which
students will choose what kind of media they want to hear from. It has been prepared
according to international design principles, divided into stills, audio and multimedia.
The second step allows the learner to complete the learning mission. If stuck or need
help can Get scans at the aid base or consult an expert to balance knowledge based on
the cognitive constructivist theory. Through the learning of Constructivist Universal
Design Learning Package for Kindergarten Education, participants could apply what
they had learned into real-life and face the challenges in the future at a higher level.

Fig. 2. Constructivist Universal Design Learning Package for Kindergarten Education to

learning.

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Computational Thinking Ability
After applying the Constructivist Universal Design Learning Package for Kindergarten
Education, the results of the learner’s computational thinking ability test were analysis
using Mean and S.D. The performances of the computational thinking ability overall
average score was 9.33 or 77.50%, representing the computational thinking skill
evaluation level at level 5, meaning good level, which was higher than the specified
224 C. Junruang and I. Kanjug

criteria 70% of the full score. Separated by computational thinking elements. The
separation of elements the mean score was 2.05, or 68.3%. In the search for patterns,
the score was 2.68 or 89.17%. The abstract thinking had a mean of 2.18, the mean
score of 72.50 and the algorithm. Have an average score of 2.40, or 80.00% (Table 1
and Fig. 3).

Table 1. The learners’ computational thinking ability.

No. List assessment Results of the expert Results of the expert
(Percentage) (Percentage)
1. Decomposition 2.05 68.30
2. Pattern 2.68 89.17
recognition
3. Abstraction 2.18 72.50
4. Algorithm 2.40 80.00
9.33 77.50
Total 9.33 77.50

Fig. 3. The learners’ computational thinking.

4.2 Discussion and Future Work

The learner has computational thinking ability in which the computational thinking
elements are: 1) Decomposition 2) Pattern Recognition 3) Abstraction and 4) Algo-
rithm. The results of this research are consistent with the research of Palts and Pedaste
[14], which indicated that the nature of learning management that promotes compu-
tational thinking should begin by defining or defining a problem. Then find solutions to
problems, plan designs and choose solutions. Therefore, the learning management
characteristics according to STEM Education can develop students’ computational
A Study of Learner’s Computational Thinking Using Constructivist Universal Design 225

thinking ability in line [17], stating that the practice of computational thinking ability
can be used. Learning management through STEM education activities because it is
based on using the problem as the base Problem situations are defined to challenge
thinking and generate interest in students. In addition [14], stated that learning man-
agement according to STEM study allows students to think and design work pieces.
Design solutions to problems that are based on real-life contexts. It can encourage
students to have the ability to solve problems. This ability is related to computational
thinking ability [1, 13, 16].
Future work includes in-depth discussion and analysis of the correlation of addi-
tional dimensions such as creative thinking, trial and errors and critical thinking.

References
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wing/www/publications/Wing06.pdfMarkB. Accessed 10 June 2018
2. Early Learning Strategies for Developing Computational Thinking Skills. https://www.
gettingsmart.com/2018/03/early-learning-strategies-for-developing-computational-thinking-
skills/. Accessed 22 Oct 2019
3. Computational thinking in STEM classroom. https://robomatter.com/blog-ct-in-stem-
classroom/. Accessed 22 Oct 2019
4. Udvari-Solner, A., Villa, R., Thousand, J.: Access to the general education curriculum for
all: the universal design process. In: Villa, R., Thousand, J. (eds.) Creating an Inclusive
School, pp. 134–154. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD),
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5. Hall, T., Stahl, S.: Using universal design of learning to expand access to higher education.
In: Adams, M., Brown, S. (eds.) Towards Inclusive Learning in Higher Education:
Developing Curricula for Disabled Students. Routledge, New York (2006)
6. Piaget, J.: The Construction of Reality in the Child. Ballantine Books (1975)
7. Vygotsky, L.S.: Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1980)
8. Jonassen, D.H.: Designing constructivist learning environments. In: Reigeluth, C.M. (ed.)
Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. 2,
pp. 215–239. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (1999)
9. Haager, D., Klingner, J.: Differentiating Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms: The Special
Educator’s Guide. Pearson Education, Boston (2005)
10. Hall, T., Strangman, N., Meyer, A.: Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL
implementation: Effective classroom practices report. National Center on Accessing the
General Curriculum (2003)
11. Brackmann, C., Román-González, M., Robles, G., Moreno-León, J., Casali, A., Barone, D.:
Development of computational thinking skills through unplugged activities in primary
school (2017)
12. Palts, T., Pedaste, M.: Model of learning computational thinking. A new culture of learning:
computing and next generations. In: The IFIP TC3 Working Conference Preliminary
Proceedings, Vilnius University, Lithuania (2015)
13. Aho, A.V.: Computation and computational thinking. Comput. J. 55, 832–835 (2012)
226 C. Junruang and I. Kanjug

14. Chimkul, A.: Effects of biology learning management under the STEM education concept on
abilities. In problem solving and biology class achievement of high school students (Master
of Education), Department of Science Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Chulalongkorn University (2016)
15. Ling, L.U., Saibin, C.T., Naharu, N., Labadin, J., Aziz, A.N.: An evaluation tool to measure
computational thinking skills: pilot investigation. In: Bildiri, ICOTAL 2018, Melaka,
Malaysia (2018)
16. Gonzalez, M.R., Gonzalez, J.P., Fernandez, C.J.: Which cognitive abilities underlie
computational thinking? Criterion validity of the computational thinking test. Comput. Hum.
Behav. 72, 678–691 (2016)
17. Supkerd, S.: Learning activities. To strengthen computational thinking by Management of
STEM education Academic program and application Secondary School Year 4 Anukulnari
School (Master of Education), Computer Education Graduate school Rajabhat Maha
Sarakham University (2016)
 Constructing an Information Search Platform
Using Data Mining to Improve Student
Learning

Shu-Chen Cheng1, Yu-Ping Cheng2, Yueh-Min Huang2(&),

and I. Robert Chiang3
1
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering,
Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan
kittyc@stust.edu.tw
2
Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan
n98061513@gs.ncku.edu.tw, huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw
3
Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York, USA
ichiang@fordham.edu

Abstract. There has been an ongoing proliferation of online articles and other
materials on the World Wide Web for e-learning. Although a generic search
engine can be used to find materials in a subject domain (for example, computer
science,) the search results often have advertising, media, and news mixed in. To
improve the search quality, in this study an information search platform based
on data mining technology was constructed. Using term frequency-inverse
document frequency (TF-IDF), this platform calculates all terms in each web
article to automatically filter out non-computer science category keywords and
articles. The search platform enables students quickly find and read information
in articles for a given set of search keywords. The experimental results show
improved learning performance with increased computer science knowledge and
concepts and more computer science articles found using the information search
platform by filtering out articles in non-computer science categories.

Keywords: Data mining
Term frequency-inverse document frequency

Information search platform
Learning performance

1 Introduction

E-learning can improve knowledge limitations and accessibility in traditional class-

rooms through combining big data and internet technology. Many studies have indi-
cated that learning material combined with e-learning instruments can effectively
improve learning performance and learning motivation in the classroom [1–3].
Although the Internet allows users and learners an easy search through web
resources, the search result often contain contents unrelated to computer knowledge,
such as advertising, media information, and news reports in the thousands mixing in.
This is because generic search engines are not designed to filter out non-domain-
specific articles and resources.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 227–235, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_26
228 S.-C. Cheng et al.

In this study, an information search platform based on data mining technology was
design and built to retrieve keywords and computer science articles, as well as to filter
out non- computer science category articles. Learners can quickly search for computer
science materials and articles on the information search platform. The improvement in
students’ learning was measured using the information search platform and to compare
the number of computer science articles retrieved by the students on the proposed
platform vs. on the Google platform.

2 Literature Review

As the Internet has grown, big data has increased significantly. Users can search
through thousands of web resources through the Internet. In order to calculate the
importance of the terms in data or articles, the frequency of terms must be efficiently
retrieved from the text [4].
Term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) is a numerical statistical
method used for the word weighting in data mining and information retrieval [5, 6]. It
can calculate the importance of each word in articles or texts [7, 8]. Researchers Qaiser
and Ali indicated that TF-IDF can be applied in a large amount of data, and they
explained the calculation method and procedure for use of TF-IDF [9]. Researchers
Christian, Agus, and Suhartono used TF-IDF to construct automatic text summarization
in a single document. Their results showed that TF-IDF can calculate words effectively
and can determine the importance of each word in a single document [10].
In addition, most studies have indicated that combining information platforms can
help students effectively learn in the classroom [11–13]. Researchers Chin, Lee, and
Chen developed a learning system where students can search for keywords to read
additional information through a web page [14]. Researchers Barbagallo and Formica
integrated semantic search and e-learning to show the feasibility and effectiveness of
this approach [15].
According to the aforementioned literature review, TF-IDF and the application of
information platforms have been proven to be effective. Meanwhile, they can improve
the learning performance of students in the classroom. However, these platforms
cannot automatically filter out articles in non-computer science categories, so students
may end up searching for web articles that are not relevant to their learning materials.
Therefore, this study is based on TF-IDF to construct an information search platform.
This method can be used to calculate the weighting of all terms in each web article and
automatically filter non-computer science articles, while it automatically provides
computer science articles for users and students. They can effectively and quickly
search keywords to read such articles on the information search platform.

3 Research Method

In this study, an information search platform using data mining was designed and built
to improve student learning for computer related courses. Students in the experimental
group searched three keywords using the information search platform; students in the
 Constructing an Information Search Platform Using Data Mining 229

control group instead used Google search platform for the same three keywords.
Students from both groups then read the articles and recorded the number of links to
such computer science articles. The learning performance of the students and the
number of computer science articles in the two groups were then compared.

3.1 Participants
Students in their junior year in the Department of Computer Science and Information
Engineering of a university participated in this study. There were 15 participants in the
experimental group and 15 participants in the control group.

3.2 Construct an Information Search Platform Based on Term

Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency
This study uses term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) to calculate the
keyword weight of each web article and order the weighting of the keywords in
descending order. Figure 1 shows the system architecture diagram. First, the infor-
mation search platform retrieves web articles through web crawler programs and filters
the stop words in these articles through data pre-processing. Second, these articles are
based on TF-IDF to calculate the term weighting so terms with high TF-IDF value can
be used as the keywords for each article. Finally, the weighting of the keywords is
ordered from high to low and stored in the database. In addition, each keyword must
run through several rounds of calculations to select computer science keywords and
filter out non-computer science articles.
Figure 2 shows the information search platform used in this study. This platform
was based on TF-IDF to enhance the search for computer science articles, and reduce
the search for non-computer science articles, such as advertising, news reports, etc.
Learners could effectively search for and read articles that were informational and
applicable to their learning process.

3.3 Experimental Process

Before the classroom experiment in this study, the teacher explained the experimental
process, the pre-test, platform operations, and the post-test in the two classes. In this
study, the pre-test and post-test included 3 quiz items, where the item content had all of
the computer science category keywords. In addition, the answers to the questions
included three options: correct, incorrect, and uncertain. Before the pre-test and post-
test, the teacher told the students to avoid guessing the answer during the quiz. If the
students did not understand a quiz item, they were instructed to choose the uncertain
option.
Figure 3 shows the experimental process used in this study. The experimental
group and the control group engaged in different learning activities in the two classes,
where the experimental group used the information search platform, and the control
group used the Google search platform. First, the teacher explained the experimental
process and conducted the pre-test to determine the students’ prior knowledge from the
previous classes. Then, the researchers provided three keywords for the experimental
230 S.-C. Cheng et al.

Fig. 1. System architecture diagram of this study.

Fig. 2. The information search platform used in this study.

 Constructing an Information Search Platform Using Data Mining 231

Fig. 3. The experimental process used in this study.

group and the control group and instructed them to use the information search platform
and the Google search platform for keyword searches, respectively. In addition, stu-
dents in the experimental group and the control group were instructed to read the
content of the article they found and record the number of links to the computer science
article. Finally, students took a post-test to complete the experimental process.

4 Experimental Results

This study was based on data mining to construct an information search platform and
explore the learning performance of the students in the classroom. In addition, the
number of links to computer science articles was compared between the two groups to
explore which search platform was most effective in increasing learning computer
science knowledge and encouraging reading of more of this type of article.
The independent sample t-test results for the pre-test showed that the mean of the
experimental group was 1.47; the mean of the control group was 1.53, and the t value
was −0.184 (p > 0.05). There were no significant between-group differences, which
means that there was not much difference in the knowledge of the two groups prior to
the learning activity.
Table 1 describes independent sample t-test results for the post-test. The mean of
the experimental group was 2.07; the mean of the control group was 1.60, and the
t value was 2.646 (p < 0.05). There were significant between-group differences, which
means that the experimental group was able to use the information search platform
effectively to understand computer science concepts and acquire knowledge, thus
effectively improve learning performance.
232 S.-C. Cheng et al.

Table 1. The independent sample t-test results for the post-test.

Group N Mean SD t
Experimental 15 2.07 0.26 2.646*
Control 15 1.60 0.63
*p < 0.05.

Figure 4 shows the distribution of the answers to the pre-tests for the two groups.
The horizontal axis represents the answer options, and the vertical axis represents the %
of correct answers. As shown in Fig. 4, the blue line indicates the distribution of the
experimental group’s answers. In the experimental group, the % of correct answers was
48%; the % of incorrect answers was 29%, and the % of uncertain answers was 22%.
The green line indicates the distribution of answers in the control group. The % of
correct answers in the control group was 51%; the % of incorrect answers was 35%,
and the % of uncertain answers was 13%.
Figure 5 shows the distribution of answers to the post-tests for the two groups. The
horizontal axis represents the answer options, and the vertical axis represents the % of
answers. As shown in Fig. 5, the blue line indicates the distribution of the experimental
group’s answers. In the experimental group, the % of correct answers was 68%; the %
of incorrect answers was 29%, and the % of uncertain answers was 2%. The green line
indicates the distribution of answers in the control group. The % of correct answers in
the control group was 53%; the % of incorrect answers was 37%, and the % of
uncertain answers was 9%.
According to the distribution of the answers to the pre-test and post-tests, the
experimental group had a higher % of correct answers through the use of the infor-
mation search platform than the control group using the Google search platform (the %
of correct answers was 68% in the experimental group and 53% in the control group).
In addition, the information search platform effectively provided appropriate computer
science articles that improved their understanding of keywords that they had previously
been uncertain about (the % of uncertain answers in the experimental group dropped
from 22% to 2%).
Furthermore, the number of links to computer science articles in the experimental
group and the control group was analyzed. As shown in Fig. 6, the blue line represents
the number of links to computer science articles searched by the experimental group
using the information search platform. The green line represents the number of links to
computer science articles searched by the control group using the Google search
platform. The experimental group searched for keyword 1, where a total of 16 articles
were computer science in nature. The control group searched for keyword 1, where a
total of 18 articles were computer science in nature. The experimental group searched
for keyword 2, and a total of 15 articles were computer science in nature; the control
group searched for keyword 2 and a total of 11 articles were computer science in
nature. The experimental group searched for keyword 3, and a total of 30 articles were
computer science in nature; the control group searches for keyword 3, and a total of 11
articles were computer science in nature.
 Constructing an Information Search Platform Using Data Mining 233

Fig. 4. The distribution of the answers to the pre-tests for the two groups.

Fig. 5. The distribution of the answers to the post-tests for the two groups. (Color figure online)
234 S.-C. Cheng et al.

Even though the Google search platform provides big data, there is no specific
classification for computer science articles. When students are searching for keywords,
they must filter out a lot of articles to find computer science articles. The information
search platform thus effectively provides computer science articles, so the students
were able to read and learn more quickly and efficiently.

Fig. 6. The number of links to computer science articles. (Color figure online)

5 Conclusion

This study was based on data mining to construct an information search platform.
Through TF-IDF, this platform calculates the weighting of all terms in each article,
automatically filters non-computer science category keywords and articles, and auto-
matically provides computer science articles. According to the experimental results, the
experimental group was able to use the information search platform to search for
keywords and read computer science articles, which in turn improved their base of
knowledge and concepts and enhanced their learning performance. Furthermore, the
information search platform can find such articles more easily than the Google plat-
form. Therefore, the proposed information search platform can effectively provide
computer science articles and also assist students to quickly read and learn related to
computer science.

Acknowledgements. This study is supported in part by Ministry of Science and Technology,

Taiwan under Contract No. MOST 106-2511-S-218-001-MY3 and MOST 108-2511-H-218-004.
 Constructing an Information Search Platform Using Data Mining 235

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 Digitalization of a Systematic Literature
Review Process – Lean Startup and Data
Analytics Solution for Scholars

Zornitsa Yordanova(&)

University of National and World Economy, 8mi dekemvri, Sofia, Bulgaria

zornitsayordanova@unwe.bg
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?
authorId=57200724991

Abstract. The paper aims at analyzing how Lean Startup as a product and
project management approach can be used in the context of Logic-Based Pro-
gram Synthesis product development. The research is interdisciplinary and
connects some technological and managerial aspects of data analytics, product
development, and technology management. Both the concepts of Lean Startup
and Logic-Based program synthesis have very similar approach for problem-
solving and developing solutions. By combining them, the paper shows results,
which lead to: 1.) Designing a Method for a common process for developing a
Lean Startup Program Synthesis (LSPS) application development model and 2.)
Probating a concrete application development through the identified stages. The
developed application’s purpose is the digitalization of systematic literature
analysis via data analytics technics and the use of Qlik Sense software. Potential
readers are scholars who are interested in digitalizing and automating the per-
formance of systematic literature analysis replacing the usual reading of full
papers with a cross wording filtering amongst words in titles, abstracts and
author keywords of science papers.

Keywords: Lean startup
Data analytics
Technology management

Systematic literature review
Science digitalization
Science innovation

1 Introduction

In the last 20 years, interdisciplinary research has gained much focus and has resulted in
many innovations between different sciences and industry fields. The present study aims
to present the development of an application based on the popular Lean Startup product
development approach, which was originally used only to start technologies, but now,
10 years later, it is a common management practice in large corporations, multinational
companies, and yet in small product-oriented companies and startups. It is widespread in
many industries such as banking, technology, services, manufacturing, etc. worldwide.
At present, it covers not only product development and start-up functions [1], as it was in
the beginning, but also the tasks of project management [2], innovation management [3],
customer relationship management [4], etc. Lean Startup research in the context of
technology development has grown tremendously in the last few years. One of the most

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 236–244, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_27
 Digitalization of a Systematic Literature Review Process 237

common description of it is a hypothesis-driven entrepreneurship, in which entrepre-

neurs create a high level product, process and organization for an innovation and then
through experimentations, continue to develop this product’s vision and next actions
according to the feedback of users, market, suppliers, etc. [5].
Program synthesis, on the other hand, refers to the development of a program in a
systematic way, starting with a high-level specification, which is a declaration
describing what the program should do [6]. So, comparing these two concepts from two
different scientific fields and having a huge difference in their purpose and essence,
several common elements emerge: their use refers to satisfying a high level of
requirements, which can be further used as a validation of some hypotheses. This
basically, very much converges to the most recent innovation-driven theories, which
explain innovation as a problem-solution activity rather than an invention of a new
product/process/organization or business model.
This research aims at analyzing both the concepts from the perspective of a fast
verification approach for development of technologies, programs, applications, business
models, products, etc., i.e. innovative technology. The methodology of the study pre-
sents the development of an application, based on Qlik software which usually is used for
a Business Intelligence tool and Data Analytics software, which tool satisfies high-level
requirements and might be used for validation of ideas. In the current case, the appli-
cation development and an object of the research is a tool for digitalization of the process
of systematic literature review as part of the research work of scholars and students.

2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Project and Product Management for Technology
Project management is that part of project knowledge that explores and studies the
more successful management of these initiatives. Organizations are becoming more
project-oriented [7], and projects are the preferred management instrument especially
for implementation of new activities [8, 9]. However, because projects are constantly
delayed, exceeding, and often technically unsuccessful, project management is often
explored for opportunities for improvement. These threats increase with the complexity
of the project. All these assumptions are extremely valid for science applied projects
per se. As a structure, the methodology has been developed in nine main areas of
knowledge and an additional one for integrity. The main areas of knowledge are:
Integrity management; Project scope management; Project time management; Cost
management; Quality management; Human resources management; Project commu-
nication management; Risk management; Procurement management [10]. An addi-
tional area added in recent years is the Management of the Code of Ethics in the
project, which each project manager undertakes to comply with. Very often projects are
implemented through processes. They are implemented by the project participants and
fall into two categories: (1) Project management processes - for planning, organizing,
coordinating and managing the project work. They are universal and standardized in
the contractor’s project management system. (2) Product Oriented Processes - to
specify and create the project product.
238 Z. Yordanova

2.2 Lean Startup Method

The Lean Startup model for development and subsequent innovation management is
based on four main pillars for optimal innovation management: (1) systematic and
continuous innovation management, (2) developed and two-way communication
between the company and its potential customers, (3) the efficient use of resources and
(4) the achievement of a cost-effective and optimal price.
The term Lean Startup was first mentioned by startup entrepreneur and consultant
Eric Rees in his personal blog Startup Lessons Learned in September 2008. The name
is borrowed from the philosophy of lean production developed at Toyota by Taiichi.
Ono and Shigeo Shingo [11]. Some of the main principles of “lean” production are to
give employees a tool to share their knowledge of production procedures and to
develop the concept of production just in time, which increases innovation and reduces
the consumption of unnecessary resources. Since its inception in 2008, the Lean
Startup method has become widespread and recognizable among innovators and
entrepreneurs around the world. Initially, its popularity was expressed as “Good
Practice in Systematic Innovation Management” among companies in Silicon Valley,
San Francisco, USA. Subsequently, with the accumulation of empirical data, research
and results, it is built as a method. Officially, the method was published in 2011. by
Eric Rees, who describes it in his book, Lean Start-Up: How Continuous Innovation is
at the Heart of Successful Business [1]. Etymologically, the term is composed of two
concepts - lean (tight) and startup. The category of startup, despite its wide distribution
and usability, is not strictly defined and for the purposes of a comprehensive presen-
tation of the Lean startup method, it should be clarified.
The Lean Startup method is based on five fundamental principles:
• Entrepreneurs are everywhere - by entrepreneurs, the author of the method means
people or startups that create products or services in conditions of high uncertainty,
regardless of the size or sector of the company. With this first principle, the Lean
Startup method claims that it is applicable to any type of entrepreneurship.
• Entrepreneurship is management - and deserves a new type of management, focused
on its specific challenges and opportunities.
• Validated learning - startups exist to learn how to build a sustainable business.
Learning as a system, the author of the method accepts as a process of continuous
testing and validation of ideas and vision of entrepreneurs to prove their rationality,
the right direction and, if necessary, to be a signal for necessary correction.
• Action/build - Measure - Learn - the startup company must have predefined criteria
and metrics that give an indication of the fulfillment of the set goals. Based on this
reporting from the created metrics and set goals, entrepreneurs can assess whether
the direction followed is correct or it is necessary to make a change.
• Innovation accountancy - although they are the result of creativity, experimentation
or vision, in order to be successful, innovation must be measurable. This is nec-
essary for them to be managed systematically: to take into account the progress, the
priorities, to set the next goals and direction. The Lean Startup method introduces
some terms that are the basis of its implementation as a management system for
 Digitalization of a Systematic Literature Review Process 239

startups and innovative projects in established companies. With their presentation,

the main points in the concept of the method are clarified.
• Customer feedback - part of the systematic model of innovation management,
which the method adopts is the continuous customer feedback. It is proactive,
applied at the earliest stage and not only reflects the needs and desires of customers,
but also takes into account side and side effects such as product perception,
unwarranted validation (which is not based on analysis but on customer emotion
and sensitivity).
• Minimum viable product (MVP) - The aim of the minimum applicable product is to
test the business hypothesis through a quickly produced, clean product model that
can be quickly and cheaply placed on the market and validate the concept of the
idea.
• Continuous deployment - this is a development technique that involves continuous
updating of products that are already on the market, based on feedback and even
several times a day. This characterizes the products and services that have adopted
the technique of “continuous implementation” as highly adaptable and flexible.
• Decomposition of the elements of the product and marketing of several different
versions of the product or service simultaneously (split testing, versioning) -
through the method different combinations of the product and the discovery of the
optimal and preferred combination by customers are possible.
• “Significant” metrics and “Meaningless” metrics (Actionable metrics and vanity
metrics) - Metrics are important, but their meaning is important and reporting of real
and significant results. The metrics that startups need should be such that they carry
specific information related to their business goals. Meaningless metrics are those
on the basis of which no specific decision or action can be taken and are not
appropriate.
• Change of direction (Pivot) - the concept of change of direction is the ability and
need of the startup company to change elements of the product, marketing strategy
or other elements of its existence as a result of customer feedback or metrics that it
collects and analyzes. The change of direction is intended to minimize the loss of
resources when there is reason to believe that the current direction is not correct and
does not reveal potential.

3 Research Design

In the Scopus database, searching with different keywords, regarding Lean Startup
from one hand and all possible project, product and innovation management practices,
there are only six research papers referring to ‘synthesis’ and ‘logic-based’. The results
of the analysis are presented in the results’ section, because the analysis was done with
the developed application, following the development phases, defined in the next
paragraphs, designing the research methodology.
240 Z. Yordanova

The research design is based on the common elements of the analyzed Lean Startup
management approach and the technical method Program Synthesis. The research
design follows an application development for digitalization of literature review (at a
limited extend). The process of developing will follow both concepts phase stages: 1.)
Specification/Idea generation; 2.) Synthesizing/Building, development; 3.)
Verification/Measure, data 4.) Feedback/Learn.
Both the concepts of Lean Startup and Program Synthesis are circular and follow
these four common phases and are based on the cycle principle. By the presented below
Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the main stages are presented for the purposes of resulting in a
common process for developing a Lean Startup Program Synthesis (LSPS) application
development model.

Fig. 1. General process in Program synthesis. Source: James Bornholt, Program Synthesis
Explained, (2015), available at: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/*bornholt/post/synthesis-explained.
html [12].

Fig. 2. Basic Program Synthesis process. Source: James Bornholt, Program Synthesis in 2019,
(2020), available at: https://blog.sigplan.org/2019/07/31/program-synthesis-in-2019/ [13].
 Digitalization of a Systematic Literature Review Process 241

Fig. 3. Lean Startup process for development. Source: Eric Ries, Lean Startup Fundamental
Feedback Loop and Workshop Info - from Web 2.0 Expo #leanstartup, (2009), available at:
https://www.slideshare.net/startuplessonslearned/eric-ries-lean-startup-fundamental-feedback-
loop-and-workshop-info-from-web-20-expo-leanstartup [14].

Concluding, the general phases for development of a Lean Startup Program Syn-
thesis (LSPS) application development model are (improved by business modelling
coming from Lean Startup requirement for not only technical verification and valida-
tion, but also customer and market validation):
1. Identification and description of high level business requirements (no matter if the
development is coming from internal or external sources)
2. High-level design and development with features of Minimal Viable Product
3. Validation phase
4. Re-design and improvement

4 Results and Discussion

In this section of the paper, presentation of the application development process takes
place with the respect of the above defined general process. In Table 1, the process and
the performed actions as well as the results of each of them is presented.
242 Z. Yordanova

Table 1. Developing application for digital systematic literature review

Phase Actions Results
High level Digitalization of literature analysis – Defining sub-requirements, incl.
business a common practice which usually Scopus database search,
requirements takes long time and it is resource- identification of data analytics
consuming. Digitalizing it, the main platform for performing the analysis
assumption is its facilitation and
assistance through digital techniques
High-level Designing the work process in the Developing a Qlik Sense application
design and developed solution (with different which may contain several datasets
development datasets, based on Scopus database from Scopus data searches and
searches, identifying different analyzing them accordingly
keywords across the different
datasets, etc.)
Validation Defining a scope for Lean Startup Validation trough manual
phase application papers and analyzing (traditional) systematic literature
them in the context of identification analysis and the results from the
of knowledge gaps and fasten up the developed application
process of literature review of a
large number of articles
Re-design After validation, some features are The re-design was done by
and adding as not only analyzing science additionally sub-dividing
improvement papers and articles based on words (automatically) each word of an
in titles and keywords, but also abstract and a search by these words
including words in abstracts is also possible
(including context analysis based on
the context of each sentence where
the analyzed word is used
originally)

This is how the application works by filtering and high-level flexible requirements
(Fig. 4).
There are several possibilities in the application: searching by words, which are
either in titles, abstracts or keywords of different data sets, combining different words
from the three filters, analyzing one or more datasets (coming from Scopus search), etc.
The feature of combining sets of words from titles, abstracts or keywords of science
papers might identify many hidden dependencies and linkages.
This is a wave analysis in the application, which is applied for searching the words
‘logic-based’ and ‘synthesis’ in abstracts of around 3000 science articles related to
Lean Startup and product, project and innovation management (Fig. 5).
The wave analysis facilitates the systematic literature analysis by providing useful
information on which are the topics discussed through titles. Keywords and abstracts
with a proper selection of a word in one of the three analyzed components of a science
paper.
 Digitalization of a Systematic Literature Review Process 243

Fig. 4. Application for digital systematic literature analysis.

Fig. 5. Wave analysis in the developed application for digitalization of systematic literature
review.

5 Conclusion

In conclusion of the presented model for developing applications, based on both the
principle of continuing development Lean Startup and Logic-based programing, the
readers may use the outcome for their own development approach. The presented
model proposes not only technical valid process, but also its combination with a proven
business model technique. In addition, here is presented this model validation through a
concrete application, digitalizing (at some extend) the systematic literature analysis
process which is common one for each researcher. Major benefits of the developed
application are: 1.) Facilitating and digitalizing the systematic literature review process;
244 Z. Yordanova

2.) Revealing some hidden dependencies and linkages between articles; 3.) Word and
context analysis.
The future work of the author will be focused on collaborating with different
scientists from diverse science fields for real implementation of the developed appli-
cation and validating the possible results from its usage.

Acknowledgments. The paper is supported by the BG NSF Grant No KP-06 OPR01/3-2018.

References
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Radically Successful Businesses. Crown Publishing Group, New York (2011)
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Agile Project Management in a Multi-Project Environment: Case Study in a Retail Company
(2019)
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4018/ijssmet.2020010110
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startup. Harvard Business School Entrepreneurial Management Case No. 812-095 (2012)
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feedback prioritization technique: a case study on lean startup. In: Misra, S., et al. (eds.)
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1007/978-3-030-24308-1_6
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7. Morris, P., Pinto, K.J.: The Wiley Guide to Project, Program, and Portfolio Management.
Wiley, Hoboken (2007)
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Palestinian construction projects. Int. J. Innov. Sci. Res. 17(2), 451–465 (2015). ISSN 2351-
8014
10. Project Management Institute: Project management body of knowledge, PMBOK (2017)
11. Ohno, T.: Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. Productivity Press,
Portland (1988)
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post/synthesis-explained.html
13. Bornholt, J.: Program Synthesis in 2019 (2020). https://blog.sigplan.org/2019/07/31/
program-synthesis-in-2019/
14. Ries, E.: Lean Startup Fundamental Feedback Loop and Workshop Info - from Web 2.0
Expo #leanstartup (2009). https://www.slideshare.net/startuplessonslearned/eric-ries-lean-
startup-fundamental-feedback-loop-and-workshop-info-from-web-20-expo-leanstartup
 Effect of Facebook Use on Social Comparison
Perceptions

Fu-Rung Yang1, Chih-Fen Wei2, and Jih-Hsin Tang3(&)

1
Department of Education, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
yangfr928@gmail.com
2
Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Taipei,
Taipei, Taiwan
cfwei@utaipei.edu.tw
3
Department of Information Management, National Taipei University
of Business, Taipei, Taiwan
jefftang@ntub.edu.tw

Abstract. People’s perceptions after browsing Facebook can provide valuable

insights. We investigated social comparison domains (agency vs. communion)
and social comparison directions (upward vs. downward) in Facebook by
manipulating the domains and directions using a simulated Facebook profile of a
comparison target. In total, 126 college students participated in the study. We
used a Latin square design for agency upward, agency downward, communion
upward, and communion downward comparisons. Individuals rated perceptive
social comparisons after browsing the profiles. In this study, t-tests were con-
ducted to compare results for the four profiles. Individuals perceived social
comparison domains and social comparison directions. Furthermore, individuals
browsing the agency comparison profile perceived communion information, and
those browsing the communion comparison profile perceived agency informa-
tion. The halo effect was evident in individuals browsing Facebook. Theoretical
implications and practical implications are discussed. Suggestions for teachers
and counselors are also provided.

Keywords: Social networking sites
Facebook
Social comparison
Agency

Communion
Halo effect

1 Introduction

People obtain much information about their friends from social network sites (SNSs),
which enable them to observe their friends’ recent life events and acquire social
comparison information. When people are unsure of their status in a particular area,
they frequently compare themselves with others. Facebook was selected as the SNS
platform for this study. Facebook is the most popular SNS and most theoretically
relevant to social comparison [1]. On Facebook, people present idealized versions of
themselves by posting flattering pictures and updates regarding their achievements [2].
People not only disclose their information but also remain informed on the lives of their
relatives, friends, and colleagues on Facebook; thus, Facebook has become the ideal
platform for social comparison [3].
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 245–254, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_28
246 F.-R. Yang et al.

Festinger (1954) [4] defined social comparison as the evaluation of an individual’s

own thoughts and behaviors in comparison with those of others (i.e., comparison
targets) that are similar in terms of characteristics or background. According to social
comparison theory, people compare themselves with others to assess their emotions,
personality traits, opinions, and abilities [4–6]. People make judgments and decisions
more effectively by performing comparisons with others [7].
Agency and communion are crucial social comparison domains as well as the most
influential pairing of abstract psychological distinctions [8]. Values, motives, traits, and
behaviors in the aforementioned domains provide an effective framework for distin-
guishing and organizing. Agency is a meta concept related to self-advancement in
social hierarchies, and communion is a partner concept related to the retention of
positive relationships [8, 9]. Individuals evaluate their agency characteristics, including
authoritativeness, task performance, and intelligence, and communal characteristics,
including agreeableness and empathy [10, 11]. Agency and communion are critical
domains for individuals to compare themselves with others.
Social comparison can be divided into two types: upward and downward. An
upward comparison involves individuals comparing themselves to those who they
perceive to be better, whereas a downward comparison involves comparison with
someone perceived to have less desirable characteristics. Although Facebook offers
opportunities for both types of comparisons, people typically conduct more upward
comparisons because SNSs enable people to present their most desirable traits [12].
The halo effect, first described by Thorndike in the 1920s, involves making
unreasonable inferences concerning others’ unknown characteristics on the basis of
known but typically irrelevant information. For example, attractive women are per-
ceived to have more desirable personality traits than less attractive women [13, 14].
Known traits tend to influence how other irrelevant traits are perceived because of the
halo effect. Individuals prefer sharing content on Facebook that presents them in a
positive light. Browsing Facebook enables individuals to infer unknown information
from known information. Individuals who perceived agency comparison information
may infer communion comparison information.
In the present study, we designed four Facebook profiles to evaluate which com-
ponents of Facebook profiles have a greater effect on social comparison domains
(agency vs. communion) and social comparison directions (upward vs. downward). We
hypothesized that individuals perceive the agency and communion comparison
domains as well as upward and downward comparison directions on Facebook.

2 Method

2.1 Participants
In total, 134 college students (48 male and 86 female students) from a university in
Taipei were included. All of the participants were between 19 and 23 years old and
used Facebook regularly.
 Effect of Facebook Use on Social Comparison Perceptions 247

2.2 Social Comparison Manipulation

This study designed Facebook profiles with real photos obtained from college students
in their early 20s living in Taipei. The photos on the four profiles differed, but the
responses on the profiles were the same. The agency upward comparison profile
highlighted higher intelligence, authority, and superior task performance on Facebook
wall posts (e.g., high Test of English for International Communication [TOEIC] scores,
student council presidency, and excellent academic performance). By contrast, lower
intelligence, lack of authority, and inferior task performance were emphasized on the
agency downward comparison profile (e.g., lower TOEIC scores, absence of student
council positions, and poor academic performance). The communion upward com-
parison profile exhibited increased empathy, agreeableness, and communion on
Facebook wall photos (e.g., involvement in volunteer activities and pleasant interper-
sonal relationships). By contrast, a lack of empathy, agreeableness, and communion
were highlighted in the communion downward comparison profile (e.g., decreased
involvement in volunteer activities and poor interpersonal relationships). The appendix
presents the agency upward comparison profile pages.
Except the aforementioned characteristics, the social media profiles were otherwise
similar in terms of the name (the name for the male profile was for Guan Yu Xu, and
the name for the female profile was for Zi Han Xu), interests (cycling), number of
friends (113), and other content. Moreover, the profile pictures were the same for all
experimental conditions and did not depict the face of either the male or the female
target individual. Last, all conditions included four identical posts that enhanced the
realism of the profiles. For example, one involved a status update concerning the
environment with a picture of autumn trees and the caption “I love fall.”

2.3 Procedure
All participants were asked to browse a Facebook profile and complete a questionnaire
after providing informed consent. Participants visited the laboratory and completed an
online questionnaire program individually. Participants were told that we were studying
the retention of information found on Facebook. Subsequently, they were informed that
they would browse four Facebook profiles. We manipulated the comparison domains
(agency vs. communion) and comparison directions (upward vs. downward) using a
simulated Facebook profile of a comparison target. We used a Latin square design for
agency upward, agency downward, communion upward, and communion downward
comparisons to explore individuals’ social comparison perceptions on Facebook.

2.4 Manipulation Check

We asked four questions regarding the profiles to verify whether participants had
browsed the Facebook profiles. Participants had to select the correct TOEIC score and
identify the activity attended by the person in the agency upward comparison profile
248 F.-R. Yang et al.

and the agency downward comparison profile. Furthermore, participants were required
to identify the relevant person who participated in the volunteer activity in the com-
munion upward comparison profile and the communion downward comparison profile.
We excluded participants who answered two Facebook content questions incorrectly.
Two questions were chosen as our cut-off because it suggested that participants had not
considered the profiles sufficiently. In total, eight participants were excluded for this
reason. Finally, 126 participants (46 male and 80 female participants) were included in
the study.

2.5 Measurement
After viewing the profile, participants completed a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly
disagree, 5 = strongly agree) that measured six items (the target person’s intelligence,
authority, task performance, empathy, agreeableness, and communion). The scores of
the six items were combined to create agency (three items) and communion (three
items) scores.

3 Result

In this study, t-tests were conducted to compare the four Facebook profiles. Descriptive
statistics and t-values were calculated for all the variables (Table 1).

Table 1. Facebook social comparison domain and social comparison direction t-test results
(N = 126)
Social comparison Dependent variables Social comparison t-value
domain direction
Upward Downward
Agency Agency 3.97 (0.69) 2.29 (0.72) 18.68**
Communion 3.55 (0.76) 2.88 (0.76) 8.00**
Communion Agency 3.48 (0.75) 3.13 (0.67) 4.84**
Communion 4.02 (0.76) 3.59 (0.73) 7.05**
*
p < .05, p < .01
**

Higher scores were obtained for the agency upward comparison profile (mean
[M] = 3.97, standard deviation [SD] = 0.69) than for the agency downward compar-
ison profile (M = 2.29, SD = 0.72), and higher scores were obtained for the commu-
nion upward comparison profile (M = 4.02, SD = 0.76) than for the communion
downward profile (M = 3.59, SD = 0.73; Table 1). Furthermore, individuals browsing
the agency upward comparison profile perceived communion upward comparison
 Effect of Facebook Use on Social Comparison Perceptions 249

information (M = 3.55, SD = 0.76), and those browsing the agency downward com-
parison profile perceived communion downward comparison information (M = 2.88,
SD = 0.76). Individuals browsing the communion upward comparison profile per-
ceived agency upward comparison information (M = 3.48, SD = 0.75), and those
browsing the communion downward comparison profile perceived agency downward
comparison information (M = 3.13, SD = 0.67). Individuals perceived agency and
communion comparison domains as well as upward and downward comparison
directions on Facebook. The results support our hypothesis.

4 Discussion

We assessed how individuals perceive social comparison on Facebook by simulating

Facebook profiles that included elements of social comparison domains (agency vs.
communion) and directions (upward vs. downward). Individuals perceived agency and
communion comparison as well as upward and downward comparison. Individuals
who browsed the agency upward profile perceived agency upward information, and
those who browsed the agency downward profile perceived agency downward infor-
mation. Individuals who browsed the communion upward profile perceived commu-
nion upward information, and those who browsed the communion downward profile
perceived communion downward information.
Although we did not include communion information on the agency profile,
individuals concluded that the owner of the profile had communion traits. Participants
also attributed agency traits to the communion profile. In the agency upward profile,
participants attributed communion upward traits (M = 3.55, SD = 0.76) to the profile.
In the agency downward profile, participants concluded that the profile owner had
communion downward traits (M = 2.88, SD = 0.76). In the communion upward pro-
file, participants attributed agency upward traits (M = 3.48, SD = 0.75) to the profile.
In the communion downward profile, participants believed that the owner had agency
downward traits (M = 3.13, SD = 0.67). The halo effect was evident in individuals who
browsed Facebook. Individuals tend to infer unknown characteristics of others on the
basis of known information.

4.1 Theoretical Implications

When browsing simulated Facebook profiles, individuals perceived social comparison,
including social comparison domains (agency vs. communion) and directions (upward
vs. downward). The distinction between agency and communion is an influential
pairing of abstract psychological distinctions. Social comparison domains and social
comparison directions are essential in social comparison on Facebook.
250 F.-R. Yang et al.

Our results also support the halo effect in individuals browsing Facebook [15].
Individuals browsing the agency comparison profile perceived communion informa-
tion, and those browsing the communion comparison profile perceived agency infor-
mation. This could be a factor affecting individuals’ well-being after browsing
Facebook. Inferring unknown information from known information may affect people’s
evaluation of themselves and their well-being.

4.2 Practical Implications

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram are very popular in student
life. The amount of information on Facebook was so vast that offered students infor-
mation and interests. Students can disclose themselves and know about the lives of
their relatives, friends and colleagues on Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook has already
become the ideal platform for social comparison. Individuals tend to focus their
evaluations of themselves and others on the domains they most value. Paulhus (2002)
[16] argued that agency and communion provide suitable summary labels for the
content distinction of the two manners, in which people attempt to appear desirable
during social comparison. Individuals might perceive social comparison domains
(agency vs. communion) and directions (upward vs. downward) on Facebook. Students
browse Facebook might trigger social comparison automatically and this might influ-
ence an individual’s well-being.
Social comparison was a ubiquitous and far-reaching social process in human
interaction. While browsing Facebook, individuals perceived agency and communion
comparison information. In school, in addition to positive encouragement for agency
domain, teachers should also give positive encouragement for communion domain.
Encouraging students to demonstrate the traits of communion and replace competition
with cooperation is also crucial in education. Teachers and counselors in school should
be aware of how Facebook affects social comparison (domains and directions) in
students and advise them to use Facebook wisely. Teachers can also teach students to
compare by themselves, pay attention to their own learning and growth, and avoid
negative effects caused by inappropriate comparisons with others.
 Effect of Facebook Use on Social Comparison Perceptions 251

Appendix
252 F.-R. Yang et al.
 Effect of Facebook Use on Social Comparison Perceptions 253

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 Hands-on Statistical Methods: A Case Study
with Hidden Markov Models Using
Simulations and Experiments

Steinar Thorvaldsen(&)

UiT The Arctic University of Norway,

PO Box 6050, Langnes, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
steinar.thorvaldsen@uit.no

Abstract. Biological processes are often very complicated compared with

physics and chemistry. One of the newest and most challenging interactions
between biology and computational science comes from modern molecular
biology and bioinformatics, where Hidden Markov Models (HMM) are widely
applied tools. This paper presents the background, theory and HMM algorithms
based on examples from Gregor Mendel’s classical plant experiments. This
approach aims to achieve some intuitive advantages in a biological and bioin-
formatical setting, because the pedagogy goes from the known to the unknown.
It only presumes basic knowledge of genetics, statistics and matrix algebra. The
student may gain insight into the complex HMM methodology by running
“experiments” with the application MendelHMM in a kind of “digital labora-
tory”. The optimal model can only be sought in a certain probabilistic sense.
This process is known as machine learning.

Keywords: Experimental mathematics
Bioinformatics
Markov chains

HMM
Machine learning

1 Introduction

Stochastic processes are among the most general objects of study in probability and
statistics, but are normally not part of the introductory courses in statistics. Markov
processes are special cases of such processes. Some genetic processes can be repre-
sented by Markov chains in the sense that the random variables are not independent,
but rather the value of each variable depends on just the previous element in the
sequence. Markov chains models such local interactions [1].
Hidden Markov Models (HMM) can be very useful tools for analyzing a wide
range of linguistic and biological data, and are often included in a modern biological
curriculum. However, the subject is considered to be rather difficult. The biological
world is complex, and compared with physics and chemistry, it is only quite recently
that a somewhat systematic offensive towards biological problems by using mathe-
matical models has taken place. Modern students of biology have to learn more about
mathematical modeling than in earlier days.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 255–262, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_29
256 S. Thorvaldsen

This paper presents HMM’s background, theory and algorithms based on examples
from Gregor Mendel’s classical plant experiments. This approach is considered to have
some intuitive advantages in a bioinformatical and biological setting, because the
pedagogy goes from the known to the unknown. It presumes only basic knowledge of
genetics, statistics and matrix algebra, and the student may gain insight into the
complex HMM methodology by running “experiments” with the application Men-
delHMM [2] in a kind of “digital laboratory”.
Mendel’s famous experiments in plant hybridization were published in 1866 and
are often considered an essential work of modern genetics. He had no prior knowledge
of the diploid nature of genes, but through a series of experiments, he could anticipate
the hidden concept and name it “Element”. In his experiments, he examined seven
simple traits in the common garden pea (named Pisum). A trait (called phenotype)
occurs either in one variation or another, with no in-between. These plants are naturally
self-pollinating and exhibited traits that occur in very distinct forms, as shown in
Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. The 7 phenotypes that Mendel examined of the Pisum garden pea.

Today we know that such recessive expressions most often are mutations in the
DNA molecule of the genes, and it is well known for Mendel’s growth gene (trait 7)
that a single DNA-nucleotide G is substituted with an A. The outcome is that the
enzyme’s 3D structure is altered, and no biochemical reaction can occur.
In his experiment, Mendel also examined in more detail the plant seeds with two
and three simultaneous heredity factors. When he studied two traits, he used 1 and 2,
and three traits 1, 2 and 3 in Fig. 1.
 Hands-on Statistical Methods: A Case Study with HMM 257

2 The Software

The interface of the program MendelHMM is shown in Fig. 2. There is a frame con-
taining controls for loading and managing training data in the left part of the window.
On the right side there is a frame holding controls for managing the Hidden Markov
model. Button Estimate (EM) runs the estimation of a model from the selected training
set. The button Sample (new) serves to produce new training sets according to the
selected HMM model and sample size.

Fig. 2. The main window of the program MendelHMM, with buttons for loading models,
training sets, viewing individual sequences and results.

3 To Estimate a Statistical Model According to a Training Set

The actual model and the actual sequence of hidden state values cannot be found
stringently from the knowledge of the observations’ sequence. The optimal model can
only be looked for in a probabilistic sense, and to search for the most probable model is
one of the common and often challenging tasks in Markov modeling. In an ideal case,
the model is derived from knowledge about the objects we study and its configuration.
However, in many practical situations, the available knowledge is insufficient. Still,
knowledge can be improved with our training data. This iterative process is called
learning.
There are two main kinds of learning. The first one, supervised learning, operates
with a training set consisting of pairs (xi, yi), where yi is a sequence of observations,
and xi is a sequence of corresponding states. The second possibility, the unsupervised
learning, works with sequences of observations, yi, only. In our situation, this case is
adopted. A central question is the source of the training data and how it may influence
the appropriate learning algorithm’s choice. The maximum likelihood (ML) estimate is
258 S. Thorvaldsen

suitable when the training data are random samples from a probability distribution that
can be searched for.
Supervised ML estimation is a pure counting of the relative frequency of occur-
rence of events. Additionally, ML estimation and the Baum-Welch re-estimation
algorithm provide unsupervised learning, and it is a special case of the EM algorithm
(Expectation Maximization). The algorithm is an iterative adaptation of the model to fit
the training data. An HMM may often be slow to estimate because of its high number
of parameters and many local maxima.
A presentation of model parameters estimated by the MendelHMM program is
shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. EM-estimation of model parameters based on two phenotypes and 50 sequences each of
length 7. The results are sensitive to the initial values.

We may achieve higher efficiency in the optimization methods by employing

special properties of the functions that arise as relevant in biology. However, global
optimization is still in its early stage, and rapid progress is expected in this field by
introducing techniques for data perturbation to escape local maxima (Simulated
Annealing). Simulated Annealing [3] is an established methodology for introducing
randomness into optimization by performing a random tour of the search space.
Though, it has been proved that finding the globally-optimal ML parameters is NP-hard
[4], so initial conditions matters a lot for success. Simulated Annealing is not imple-
mented in the toolbox MendelHMM. However, initial values may be chosen by two
methods, either by random or by a dominant diagonal method.

4 Sampling of New Training Data

The toolbox MendelHMM may also produce new data samples from our Markov
model by running through it in a probabilistic way. A graphical outlook of the data
sequences can also be provided, as displayed in Fig. 4.
 Hands-on Statistical Methods: A Case Study with HMM 259

Fig. 4. A sequence sample distribution of observations and hidden states from the MendelHMM
toolbox with two genes (4 phenotypes and 9 genotypes).

5 The Probability of a Given Sequence

Some fundamental problems have to be solved in the HMM process. The first is the
problem of sequence evaluation. As a case study, the Mendel experiment gives us a
simple example of such evaluation, often called the forward/backward procedure. If
we, in the case of one gene, have a sequence of dominant (A) and recessive
(a) observations:

y ¼ ðA; A; a; a; aÞ ð1Þ

Note here that when writing a single letter A in bold, we mean the phenotype and
not the genotype. How do we then calculate the probability that this sequence is
derived from the model? In our particular Mendel model, we have initial state vector p,
probability state transition matrix PS, and emission probabilities PE:
0 1 0 1
1 0 0 1 0
p ¼ ð0 1 0 Þ; PS ¼ @ 1=4 1=2 1=4 A and PE ¼ @ 1 0A
0 0 1 0 1
ð2Þ

The first column in PE tells that all genotypes of type number 1 (AA) and type 2
(Aa) will be observed as phenotype 1(A), and the second column tells that all geno-
types of type 3 (aa) will be observed as phenotype 2 (a). In this rather simple case, only
one possible state path can hide behind the given observations:
260 S. Thorvaldsen

ð0 1 0Þ ! ð0 1 0Þ ! ð0 0 1Þ ! ð0 0 1Þ ! ð0 0 1Þ; ð3Þ

and calculating the probabilities in the defined model M gives:

X 1 1 1
Prðy; x1:5 jM Þ ¼

1
1 ¼ ð4Þ
all x1:5
2 4 8

6 The Sequence of Most Probable Values of the States

As mentioned before, the actual sequence of hidden values cannot be found from the
knowledge of the sequence of observations and the corresponding Markov model. The
optimal sequence can only be looked for in a probabilistic sense. The search for the
most probable sequence is another of the central questions in HMM. The Viterbi
algorithm solves this task. This algorithm applies dynamic programming and can be
interpreted as a search for the shortest path.
In our Mendel experiment, we may have a sequence of dominant observations:

y ¼ ðA; A; A; A; AÞ ð5Þ

How should we find the most probable sequence of states (e.g. genotypes)? A
predicted path through the HMM should estimate what the genotype sequence is in the
emitted symbol sequence. We decode the observed symbol sequence to obtain the
states and select the highest probability path (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Analyzing an observation sequence by the Viterbi algorithm. The solution of the best
state path is marked in bold face.

We are using the best preceding path (up to position t) to find the best possible
score and path at position t+1. The sequence begins by default in state p1, and we
construct a table of the possible paths, each with a pointer from the previous position
that generated it. After creating the table, the optimal state sequence will be found by
backtracking, as in Fig. 5. In Fig. 6 shows a graphical illustration from the program
MendelHMM with 10 generations.
 Hands-on Statistical Methods: A Case Study with HMM 261

Fig. 6. A sample sequence of observations and hidden states from the MendelHMM model with
4 phenotypes and 9 hidden states. The Viterbi prediction based on the observed phenotypes alone
is also presented and is very accurate in this example.

7 Concluding Remarks

Mendel created the first mathematical model for the transmission of heritable traits,
based on the concepts of probability. He also studied in detail data from two and three
independent pairs of genes. A resampled version of Mendel’s data sets is available in
our program MendelHMM. Even though Mendel’s original “raw” data are lost, we have
to regenerate them with the same sample size and ratios, as reported in his paper. In our
program, the transition and emission probabilities may be estimated from the sequences
of observations, and the number of hidden states may be varied.
The approach in MendelHMM is based on experimental mathematics in which
computation is used to investigate mathematical objects and identify properties and
patterns to achieve a better understanding [5, 6]. The method makes use of computa-
tional evidence instead of formal proofs. Experimental mathematics has long traditions
in the history of science. It has re-emerged as a separate area of study in our time when
computers vastly increase the range of achievable calculations. In this way, an inno-
vative use of technology in learning a complex methodology may be realized.
Today HMMs are applied to a variety of problems in both language and
DNA/protein sequence analysis, including gene finding and protein family classifica-
tion and prediction. More background information and exercises may be found at the
MendelHMM homepage [7]. The toolbox is implemented in Matlab and is freely
262 S. Thorvaldsen

available for nonprofit, academic use. Later on, the next version of the program will be
available as an open-access web application.

References
1. Ross, S.M.: Introduction to Probability Models, 10th edn. Academic Press, Oxford (2009)
2. Thorvaldsen, S.: A tutorial on Markov models based on Mendel’s classical experiments.
J. Bioinform. Comput. Biol. 3(6), 1441–1460 (2005)
3. Kirkpatrick, S., Gelatt, C., Vecchi, M.: Optimization by simulated annealing. Science 220,
671–680 (1983)
4. Day, W.H.E.: Computationally difficult parsimony problems in phylogenetic systematics.
J. Theoret. Biol. 103, 429–438 (1983)
5. Borwein, J., Devlin, K.: The Computer as Crucible: An Introduction to Experimental
Mathematics. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2008)
6. Santner, T.J., Williams, B.J., Notz, W.I.: The Design and Analysis of Computer Experiments.
SSS. Springer, New York (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8847-1
7. Mendel HMM Toolbox for Matlab. http://www.math.uit.no/bi/hmm/
 Integrating Big Data in Introductory Statistics
Education - Challenges for Instructors
and Students

Jane Lu Hsu(&) and You-Ren Chen

National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402204, Taiwan

jlu@dragon.nchu.edu.tw

Abstract. Statistics education aims to equip students with theoretical concepts

and analytical skills. In introductory statistics, training is focused on memo-
rization of fundamental theorems and formulae with manual calculation. This
study is in the first phase of a more comprehensive project to enhance under-
graduate students’ big data literacy in introductory statistics. Challenges for
instructors and students are described based on qualitative findings. Four aspects
are introduced: (1) software acquaintance; (2) big data applications; (3) under-
standing differences in statistical inferences between small data and big data;
and (4) modification of teaching/learning module. Integrating big data appli-
cations into introductory statistics can be beneficial for students in practical
training and in capacity building.

Keywords: Big data
Introductory statistics education
Challenges for

instructors and students

1 Introduction

Big data has been integrated in curriculum for statistics education to equip students
with advanced analytical skills to handle complicated data structures in reality. In
introductory statistics education, big data is more of a concept than a subject in the
course.

1.1 Characteristics of Big Data

Characteristics of big data have been described using 3Vs (Volume, Velocity, Variety)
or 5Vs (Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and Value) [1]. Large volume data
generated systematically in high speed is one major aspect of big data. Information
stored in systems with structured or unstructured format for analytics are considered big
data if certain characteristics can be possessed:
• Volume – size of data. Big data refers to huge amount of data points.
• Velocity – speed of data generation. Big data is generated, stored, and distributed in
high speed.
• Variety – types of data. Big data has structured, semi-structured, or unstructured
format.

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264 J. L. Hsu and Y.-R. Chen

• Veracity – quality of data. Big data needs to be accurate, consistent, secure, and
reliable.
• Value – usability of data. Big data can be used for analytics, government policies,
business strategies, and education.

1.2 Big Data in Statistics Education

Statistics education aims to equip students with theoretical concepts and analytical
skills. In introductory statistics, training is focused on memorization of fundamental
theorems and formulae with manual calculation. Software is supplementary in intro-
ductory statistics. Datasets in introductory statistics are simplified for manual calcu-
lation. For software training, subsets of data are provided to ease the burden of learning
and practicing statistical formulae.
Statistics provides a foundation for advanced business analytics. In introductory
statistics, big data is usually not introduced. Since introductory statistics can be the only
statistical course students take in undergraduate education, lacking of the concept of
big data can be a disadvantage for students to confront challenges of analytics in
advanced study or in career development.
For students, the gap between handling 30 data points and tens thousands of data
points is huge. Although statistical inferences apply to big data are extended from basic
theorems, students in introductory statistics usually do not get opportunities to learn the
skills needed for handling big data.

1.3 Research Objective

Introducing concept of big data in introductory statistics is in the beginning. Objective
of this study is to provide some insights into challenges for instructor and students in
integrating big data into introductory statistics education.

2 Literature Review

The development of statistics education incorporates big data applications, and further
into business analytics in data science. For introductory statistics education, teaching
objective is to train students with analytical skills using statistical concepts. Since
statistical properties (unbiasedness, efficiency, consistency) are different between small
data and big data, adding big data applications in introductory statistics means more
materials for instructors and for students to cover within limited time frame of the
course, which can be challenging.
Daniel [2] identifies critical issues with big data in education and explains the
importance in conceptualization of implementation as big data in education becomes a
mainstream. Klašnja-Milićević et al. [3] argue the rationales to associate big data and
learning analytics together, and describe possibilities and techniques for extending the
capabilities of educational systems.
 Integrating Big Data in Introductory Statistics Education 265

François et al. [4] state the need to have big-data literacy integrated into statistical
literacy. Bargagliotti et al. [5] emphasize the need to have big data analytic skills
considered as one of the undergraduate students’ learning outcomes.

3 Research Methodology

This study is in the first phase of a more comprehensive project to enhance under-
graduate students’ big data literacy in introductory statistics. Challenges for instructors
and students are described based on qualitative findings.
Introductory statistics offered as a core course in college of management at a
national university is selected for this study. Student enrollment is above 90. In
addition to conventional statistics teaching, big data application is introduced in the
course.
Students are offered an option to join this project with additional training in big data
application. Signed consensuses are obtained before participation.

3.1 Project Design

Most students in introductory statistics class from the college of management are not
familiar with programming. Hence, there is a step-by-step teaching method designed
for students to help them learn how to use Python to process big data and visualize
data. Teaching method is illustrated in Fig. 1.

Using small
Explaining
dataset to teach Integrating big Data
programming
basic datasets vizualization
concept
programming

Fig. 1. Teaching method applied to introductory statistics.

After class, most students mentioned that they could understand the basic pro-
gramming concept well, and enjoyed the learning process of the training.

4 Results

Sources of big data used in introductory statistics are from open source. Table 1 lists
examples of open source data, descriptions, and organizations as data sources.
Based on preliminary findings in this study, challenges and opportunities for
instructors and for students are summarized as follows. Challenges for instructors/
students are:
266 J. L. Hsu and Y.-R. Chen

Table 1. Examples of open source data for introductory statistics.

Dataset Short description Data source
US station hourly This dataset contains the weather change NOAA
climate every hour from January 1, 2010 to January
31, 2010 in United States one station
Gross domestic product This dataset contains the GDP(US dollars) OECD
of different countries in different years. Data
interval from 1960 to 2018
Crude oil production This dataset contains the oil production of OPEC
different countries in different years. Data
interval from 1960 to 2018
Industrial production This dataset contains the Industrial National statistics
index production index of different industries in
different month in Taiwan. Data interval
from January 1982 to June 2020
Customer price index This dataset contains the Customer Price National statistics
Index of different categories in different
month in Taiwan. Data interval from
January 1981 to July 2020
National income This dataset contains the national Income of National statistics
statistics different categories in different season in
Taiwan. Indicators contains economics
growth, GDP. GNI etc. Data interval from
season1, 1961 to season1, 2020
Total value of import This dataset contains the total value of National statistics
and export trade import and export trade in different month
in Taiwan. Data interval from January, 2001
to July, 2020
Business indicators This dataset contains Taiwan’s business National statistics
indicators every month from January 1982
to June 2020. Business indicators contains
leading factor, coincident factor etc.
Taiwan’s electricity This dataset contains Taiwan’s electricity Government
supply and demand supply and demand information every day information open
information from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 platform
UV detection This dataset contains the UV value every Government
hour from August 10, 2020 to August 11, information open
2020 in Taiwan’s different detection platform
stations
Dioxin information This dataset contains the Dioxin value every Government
day from March 6, 2017 to May 18, 2020 in information open
Taiwan’s different sites platform

Software acquaintance – Python is a powerful software for data science. Instructors

may have more knowledge than students in coding. For first-time statistics learners,
 Integrating Big Data in Introductory Statistics Education 267

training in software coding can be very challenging. Additional help sessions are
needed for slow-learners to get acquainted with software.
Big data applications – Big data applications cover diversified topics. What
instructors select for teaching materials may not be interested for students to learn.
What students are interested, for example social media data, may not fit well in
objectives of statistics teaching.
Understanding differences in statistical inferences between small data and big data
– Big data holds certain statistical properties and is different from the content of
introductory statistics. Instructors may need to spend extra time explaining the
uniqueness of big data statistical properties, or may need to provide additional learning
materials for students to understand big data statistical properties.
Modification of teaching/learning module – Conventional introductory statistics
education has not been data-centered. Integrating big data in introductory statistics
requires modification of teaching/learning modules.

5 Conclusion

This study provides some insights into challenges for instructors/students to integrate
big data applications into introductory statistics education. Four aspects are introduced:
(1) software acquaintance; (2) big data applications; (3) understanding differences in
statistical inferences between small data and big data; and (4) modification of
teaching/learning module.
In conclusion, introductory statistics education provides a solid foundation for
students to learn advanced analytical skills in data science. Integrating big data
applications into introductory statistics can be beneficial for students in practical
training and in capacity building.

Research Funding. This research is supported by Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST-
109-2511-H-005 -001) in Taiwan.

References
1. Younas, M.: Research challenges of big data. SOCA 13(2), 105–107 (2019). https://doi.org/
10.1007/s11761-019-00265-x
2. Daniel, B.K.: Big data and data science: a critical review of issues for educational research.
Br. J. Edu. Technol. 50(1), 101–113 (2019)
3. Klašnja-Milićević, A., Ivanović, M., Budimac, Z.: Data science in education: big data and
learning analytics. Comput. Appl. Eng. Educ. 25(6), 1066–1078 (2017)
4. François, K., Monteiro, C., Allo, P.: Big-data literacy as a new vocation for statistical literacy.
Stat. Educ. Res. J. 19(1), 194–205 (2020)
5. Bargagliotti, A., et al.: Undergraduate learning outcomes for achieving data acumen. J. Stat.
Educ. 28(2), 197–211 (2020)
 Integration of LUPDA Theory and STEAM
with Computational Thinking Concepts
to Develop Assessment Principles for an AI
Based STEAM Activity

Chih-Hung Wu1 and Yueh-Min Huang2(&)

1
National Taichung University of Education, Taichung City, Taiwan, R.O.C.
chwu@mail.ntcu.edu.tw
2
National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan, R.O.C.
huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Abstract. This study uses learn, use, practice, design, apply/analyze (LUPDA)
theory to combine science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM)
and computational thinking (CT) concepts to develop assessment principles.
The STEAM teaching activity designs and implements an artificial intelligence
(AI) webcam game with micro:bit technology, AI computer vision, and deep
learning techniques to recognize the user’s hand gestures via webcam. The game
in our teaching experiment which can automatically interpret the user’s gestures
as scissors, stone, or cloth through the webcam, and then automatically react to
the user through a motor. Finally, this study proposes a set of relevant assess-
ment principles based on STEAM, LUPDA theory, and CT concepts.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI)
STEAM
Computational thinking

(CT)
LUPDA theory

1 Introduction

STEAM integrates science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics across dis-
ciplines to cultivate problem solving skills by fostering cross-domain integration [1].
However, there has been very little research combining computational thinking
(CT) concepts with STEAM education. Studies have shown that STEAM teachers who
integrate CT concepts into lesson plans and curricula are more effective when they
teach CT. In addition, CT training nurtures problem-solving attitudes and skills that are
applicable not only to computer science, but to other disciplines as well [2]. However,
few studies focus on developing assessment principles and questions for learning
performance evaluation in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM)
education.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework that
includes a set of relevant assessment principles based on concepts of STEAM, LUPDA
(learn, use, practice, design, apply/analyze) theory, and CT. The final assessment
framework, and principles grounded in STEAM + LUPDA + CT were designed. Next,
professors and experts were asked to revise the assessment principles and questions.

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https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_31
 Integration of LUPDA Theory and STEAM with CT Concepts 269

2 Literature Review

International research in the field of CT has increased dramatically in recent years;

visual programming language is the most commonly used tool in CT studies. For
example, the visual programming software Scratch has been used as a teaching tool in
the past few years [3]. For educators, and especially for K-12 students, visual pro-
gramming is a frequently used coding tool. For teachers, how to apply CT concepts to
teaching is still an important issue that needs to be clarified [3]. A review of research on
CT has used games in conjunction with learning theory to design contextual games to
enhance students’ CT skills [4].

3 Method

This study utilized the LUPDA theory to create and improve learning performance in
STEAM education. LUPDA theory identifies the main purposes and guidelines for
different STEAM learning components. The primary aims of LUPDA theory for
STEAM are learning science content for science education, using technology (or
coding) for technology education, practicing how to use tools for engineering educa-
tion, designing works for art education, and applying/analyzing data for math education
in STEAM learning activities. The detail descriptions are shown in Table 1.
This study combines LUPDA theory, STEAM, and CT to develop a framework of
assessment principles and questions for STEAM education. This study invited several
scholars and experts in STEAM and CT to help modify and revise the designed
assessment principles/questions for each STEAM dimension to satisfy expert validity.
Designing a STEAM Activity. This study designed an AI-based webcam game with
micro:bit technology and motors for a STEAM education activity based on the learning
materials on the website [5]. Figure 1 presents the design of system. The science
content includes the concepts of artificial intelligence (AI), Convolutional neural net-
work (CNN), and mobile net. The technology content uses modified scratch visual
language coding. The engineering content includes a webcam, micro:bit and motors.
The art content encompasses the system design. The math content involves deep
learning neural network accuracy calculation, and motor rotation angle calculation.
The STEAM activity is used as an example of STEAM education activity in the
proposed assessment framework and principles.

Fig. 1. AI webcam (scissors, stone, and cloth) game with micro:bit technology [5].
270 C.-H. Wu and Y.-M. Huang

4 Data

This study develops a conceptual framework of relevant assessment principles and

questions based on STEAM, LUPDA theory, and CT concepts. The framework and
assessment principles were designed and asked the professors and experts to revised the
assessment principles. The conceptual framework with detail assessment principles for
STEAM with CT concepts are shown in Table 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Table 1. LUPDA theory for STEAM education.

STEAM Main purposes Guidelines for educators
Science Learn The STEAM activities and courses in science part could
focus on teaching students how to study and understand
science content
Technology Use The STEAM activities and courses in technology part
could focus on training students how to properly use
technology, tools, and coding
Engineering Practice The STEAM activities and courses in engineering part
could focus on training students how to properly use tools
to assemble various materials in their work. Educators can
design several activities to help students practice how to
use these tools
Art Design The STEAM activities and courses in art part could focus
on training students how to design beautiful unique works
based on art theories. The teacher uses the designed
activity to help students enhance their imagination and
creativity
Math Apply/Analyze The STEAM activities and courses in math part could
focus on training students how to use math to apply or
analyze data and to discover trends in data

Table 2. Framework of assessment principles for the STEAM science dimension.

STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Science Learn Decomposition +1 Being able to divide the science
+2 problem into several sub problems
+3 Being able to understand every useful
science concepts or theories or
algorithms for sub problems
Being able to choose/use science
correctly according to specifications in
each sub problems
(continued)
 Integration of LUPDA Theory and STEAM with CT Concepts 271

Table 2. (continued)
STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Pattern +1 The ability to figure out the pattern for
recognition +2 each sub problems
+3 The ability to select the most
appropriate science concept in each
patterns
Using science correctly in each patterns
Abstraction +1 The ability to design/plan several
+2 science sub programs to solve the
+3 problem
Can choose the most appropriate
science concepts/theories/algorithms
and apply it in different sub problem
and patterns
Knowing how to build a good system or
model (e.g. AI model)
Algorithm +1 Being able to design the flowchart that
+2 includes system/model/experimental
+3 hypotheses and then verify them
The ability to collect data and analyze
the experimental/simulation results
Making generalizations and reasonable
inferences based on the results of
analysis
Teaching activity: building and training AI models

Table 3. Framework of assessment principles for the STEAM technology dimension.

STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Technology Use Decomposition +1 Being able to divide the technology
+2 problem into several sub problems
+3 Being able to understand every
useful techniques and tools for sub
problems
Being able to choose/use techniques
and tools correctly according to
specifications in each sub problems
Pattern +1 The ability to figure out the pattern
recognition +2 for each sub problems
+3 The ability to select the most
appropriate materials and tools in
each patterns
Using materials and tools correctly
according to specifications in each
patterns
(continued)
272 C.-H. Wu and Y.-M. Huang

Table 3. (continued)
STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Abstraction +1 The ability to design/plan several
+2 sub programs to solve the problem
+3 Using materials and tools/functions
correctly according to specifications
to finish the sub program
The ability to modify or revise code
based on the results
Algorithm +1 The ability to design/plan a
+2 flowchart to solve the whole
+3 problem
Using and combine designed
functions or subprograms based on
the flowchart
The ability to modify or revised the
design of flowchart based on results
Teaching activity: being able to write program training data and improve training accuracy

Table 4. Framework of assessment principles for the STEAM engineering dimension.

STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Engineering Practice Decomposition +1 Being able to divide the
+2 engineering problem into several
+3 sub problems
Being able to understand every
useful materials and tools for sub
problems
Being able to choose/use materials
and tools correctly according to
specifications in each sub problems
Pattern +1 The ability to figure out the pattern
recognition +2 for each sub problems
+3 The ability to select the most
appropriate materials and tools in
each patterns
Using materials and tools correctly
according to specifications in each
patterns
(continued)
 Integration of LUPDA Theory and STEAM with CT Concepts 273

Table 4. (continued)
STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Abstraction +1 The ability to design/plan several
+2 components to solve the sub
+3 problems
Using the components correctly to
solve the sub program
The ability to modify or revise
components based on the results in
each sub problems
Algorithm +1 The ability to design/plan a
+2 flowchart to solve the whole
+3 problem
The ability to correctly combine
components and build systems
The ability to diagnose the
correctness of the built system and
modify it
Teaching activity: the ability to assemble motors from 1 to 2 motors

Table 5. Framework of assessment principles for the STEAM art dimension.

STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Art Design Decomposition +1 The designed system is
Pattern recognition +2 aesthetic
+3 Can show unique design
Abstraction ability
Algorithm Have imagination or
creativity
Teaching activity: design the appearance of an AI rock-paper-scissors game
274 C.-H. Wu and Y.-M. Huang

Table 6. Framework of assessment principles for the STEAM math dimension.

STEAM LUPDA Computational Score Assessment principle
theory thinking
Math Apply/Analyze Decomposition +1 Being able to divide the math
+2 problem into several sub
+3 problems
Being able to understand every
useful math functions for sub
problems
Being able to choose/use math
formula or tools correctly
according to specifications in
each sub problems
Pattern +1 The ability to figure out the
recognition +2 pattern for each sub problems
+3 The ability to display trend of
data in charts
The ability to analysis the trend of
data
Abstraction +1 Ability to use appropriate math
+2 for measurement
+3 Using the math correctly to solve
the sub program
The ability to modify or revise
math formulas based on the
results in each sub problems
Algorithm +1 The ability to design/plan a
+2 flowchart to solve the whole
+3 problem
The ability to correctly combine
math formula and tools
The ability to diagnose the
correctness of the built system
and modify it
Teaching activity: the ability to calculate correct rate of AI rock-paper-scissors game

Based on our proposed assessment framework and principles, the steam capability
diagnosis analysis can be conduct after the STEAM activity. The higher STEAM score
in our framework, the higher capability students have. The score is calculated by the
sum of each assessment principles in STEAM dimensions. An example of STEAM
assessment result can be shown in Table 7. The capability diagnosis analysis for each
student can be display in Fig. 2 based on the results of our proposed assessment
framework. The high score in the dimension of STEAM denotes the student has high
capability of this STEAM dimension.
 Integration of LUPDA Theory and STEAM with CT Concepts 275

Table 7. Example of STEAM assessment result.

Dimension Sum of score
Science 4
Technology 5
Engineering 3
Art 6
Math 5

S
6
4
M 2 T
0

A E
Fig. 2. STEAM capability diagnosis analysis.

5 Conclusions

This study used LUPDA theory to combine STEAM and CT concepts to develop
assessment principles for STEAM and CT educators. The contribution of this study is
the innovative integration of STEAM and CT for cross-disciplinary education, with a
focus on building cross-disciplinary problem-solving skill in STEAM education. The
concepts of CT, when applied to STEAM education, can help students cultivate
problem-solving skills. If CT concepts are applied to STEAM education, they are
useful for nurturing problem-solving skills and improving the learning performance of
STEAM students. This study proposed LUPDA theory, which can help educators to
design assessment principles and questions for measuring students’ learning perfor-
mance in their own STEAM with CT concepts activities.

Acknowledgement. Funding for the study was provided by the Ministry of Science and
Technology (MOST), Taiwan, under Grant number: MOST 108-2511-H-142 -007 -MY2.

References
1. Pimthong, P., Williams, J.: Preservice teachers’ understanding of STEM education.
Kasetsart J. Soc. Sci. (2018)
2. Swaid, S.I.: Bringing computational thinking to STEM education. Procedia Manufact. 3,
3657–3662 (2015)
3. Hsu, T.-C., Chang, S.-C., Hung, Y.-T.: How to learn and how to teach computational
thinking: suggestions based on a review of the literature. Comput. Educ. 126, 296–310 (2018)
276 C.-H. Wu and Y.-M. Huang

4. Malizia, A., Fogli, D., Danesi, F., Turchi, T., Bell, D.: TAPASPlay: a game-based learning
approach to foster computation thinking skills. In: 2017 IEEE Symposium on Visual
Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), pp. 345–346. IEEE (2017)
5. GMII.TW. http://www.gmii.tw/gmiiblog/6031322. Accessed 2020
 Project Management for Innovation
Projects – State of Art

Zornitsa Yordanova(&)

University of National and World Economy, 8mi dekemvri, Sofia, Bulgaria

zornitsayordanova@unwe.bg

Abstract. It has been largely researched what the factors which determine
successful project management are. Most of the research show a huge depen-
dency between project success and type of the projects in terms of size, industry,
scope, market, etc. Much research analyze the type of project management and
all specifics related to its application. This paper focuses on project management
specifically for innovation projects as they are extremely different types of
projects which require distinct project management approach. The purpose of
the research is to determine the current state of art of the topic by revealing the
research achievements in the science literature. The research applies a systematic
literature analysis through a traditional approach as well as an advanced tech-
nique for digital systematic literature review so to reveal the current status of the
state of art of the topic Project management for innovation projects. The sys-
tematic literature analysis went through 299 research papers from the Scopus
database so to uncover the current accomplishment. The results are of interest to
scientists and practitioners primarily from the management sciences, but are also
extremely suitable for practitioners from any other industry related to innovation
development.

Keywords: Project management
Innovation management
Technology

management
Systematic literature review
Science management
Advanced
analytics

1 Introduction

Over the last 40 years, project organization has been established as an effective tool for
managing complex new activities within organizations. Project management handle
many activities better than any other organizational structure [1]. Projects are the
preferred management tool for the implementation of new activities, such as innovation
development and innovation projects [2]. In recent decades, projects have become a
parallel structure of the organization in almost every organization to engage in new
activities [3]. Innovation developments are some of the optional new activities which
take place in organizations. Developing innovations is exactly such activities which
project organization is extremely appropriate for [4]. These kinds of projects are very
often innovation projects per se [5]. For many companies, improving and increasing
innovativeness and the ability to develop innovations is the most substantial factor for
growth [6]. Unfortunately, while the value of these projects for companies is

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T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 277–285, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_32
278 Z. Yordanova

significant, their failure rate is also very high. This is why, the current research focuses
on analyzing the management practices of innovation projects and to reveal by per-
forming a systematic literature review, the state of art of this project management
branch. The study design of the research steps on literature review of 299 science
papers from Scopus database which are funneled for detecting the real research studies
dealing with the topic. The findings show there is still gap no matter of the topicality on
the matters. In addition, a specially developed Tool for Advanced Analytical Literature
Review (AALR) is used so to detect some hidden for the manual literature review
process dependencies.

2 Theoretical Background

The theoretical background in this section aims at briefly pointing out the main
knowledge areas involved in the research. Deeper research analysis is performed in the
‘results’ section as part of the applied methodology.

2.1 Project Management

Project management is that part of project knowledge that explores and studies the
more successful management of these initiatives. Organizations are becoming more
project-oriented [7], and projects are the preferred management instrument especially
for implementation of new activities [8]; [9]. However, because projects are constantly
delayed, exceeding, and often technically unsuccessful, project management is often
explored for opportunities for improvement. These threats increase with the complexity
of the project. All these assumptions are extremely valid for science applied projects
per se. As a structure, the methodology has been developed in nine main areas of
knowledge and an additional one for integrity. The main areas of knowledge are:
Integrity management; Project scope management; Project time management; Cost
management; Quality management; Human resources management; Project commu-
nication management; Risk management; Procurement management [10]. An addi-
tional area added in recent years is the Management of the Code of Ethics in the
project, which each project manager undertakes to comply with. Very often projects are
implemented through processes. They are implemented by the project participants and
fall into two categories: (1) Project management processes - for planning, organizing,
coordinating and managing the project work. They are universal and standardized in
the contractor’s project management system. (2) Product Oriented Processes - to
specify and create the project product.
There are plenty of science papers discussing innovation management, but still the
connection between both sub-branches of management, dealing with project and
innovation management remain unclarified.

2.2 Innovation Projects

According to During [11] innovation projects have to deal with three sub-processes
concurrently: “These are problem solving, to bring about a new product or process;
 Project Management for Innovation Projects – State of Art 279

internal innovation diffusion, to disseminate information and engender a positive

attitude towards new developments; and change in the organization so that it may
function successfully with new products or processes.” His views still have no point on
the matters of these innovations project management.
Innovation projects in this research are considered as projects which goal is
developing an innovation. The definition adopted for innovation projects in this
research is as follows: ‘Innovation projects are systematically managed endeavors that
use inputs in order to transform them into outputs with a certain scope and aims at
achieving something new, in a new way or at improving something existing’ [12]. It
originates from both project management and innovation management theory.

3 Research Design for Revealing Project Management

for Innovation Projects

The research design of the project is based on the principles of the systematic literature
review. It was performed twofold by different approaches: in the traditional way by
traditional manual means and secondly by using a digital tool for systematic literature
review based on wording and context analysis in a specially developed data analytics
software QlikSence.
The traditional systematic literate review steps on search in the Scopus database of
science papers focusing on both project management and innovation projects. The used
formula in Scopus advanced search was:
TITLE-ABS-KEY (“project management”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (“innovation
projects”).
The advanced search feature of Scopus data source allows the search of all science
papers, which have simultaneously the term ‘project management’ and ‘innovation
projects’ in these papers’ titles, abstracts and author keywords, no matter of the exact
place. Doing this advanced search, the author assumes to scope all papers which
purposefully target both project management and innovation projects or more focused
“innovation projects management”. No restrictions have been done to limit the science
discipline of the papers because most of the research related to these methodologies are
case studies and are very specific examples of their application. This data source gives
the state of art of the topic in its full existence in the science literature.
The second research method used is applying the innovative digital Tool for
Advanced Analytical Literature Review (AALR). A special tool has been designed and
developed to serve the research. The tool is based on Qlik Sense application, which is
amongst the best recognized business intelligence tools for data analytics. It is basically
used for enterprise data analysis and its application in the current research through
AALR is indeed an innovative method for deeper word and contextual analyzing the
topic. It aims at revealing hidden connections between science papers with different
focus from first impressions and hidden for analyses based on the traditional approa-
ches. AALR is very useful and extremely appropriate for interdisciplinary research
where the analyses include literature from diverse science fields.
The tool AALR integrates all the results from the Scopus research showed in the
first step of the research design. AALR is configured with various filters by which the
280 Z. Yordanova

researcher can search and combine different words in order to compare and collate the
use of different words within large amount of research papers in their titles, author
keywords and abstracts. By doing this, the researcher is able to reveal hidden context,
to discuss and analyze the use of words in their context, to make comparison and to
identify links between different research. It might be also useful for defining knowledge
gaps.
In the case of this research and the loaded data in the tool AALR, which data is
Scopus sourced, the tool has this took, presented on Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. AALR tool for digital literature analysis on words and word context.

In the tool AALR many analyses can be performed. They usually are iterative and
consecutive based on the findings in the prior step. The results are demonstrated in the
‘results’ section of the paper.

4 Results and Discussion – Project Management

for Innovation Projects

In this section of the paper, results from systematic literature review are presented
based on the criteria put in the research design. The found science papers in the Scopus
database are 299 papers. On Fig. 2 are shown all the papers according to the year of
their publication.
It is obvious from the distribution of science research through the years that
management of innovation projects has become of an interest of scientists after 2004
and especially in the last three years after 2017 (the data for 2020 is only for the first
months and this is the reason for the big difference as well as the operational delay in
indexing publications in the Scopus database). These are the journals which published
more than 5 articles on the topic (inclusion criteria is shown in the research design):
 Project Management for Innovation Projects – State of Art 281

Fig. 2. Wave analysis in the developed application for digitalization of systematic literature
review.

• Journal of Product Innovation Management - 15 articles

• Project Management Journal - 9 articles
• International Journal of Project Management - 9 articles
• International Journal of Technology Management - 7 articles
• IEEE International Engineering Management Conference - 6 papers
• Technovation - 5 articles
The relevance of the journals to both project and innovation management fields of
the most publications on the matters confirms the suitable inclusion criteria set.
Reviewing the most cited articles showing the following results presented on
Table 1.
The results show that top 10 of the golden source in the research topic are articles
published in the period between 1994 and 2014. Going deeper into these research
reveal that these studies do not really refer to project management for innovation
projects but surely they are the knowledge base used for developing this particular
management sub-branch. 60% of the cited paper more than 100 times are from the
Journal of Product Innovation Management. This insight assumes with no science
method but still relevantly for the research that project management for innovation
projects in very closed also to product development.
Analyzing the scoped articles, by using filters in the titles and abstracts in excel
with all 299 studies, with the inclusion criteria both containing “innovation” and
“project” the results show 120 articles (the filters are first applied for abstracts as they
contain much more information for the piece of research and then for the titles). By
manually reviewing the titles and abstracts of these 120 articles, again they are not so
focused in projects management for innovative projects. This is a reason to perform a
282 Z. Yordanova

Table 1. Most cited science articles on project management for innovation projects.
Author Title Source Cited
by
Olson; Walker; Patterns of cooperation during new Journal of Product 287
Ruekert; Bonner product development among Innovation
[13] marketing; operations and R&D: Management
Implications for project
performance
O’Connor [14] Market learning and radical Journal of Product 261
innovation: A cross case Innovation
comparison of eight radical Management
innovation projects
Keegan; Turner The management of innovation in Long Range 191
[15] project-based firms Planning
Lettl [16] User involvement competence for Journal of 179
radical innovation Engineering and
Technology
Management - JET-
M
Moenaert; Souder; R&D-marketing integration The Journal of 174
De Meyer; mechanisms; communication flows; Product Innovation
Deschoolmeester and innovation success Management
[17]
Moenaert; Meyer; R&D/Marketing Communication IEEE Transactions 162
Souder; During the Fuzzy Front-End on Engineering
Deschoolmeester Management
[18]
Du J; Leten B; Managing open innovation projects Research Policy 135
Vanhaverbeke [19] with science-based and market-
based partners
Markham [20] A Longitudinal Examination of Journal of Product 117
How Champions Influence Others Innovation
to Support Their Projects Management
Brettel; Cross-functional integration of Journal of Product 109
Heinemann; R&D; marketing; and Innovation
Engelen; Neubauer manufacturing in radical and Management
[21] incremental product innovations
and its effects on project
effectiveness and efficiency
Song; Thieme [22] The role of suppliers in market Journal of Product 109
intelligence gathering for radical Innovation
and incremental innovation Management

digital literature review for extracting real valued studies on the matters of the current
research (with the availability to include more filters and funneling options).
 Project Management for Innovation Projects – State of Art 283

The first analysis performed by the tool for digital literature review and analysis
AALR, includes filtering the scoped 299 articles/papers by the author keywords
“project management” and “innovative projects” which it should be the most précised
search for the research topic. On Fig. 3 is presented a wordogram of the most fre-
quently met words in the 87 articles that met these criteria. Words with less than 4
symbols and common words for abstracts are removed (ex. like, this, these, most,
paper, have, been, such, from, case, more, used, which, etc.) from the wordogram.

Fig. 3. Most used words in abstracts of focused articles on project management for innovative
projects.

The results show that usually research dealing with project management for
innovative projects discuss also these topics: processes, development, research, open,
impact, social, performance, product.
Analyzing deeper the focused 87 articles, some interesting ones paid attention. The
topic for project management for innovative projects is research for example in the case
of e-government in the article of Keefe, Bikfalvi, Beer and De La Rosa called “A case
study analysis of factors determining success or failure for participants in collaborative
innovation projects in e-Government” [23]. Some use and application of flexible project
management methods is also detected as in the article ‘Agility and the role of project-
internal control systems for innovation project performance’ of Lill, Wald and Gleich
from 2019 [24]. Interesting insights are reveals from De Los Rios and Villa in 2019
about the management of science, technology and innovation projects under the PMI
principles [25]. Again in 2019, a research of Midler is discussing the transformation of
innovation project management, which additionally funnels the researched topic into a
specific knowledge area of project management called ‘innovation project manage-
ment’ [26].
The latest research on the topic is more and more focused and confirmatively prove
the existence of the specific knowledge area of project management for innovation
projects and development.
284 Z. Yordanova

5 Conclusion

In conclusion of the presented analyses aiming at stating the art of project management
for innovative projects the author clearly showed the interconnection between project
management, innovation management and product management as closely relevant
multidisciplinary approach for the newly more and more met term: ‘innovative projects
management’. The research provided to readers some insight about the currently done
science work on the matters and reveal some contextual topics discussed meanwhile as:
open innovation, process management, user involvement, the importance of
performance.
The future work of the author will be focused on collaborating with different
scientists from diverse science fields for using some of the collected knowledge on
managing innovative projects.

Acknowledgments. The paper is supported by the BG NSF Grant No KP-06 OPR01/3-2018.

References
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contribution to innovation. Int. J. Project Manag. 36(1), 147–160 (2018)
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Palestinian construction projects. Int. J. Innov. Sci. Res. 17(2), 451–465 (2015). ISSN 2351-
8014
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Res. 16(1), 63–78 (2018)
 Project Management for Innovation Projects – State of Art 285

13. Olson, E.M., Walker Jr., O.C., Ruekert, R.W., Bonner, J.M.: Patterns of cooperation during
new product development among marketing; operations and R&D: implications for project
performance. J. Prod. Innov. Manag. 18(4), 258–271 (2001)
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15. Keegan, A., Turner, J.R.: The management of innovation in project-based firms. Long Range
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JET-M 24, 53–75 (2007)
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Manag. 11(1), 31–45 (1994)
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and market-based partners. Res. Policy 43(5), 828–840 (2014)
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their projects. J. Prod. Innov. Manag. 15(6), 490–504 (1998)
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marketing; and manufacturing in radical and incremental product innovations and its effects
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incremental innovation. J. Prod. Innov. Manag. 26(1), 43–57 (2009)
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determining success or failure for participants in collaborative innovation projects in e-
Government. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on e-Government; ECEG,
pp. 276–282 (2013)
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LACCEI International Multi-Conference for Engineering; Education and Technology (2019)
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Innovative Learning in Education
 A Comparative Study on Ethics Guidelines
for Artificial Intelligence Across Nations

Tony Szu-Hsien Lee , Shiang-Yao Liu , Yin-Ling Wei ,

and Li-Yun Chang(&)

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 10610, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

liyunchang@ntnu.edu.tw

Abstract. This study aimed to investigate the commonality and differences

among AI research and development (R&D) guidelines across nations. Content
analysis was conducted on AI R&D guidelines issued by more economically
developed countries because they may guide the trend of AI-based applications
in education. Specifically, this study consisted of three phases: 1) information
retrieval, (2) key term extraction, and (3) data visualization. First, Fisher’s exact
test was employed to ensure that different AI R&D guidelines (e.g., the latest
ones in the US, EU, Japan, Mainland, and Taiwan) were comparable. Second,
the Key Word Extraction System was developed to retrieve essential informa-
tion in the guidelines. Third, data visualization techniques were performed on
key terms across multiple guidelines. A word cloud revealed the similarity
among guidelines (e.g., key terms that these guidelines share in common) while
a color-coding scheme showed the differences (e.g., occurrence of a key term
across guidelines and its frequency within a guideline). Importantly, three key
terms, namely, AI, human, and development, are identified as essential com-
monality across guidelines. As for key terms that only extracted from particular
guidelines, interestingly, results with the color-coding scheme suggested that
these key terms were weighted differently depends on the developmental
emphasis of a nation. Collectively, we discussed how these findings concerning
ethics guidelines may shed light on AI research and development to educational
technology.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence
Data visualization technique
Education

Ethics guidelines
Text mining

1 Introduction and Related Work

The rapid advances in research and development (R&D) of artificial intelligence

(AI) have yielded a number of ethics guidelines. These guidelines provide guidance for
new AI technologies and applications and thus are important references for developing
educational technology. Since Aiken and Epstein [1] initiated a conversation con-
cerning what is desirable and what is not in using AI in education, over the past 20
years, the growing concerns in discussing ethical issues in AI (e.g., privacy, respon-
sibility, autonomy, justice, transparency, and beneficence) highlighted the importance
of AI ethics.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 289–295, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_33
290 T. S.-H. Lee et al.

These ethics guidelines may vary across nations, which in turn, may influence the
application of ethical principles in different fields such as industry, governments, and
academia [2]. Although there are a few studies [3, 4] which compares different ethical
guidelines across various stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, AI developers, key user
groups or general users, educators and professionals), several critical issues exist. First,
while Jobin et al.’s analysis is comprehensive, their contribution is merely descriptive
[5], rather than normative. Second, while Zeng et al. attempted to use visualization
techniques to explicitly establish the links among AI ethics guidelines, there approach
of choosing keywords is manually-chosen, rather than data-driven. Third, the literary
genre of various ethics guidelines is often neglected in previous comparative analyses.
For instance, Ethically Aligned Design which released by IEEE [5] is 294-page long
whereas The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence Ethical Guidelines [6] only has
three pages. Without considering the length of content, in comparing ethics guidelines
across different stakeholders, the results may be misleading.
To address the above issues, we focus on AI R&D guidelines issues by govern-
ments because these normative, official AI ethics guidelines play prominent roles in
developing and implementing AI technologies. Moreover, we deliberately choose
guidelines from more economically developed countries [4] given their leading statues
in educational technology worldwide. Note that the length of these guidelines would be
comparable. Furthermore, we utilize text mining and data visualization techniques to
analyze the content. By adopting the more objective approach and by keeping in mind
that we do not aim at a full analysis of all AI ethics documents, the goal of this study is
to investigate the commonality and differences among these AI R&D guidelines.
Particularly, we raise the following research questions:
1. What is essential commonality across AI ethics guidelines in more economically
developed countries chosen in this study?
2. What are the differences among these guidelines and how do they potentially relate
to the developmental emphasis of different nations?

2 Research Method

We adopted content analysis and data visualization techniques to investigate com-

monality and difference of key terms among AI principles issued by governments. In
particular, we focused on AI R&D principles considered by more economically
development countries because they would guide the development of AI-based
products.

2.1 Materials
AI R&D principles issued by the USA, EU, Japan, China, and Taiwan were selected as
target content for analysis. The first three, representing more economically developed
countries, together accounted for nearly half of all ethical AI principles, according to
Jobin et al. [4]. The later two, China and Taiwan, were selected based on our research
interest.
 A Comparative Study on Ethics Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence 291

Below are brief sketches of these AI R&D principles, beginning from the latest one:
1. Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications [7]: 10 principles
from the USA.
2. Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence Technology Research and Development [8]: 8
principles and 3 core values from Taiwan.
3. Guidance for Research and Development of Artificial Intelligence [9]: 7 principles
form Mainland China.
4. Ethical Principles and Democratic Prerequisites to form a responsible AI [10], 9
principles from EU.
5. The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence Ethical Guidelines [6]: 9 principles
from Japan.

2.2 Instruments
The Key Term Extraction [11], a multilingual keyword extraction system for sug-
gesting key terms from digital documents (PRC Patent No: ZL 00 1 22602.9.), was
adopted for our content analysis. This research tool features in automatic keyword
extraction, a fundamental technology in advance information retrieval system.
With a larger corpus, the precision rate of the Tseng’s [12] keyword extraction
algorithm is over 96% for news and over 90% for bibliographic materials, suggesting
that its system quality is reliable. Moreover, this system affords both quantitative and
graphical representations for the results. Resulting key terms would be ranked based on
their frequency (by token) in the document, while the semantic relationship between
these key terms would be shown by a key-term graph. This system is available via:
http://rsp.itc.ntnu.edu.tw/SAMtool/SegWord_CGI.html.

2.3 Procedure
The procedure consisted of three phases: (1) information retrieval, (2) key term
extraction, and (3) data visualization. In the phase one (information retrieval), for each
guideline, number of principles and total length of principles were retrieved for
examining whether they differ significantly across five guidelines. The Fisher’s exact
test was performed, respectively. Results showed that neither the length (p  0.05)
nor the number of principles (p  0.05) differ across guidelines, suggesting the five
guidelines were comparable. In the phase two (key term extraction), each guideline was
processed by the Key Term Extraction [12]. All automatically-generated key-term
graphs and the key terms were saved in a cloud drive (https://parg.co/bGGc). We
examined each term carefully and kept content words, excluding function words, for
further exploration. Finally, given that there were commonality and differences existed
in the key terms from five guidelines, data visualization technique was adopted in the
phase three.
292 T. S.-H. Lee et al.

3 Results and Discussion

We presented the commonality and differences of key terms across five guidelines by
word cloud, an intuitive visualization technique to give our readers a glance into the
most frequent words, and a color-coded table to show a more in-depth analysis on the
coverage of different guidelines on various key terms.

3.1 Word Cloud as a Starting Point for Deeper Guideline Analyses

To derive an intuition of what information these guidelines may contain, we did the
keyword summaries by HTML5 Word Cloud. Figure 1 showed the most frequent
words of as a weighted list of key words. The top 5 frequent words (and times) were:
AI (70), human (32), develop (24), society (18), and system (18). We also did the same
analyses on separate guidelines (see cloud drive). Although font sizes of the words
indicated their occurrence frequency in the guidelines, other properties did not encode
specific information. Thus, in the following, we focused on the results of key term
extraction.

Fig. 1. Word cloud visualization of five guidelines on the topic “AI R&D”.

3.2 Color-Coded Analysis Showing Commonality and Differences in Key

Terms
The key term extraction was run on individual guideline. To reveal commonality and
differences of the resulting five lists of key terms, we applied a color-coding scheme
(see Fig. 2).
 A Comparative Study on Ethics Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence 293

Nation Japan EU Beijing Taiwan USA Cumulative

Key term (2017) (2018) (2019) (2019) (2020) frequency

AI 18 10 16 19 26 89
Human 2 9 7 8 4 30
Development 4 2 6 2 3 17
Data 0 6 3 5 2 16
Safety 3 5 2 0 3 13
Systems 0 7 7 0 3 17
Society 9 0 2 4 0 15
Information 3 2 0 0 8 13
Autonomous 0 8 0 2 2 12
Decisions 0 2 0 9 0 11
Ensure 0 3 5 0 3 11
Impact 2 0 3 0 3 8
Privacy 0 2 0 2 4 8
Fair 2 0 0 2 2 6
Risks 0 0 4 0 10 14
Benefit 0 0 2 0 9 11
Potential 0 0 4 0 7 11
Application 0 2 0 0 8 10
Nature 0 0 3 0 5 8
Respect 4 3 0 0 0 7
Security 0 2 0 0 5 7
Considered 0 0 3 0 3 6
Protection 0 4 0 0 2 6
Processes 0 2 0 0 4 6
Research 3 0 2 0 0 5
Responsibility 2 3 0 0 0 5
Rights 0 0 3 2 0 5
Integrity 2 0 0 0 3 5
Humanity 3 0 2 0 0 5
Human dignity 0 2 0 2 0 4
Environment 0 2 2 0 0 4
Implementation 0 0 2 0 2 4

Fig. 2. The distribution of key terms retrieving from AI R&D guidelines across nations. (Color
figure online)

First, key terms were categorized into five colored sections to denote how common
they were across five guidelines; for instance, green denotes a key term that was
294 T. S.-H. Lee et al.

mentioned in five guidelines (green = 5, blue = 4, red = 3, and 2 = yellow; for a key
term that only appeared in one guideline, see cloud drive). Also, darker color denotes
more frequent that the key term was mentioned.
Second, within each colored section, key terms were sequenced based on their
cumulative frequency. For example, for three key terms in the green section, while they
were all mentioned across five guidelines, they were listed as follows based on weights:
AI(89), Human(30), and Development(17).

4 Conclusions and Future Work

This study adopted content analysis and data visualization to investigate the com-
monality and differences among AI R&D guidelines across nations (i.e., the US, EU,
Japan, Mainland, and Taiwan). Three key terms, AI, human, and development, are
identified as essential commonality across guidelines. As for key terms that only
extracted from particular guidelines (e.g., risk, benefit, responsibility, rights and more),
they were weighted differently in the color-coding scheme. The findings echoed prior
research which suggested that AI ethics guidelines may vary across nations and cul-
tures [2, 4], with supportive evidence from a more objective, data-driven approach.
This approach could be applied to guidelines that released by other stakeholders (e.g.,
AI developers, key user groups or general users, educators and professionals), letting
the conversation [1] moves on.

Acknowledgements. This work was financially supported by the grant MOST- 109-2634-F-
003-008 from Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.

References
1. Aiken, R.M., Epstein, R.G.: Ethical guidelines for AI in education: starting a conversation.
Int. J. Artif. Intell. Educ. 11, 163–176 (2020)
2. Liu, S.Y., Chang, C.H., Chao, E., Chang, L.Y., Lee, S.H.: Challenges and reflections on
ethics of artificial intelligence: a literature review. J. Inf. Soc. (in Press)
3. Zeng, Y., Lu, E., Huangfu, C.: Linking artificial intelligence principles. In: Espinoza, H.,
Héigeartaigh, S.Ó., Huang, X., Hernández-Orallo, J., Castillo-Effen, M. (eds.) Proceedings
of the AAAI Workshop on Artificial Intelligence Safety, vol. 2301, pp. 103–106. Creative
Commons CC0, Honolulu (2019)
4. Jobin, A., Ienca, M., Vayena, E.: The global landscape of AI ethics guidelines. Nat. Mach.
Intell. 1, 389–399 (2019)
5. The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems: Ethically
Aligned Design (EAD1e) (2019). https://standards.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-standards/
standards/web/documents/other/ead1e.pdf?utm_medium=PR&utm_source=Web&utm_
campaign=EAD1e&utm_content=geias&utm_term=undefined
6. Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence: The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence
Ethical Guidelines (2017). http://ai-elsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/JSAI-Ethical-
Guidelines-1.pdf
 A Comparative Study on Ethics Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence 295

7. Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Guidance for
Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications (2020). https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/01/Draft-OMB-Memo-on-Regulation-of-AI-1-7-19.pdf
8. Digitimes: MOST announces AI R&D guidelines (2019). https://www.digitimes.com/news/
a20190923PD209.html
9. Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence: Beijing AI Principles (2019), https://www.baai.
ac.cn/news/beijing-ai-principles-en.html
10. European Commission: Artificial intelligence: Commission takes forward its work on ethics
guidelines (2019). https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_19_1893
11. Tseng, Y.H.: Multilingual keyword extraction for term suggestion. In: Proceedings of the
21st International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information
Retrieval, pp. 377–378. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (1998)
12. Tseng, Y.H.: Automatic key feature extraction from digital documents, PRC Patent No: ZL
00 1 22602.9. Application date: August 4, 2000. Effective from April 26, 2006 to August 4
(2020)
 Analysis on the Application of AI Technology
in Online Education Under the Public
Epidemic Crisis

Shuijing Li1, Ming Yan1 , Xin Zhang1, and Zhe Li2(&)

1
Communication University of China, Beijing 100024, China
2
Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
lizheritetu@163.com

Abstract. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, online education has

become a learning way for primary and secondary schools and universities.
However, the rapid development of online education faces many challenges. In
recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been developed rapidly
and applied in different industries. Therefore, many problems in online educa-
tion can also be improved through AI technology, so as to improve the quality of
online education, and make education improve. This paper mainly analyzes the
integration of AI technology and online education to solve the problems faced
by students in online learning. At the same time of reducing the burden of
education participants, let AI technology play a better role, and help education
develop from traditional offline mode to online and offline complementary
direction.

Keywords: COVID-19
Artificial Intelligence
Online education
Integration

1 Introduction

With the outbreak of the epidemic, nearly 270 million students across the country need
to learn online at home. Online education plays an unprecedented role and shoulder the
responsibility of national students’ learning. Schools in various regions respond to the
call and organized online education. Multi-platform and multi type online education
become a learning way for students of all grades during the epidemic period. The
common platforms include Rain class, Tencent class, Massive Open Online Course
(MOOC), China education channel, etc.

1.1 Education During the Epidemic

However, the sudden change of education mode will inevitably bring many problems,
such as students’ difficulty in focusing, platform easy to jam, teachers are not familiar
with the online teaching mode, which can’t be ignored. Therefore, this paper hopes to
solve the difficulties of students and teachers in online education through the combi-
nation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and online education, and help online
education at the same time, innovate more functions and play a better role.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 296–305, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_34
 Analysis on the Application of AI Technology in Online Education 297

1.2 The Future of AI Education Integration

AI is a hot spot around people in recent years. Many achievements of AI have been
applied in real life, such as license plate recognition, fingerprint recognition [1].
With the continuous development of AI, it has been able to replace some jobs.
According to previous studies, AI competes with human lawyers for contract review,
the accuracy of AI will be 10% higher than that of human, and the time used will be
about 200 times shorter.
It can be seen that the integration of AI and education is the general trend. AI can
provide the technology and tools needed for education development, make learning
environment tend to build technology integration, improve teachers’ teaching effi-
ciency, provide a high-quality education solid foundation for students, so that students
have more diversified learning environment. According to the analysis of Frost Sulli-
van prospective industry research institute, from 2019 to the next three years, China’s
AI education market will gradually expand and develop, reaching 719.8 billion yuan by
2023. Forecast of China’s AI education market scale in 2019–2023 is as shown in
Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Forecast of China’s AI education market scale in 2019–2023.

2 Problems of Online Education During the Epidemic and AI

Helps Education

2.1 The Necessity of Online Education During the Epidemic

We can use the mathematical model of infectious diseases to analyze and simulate the
spread speed and scope of infectious diseases, so as to verify the necessity of home
isolation and martial defense of epidemic situation. This paper uses Susceptible-
Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) model to analyze. SEIR model is a model to
study the transmission speed, spatial range, transmission path, dynamic mechanism of
298 S. Li et al.

infectious diseases by analyzing the relationship among susceptible, exposed, infec-

tious and recovered people, so as to guide the effective prevention and control of
infectious diseases.
S refers to the susceptible, E refers to the exposed, I refers to the infectious, R refers
to the recovered, b refers to the infection rate, c1 refers to the recovery rate in the
incubation period, c2 refers to the recovery rate in the patient, a refers to the devel-
opment rate in the incubation period. The formula of SEIR model is:

dS
¼ bIS þ aR ð1Þ
dt
dE
¼ bIS  ða þ c1 ÞE ð2Þ
dt
dI
¼ aE  c2 I ð3Þ
dt
dR
¼ c1 E þ c2 I ð4Þ
dt
SðtÞ þ E ðtÞ þ I ðtÞ þ RðtÞ ¼ constant ð5Þ

Fig. 2. Comparison of SEIR model for severe epidemic prevention.

 Analysis on the Application of AI Technology in Online Education 299

The SEIR model with a total population of 20000 is established to compare the
epidemic situation after no measures and martial law control. The simulation results are
shown in Fig. 2. The right figure takes strict prevention measures on the 10th day. It
can be seen that compared with the figure above, the high incidence date of infectious
diseases in the figure below is delayed and the number of patients in the high incidence
period is greatly reduced.
Therefore, it can be find out that it is wise to continue to study and work at home
and isolate people. During the epidemic, the education of students can’t be separated
from the online education mode, but at the same time, the problem of online education
has also been magnified.

2.2 Problems of Online Education During the Epidemic

While online education plays an important role, it also exposes a lot of problems and
deficiencies. In the early stage of “non-stop learning”, online education was entrusted
with a heavy task in a hurry. The number of online classes exceeded 200 million, and
various online class platforms have been stuck and overloaded. In the face of such a
large-scale concurrent number of customers, the whole industry has no relevant data
and experience, there is no time to conduct the drill in advance, which leads to the
problem of network congestion and overall overload of interactive services for
operators.
In addition to the problems of the platform operators, the sudden change of the
teaching environment makes all the education participants face great difficulties. The
change of teaching methods caught the teachers by surprise, suddenly changed the
usual teaching methods and made different teaching plans, which is undoubtedly a big
test for teachers. Most of the teachers did not have the experience of being “anchor”.
They had to prepare for the start of the class a long time in advance every day. After the
start of the class, they either forgot to turn on the microphone or the camera, which
caused a lot of embarrassment.
For a period of time, the vast majority of students said that it was difficult for them
to have the immersion of traditional teaching mode, there was no learning atmosphere
in class, excessively tested of consciousness, and it was difficult to focus on listening.
And the interaction of online class is poor, students cannot communicate with teachers
in time when they meet some problems, teachers can’t ask questions as usual, and can’t
consolidate the effect of skilled knowledge points in the class. The courses on the
Internet are also uneven. Some teachers can’t give lectures live, so they choose the
recorded and broadcast course resources on the Internet to study, but the high-quality
courses also need to be carefully searched. At the same time, when students have
classes at home, their parents also need to take care of them at all times. Part of
teachers’ tasks in the campus originally fell to their parents.

2.3 Problems Needing Attention at the Same Time of AI Helping

Education
At the same time, there are many problems and hidden dangers that need to be paid
attention to when AI helps education.
300 S. Li et al.

1. Network information security: The use of big data in online education makes the
data of online education users displayed in the background. Without protection, it is
easy to make users’ privacy leaked. Therefore, relevant laws should be formulated
to protect users’ privacy and rights [2].
2. The relationship between technology and teachers: AI helps teaching, but it should
also make teachers as the main teachers, learning knowledge and skills is very
important, but learning to be human and improving moral cultivation is more
important. AI can bring about the application of repetitive rules, but it can’t give
students creative aesthetic, emotional and ideological help. Compared with teaching
knowledge, education is more important. We need to distinguish the ethical rela-
tionship in education.
3. Cannot implement technology from top to bottom: AI helps education should be
promoted from the bottom up. The era of intelligence is coming. Students, teachers
and educational institutions need to be prepared. Teachers and students need to
adapt themselves to AI in order to play its effect. If top-down pressure is applied,
students and teachers cannot adapt to sudden changes, they can’t play their own
role, lead to half the effort.
4. Focus on the education of students in remote and poor areas: The family conditions
of students in most areas of our country can meet the network environment and
hardware conditions needed for online education, but the remote areas and some
poor families cannot meet the conditions for children’s online learning [3]. In order
to make these students receive equal treatment for teaching, we should speed up the
construction of network environment in the remote areas, help students in poor
areas to get a good learning environment, give them corresponding equipment
support, and promote the equality of teaching level.

3 AI Helps Online Education

3.1 AI Helps Online Education Solve Problems
In order to give full play to the role of AI in education, we can associate the problems
found in online education during the epidemic with AI. Using AI to help online
education solve the existing problems can also add to the online education.
In the traditional teaching, the teacher not only plays the role of teaching in the
classroom, but also shoulders the task of urging students to concentrate and avoiding
students skulk away. In the live online class, it is difficult for teachers to observe
whether students are distracted. The “eye of vision” of face recognition has entered the
classroom in the early years. This technology can analyze the students’ facial
expression and body behavior posture, so as to judge the concentration of students.
However, this project has been questioned before. It is believed that watching students’
behavior in the classroom at all times will violate their privacy. Using this technology
in online education can not only replace teachers’ task of supervising students, solve
the problem of low consciousness of students, but also avoid infringing their privacy.
In addition to solving the problem of students’ consciousness, AI can also use its
technologies to add more functions to online education [4]. It is possible to search the
 Analysis on the Application of AI Technology in Online Education 301

questions by taking photos through character recognition in computer vision technol-

ogy, and search the questions intelligently to make up for the problems that students
cannot answer [5]. At the same time, AI can also replace teachers’ repetitive tasks, such
as using image recognition, natural language processing for marking papers, correcting
homework, sorting out mistakes, speech recognition for oral English test, AI intelligent
scoring [6].
On March 19, 2020, High Technology Computer Corporation (HTC) held the first
VIVE Virtual Ecology Conference (V2EC 2020), which is a milestone international
conference with full online significance. At the conference, thousands of participants
from 55 countries participated in the conference using Virtual Reality technology (VR),
with more than 500000 live video online views.
Big data can also play a significant role in online education [7]. For students, they
can collect information through big data, for example, collect the wrong questions,
summarize the types of frequently wrong questions, collect the question sets for
practice, and give instructions for grammar and word replacement in writing. For
teachers, they can master the teaching data, understand which part of the class students
are absorbed and which part is unwilling to listen, understand the teaching methods that
students like, and improve the teaching methods targeted. For enterprises, they can use
big data to divide customers, collect online data in the background, analyze the subject
content, difficulty and hobbies of students’ search, divide the level of customers,
supervise each index, help enterprises to make corresponding changes, and generate
targeted solutions for different users [8]. The application of AI in education can be
graded as shown in Fig. 3. The higher level of application, the more core it is in online
education.

Fig. 3. Application of AI technology in Education.

With the advent of 5G (5th Generation mobile networks), online education has a
stronger foundation, so that teachers can conduct online tutoring in a more timely
manner. It can also gather high-quality teachers from all over the world, improve the
quality of teaching, and solve the problems of uneven online teaching level and hard to
find good courses.
302 S. Li et al.

With the rapid development of 5G technology, it has been widely used in business.
Its advantages of high transmission rate and low latency can make online education
under 5G network no longer suffer from problems such as high concurrent network
access and poor network quality. 5G’s ultra-high bandwidth will make 4K video, VR
and Augmented Reality technology (AR) better supported by network environment, a
better development environment provides favorable conditions for the future devel-
opment of AI [9]. At present, China’s educational resources are still very unbalanced,
the online education and teaching mode in 5g environment may be able to slightly
improve this situation [10]. 5G can make the live classroom highly similar to the offline
classroom. The immersive learning environment can not only give students real
experience in class, but also interact with teachers to improve teaching efficiency.

3.2 Teaching Mode of Man-Machine Dual Division

After the outbreak of the epidemic, the rise of online education makes online education
become an important part of education, but it cannot completely replace the traditional
teaching methods [11]. In 2015, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) conducted a study on the relationship between the use of
computers and students’ academic performance. The results show that the use of
computers is inversely proportional to students’ academic performance. In other words,
the higher the use of computers, the worse the performance. Therefore, in the change of
teaching mode, the role of online education in the teaching process should be carefully
considered. Online education will become a powerful supplement to offline teaching,
AI technology will help upgrade the teaching environment and mode.
The man-machine dual teacher mode was a big discovery in online education
industry in 2019. Teachers and machines work together to participate in the teaching
process, giving full play to the different advantages of people and AI [12]. Teachers are
responsible for the creative and emotional work that AI is difficult to learn, while
machines are responsible for the repetitive and monotonous work. It can not only
reduce the burden of teachers, but also make use of AI assistance to make learning
personalized and diversified [13]. The flow chart of the teaching mode of human-
machine dual division is shown in Fig. 4.
The man-machine dual teacher mode makes students’ learning time fragmented,
learning time and place more free and flexible, helps teachers have more time to
interact with students, reduces teachers’ and students’ burden and improves efficiency
[14]. Online and offline integrated education, using the construction of knowledge map
and intelligent search to improve the efficiency of teachers’ lesson preparation,
according to AI assessment to understand students’ learning situation, select the
appropriate way of class, according to the Asian company iFLYTEK’s analysis,
structured lesson preparation can reduce teachers’ lesson preparation time by an
average of 53%. AI takes the place of teachers to evaluate the repetitive high questions
such as composition, translation and oral English, so as to reduce the time for teachers
to correct their homework. The system collects and summarizes the learning data of
students, assists teachers to understand the weak links of students’ learning, teachers
can help students learn more accurately and specifically, and improves the interaction
between teachers and students. Use AI to judge each student’s knowledge weakness,
 Analysis on the Application of AI Technology in Online Education 303

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of man machine dual division mode.

develop each person’s unique learning methods and contents, make learning person-
alized, and prevent learning blind and inefficient [15].

3.3 Research on AI + Education and Dual Teacher Model

In order to understand the problems that students and teachers encounter in online
classes, and their views on AI + education and human-computer dual teacher mode,
this paper uses online questionnaire to distribute nearly 200 students and teachers from
multiple cities, the respondents are distributed in different ages. The questions in the
questionnaire are:
1. Do you know the teaching mode of “man-machine dual division”?
2. Are you satisfied with the teaching mode of “man- machine dual teacher”?
3. What do you think the proportion of AI teachers in your study or teaching is about?
4. Do you think this kind of “man- machine dual teacher” teaching mode is helpful to
your study?
5. What do you think are the advantages of the “man- machine dual division model”?
①. The teaching form of double teachers is new, which is easier to attract
students’ attention.
②. Increase interaction among teachers and teachers, students and students, and
enhance classroom satisfaction.
③. To reduce the burden of teachers and improve the efficiency of teachers’
work.
④. Improve the quality of classroom teaching and promote the development of
students.
304 S. Li et al.

Analyze the survey results and get the results in Table 1.

According to the data analysis of the questionnaire, it can be seen that the teaching
mode of man-machine dual teacher has not been widely used in teachers and students
for the time being, and more than half of the experimenters have never heard this new
teaching mode before, but most of the experimenters think that the teaching mode of
man-machine dual teacher will play an auxiliary role in learning or teaching work, it
will help learning to some extent, and this new learning method can arouse students’
curiosity, help students to study and lighten the burden of teachers and parents. At the
same time, the dual teacher model is also questioned by the experimenters, such as AI
is difficult to teach students in accordance with their aptitude, human-computer dual
teacher teaching reduces the communication between teachers and students, and the
new model is difficult to be accepted by the public and difficult to promote. But on the
whole, the experimenters have a positive attitude towards the teaching mode of human-
computer dual division. Therefore, the man-machine dual teacher mode has a large and
positive development space, and I believe that the combination of the two in education
will bring benefits to all walks of life in the society

Table 1. Survey results.

Question number Options Results (%)
1. Yes 42.86
No 57.14
2. Commonly 28.57
Satisfied 57.14
Very satisfied 14.29
3. Less than 20% 39.81
20%–50% 45.90
50%–80% 14.29
4. Yes 75.45
No 24.55
5. ① 85.71
② 42.86
③ 85.71
④ 57.14

4 Summary

The outbreak of the epidemic gives online education an opportunity to show its own
role and the strengths of online education. In the era of AI big data and other tech-
nologies’ high-speed development, in order to help the development of education, at
the same time, promote the intelligent informatization of education, AI and education
are integrated, make contributions to the collaborative development, and inject fresh
blood into the education of the new era. All teaching participants should also actively
 Analysis on the Application of AI Technology in Online Education 305

respond to the call of the Education Bureau, face the upgrading and reform of education
actively, build a flexible education system, and strengthen the integration of education
and AI. The development of education mode needs the joint efforts of students,
teachers, parents, schools, educational institutions and Education Bureau.

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 Design Aspects of a Virtual Reality Learning
Environment to Assess Knowledge
Transfer in Science

Johanna Steynberg(&) , Judy van Biljon , and Colin Pilkington

School of Computing, University of South Africa,

Florida Park, Roodepoort, South Africa
hanlie@ssoftwaredesign.co.za

Abstract. Science educators need assessment tools to assess to what extent

learners’ knowledge and skills can be transferred to real-life situations. Virtual
reality learning environments (VRLEs) can be used to create authentic virtual
spaces where situated learning and assessment can take place. However, there
are considerable design and implementation challenges when developing a
VRLE. This research explored the design aspects of a virtual reality environ-
ment for the assessment of knowledge transfer in science education. A design
science research approach was followed, implementing existing guidelines from
literature in building a VRLE. Lessons learned from the implementation were
formulated, and the theoretical contribution of this study is a set of literature-
based, practice evaluated guidelines, synthesising lessons learned. From the
study, it is apparent that there are many benefits from using a VRLE for
assessment, and we hope that using these guidelines could mitigate some of the
usability issues that remain.

Keywords: Virtual reality
Science education
Authentic assessment

Human-computer interaction
Usability

1 Introduction

Educators need a way to determine if, and to what degree, a learner can transfer his or
her knowledge and skills learned in the science classroom to real-world situations.
Computer-generated simulation platforms can provide the complex contexts that
constitute realistic situations with authentic tasks. These simulations can be used to
create authentic virtual spaces that provide safe and effective environments where
situated learning, as well as assessment, can take place [29].
This paper focuses on the lessons learned during the development of a virtual
reality learning environment (VRLE) for authentic assessment of the transfer of skills
and knowledge in the secondary school science classroom. Existing guidelines for
developing a virtual reality learning environment assisted in the design of the VRLE.
The research question presented by this paper is as follows: What are the important
design aspects of a virtual reality environment for the assessment of knowledge transfer
in science education.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 306–316, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_35
 Design Aspects of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment 307

2 Background Literature

Learning in the 21st century is characterised by a large number of non-recurrent skills

that have to be applied appropriately and with cognitive dexterity. In this paper an
assessment model is proposed that moves away from the current linear model that
focusses on content, isolated from real-life situations, toward an assessment model that
accepts the complex, non-linear and possibly chaotic nature of real learning [2].

2.1 Learning, Educational Simulations and Virtual Reality

Environments
An educational simulation is a learning platform designed with a real-life environment
as its basis, presented as an abstracted reality, with structured tasks divided into levels
and pedagogical tools to assist and guide the learner. Such a platform has many features
that make it an ideal environment for performance-based assessment, such as the
immersion of learners into a world that closely resembles reality and their interaction
with it, the complexity of the possible responses and the analysis and synthesis of
information [1, 28]. A VRLE supports complex, authentic environments and could
emerge as a preferred technology for integrated instruction and formative assessment.
VRLEs can increase engagement by immersing the learner fully in the learning
environment in a sensory encompassing way, and may lead to better conceptual
understanding and transfer of learning [26].
In this study, a fully immersive platform was created where the learner is immersed
in a simulated world created by a collection of software and related hardware, rendering
the illusion of being in a three-dimensional space and time [22] that facilitates motion
tracking within a digitally created environment.

2.2 Current Limitations and Challenges of Virtual Reality Environments

Despite considerable progress in the field of virtual reality technology, technological
and implementation challenges remain – high cost, uncomfortable headsets, eye strain
from focusing close to the eyes for long periods, motion sickness, an empty room for
room-scale virtual reality and educational material design challenges [2, 13].
However, the development of artificial intelligence has improved interaction
between human and computer systems in VRLEs [21]. This, together with the
decreasing cost of virtual reality hardware, free versions of virtual reality software
development platforms such as Unity and Unreal Engine, as well as the steady
improvement in hardware technology, minimises these limitations, and continues to do
so [13].

3 Research Methodology

Guided by pragmatism, this study followed the design science research (DSR) iterative
design-implement-evaluate process. The artefact development is divided into two
iterations, each starting with the planning of the environment and actions, moving to
308 J. Steynberg et al.

development, and finally, an evaluation. The evaluations will include the usability of
the artefact at the particular stage of development and the evaluation of the platform for
validity and reliability as an assessment tool. As a theoretical contribution of this study,
guidelines abstracted from literature will be updated and refined from the lessons
learned through the two iterations.

4 Developing a VRLE for Assessment

VRLEs have unique usability and complexity challenges as the increased immersion
can amplify the positive and negative aspects of the environment [8]. VRLE design
should combine three different areas – pedagogy, technology and content – into an
integrated environment [14], pointing to the need for VRLE development guidelines.

4.1 Guidelines for Pedagogy

The first step in developing the VRLE is to determine the scenario, the problem, the
goal, the objectives and the audience [6, 22]. Storytelling in each scenario links the
environment and the narrative to form a rich context that enhances learning [6, 18].
Designers choose content that supports spatial visualisation – especially content that
cannot be seen in the physical world, but can be presented in a VRLE [22].
Learning is enhanced when material is presented in learner-directed segments rather
than one continuous unit [20]. Knowledge engineering methodologies have been used
to break down learning material to be used in virtual worlds [10]. They determine the
entities in the environment, the constraints acting on these entities, the activities and
their rules that can take place in the environment, and then create illustrations to
describe these components.
To enhance learning, pedagogical support tools that will be provided should also be
determined. The tools could be implemented through the environment or via the use of
a character (or pedagogical agent, which is a virtual character that is designed to
facilitate learning in multimedia-based environments), or through both [6, 7, 23].
The guideline for pedagogy thus includes defining a rich, authentic environment
with units consisting of the learning material benefitting from visualisation. Addi-
tionally, proposed pedagogical agents should be employed.
In this artefact, we present magnets and visualise magnetic fields with rays of light
in the shape of the magnetic fields as seen in Fig. 1, which were implemented using
particle systems in Unreal Engine. When developing the second scene in the artefact, it
became evident that, even though there is a vast collection of three-dimensional assets
available online, there are only a few objects available to depict a science environment.
There are almost no magnets, electrical current components used in a laboratory, test
tubes or chemical apparatus available for purchase. Additionally, available assets are
hard to modify and have to be practically redesigned to become usable. We experi-
mented with three-dimensional modeling software (Adobe Photoshop, Maya and
Blender) and found them all difficult to learn to use and time-consuming to execute. If
VRLEs, and specifically in the science paradigm, are to be widely available in the
future, there will be a huge demand for educational three-dimensional assets.
 Design Aspects of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment 309

Fig. 1. Magnetic fields are visible when the magnets are picked up.

We use two virtual characters as pedagogical agents – a man and a woman. The
learner never sees them, but their voices guide the learner through the tasks. The man is
an announcer – to guide the learner into the environment and navigate from scene to
scene, and the woman guides the learner to complete the activities and explain the
results. We evaluated five different text-to-speech online tools: Natural Reader,
Amazon Polly, fromtexttospeech.com, text2speech.org and ttsreader. Amazon Polly
was found to sound the most natural, and we used it to implement the voices, adding
sound effects with Audacity to add texture and interest to the speech. A storyboard for
the design, implementation and evaluation of simulations has been used successfully in
education [9, 11]. The guideline for using a storyboard is that the simulation design
must include the learner, the environment, the interaction and triggers between a learner
and the environment, as well as the changes that take place in the environment [13].
We propose that in a VRLE, the learner is not a separate entity but part of the
simulation as he or she interacts with the environment. Two simulation environment
design approaches [9, 13] have been synthesized (Fig. 2) where the environment now
includes the details of a scene, the learner, the interactions and changes to the scenes.

Fig. 2. The combination of the approaches of Fara and Liu to design the content of a VRLE

A detailed design of a virtual reality platform that assesses a student’s scientific

knowledge and skill transfer to a new situation about magnets was drafted as a sto-
ryboard. This included each scene in the environment, the objectives, details of the
scene, action and challenges of the scene, cues and interactions, what learner response
310 J. Steynberg et al.

can be expected, change of scene, or redirection away from the scene after a learner’s
action.

4.2 Guidelines for Content

Level of Immersion and Realism. The levels of immersion and realism should be
specified for every objective identified in the previous step to define the environment
[6, 22, 27]. Passive participation is discouraged as merely watching a scene in VR does
not mean learning is effective. Designers should use real-world metaphors, for exam-
ple, a mailbox for leaving a message [15]. Visually realistic learning spaces help
learners understand their environment as they know what to expect based on their
existing mental models of the real world [18]. Learners expect real-world respect for
personal space within a VRLE. Without careful consideration, discomfort can be
created when another character stands too close to them or walks right through them, or
an object passes through them. Additionally, side effects unique to virtual reality, such
as eye strain, motion sickness, disorientation and headaches, have to be addressed and
mitigated as far as possible at each step of the development process [8, 24, 25].
The guideline for immersion and realism is to design realistic learning spaces with
real-world metaphors. The learner’s personal space has to be respected and side-effects
must be mitigated.
Our artefact is a VRLE of a deserted island in the year 2100. Earth has been
destroyed, except for this island that holds the portal to a new world (Fig. 3). The scene
starts with a short tutorial to familiarise the learner with the environment and the
navigation methods. The learner is then guided through different tasks involving
magnetism and on completion of the portal to the new world is opened, and the learner
is transported there.

Fig. 3. Two of the scenes from the artefact: an ice landscape and the portal.

We found that working in Unreal Engine, collision and collision spaces are hard to
control. In our prototype, a learner cannot walk into a table, but hands and arms can
reach into the table. Additionally, when attaching an object such as a nail to a magnet,
the nail seems to go through the magnet. We hope to clear up these issues in the second
iteration of the DSR cycle.
 Design Aspects of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment 311

Level of Interaction. Content should be realistic and interactive as high levels of

reality and interactivity creates positive learning outcomes and better conceptual
understanding in learning environments [22, 27]. The senses involved must be deter-
mined – will the environment be experienced via sight, sound, tactile or movement, or
any combination thereof. This will also influence the level of control that the learner
will have in the environment [27]. A problem manipulation space is critical – the
learner must manipulate something and obtain feedback on how their manipulations
affect the learning environment [6]. The guideline for interaction is to create an
authentic environment where the learner must engage with the problem manipulation
space.
Navigation: Locomotion, Entry Point and Way-Finding. Navigation in virtual
worlds is one of the key usability problems [18]. A VR environment should have
simple mechanics to minimise cognitive load so that the learner can concentrate on the
task on hand, and not the navigation [8]. Walking-in-place, using a controller to direct
the movement and teleportation are three of the locomotion systems commonly used in
virtual reality environments [4].
Furthermore, the entry point of a VRLE should be carefully considered and designed as
a key part of the environment [17, 18] The entry point should attract learners and allow
a learner to survey his or her options of where to go next. Additionally, when entering a
scene, care has to be given to the space around a learner, since it can be very jarring if a
learner starts in an object such as in the middle of a table [8]. Additionally, spaces
should provide an easy exit as interacting in confined spaces might trigger a phobic
reaction. Learners should also understand that they can exit the VRLE at any point if
they are uncomfortable or in any pain, physically or emotionally [8, 18].
Moving around in a virtual world can be described by the term ‘wayfinding’.
A learner should be able to move within a scene and between scenes, and can be guided
to the next activity using maps, landmarks or paths in an environment.
The guideline for navigation in a VRLE is to use simple locomotion mechanics to
move around in a comfortable environment. Guidance to move from one area to
another should form part of the environment.
In our artefact, locomotion is controlled by thumbsticks on the hand controllers and
it is based on the position of the learner’s head. The thumbsticks control forward and
backward movement in the direction the learner is looking. We experimented with
adding a slight turn to the left/right movement of the thumbsticks; however, this
resulted in vertigo and nausea in pilot tests. It was also evident from initial tests that
learners should not be able to go where they are not supposed to; limits have been put
into all scenes ensuring learners cannot walk off the world. We use areas changing
colour, blinking shapes and a virtual character to guide the learner [17].

4.3 Guidelines for Technology

Hardware and Software Selection. Before development begins, the hardware and
software to be used should be specified [6, 27], as various factors influence this
selection. Firstly, the purpose and goal of the VRLE will determine which devices and
312 J. Steynberg et al.

software that will be acceptable. The choices of hardware and software will differ vastly
from the final-year surgical student trying to perfect a life-threatening procedure to an
elementary class experiencing a virtual field trip [16].
Secondly, hardware and software selection depends on properties that are unique to
VRLEs, such as the levels of realism, immersion and interaction. The higher these
levels, the more senses of the learner will be involved, and the devices and software to
implement the environment will become more complex [10, 13, 27].
Thirdly, the audience of the VRLE also influences hardware and software choices,
since different demographic groups will experience and use the devices differently. For
example, the Oculus Rift is not recommended for children under the age of 13, since
their eyesight is not fully developed yet; therefore, an alternative display should be
chosen. Learners wearing glasses should be given extra support when fitting and
adjusting headsets to allow them to see the environment clearly [19, 27].
Lastly, cost is often an overriding factor. The improvement of the teaching and
learning process must be worth the cost, and the high cost of VR hardware and
software has a negative influence on the adoption of VRLEs [12, 15, 27]. Costs may be
financial costs, overhead setup time costs, and training costs for teachers and learners.
The guideline for technology specifies that appropriate hardware and software
should be selected, considering the purpose, the level of immersion and realism, the
audience and the cost.
For our artefact, we decided to opt for a middle of the road approach. We are using
Unreal Engine 4.22 for the development – it is free for research use and has very good
graphic rendering capabilities. Focusing on systems with handheld controllers, we are
using Oculus Rift – a comfortable headset with integrated earphones and tracking to
determine the position of the learner’s head and two motion controllers with two
desktop sensors to translate movement into the VRLE.
Implementation: Using a Finite-State Machine. The execution flow in games can be
implemented through finite-state machines, which are abstract machines that can only
exist in a finite number of states at any given time and can be easily represented using a
graph. This allows for simplified design, implementing and testing as there is always
only a finite number of states to consider [3, 5]. The guideline for implementation is to
use a finite-state machine to implement interactive execution flow.
We added a short tutorial in the first scene of our environment to familiarise the learner
with the controls and environment. When implementing the tutorial, the need for a
better model for the algorithm was apparent – the usual if-then-else structure of a
sequential model was not sufficient – the code was clumsy, repetitive and error-prone.
Therefore, according to the suggestion of Seeman and Bourg [5], we used a finite-state
machine to implement each scene in our artefact. The finite-state machine of the first
action in our artefact is seen in Fig. 4.
 Design Aspects of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment 313

Fig. 4. Finite state machine of the first action in the tutorial, scene 1.

Table 1. Guidelines for developing a VRLE with the lessons learned from this study.
Guidelines Lessons learned
Pedagogy Create an authentic environment [6, There are very few three-
18, dimensional science assets
22] available to create an authentic
environment
Learning material should be [20]
divided into chunks
Implement visualised content [22, Considerable time needed to
27] design novel visualisations
Pedagogical agents [6, 7, Voices using text to speech
23] can be added
Storyboards [9, The learner is not a separate
11, entity, but now becomes part
13] of the simulation as he or she
interacts with the environment
Content Realistic learning spaces with [22, Collision and collision spaces
real-world metaphors 27] are hard to control and needs
extra attention
Learner must engage with the [6]
problem manipulation space
Personal space has to be [8, Put restrictions into scenes to
respected 24, protect learner from harmful
25] areas
Side-effects must be mitigated [8, Movement that does not
24, originate from the learner can
25] cause vertigo and nausea
Use simple locomotion [8, Do not use hand controllers to
mechanics to move around 18] turn, only to move forward
and backward
Wayfinding via maps, paths or [17] Include visual clues such as
visual clues blinking shapes
(continued)
314 J. Steynberg et al.

Table 1. (continued)
Guidelines Lessons learned
Technology Consider purpose, level of [6, There is a significant trade-off
immersion and realism, the 10, between monetary and time
audience and the cost when 13, costs versus levels of
selecting hardware and software 16, immersion, realism and
27] interaction
Use a finite-state machine to [3, 5] The interactive nature of a
implement interactive content learning environment moves
away from sequential
programming

5 Conclusion

This paper reports on the lessons learned during the first iteration of the study to define
the key considerations and design aspects when building a VRLE for the assessment of
knowledge transfer. Table 1 summarizes the contribution of this study: VRLE design
guidelines, which were abstracted from literature, structured and implemented; and the
lessons learned while implementing the design. Future work will involve the evaluation
of iteration one and the development of iteration two. Considering the use of VRLEs to
assess knowledge transfer, several challenges remain to develop usable assessment
tools. However, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current world events,
education needs to evolve into a new paradigm that meets the challenges of the
complexity of learning in this new era. Online virtual reality classrooms, once con-
sidered an unaffordable luxury, may become a necessity as priorities adjust to the new
reality. Future additions to this study could be the diversification of the learning process
in the environment, based on specific learner’s abilities. Another pathway could also be
to explore science laboratories in a VRLE to bring knowledge and training to the parts
in the world where experiencing a real-life laboratory is not possible.

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 Research on Evaluation of Smart Learning
Environment in Universities Based
on AHP-FCE: A Case Study
of Central China Normal University

Zhicheng Dai(&), Mengting Wang, and Feng Liu

Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430000, Hubei, China

dzc@mail.ccnu.edu.cn

Abstract. With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, the Smart Learning
Environment (SLE) has emerged. This paper takes Central China Normal
University as an example to evaluate SLE in universities. Taking the physical,
resource and social of SLE as the first-level indexes of the evaluation index
system, an index system with 3 first-level indexes and 26 second-level indexes
was constructed by referring to relevant literature and the actual needs of
teachers and students. According to this evaluation index system, a question-
naire was designed to collect data. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy
Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) were used to analyze the sample data and
evaluate SLE, which can provide reference for the subsequent improvement of
SLE.

Keywords: Smart Learning Environment (SLE)
Evaluation
Analytic

Hierarchy Process (AHP)
Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE)

1 Introduction

With the development of emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), big
data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other information technologies, the reform of
information-based teaching has been advanced, and the informatization in Chinese
universities has entered a new stage in the Smart Learning Environment (SLE). SLE is
a new Learning Environment that supports students’ effective learning in the infor-
mation age. It can help to promote student participation and improve effective learning
and change learning and teaching in a productive and desirable way [1]. Supported by
Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G network environment, SLE enables learners to learn online anytime
and anywhere [2].
Due to the limitation factors such as learners’ age and their learning ability, the
construction of SLE in primary and secondary schools is mainly based on the
improvement of physical environment, and the teaching mode is still dominated by
teachers. However, learners in universities have the ability of higher-order thinking,
tend to study independently, and have an urgent need for resources and personalized
learning. Besides, universities have the environment of independent innovation.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 317–327, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_36
318 Z. Dai et al.

Therefore, SLE has more practical applications in universities. In recent years, Central
China Normal University has been actively promoting the integration of information
technology and education, reforming the learning environment, optimizing the
infrastructure, and strengthening the development of high-quality teaching resources.
This paper took SLE as the research object, constructed the evaluation index
system, and took Central China Normal University as the application case for evalu-
ation and analysis. The structure of the paper is as follows: Sect. 2 briefly introduces
the research object, the SLE of Central China Normal University; Sect. 3 contains
evaluation index, which combined the literature and the actual needs of teachers and
students; Sect. 4 describes the research methodology, the instruments, the participants,
and data collection; Sect. 5 analyses the questionnaire data and obtain the evaluation
results; and Sect. 6 concludes the research and suggests possible future the improving
direction according to the evaluation results.

2 Research Object

SLE can be divided into three sub-spaces, physical space, social space and resource
space [3]. Based on this learning space theory, Central China Normal University built
its SLE. The system architecture of the SLE is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. The system architecture of the SLE.

 Research on Evaluation of Smart Learning Environment 319

Physical space includes infrastructure, sensing equipment and teaching facility,

which is the basic support of the whole SLE, provides environmental protection ser-
vices for various activities in the social space, and carries storage and presentation of
various elements in the resource space. In terms of infrastructure, the smart classrooms
are decorated in a simple and comfortable way, with reasonable layout. Desks and
chairs can be dynamically combined. The lights, curtains, air conditioners and venti-
lators can be controlled by the central control host computer of IoT, to support teachers
to carry out diversified teaching activities. Sensing equipment is the channel for data
acquisition, including classroom environment data, audio and video data, identity
identification information, etc. By analyzing the information available through SLE, it
is possible to increase students’ performance in learning and realizing goals [4].
Teaching facility is the core element of physical space, realizing the functions of
teaching content presentation, teaching resources acquisition, classroom interaction and
so on.
Resource space, the core element of SLE, is the bridge communicating between
subjects in social space. “Cloud Classroom Platform” is the support service platform of
SLE, provides teaching content component database, digital curriculum, quality
question bank and learning aid tools, and gathers classroom environment data, device
usage data and teaching behavior data of the whole teaching process.
The social space is the organism of SLE, including students, teachers, adminis-
trators and supervisors, who carry out learning activities in SLE and are interrelated
under the support of “starC Multi-screen teaching system” and “Cloud Classroom
Platform”.
The teaching scene of SLE is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. The teaching scene of SLE.

3 Evaluation Index System

We took the physical, resource and social of SLE as the first-level index.
Physical space, as a formal learning place, is mainly composed of teaching
infrastructure and educational equipment in the network environment. The second-level
320 Z. Dai et al.

indexes of physical space were constructed by referring to relevant research results [5]
of SLE application.
Resource space is an important guarantee to realize the integration of reality and
virtual in SLE. Referring to the relevant evaluation literature on the website [6], the
second-level indexes of the resource space were constructed.
Social space contains the interaction in student-student, teacher-student and human-
computer. Social space is learner-centered. Fully considering learners’ learning expe-
rience in SLE, the second-level indexes of the social space were constructed.
An evaluation index system with 3 first-level indexes and 26 second-level indexes
was constructed, as Table 1 shows.

Table 1. Evaluation index system

Object First-level Second-level indexes
indexes
SLE A Physical B1 Designability C1 ; Structural C2 ; Comprehensive C3 ; Humanization
C4 ; Diversification C5 ; Smart C6 ; Perceptive C7 ; Easy to access C8
Resource B2 Compatibility C9 ; Functional C10 ; Security C11 ; Operational C12 ;
Stability C13 ; Connectedness C14 ; Massive C15 ; Scientific C16 ;
Open C17 ; Well-formed C18
Social B3 Applied consciousness C19 ; Teaching method C20 ; Information
integration C21 ; Technical mastery C22 ; Interaction capacity C23 ;
Learning intention C24 ; Class performance C25 ; Cognitive load C26

4 Method
4.1 Instruments
In this research, a questionnaire was conducted as an instrument. The questionnaire
consisted of two parts: a demographic information questionnaire and an evaluation
questionnaire.
Demographic information questionnaire was gathered from participants, including
grade, major and gender.
A 5-point Likert scale (5 = strongly agree and 1 = strongly disagree) was used in
this evaluation questionnaire. It measured participants’ evaluation of SLE.

4.2 Participants
In this research, 336 students were selected as respondents. Eliminating the invalid
questionnaires with missing answers and the same choices, we received 300 valid
questionnaires. these samples involved 4 grades (freshman, 36.00%, sophomore,
33.67%, junior, 24.33%, senior, 6.00%), 2 majors (science and engineering, 54.67%,
liberal arts, 45.33%) and 2 genders (male, 31.33%, female, 68.67%).
 Research on Evaluation of Smart Learning Environment 321

4.3 Procedure
Reliability. Reliability of this evaluation questionnaire was measured by Cronbach’s a.
The Cronbach’s a of physical (B1 ) was 0.829, resource’s (B2 ) was 0.871, social’s (B3 )
was 0.811, SLE’s (A) was 0.910.
The Cronbach’s a of the scale and subscales were all greater than 0.8. The results
indicated good reliability and high internal consistency.
Validity. Validity of this evaluation questionnaire was measured by through Confir-
matory Factor Analysis (CFA). Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) was 0.898 (>0.700), the
Bartlett test was significant (P < 0.001). The data was suitable for factor analysis.
Using principal component analysis (PCA) and Varimax, 3 first-level indexes were
extracted from 26 second-level indexes. Their characteristic roots were greater than 1,
and their cumulative variance contribution rate was 62.070%. For each second-level
index in its first-level index, the value of factor loading was greater than 0.500, which
meant that the model had significant convergent validity. For each second-level index
in its different first-level index, the value of factor loading was close to 0, indicating
adequate discriminant validity.

5 Data Analysis and Evaluation Results

AHP and FCE are commonly used traditional evaluation method [7, 8]. The evaluation
method of SLE is based on the quantitative scoring of FCE, and the weight of eval-
uation index is determined by AHP.

5.1 Determination of Evaluation Index Weight

Hierarchical Model. The hierarchical model was built, as shown in Fig. 3.

Constructing Judgment Matrix. Compare the relative importance of the indicators of
the same level by comparing the relative importance of relative weights to construct
judgment matrix A. In this paper, 1–9 scale method was used to assign importance
degree: 1, equally important; 3, the former is slightly more important than the latter; 5,
the former is obviously more important than the latter; 7, the former is more important
than the latter; 9, the former is extreme important than the latter; 2, 4, 6, 8, intermediate
value between two adjacent judgments; reciprocal, if the ratio of the importance of
element i to element j is aij , then the ratio of the importance of element j to element i is
aji = 1/aij .
Calculating Weight. Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient (ANC) was selected to
calculate the weight of the evaluation indexes. The steps were as follows:
322 Z. Dai et al.

Fig. 3. Hierarchical model.

1. Normalized each column element of the judgment matrix A to get A;

aij

aij ¼ Pn i; j ¼ 1; 2;


; n ð1Þ
i¼1 aij

to get W;
2. Summed each row element of A

X
n

i ¼
w
aij i ¼ 1; 2;


; n ð2Þ
j¼1

to get the weight W.

3. Normalized w

w
i
wi ¼ Pn ; i ¼ 1; 2;


; n ð3Þ
i¼1
i
w

Consistency Check. A consistency check is performed on the judgment matrix to test

whether the weights of the indicators obtained by the judgment matrix are reasonable.
There were three main steps:
 Research on Evaluation of Smart Learning Environment 323

4. Calculated the maximum eigenvalue kmax ;

1X n
ðAW Þi
kmax ¼ ð4Þ
n i¼1 wi

5. Calculated the consistency index CI;

kmax  n
CI ¼ ð5Þ
n1

6. Calculated consistency ratio CR;

CI
CR ¼ ð6Þ
RI

When CR < 0.1, it is considered that the consistency of the judgment matrix is
acceptable, that is, it indicates that the weight coefficient is assigned properly; other-
wise, the judgment matrix needs to be adjusted until satisfactory consistency is
achieved. RI is called the average random consistency index of judgement matrix; its
value can be obtained in Table 2.

Table 2. Average random uniformity indicators RI

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
RI 0 0 0.58 0.9 1.12 1.24 1.32 1.41 1.45

Evaluation Index Weights. W After consistency check, All the 4 judgment matrixes
have met the consistency requirement, CR < 0.1. The results were as follows:
Physical: W1 ¼ ½ 0:098 0:193 0:039 0:145 0:036 0:177 0:284 0:028 T
Resource: W2 ¼ ½ 0:065 0:131 0:215 0:032 0:048 0:123 0:230 0:111 0:029 0:016 T
Social: W3 ¼ ½ 0:047 0:195 0:062 0:109 0:269 0:097 0:187 0:034 T
SLE: W ¼ ½ 0:413 0:260 0:327 T

5.2 FCE Process

Constructing Evaluation Factor Sets. U The factor set is the set of evaluation
indexes of the evaluation object. Suppose that the evaluation object has m evaluation
324 Z. Dai et al.

indexes, U ¼ fu1 ,u2 ,


,um g. For multi-level evaluation index system, multi-level
factor set is established hierarchically. According to the established evaluation index
system, the factor set U was established.
In this research, evaluation factor sets were as follows:

U ¼ fU1 ; U2 ; U3 g

U1 ¼ fC1 ; C2 ; C3 ; C4 ; C5 ; C6 ; C7 ; C8 g

U2 ¼ fC9 ; C10 ; C11 ; C12 ; C13 ; C14 ; C15 ; C16 ; C17 ; C18 g

U3 ¼ fC19 ; C20 ; C21 ; C22 ; C23 ; C24 ; C25 ; C26 g

Constructing Evaluation Set V. The evaluation set V is composed of all evaluation

grades. In this paper, the evaluation set was selected as 5 grades, V ¼ fv1 ; v2 ; v3 ;
v4 ; v5 g = {very good, good, average, poor, very poor}, corresponding to the percentile
interval f½0:9  1Þ; ½0:75  0:9Þ; ½0:6  0:75Þ; ½0:5  0:6Þ; ½0  0:5Þg.
Constructing Evaluation Matrixes R. If the evaluation set V has decision values of
m evaluation levels and there are n indexes that need to be evaluated, the evaluation
matrix R can be represented as:
2 3
r11 r12


r1m
6 r21 r22


r2m 7
6 7
R ¼ 6 .. .. .. .. 7
4 . . . . 5
rn1 rn2


rnm

In this research, evaluation matrixes were as follows:

2 3 2 3
0:307 0:610 0:056 0:017 0:010 0:073 0:437 0:220 0:257 0:013
6 0:287 0:600 0:077 0:033 0:003 7 6 0:200 0:543 0:203 0:050 0:003 7
6 7 6 7
6 0:280 0:563 0:114 0:043 0:000 7 6 0:133 0:540 0:247 0:077 0:003 7
6 7 6 7
6 0:367 0:493 0:097 0:040 0:003 7 6 0:013 7
R1 ¼ 6 7 R3 ¼ 6 0:114 0:490 0:240 0:143 7
6 0:267 0:503 0:183 0:047 0:000 7 6 0:087 0:453 0:320 0:123 0:017 7
6 7 6 7
6 0:157 0:387 0:373 0:080 0:003 7 6 0:093 0:517 0:266 0:107 0:017 7
6 7 6 7
4 0:180 0:303 0:414 0:103 0:000 5 4 0:103 0:493 0:290 0:107 0:007 5
0:233 0:457 0:247 0:063 0:000 0:070 0:464 0:280 0:183 0:003
2 3
0:187 0:393 0:337 0:070 0:013
6 0:103 0:380 0:340 0:167 0:010 7
6 7
6 0:103 0:373 0:454 0:060 0:010 7
6 7
6 0:103 0:480 0:250 0:150 0:017 7
6 7
6 0:073 0:260 0:420 0:220 0:027 7
R2 ¼ 6
6 0:107
7
6 0:580 0:267 0:043 0:003 7
7
6 0:123 0:603 0:224 0:047 0:003 7
6 7
6 0:117 0:543 0:267 0:070 0:003 7
6 7
4 0:100 0:324 0:470 0:093 0:013 5
0:147 0:657 0:160 0:033 0:003
 Research on Evaluation of Smart Learning Environment 325

Calculating Result Vectors B.

B ¼ WT  R ð7Þ

Index weight W has calculated in Sect. 5.1. In this research, result vectors were as
follows:

B1 ¼ ½ 0:245 0:454 0:24 0:062 0:003 

B2 ¼ ½ 0:114 0:474 0:32 0:082 0:008 

B3 ¼ ½ 0:117 0:493 0:27 0:112 0:010 

B ¼ ½ 0:169 0:472 0:268 0:084 0:007 

Calculating Score Values S. To calculate the exact score value of SLE, the evaluation
score is determined according to a certain value rule. The quantized evaluation set V
was defined as N.

N ¼ ½ 0:95 0:825 0:675 0:55 0:25 

The exact score value of SLE S can be calculated:

S ¼ B  NT ð8Þ

In this research, score values were as follows:

Physical: S1 ¼ 0:801
Resource: S2 ¼ 0:764
Social: S3 ¼ 0:762
SLE: S ¼ 0:779

6 Conclusion

The evaluation results showed that the overall performance of SLE in Central China
Normal University was good (0.779). In the three sub-spaces of SLE, physical space
got the highest score value (0.801).
Through the analysis of the sample questionnaire, in the physical space, the two
indexes with the worst satisfaction were Smart C6 and Perceptive C7 , and the two
indexes with the best satisfaction were Designability C1 and Structural C2 , indicating
that students were satisfied with the infrastructure construction. Optimizing the IoT
system in the smart classrooms can help to improve Smart C6 and Perceptive C7 . The
equipment in the smart classrooms is connected to the central control host of IoT, so
that the teacher can control all kinds of teaching equipment through the teacher
326 Z. Dai et al.

assistant or the teacher computer embedded in the desk, adjust temperature and
humidity, etc., and improve the comfort level of the classroom.
In the resource space, the indexes with the worst satisfaction were Functional C10 ,
Stability C13 and Open C17 , and the indexes with the worst satisfaction were Massive
C15 and Well-formed C18 , which showed that the content of the resource had meet the
learning needs of students, but currently didn’t have a high level of shared resources,
information resources can only obtain some jurisdictions. The stability and function-
ality of the supporting platform can’t meet the requirements of students, so developers
should upgrade the supporting platform, improve its performance, optimize its response
efficiency, and add new functions according to the actual demand.
In the social space, it was found that students didn’t agree that the smart classrooms
had a significant role in promoting learning and improving the interaction. The purpose
of constructing smart classrooms is to improve the learning environment and enhance
the teaching effect. However, teachers’ nonproficiency in the use of equipment leads to
the continuation of the teaching form of multimedia classrooms in smart classrooms,
and the failure to develop diversified teaching modes has impeded improving class-
room interaction. Teacher training which is focused on the correct use of smart
classrooms and on the digital competence of teachers are critical to improve SLE [9].
Teachers should be guided to use the equipment in smart classrooms and develop
innovative teaching mode.

Acknowledgements. This research is financially supported by the National Key Research and
Development Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB1004504) and Central China Normal
University (Grant No. CCNU20ZN009).

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8. Lin, H.H., Hsiao, S.W.: A study of the evaluation of products by industrial design students.
Eurasia J. Math. Sci. Technol. Educ. 14(1), 239–254 (2018)
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methodologies. Sustainability 12(7) (2020)
 The Development of Simulation Web-Based
Learning Environment to Enhance
Ill-Structured Problem Solving
for Engineering Students

Thawach Thammabut, Sumalee Chaijaroen,

and Suchat Wattanachai(&)

Department of Educational Technology,

Faculty of Education Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Suchat@kku.ac.th

Abstract. The ill-structured problem solving is the one important skill of the
Engineer in 21st century. Thus, the purposes of this research was to develop of
simulation learning environment to enhance ill-structured problem solving for
engineering students and examine learners’ ill-structured problem solving. The
participants of this study consisted of 3 experts to evaluate the model and 30
students of electronics and telecommunication engineering department. The
research instruments for data collection consisted of model evaluation form and
learner’s ill-structured problem solving interview form. The survey research was
employed to this study. Then, the model evaluation data were analyzed by using
summarization and interpretation description. Moreover, the learners’ ill-
structured problem solving were analyzed by using protocol analysis, summa-
rization and interpretation description. The results of study revealed that the
simulation learning environment model to enhance ill-structured problem
solving for engineering students consisted of designing framework and there
were 7 elements in this model as follows 1) simulation problem base, 2) resource
center, 3) cognitive tools center, 4) scaffolding center, 5) enhancing problem
solving center, 6) collaboration center, and 7) coaching center. The result of the
model assessment revealed that the elements and function of the model were
appropriate in 3 aspects follow as: con-tents, media, and designing. Thus,
simulation learning environment may help engineering students to construct the
knowledge and enhance ill-structured problem solving skill. Furthermore, the
protocol analysis revealed that the learners solved problem by using 7 processes
of ill-structured problems solving.

Keywords: Constructivist
Simulation
Learning environment
Electronics

industrial

1 Introduction

Since 1st industrial evaluation in the 18th century until the present, the technology is
rapidly change and impact our life in many aspect, especially, in engineering education.
The engineering students cannot wait the knowledge from teacher because there are

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 328–337, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_37
 The Development of Simulation Web-Based Learning Environment 329

new knowledge every day. Therefore, they have to construct knowledge by them-
selves. Moreover, the one important skill of the engineer in 21st century is problem
solving, especially, ill-structured problem [1]. Ill-structured problems are the kinds of
problems that are encountered in everyday practice [2]. However, current instructional
design focuses on transmitting and memorizing information. Furthermore, problems
that engineering students found in the classroom are different from the workplace
engineering problems. The workplace engineering problems possess conflicting goals,
multiple solution methods, and non-engineering success standards [2]. In addition,
learning to solve classroom problems does not necessarily prepare engineering students
to future jobs. Thus, engineering students are lacking of construct the knowledge and
ill-structured problems solving. Furthermore, engineering students need to prepare to
practice engineer. Thus, they need to practice and experiment to promote students’
understanding by using tools or equipment in laboratory. However, they are limited to
practice in laboratory, few hours per week or equipment. Moreover, they need some
laboratory assistance or teacher to help during practice [3].
For the above reasons, educator need to change strategies for the learning by apply
theories to design the instructional. The constructivist theory is an approach to learning
that people actively construct or make their own knowledge [4]. Moreover, simulation
is an efficient and effective tool for engineering education [5]. Engineering students can
learn anywhere and anytime. Furthermore, they can manipulate any parameters to test
their hypothesis without risk.
Hence, this research aimed to develop simulation learning environment to enhance
ill-structured problem solving for engineering students. The empirical findings are
based on analyzing the learner’s ill-structured problem solving process.

2 Purposes

To develop the simulation learning environment to enhance ill-structured problem

solving for engineering students and examine learners’ ill-structured problem solving.

3 Methodology
3.1 Participants
There were 3 experts for evaluation the quality of the simulation learning environment
in 3 domains, contents, media, and instructional design. There were 30 students of 4th
years in electronics and telecommunication engineering, who enrolled in the course of
Electronics Industrial in 1st semester, 2019 academic year, Rajamangala University of
technology Isan, Khon Kaen campus, Thailand, for examination ill-structured problem
solving.
330 T. Thammabut et al.

3.2 Research Instruments

For evaluation of simulation learning environment to enhance ill-structured problem
solving for engineering students was used the model evaluation form to evaluate the
quality in 3 domains as follows: contents, instructional design, and media. For eval-
uation learner’s ill-structured problem solving were used the learner’s ill-structured
problem solving interview form.

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis

The evaluation of simulation learning environment were collected by 3 experts and
were analyzed by using summarization, interpretation description. Then, the learner’s
ill-structured problem solving were collected by interviewing learners and data were
analyzed by protocol analysis, summarization, and interpretation description.

4 Results
4.1 Synthesis the Designing Framework
The first process for development is synthesis the designing framework of simulation
learning environment. The results revealed that the designing framework consist of 5
processes as follow:
Activating Cognitive Structure and Promoting Ill-structured Problems Solving.
The first process of designing framework was activating cognitive structure. The
Cognitive constructivism [6] was used to disequilibrium or cognitive conflict of the
learner. Then, the situated learning [7] were used to design the authentic problem in the
real world. Moreover, the ill-structured problem solving [1] were integrated with
decision making [8] and simulation [9] and above theories to design component called
“Simulation problem base” shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. The designing framework: Activating cognitive structure and promoting ill-structured
problems solving.
 The Development of Simulation Web-Based Learning Environment 331

Supporting for Adjusting of Cognitive Equilibrium. After learners’ cognitive

structure were disequilibrium, they need to adjust the cognitive structure from dise-
quilibrium to equilibrium. Thus, the component called “Learning resources” will
support learners to adjust cognitive structure. The information processing theory [10]
and SOI model [11] was used to design this component. Furthermore, mental model
theory [12], schema theory [12] and cognitive load theory [13] were used to design
information into conceptual. In addition, the component called “Cognitive tools cen-
ter” will support tools for supporting learner based on Open learning environments
(OLEs) [14]. The cognitive tools comprise of seeking tools, processing tools, collecting
tools, integrating tools, and generation tools were used to facilitate the learner’ cog-
nitive processing as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. The designing framework: Supporting for adjusting of cognitive equilibrium.

Supporting for Enlarging Cognitive Structure. For supporting for enlarge cognitive
structure, social constructivism [15] used to design the component called “Collabo-
ration center” for sharing knowledge and multiple perspectives as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. The designing framework: Supporting for enlarging cognitive structure.

Enhancing Ill-Structured Problems Solving. In addition, enhancing ill-structured

problem solving process were adapted from ill-structured problems solving [1] and
332 T. Thammabut et al.

design the component called “Enhancing problem solving center”. The processes of
ill-structured problem solving skills were as follows: 1) learners identify problem space
and contextual constraints, 2) identifying the stakeholder and their opinion, 3) generate
possible problem solutions, 4) decision making of alternative solutions, 5) planning and
monitor the performances, 6) implement and monitor the solution, and 7) adapt the
solution as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. The designing framework: Enhancing Ill-Structured Problems solving.

Promote and Assist Knowledge Construction. However, some learner may not
construct the knowledge by themselves. Thus, for promote and assist knowledge
construction, social constructivist, zone of proximal development [15] and OLEs,
scaffolding [14] were used in design the component called “Scaffoldings center” to
provide 4 Scaffolding as follow: conceptual scaffolding, strategic scaffolding,
metacognition scaffolding, and procedural scaffolding. Furthermore, Cognitive
apprenticeship [16] was used to design the component called “Coaching center” as
shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5. The designing framework: Promote and assist knowledge construction.

4.2 Development of the Simulation Learning Environment

According to designing framework, there are 7 components of simulation learning
environment as follow: 1) simulation problem base, 2) resource center, 3) cognitive
tools center, 4) scaffolding center, 5) enhancing problem solving center, 6) collabo-
ration center, and 7) coaching center, as shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
 The Development of Simulation Web-Based Learning Environment 333

(A) (B)

Fig. 6. (A) Simulation learning environment (B) Simulation problem based.

(A) (B)

Fig. 7. (A) Simulation problem based (B) Task of Simulation problem based.

(A) (B)

Fig. 8. (A) Cognitive tools center (B) Resource center.

(A) (B)

Fig. 9. (A) Enhance problem solving center (B) Collaboration center.

334 T. Thammabut et al.

(A) (B)

Fig. 10. (A) Coaching center (B) Scaffolding center.

4.3 The Quality of the Simulation Learning Environment

The quality of the simulation learning environment were evaluated by 3 experts in 3
domain as follow: learning content, media, and instructional design. The results
revealed that in Table 1.

Table 1. The quality of simulation learning environment.

No List assessment Expert no. 1 Expert no. 2 Expert no. 3
1 Learning content
1.1 Appropriate learning content +1 +1 +1
2 Media
2.1 Appropriate navigator icon +1 +1 +1
2.2 Appropriate composition art +1 +1 +1
2.3 Appropriate images and animations +1 +1 +1
2.4 Stability +1 +1 +1
3 Instructional design
3.1 Simulation problem base +1 +1 +1
3.2 Resource center +1 +1 +1
3.3 Cognitive tools center +1 +1 +1
3.4 Collaboration center +1 +1 +1
3.5 Enhance problem solving center +1 +1 +1
3.6 Scaffolding center +1 +1 +1
3.7 Coaching center +1 +1 +1

According to Table 1, learning content aspect, experts agreed that the content is
appropriate for learners. For media aspect, experts agreed that the navigator icon,
composition art, images and animations are appropriate and stability. However, they
suggest about fonts and color, it should be easier to read. The last aspect, instructional
design, experts agreed that all components are appropriate and functional.
 The Development of Simulation Web-Based Learning Environment 335

4.4 The Learner’s Ill-Structured Problem Solving

The learners were asked to learn with simulation learning environment by start at
“Simulation problem base”. After complete the tasks, they were interviewed for
studying ill-structured problem solving process. The result of protocol analysis
revealed that the learner solved the ill-structured problem by using 7 processes ill-
structured problem solving process [1] as follow:
Learners Identify Problem Space and Contextual Constraints. The learner can
identify initial state (current problem) and the goal state after solve the problem such
the empirical evidence as “They found spoiled milk and they can’t deliver milk to
customer. Thus, they want to deliver normal milk to customer” or “… spoiled milk and
want normal milk for deliver”.
Identifying the Stakeholder and Their Opinion. The learner can identify who are
involve for this problem and what are their opinion such the empirical evidence as
“Stakeholders in this problem are Production manager, he need to produce milk for
deliver to customer within 12 h and another stakeholder is chief executive officer
(CEO), she provide budget for solving this problem only $1,000. The last stakeholder is
process engineer, he need to measure the temperature in range 0–100 °C with accu-
racy ± 0.1 °C.” or “Stakeholders are production manager who need to produce milk
within 12 h, CEO who provide budget for $1,000, and process engineer who need to
control temperature ± 0.1 °C.”
Generate Possible Problem Solutions. The learner generate solutions for solving the
problem such the empirical evidence as “We can generate 3 solutions as follow: 1)
order the new temperature sensor, 2) repairing the damage sensor, and 3) order the
whole new machine.” or “There are 2 solutions for solving, 1) repairing the tem-
perature sensor, and 2) order the new temperature sensor.”
Decision Making of Alternative Solutions. The learner can decision the suitable
solution by using decision making model such the empirical evidence as “We select the
solution 1, order the new temperature sensor by using decision making model, rational
choice, cost benefit, and risk assessment to evaluate 3 solutions. Then, solution 1 was
found the highest score.” or “We decision to order the new temperature sensor
because this solution is highest score by using decision making model”.
Planning and Monitor the Performances. The learner can create the plan for the
selected solution such the empirical evidence as “step 1: order the new temperature
sensor with appropriate specification. Step 2: Remove old temperature sensor and
install new sensor instead. Step 3: check measure parameter for instance, range,
accuracy, and precision.” or “Step 1: order new temperature sensor, Step 2: replace
new temperature sensor, and Step 3: checking accuracy and precision”.
Implement and Monitor the Solution. The learner can implement the plan and they
can assess the performance such the empirical evidence as “After we implement the
plan. Then, we monitor the performance as follow: time for repairing, cost and
measurement data.” or “After replace the new temperature sensor, we have to check
time for repairing, cost, and accuracy of temperature sensor.”
336 T. Thammabut et al.

Adapt the Solution. The final process, the learner can tell the adapt solution if the
performance are not meet the criteria such the empirical evidence as “if the cost is
higher than the budget we will find the cheaper new temperature with meet our
requirements.” or “We can improve both cost and accuracy of temperature sensor by
finding the new temperature sensor which is better than current temperature sensor”.

5 Discussion

This study was descripted the development of simulation learning environment to

enhance ill-structured problem solving for engineering students. The designing frame-
work was synthesized and consisted of 5 processes and 7 components as above
description. This results was consistent with Piyaporn W. [17] and Samat S. [18] which
synthesized the designing framework of constructivist web-based learning environ-
ment. Their designing framework consist of 5 processes which may help learner to
construct the knowledge and enhance high order thinking. Furthermore, the learner’s
ill-structured problem solving were found learners follow 7 processes from ill-
structured problem solving [1]. This results was consistent with Samat S. [18] that
study the learners’ problem solving and transfer of learning. The implications of this
finding revealed that the simulation learning environment to enhance ill-structured
problem solving for engineering students may develop learners to construct knowledge
and ill-structured problem solving skill for preparing them to be engineer for 21st
century. In addition, leaners can learn with simulation learning environment in any-
where and anytime.

Acknowledgement. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technology,

Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, and Research Group for Innovation and Cognitive
Technology, Khon Kaen University which hereby giving the thankfulness all through this.

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8. Jonassen, D.H.: Designing for decision making. Educ. Tech. Res. Dev. 60(2), 341–359
(2012)
9. Jonassen, D.H.: Learning to Solve Problems a Handbook for Designing Problem-Solving
Learning Environments. Routledge, New York (2011)
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11. Mayer, R.H.: Designing instruction for constructivist learning. In: Reigeluth, C.M. (ed.)
Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. II,
pp. 141–160. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (1999)
12. Winn, W.: Cognitive perspectives in psychology. In: Jonassen, D.H., (eds.) Handbook of
Research for Educational Communications and Technology: A Project of the Association for
Educational Communications and Technology, pp. 79–112 (2004)
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17. Wonganu, P., Chaijaroen, S., Vongtathum, P.: Designing framework of constructivist digital
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10.1007/978-3-030-35343-8_13
 The Study of Learner Context for the
Development of Constructivist Learning
Environment Model Combined with Mixed
Reality Flipped Classroom to Enhance
Creative Thinking in Product Design
for the High School Students

Sathaporn Wongchiranuwat1, Charuni Samat2(&), Issara Kanjug3,

and Suchat Wattanachai4
1
Doctor of Philosophy Student of Education Technology, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, Khonkaen, Thailand
2
Division of Computer Education, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, Khonkaen, Thailand
thaibannok@hotmail.com
3
Division of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, Khonkaen, Thailand
4
Division of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University,
Khonkaen, Thailand

Abstract. Creative thinking can promote creativity and innovation skills to a

learner which important in this 21st century for unlimited innovation. This
aimed to study the learner’s context which basically used in the development of
constructivist learning environment model. The 65 high school students were
the target group. Survey research was employed by self-learner’s survey form in
Open-ended question and Likert ration scales in 5 scales; examined by 3 experts
based on the consistency with theoretical framework. The results in 6 part
revealed that (1) Demographics: 38 females or 58.46% and the revealed that
learners 31 of them or 47.69% was in high level of GPA or 3.00–3.50
(2) Learning experience: 65 learners or 100% experienced in lecturing,
demonstrating, practice and textbook learning (3) Technology experience: they
were in neutral level or as x = 3.59, S.D = 0.64 (4) Creative thinking experi-
ence: presented in low level as x = 2.98, S.D = 0.73 as well as (5) Product
design experience that x = 2.71, S.D = 0.68 and (6) Expectations of the learner
towards learning: most learners required flexible learning styles in variety and
independent study based on interest or x = 4.89, S.D = 0.74. The results hence
were concluded that the current model of learning management should be a
learning style that is flexible of environment, discovery, and knowledge con-
struction. This includes supporting the use of technology as a cognitive tool to
enhance the construction of knowledge and creative thinking.

Keywords: Learner context
Learning environment model
Constructivist

Creative thinking
Flipped classroom

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 338–348, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_38
 The Study of Learner Context for the Development of Constructivist Learning 339

1 Introduction

To strengthen the social development including job making in all industries, knowl-
edge, innovative thinking, and creative thinking are important. They are the funda-
mental of such thinking and creativity in the 21st century [1, 2]. This is to focus on the
development of economy based on creative knowledge along with integration of
technology and innovation for the purpose of value-added business. Such creative
economy that leads changing of epistemology seems to affect the learning paradigm
shift. Since knowledge is dynamic and unlimited, learning in a classroom is not enough
[3]. As that so, the recent studies have shown that the most learners have inadequate of
creative thinking, discovery learning, and knowledge construction. The insufficiency of
those skills resulted from rote learning style or traditional learning style while a teacher
transmits knowledge and learner acts as passive one.
Learning style in these days should hence centered in creative thinking and con-
struction of knowledge. Flipped learning classroom is one of learning styles that
suggested to have well design in technology to enhance and give an opportunity to the
leaners to search, find, and discovery based on various learning resources. They can
have self- practice and construct their own knowledge from the knowledge in both
inside and outside classroom with the help of a teacher who performs as a coach [4].
As that so, Constructivist theory that believes on knowledge discovery and con-
struction as well as divergent thinking that is to invent and find a solution based on 1)
fluency 2) flexibility 3) originality 4) elaboration [5] are fundamentally to enhance
creative thinking based on the context of product design course that aims to have the
learners with creative thinking by designing a new and useful product.
Consequently, the development of constructivist learning environment model
combined with mixed reality flipped classroom to enhance creative thinking in product
design for the high school students can be beneficial to learner efficiency in inventing
and technology changing during the 21st century learning.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Creative Thinking

Creative thinking under the concept of Guilford [6]. The American psychologist
believes that this is the development of structure of Intellect by consisting of 3 thinking
dimensions as operation categories, content categories, and products categories. To
clarify this, divergent thinking is the ability about creative thinking of each person to
connect and adapt the relationship of thoughts in various directions and aspects. This
can lead to the inventing or creating as well as finding concepts or solutions to solve the
problem successfully. Creative thinking is defined as 1) fluency 2) flexibility 3) orig-
inality 4) elaboration [7].
340 S. Wongchiranuwat et al.

2.2 Flipped Learning Model

Flipped learning model was designed and developed by Jonathan Bergmann and Aron
Sams [8]. It is the learning style that emphasizes the changing of the traditional style
that is the way a teacher transmits knowledge throughout lecturing in a classroom to a
modern style. In other words, a learner has self-study and discovers knowledge outside
classroom via provided technology or learning media by a teacher. The teacher then
works on such the learner have learned by providing an inside classroom activity which
the teacher guides and questions. The main purpose of the activity is to enhance
learners to share knowledge and collaboratively solve a problem while having inter-
action between a teacher and learner through new kinds of technology and device such
as a computer, mobile phone etc. This can help the learner to study by themselves in
their own time not only classroom time while technology strengthen the connection
between both [9].

3 Purposes

To study the context of the learners to be used as the basis of the development of
constructivist learning environment model combined with mixed reality flipped
classroom to enhance creative thinking in product design for the high school students.

4 Method and Result

4.1 Scope of Research

The model research was employed [10]. This is to intensively study the process of
design and development a model which comprises 3 research as 1) Model development
2) Model validation and 3) Model use. In this study, research phase 1 Model devel-
opment was implemented to present the results of the develop process by survey
research in learner’s context; such results were fundamentally used to design and
develop the constructivist learning environment model combined with mixed reality
flipped classroom to enhance creative thinking in product design for the high school
students.

4.2 Target Group of the Study

The study target was the 65 high school students, science and technology learning
substance group, who registered in product design course.

4.3 Research Design

Research phase 1 model development was employed by survey research.
 The Study of Learner Context for the Development of Constructivist Learning 341

4.4 Research Instruments

The survey form was used to study the context of learners. The form was developed by
3 procedures as 1) Define conceptual framework for developing a survey form 2)
Synthesize a survey questions based on the theoretical framework and 3) Construct the
survey form. It then was examined the consistency of both questions and concepts in
theoretical framework by 3 assessment experts.

4.5 Data Collection and Analysis

The data of learner context was collected by the survey form which presented the
following aspects as 1) Demographics 2) Learning experience 3) Technology experience
4) Creative thinking experience 5) Product design experience and 6) Expectations of the
learner towards learning. The survey was in form of open-ended question and likert
ration scales in 5 scales (5 = very high, 4 = high, 3 = neutral, 2 = low, 1 = very low)
[11]. The data analysis was made by percentage, mean score, and standard deviation.

4.6 Research Results

The results of learner context in areas of characteristics of the learner, learning style,
and factors influenced learners’ patterns were hence used as a model developmental
basis as the following.
• Part 1 Demographics: Demographics-basis information of the learners as by
gender and GPA presented. The results were found that most of the learners were
females or in amount of 38 learners or 58.46% and the data also revealed that the
learners 31 of them or 47.69% was in high level of GPA or 3.00-3.50
• Part 2 Learning experience: The data of learning experience of the learners was
found in 3 subtitles as 1) Learning theory 2) Learning media and 3) Learning model
as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Learning experience.

Learning experience Number Percent
(n) (%)
▪ Learning theory
A learner has had learning experiences by listening to lectures, 65 100.00
demonstrating, and practicing.
A learner has had learning experiences by design thinking, making 36 55.38
decision, and making-meaning based on multiple situations.
A learner has had learning experiences by discovery learning and 29 44.62
self-knowledge construction
(continued)
342 S. Wongchiranuwat et al.

Table 1. (continued)
Learning experience Number Percent
(n) (%)
▪ Learning media
A learner has had experience in web-based learning 43 66.15
A learner has had experience in the textbook learning 65 100.00
A learner has had experience in video based learning 27 41.54
▪ Learning model
A learner has had experience in problem-based learning 32 49.23
A learner has had experience in collaborative learning 45 69.23
A learner has had experience in flipped classroom learning 14 21.54

According to Table 1, the results of learning experience were found that most
learners had the experience in lecturing, demonstration, and practicing as 65 learners or
100.00%, 65 learner or 100.00% has had experience in the textbook learning, while 45
learners or 69.23% had collaborative learning experience.
• Part 3 Technology experience: The study of learners’ technology experience
based on the survey form was explained by the following aspects as 1) Use of
technology device 2) Use of technology to support product design 3) Use of
technology to explore knowledge 4) Use of knowledge as learning context to
enhance action learning 5) Use of technology as social media for a conversation and
knowledge sharing 6) Use of technology to reflex thinking. The technology expe-
rience data was shown in the below Table 2.

Table 2. Technology experience.

Technology experience 
x SD Performance
level
■ Use of technology device
Learner’s ability to use a desktop computer 4.35 0.71 High
Learner’s ability to use a laptop computer 3.98 0.62 Neutral
Learner’s ability to use a smart phone 4.65 0.69 High
Learner’s ability to use a tablet 2.45 0.74 Low
Total 3.84 0.65 Neutral
■ Use of technology to support product design
Learner’s ability to use Sketchup software for knowledge 4.21 0.65 High
construction and product design
Learner’s ability to use AutoCAD software for knowledge 2.79 0.71 Low
construction and product design
Learner’s ability to use 3D max software for knowledge 2.15 0.69 Low
construction and product design
Total 3.05 0.68 Neutral
(continued)
 The Study of Learner Context for the Development of Constructivist Learning 343

Table 2. (continued)
Technology experience 
x SD Performance
level
■ Use of technology to survey knowledge
Learner’s ability to use Google search engine for 4.85 0.56 High
knowledge survey
Learner’s ability to use Bing search engine for knowledge 3.78 0.70 Neutral
survey
Learner’s ability to use Yahoo search engine for knowledge 2.56 0.65 Low
survey
Total 3.73 0.62 Neutral
■ Use of technology as learning context to enhance action learning
Learner’s ability to use Mixed Reality view software for 3.59 0.64 Neutral
practicing and modeling a product design
Learner’s ability to use HP Reveal software for practicing 3.41 0.57 Neutral
and modeling a product design
Learner’s ability to use 3D Warehouse software for 4.24 0.69 High
practicing and modeling a product design
Total 3.74 0.63 Neutral
■ Use of technology to as social media for a conversation and knowledge sharing
Learner’s ability to use Facebook application for making a 4.87 0.69 High
conversation and knowledge sharing
Learner’s ability to use Line application for making a 4.27 0.71 High
conversation and knowledge sharing
Learner’s ability to use E-mail for making a conversation 3.70 0.74 Neutral
and knowledge sharing
Total 4.28 0.72 High
■ Use of Technology to reflex thinking
Learner’s ability to use Mind Map software for building 3.67 0.65 Neutral
mind mapping and presenting ideas
Learner’s ability to use Web Blogger for building mind 2.49 0.59 Low
mapping and presenting ideas
Total 3.08 0.62 Neutral
All Total 3.59 0.64 Neutral

According to Table 2, the results of technology experience were found that most
learners in overall had the neutral level of technology using  x = 3.59, S.D = 0.64.
Specifically, they had the high level of performance to use a social media platform for a
conversation and knowledge sharing or x = 4.28, S.D = 0.72, neutral level of tech-
nology device or x = 3.84, S.D = 0.65 as well as the neutral level of technology use as
learning context to enhance action learning or x = 3.74, S.D = 0.63 respectively.
344 S. Wongchiranuwat et al.

• Part 4 Creative thinking experience: Learners’ creative thinking experience data

collected from the survey form was presented in the following parts 1) fluency 2)
flexibility 3) originality and 4) elaboration as shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Creative thinking experience.

Creative thinking experience 
x SD Performance
level
■ Fluency
Learner’s ability to generate various ideas to search and 3.97 0.79 Neutral
discover needed answer/identify requirement/list possible
alternatives for or a solution within limited time
■ Flexibility
Learner’s ability to change/alternate for a variety of 3.21 0.52 Neutral
usefulness outcomes/transform a principle or limitation to
achieve a goal
■ Originality
Learner’s ability to create new ideas that leads to inventing 2.45 0.71 Low
based on the adjustment or prior knowledge
■ Elaboration
Learner’s ability to perform details or solution guidelines 2.30 0.64 Low
with additional information for the purpose of
elaborating/adjusting/improving for a new idea
All total 2.98 0.73 Low

According to Table 3, the results of creative thinking experience were found that
they had low performance in creative thinking experience or  x = 2.98, S.D = 0.73.
Among those 4 creative thinking components, the highest number was shown in flu-
ency which in neutral level or x = 3.97, S.D = 0.79, flexibility presented 
x = 3.21, S.
D = 0.52 in neutral level, while Originality shown x = 2.45, S.D = 0.71 and elabo-
ration was at x = 2.30, S.D = 0.64 in low level respectively.
• Part 5 Product design experience: The results of product design experience of the
learners based on the survey form was shown in Table 4 below.

Table 4. Product design experience.

Product design experience 
x SD Experience
level
A learner has had the experience in product design such as 3.08 0.69 Neutral
furniture and life equipment
A learner has had the experience in value-added product 2.10 0.72 Low
design
(continued)
 The Study of Learner Context for the Development of Constructivist Learning 345

Table 4. (continued)
Product design experience 
x SD Experience
level
A learner has had the experience in selecting of materials for 2.98 0.61 Low
product design
A learner has had the experience in product presentation 2.65 0.74 Low
using an application software
A learner has had the experience in design product 3D 2.75 0.78 Low
models
All total 2.71 0.68 Low

According to Table 4, the results of product design experience were found that they
had low level or x = 2.71, S.D = 0.68 which they most had the experience in product
design such as furniture and life equipment or x = 3.08, S.D = 0.69 in neutral level.
Meanwhile, the other kinds of product design experience as in selecting of materials for
product design, product design 3D models, product presentation using an application
software, and product design to value adding were in low level as  x = 2.98, S.
D = 0.61, x = 2.75, S.D = 0.78, x = 2.65, S.D = 0.74, and  x = 2.10, S.D. 0.72
respectively.

Table 5. Expectations of the learner towards learning.

Expectations of the learner towards learning 
x SD Expectation
level
■ Content
1 A learner requires an updated content which can be 4.51 0.64 High
used in daily life
2 A learner requires an interesting presentation in 4.54 0.72 High
various forms
3 A learner requires categorized content and consistent 4.20 0.65 High
with learning topics
Total 4.41 0.65 High
(continued)
346 S. Wongchiranuwat et al.

Table 5. (continued)
Expectations of the learner towards learning 
x SD Expectation
level
■ Learning style
4 A learner requires problem-based learning for 4.74 0.67 High
knowledge discovery and construction
5 A learner requires group-based learning for 4.79 0.77 High
knowledge sharing in both inside and outside
classroom
6 A learner requires the flexibility of learning 4.89 0.74 High
environment in form varieties based on each own
interest
7 A learner requires learning style enhancing creative 4.69 0.69 High
thinking
Total 4.77 0.68 High
■ Teacher
8 A teacher should design a lesson plan that compatible 4.49 0.70 High
with each learner’s ability in various styles
9 A teacher should support a learner to be an active 4.60 0.65 High
learner for the achievement of self-learning
10 A teacher should provide multiple courses based on 4.78 0.72 High
their interest for a selection of learners
Total 4.62 0.67 High
All total 4.60 0.74 High

• Part 6 Expectations of the learner towards learning: The study of the expec-
tations of the learner towards learning comprised 3 parts as 1) Content 2) Learning
style and 3) Teacher as shown in Table 5.
According to Table 5, the results of expectations of the learner towards learning
were found that in high level or x = 4.60, S.D = 0.74. Accordingly, they presented the
statistical data that x = 4.89, S.D = 0.74 x = 4.79, S.D = 0.77  x = 4.78, S.D = 0.72
for in topics that they required the flexibility of learning environment in various forms
based on their own interests, they expected to have group-based learning for knowledge
sharing in both inside and outside classroom, and they presented their expectation that a
teacher should provide multiple courses based on their interest for a selection of
learners respectively.

5 Conclusions

Consequently, the results of the study of learner context in terms of characteristics,

learning style, and factors that affected their learning for the purpose of the develop-
ment of constructivist learning environment model combined with mixed reality flipped
 The Study of Learner Context for the Development of Constructivist Learning 347

classroom to enhance creative thinking in product design for the high school students
were concluded that 1) Demographics: the majority was female and had GPA 3.00-3.50
or in high level 2) Learning experience: most of them had the experience in lecturing,
demonstrating, practice and textbook learning 3) Technology experience: the learners
were in neutral level 4) Creative thinking experience: they were in low performance
level 5) Product design experience: they had low level of experience 6) Expectations of
the learner towards learning: most learners expressed high expectation of learning. The
results hence were that the learning styles of learners were not consistent with dis-
covery learning and knowledge construction. Moreover, technology support was not
adequate in knowledge construction and creative thinking enhancing [12]. In conclu-
sion, the present learning styles should highlight knowledge construction and creative
thinking by several and flexible learning methods. The learners should be enhanced to
share and collaborate in both inside and outside classroom while the teachers act
differently by transforming from a teller to coach (Coaching). Moreover, the learning
style is suggested to focus on self-study with innovation improvement in order to foster
a learner to be able to discover knowledge by themselves that beneficial to live [13].

Acknowledgement. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technology,

Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, and Research Group for Innovation and Cognitive
Technology, Khon Kaen University which here by giving the thankfulness all through this.

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 Transparent Player Model:
Adaptive Visualization of Learner
Model in Educational Games

Danial Hooshyar1(&), Emanuele Bardone1, Nour El Mawas2,

and Yeongwook Yang3
1
Centre for Educational Technology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Danial.hooshyar@gmail.com, emabardo@gmail.com
2
CIREL (EA 4354), University of Lille, Lille, France
nour.el-mawas@univ-lille.fr
3
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Korea University,
Seoul, Republic of Korea
yeongwook.yang@gmail.com

Abstract. Despite the success of Learning Analytics (LA), there are two
obstacles to its application in educational games, including transparency in
assessing educational outcomes in real-time gameplay, and clarity in repre-
senting those results to players. Open learner model (OLM) is a valuable
instrument with capability to improve learning that meets such challenges.
However, OLMs usually suffer issues concerning interactivity and transparency,
which mostly regard the assessment mechanism that is used to evaluate learners’
knowledge. Tackling down transparency issues would offer context for inter-
preting and comparing learner model information, as well as promoting inter-
activity. As there is lack of studies investigating the potential of OLMs in
educational games, we argue that this work can provide a valuable starting point
for applying OLMs or adaptive visualizations of players’ learner models within
gameplay sessions, which, in turn, can help to address both issues of application
of LA to game research and OLMs. As a case study, we introduce the proposed
approach into our adaptive computational thinking game.

Keywords: Open learner model
Adaptive visualization
Learning analytics

Educational game

1 Introduction

Games that are designed for a specific educational purpose, or with secondary edu-
cational values can be defined as educational games. Educational games have gained
the attention of researchers, governments, educators, as well as parents as they have
been shown to be effective learning tools that both potentially engage and motivate
students (e.g., [1, 2]). Findings from several studies suggest that educational games can
also improve students’ learning achievements (e.g., [2, 3]). For example, the study
conducted by Partovi and Razavi [3] showed that students who learned through
gameplay had significantly better academic achievement and motivation to learn

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 349–357, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_39
350 D. Hooshyar et al.

science than those who learned with traditional approaches. Several researchers have
addressed the key features of educational games stressing learner involvement through
experimentation, cooperation, exploration, and competition (e.g., [4, 5]). One challenge
for the successful deployment and adoption of educational games in formal education is
how to measure the learning progress and outcomes achieved through educational
games [1]. Since traditional educational measures are mostly highly invasive and
compromise the flow, they are not suitable for educational games [6]. Conversely, LA
has the capability to provide continuous non-invasive assessment for educational
games by extracting and interpreting pertinent information from the real-time game
data. Therefore, the application of LA to educational games can potentially improve the
assessment of performance, game quality, progress, user appreciation, and learning
outcomes [7, 8]. Despite the success of LA, there are two obstacles to its application in
educational games. Firstly, transparency in assessing educational outcomes in real-time
gameplay, and, secondly, clarity in representing those outcomes to the players.
According to Daniel [9], there exist three different models of LA: predictive,
descriptive, and prescriptive. OLMs fall into the last category. Not only do OLMs
provide educators with the chance to evaluate and monitor students’ learning, but also
provide opportunity for the students to monitor their learning by allowing them to
visualize information concerning their learning process. Therefore, the application of
OLMs to educational games can potentially help address the clarity issue that triggers
reflection from the learners’ side. Aside from the potential of OLMs in facilitating the
representation of LA results to players, however, OLMs usually suffer from assessment
transparency issues, as well as prompting users to actively engage with OLM [10, 11].
As the potentials of OLMs in educational games have been ignored, we argue that
by adaptively displaying to players both the methods used in the game to measure their
competencies and also the information on their acquired knowledge and skills (making
the learner model open), issues associated to application of LA to game research, as
well as assessment transparency and interactivity in OLMs, could potentially be solved.
In other words, this work can provide a valuable starting point for the application of
OLMs or adaptive visualization of players’ learner models in educational games within
gameplay sessions. As a case study, we introduce the proposed approach into our
adaptive computational thinking game, AutoThinking, through an in-game character
that adaptively prompts players to engage with real-time visualization of the game’s
Bayesian Belief Networks (the probabilistic method by which players’ skills are
assessed) and of metacognitive data on the player’s educational progress (e.g., hints,
warnings, suggestions, and feedback).
This paper is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews the related studies in the area
of LA in educational games and OLMs. Section 3 presents the transparent player
model (TPM) applied to our AutoThinking game. Section 4 concludes this paper and
presents its perspectives.
 Transparent Player Model 351

2 Related Research
2.1 Learning Analytics in Educational Games
Most educational games record user (inter)actions, generating swathes of data useful
for LA. Indeed, digital games already have in place the mechanics to respond to users’
specific actions. What is missing from studies evaluating in-game performance, how-
ever, is how to apply this data educationally [8]. Some combination of visual, web, and
LA promises an answer.
LA in educational games fits into two categories: in-game analytics which take
place in real-time and post-game analytics which is offline [12]. The latter revolves
around summative measurement of learning outcomes or diagnosing general learning
patterns. Serrano-Laguna et al. [13, 14] put forward a two-step approach to any edu-
cational game with LA: first gathering game traces (start, end), phase changes or
chapters, user input traces, and variables such as scores or attempts; then generating
reports about student play. On the other hand, in-game LA is integrated within a game
for two reasons: to offer analytic results as a ground for subsequent pedagogic deci-
sions, or to adapt gameplay in real time. This embedded assessment is designed to be
continuous and inconspicuous [1]. Basically, such non-invasive assessment links game
activities that are observable to learning outcomes. Accordingly, it updates the learner
model, which, in turn, facilitates monitoring and advancing learning in different ways,
including reports on learners’ progress, or adaptivity [15]. Such assessment was
deployed in educational games brought about by the ELEKTRA and 80Days projects
[16], which evaluated real-time learner responses to challenging situations by looking
at skills, competence, and motivation. This input then triggered adaptations aimed at
supporting the individual’s needs and retaining motivation.
In short, LA shows great potential in enhancing educational games, but it still faces
the two difficulties that this project seeks to address: 1) Transparency in assessment;
and 2) the representation of the learning assessment to the user. The first difficulty
involves exposing learners to the process of learner model aimed at helping them better
understand and reflect on their own misconceptions, as they can compare and interpret
their learner model information. The second difficulty requires an approach that pre-
sents pedagogic information to players in a visual way conducive to exploration and
experimenting. These approaches must be empirically valid, user-friendly, and at the
same time offer meaningful analysis of real-time evaluations. As pointed out by several
researchers, e.g., [17, 18], using more visual LA tools enables instructors to provide
personalized feedback, thereby promoting students’ metacognitive skills development.
Additionally, visual analytics offers the advantage of dealing with heterogeneous data
sources, including demographic and historical data, which can help better understand
the learning process, as prior learner experiences might affect future learning events. In
combination, this approach promises to enhance LA’s educational value within and
beyond gaming.
352 D. Hooshyar et al.

2.2 Open Learner Models

In the artificial intelligent in education research field, the learner model is a key inner
component of the conventional intelligent system design. It rests behind the user
interface, collecting and assessing data on user-system interactions and then facilitating
systemic adaptation to a specific user’s needs [10, 11]. As Self [19] observes, an
educational system must contain a learner model to discern and meet an individual
student’s needs. The educational system uses the learner model both as a frame of
reference and source for all adaptive interactions. Yet the learner model is not always a
black box behind the system: Self [19] argued that modular transparency could offer
learners a valuable opportunity to self-reflect, which has led to a number of proposed
OLMs in the recent years [10].
Opening the learner model to learners poses two difficulties. First and foremost is
the problem of assessment transparency. Beyond opening the learner model directly
(making available the representation of learning assessment to the learner
himself/herself), there exist other instances that could potentially be open. Such
instances include the means through which the model acquires information (e.g., [20])
and the assessment mechanism deployed to infer visualized or respective information
in the domain model [10]. In fact, exposing learners to the process of learner model or
domain content not only can be the key to interactive maintenance processes, but also
would provide students with qualitatively better information to consider while
reflecting on their own learning [21]. Furthermore, opening up such processes would
help students to better understand and reflect on their own misconceptions, as they can
compare and interpret their learner model information [22]. The second problem
concerns the interactivity between the learner and the system, as processes of inter-
pretation and reaction become partly dependent on the learner interaction. A number of
interactive styles have been put forth to address such problems (e.g., [23, 24])—
including inspectable, co-operative, editable and negotiated styles—but none have
satisfactorily resolved the difficulties. As such, a new approach to human-computer
interactions in OLMs is necessary to take advantage of their educational benefit. To this
end, Minovic et al. [25] created a tool to visualize the learner model within gameplay
sessions, allowing educators to track student progress. The fundamental difficulties
remain, however, as its visualization reduces the learner model to a pie-chart in a corner
of the screen. The visualization approach of OLM must be integrated with adaptive
educational games in ways that motivate learner interaction with the visualized model.
For example, that can be accomplished by adaptively visualizing metacognitive data
(hints, warnings, suggestions, feedback) of the player’s educational progress. Addi-
tionally, the proposed approach still ignores clarity and transparency in the assessment
mechanism that is used to evaluate learners’ knowledge. Adaptive engagement of
learners with their OLMs and the method by which players’ skills are assessed during
gameplay could potentially solve issues associated with OLMs.
 Transparent Player Model 353

3 The Proposed Approach

3.1 Overview of the AutoThinking Game
AutoThinking is an adaptive educational game that aims to promote students’ Com-
putational Thinking (CT) [26]. The game is based on drag and drop icons instead of
programming syntax. In a novel way, it promotes four CT skills, namely problem
identification and decomposition, pattern recognition and generalization, debugging,
and simulation. In addition to that, it fosters CT concepts of sequence, conditional, and
loop (for more details, see [26]).
The game currently consists of three levels in which a player should, in the role of a
mouse, develop different types of strategies and solutions (up to 20) to complete the
levels, while collecting as many cheese pieces (there are 76 cheese pieces in the maze)
and scoring as much as possible, and at the same time escaping from two cats in the
maze (see Fig. 1). Adaptivity in both the gameplay and the learning process is inte-
grated in the game. For example, according to the suitability of the solution for the
current state of the maze (or player’s skill), the game regulates the movement of one of
the cats, and adaptively provides the player with various types of feedback (textual,
graphical, or video) and hints, if necessary.

Fig. 1. Interface of AutoThinking.

3.2 The Transparent Player Model

Figure 2 illustrates the architecture of the TPM using real-time visual analytics on the
AutoThinking game.
As Fig. 2 demonstrates, during the gameplay raw pixels and log data are stored in a
repository. Log data are employed in learning analytics and real-time dynamic adap-
tation, while raw pixels are mainly stored to train and deploy virtual characters within
354 D. Hooshyar et al.

Fig. 2. Overall architecture of TPM.

the game from this data. These raw data are then employed in player-specific decision-
making using various techniques such as Bayesian Belief Network (BBN), clustering,
and classification algorithms.
In brief, the raw data are used to generate various types of analytics on players’
learning process, namely descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. Various
techniques can be used for this purpose, including clustering and classification meth-
ods. Results from these analytics are then visualized in various forms like hints
(adaptive learning path recommendation and visualization), suggestions about potential
strategic rules corresponding to the most recent move made by players, feedback,
warnings, and peer-based ranking tables—included in the TPM. More explicitly, such
visual analytics representing the players’ cognition and competency will be used to
communicate the information on skills acquired and learning progress to the players
(representing players’ learning model to them). Aside from this, visualization of the
BBN in real-time will be used in the TPM to expose players to the assessment
mechanism and reasoning used for evaluation of their competencies (when necessary).
The BBN from which player models are developed also mediates the TPM between
game elements, tutorials, and a Non-Player Characters (NPC), thereby adaptively
accessing the visualization features concerning player advancement and analytics in the
TPM. When compared with previous approaches, TPM aids players by providing
individually adapted visual analytics to explore, including metacognitive data on the
player’s educational progress (e.g., hints, warnings, suggestions, feedback), and the
 Transparent Player Model 355

method by which their skills are assessed during gameplay. Finally, as shown in Fig. 2,
the NPC prompts player adaptively to engage the TPM. Even expressions and emotions
could be displayed by the NPC so players can reflect on and respond more productively
to the situation [27].

4 Conclusions and Future Work

In this research, we studied two specific challenges associated with application of LA

to educational games, namely, transparency in assessing educational outcomes in real-
time gameplay and clarity in representing those results to players. To overcome those
challenges, we proposed to apply the notion of OLMs to educational games. Such
applications could visualize LA results from game data within educational games,
including the current knowledge or skill levels of learners during active educational
game sessions, relaxing the clarity issue. This could also help learners independently
track, reflect on, and pace their learning processes. To address the assessment trans-
parency issue, however, we propose to adaptively visualize the methods used in the
game to measure players’ skill. Such adaptive visualization of player’s leaner model,
called transparent player model or TPM, have the potential to not only relax the issues
associated with application of LA to educational games, but also solve the interactivity
issue of OLMs as a NPC prompts players adaptively to engage the TPM.
As a future work, we plan to implement the proposed TPM framework in the
AutoThinking game. Additionally, we aim to investigate the possible effects of
adaptively exposing learners to the process of learner model or domain content during
the gameplay.

Acknowledgments. This research was supported by the University of Tartu ASTRA Project
PER ASPERA, financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

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Online Course and Web-Based
Environment
 A Study of Learner’s Mental Model
and Motivation Using Constructivism Online
Learning Environment to Promote
Programming in Rural School

Poramin Attane and Issara Kanjug(&)

Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

issaraka@kku.ac.th

Abstract. Programming is important for development of skills and thinking for

the learners. but the problem of programming is abstract content. Learners can’t
imagine a result from their program during the programming. so, it makes
programming is boring and difficult for learning. Mental model is understanding
of learner to create mental representation in media and symbol. Development of
student’s mental model can help students to construct their knowledge in pro-
gramming. Moreover, motivation is the one of important factor to success in
learning. The purpose of this research was study leaners’ mental model and
motivation. The participants target 10 students at rural school. Experimental
research was employed in this study. The instruments used in the experiment
were Constructivist online learning environment. Data collection used the
mental model interview recording form and motivation survey form. The results
found that learner’s mental model consists with 2 characteristics as follow:
(1) Represent story or event by explaining in model (2) Change rule and pro-
cedure to solve problem. The learners’ motivation was very motivated
(mean = 3.93, S.D. = 0.44). It was comprised of 2 components as follow: 1)
Internal motivation was (mean = 4.1, S.D. = 0.35) 2) External motivation was
very motivate (mean = 3.75, S.D. = 0.53). In conclusion, the Constructivism
Online Learning Environment can improve programming and self-learning
performance in rural school.

Keywords: Constructivism
Online learning environment
Mental model

Motivation
Programming

1 Introduction

Programming is important to develop important skills and thinking for students. Pro-
gramming content are abstract, elaborate, and complex, so it is difficult for students to
understand. Mental model is understanding of learner to create mental representation in
media and symbol. Development of student’s mental model make students understand
and solve the complex problem. Moreover, programming content is bore because it has
no graphic and colorful, so students need more motivation to help them to learn
programming.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 361–366, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_40
362 P. Attane and I. Kanjug

The reasons mentioned above, this study recognize the importance of computer
classroom constructivist learning environment design. The researcher applied the
mental model theory, motivation theory, constructivist theory, cognitive theory, the
media attribution and symbols system used, textbook design and the specific context
for the learning content synthesizing them as the framework for designing the con-
structivism online learning environment to enhance learner’s mental model and
motivation. Studies have reported increased student motivation, improved collabora-
tion, knowledge construction and mental model.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Mental Model

Mental model is understanding of learner to create mental representation in media and
symbol format. In this study use Kanjug [3] Mental models. There are consist with 2
characteristics as follow: 1) It was representation of understanding different topics or
events explaining as model, 2) the understanding explained the changes from the things
one understood to other things by being able to change rules and processes into
problem solving.

2.2 Motivation
Student behavior that shows during learning with gamification for constructivism
online Learning environment such as determination and effort to success. There are 2
types of motives: 1) Internal motivation 2) External motivation.

2.3 Constructivism Online Learning Environment

The constructivist estimate of learning can be discover to Piaget [8] who believed that
learning is not pass on passively but attained through well-defined stages by active
participation of a learner. Designing an environment for student centered. Blending
between media and method base on Constructivist theory [9] with online learning by
using technology and internet.

3 Methodology

3.1 Research Participant

The target group of this research were 7th grade students in Rural school. That are
currently studying in the second semester, academic year 2019. A total of 10 people.
The sample was chosen by Purposive Sampling.
 A Study of Learner’s Mental Model and Motivation 363

3.2 Assessment Tool

Mental model interview recording form was developed by teachers. Finding quality
by checking by experts which has the following development steps 1) Study the
research and theory of mental model. This study uses the Kanjug [3] mental model
framework. 2) Create a subjective test base on mental model elements 3) Create
questions and evaluate by expert 4) edit and improve from expert suggestion.
Motivation survey form consist with motivation elements are internal motivation
and external motivation. Finding quality by checking by experts which has the fol-
lowing development steps 1) Study research and theory of motivation. 2) Create scope
and question of motivation survey form. 3) Evaluate by expert 4) edit and improve
from expert suggestion.

3.3 Experimental Process

Before the experiment, the students were given time to get used to the Constructivist
online learning environment to promote programming in rural school. Figure 1 shows
the flow chart of the experiment. Each period in the computer class is 120 min in rural
school. At the beginning, the instructor spent 1 weeks teaching introduce learners about
learning with a constructivist online learning environment about component and how to
use. Thereafter, 3 weeks was spent on the enhancement mental model and motivation
by applying the mental model and motivation element and the integration of online
learning. Learners face problems and do their task in Constructivism online learning
environment. The role of teacher is coach to support and help learners. In the last
period, Teacher interview student and let’s student do motivation survey form. There
were totally 5 periods spent on the experiment.

Fig. 1. Experimental process.

364 P. Attane and I. Kanjug

3.4 Learning Assistive

The participants used Constructivist online learning to learn. Constructivism online
learning environment consist with 9 components as follows: 1) Problem base 2)
Resource 3) Related case 4) Collaboration tools 5) Scaffolding 6) Coaching 7) Social
support 8) Leaderboard and 9) Rules. This example element is shown in Fig. 2. First
use let’s start with the Problem base. Learners are challenged by a problem and task.
Then, they can find answer from Resource and Related case. If they can’t solve the
problem. They can use Collaboration tools, Scaffolding, Coaching and Social support
to support them to find the answer. Students can use Leaderboard when they want to
see their score, badge and rank. If student want to know how to get badge, Rules will
help them.

Fig. 2. Example of Constructivism online learning environment elements.

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Learners’ Mental Model

After applying the Constructivism online learning environment to promote program-
ming in rural school. The result from mental model interview recording form was
analysis by Protocol analysis. Learner’s mental model consist with 2 characteristics 1)
It was representation of understanding different topics or events explaining as model
that can see in this sentence “When I make understanding, I draw concept map and I
see the relation between programming content” and this sentence “Before we coding
we have to know syntax and structure in programming. Then coding and execute”. 2)
the understanding explained the changes from the things one understood to other things
by being able to change rules and processes into problem solving that can see in this
sentence “In a moment, I can coding to solve the problem because I have been solved
problem like this”.
 A Study of Learner’s Mental Model and Motivation 365

4.2 Learners’ Motivation

The result from motivation survey form was analysis by mean and standard division.
The learners’ motivation result as follow: 1) Internal motivation was (mean = 4.1, S.
D. = 0.35) 2) External motivation was very motivate (mean = 3.75, S.D. = 0.53)
(Table 1).

Table 1. The learners’ Motivation.

No. List assessment Mean S.D. Motivation
1. Internal motivation 4.10 0.35 Very motivated
2. External motivation 3.75 0.53 Very motivated
Total 3.93 0.44 Very motivated

4.3 Discussion
The learner’s mental model consists with 2 characteristic are 1) It was representation of
understanding different topics or events explaining as model 2) the understanding
explained the changes from the things one understood to other things by being able to
change rules and processes into problem solving. This result consistent with the
research of Kanjug [3], which study Learners’ Mental model learning with Learning
Environments Model enhancing Expert Mental Model. The learners’ motivation from
Constructivism online learning environment to promote programming was very
motivated. That was showing Constructivism online learning environment can promote
learners’ motivation by integrating between pedagogy, media symbol system and
online learning. That motivation results consistent with the research of Teeramongkoljit
(2015) and Tabpetch (2016) that describe the element of Constructivism online
learning environment can attract learners to change their behavior, interaction, par-
ticipation and promote motivation in learning.

References
1. Chaijaroen, S.: Theory to Practice, 2 edn. Pen printing (2016)
2. Kapp, K.M.: The gamification of learning and instruction: game-based methods and strategies
for training and education (2012)
3. Kanjug, I.: Development of Learning Environments Model Enhancing Expertise Mental
Model (2009)
4. Richey, R.C., Klein, J.: Design and Developmental Research. Lawrence, New Jersey (2007)
5. Hannafin, M.: Open Learning Environment: Foundation, Method, and Models. In Charles,
New Jersey (1999)
6. Vygotsky, L.S.: Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1980)
7. McMillan, J.H., Forsyth, D.R.: What theories of motivation say about why learners learn.
New Dir. Teach. Learn. 1991(45), 39–52 (1991)
366 P. Attane and I. Kanjug

8. Piaget, J.: The Construction of Reality in the Child. Ballantine Books, New York (1975)
9. Jonassen, D.H.: Designing constructivist learning environments. In: Reigeluth, C.M. (ed.)
Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. II,
pp. 215–239. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey (1999)
 Building an Online Learning Question Map
Through Mining Discussion Content

Hei Chia Wang(&) and Ya Lan Zhao

Institute of Information Management, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan,

Taiwan
hcwang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Abstract. Information and communication technology (ICT) has been widely

accepted in education since the COVID-19 outbreak. Today, the convenience
that ICT provides in education makes learning independent of time and place.
However, compared to face-to-face learning, ICT online learning has the diffi-
culty of finding student questions efficiently. One of the ways to solve this
problem is through finding their questions from the online discussion content.
With online learning, teachers and students usually send out questions and
receive answers on a discussion board without the limitations of time or place.
However, because liquid learning is quite convenient, people tend to solve
problems in short online texts with a lack of detailed information to express
ideas in an online environment. Therefore, the ICT online education environ-
ment may result in misunderstandings between teachers and students. For
teachers and students to better understand each other’s views, this study aims to
classify discussions into a hierarchical structure, named a question map, with
several types of learning questions to clarify the views of teachers and students.
In addition, this study attempts to extend the description of possible omissions in
short texts by using external resources prior to classification. In brief, by
applying short text hierarchical classification, this study constructs a question
map that can highlight each student’s learning problems and inform the
instructor where the main focus of the future course should be, thus improving
the ICT education environment.

Keywords: ICT online education improvement
Question map
Short text

analysis
Hierarchical classification

1 Introduction

With the rapid growth of information technology, our environment is always filled with
information products such as smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets, and game con-
soles. As information products become increasingly more ubiquitous around the world,
various newly launched information products will break through the existing tech-
nologies and amaze the sensory experiences of human beings. In addition, the stunning
interfaces of these devices have expanded the sensory desires of society. The advances
in information technology have drastically shifted the channels people use to deliver
ideas and communicate with one another. As a result, the significance of having the

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 367–372, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_41
368 H. C. Wang and Y. L. Zhao

ability to grab people’s attention and transmit and deliver targeted information to
people in this digital age can never be overemphasized.
Thanks to the great assistance of information technology, currently, we no longer
have to learn things face-to-face in a physical space. In contrast, we are able to enjoy
the convenience of online learning spaces using networking, making it easier to learn at
any time and any place. Furthermore, online learning environments are updated with
the latest information in a much shorter time window, which definitely benefits us
vastly in this modernized community. In short, technology-assisted learning environ-
ments break through the limitations of time and space between people.
Although the assistance of teachers indeed benefits students a lot, it is still inevi-
table that discussions between teachers and students may experience some commu-
nicative misunderstandings from time to time. However, it can be quite time-
consuming and annoying to read carefully over every single word of the conversations
in a group chat. On occasion, wordy and complex comments may make it even harder
for students to solve their problems. Therefore, using text mining techniques to clarify
teachers’ main ideas from chat logs is a better method. By applying text mining
techniques to form topic distributions, conversations between teachers and students
become more efficient and effective [6].
Aiming to enhance the learning environment, the study offers an application
environment for teachers and students to discuss. After collecting their discussions, the
study will then analyze the chat logs between teachers and students using text mining
techniques [1]. With the goal to enhance the learning process efficiency between
teachers and students, the study conducts performance analysis of individual students’
strengths and weaknesses in making presentations. Using this method, the study forms
a better English presentation learning environment.

2 Research Methodology

By applying these four modules, this project hopes to improve the efficiency and
performance of the ICT learning environment and current teacher training. Although
some research [3, 10] has shown that the use of an online discussion board can improve
teaching, it still has shortcomings in reading and repeated problems. We hope to
establish a student problem classification, conduct subproblem grouping, and use the
results of the grouping to detect the direction of students’ problems and assist teaching
by enriching the teaching material. We collect the chat records between the teachers
and students of this course through a self-developed app, and then explain the NLP
preprocessing of text mining in order to process the external resources. Deep learning
algorithms have been found to be superb for classification [5, 8, 9]; therefore, we use a
convolutional neural network (CNN) for our classification. The short text classification
module uses a CNN based on theory-driven rubrics to classify the rich chat records into
learning problem types. Then, it generates several question subclusters to clarify the
details of each main category and let the teacher know the main question themes of the
students in each subcategory. It also introduces the selection of the grouping methods
and the final subject detection process. Finally, the resource-rich module is used to
assist teachers in comparing the most similar parts of the students’ subcategories with
 Building an Online Learning Question Map 369

the textbook through their chat records after understanding the students’ problems. For
students, the method will provide information on some of the existing textbooks that
may assist the students’ understanding. The teacher’s support part finds relevant
resources on the Internet that can be used as a reference by the teacher. If the teacher
finds that many students do not easily understand the material and keep asking ques-
tions, the teacher can incorporate external resources to improve the current teaching
materials. The system architecture is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Research architecture.

2.1 Data Collection Module

This app will collect the chat records between students and teachers. By uploading the
chat history to the FireBase database, it will then further analyze the problem category
of the internal conversation.
After collecting the chats of teachers and students, the research then preprocessed
the text provided by teachers and students into several files based on the student ID. By
marking the provider ID of the message when communicating in the app, this project
can classify the related chat records of a single student. Figure 2 shows an example of
the app.

2.2 Short Text Clustering and Topic Detection Module

This short text clustering module will continue to use a clustering method to find the
types of questions for all the classified texts, use the grouping results in the chat records
of each student to classify the question subtypes of each student, and use the TSF [7]
method to identify the different themes and make correspondences between the stu-
dents’ subcategories and the topics in the textbook to assist students in learning.
In machine learning and natural language processing, a topic model is a statistical
model used to discover abstract “topics” that appear in a document collection. The
“topics” generated by topic modeling techniques are clusters of similar words. The
topic model captures this intuition in a mathematical framework that allows examining
370 H. C. Wang and Y. L. Zhao

Fig. 2. Chat log example.

a set of documents and discovering what the topic might be based on the statistics of
the words in each document.
Based on the above concepts, many researchers have proposed different topic
models. Deerwester et al. [3] used Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to find the themes
in documents. LSA converts TF-IDF with singular value decomposition into a docu-
ment hidden topic and word hidden topic matrix. The document hidden topic matrix
represents the hidden topics in each document, and the topic matrix of the hidden
words represents the relationship between each word and the topic. Hofmann [4] later
proposed Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA), which proposed the concept
of cooccurrence and the possibility that words and documents cooccur. Blei, Ng, and
Jordan [2] later used the concept of the Dirichlet distribution and proposed Latent
Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), which can obtain the distribution possibilities of each topic
in each article and the setting of each topic in the input document as an LDA model.
Saura et al. [11] and Yun [12] showed that both LSA and LDA perform quite well
in topic modeling, but LDA is more suitable for document clustering and word clas-
sification. The performance of LDA in document clustering and word classification is
the most relevant to this project, especially since outperforms LSA. Therefore, this
project chose LDA for topic modeling.
First, this project starts with data preprocessing, and methods applied to the
resulting documents include tokenization, stop word deletion, lemmatization, and
stemming. After that, the project built a Bag of Words model and TF-IDF using the
obtained clustered documents to explore the words that appear in specific topics and
their related weights. After obtaining the TF-IDF of each cluster document, the method
then inputs the TF-IDF of each cluster document into the LDA model. Therefore, it can
obtain the probability of the word distribution for each topic. In addition, it also obtains
the probability that each cluster document is assigned to each topic. Once the topics are
detected, an interface will be display to teacher. Two example interfaces are shown in
Fig. 3(a) and Fig. 3(b). Therefore, we can determine the subject content of each student
and understand the subjects of current students’ problems, which can help teachers to
improve the focus of their teaching materials.
 Building an Online Learning Question Map 371

(a) all students (b) a single student (Pete)

Fig. 3. Sample interface to show the problems of (a) all students and (b) a single student (Pete).

2.3 The Enrichment of Chat Logs

Since chat records are usually scattered and short, this project both understands stu-
dents’ problems and uses similar methods to determine the current teaching materials
that are best suited for students’ problems. Sometimes the content of the teaching
materials may not be understood by students; therefore, this project attempts to use
external resources to enrich the teaching and enhance the semantic meaning of chat
records. By calculating the similarity between the preprocessed chat log document and
the paragraph segment of the textbook, we can get a higher paragraph segment simi-
larity score than the specific chat log document.

3 Summary of Proposed Methodologies

To allow teachers and students to better understand the viewpoints in an ICT education
environment, this project aims to analyze short collections of students’ discussion
content and teachers’ textbooks. First, this method defines the types of teaching topics.
In this project, we expect to use the English presentation teaching of the Department of
Foreign Languages as an example to demonstrate how the proposed app helps students
and teachers to use online discussion. We first define the five presentation problem
types {linguistic design, visual design, gestural design, auditory design, and spatial
design} and the other categories are classified into the other.
In the information collection part, in order to obtain the log content, we expect that
the data collection and preprocessing modules designed by us will collect and pre-
process the chat records between teachers and students and the course materials. The
short text classification module first embeds the chat content into the chat log matrix
and classifies the chat corpus of each student as the main specific learning problem of
the CNN. After establishing the short text clustering module, in addition to the original
data, we also designed a method to enrich the chat records of each student and the most
similar textbooks to improve the clustering performance. The short text clustering
method is designed to cluster the chat record corpus to discover problem subtopics via
topic detection. The subtopics can represent the current students’ problems, and the
topic modeling module can be used to detect the topics in the obtained cluster and
provide a user interface for teachers to better understand each student’s detailed
372 H. C. Wang and Y. L. Zhao

questions. Finally, through the rich textbook model, the system assists teachers by
suggesting supplementary textbooks for the questioner to enhance students’ learning
resources. Through the application of these modules, the project hopes to clarify the
main learning problems of students and inform teachers where the focus of their
teaching should be placed in the future.

References
1. Al-Samarraie, H., Teo, T., Abbas, M.: Can structured representation enhance students’
thinking skills for better understanding of e-learning content? Comput. Educ. 69, 463–473
(2013)
2. Blei, D., Ng, A., Jordan, M.: Latent Dirichlet allocation. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 3, 993–1022
(2003)
3. Deerwester, S., Dumais, S., Furnas, G., Landauer, T., Harshman, R.: Indexing by latent
semantic analysis. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. 41(6), 391–407 (1990)
4. Hofmann, T.. Probabilistic latent semantic analysis. Paper presented at the Proceedings of
the Fifteenth conference on Uncertainty in artificial intelligence (1999)
5. Hou, W.F., Liu, Q., Cao, L.B.: Cognitive Aspects-Based Short Text Representation with
Named Entity, Concept and Knowledge. Appl. Sci. Basel 10(14) (2020)
6. Kale, U.: Technology valued? observation and review activities to enhance future teachers’
utility value toward technology integration. Comput. Educ. 117, 160–174 (2018)
7. Kern, R., Granitzer, M.: Efficient linear text segmentation based on information retrieval
techniques. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the International Conference on
Management of Emergent Digital EcoSystems (2009)
8. Njikam, A.N.S., Zhao, H.: CharTeC-Net: an efficient and lightweight character-based
convolutional network for text classification. J. Electr. Comput. Eng. (2020)
9. Pota, M., Esposito, M., De Pietro, G., Fujita, H.: Best practices of convolutional neural
networks for question classification. Appl. Sci. Basel 10(14) (2020)
10. Raković, M., Marzouk, Z., Liaqat, A., Winne, P.H., Nesbit, J.C.: Fine grained analysis of
students’ online discussion posts. Comput. Educ. 157, 103982 (2020)
11. Saura, J.R., Reyes-Menendez, A., Bennett, D.R.: How to extract meaningful insights from
UGC: a knowledge-based method applied to education. Appl. Sci. Basel 9(21) (2019)
12. Yun, E.: Review of trends in physics education research using topic modeling. J. Baltic Sci.
Educ. 19(3), 388–400 (2020)
 Creating Interactive Non-formal Learning
Opportunities in Resource-Deprived Distant
Learning Institutions

Petra le Roux(&) and Corné van Staden

School of Computing, University of South Africa,

Science Campus, 28 Pioneer Ave, Florida Park, Roodepoort 1709, South Africa
lrouxp@unisa.ac.za

Abstract. The rapid growth of technology has a profound effect on education,

affecting both content and pedagogy and on the socio-cultural context in which
it occurs. The term learning experience is used to reflect the pedagogical and
technological shifts that have occurred in the design and delivery of education to
learners. The importance of the socio-cultural context in which the learning
takes place has a great impact on their learning. Creating such learning expe-
riences is challenging, creating learning experiences in Open Distance e-
Learning institutions (ODeL) is even more challenging. Furthermore, the eval-
uation of such an experience must address more than one discipline. The paper
shows how data are drawn from an interactive learning experience that aligns
academic goals and enrichment activities that support formal learning. To create
the experience, the educational potential of social media was employed in a
community of practice. Phenomenology as a philosophical worldview was used
to study the experience of people in the context of open distance learning, using
social media in a Computer Science environment. It is particularly useful and
relevant for researchers interested in understanding the contextual realities of
interactive learning communities. As a result, this contribution put forward
specific attributes that affect mobile tutoring in resource-deprived distance
learning environments. This study is yet unpublished, as it is part of a larger
doctoral endeavor.

Keywords: User experience
Emotions
Qualitative research

Phenomenology
Open distance learning

1 Introduction

The South African government has recognised that distance learning has a vital role to
play in the tertiary education sector and that it has huge potential to fill the skills gaps
suffered by the country. In recognition of distance learning’s importance, in 2012 the
Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) developed the Draft Policy
Framework for the Provision of Distance Education in South African Universities. The
framework states that distance learning has “served the invaluable role of bringing
higher education within the reach of students who would not otherwise have been able
to study at this level” [1].

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 373–384, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_42
374 P. le Roux and C. van Staden

The concept of distance learning focuses on open access to teaching and learning to
free teachers and learners from distance, time, and space constraints to offer flexible
learning opportunities to individuals and groups of learners. With Open Distance e-
Learning (ODeL), it is assumed that every learner has access to and be able to make use
of electronic technologies to accommodate the learning process [2]. Despite the pro-
mise of ODeL success, many students who have taken courses at a distance-based
institution have been shown to face many challenges. However, there is a vast dif-
ference in the challenges experienced by developed countries and developing countries
[3]. Many developing countries realise that many challenges resulting from discord
between cultural, social, and geographical systems and the merging of ICT can be
attributed to the digital divide [4–6].
Although it is widely recognised that the digital divide has multiple interpretations,
technological inequity has been the dominant perspective in discourse relating to the
inequalities experienced. At its most basic, the digital divide refers to the inequality of
opportunities for a certain part of the population to benefit from the use of information
and communication technologies (ICT). However, there is a move to a wider per-
spective of digital inequalities [7, 8]. Recent attempts to define the digital divide
include, other than access and usage, the impact of ICTs on the individual and in
societies.
Access to ICT technologies is manifested in both access to computing devices and
the Internet. The main reason individuals and communities do not have access to a
digital device or an up-to-date Internet service is twofold; an affordability gap due to
low disposable income and a geographical gap, due to lack of infrastructure [9].
Although devices and the Internet provide a comparative model for the digital divide,
neither captures the essence of how to use digital technologies. An individual can make
use of this access to engage in meaningful social practices, specifically to communicate
with people, to access information, and to utilise information [10, 11]. Equality in
access and usage does not automatically lead to a more or less social equality. Some
groups of society still benefit more from these technologies than others. This implies
dominance and therefore an increasing social divide as the result of the social impact of
ICT. Therefore, social inclusion will contribute to narrowing the social divide [7, 12].
Access and usage still pose many challenges in ODeL in the South African context,
but there exists a body of knowledge on how to address it [13–15]. However, there is
little evidence of the educational use of technology in developing countries addresses
social equality. An investigation into and understanding of an individual’s experience
with educational technology is needed to understand how to address social inequalities.
There is ample evidence that social media addresses social inclusion as well as its
potential as an educational platform. Therefore, the possibility that social media can
offer a space for social inclusion as well as addressing the ODeL challenges needs to be
explored [13]. This paper presents a part of a larger, yet unpublished doctoral endeavor.
One objective is to investigate non-formal interactive learning opportunities in a
resource deprived distance-based education environment by looking into the experi-
ence of the participants of an interactive mobile tutoring application. Non-formal
learning is one of three forms of learning defined by the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development – OECD [16]. The other two are formal and informal
learning. Formal learning is always organised and structured and has learning
 Creating Interactive Non-formal Learning 375

objectives and is intentional. Informal learning occurs in a variety of places, such as at

home, work, and through daily interactions and shared relationships among members
of society. Non-formal learning opportunities approach learning by creating learner-
centered learning experiences. High-quality non-formal experiences are intentional and
structured to engage the learner [17].
Our primary research question therefore is; What are the key attributes affecting
mobile tutoring in a resource deprived distance learning environment? By answering
this question, we put forward considerations that can be employed to address the
challenges posed by the digital divide. We argue that this understanding can be
accommodated through an online community of practice that contributes towards a
better understanding of how learning takes place through everyday social practices
rather than focusing on environments that are intentionally designed to support
learning.
While the findings of the paper may be specific for the ODeL context, international
readers may find this paper useful, as it provides possibilities to address the social
impact of ICTs that can lead to social inequity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity,
disability, social and economic status. We argue that understanding the experiences
during tutoring and the subsequent dealing thereof, can contribute towards a conducive
user experience that may alleviate the social pressures emanating from the digital
divide. This paper further offers a unique contribution in that it combines user expe-
rience (UX) principles that primarily draws from HCI literature and phenomenology as
a theoretical underpinning.
To position this research, the next two sections focus on the theoretical under-
pinnings of user experience including the measurement thereof and emotions as the
basis for user experience measurement. This is followed by a discussion on the context
of the research. Thereafter an outline of particularised methodological considerations is
discussed, including conceptual considerations for enacting phenomenology in online
environments, case study, data collection, and data analysis methods. The paper con-
cludes with some research findings and a conclusion.

2 User Experience

User experience originated when there was a move in human-computer interaction

(HCI) studies from usability concerns towards a wider set of problems to do with fun,
enjoyment, aesthetics, and the experience of use [18–20]. Several models and theo-
retical approaches have been developed to help understand experience and examine
experience from different perspectives. For example, Norman [21] describe an expe-
rience in terms of visceral, behavioral, and reflective levels. Hassenzahl [22] describes
an experience in terms of goal fulfilling within a situated and dynamic context. Context
is also an important component in frameworks described by [23–26]. Based on the
review and analysis of the literature a conceptual framework of user experience was
proposed and accompanied by the following definition of user experience as viewed by
the authors: A user’s subjective appraisal about partaking in an interactive application
in a certain context and time. The framework models the four constituent elements and
will now be introduced. An experience is created as the interaction between the user
376 P. le Roux and C. van Staden

and the application which are both influenced by the context. Each of these is then
further detailed through a set of sub-elements, e.g. the context is distinguished into
physical, social, situational, cultural, and temporal. In real life, however, it is difficult to
make a distinct separation of the constituent elements because user experience is
interconnected in principle.
Measuring the user experience with interactive systems is a complex task as an
experience is influenced not only by the characteristics of an interactive system (e.g.
complexity, usability, functionality, etc., but also by a user’s psychological state (such
as predispositions, expectations, needs, motivation, mood, etc.), and the context (or
environment) within which the interaction occurs (e.g. organisational or social setting,
the meaningfulness of the activity, voluntariness of use, etc.) [27]. This study set out to
draw a richer picture of the experiences of an e-tutor while using a tutoring application
in resource-deprived distance learning environment. Thus, evaluating the emotions
experienced during the tutoring and will allow for an in-depth understanding of the
social-emotional and functional needs in using interactive tutoring applications.

3 Emotions

Emotions influence almost all interactions that an individual experienced daily,

including human-human and human-technology interactions [28, 29]. The research
aims to develop new knowledge on emotions experienced while using tutoring
applications in resource-deprived distance learning environments to contribute towards
an understanding of the social-emotional and functional needs of the online tutor in
using interactive tutoring applications. This can be used to inform the development of
tutoring applications where access to resources cannot be taken for granted.
Even though opinions and scientists vary widely regarding the nature and signifi-
cance of this field, the theoretical and research contributions of the past years have
established emotions as a legitimate field of scientific inquiry [30]. Due to the multi-
dimensional nature of emotions, a straightforward definition it is still a matter of debate
[31, 32]. However, most authors either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge that an
emotion is not a simple phenomenon. Human emotions are, to a large extent, subjective
and non-deterministic.
The identification of human emotional states is difficult and complex [29]. There-
fore, to gain a better understanding of the subject, some models describing how we feel
emotions can be found in the literature. These models help to convey a specific feature of
human emotion and suggest perception as to how emotions are presented and interpreted
by the human mind [33]. Some models describe the emotions using mainly a cognitive
approach [34], whereas others consider multi-dimensional aspects such as pleasure and
arousal [35, 36]. It is also possible to find models that describe emotions related to
specific contexts; emotions elicited by products [22, 37], in a process-level approach
[21] or an appraisal approach [38]. The Component Process Model (CPM) [39] is an
emotion model based on appraisal theories. It allows the researcher to work with each
component separately and can therefore choose appropriate methods to evaluate the
different dimensions. Moreover, it has been successfully used in other HCI studies to
support the investigation of emotional experiences in interactive contexts [40, 41].
 Creating Interactive Non-formal Learning 377

Following appraisal theories, this work proposes a multi-component model to meet

the requirements.

4 Context of Research - A Community of Practice

With the focus on non-formal teaching and learning in a social environment, a

framework was selected that incorporates the concept of social learning. The theoretical
construct of a community of practice [42] is grounded in an anthropological perspective
that examines how learning takes place through everyday social practices rather than
focusing on environments that are intentionally designed to support learning. This
research utilises a community of practice as a theoretical lens through which the social
context of the participants can be understood.
Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder’s [43] definition states that a community of
practice is a combination of “a domain of knowledge, which defines a set of issues; a
community of people who care about this domain; and the shared practice that they are
developing to be effective in their domain”. The discussion to follow addresses the
three components of a community of practice: community, domain, and practice.
Community – Tutoring Participants. Cross-age tutoring refers to the experience of an
older student (tutor) working with a younger student (tutee) in the context of an ODeL
open and distance learning university. The interest in using students as instructional
resources for each other is based on student’s capabilities to play an active role in their
education. There exist several benefits of cross-age (or peer) tutoring in the literature
[44–46]. Furthermore, socially challenged participants may find communication easier
online [47], especially as the use of social media platforms allows students to feel free
to use abbreviations, slang, alternative spelling, and emojis [48]. The role of the e-tutor
is summarised as being social, technical, pedagogical or intellectual and managerial or
organisational and technical [49].
Domain - Social Media for Social Inclusion. Since their introduction, social media
applications, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, have attracted millions of users, many
of whom have integrated these applications into their daily practices. There is ample
evidence in the literature that shows that students in higher education are on social
media [35–37] and that social media can sustain learning [50, 51]. Finding ways to put
social media to good pedagogical use is a task that remains to be fully explored, but it is
one that holds significant potential in the context of mobile technology. The adoption
of this technology in education introduces new learning strategies, based on the social
learning theory [52].
Practice - Mobile Cross-age Tutoring. Adapting the definition of tutoring by Topping
[53], the definition of tutoring that this paper assumes is a type of collaborative
learning, in which students who are not professional teachers help others to learn, and
learn themselves by teaching. Underlying theories applied to our model of interactive
tutoring include the role model, behaviourist, and Gestalt theories and these theories are
not mutually exclusive. Role theory uses the concept of social role to designate a set of
expectations that are associated with positions in the social structure (e.g., teacher,
378 P. le Roux and C. van Staden

learner). The behaviourist theory, associated with the work of the psychologist B.
F. Skinner, asserts that effective learning occurs when every correct answer is rewar-
ded. Gestalt theory asserts that learning occurs when the learner can locate an item in
an intellectual structure or field or relate an idea to a larger context.

5 Research Methodology

This section discusses the research design and methodology used in the empirical phase
of the research. It involved the researcher entering the field of the participant’s
involvement in online tutoring to answer the main research question: What are the key
social-emotional and functional needs of the online tutor for effective tutoring in a
resource deprived distance-learning environment? This qualitative, interpretive phe-
nomenological inquiry, as part of uncovering meaning, will articulate the user expe-
rience of participants. Using the lens of the tutor’s perspective, the focus will be on the
participants’ user experiences.

5.1 Phenomenology as a Philosophy and a Strategy

To answer the question of how we can understand the world as it is, one stream of
philosophers investigated what is termed the “lived” experience. This experience
included not only the visible and conscious aspects of the experience but also the
subconscious aspects such as perception, thought, memory, and imagination.
Phenomenology is a philosophical investigation of the phenomena of experience
introduced by Edmund Husserl and proposes the adoption of a scientific attitude to
experience by looking at experience with a scientific attitude laying aside all
assumptions [54, 55].
Phenomenology as a strategy focusses on meaning-making from human experi-
ences in situations as they spontaneously occur in the course of daily life.
Phenomenology is the investigation and description of the common meanings partic-
ipants share when experiencing the same phenomena to create an understanding of the
participating individuals’ lived experiences of a phenomenon. Descriptive
Phenomenology focuses on subjective experiences and is personal whereas Interpretive
Phenomenology attempts to describe accurately a phenomenon from an individual’s
perspective.
Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), a student of Husserl, challenged some of Husserl’s
assumptions and introduced the interpretive, or hermeneutic, research tradition [56].
Concerning the study of human experience, hermeneutic inquiry is on what humans
experience rather than that what they consciously know.

5.2 Qualitative Data Collection

In qualitative research, the purpose of data collection is to provide evidence for a
phenomenon under investigation and must be derived from an intensive exploration of
the participants’ experiences. The evidence was in the form of participants’ accounts
(experience journals) of their feelings and thoughts which were analysed to produce a
 Creating Interactive Non-formal Learning 379

core description of the experience. The methodology followed is discussed in this

section and comprise of five phases [57]. The last phase, data analysis, is the topic of
the next section.
– Planning and Preparation. To collect valid and reliable data e-tutors had to design
and implement an online tutoring application using a social media platform and
present at least five online tutoring sessions. Social media platforms used included
Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc. The participants consisted of 17 fourth level
Computing students who acted as tutors for first-level programming students and
were engaged in tutoring for a minimum of five sessions. During these sessions they
were required to keep an experience journal either online or offline.
– Pre-study brief. Emails were used to brief the participants. The concept of an
experience was explained to the students. The participants were encouraged to
describe each experience in terms of situations, feelings, and thoughts as depicted in
Table 1. To describe an experience, students were provided with a list of adjectives
to depict tone, feelings and emotions.
– Logging period. To support effective activity logging, participants were sent an
email as notice that the tutoring and therefore journaling can commence. Regular
emails were sent to remind participants of their journaling responsibilities.
– Post-study follow-up. After the data collection process, all the information provided
by each participant was evaluated and an email of appreciation was sent out.

Table 1. Example template of an experience journal entry

Situation who, what, Feelings Thoughts
when, where? A single word to describe What was going through your mind when you felt this way?
feelings
Day 1: 9 October 20.. Depressed I feel depressed – thought it would be much easier. Struggle to
First get-to-know session Encouraged start with the lesson
Lesson 1 - introduction I feel encouraged – tutee seems to be very excited

5.3 Data Analysis

Qualitative data analysis seeks to reduce and make sense of information in order that
experiences that shed light on the research phenomena can emerge [58]. Thematic
analysis is a method for identifying and analysing patterns (themes) within qualitative
data and is a form of pattern recognition within data [59]. A theme captures something
important about the data in relation to the research question and represents a level of
patterned response or meaning within the data.
ATLAS.ti belongs to the genre of computer-aided qualitative data analysis soft-
ware. The six steps of Braun and Clarke’s [59] thematic content analysis can be
translated for use with ATLAS.ti. According to Friese [60], when using ATLAS.ti, it is
necessary to add an extra phase to the six phases. This phase entails the development of
a structured coding system after the initial coding phase.
Some of the key findings obtained will now be presented. Four major themes
emerged from assessing the events which correlate with the components needed to
380 P. le Roux and C. van Staden

create an experience. The themes relate to the users (the tutor and tutee), the context,
and the application. The first theme, Tutor, explored the experience of the tutor. The
second theme comprises of the Tutee’s experiences in terms of participation, challenges
as well as positive and negative experiences. The third theme addresses the impact of
the application or Tutoring Environment and the final theme comprises the Tutoring
process and explores the importance of procedures and processes during the tuition.

5.4 Findings and Discussion

Reading through the experience journals, the experience described when interacting
with the tutee was the most intense and had the biggest impact on the tutoring activity
and will be discussed below.
The social role of the tutor in online tutoring is one of the key critical success
factors in online learning. In Atlas.ti, the groundedness, and density are code qualities
that show the researcher how often they are used. The participation or the lack of
participation of the tutee has a high groundedness (154). It can be concluded that the
impact of tutee participation is high and therefore the influence on the tutor and tutoring
process. Contact is made between the participants via an email sent to the tutee. Some
experiences of e-tutors describing their feeling of negativity and despair if the tutee did
not respond in an acceptable time. A positive experience to establish contact set the
way forward. However, if contact has been established further tutoring was successful.
Tutee cooperation led to feelings of excitement and encouragement.
– I felt good when I realized that the tutee was interacting and asking questions.
– I felt good as the tutee showed his enjoyment and understanding
– I was proud to answering the questions that tutees had, they were really committed.
– I felt encouraged to see the ball rolling and the screenshots coming through
– I felt delighted to see that the tutee was able to write the program with minimal
input
– I felt anxious – as time was elapsing and the tutoring sessions had not commenced
– I felt nervous: noting that hours later at 20h00 in the evening of the 1st day, tutee
has not yet responded to the email nor acknowledged receipt of it.
Tutee engagement with the content is essential for learning to take place. Almost all
interaction where students engage with the tutoring content, led to positive experiences
for the e-tutor as is evident by the use of emotion words.
– I felt good as the tutee expresses their enjoyment and are cooperative during the
sessions in such that the tutee feels comfortable to ask appropriate questions and
also provide adequate feedback.
– I felt happy as the tutee enjoyed the one-to-one communication, as well as the
experience of participating in the research project.
The tutor had to create a tutoring environment based on a social media platform.
The technical role of the tutor involves being familiar, comfortable and competent with
the mobile device and social media platform of choice. Additionally, the tutor must be
able to support tutees in becoming competent and comfortable themselves. The most
used social media platforms were WhatsApp (44% representing 8 tutoring applications)
 Creating Interactive Non-formal Learning 381

followed by Facebook (33% representing 6 tutoring applications). Other platforms

represent 23% and were platforms used once by tutoring applications. Both positive
and negative experiences were described.
– the tutee was eager and excited to learn using online application.
– it was great because enough tutorial information could be easily shared online
– it is not as easy as I thought it would be
– due to internet connectivity issue experienced by the tutee, downloading the day
lesson content was difficult

6 Conclusions

The thematic content that emerged from this study of participants’ experiences provides
potentially important information about to the development of online tutoring appli-
cations that address both the social aspects of the participants and system functionality
needs. It can be concluded that the following attributes affect mobile tutoring in
resource deprived distance learning environments: first, the impact of the tutee’s
experience on the emotional state of the tutor; and second the suitability of social media
as an online tutoring platform for creating non-formal learning opportunities.
The evidence from this study suggests that tutor training must receive attention.
There is a need for improved preparation and training for candidate tutors in their role
as student and their transition to tutor. The finding also highlights the potentially
pivotal role of the training institution in delivery of such training.
All the participants in this study indicated that the experience is directly linked to
the experience of the tutee whilst engaging in the tutoring. Although operational issues
did play a role in the effectiveness of the tutoring sessions, if addressed, it is the tutee’s
willingness to engage and participate that contributes towards the perception of
success.
These findings agree with the theoretical underpinnings of Wenger’s community of
practice and Hassenzahl’s user experience models.

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384 P. le Roux and C. van Staden

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https://www.nngroup.com/articles/diary-studies/. Accessed 13 Mar 2020
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 Designing Framework of Constructivist
Web-Based Learning Environment Model
to Enhance Creative Thinking in Engineering
Design Process for Grade 8th

Pasatorn Puratep1(&) and Sumalee Chaijaroen2

1
Nakhon Phanom University Demonstration School,
Nakhon Phanom University, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
pasatorn@kkumail.com
2
Department of Education Technology, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

Abstract. Creative thinking is one of the most important characteristics of a

person that drives innovation. It is a skill that helps countries succeed in the
rapidly changing digital economy society in the 21st century [6]. Countries are
therefore focused on developing creative populations. Most of today’s innova-
tions are created by the engineering design process. But the engineering design
process itself still lacks effectiveness in promoting creativity in cognitive domain
[5]. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to synthesize the framework of a web-
based constructivist learning environment to enhance creative thinking [2] in
engineering design process [3]. The document analysis and model research [1]
were employed in this study The target groups used in this study were 1) 3
experts for assessment of the learning contents 2) 3 experts for assessment of the
instructional design for theoretical framework 3) 3 experts for assessment of the
instructional media design. 4) 3 experts for assessment of the gathering research
instruments and 5) 30 eight-grade students of Khon Kean university Demon-
stration school who enrolled in a course of design and technology II. The
instruments used were 1) survey form for collected instructional context 2)
survey form for learning characteristic of students and 3) The recording form for
synthesis of the theoretical framework. Summarization, interpretation and ana-
lytical description were employed to analyze the data. The result revealed that:
The framework comprised of 6 stages as following: (1) Activating cognitive
structure as problem-based component (2) Adjusting to cognitive equilibrium as
learning resources component (3) Enlarging cognitive structure as cognitive
tools and collaboration-based component (4) Enhancing creative thinking as
creative thinking design-based component and (5) Fostering knowledge con-
struction as scaffolding-based component. (6) Encouraging knowledge con-
struction as coaching-based component.

Keywords: Constructivist
Creative thinking
Creative process
Engineering

design process

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 385–390, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_43
386 P. Puratep and S. Chaijaroen

1 Introduction

The rapid change of society in the 21st century. New innovations occur all the time,
making it difficult to predict economic and social conditions. Innovation is therefore the
key to adaptation to survive safely. With awareness of these issues, countries focus on
the development of education to prepare and promote people’s skills in facing and
dealing with events in this field, using the 21st century skills development framework
[12] for thinking skills such a creative. The Basic Education Core Curriculum BE 2008
(Revised BE 2017) in technology in Thailand has focused on allowing students to
design innovations. By integrating knowledge in mathematics, science and others
through the engineering design process. In which the engineering design process still
lacks the effectiveness of creative promotion. Creative thinking is one of the most
important characteristics of a person that makes humans successful and influence
economic and social movements. For that reason, the researcher recognizes the
importance of synthesis of design frameworks by using theory as the basis to help
designers design their learning environment more efficiently, The purpose of this study
is to synthesize the design of the constructivist web-based learning environment [15,
16, 18] to enhance creativity [17] in the engineering design process by integrating
creative thinking.

2 Research Purpose

This study was aimed to synthesize the designing framework of the constructivist
learning environment model to enhance creative thinking in engineering design process
for grade 8th.

3 Research Methodology

This research employed by model research, phase 1 model development [1] via doc-
ument analysis and survey research.

3.1 Target Group

Target group in this research consisted of 3 experts for the evaluation of the designing
framework and 30 eight-grade students.

3.2 Research Instruments

Recording form for synthesize the designing framework of constructivist web-based
learning environment model to enhance creative thinking in engineering design process
for the students. Evaluation form for the experts used in designing framework of the
model.
 Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 387

3.3 Data Collection and Data Analysis

The collecting data were used in framework synthesizing as the following: (1) The
framework of the designing framework was synthesized by methods of data inter-
preting and descriptive analysis. (2) The designing framework was analyzed by data
interpreting and using of descriptive analysis on the framework synthesis recording
forms based on the theoretical framework. (3) Model components were proposed to
advisor and experts to examine the consistency between theories and the designing
framework by interpreting and descriptive analysis using data in the evaluation forms.
The examined results were applied to improve the model.

4 Research Results

The results of the synthesizing of designing framework of constructivist web-based

learning environment model to enhance creative thinking in engineering design process
for eight-grade students were found that there were 6 stages of creative thinking
enhancement as (1) Activating cognitive structure as problem-based component
(2) Adjusting to cognitive equilibrium as learning resources component (3) Enlarging
cognitive structure as cognitive tools and collaboration-based component (4) Enhanc-
ing creative thinking as creative thinking design-based component and (5) Fostering
knowledge construction as scaffolding-based component. (6) Encouraging knowledge
construction as scaffolding-based component.
The problem-based component (see Fig. 1) was designed to activate cognitive
structures in accordance with constructivist theory when students are encouraged to
create cognitive conflicts with specifies specific problems. Learners will try to balance
the cognitive structure (equilibration) with the integration of external events (Assimi-
lation) or adapting to that event in a particular environment (accommodation), Open-
ended learning environments enabling context the perspectives taken in the environ-
ment to learner to engage in thinking and have a variety of perspectives. Externally
induced specific problems with for novice learner, which helps promote divergent
thinking component for creative thinking skills, fluency, flexibility, originality and
elaboration. The design of Creative thinking design-based design to enhancing creative
thinking, the component was designed based on the theory of creative thinking of
Guilford [2] with 4 components as (1) Fluency means the ability of producing outcome
in a limit time (2) Flexibility means the ability to construct something flexibly in
various forms (3) Originality is defined to the ability to generate something originality
(4) Elaboration is the ability to implement in details on original. By integrated creative
components with the integrated creative design process model. Cognitive tools that was
designed to the design stage 1 and 7 have the most opportunities to effective enlarge
cognitive structure for originalities creative thinking (see Fig. 2) the design stage 2 and
6 are also the alternative to enhance creative thinking.
388 P. Puratep and S. Chaijaroen

Fig. 1. Designing framework for Enhance Creative thinking in Engineering Design Process.
 Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 389

Fig. 2. Integrated creative design process model [3].

5 Conclusion

The results of synthesizing the designing framework of the constructivist web-based

learning environments model to enhance creative thinking in engineering design pro-
cess for eight-grade students comprised of 6 stages: (1) Activating cognitive structure
as problem based component (2) Adjusting to cognitive equilibrium as learning
resources component (3) Enlarging cognitive structure as cognitive tools and
collaboration-based component (4) Enhancing creative thinking as creative thinking
design-based component and (5) Fostering knowledge construction as scaffolding-
based component. (6) Encouraging knowledge construction as coaching-based com-
ponent. The design focus on the learner construct knowledge by themselves by con-
structivism paradigm. The creative thinking using Guildford’s divergent thinking [2]
during the use of engineering design processes in the operations Which is an inte-
gration of engineering and cognitive process together. These will enable educational
designers to understand where and when creative thinking will occur to design the most
effective cognitive tools for students.

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technol-

ogy, Faculty of Education, Research Group for Innovation and Cognitive Technology, Khon
Kaen, University, and Research and Technology Transfer Affairs Division, Khon Kaen
University which hereby giving the thankfulness all through this.

References
1. Richey, R.C., Klein, J.D.: Design and Development Research: Methods Strategies and
Issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (2007)
2. Guilford, J.P.: The Nature of Human Intelligence. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York
(1967)
3. Howard, T., Culley, S., Dekoninck, E.: Describing the creative design process by the
integration of engineering design and cognitive psychology literature. Des. Stud. 29, 160–
180 (2008)
4. Howard, T., Culley, S., Dekoninck, E.: Creativity in the engineering design process. In:
International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED 2007 (2007)
390 P. Puratep and S. Chaijaroen

5. Gero, J.S.: The situated function-behaviour-structure framework. Des. Stud. 25(4), 373–391
(2004)
6. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning: Framework for 21st Century Learning (Final
Report). The Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2 (2015)
7. Piaget, J.: Cognitive development in children: piaget development and learning. J. Res. Sci.
Teach. 2(3), 176–186 (1964)
8. Vygotsky, L.S.: Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1978)
9. Jonassen, D.: Designing constructivist learning environments. In: Instructional Design
Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. 2, pp. 215–239.
Erlbaum, New Jersey (1999)
10. Hanafin, M., Land, S., Oliver, K.: Open learning environment: foundation, methods, and
models. In: Charles, M. (ed.) Instructional Design Theories and Model 2: A New Paradigm
of Instructional Theory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (1999)
11. Mayer, R.E.: Designing instruction for constructivist learning. In: Instructional-Design
Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory. Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, New York (1999)
12. Klausmeier, H.J.: Educational Phychology, Sth edn. Harper & Row, New York (1985)
13. Kozma, R.B.: Learning with media. Rev. Educ. Res. 61(2), 179–211 (1991)
14. Collins, A., Brown, J.S., Holum, A.: Cognitive apprenticeship: making thinking visible. Am.
Educ. 15(3), 6–11 (1991)
15. Chaijaroen, S.: Instructional design: principles and theories to practices. Department of
Educational Technology, Khon Kaen University (2015)
16. Kanjug, I.: Development of learning environments model enhancing expertise mental model.
Doctor of Philosophy thesis in Educational Technology, Graduate School, Khon Kaen
University (2009)
17. Samat, C.: The development of constructivist web-based learning environment model to
enhance creative thinking for higher education students. Doctor of Philosophy thesis in
Education Technology, Graduate School, Khon Kaen University (2009)
18. Wattanachai, S.: Development of constructivist web-based learning environment model to
foster problems solving and transfer of learning. Doctor of Philosophy thesis in Educational
Technology, Graduate School, Khon Kaen University (2010)
 Designing Framework of Constructivist
Web-Based Learning Environments Model
to Enhance Scientific Thinking
for Secondary Students

Autsanee Seenonlee Maneeratana(&) and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Department of Educational Technology, Faculty of Educational,

Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Autsanee.s1199@gmail.com

Abstract. Nowadays, Scientific thinking is important in the development of

human learning. Therefore, the designing framework synthesis is the objective
of this study. To promote the scientific thinking of students. The target audience
was (1) experts for the assessment of the learning content (2) experts for the
assessment of the instructional design for the framework (3) experts for the
assessment of the instructional media design. (4) experts for the assessment of
the collecting research instruments and 5) 35 Grade 7 students, 1st semester, the
academic year 2020, Sri Kranuan Wittayakhom School, studying in a science
course for the contextual survey. Model research type II [15] was employed by
literature review to synthesize the framework. The process was as follows: study
the principles and theories, to literature reviews research related to the design of
the learning environment model. Assessment by experts consisting of content,
design, media, and technology, measurement, and evaluation by the assessment
from the expert assessment form. The research results consisted of 4 steps: (1)
Activation of cognitive structure and enhance scientific thinking (2) Enhance-
ment of cognitive equilibrium and expanding cognitive structure (3) Support and
enhancement of scientific thinking and (4) Enhancement and support of
knowledge construct. Also, the model has 6 components of were: (1) Problem
based, (2) Resources, (3) Collaboration, (4) Scientific thinking, (5) Scaffolding,
and (6) Coaching.

Keywords: Constructivist theories
Scientific thinking
Constructivist web-

based learning

1 Introduction

The rapid development of information technology today makes every country around
the world. There has been a change in the 21st-century world [19] such as digital
technology. Technology to change the world (Disruptive technology) social, the eco-
nomic, knowledge-based database has changed affecting education management.
Conduct business and the world economy. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare
resources for such changes, qualify in searching and knowledge creation to receive
knowledge throughout life. By using technology together with including current
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 391–398, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_44
392 A. S. Maneeratana and S. Chaijaroen

information technology There are more information and knowledge. From the problem
of teaching and learning by teachers being the only educator is not enough to build
knowledge of learners. Educational management has changed from teaching or transfer
by teachers or teaching media. Came to be an emphasis on student learning. Through
action or real action that is related to the theory of Constructivist theory [14] focuses on
self-knowledge by action or action.
Above all these important reasons, the learning strategy needs to be adjusted to
reflect the characteristics of the 21st-century learner [19]. Thus, instructional design is
necessary to support scientific thinking and construct the knowledge, instead of
receiving knowledge from teachers. The instructional design theory [3] is applied in
this design. The main theories that are based on the theory are constructivist theory.
Cognitive theory: information processing and scientific thinking. These theories foster
knowledge to construct and scientific thinking, particularly in science courses. More-
over, the media theories, media attributes, and symbols system include hypertext,
hyperlink, and hypermedia [12] promote the knowledge construction and scientific
thinking.
Nowadays, learning science emphasizes students’ search for knowledge. The tea-
cher acts as a coach to help learners build knowledge and achieve goals on their own.
Which will result in the development of students’ scientific thinking process This may
help the student to expand their intellectual structure. Have scientific thinking and
create meaningful knowledge.
From this importance, this research aims to design a learning environment for
scientific thinking [5, 6] of secondary school students. Results in the development of
learning skills and scientific thinking [5, 6] of students.
Researchers are focus on the importance of the designing framework. The frame-
work can help designers to model. Also, it reaffirms its reliability and is a useful guide
for designers to model.

2 Research Purpose

To synthesize the designing framework of a constructivist web-based learning envi-

ronment model to support scientific thinking for secondary students.

3 Research Methodology

The Model research Type II [15], phase 1 Model development.

3.1 Target Group

The target groups were: (1) 3 experts for the assessment of the learning content (2) 3
experts for the assessment of the instructional design for designing framework (3) 3
experts for the assessment of the instructional media design. (4) 3 experts for the
assessment of the collecting research instruments and 5) 35 Grade 7 students, 1st
semester, the academic year 2020, Sri Kranuan Wittayakhom School.
 Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments Model 393

3.2 Research Instruments

• Tools were used to synthesize the framework design concept model element design
assessment form to confirm the quality of the model. The details are as follows:
instructional management survey, theoretical conceptual framework synthesis
record form, the memorandum of concept synthesis of the model. Opinion survey
for learners about the context of learning management and survey for teachers on
learning management context.
• Tool used for quality verification of learning environment models. For experts, such
as the Learning Environment Model Evaluation Form, it is used for the quality
examination of the model. By means of expert evaluation of the model, Question
points consist of open-ended questions for the expert to assess on each issue. Along
with giving reasons and opinions, as well as suggestions.

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis

Document study analyzes principles, theory, and literature review to the design of the
model by studying the principles. Related theories are cognitive theory. Theories of
constructivism in the pedagogy of scientific thinking. Media and technology theory the
context of learning management; And neuroscience is to be used as a basis for research
and to record information in a document audit record and document analysis. Conduct
an assessment of the learning environment by introducing the learning environment to
various experts consisting of content, 3 persons, design 3 persons, media 3 persons, and
measurement and evaluation 3 persons by each specialist. Record the assessment
results in the assessment form. With suggestions that have been improved.

4 Research Results
4.1 Theoretical Framework
The framework consisted of 6 elements: (1) Psychology based (2) Pedagogy based
(3) Scientific thinking based (4) Media theory and Technology based (5) Contextual
based and (6) Neuroscience based (see Fig. 1).

4.2 Designing Framework of Web-Based Learning Environment Model

The model includes 4 stages, as the following detail.
1. The activation of cognitive structure and enhance scientific thinking
The first fundamental of the framework is based on the cognitive constructivist theory
[14]. It is believed that students who are motivated by the problems-based lead up to
situations of intellectual conflict education must try to balance their cognitive strutures.
The principle of authentic context based on Situated learning [1], believes that learning
is an authentic activity, context, and culture. As well, the principle of scientific thinking
[5, 6] along with 4 phases as inquiry phases, analysis phases, inference phases, and
argument phases. It was designed as a Problem base (see Fig. 2).
394 A. S. Maneeratana and S. Chaijaroen

Fig. 1. The theoretical framework of the model.

Fig. 2. The first of the designing framework of the model.

2. The enhancement of cognitive equilibrium and expanding cognitive structure

The second basis of this framework is based on Information processing theory [11], is
believed that when the learners experience the environment by sensory register.
Cognitive Load Theory [17] focuses on information content in many environments.
Exceeds short-term memory capacity is only 7 ± 2 or 15–30 s, so chunking was used
to categorizes information. SOI model [13] that help the learner to select, organize, and
 Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments Model 395

integrate information, and OLEs [8] consists of a learning resource that has a static
resource and a dynamic resource that is information that can help to create new
knowledge of learners (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. The second of the designing framework of the model.

3. The support and enhancement of scientific thinking

The third of this framework is based on the relationship between the theories, scientific
thinking and social constructivist [20] must be adopted as an important stream of
cognitive development. Learners with the lower proximal development zone, there is a
need for learning assistance, known as Scaffolding is the key to the development
behind intelligence designed as the component of the Collaboration. Scientific thinking
[8] consisted along with 4 phases as inquiry, analysis, inference, and argument (see
Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. The third of the designing framework of the model.

4. The enhancement and support of knowledge construct

The fourth of the model include Social constructivism [20] believes that the learners
below the proximal development zone, there is a need for learning assistance, known as
396 A. S. Maneeratana and S. Chaijaroen

Scaffolding [8] and Metacognition theory [7]. Cognitive apprenticeship [4] was
designed as the Coaching Center (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. The fourth of the designing framework of the model.

5 Conclusion

The theoretical framework of the model comprised of 6 elements: (1) Psychology based
(2) Pedagogy based (3) Scientific thinking based (4) Media Theory and Technology
based (5) Contextual based and (6) Neuroscience based, and designing framework
comprised of 4 stages of (1) The activation of cognitive structure and enhance scientific
thinking (2) The enhancement of cognitive equilibrium and expanding cognitive
structure (3) The support and enhancement of scientific thinking (4) The enhancement
and help of construct the knowledge including 6 elements as following: (1) Problem
base (2) Resources (3) Collaboration (4) Scientific thinking (5) Scaffolding and (6) and
Coaching. This research result consistent with the study of Chaijaroen [2, 3], Thitima,
G. [18], Saowakon, S. [16], Kanjug and Chaijaroen [10]. From the research results, it
was found that consisted of a learning environment that can support scientific thinking.
Fundamentals of theories of learning basis include: (1) psychology learning,
including constructivist theory and cognitive theory (2) teaching and learning science
designed together with constructivist theory, cognitive theory, and scientific thinking
theory (3) principle of media theory and technology-based on learning includes: media
symbol system and the media attribute (4) pedagogical of learning based on con-
structivist theories model consisted OELs [8], CLE [9], SOI [13], SLE [1], and Cog-
nitive apprenticeship [4] (5) principle into contexts such as learners based on guidelines
for teaching, course of education, and science course content, and (6) neuroscience-
based of the executive function is a measure of the nerves in the brain region while
performing scientific thinking tasks. Besides found that theoretical and designing
frameworks that the researcher has designed and developed. It has been verified for
quality by experts in content, media, and design to be correct and suitable for teaching
and learning in current situations.
 Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments Model 397

From the above importance the researcher, therefore, takes it as a basis for
designing the model on the science courses. That enhances scientific thinking by
integrating teaching science and neuroscience by the principle of constructivist theo-
ries, cognitive theories, and scientific thinking. Including features media symbol sys-
tems, media attributes and web-based learning environments that help in promoting
student performance.

Acknowledgements. Thank you for support by Educational Technology, Faculty of Education

and Research and Technology Transfer Affairs Division, Khon Kaen University.

References
1. Brown, J., Collins, A., Duguid, P.: Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educ. Res.
18(1), 32–42 (1989)
2. Chaijaroen, S.: Development of knowledge construction using information technology.
Department of Educational Technology, Khon Kaen University (2004)
3. Chaijaroen, S.: Instructional design: principles and theories to practices. Department of
Educational Technology, Khon Kaen University (2015)
4. Collins, A., Brown, J.S., Holum, A.: Cognitive apprenticeship: making thinking visible. Am.
Educ. 15(3), 6–11, 38–39 (1991)
5. Deanna, K.: Education for Thinking. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (2005). 218 p.
6. Deanna, K.: What is scientific thinking and how does it develop? In Goswami, U. (ed.)
Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development (Blackwell), 2nd edn. (2010)
7. Flavell, J.: Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: a new area of cognitive-developmental
inquiry. Am. Psychol. 34, 906–911 (1979)
8. Hannafin, M.: Open learning environment: foundation, methods, and models. In: Charles, M.
(ed.) Instructional Designing Theories and Model: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory,
vol. II. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (1999)
9. Jonassen, D.: Designing constructivist learning environments. In: Instructional Design
Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. II, pp. 215–239.
Erlbaum, Mahwah (1999)
10. Kanjug, I., Chaijaroen, S.: The design of web-based learning environments enhancing
mental model construction. Procedia Soc. Sci. 46, 3134–3140 (2012)
11. Klausmeier, H.J.: Educational Psychology, 5th edn. Harper & Row, New York (1985)
12. Kozma, R.B.: Learning with media. Rev. Educ. Res. 61(2), 179–211 (1991)
13. Mayer, R.E.: Designing instruction for constructivist learning. In: Instructional-Design
Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, vol. II (1999)
14. Piaget, J.: Cognitive development in children: piaget development and learning. J. Res. Sci.
Teach. 2(3), 176–186 (1964)
15. Richey, R.C., Klein, J.D.: Design and Development Research: Methods Strategies and
Issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (2007)
16. Saowakon, S.: The development of rish chemistry learning environments model to foster
scientific thinking. Doctor of Philosophy thesis in Educational Technology, Graduate
School, Khon Kaen University (2012)
17. Sweller, J.: Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learn. Instr.
4, 295–312 (1994)
398 A. S. Maneeratana and S. Chaijaroen

18. Thitima, G.: The development of knowledge construction model to support scientific
thinking for prathom suksa 6 learners. Doctor of Philosophy thesis in Educational
Technology, Graduate School, Khon Kaen University (2010)
19. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning. Framework for 21st Century Learning (Final
Report). The Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2 (2015)
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Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1978)
 Development of Constructivist Web-Based
Learning Environment Model to Enhance
Problem-Solving and Transfer of Learning
on Student in Industrial: Integration Between
Pedagogy and Neuroscience

Chan Singkaew and Sumalee Chaijaroen(&)

Education Technology Major, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University,

Khon Kaen, Thailand
Sumalee@kku.ac.th

Abstract. This study aimed to design and develop the Constructivist Web-
based Learning Environment Model to Enhance Problem-solving and Transfer
of learning on students in industrial. The methodology in this study uses
Developmental Research - Type I. That focusing on the principles of designing
and developing a model, the model is designed and developed according to the
following steps. (1) examine and analyze the principles theories, and research
(2) study learner context (3) synthesize the theoretical framework (4) to syn-
thesize the designing framework (5) developing the Constructivist Web-based
Learning Environment Model and (6) assessing the efficiency. The results of the
study found that: 1) The theoretical framework consists of 6 bases: (1) Learning
theory base, (2) pedagogical base, (3) Media theory base, (4) neurological base,
(5) Technological base, and (6) Context of instructional base 2) The designing
framework consisted of 5 stages and 9 elements, were as follows: (1) Activate
cognitive structure (2) Support for adjusting cognitive structure (3) Support for
enlarging cognitive structures (4) Foster for problem-solving and transfer
(5) promote and assist knowledge construction and 9 components were as fol-
lows: (1) Problem base (2) Resources (3) Cognitive tool (4) Collaboration for
problem-solving (5) Center for enhancing problem-solving (6) Center for
transfer of learning (7) Related cases (8) Scaffoldings, and (9) Coaching.

Keywords: Problem solving
Web-based learning environment

Constructivist learning
Transfer of learning

1 Introduction

The advancement of technology has influenced the increase of information in a

knowledge-based and digital society. At the same time, the current problems are
increasingly more serious and complicated. Therefore, a necessary skill for learners is
problem-solving, especially for industrial students. However, in the present, instruc-
tional management emphasize transmitting information and content from teachers to
learners. This results in a lack of seeking skills, knowledge construction, especially

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 399–408, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_45
400 C. Singkaew and S. Chaijaroen

problem solving of the learners. Thus, it needs to adjust the instructional management
to foster the learners to construct knowledge on their own, problem solving to solve
problems in other situations. In response to solving such problems, the teaching and
learning management should shift from teacher-centered content to learning manage-
ment focused on students seeking knowledge. Build your own knowledge and
problem-solving skills. A theoretical principle that is consistent with learning man-
agement that focuses on the students to seek and build knowledge on their own. Is the
constructivist theory Which is a theory that focuses on seeking and construct knowl-
edge by them self In addition, Problem Solving Principles [1] and principles of
Learning Transfer [2] are aligned with the practice of industrial mechanics that need to
solve the operational problems that face problems or new situation. So requires theo-
retical principles on media and network technology and media features Hyperlink
symbol system, hyper-tech, hypermedia to connect knowledge nodes. that as a basis for
understanding and expanding knowledge in each node and expanding knowledge by
linking the features of the Internet to construct a learning environment. For this reason,
the researcher recognizes the importance of designing and developing the Model based
on constructivist approaches that promote problem-solving and Transfer.

2 Research Purpose

To design and develop a web-based constructivist learning environment model.

3 Research Methodology
3.1 The Sample Group
Divide into 2 groups: 1) The experts for validating and evaluating models’ quality, 3
design professionals for examine the learning environment design, 3 media profes-
sionals for examine web-based media, and 3 professionals for examine the content of
electronics. 2) The students for context instructional study, 30 high vocational certs
industrial students, faculty of technical education Rajamangala University.

3.2 Research Methodology

The Model Research Phase I [3].

3.3 The Research Process

The research process is (1 Study principles, theories and related research. (2) studying
the context of the learner, (3) synthesizing the theoretical framework, and (4) synthesis
of the design framework (5) design and development of model and (6) Assessment
quality
 Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 401

3.4 The Research Instruments

The research instruments included (1) learning environment model (2) ecological
model evaluation form (3) theoretical framework form (3) design framework form.

4 Data Collection

4.1 The Theoretical Framework

After the researcher synthesis of the framework and then record that in recording form.

4.2 The Designing Framework

After the researcher synthesis of framework and then record that in recording form.

4.3 Development
After the designer design, the learning environment and then the developer developed
according to designer.

4.4 Evaluation
Model efficiency is assessed by experts to validate and adapt to feedback on content,
web media, learning environment, model design.

5 Data Analyses

5.1 The Theoretical Framework

The data analyses of the theoretical framework are summarizing, interpreting and
analytical explanation.

5.2 The Designing Framework

The data analyses of the designing framework are summarizing, interpreting and
analytical explanation.

5.3 The Efficiency

The Model Efficiency analyses by Interpreted and conclusion.
402 C. Singkaew and S. Chaijaroen

6 Result
6.1 Theoretical Framework
The theoretical Framework comprise 6 crucial bases include of 1) Learning theory base
2) Pedagogical base 3) Context of instructional, graduate features, learning manage-
ment, main course 4) neurological base: Electroencephalography (EEG). 5) Techno-
logical base: 6) Media theory base. This study focuses on the identification of the
sources of media and symbolic systems that help strengthen knowledge and memo-
rization processes.
After reviewing the literature and all 6 bases researcher analyzed and synthesized
the relationship between each base, illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Theoretical framework.

6.2 Designing Framework

From this study, it found that the synthesis of the design framework obtains by
applying the theoretical framework as the basis for the design of model elements. The
model consists of 5 crucial bases which are:
The Stimulate the Abandoned Structures, Problem-Solving, and Transfer. The
first crucial base was activating cognitive structure, problem-solving, transfer, it shows
the underlying theory used in designing components known as the “problem base” of
the learning environments to promote problem-solving. The Theories that are important
for stimulating cognitive structures are as follows: Cognitive constructivism [4]; cog-
nitive conflict, situated learning [5]; Authentic context. These theories are transformed
into problem situations to encourage learners to the learning process. The process of Ill-
structure problem solving [1] as 1) Articulate Problem Space 2) Identify and clarify
problem 3) Construct possible Problem Solutions 4) Select alternative Solutions 5)
Planning and determination strategy solution 6) Implement the Solution and 7) Apply
 Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 403

the Solution that theories use to design a learning environment to promote problem-
solving. This theory may assist in stimulating cognitive structures and problem-solving
as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. The designing framework: activate cognitive structure and promote problem-solving and
transfer of learning

Support Cognitive Restructuring. The second very important base of the designing
framework was Support for adjusting cognitive structure, shows the underlying theory
used in designing components known as the “Resources” of the learning environments
to promote problem-solving and transfer. The underline theories used for Supporting
for adjusting of the cognitive structure were as follows: information processing theory
[7]: sensory register, working memory, long-term memory, Cognitive load theory [8]:
Chunking, Hierarchical network, and media attribute symbol. These theories are
transformed into designing framework as learning resources in order to provide
information for the learners to construct knowledge. This may help learners processing
information effectively and understand easily as shown in Fig. 3.
Foster for Problem-Solving and Transfer Practical Skills. The third base was
support for enhance problem-solving and transfer of learning, it illustrated the theories
used in designing the component called “Center for enhancing problem-solving” and
“Center for transfer of learning” of the learning environments for promoting problem-
solving and transfer. The theories used for Supporting for Foster for problem-solving
and transfer learning were as follows: ill-structure Problem [1]. Analogical transfer
(Transfer knowledge [9]: search a prior knowledge, mapping, and identical Structure,
process, relational aspects, Inference, inference solution for solving the current situa-
tion. These theories use to design a learning environment to provide information for the
learners to construct problem solving and transfer shown in Fig. 4.
Support for Enlarge Cognitive Equilibrium. The fourth important base was sup-
ported enlarge cognitive equilibrium, the theory used in the component design is called
404 C. Singkaew and S. Chaijaroen

Fig. 3. The designing framework: Support for adjusting cognitive structure

Fig. 4. The designing framework (Foster).

“Collaboration for problem-solving” and “Cognitive tool”. The theories were as fol-
lows: Social constructivist theory [4]: Collaborative Activity Cognitive tool [5]:
Seeking tool, collecting tool, generating tool, organizing tool, and Integrating tool. The
theories transformed into learning resources in order to provide information for the
learners to construct knowledge. This principle may be to help learners enlarge cog-
nitive equilibrium as shown in Fig. 5.
Promote and Assist Knowledge Construction. The fifth base was support for pro-
moting and assist knowledge construction, the theories used in design the element
called “Scaffoldings” and “Coaching” for promoting and assist knowledge construc-
tion. The theories used for promotion and assist knowledge construction were as:
Scaffolding [5] Conceptual Scaffolding, Strategic Scaffolding, Metacognition Scaf-
folding, Cognitive apprenticeship and Coaching. They transformed in order to provide
information for the learners to construct knowledge. This may help promote and assist
learners as shown in Fig. 6.
 Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 405

Fig. 5. The designing framework: support for enlarge cognitive equilibrium.

Fig. 6. Promote and assist knowledge construction.

6.3 Development
Result of design as present in the Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10:

Fig. 7. Front page(main).

406 C. Singkaew and S. Chaijaroen

Fig. 8. Problem situation.

Fig. 9. Cognitive tool.

Fig. 10. Collaboration for problem solving.

 Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 407

7 Discussion

The development and design achieved using the Model Development Type I (Model
Development). Model development process, study the context of the learners examine
and analyze the principles, theories, and research, synthesize the theoretical framework,
and synthesizing the designing framework, design and development of the model, and
evaluation of the model efficiency and improvement with the expert. The research
findings the theories and principles are 1) Learning theory base 2) Pedagogical base 3)
Context of instructional 4) neurological base 5) Technological base 6) Media theory
base. Model conceptual and components comprised (1) Problem base (2) Resources
(3) Cognitive tool (4) Collaboration for problem-solving (5) Center for enhancing
problem-solving (6) Center for transfer of learning (7) Related cases (8) Scaffoldings,
and (9) Coaching. This finding was consistent with previous research [10] has found
that students demonstrate problem-solving and transfer of learning and frameworks of
theoretical designing for models based on theories. For the findings of this study that
use theories especially the problem -solving theory [1] and transfer theory [9] as the
foundation of the design. This has been demonstrated in the design framework of the
constructivist web-based learning environment model to improve problem-solving and
learning transfer. This may help learners to promote problem-solving and learning
transfer. The theoretical validity of the design framework of the constructivist web-
based learning environment model was also found based on expert assessment. The
findings could support the design framework to improve problem-solving and Transfer
of learning on Students in industrial.

8 Recommendations

The process of problem-solving and transferring learners’ learning should be used as a

basis for analyzing each learner’s potential as part of the result analysis.

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technol-

ogy, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, and Research Group for Innovation and
Cognitive Technology, Khon Kaen University which hereby giving the thankfulness all through
this.

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 Digital Accessibility of Online Educational
Platforms: Identifying Barriers for Blind
Student’s Interaction

Isolda Lisboa1 , João Barroso2 , and Tânia Rocha2(&)

1
Open University, Milton Keynes, Portugal
ilisboa1@gmail.com
2
INESC TEC and University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro,
Vila Real, LISBON, Portugal
{jbarroso,trocha}@utad.pt

Abstract. e-Learning promotes asynchronous and synchronous access to

education, free from geographical barriers, allowing a great number of people,
that otherwise could not study, continue their academic life. Access, however,
should be equally granted for All, not limited to the instrumental level, pro-
viding a dynamic model that meets the needs of the student user. e-Learning
platforms have potential to both enhance learning quality and increase education
access as long as is considered user’s different needs. In this paper, we present
the theoretical background about the current state of accessibility of e-Learning
educational platforms and contents, by analyzing the Brazilian online educa-
tional context. This study intends to identify barriers and possible tools to
enhance user experience for Blind students, and also present a UX methodology
to reach that goal. For the latter, we propose a methodology based on obtaining
qualitative and quantitative data to be obtained from online questionnaires. The
ultimate goal is to make a global UX evaluation in order to present a complete
perspective, on the actual Blind student’s experience when interacting with the
digital educational contents and platforms in specifics Brazilian universities
digital platforms.

Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Digital accessibility

e-Learning
Blind student
User experience (UX)

1 Introduction

Several factors make possible for teachers and students to find themselves in different
geographical locations as well as in different time zones and still interact through e-
Learning, opening up a new world of educational possibilities for students with dis-
abilities and/or special needs.
With the advent of the Internet, new opportunities are presented for distance
education and, according to [1], nowadays “this type of teaching-learning is an
important means of acquiring knowledge, with universities and companies seeking to
exploit the educational potential of the Internet to the maximum” [1]. Some examples

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 409–418, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_46
410 I. Lisboa et al.

are the popularization of Open Universities, where students and teachers have flexi-
bility in terms of time and space [2].
The great diversity of cultural, socioeconomic, gender, ethnic and even people
abilities of has been changing the context of universities and stimulating research.
Furthermore, studying how these universities are dealing with this new reality, espe-
cially the treatment of people with disabilities is enhanced in several studies [3–7].
However, these studies showed a gap highlighting as essential more research to obtain
specific knowledge of the needs of blind student in distance learning, thus promoting
crucial changes and adaptations in the platforms.
In this paper, we aim at present a theoretical framework and validate a user
experience methodology on the thematic Digital accessibility of online educational
platforms: Brazilian blind student’s case study.
This article is structured as follow: first, it is presented a brief theoretical framework
based on: how technology can promote inclusion in education for students with diverse
abilities; then, analyzed accessibility on digital educational contexts; also, presented
assistive technologies to enhance digital access to Blind users, identifying Brazilian
tools developed; and, the research methodology proposal is revealed with the objective
of creating guidelines to maximize the blind student’s experience; finally, conclusions
and future work is highlighted.

2 Promoting Inclusion in Education for Students

with Diverse Abilities Through Technology

The Brazilian Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDB), defines
Distance Education, or e-Learning as being: “educational modality in which didactic-
pedagogical mediation in teaching and learning processes occurs with the use of
information and communication means and technologies, with students and teachers
developing educational activities in different places or times” [8].
According to [9], e-Learning has the potential to improve the quality of learning,
the access to education, reduces costs and improves its cost-effectiveness. The authors
state that for the creation of quality experiences in e-Learning, one must consider:
technology, pedagogy and organizational context. The way in which this educational
environment is perceived by the student is still unclear, being necessary to focus on the
students’ experience in e-Learning and “listening to the students’ voice in the search for
the expansion of e-Learning knowledge, providing perspectives in the process of
learning and the criteria used by him in his evaluation of e-Learning” [9].
Boroson states that “learning about the evolution of the educational system, in
particular its treatment of students who are different in terms of ethnicity, gender and
skills, can guide us as educators to lead the way forward”. According to the author, the
stigmatization of disability has always resulted in the social and economic marginal-
ization of those with special needs, considering them incapable of contributing to
society and excluding them from the public educational system [10].
Education is a fundamental right for All, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and protected by several international conventions. This, in itself, was
not enough to end the differences in educational policies offered to people with
 Digital Accessibility of Online Educational Platforms 411

disabilities, and it has not yet resulted in enacted policies or, at significant levels,
educational inclusion practices for people with disabilities. Peters points out that
despite the large number of documents and standards, inclusive education has not yet
“escalated” [11, 12].
Furthermore, [12] defines inclusive education as both a philosophy and a practice,
based on specific theories of teaching and learning. The philosophy of inclusive edu-
cation is based on the “right of all individuals to education with quality and with equal
opportunities - that develops potential and respects human dignity - going beyond
physical integration. Students with disabilities are entitled to adequate institutional
support systems, which may include flexible curriculum, trained teachers, technologies,
and acceptance” [12].
The author concludes that there is a political discourse between the different
agencies that links economic development to inclusive education. This fact reveals that
the growth in the number of people with disabilities and their exclusion from social
opportunities has drawn the attention of these agencies. His analysis discloses that if
the discourse in international policy documents continues to insist on an education that
is “appropriate to the condition of the person with a disability, rather than preparing
schools and educational institutions to reach these people and build an inclusive
society, inclusive education may not become a reality for most people with disabilities,
who are still excluded from education “, and quotes the [13] if people with disabilities
are denied educational opportunities, then it will be the lack of educational inclusion,
not disability, which limits their opportunities” [12, 13].
Despite the fact that some inclusive policies and practices are already present in
higher education, there is still a long way to go. Gairín and Suárez even claim that
inclusion is the hallmark for quality higher education [14].
Statistics confirm the growth in the number of students with disabilities seeking
university, which according to Morina is due to the approval of laws and statutes to
promote inclusion, namely the United Nations International Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities in 2006, which determines the guarantee to people with
disabilities, access, without discrimination and under the same conditions as other
people, to higher education, professional training, adult education and continuing
training. The United Nations created support plans and services to improve the access
and educational inclusion of so-called non-traditional students, in the European
strategic proposal - European Commission 2020. Similar actions have been taken by
other countries in the direction of inclusive education, with the creation, in some
universities, of departments that support the educational needs of students with dis-
abilities and, through the incorporation of new technologies and/or inclusive education
practices [15, 16]. However, the author does not mention which technologies.
Gibson and Thomas stress that ensuring access to higher education for people with
disabilities is not sufficient without providing appropriate support to ensure their
inclusion and permanence. It is necessary to incorporate the principles of inclusive
education and a universal design for learning in university policies and practices, based
on the social model of disability [17, 18].
Between 2004 and 2005, Morina conducted an analysis on the investigation of
students’ voices, with disabilities in higher education, regarding the barriers and sup-
ports of educational institutions. Regarding barriers, the biggest obstacle pointed out by
412 I. Lisboa et al.

the students was the negative attitude of the members of the institutions, namely,
doubts about the veracity of the disability, non-adaptation of the teaching projects,
questions about the ability to attend a university, architectural barriers, inaccessibility
to information and technology, teaching methodologies that do not facilitate inclusion
and the need for presence in the classroom - without flexibility for students with
difficulties resulting from their deficiencies [15].
Yet, the technological resources that were supposed to function as facilitators were
not used. Although, the students reported their performance was similar to the rest of
the class, they felt that they had to try harder than the others, since they had to deal with
their disability in addition to their studies. Morina concluded that students with dis-
abilities should be encouraged, despite the barriers, to continue their academic life as a
way to improve their quality of life, expand their work opportunities, contribute to
society and achieve independence [15].
Similarly, Garrison-Wade points out that some universities have been implement-
ing some interventions towards the inclusion of students with disabilities, such as, for
example, through the use and providing assistive technologies [19].
These studies showed as technology can promote inclusion in an education context,
especially for students with disabilities. Furthermore, e-Learning platforms can break
physical barriers, giving universal access to education programs and contexts, allowing
a truly accessible environment to promote apprenticeship for All students. However, as
literature sustains, other barriers are lifted - the digital ones, as the main educational
online platforms are developed with no accessibility or usability concerns.

3 Accessibility on Digital Educational Contexts

Accessibility, based on elaboration of the E_MAG (Electronic Government Accessi-

bility Model), in its current version 3.0 (2014), takes on a broader dimension “it means
allowing access by everyone, regardless of the type of user, situation or tool” [1].
Acosta-Vargas et al. claim there are now millions of higher education websites,
developed with no accessibility concerns, with different styles and shapes, and that
many of them are not in accordance with the guidelines proposed by the W3C and
WCAG 2.0 - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines-“developed to guide web designers
and developers to the elimination of errors in accessibility”.
The authors emphasize that Web accessibility seeks to “guarantee satisfactory and
barrier-free access to the Web for the greatest number of people, regardless of their
physical limitations, environments or devices used by them.” [22, 23].
There are several researches in the literature carried out to assess the accessibility of
education websites, notably the e-Learning platforms’ initial pages, and most point out
errors in the (X) HMTL and CSS codes, indicating the need to improve them to allow a
higher level of accessibility, since they are essential for the well-functioning of screen
readers technologies [24–27, 28, 42].
Barros et al. carried out research on the situation regarding the “profile of students
integrated in the Accessibility Project, developed in an e-Learning environment at
Universidade Aberta, in Portugal - UAB”. The authors’ analysis revealed, as obstacles
 Digital Accessibility of Online Educational Platforms 413

pointed out by the students: behavioral (looking); architectural (face-to-face exam

locations), oral communication (deaf people) and materials visualization (blind people).
The aforementioned difficulty that stood out the most was for students with visual
disabilities, despite using screen reader technologies. Such technology was not effective
in accessing documents with different formats, namely, images and tables, pages made
with a scanner without the possibility of reading the screen and powerpoint without
accessibility to the screen readers.
Such information is crucial in adapting the materials [29].
Promoting accessibility on the websites of higher education institutions is an
important need and must address all types of disabilities, including visual, hearing,
physical, speech, cognitive and neurological.

4 Assistive Technologies to Enhance Digital Access to Blind

Users

It is found in the literature several definitions of Assistive Technology (AT), altogether

highlight the set of technological resources used to help people with disabilities with
their functional skills, promoting their independence, quality of life, social inclusion,
expanding their mobility, communication and learning skills [8, 34–36].
For the people with visual disabilities these resources are essential, not only for the
maintenance of their daily activities, but, to have access to computers, smartphones and
tablets, as well as any electronic and digital means of communication.
For example, operating systems most used in smartphones, computers and digital
electronic devices in general, offer voice communication agents, who fulfill the role of
personal assistants. Thus, the popular Android (Google), Windows (Microsoft) and iOS
(Apple) have personal assistants Google Now, Siri and Cortana [37, 38] respectively.
Specifically, developed by the Electronic Computing Center of the Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), in 1993, and available free of charge on the
Internet, the DOSVOX operating system allows blind people to use a common
microcomputer (PC) to perform a series of tasks. Communication with the user takes
place through voice synthesis, and “instead of simply reading what is written on the
screen, DOSVOX establishes a friendly dialogue, through specific programs and
adaptive interfaces”. It is compatible with most existing speech synthesizers because it
uses the standardized SAPI Windows interface, as well as with other programs, such as:
Virtual Vision, Jaws, Window Bridge, Window-Eyes and screen magnifiers [39].
F123 is low-cost software that allows developers to make improvements to the
system. One of the objectives of the program is to ensure that spreadsheets, documents
and other programs are accessible to blind people. “It is not just speech synthesis, there
is also a magnification of the screen, since many children need larger font sizes to use
the computer effectively, …” explains Fernando Botelho, co-creator of F123 and CEO
of the company. In 2019, his company launches VOISS and claims that is the cheapest
talking computer on the planet. “The objective of this project was to democratize access
to the digital world for blind people. Although the community received the project with
great affection, sales have not been sufficient to maintain the necessary infrastructure
414 I. Lisboa et al.

for the assembly and sale of these machines”, laments Botelho who was forced to close
the sales [40, 41].
Other solutions are described in literature, for example, the combination of a
multisensory and interactive approach with the support of technological resources
allows users to access the same information thus ensuring the inclusion of those whom,
in the majority, can only have access to education in this way [43]. Particularly, in
2014, a group of students from the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Tech-
nology of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, won the award for best prototype at the Science
and Technology Fair of Mato Grosso do Sul (Fecintec), with a stimulation plate tactile
aid to the visually impaired to learn the signature and the Roman alphabet. According
to the laureates, “…the project uses vibration to help the blind to feel the formation of
the letter” [41].
For students with different visual abilities, the promotion of accessibility and
usability must go beyond the use of the assistive technology used but also, in the
technological development stage of the educational platforms. Furthermore, it should
be encouraging the research and development of new ways, that could enhance the
multisensory and multimodal users’ interactions. To these users to be truly benefited, it
will be necessary for the systems response to transcend the screens and reach devices
that provoke tactile, auditory and even odors and flavors sensations.

5 Research Methodology Proposal Focusing on the Blind

Student

In 2000, the Higher Education Census started collecting information on distance

learning courses, in Brazil. Since then, this type of teaching has grown steadily,
encompassing an important participation in Brazilian higher education. The number
and percentage of students with disabilities, in Brazilian higher education, according to
the Higher Education Census INEP/MEC/2008, is 11,412 students with disabilities
(0.2%), out of a registered universe of 5,808,017 students [20].
The 2010 Census confirmed the growth trend of distance learning courses, which
reach 14.6% of the total number of enrollments. The face-to-face courses reach a total
of 3,958,544 bachelors’ enrollments, 928,748 undergraduate degrees and 545,844
technological degree enrollments. On the other hand, Distance learning courses have
426,241 undergraduate enrollments, 268,173 undergraduate degrees and 235,765
enrollments in technological courses [20].
A recent analysis (January 2018), by the Higher Education magazine, on the 2016
Higher Education Census shows that “Only 0.45% of the total 8 million enrollments in
higher education are from students with disabilities. In the private network, the per-
centage is even lower, 0.35%, while in the public network it reaches 0.73%” [21].
There are about 12,000 students entering courses, and only 4.800 are graduating
students: “The dropout rate among students with disabilities is 27%, being higher in the
private network: 31.5%. Physical disability is the most common among those enrolled
and affects more than 12,700 people enrolled. After that come low vision (11,000
students), hearing impairment (5,000) and blindness (2,000)” [21].
 Digital Accessibility of Online Educational Platforms 415

Regarding the latter data, the importance of research on the profile of accessibility
to online educational content of Brazilian distance-learning universities remains
important and still justified.
For that, we intend to carry out research with two main objectives: (1) to assess the
conditions of accessibility of educational content online, in Brazilian public institu-
tions, from the perspective of the blind students’ experience; and, (2) propose guide-
lines to maximize their user experience; truly enhance digital inclusion for these group
of students. Furthermore, it is intended to identify distance learning as a form of
inclusion in education for people with special needs, and the needs of the blind user in
his/her interaction with the computer and online educational content, by assessing the
educational resources and tools.
For this propose, the methodology followed will be the Design Science Research -
DSR -which, according to Vaishnavi et al., is a lens or set of techniques and per-
spectives in conducting research and which typically involves the creation of an arti-
fact, knowledge, model or theory as a means to improve the current state. For this
purpose, design, analysis, reflection and abstraction are used. Still, according to the
authors, the areas of education, health, computer science and engineering make
extensive use of DSR, sharing the same concerns to develop problem solutions and
conduct evaluations [29].
The achievement of the proposed objectives implies conducting a research in two
phases: (1) comprising an exploratory phase to obtain the theoretical foundation on the
theme developed and to provide greater familiarity with the problem, followed by (2) a
descriptive phase - with survey, analysis and interpretation of data - consistent with
direct user interrogation through online qualitative and quantitative questionnaires.
According to Santoso et al., the methodology suggested for the analysis of the user
experience consists of a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as
the use of interviews, questionnaires, behavioral analysis and expert evaluation.
Among the research frameworks currently on the market, the UEQ - user experience
questionnaire stands out for its exceptional advantages in providing a “comprehensive
impression of the user experience, ranging from classic aspects of usability to aspects
of the user experience. The questionnaire also features a tool for accurate interpretation,
easy to use and free of charge. Feedback collection can be done more efficiently with
questionnaires, especially if they are used with an online tool, such as UEQ” [30].
In the first quantitative phase, we will apply the UEQ, with a additional field for
users to add observations, difficulties or comments - as suggested by Nakamura et al.,
to measure the user experience, considering pragmatic and hedonic quality aspects, as
well as, through assessing the standard of the six quality measures, make assumptions
about the areas where improvements will have the greatest impact on the user expe-
rience [31].
In the second, qualitative phase, we will apply a questionnaire with open questions
to: diagnose the tasks and resources used by the user; evaluate the usability of the
interaction; confirm or refute the assumptions obtained in the first phase to prepare a list
of guidelines to be implemented in order to optimize the user experience.
The method of analysis for this phase will be the use of software for qualitative
analysis of data such as texts, interviews and transcripts such as MAXQDA [32].
416 I. Lisboa et al.

6 Conclusions and Future Work

The proposed study, involving field research and intending to suggest paths based on
the results obtained, needs a physical spatial delimitation. In addition, the study of
accessibility necessarily involves examining the legal norms about it, as this is where
the requirements for equality to occur are fixed. And, even though it originated from
international agreements and treaties, this standardization gains its own and unique
state treatment for validity within the limits of each State, multiplying, in the Brazilian
case, in rules edited not only by the Legislative authority, but also by the government
agencies in charge of public policies, in the specific case of this investigation, the
Ministry of Education [33].
In this way and with the proposed cut, the scientific importance and the social and
political relevance of the present study on the profile of accessibility to online edu-
cational content of Brazilian distance-education universities by blind student is justi-
fied. We intend to identify and list difficulties experienced by the blind student in their
interaction and propose ways to provide a positive and quality user experience.
As future work, we intend to present and implement the list of guidelines generated
after the analysis of the data from the research two phases on at least one institution for
its validation. The next phase is a repetition of the research first phase, but with the
objective of assessing whether the implementation of the guidelines has had a positive
effect on the user experience.

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 Effect Analysis and Method Suggestions
of Online Learning Under the Public
Epidemic Crisis

Huimin Yuan1, Ming Yan1 , and Zhe Li2(&)

1
Communication University of China, Beijing 100024, China
2
Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
lizheritetu@163.com

Abstract. In the context of a major national public epidemic caused by

COVID-19, the education system has also been greatly affected, changing from
traditional offline education to online education. In the case of changes in
learning methods, the questions of how effective online learning is, whether it
can achieve the learning effect of traditional offline education, and what mea-
sures should be taken if the online learning effect is not good are worthy of
further analysis. To understand the general status of students’ online learning
effects, this paper analyzes the methods, effectiveness and problems of students’
online learning at different stages, and puts forward appropriate suggestions on
this basis. And through the questionnaire and predictive analysis method to
verify the feasibility of the proposal, to provide a reference for the education
objects and educators who try to improve the effect of online learning in the
context of public outbreaks.

Keywords: Epidemic situation
Online education
Learning effect

Questionnaire

1 Introduction

The epidemic began to break out during the Chinese Spring Festival. The government
took a series of strict travel restrictions to curb the spread of the epidemic, which not
only restricted people’s freedom of travel, but also had a huge impact on various
industries and even the national economic development [1]. The traditional education
mode requires students to have class together in the school and teachers to explain and
guide on the spot. For some boarding schools and colleges, it also involves the dining
hall, dormitory life, collective bathhouse and other inevitable collective life. In this
complex environment, the contact distance between people is less than one meter, and
the number of people in contact is too large. Once there are cases of epidemic infection,
it will spread rapidly [2]. Considering many factors [3], all kinds of schools across the
country choose to postpone the start of school to avoid the risk of epidemic infection
caused by a large number of student flows. In order not to delay students’ learning
progress, the Ministry of Education advocates “no suspension of classes” and adopts

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 419–427, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_47
420 H. Yuan et al.

online education mode to temporarily replace the traditional education [4], so as to

ensure the smooth and orderly progress of students’ academic plans.
Online education is a network-based education method. With the help of the
Internet and information communication technology, teachers and students can break
the limitations of time and space to learn and acquire knowledge in a more flexible and
diverse way [5]. Online education can also realize the wide use of teaching resources,
not only limited to the campus, library and other places, but also realize the system to
automatically record the learning progress, attendance status, personal data of each
student, so as to facilitate the management of teachers to the classroom.
The online education work does not go smoothly as expected [6], and encounters
various obstacles. For example, the hardware equipment for online learning is insuf-
ficient, the platform is defective, the student’s self-control is poor, the teachers’
teaching burden is heavy, and the parents’ supervision is exhausted. In a word, due to
various factors, the effect of online education often can not reach the effect of tradi-
tional education.
The existing survey and analysis found that the longer the online class [7], the
worse the learning effect of students, in other words, the lower the learning efficiency of
students. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, students across the country have
to stay at home for a long time online learning. It can be seen that the online learning
effect of students in the public epidemic environment is generally not as good as that of
traditional education [8]. This paper investigates and analyzes the effect of online
learning through some specific cases. Based on the analysis results, some suggestions
of learning methods are put forward to provide reference and help for all participants of
online learning.

2 Case Analysis of Online Learning Effect of Students

The performance of students’ online learning effect is different in different students. It

is necessary to select several representative students’ learning status, analyze and
summarize their learning effect, and provide practical basis for proposing improvement
measures.

2.1 The Case of Primary School Students

At present, the common way of online learning for primary school students is: on the
one hand, relying on multiple channels of cable TV and IPTV to broadcast teaching
content (one channel and one grade), and providing repeated viewing of computers,
mobile phones and tablets. Supporting materials also provide students with paper and
electronic versions for selection. On the other hand, teachers use a live platform like
nails to conduct online live teaching and online attendance methods such as roll call,
question, assignment and punch. At the same time, parents supervise students to finish
their homework on time, and can communicate with teachers through WeChat and QQ
[9]. Primary school students are still in the cultivation period of concept and habits, and
are very vulnerable to the influence of people around them. Moreover, many primary
school students have not strong learning awareness at present, and think that it is a
 Effect Analysis and Method Suggestions of Online Learning 421

holiday at home, and the phenomenon of online class perfunctory is more obvious. The
main reasons that affect their online learning effect are: lack of self-awareness of
learning, lack of serious attitude towards online classes, difficulty in resisting the
temptation of online games and electronic products, and inadequate teacher discipline.

2.2 The Case of Senior Three Students

The common way for senior high school students to learn online is that teachers
recommend some excellent courses in famous schools to let students learn indepen-
dently in MOOC class. According to the teaching plan, teachers of each subject provide
students with review guidance, knowledge point collusion and After class Q&A in the
way of online live broadcast every day. The rest of the time is arranged by students
themselves to learn and brush questions. When encountering problems, they can
communicate with teachers at any time.
Senior three students are faced with the pressure of the coming college entrance
examination. Under the traditional education mode, there are teachers’ daily supervi-
sion and the atmosphere of students working together. Now, online learning at home is
a test of students’ self-learning ability and self-control. The main reasons that affect
their effect are: the lack of hardware equipment, the inexperience of teachers and
students in the operation of online class, the low classroom atmosphere, and the great
pressure in all aspects.

2.3 The Case of Art Examinee

According to the original plan, art examinee should take part in the school examina-
tions of major art schools in February and March, but the sudden epidemic disrupts
everything. Some school examinations are canceled, some school examinations are
moved to the college entrance examination, and cultural courses became the top pri-
ority at this time. Therefore, the art examinee all over the country have to study online
at home, start to make up for cultural courses and strengthen professional courses. Most
art examinee learn online with their classmates, and take time to strengthen profes-
sional courses after class.
Affected by the epidemic, this year’s art examinee can’t participate in the school
test on time, some need to record art test videos at home, some change to only test
cultural courses, which disrupts the original learning plan of art examinee, while the
current online learning is not applicable to all art examinee. The main reasons that
affect the online learning effect of art examinee are: the progress of cultural courses can
not keep up, lack of one-on-one guidance from teachers, and great psychological
pressure.

3 Suggestions on Improving the Effect of Online Learning

In view of the three special cases mentioned above, we put forward corresponding
countermeasures and suggestions. Details as shown in the Fig. 1.
422 H. Yuan et al.

Fig. 1. Recommended block diagram for three case.

3.1 Student Level Suggestions

First of all, we need to make students understand “why we study” and cultivate stu-
dents’ independent learning ability. Because of the special situation of the epidemic
situation, when students study at home, teachers cannot control too much. In a word,
we should pay attention to guiding students to study independently. Therefore, it is
suggested that three classes should be held in sequence: home epidemic prevention
guidance class (focusing on how to live), home learning mobilization class (focusing
on why to learn), home learning method guidance class (focusing on how to learn) [10].
Among them, the home-based learning mobilization class can inspire students’
enthusiasm for learning with the help of the advanced deeds in the “anti epidemic war”,
and let students clearly realize that home-based learning is to prepare for the future as a
patriot and defender. In the guidance course of home-based law, through sharing other
students’ efficient online learning methods and experience, we can provide guidance for
other students’ learning.

3.2 Teacher Level Suggestions

First, teachers should choose the right teaching platform in advance and make prepa-
rations before class. According to the operation of the teaching platform, teachers
should be in a relatively stable state, and the unstable situation will affect the quality of
the classroom to a certain extent. Before carrying out formal teaching, teachers should
investigate the flow supported by the platform according to the number of students
involved, so as to avoid the influence of such phenomena as incarceration on teaching
effect. It is better to formulate the second plan to deal with emergencies. If it is a live
classroom, teachers need to enter the classroom at least 10 min in advance, prepare
various equipment, materials, etc., and pay attention to their appearance.
Second, the teaching resources should be simple and clear, and the content should
be outstanding. When choosing teaching methods and preparing lessons, teachers
should choose more concise and clear teaching resources, such as teaching courseware,
 Effect Analysis and Method Suggestions of Online Learning 423

audio and video resources, text resources, picture display, physical display (such as
experimental operation steps, manual lessons, etc.), preview before class, classroom
practice, after class work, and questionnaire feedback. And the teaching resources
should be as simple, clear and prominent as possible, so as to avoid the influence of
tedious teaching resources on students’ class efficiency.
Third, students’ participation in teaching needs to be strengthened. Teachers can
arrange preview activities before class. For example, teachers can release syllabus in
class in advance, and issue targeted preview tasks for each teaching content to attract
students’ attention. In the process of live broadcast, teachers need to avoid the students’
learning weariness caused by the too fast pace of information transmission. For
example, strategies such as retelling, content structuring, review and summary can be
used to regulate the pace of information transmission. Teachers should assign home-
work to the students after class. If live class can be recorded and replayed, it’s con-
venient for students who haven’t heard to check and fill in the gaps and make a
summary.
Fourth, the content of the class should be more abundant and the teaching form
should be diversified. In the course of lectures, teachers should carry out various
interactive activities. For example, online discussion, interactive survey, students’
mutual evaluation, view sharing, online question answering and interactive whiteboard
are carried out to enhance the attraction of online teaching. Teachers also need to pay
attention to the principles and Strategies of game-based teaching design. If teachers are
more able to apply the elements and mechanisms of games or games to online teaching,
students may be able to improve the quality of online education.

3.3 Parent Level Suggestions

First, parents should do a good job in logistic support. To carry out online education,
first of all, it is necessary to have relevant equipment, good network conditions and
good learning environment. These all need the help of parents to reduce the influence
and interference of other family members when students study online as much as
possible. To ensure that students can study in a relatively comfortable, quiet and
concentrated way, and try not to affect their learning mood because of these things.
Second, parents should be supervisors and administrators. As housekeepers are
eager to cultivate their children’s ability of independent learning, they still need to do a
good job in supervision and management. On the one hand, parents should supervise
their children to attend classes on time and finish their homework conscientiously. On
the other hand, they should also supervise their children to use the Internet correctly
and find and correct the bad behaviors in the use of Internet media in time. For
example, addicting to online games, online novels, online shopping and other behav-
iors, which are unrelated to learning or excessive use of the Internet for entertainment.
Third, parents should be communicators and adjusters. Parents should pay more
attention to students’ learning situation and effect. After finding the problem, they can
use QQ, WeChat, telephone and other contact information to communicate with the
teacher in a timely manner. When parents find their children’s learning pressure is too
high, they should pay more attention to their children and guide them from the side to
reduce their pressure.
424 H. Yuan et al.

3.4 School Level Suggestions

Not every teacher can quickly master the use of online teaching platform. The school
should provide online teaching platform and tool training for teachers to ensure that
teachers understand all teaching processes and operations before teaching and make
full preparation. For example, providing teachers with an appropriate number of
teaching assistants to help teachers do a good job in technology and other work. The
purpose is to let professional people do professional things, so as to better improve
efficiency and quality.
The school shall establish a teaching team according to the school section, grade
and discipline, make class arrangement and prepare lessons in coordination. Each team
can select online lesson preparation platform and software according to conditions and
activity needs to support the development of online lesson preparation activities, such
as video conference platform, cloud lesson preparation platform, social media (such as
QQ group), etc. The establishment of teaching team can not only lighten the teaching
burden of each teacher, but also concentrate the excellent resources of the school and
give each student higher water quality education.

4 Model Prediction and Feedback

4.1 Initial Model of Online Learning
In this paper, a daily follow-up survey is carried out on the online learning of a junior
high school class in Hubei Province. The teachers in this class assess and grade
students’ attendance, homework or examination, and teaching completion in online
learning (full score is 10 points, once in two days). Record the initial learning situation
of students just 20 days as the initial sample. Details as shown in the Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Record of students’ initial online learning.

 Effect Analysis and Method Suggestions of Online Learning 425

From the line chart in Fig. 2, it can be intuitively found that students are enthu-
siastic about online learning at the beginning, attendance and homework are good, and
teachers’ teaching completion is only about half. With the increase of online learning
time, the students’ attendance and homework situation show a slow downward trend,
and the teachers’ teaching completion grows slowly.

4.2 Model Prediction After Online Learning Improvement

If readers refer to the above measures to improve students’ online learning effect
according to the actual situation, students’ online learning effect will be improved.
Continue to quantify the online learning effect of students from three directions of
attendance, assignment or examination, and teaching completion. The following pre-
diction will be made for the learning situation of 20 days with improvement measures,
as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Multi-angle demonstration of plane three-view to 3D model.

It can be seen from Fig. 3 that after the improvement of online learning, students’
attendance, homework and teachers’ teaching completion will be gradually improved,
showing a slow growth trend.

4.3 Questionnaire Feedback

In order to verify whether the above-mentioned countermeasures and suggestions to
improve the online learning effect of students are recognized and feasible, this paper
adopts the method of questionnaire survey, and randomly selects 800 students, teachers
and parents from 30 primary and middle schools in Hubei Province. The above sug-
gestions are simplified and classified into 10 suggestions (10 points for each, 100 points
in total), Students, teachers and parents are randomly selected and scored one by one.
In addition to the invalid questionnaires, in the remaining 721 valid questionnaires, the
proportion of people in different score segments were counted as shown in the Fig. 4.
426 H. Yuan et al.

Fig. 4. Statistical chart of questionnaire scores.

Figure 4 shows that 51% of the students scored higher than 60 on the above
suggestions for improving students’ online learning, which shows that more than half
of them think that these measures have certain effect and can be implemented.

5 Conclusion

Based on the impact of public epidemic on students’ education in China, this paper
analyzes the effect of online learning, and puts forward effective suggestions and
solutions to improve the effect of online learning. This paper analyzes the problems
existing in the online learning effect of the more common students and puts forward
targeted improvement measures, including more general countermeasures and sug-
gestions. This paper also uses the methods of questionnaire survey, prediction analysis
and so on, through the investigation and Research on the students of primary and
secondary schools and colleges in Hubei Province, it shows that the poor online
learning effect of students is the prominent problem in the current online education. It
also forecasts and compares the online learning efficiency of the students before and
after taking the suggestions in the paper, and verifies the recognition and feasibility of
the suggestions in the paper. This paper hopes to help improve the online learning
effect of students.

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 Effective Blended Learning – A Taxonomy
of Key Factors Impacting Design Decisions

Hanlie Smuts1(&) and Corlia Smuts2

1
Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
hanlie.smuts@up.ac.za
2
Department of Humanities Education, University of Pretoria,
Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract. One of the keys to effective 21st century teaching is to integrate

traditional pedagogical methods with the effective use of technology to foster
student-centred learning. These increasingly sophisticated technologies are
deployed in learning solutions, blending teaching techniques, learning styles,
and delivery methods while creating a need for educators to gain new skills to
meaningfully engage with these tools. The requirement is to scale blended
learning and to design learning experiences that take full advantage of the digital
platforms. This study presents a taxonomy with its dimensions and character-
istics of the key factors impacting blended learning design. Such a taxonomy is
useful not only for describing key factors impacting blended learning design, but
also as a professional development tool for educators to increase efficacy of
teaching and learning design. We constructed the taxonomy through a classi-
fication process following the taxonomy development approach of Nickerson
et al.

Keywords: Educational technology
Blended learning
e-Learning

Taxonomy

1 Introduction

The world is experiencing revolutionary advances in technology labelled the 4th

Industrial Revolution (4IR) [1, 2] and with the evolution of digital technologies, many
opportunities realise through its application [3]. Both from a commercial perspective,
as well as a knowledge and skill outlook perspective, digital technologies creates two
possibilities: firstly, they provide multiple options for an organisation to embrace
digital transformation [4] and secondly, they enable a world of visual and experiential
learning in order to enhance skills and knowledge [5, 6].
For visual and experiential learning, many online platforms have bundled solutions
to facilitate team-based learning, yet emerging learning spaces programmed in exten-
ded reality (XR) have the potential to create more engaging and personal experiences
for students than any current developments in online course design [7, 8]. Blended
learning designs to date are defined by the proportions of face-to-face versus online
coursework, including media-rich elements [9]. The requirement is to scale blended

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 428–441, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_48
 Effective Blended Learning 429

learning and to design learning experiences that take full advantage of these digital
platforms [8].
However, there is evidence in the literature that there is a lack of research inves-
tigating the effectiveness of computer-based instruction [10]. Some issues highlighted
include lack of knowledge of the environment of computer-based instruction and
virtual learning, and lack of knowledge and understanding regarding pedagogical
issues and challenges in the context of computer-based instruction [11]. Furthermore,
some educators are unable to use technology tools effectively to create a blended
teaching- and learning environment without a clear understanding of the relationship
between pedagogical knowledge and the role e-learning tools play as a medium for
teaching and learning [12].
This study aims to consider the key factors impacting blended learning design. The
primary research question that this study aims to address is: “What are the key factors
impacting effective blended learning design for education?”. This was achieved
through a review of the literature focusing on educational technology (Ed-Tech) and
blended learning, and we used Nickerson et al.’s classification method for developing a
taxonomy [15]. By applying the taxonomy of the key factors impacting blended
learning design, educators will be able to increase efficacy of teaching- and learning
design, as well as understand where they need to focus their own skills improvement.
Section 2 of this paper provides the background to the study and the approach to
this study is discussed in Sect. 3. Section 4 provides an overview of the taxonomy
development process, as well as the taxonomy of the key factors impacting blended
learning design. Section 5 illustrates application of the taxonomy and Sect. 6 concludes
the paper.

2 Background

Teaching practices are evolving, as student-centered approaches to instruction guides

course design, accelerating the need for strategically planned teaching and instruction
[8]. Consequently, the role of the educator has shifted – from a presenter of knowledge
to a facilitator and curator [16]. This shift in role, further enabled by Ed-Tech, has
completely reshaped the education landscape and required educators to implement
more technology based teaching tools within and without the classroom [16].
In the following sections, we consider this shift in teaching practice and blended
learning, as well as the impact of Ed-Tech.

2.1 Teaching Practice and Blended Learning

As technology has developed and now proliferates all areas of society, it is also
impacting education and learning – specifically blended learning [13, 16]. Blended
learning refers to innovative- and adaptable methods of education, teaching and
learning through the usage of technological tools which allows learning to be student-
centered and improve a students’ interaction with the material [17]. These methods are
informed by the type of technology, the system of delivery, and educational- and
communication paradigms [16]. Research has shown that a blended-learning approach
430 H. Smuts and C. Smuts

can greatly benefit students seeing as it combines online teaching and learning with in-
class teaching and classroom time [18], allowing students to interact with the material
comfortably at home, while more conventional content can be focused on in the
classroom [16, 19].
One of the keys to effective 21st century teaching is to balance traditional peda-
gogical methods with the effective use of technology to foster learning [20]. Learning
solutions are designed and deployed using increasingly sophisticated technology,
creating a need for educators to gain new skills to meaningfully engage with those tools
[20]. Therefore, professional development supporting the use of digital tools has
evolved into collaborations with instructional design teams and other professionals in
the learning science field, accelerating the application of new teaching practices [8].
The teaching practice impact on students entails increased collaboration, 24/7 access to
learning, “flipping” the classroom (move direct instruction from the group learning
space to the individual learning space), personalized educational experiences, attention-
grabbing lessons, etc. [21]. For educators, impact lies in automated grading, classroom
management tools, and paperless classrooms [22].

2.2 Impact of Ed-Tech

Seeing as technology is developing continuously, the concept of blended learning is
also ever changing and dynamic [11]. It is therefore required that educators develop
and acquire the skills necessary to navigate among the multiple options of interactive
content technology, technologies that provide instant feedback [23], technologies with
diagnostics capability for identifying student needs [24], technologies enabling learning
assessment and storing of student work (student management systems), etc. [9].
However, successful blended learning, is more than a simple integration of information
and communication technologies with face-to-face approaches [25]. With a student-
centered construction of blended learning, the choices of what and when to blend are
key [25]. Therefore, processes are required where educators are engages and supported
to select fit-for-purpose Ed-Tech with the aim to facilitate and support teaching and
learning [26].
Without sufficient access to sustained support and the tools and resources essential
in the design of a student-centered environment, instructors are challenged to create
these experiences on their own [14]. Furthermore, the myriad of Ed-Tech tools to
consider such as software applications, web tools, data platforms and mobile appli-
cations, further amplifies the educator challenge and requires support to navigate and
chose the best options [27].

2.3 Existing Technological Pedagogical Frameworks

Developing theory for educational technology is a complex endevour, because it
requires a detailed understanding of complex relationships that are contextually bound.
Moreover, it is difficult to study the cause and effect when educators, classrooms,
politics, and curriculum goals vary from case to case [28]. Considering Ed-Tech,
several theoretical frameworks are suitable for the evaluation of technology adoption
such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [29], the extended Technology
 Effective Blended Learning 431

Acceptance Model (TAM2) [30] and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology (UTAUT) [31]. Although these frameworks deal with a number of vari-
ables like perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, performance expectancy,
facilitating conditions, social influence, etc., they do not consider pedagogical attri-
butes. The SAMR model uses 4 classifications: substitution (technology provides a
substitute for other learning activities without functional change), augmentation
(technology provides a substitute for other learning activities but with functional
improvements), modification (technology allows the learning activity to be redesigned)
and redefinition (allows for the creation of tasks that could not have been done without
the use of the technology). Learning activities that fall within the substitution and
augmentation classifications are said to enhance learning, while learning activities that
fall within the modification and redefinition classifications are said to transform
learning [32].
Mishra and Koehler [28] conducted a design experiment aimed at understanding
educators’ development toward enhanced uses of technology, while developing
teaching with technology. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge model
(TPACK), is a concept created to assist in explaining sets of knowledge that educators
need in order to teach to their students and effectively use technology in their teaching
[28]. TPACK is a technology integration framework that identifies three types of
knowledge which educators need to combine for successful Ed-Tech integration,
namely; technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge [28].
Before the taxonomy of the key factors impacting blended learning design is
presented, the research approach is discussed.

3 Research Approach

The objective of this paper was to design a taxonomy of the key factors impacting
blended learning design. Firstly, we present an overview of the taxonomy development
approach where after we share the taxonomy development process.

3.1 Taxonomy Development Approach

Nickerson et al. studied classification in IS [15] and as main contribution of their work,
they defined a taxonomy, as well as proposed a classification method for a taxonomy
[15]. The classification approach of Nickerson et al. [15] is an iterative method that
commences with determining the meta-characteristics and determining the ending
conditions. The meta-characteristics should be determined by the overall purpose of the
taxonomy and Nickerson et al. defined the ending conditions as being objective or
subjective. Objective ending conditions included confirmation that a representative
sample of objects has been examined, and no object was merged or split in the last
iteration of the taxonomy development approach; no new dimensions or characteristics
were added in the last iteration of the taxonomy development approach, and no
dimensions or characteristics were merged or split and at least one object is classified
under every characteristic of every dimension (no ‘null’ characteristics). Subjective
432 H. Smuts and C. Smuts

ending conditions relate to conciseness, robustness, comprehensiveness, extendibility

and explanatory of the dimensions and characteristics classified [15].
In an empirical-to-conceptual iteration, the researcher identifies a subset of objects
that have to be classified, and from an investigation of the objects, characteristics are
identified. These characteristics are then refined into dimensions. In a conceptual-to-
empirical iteration, the dimensions of the taxonomy are conceptualized in a deductive-,
and often intuitive, way that is based on the researcher’s knowledge. These dimensions
are then refined by adding characteristics that allow for the classification of objects. It is
necessary to note that for the development of a taxonomy, both types of iterations may
be adopted, for instance, the first iteration might be conceptual-to-empirical, and a next
iteration that refines the taxonomy could be empirical-to-conceptual. The iterations are
performed until the ending conditions are met.

3.2 Taxonomy Development Process

In order to develop the taxonomy, we followed a number of steps. Firstly, we identified
potentially relevant articles using a keyword search with the terms “characteristic” and
“technology tool” and “higher education” and “student” and (“efficiency” or “effec-
tiveness”). The keyword search was executed in common academic databases. We
considered peer-reviewed journals and conference papers and identified 311 papers.
Secondly, we screened the identified set of papers and extracted 105 papers as we
excluded non-English papers, duplicates, and papers that did not contribute any con-
sidered key factors impacting educational technology decisions related to designing
blended learning. We concluded a detailed screening of abstracts and analysis of the
full text of the prospective papers and created a dataset (Appendix 1) that we utilized
for the systematic development of the taxonomy dimensions and characteristics based
on Nickerson et al.’s [15] taxonomy development method. This taxonomy development
process [33, 34] was executed through a number of steps: firstly, we defined the meta-
characteristics as the dimensions of blended learning design choices. We adopted
Mishra and Koehler’s [28] TPACK classification i.e. technology knowledge, content
knowledge and pedagogical knowledge (Sect. 2.3), and framed our meta-characteristic
therein. We proceeded through 4 iterations until all the extracted papers in our dataset
were classified and the ending conditions were fulfilled as specified by Nickerson et al.
[15].
In terms of the iterations, we initially adopted a conceptual-to-empirical iteration
and integrated taxonomy dimensions identified in the literature review. The second,
third and fourth iterations were empirical-to-conceptual and led to the classification of
all the extracted papers in our dataset guided by the key factors impacting Ed-Tech
decisions related to blended learning design. In these iterations, additional dimensions
were identified namely how student learning takes place, student experience required,
educator skills required, educator and students beliefs and attitudes and contextual
determinants. We describe each dimension in the taxonomy in detail in the results
section of the paper.
Lastly, we performed a thematic analysis for each dimension of the taxonomy to
identify, analyse and report patterns or characteristics within the data [35]. The purpose
of a thematic analysis is to interpret and organise the data in order to identify patterns or
 Effective Blended Learning 433

themes, emphasizing both organization and rich description of the data set and theo-
retically inform interpretation of meaning [36, 37]. We followed an iterative approach
identifying patterns of themes until all characteristics in a particular taxonomy
dimension were classified (Appendix 2).
In the next section, the design of the taxonomy of the key factors impacting
educational technology decisions related to designing blended learning, is discussed.

4 Results: Taxonomy for Key Factors Impacting Ed-Tech

Decisions Related to Blended Learning Design

The purpose of this study is to present a taxonomy of the key factors impacting blended
learning design. In Fig. 1 the taxonomy of key factors impacting blended learning
design is depicted consisting of eight dimensions, and each dimension with two to six
distinct characteristics.

Fig. 1. Taxonomy of key factors impacting blended learning design.

In blended learning design, content knowledge refers to the core requirement of an

educator in terms of teaching a particular topic. The content knowledge dimension
refers to a complete understanding of the subject knowledge and considers the ques-
tion: what content knowledge must the educator have to adequately meet the needs of
students while making a variety of knowledge available to them? The application of
content knowledge in blended learning design should promote the adaptation of
teaching and learning content to meet the needs and curiosities of a diverse population
of students. Variety guides an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging
students with the course material through multiple methods e.g. role plays, discussion
boards, etc. Certain concepts may not readily be available for reflection, learning and
434 H. Smuts and C. Smuts

critique and these concepts must be considered when content knowledge is applied for
blended learning design.
For an educator to effectively convey their content knowledge, they also need to be
in the possession of the appropriate pedagogical knowledge. Pedagogical knowledge
points to the how of teaching, in other words what, the best methods of teaching
content knowledge are that ensures that learning takes place and answers the question:
what are the best methods for enriching he learning experience and assessing whether
the content knowledge had been effectively taught? Learning objectives focus attention
on, and awareness of the importance of what is to be learned. Learning approach
entails the combination of different kinds of teaching materials (auditory, visual and
kinesthetic materials) enabling the improvement and enhancement of the learning
process. To be remembered, new information must be enriched and meaningfully
connected to prior knowledge, and it must first be remembered in order to be learned.
Assessment comprises of the ways in which students are assessed and evaluated,
aligned to the learning outcomes. This is a powerful characteristic as it affects the ways
students study and learn. Interaction promotes learning as it encourages communica-
tion and engagement among faculty, educators and students and is a means to provide
feedback to students on their learning.
Seeing as blended-learning constitutes the effective incorporation of Ed-Tech tools
into the teaching- and learning process, the educator needs to be familiar with- and be
well acquainted with technical knowledge regarding the usage of Ed-Tech tools.
Technology knowledge denotes the knowledge and ability to use Ed-Tech in combi-
nation with the relevant content- and pedagogical knowledge to create a blended-
learning environment and answers the question: how to access and use these Ed-Tech
tools and which skills or knowledge are needed to do so? The knowledge and skill
characteristic refers to the skills and technology resources required to effectively
integrate Ed-Tech into blended learning design. Mobile technologies enable mobility
and has reduced the dependence on fixed locations for work and study, as well as
accommodated synchronous and/or asynchronous communication. The proliferation of
digital technologies enable multiple usage options such as immersive experiences,
virtual reality, natural language processing, automatic speech recognition, etc. Irre-
spective of the usage options chosen, the ability to save and recycle materials previ-
ously created or annotated reinforces and extends the learning over a sequence of
lessons. Having access to prior lessons may help students build on prior knowledge and
educators locate and diagnose misconceptions. The access characteristic considers
accessibility to material that students may require e.g. internet, web, internet sources
etc. Additionally, the educator must also have sufficient knowledge on how certain
tools operate and how to gain access thereto in order to guide students to be able to do
the same. Furthermore, learning should not be impaired by malfunction of learning
tools or information sources.
In order for learning objectives to be met, educators need to be familiar with how
students learn. The how student learning takes place dimension focuses on creating
meaningful learning experiences for students, and addresses the question: how to teach
for effective learning to take place? The meaningfulness characteristic refers to the
notion that learning is more effective and efficient when students have explicit, rea-
sonable, positive goals, and when their goals fit well with the educator’s goals. Apart
 Effective Blended Learning 435

from including collaborative, interactive, media-rich and personalised learning in

blended learning design, an adequate pace – that may be managed with technology - in
a lesson is important to the overall lesson success. Efficacy points to the meaningful
organisation of information to ensure that it is more likely to be retained, learned, and
used.
The importance of how students experience learning cannot be overlooked and a
rapport between the educator and the students must be established so that the students’
experiences can inform the teaching process. Student experience required refers to
solving the problem surrounding how students experience learning and considers the
question: how can interaction between students be fostered while improving their
performance and sustaining their motivation to learn? The problem solving charac-
teristic guides educators to design blended learning that is compatible with student
determined objectives while identifying and addressing the challenges students are
facing when attempting to learn with Ed-Tech tools. Furthermore, blended learning
design needs to avoid over-reliance on technology and avoid the “lone student” syn-
drome where all possible interpersonal interactions are eliminated during the learning
process. Student interaction highlights more opportunities for feedback, reflection and
general support throughout the learning cycle between educators and students enabled
through Ed-Tech. In addition, it enables interaction opportunities among students and
learning communities, students and materials, and students and technology. Motivation
focuses on the potential Ed-Tech offers students to own their own learning by
embracing the opportunities available for transparent, collective-oriented learning
processes. Blended learning design in the context of motivation must therefore aim to
increase autonomy in learning, provide easy access to learning materials and act as a
guide for both the educator and the student. Student performance may be impacted by
Ed-Tech supporting the provision of information and resources to students. This
characteristic focuses create better understanding by clarifying basic concepts in order
to increase student success.
For educators to be able to achieve a sustainable and enriched blended-learning
environment, they need to be in the possession of a certain skill set to be able to make
the correct decision and execute the most effective teaching- and learning processes.
Educator skills consideration denotes the ability that an educator has or needs to
develop and considers the question: what are the skills needed to make the best,
informed choices regarding the institution of a blended-learning environment? Com-
munication from and educator perspective refers to the prompt and effective giving of
feedback and the development of reciprocity and cooperation among students.
Creativity, knowledge, and skills allow educators to utilize Ed-Tech’s ability to address
multiple acumens in order to differentiate instruction and to create a new learning
environment that enables better personalization of the learning process. Efficacy refers
to the more efficient use of the time by balancing levels of intellectual challenge and
instructional support, while keeping track of deliverables. The understanding charac-
teristic highlights that a student is not merely a consumer of content and materials, but
an active participant in the learning process engaged and motivated through interac-
tivity and collaboration. Learning tool specificity is fostered through an understanding
that an information source provides results of direct relevance to a learning task
accompanied by little irrelevant information. Educators need to manage their own
436 H. Smuts and C. Smuts

capability to utilize Ed-Tech features to completely transform student achievement by

implementing Ed-Tech purposefully. Furthermore, educator development need to take
full advantage of the pedagogical affordances of technology, and develop a dynamic
understanding of the features of Ed-tech, as well as learn how to interact fluidly with it
during instruction.
Educators have certain preconceptions about how all educators and their students
experience a blended-learning environment and these beliefs and judgements inform
the choices that they make whether these attitudes reflect reality or not. Beliefs and
attitudes points to an educators’ judgement regarding the thoughts and beliefs of others
when it comes to using Ed-Tech tools for teaching and learning, and answers the
question: what are the beliefs of educators when it comes to their own and their
students’ experiences when it comes to technology? The fact that students utilise sig-
nificant screen time does not imply that the use of a learning tool or information source
is intrinsically pleasurable, that intellectual stimulation results from using a learning
tool or information source or that the information about a learning domain captured by
a learning tool or information source is complete.
The application of Ed-Tech tools are dependent on a wide range of variables
originating from the environment surrounding an educational institution. Contextual
determinants therefore refers to the physical factors that need to be taken into account
when decisions are made regarding the institution of a blended-learning environment
and considers the question: what are the contextual determinants that will influence the
Ed-Tech choices that need to be made? It must be acknowledged that the characteristics
related to the contextual determinants dimension are based on the papers that were
extracted and classified. Characteristics identified through our classification process
included accessibility (internet, web, internet sources, information source access any-
where, anytime), affordability (cost of Ed-tech ownership, total cost of education),
environment (computing facilities, relationship between class size and efficacy of
instruction, etc.) and policy (balance between promoting experimentation, working
with student consent, and achieving transparency). Culture norms play an important
role in how Ed-Tech is incorporated in education and is impacted by the homogeneity
and diversity in computer usage, as well as students’ background. Skill determinants
focus on different capabilities of electronic learning and the adjustment to a digital
environment, bringing in new curricula based on real world problems.
In the next section we share the application of the taxonomy with two exemplary
studies.

5 Using the Proposed Taxonomy of Key Factors Impacting

Blended Learning Design

The aim of this study was to present a taxonomy of the key factors impacting blended
learning design. The taxonomy presented in the previous section could be applied as a
professional development tool to guide new blended learning design, or to evaluate an
existing design and close potential gaps. Figure 2 and 3 show how an exemplary
module design was mapped as application of the proposed taxonomy. A practicing
Further Education and Training (FET) teacher was supplied with the taxonomy and
 Effective Blended Learning 437

asked to map out her blended learning application. She utilised a typical red-amber-
green (RAG) notation and assessed her module pre-COVID lockdown (Fig. 2) and the
same module during COVID lockdown (Fig. 3) as adjustments were required as no
face-to-face contact was possible. The characteristics that were able to be executed
effectively and occurred often, were indicated alongside those who were less effective
followed by identifying problem areas or characteristics which are lacking. Those
aspects that were executed well and which the teacher managed were indicated as green
whereas those that needed improvement and/or refinement were indicated amber.
Aspects that were absent, or severely lacking were labelled red seeing as they were
identified as being areas not supported in her blended learning design.

Fig. 2. Exemplary study mapped with the Fig. 3. Exemplary study mapped with the
proposed taxonomy using heat map notation proposed taxonomy using heat map notation
– before COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. – during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Seeing as the learners were unable to attend school, their most immediate need was
to continue to receive schooling without physically attending classes. The impact on
blended learning design is illustrated above where that which was effective versus areas
that are problematic could be identified such as in the case of variety (changed from
green to red). Due to the COVID lockdown circumstance, certain choices had to be
made regarding the curriculum and what is teachable. Some topic areas needed to be
removed to accommodate the new learning circumstances. This also impacted
assessment seeing as all examinations were cancelled and assessment needed to be
completed in a simpler manner by using a single summative tool.
When schooling returns to normal, this assessment against the taxonomy may be
revisited and adapted to another change in circumstance.

6 Conclusion

In this study we presented a taxonomy of the key factors impacting blended learning
design. The taxonomy was developed by applying Nickerson et. al’s [15] taxonomy
development process.
438 H. Smuts and C. Smuts

A taxonomy of key factors impacting blended learning design, consisting of 8

dimensions, were defined. Each taxonomy dimension consists of two to six charac-
teristics. Such a taxonomy is useful not only for describing key factors impacting
blended learning design, but also as a professional development tool for educators to
increase efficacy of teaching and learning design. In order to illustrate the application of
the taxonomy, an example assessment against the taxonomy using the heat map
notation, was shared. The FET teacher reflected that it was a useful tool to identify what
worked out well and what still needed further attention. She also mentioned that the
fact that adjustments had to be made due to COVID-19 lockdown (red characteristics),
the taxonomy highlighted potential risk areas that need to be attended to until such time
as proper blended learning design may be applied again.
The characteristics of the first version taxonomy is quite coarse and further
refinement of the classification may be implemented in future research. A study that
specifically evaluates the applicability of the taxonomy across different teaching and
learning initiatives may also be considered. Furthermore, the impact of the COVID-19
impact on blended learning design and how it impacts the 8 taxonomy dimensions, may
be considered for further study.

Appendix 1 - Dataset Created from Papers Identified (Extract)

Paper title Key factors Reference

Podcasting: a new technological tool to • Encourages contact between [38]
facilitate good practice in higher education students and faculty,
• Develops reciprocity and
cooperation among students,
• Encourages active learning,
• Gives prompt feedback,
• Emphasizes time on task,
• Communicates high
expectations,
• Respects diverse talents and
ways of learning
• Active learning,
• Prompt feedback
• More efficient use of the time
Note: where negatively formulated key factors were extracted, it was denoted with an “(N)”
 Effective Blended Learning 439

Appendix 2 - Classification During Taxonomy Development Process

(Extract)

Reference Key factors Dimension Characteristic

[39] Learner-centered Learner Learner performance
experience
required
[40] (N) preventing the lone–learner Learner Learner challenges/areas
syndrome interaction during the experience for
learning process required improvement/problem
solving
[11] Access to material Learner Learner motivation
experience
required

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 Effective Utilization of the Constructivist
Web-Based Learning Environment Model
to Enhance Human Learning Efficiency
Based on Brain-Based Learning

Wanwisa Wannapipat1(&) and Sumalee Chaijaroen2

1
Communication Arts Division, International College, Khon Kaen University,
123 Moo 16 Mittraphap Rd., Muang District, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
wanwwa@kku.ac.th
2
Educational Technology Division, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, 123 Moo 16 Mittraphap Rd., Muang District,
Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand

Abstract. This presents the effective utilization and procedures for model use
of the constructivist web-based learning environment model to enhance human
learning efficiency based on brain-based learning. The Model Research Type II
[1] phrase 3 Model Use was explored by Survey Research and Case Study in
topics of 1) model use procedures 2) factors achieving model use and 3) model
use achievements which illustrated as brain- based learning (BBL), learner’s
multiple intelligence (ML), relationship between ML and learning achievement,
and learner opinion. The procedures, BBL, and opinion were examined by an in-
depth interview while self-assessment was for ML and tests for achievements.
The results showed procedures as 1) introducing learners to connect prior and
new knowledge; 2) grouping them to share and elaborate thoughts; 3) learning
with designed components as (1) Problem base (2) Resources (3) Meaningful
experiences base (4) Collaboration base (5) Relaxing Room (6) Entertainment
Corner (7) Brain Gym (8) Multiple Intelligences Room and (9) Scaffolding
bases; and 4) reflexing knowledge to adjust conceptual thinking. The factors
achieving model use resulted from context of designer, developer, learners, and
teacher. The achievements illustrated by learner’s 12 BBL principles; ML
highest value was in language or x = 5.11; while relationship between ML and
achievement showed Positive Correlations at 0.88 level or 0.88 statistical sig-
nificance. They satisfied with clear, direct, reachable, discoverable learning
content, web-based learning, and model designed by pictures, animations,
videos, graphs, navigators with icons and links.

Keywords: Constructivist web-based learning environment model
Multiple

intelligences
Brain-based learning

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 442–452, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_49
 Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 443

1 Introduction

The knowledge society is becoming complex. As well, the technology has been de-
veloping in various ways which affects people’s life that requires an ability to collab-
orate and compete. A language barrier is one of the important factors that most learners
have faced with. English language should be used as a medium in academic com-
munication [2]. Although English is needed, many learners cannot produce or use it
well. The learning style could be a reason for that challenge that must be improved and
updated. A learner must be able to be adaptive to the changing of the world. They
cannot be just a passive one, but an active and skilled. Constructivism is the learning
theory that mainly on knowledge construction made by the active learners through
connecting the prior knowledge and new experiences. The knowledge construction
made by the active learners is from the way of discovery, study, experiment, and
inspection among their learner groups [3]. Likewise, Brain-Based Learning with 12
principles is learning design based on brain processes [4]. This compatible with media
symbol system and attributions that emphasizing mental model construction [5].
Hence, the results of this study could be the evidence of effective utilization and
procedures for model use of the constructivist web-based learning environment mod-el
to enhance human learning efficiency based on brain-based learning that important to
the complexity of the current world. The research was then aimed to study the effective
utilization and procedures for model use of the constructivist web-based learning
environment model to enhance human learning efficiency based on brain-based
learning.

2 Literature Review
2.1 Constructivism
Constructivism is the learning theory that believes in the cognitive process that learners
construct their own knowledge through experience meaningfully [6]. Also, Construc-
tivism is defined as the method of learning that the learners actively construct their own
learning experience or as their new knowledge [7]. This consistent with the belief that
Constructivism encourages the learners to construct the knowledge and through cog-
nitive processes where highlighting on the active learners by connecting the prior
knowledge with the new knowledge and elaborate the schema [3]. So, Constructivism
is the learning theory which mainly focuses on knowledge construction made by the
active learners through connecting the prior knowledge and new experiences. The
knowledge construction made by the active learners is from the way of discovery,
study, experiment, and inspect among their learner groups. It encourages the learners to
construct the knowledge and through cognitive processes where highlights on the
active learners by connecting the prior knowledge with the new knowledge and
elaborate the schema.
444 W. Wannapipat and S. Chaijaroen

2.2 Brain-Based Learning

Brain-Based Learning is defined as the teaching method and learning design that are
based on how the brain learns, including cognitive development and the way the
students learn differently as they mature socially, emotionally, and cognitively. It is the
learning process that based on 12 principles as 1) Brain is a parallel processor 2)
Learning engages the entire physiology 3) The search for meaning is innate 4) The
search for meaning occurs through patterning 5) Emotions are critical to patterning 6)
Every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes 7) Learning
involves both focused attention and peripheral attention 8) Learning always involves
conscious and unconscious processes 9) We have at least two types of memory sys-
tems: spatial and rote learning 10) The brain understands and remembers best when
facts and skills are 11) embedded in natural spatial memory and 12) Every brain is
unique [4].

2.3 Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences refer the intelligence nature that learners use them to solve
problems and construct various outcomes. Each individual learner has a different level
of dependent multiple intelligences. This theory relates human potentials or abilities in
as 8 intelligences as 1) Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence 2) Logical/Mathematical Intel-
ligence 3) Visual/Spatial Intelligence 4) Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence 5) Musical
Intelligence 6) Interpersonal Intelligence 7) Intrapersonal Intelligence and 8) Naturalist
Intelligence [8].

3 Purposes

The research was aimed to study the effective utilization and procedures for model use
of the constructivist web-based learning environment model to enhance human learning
efficiency based on brain-based learning.

4 Research Methodology
4.1 Research Scope
The Model Research Type II consisting 3 phrases as Phrase 1 Model Development
Phrase 2 Model Validation and Phrase 3 Model Use. However, this study, Phrase 3
Model Use was explored by Survey Research and Case Study in topics of 1) model use
procedures 2) factors achieving model use and 3) achievements of model use which
defined as (1) brain- based learning (BBL), (2) learner’s multiple intelligence (ML),
(3) relationship between ML and learning achievement, and (4) learner opinion. In
addition, in phrase 1 Model Development, the survey of learners’ context, analysis and
synthesis of theoretical and designing frameworks as well as developing of the model
(web-based learning environment) were conducted; while in phrase 2 Model Validation
in terms of internal and external validation was examined.
 Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 445

4.2 Target Group

The target group was the 35 students majored Information and Technology who reg-
istered in English for Science course.

4.3 Research Design

Regarding Model Research Type II [1], research phrase 1 Model Use by Survey re-
search and Case study was employed.

4.4 Research Instruments

To find the effective utilization and procedures for model use, various instruments were
used.
1. The constructivist web-based learning environment model to enhance human
learning efficiency based on brain-based learning was used as learning model. It
resulted from the expert examining in research phrase 1 and 2.
2. A recording form used to record procedures of model use.
3. An interviewing form in unstructured interview style for the purpose of collecting
learner’s protocol in about model use.
4. Self-assessment report for learner’s multiple intelligences. Since the human learning
efficiency in this study was theoretically designed as learning achievement and
multiple intelligences.
5. The achievement tests to evaluate their achievement in the course topic Dealing
with Problem due to the analysis that human learning efficiency in this study was
theoretically designed as learning achievement and multiple intelligences.

4.5 Data Collection and Analysis

The model was examined by the experts during phrase 1 and 2. To manage the
classroom for data collection, 35 learners were grouped into 10 groups by 2, 3,4
members each. Then, the introducing was made by guiding the learner how to use the
model and connecting their prior and new knowledge based on the topic Dealing with
Problem. While they were using or learning with the model, the teacher acted as a
coach to guide, enhance, and coach them to discover knowledge by themselves. In the
end of the session, both teacher and learners together concluded the ideas that had
made. After finished, they were assigned to do ML self- assessment report, and
achievement test whereas the target had an interviewing of model use and learning
process.
To analyze the data, descriptive analysis and interpreting methods were used to
study the results of model use, learning process, and opinions meanwhile their ML data
was studied by percentage, mean value, and standard deviation. Furthermore, the
relationship between ML and achievement was done by Correlation Analysis.
446 W. Wannapipat and S. Chaijaroen

5 Results

The study of the Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning

Environment Model to Enhance Human Learning Efficiency Based on Brain-Based
Learning was found the results as the following:

5.1 Procedures of Model Use

The procedures of model use for the Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment
Model to Enhance Human Learning Efficiency Based on Brain-Based Learning
resulted from the study of data scope, designing resources, product characteristics and
model use as the following:
1. Data scope: learners per each learning group as is the appropriate number for
learning with a computer [1]/time allocation for each class: 1.30 h based on the
findings in phrase 1 that all procedures as lesson introducing, prior and new
knowledge elaborating, model using with all 10 components, knowledge reflexing
and cognitive structure.
2. Designing resources: that comprised a) media as text, pictures, video, animation,
sound, and hypermedia based on media attributes b) technology as a computer
supported multimedia and internet connection signal and c) computer programs and
applications as Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop
Illustrator, LINE, Facebook.
3. Product characteristics: product’s types and content as the developed web-based
learning environment model which consisted of 9 components as a) Problem base b)
Resources c) Meaningful experiences base d) Collaboration base e) Relaxing Room
f) Entertainment Corner g) Brain Gym h) Multiple Intelligences Room and
i) Scaffolding bases; while the content was in Dealing with Problems topic.
4. Model use: the data was collected from recording forms along with the inter-
viewing. 4 model use processes were explored as the following: a) they were
introduced to the lesson and model by elaborating prior and new knowledge as a
question to their daily online shopping problems. This was related to their real life
which induced them to have advance organizer in lesson benefits and categorized
their own cognitive structure b) The grouping of learners was fundamentally from
Social constructivism theory in emphasizing ‘Social context learning’. They could
suddenly adjust their cognitive structure while having discussion in groups. Having
3 members showed the best learning outcome that assisted each other and had good
achievement while having 2 members consumed much time and some members
paid low attention in 4-member group c) Learning with the constructivism model by
designed and developed components as 1) Problem base (2) Resources (3) Mean-
ingful experiences base (4) Collaboration base (5) Relaxing Room (6) Entertain-
ment Corner (7) Brain Gym (8) Multiple Intelligences Room and (9) Scaffolding
bases could enrich them to be an active learner since they could be fostered by a
problem and task while provided rich learning environments based on brain- based
learning [4]. They discussed, discovered, worked in group while being in dise-
quilibrium which the teacher guide as a coach and d) In the last step, teacher and
 Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 447

learners together conclude and reflex knowledge in various methods as presenting

in Facebook group and reporting in class presentation where the teacher discussed,
explained, and guided them to have and construct their own knowledge.

5.2 Factors Achieving Model Use

The characteristics context of a designer, developer, teacher, and learners were studied.
They were found as the following: 1) Characteristics of a designer: the designer had
experienced in instructional design in online platforms as well as background in
constructivism learning, media and cognition, and advanced multimedia interaction.
5 designers worked as a team to design the suitable content, storyboard, and screens. 2)
Characteristics of a developer: the developer had background in computer education
and experienced in learning innovation and environments, worked with other 3
developers to develop the model by Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Dreamweaver,
Adobe Photoshop Illustrator. 3) Characteristics of the learners: their context was
researched by the questionnaires in phrase 1 and 2 which found that they had expe-
rience in traditional learning style as lecturing in a classroom but familiar with tech-
nology as a computer, mobile phone, tablet as well as digital literacy as using Microsoft
Office, Google, YouTube, LINE, Facebook, and Email. However, a number showed
that they had slight experience in learning with the constructivist web-based learning
environment model based on brain-based learning as shown in Table 1.

5.3 Factors Achieving Model Use

The characteristics context of a designer, developer, teacher, and learners were studied.
They were found as the following: 1) Characteristics of a designer: the designer had
experienced in instructional design in online platforms as well as background in
constructivism learning, media and cognition, and advanced multimedia interaction.
5 designers worked as a team to design the suitable content, storyboard, and screens. 2)
Characteristics of a developer: the developer had background in computer education
and experienced in learning innovation and environments, worked with other 3
developers to develop the model by Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Dreamweaver,
Adobe Photoshop Illustrator and 3) Characteristics of the learners: their context was
researched by the questionnaires in phrase 1 and 2 which found that they had expe-
rience in traditional learning style as lecturing in a classroom but familiar with tech-
nology as a computer, mobile phone, tablet as well as digital literacy as using Microsoft
Office, Google, YouTube, LINE, Facebook, and Email. However, a number showed
that they had slight experience in learning with the constructivist web-based learning
environment model based on brain-based learning.
448 W. Wannapipat and S. Chaijaroen

Table 1. Learner’s experience.

Learning experience Number Percentage (%)
(n)
Learning theory
Experience in lecturing, demonstration, and 35 100
practicing
Experience in constructivism learning 5 16.67
Learning media
Experience in web- based learning 7 23.33
Experience in learning environment 11 36.67
Experience in learning environment based on brain- 2 6.67
based learning
Technology Experience x SD Performance
level
Experience in a computer, mobile, tablet 4.50 0.57 Very high
Expectations of learning x SD Performance
level
Learner’s expectations of learning 4.39 0.58 Very high

The achievements of model use in terms of brain- based learning (BBL), learner’s
multiple intelligence (ML), relationship between ML and learning achievement, and
learner opinion as that: 1) Brain- based learning (BBL). The learners were interviewed
to have their protocol which found that they had learned through the model by 12 BBL
principle. For example, they could function better after moving bodies, playing
physical games, exercising to reduce stress via brain functions that adrenaline and
cortisol hormone reducing affected the brain capability to input energy as oxygen and
sugar; based on [4]. The situations also made meaning that enhance learning based on
the principle that brain is social interaction and 2) Learner’s multiple intelligence (ML).
They took MI Self- assessment learned with the model. The results were presented in
Fig. 1.

6 5.11
4.26 4.63
5 3.95
3.66 3.6 3.6
4
3
1.77
2
1
0

Fig. 1. Learner’s multiple intelligence (ML).

 Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 449

The multiple intelligences of learners are illustrated in this table that their
verbal/linguistic intelligence was the highest or x = 5. 11. 3) Relationship between
learner’s multiple intelligences and learning achievement. The data from the target was
analyzed by Pearson product moment correlation coefficient as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Relationship between learner’s multiple intelligences and learning achievement.

Learner X Y X2 Y2 XY
1 40 32 1600 1024 1280
2 40 32 1600 1024 1280
3 36 29 1296 841 1044
4 42 35 1764 1225 1470
5 32 24 1024 576 768
6 23 15 529 225 345
7 29 21 841 441 609
8 32 23 1024 529 736
9 31 23 961 529 713
10 27 20 729 400 540
11 27 20 729 400 540
12 26 19 676 361 494
13 23 16 529 256 368
14 27 19 729 361 513
15 33 25 1089 625 825
16 31 23 961 529 713
17 31 23 961 529 713
18 33 24 1089 576 792
19 32 24 1024 576 768
20 26 19 676 361 494
21 30 22 900 484 660
22 33 25 1089 625 825
23 34 26 1156 676 884
24 26 18 676 324 468
25 25 17 625 289 425
26 31 22 961 484 682
27 25 18 625 324 450
28 26 19 676 361 494
29 30 22 900 484 660
30 27 19 729 361 513
31 32 24 1024 576 768
32 30 22 900 484 660
33 35 27 1225 729 945
34 27 20 729 400 540
35 38 30 1444 900 1140
R 1070 797 33490 18889 25119
rxy 0.88
r2 0.77
450 W. Wannapipat and S. Chaijaroen

The results found relationship between learner’s multiple intelligences and learning
achievement that Positive Correlations at 0.88 level or 0.88 statistical significance. The
Correlation Coefficient was at 0.77 level (r2= 0.77) that means the ML value and
achievement score had 77 percent of Covariance. 4) Learner opinion. The interview
was implemented with the learners to have in-depth information based on 3 research
opinion topics as content, web-based learning, and model design. Aspect 1 Content:
they satisfied with the learning situations content which was related to real life. The
content was categorized and inserted hyperlinks to multiple learning resources. It was
also interesting by cartoons, animations, pictures, graphs, VDO. Aspect 2 web-based
learning: the information was presented with architect design with categories. The
icons, navigators, hypertext, hyperlinks, and hypermedia helped them to learn with ease
while able to have discussion through Facebook and LINE. Aspect 3 model design: all
components as Problem base, Resources, Meaningful experiences base, Collaboration
base, Relaxing Room, Entertainment Corner, Brain Gym, Multiple Intelligences Room
and Scaffolding bases could enhance them with ill-structure problem while able to
discover and learn by learning resources. They could construct and related with the
situation VDO in meaningful experience base. The relaxing room, brain gym, and
entertainment corner provided physical activities that release stress and improve pos-
itive feelings. In addition, their MLs were enhanced through ML room where they
could have collaboration with peers and a coach via chatroom and forum anytime.

6 Conclusions and Discussions

The effective utilization of the design and development of the constructivist web-based
learning environment model to enhance human learning efficiency based on brain-
based learning was examined by 1) model use procedures 2) factors achieving model
use and 3) model use achievements which illustrated as brain- based learning (BBL),
learner’s multiple intelligence (ML), and learner opinions. The results showed proce-
dures that are as 1) introducing learners to connect prior and new knowledge; 2)
grouping them to share and elaborate thoughts; 3) learning with designed components
and 4) reflexing knowledge. The model components as (1) Problem base (2) Resources
(3) Meaningful experiences base (4) Collaboration base (5) Relaxing Room
(6) Entertainment Corner (7) Brain Gym (8) Multiple Intelligences Room and
(9) Scaffolding bases were designed which consistent with the study of [9]; and
examined the internal and external validations [10, 11]. They were fundamental from
psychological base, pedagogies base, learning base, media and technologies base, and
contextual base [12] along with the context study in phrase 1 that found they experi-
enced in lecturing and devices while requiring learning with technology enhance
efficiency. The 12 BBL principles were enhanced to learners they could learn effec-
tively based on brain processes. Linguistic intelligence showed the highest number
among 8 ML, it seems they had improved language skills through the model. Fur-
thermore, relationship between ML and achievement showed Positive Correlations
which the ML affected achievement. Once the ML increased, the achievement con-
sistently raised. For instance, the Cortex controls body movement while the model
provides environments that they could exercise, the Occipital in Cerebral Cortex
 Effective Utilization of the Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environment Model 451

functions on visual processing and spatial circumstances. Finally, they satisfied with
clear, direct, reachable, discoverable learning content, web-based learning, and model
designed by pictures, animations, videos, graphs, navigators with icons and links. The
designed and developed model could enhance their efficiency. It is recommended that
other multiple intelligences should be fundamentally designed in the future study
(Figs. 2 and 3).

Fig. 2. Multiple intelligences room. Fig. 3. Brain gym room.

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 Effects of AI Scaffolding on ZPD
in MOOC Instructional RPGs

Clyde A. Warden1 and Judy F. Chen2(&)

1
Marketing Department, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
warden@dragon.nchu.edu.tw
2
Business Administration Department, Overseas Chinese University,
Taichung, Taiwan
jfc@ocu.edu.tw

Abstract. This study conducts development, application, and testing of artifi-

cial intelligence (AI) tools to both monitor learner ZPD and choose appropriate
scaffolding for students in a large class, while students learn- by-doing through a
Role Playing Game (RPG). Machine learning algorithms are developed and
integrated into the cloud-based activity at both the individual and group level.
Decision trees are developed that decide a range of scaffolding to supply indi-
vidual learners and groups. Finally, data are tested across control and test
groups. Research results show that learners in both the blended and fully online
modalities accurately recall mere-exposure scaffolding (MES). Not only do
learners recall seeing the MES, over the eight RPG rounds, they also accurately
recall the main pedagogical message contained in the MES. Learners receiving
MES in an online mode demonstrate more behaviors associating with the core
pedagogical MES message content comparing to those in a blended mode. Fully
online learners more frequently check their group’s online RPG statistics and
status information while also taking more time to prepare group attributes for a
new RPG round.

Keywords: Communication skill
English for mechanical engineering

Workplace
English for specific purposes

1 Introduction

Use of groups and role-playing are common collaborative scaffolding approaches to

facilitate self-regulated learning in blended and online modalities. We explore the
efficacy of the well-known mere-exposure effect, where repeated minimal exposure
increases positive affect, through the implementation of mere-exposure scaffolding
(MES) in the form of low-cost, low-effort, digital messages focused on a core peda-
gogical goal. We test the effect of individual learner MES exposure on group collab-
orative behaviors across blended and fully online delivery modes—collecting group
interactive behavioral trace data. Fully online groups receiving MES show behavior
changes relating to the pedagogical message, while learners in the blended mode recall
the MES message but do not change behaviors related to the MES message. Social
network analysis shows the blended delivery mode constrains learners to follow

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 453–464, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_50
454 C. A. Warden and J. F. Chen

established classroom norms—a concentrated social network with high connectivity. In

contrast, the fully online mode, within a diffuse network, facilitates increased self-
regulated learning that integrates the pedagogical goal targeted by the MES. Mere
exposure is a well-established psychological effect that can change behavior through
repeated exposure to a minimal stimulus [1, 2]. For this study, we combine mere
exposure with scaffolding to implement mere exposure scaffolding (MES). This
approach exposes learners to a core pedagogical goal attempting to positively influence
group interactive behavior without curriculum revision. Through a rigorous experi-
mental design collecting behavioral trace data, we test MES across blended and fully
online modes. Social network analysis is employed to understand the implications of
blended and fully online modalities, extending the work of Shu and Gu [3] who show
differences in social patterns between face-to-face and blended instruction modes.

2 Literature Review

Administrators and instructors are confronted with the question of how much
instructional scaffolding material to move online [4] as well as the differences in
demands between blended and fully online modes [5, 6]. With decreasing face-to-face
contact time and rising electronic mediation, instructors, and increasingly institutions,
must consider the investments of time and money [7, 8]. Ever-increasing levels of
support, both instructional and technical, need to be balanced against finite instructor
and institutional time and resources [9, 10].

2.1 Scaffolding Through Mere Exposure Effect

The mere exposure effect (MEE) simply involves, “making a stimulus available to the
individual’s perception” even at a non-cognitive level [11]. This effect explains how
repeated exposure increases a person’s positive feeling for a stimulus. Children, for
example, after systematic exposure to a particular food adjust their behavior to increase
consumption of that specific food [12], while adults find familiar faces (repeated
exposure) happier than novel ones [13]. The MEE is foundational and pervasive within
the psychology domain, generally, and key to theories of attraction specifically [1, 2].
The effects of MEE are widely substantiated through numerous studies across diverse
domains including diet [14, 15], ethics [16], and art criticism [17]. Currently, sur-
prisingly little research or practice has focused on MEE in the education delivery
context.

2.2 Collaborative Learning Partially and Fully Online

Support for individuals within groups to regulate the collaborative process is not well
understood in the computer supported collaborative learning context [18]. Little data
has been reported on the differences in social network dynamics between fully online
and blended settings employing collaborative learning approaches. Classroom versus
online interaction are shown to differ in their task emphasis through social network
analysis [3]. This approach of social network analysis comes out of computer network
 Effects of AI Scaffolding on ZPD in MOOC Instructional RPGs 455

research and is commonly combined with other research methods in studying net-
worked and collaborative learning [19]. Although not yet widely used in educational
research, this method is perfectly suited to analyzing group collaborative behaviors
online, as in the current study.

2.3 Purpose of the Study

The goal of this study is to quantify the differential impact of MES on learner group
social network tasks across fully online and blended instructional delivery methods.
A rigorous research design tracks group-level behavior in the increasingly popular
delivery modes of blended and fully online. This data collection approach avoids
validity issues of survey approaches in favor of learner behavior trace data, an
important trend in socially shared regulation of learning research [20]. Specifically, we
explore the following research question:
Can individual exposure to MES, targeting a single pedagogical goal, affect group
learning task social behaviors, related to the targeted goal, in blended and fully online
class delivery modes?

3 Method

We design an experiment across two delivery formats, executing a university class

focusing on skill acquisition. The current experimental class design results from a ten-
year development cycle, iteratively adjusted for both blended and fully online delivery
modes, integrating a role-playing game (RPG) where groups of learners seek to make
virtual business agreements—a self-regulated learning context. Commercial negotia-
tion is typical of business classes popular with non-business and business majors alike
for the practical skill focus and cross-discipline applicability. The topic of commercial
negotiation is a suitable research frame for the research question due the class emphasis
on a clear pedagogical goal, task focus, and team-based behaviors, explained next.
The central pedagogical concept of negotiation is goal setting through planning, a
skill that fits well within the average university undergraduate learner’s zone of
proximal development. While not a difficult skill to develop, it is not commonly
associated with negotiation. This core concept is enacted through team planning. It is
this core behavior of planning within a team that is adopted as the target behavior for
the MES of this study to modify.

3.1 Self-regulated Learning Space

Numerous researchers have pointed out the common flow of role-playing games and
self-regulated learning’s stages of preparation, interaction, and reflection [21–25] as
well as paralleling the spirit of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development scaffolding
[26]. The negotiation RPG developed for this experiment draws heavily from pen-and-
paper role-playing games, which is the genesis of modern video RPG games firmly
embedded in the zeitgeists of Generation Z. For example, the most anticipated video
game of 2020 is Cyberpunk 2077, directly adapted from and closely follows the pencil
456 C. A. Warden and J. F. Chen

and paper RPG by Mike Pondsmith and starring Keanu Reeves—RPG video game
production regularly cost as much as major Hollywood films to produce and generate
similar profits for their game studios.
Role-playing games traditionally include the stages of genesis, i.e., character cre-
ation, (parallel to self-regulated learning’s preparation), game world interaction and
elaboration (matching self-regulated learning’s interaction), and character realization,
i.e., actualization, (analogous to self-regulated learning’s reflection) [27]. The RPG
gamemaster (GM), resembles an instructor, preparing fictional circumstances where
players (learners) are free to interact and construct their own space [28, 29] and the
gamemaster is the ultimate arbitrator of any disputes. Both blended and fully online
learners, in groups simulating negotiation teams of virtual companies, interact with
counterpart teams through the RPG, described next.

3.2 Instructional RPG Design

Like table-top RPGs, and the videogame genres they spawned, our simulated negoti-
ation is mathematically based, involving learners in increasing levels of self-efficacy
behaviors as they try to understand the implications of in-game decisions. We have
observed behaviors similar to table-top RPG players who are highly involved in
shaping their in-world characters attempting to achieve the maximum statistical
advantage—a behavior called min-maxing.
Our experiment’s RPG represents character class as either buyer or seller whose
attributes are mirrored in product price and quality, production, inventory capacities,
and delivery times. Lastly, buyers and sellers spend or accrue points in a system
resembling RPG hero point game mechanics. These game intricacies increase task
interdependency, improving player performance over extended iterations of play time
[30]. The online context allows each negotiation RPG round to play out over a week,
followed by instructor feedback and instruction, leading into the next negotiation
round.
This study focuses on the impact of MES messages on behaviors and performance
in blended and fully online modalities where learners are engaged in the negotiation
RPG. The design differences between blended and fully online are limited to direct
teacher contact, while the MES is distributed to a random selection of learners across
both class designs. These experiment design details are covered next.

3.3 Common Class Design

The core instructional focus is on basic business concepts, fundamental negotiation
strategies, and tactics. All instruction in the fully online class mode takes place through
on-demand video lectures. Blended mode learners access the same materials, with
review sessions held in the blended classroom. Identical online quizzes, through the
semester, test lecture comprehension in both modalities over the 18-week semester.
Motivational and volitional e-mail (MVEM) [31, 32] is sent weekly email, fol-
lowing recommended design practice [32], updating and motivating students, keeping
everyone on schedule, and supplying easy to use hyperlinks to class materials. A team
 Effects of AI Scaffolding on ZPD in MOOC Instructional RPGs 457

of teaching assistants responds to any support request over email and the instant
messaging platform Line.

3.4 MES Manipulation

We implement the MES (beginning with the third RPG) embedded within the weekly
update email, sent to each individual learner. The MES manipulation includes an
anamorphic animal graphic (400  200 pixels) with a speech balloon containing the
phrase, “Winners Plan!” This message aligns with the core pedagogical target of
planning before entering a negotiation and is quantified with the two variables of the
RPG behavior tracking data (preparation stage). Learners in control groups receive the
same email, but with a different animal graphic and no pedagogical MES in the speech
balloon.

4 Measures

The current study relies on digital trace data from the online RPG [33, 34], an approach
that is more accurate than self-reported behaviors [35, 36], generating learning ana-
lytics of actual behaviors and more actionable results [37, 38]. We collect six main
variables of trace data across the three main phases of self-regulated learning (see
Table 1).

Table 1. Study constructs and group RPG trace variables.

Construct Trace Explanation
variable
Preparation Intragroup behaviors of building RPG character (min-maxing)
Assemble Hours used to distribute points from dice roll to building the
character skills
Refresh Times online group data is accessed by group members to review
or modify
Interaction Intergroup relationships
Transact Number of agreements (between buyers and sellers) over the six-
day period
Engage Number of hours a group uses until their final deal over the six-
day period
Reflection Post-deal corrections and preparation for future rounds
Adjust Number of agreements canceled or nullified
Parlay Number of point donation to other groups
458 C. A. Warden and J. F. Chen

5 Results

Data from the six trace data variables are collected over eight iterations with 26 groups
in the fully online mode (n = 128) and 12 groups in the blended mode (n = 57). In
total, the groups completed 1,115 simulated business trades (587 fully online and 528
blended negotiation deals). Female learners account for 82% in the fully online mode
and 59% in the blended mode all drawn from across a range of majors and grade levels.
Crucial to the experiment is that the MES manipulation is received by test subjects, but
not control, and test subjects do not communicate the MES content to control subjects,
which we report next.

5.1 Manipulation Check

We check the manipulation through a question included in every weekly online quiz
asking each respondent which animal he/she has seen inside class communications
from the instructor, i.e., the MVEM.

5.2 Social Network Analysis

We next explore the influence of instructional delivery mode on group task social
interaction. Our approach of social network analysis follows [3] analysis of commu-
nication patterns across instructional modalities. The first stage of social network
analysis examines data from each game round followed by a global analysis, allowing
comparison between the two modalities as groups experience a range of game roles
(buyers versus sellers, weak versus strong starting positions, competitive advantage
versus disadvantage). All network analysis uses the software R v3.5.3 [39] and the
package igraph v1.2.4.1 [40].

5.3 RPG Round-Measures

Visual examination of 16 RPG network maps, through force-directed graphs, eight
maps for each of the two delivery modes, shows a consistent difference between
delivery modes and across the eight RPG rounds. The seventh RPG is typical of this
difference (see Figs. 1 and 2), where the blended mode groups exhibit more inter-
connectivity and the fully online groups evidence more isolated arms (Edges con-
necting vertices are directed and the graphs are force-directed using Fruchterman-
Reingold drawing algorithm layout). This tendency exists from the second RPG to the
last. Figures 1 and 2 show, social network maps of RPG rounds including edges
(trades) between vertices (groups). Vertices include direction (arrows) representing a
group (e.g., Seller A) submitting a deal to a specified counterpart group (e.g., Buyer B).
The counterpart (Buyer B) should also submit a deal in return (reciprocity) to the deal
initiator (Seller A) in order to complete the deal. As Table 2 shows, during any single
RPG round, reciprocity for both modalities approach unity (0 = no reciprocity and
1 = perfect reciprocity). This measure supports validity of the data collection as nearly
every group who receives a connection reciprocates with one, i.e., a seller sells to a
buyer and that buyer buys from that seller.
 Effects of AI Scaffolding on ZPD in MOOC Instructional RPGs 459

Fig. 1. Blended mode representative social network map (RPG round 7).

We next quantify levels of connectivity with the social network measures of edge
density and mean distance. Edge density measures the percentage of total possible links
made among vertices (groups), while mean distance is the average of the shortest
number of vertices needed to pass through to reach any two vertices. The blended
delivery mode groups end RPG 1 by making roughly the same proportion of con-
nections (16%) as the fully online mode (14%). Afterwards, however, the blended
mode groups make connections at two to three times higher a proportion than the fully
online mode groups. Fully online groups appear to restrict interactions to a few
counterparts, occasionally just one. This can be seen in Fig. 4’s online mode with
groups 19, 21, and 6. Although the fully online mode groups are making deals with
fewer counterparts during any single RPG round, the question remains as to whether
these groups are often the same, i.e., forming small subgroups or cliques. If so, the
online mode is detrimental to the self-regulated learning goal of the RPG. Thus, we
next test if the online mode groups are restricting interaction to small subgroups.

Fig. 2. Fully online mode representative social network map (RPG round 7).

5.4 Global Measures by RPG Mode

Edge density and transitivity measures are conducted with all the RPG rounds’ data
simultaneously, split by instructional delivery mode. Edge density for the fully online
groups is 42% of all possible connections and 84% for the blended mode (see Table 2:
460 C. A. Warden and J. F. Chen

bottom line). This global result shows while the fully online groups make less con-
nections during each round, ranging from 10–18%, they do not restrict their interac-
tions to the same counterparts across every RPG round. Rather, fully online groups
consider a range of participating groups as candidates for a transaction, although a
narrower range compared to the blended mode groups.
Blended learners use the classroom to ease discovery when looking for counter-
parts. In contrast, fully online learners face one of the main challenges of online
education—overcoming the distance between learners. Results show fully online mode
group members use a range of online communication channels: Line (87%), email
(51%), face-to-face (30%), Facebook messaging (20%), and the class supplied posting
board (14%).

Table 2. Social network connectivity measures

Edge density Mean distance Reciprocity Transitivity
Fully Blended Fully Blended Fully Blended Fully Blended
online online online online
RPG1 .12 .27 3.31 2.75 .98 10 0 0
RPG2 .11 .31 4.50 2.28 .96 .91 0 0
RPG3 .15 .34 3.61 2.11 .97 .97 0 .03
RPG4 .16 .40 3.38 2.50 .99 10 0 0
RPG5 .11 .32 2.13 1.92 10 .99 .05 0
RPG6 .18 .38 3.58 2.37 .96 1 0 0
RPG7 .10 .43 3.48 1.94 .91 1 .07 0
RPG8 .42 .84 4.13 1.85 10 1 0 0
All .12 .27 1.6 1.16 .97 .99 .52 .86
RGPs

5.5 MES Uptake

For each class mode, digital trace data of the eight behavioral based variables in the
RPG (assemble, refresh, transact, engage, adjust, parlay) are converted to the ordinal
category values of low, medium, and high (a binning procedure based on standard
deviation). All statistical tests employ chi-squared comparing the three discrete values
between test and control groups independently for the two class modes—blended and
fully online. Confirming test and control groups begin the experiment with equivalent
behaviors, data from RPG rounds one and two are combined and tested. Before MES
begins, both instruction delivery modalities exhibit no statistically significant difference
between their respective test and control groups in any of the six measures. Digital
trace data is combined from the third to the eighth RPG round to test for MES efficacy.
For the blended mode, no statistically significant result is exhibited between the test
and control groups for any of the eight measures: assemble (F = 1.52; p = .47), refresh
(F = 3.1; p = .22), transact (F = 0.22; p = .9), engage (F = 1.4; p = .5), adjust
(F = 0.58; p = .75), and parlay (F = .94; p = .63).
 Effects of AI Scaffolding on ZPD in MOOC Instructional RPGs 461

For the fully online mode, two of the six variables are statistically significantly
different, assemble (F = 10.86; p = .004) and refresh (F = 8.2; p = .02), as detailed in
Table 3, while the remaining measures exhibit no impact from MES: transact
(F = 3.92; p = .14), engage (F = 1.32; p = .52), adjust (F = 1.97; p = .37), and parlay
(F = 3.53; p = .17).

Table 3. Statistically significant chi-squared results.

Fully online mode

Refresh (times) Assemble (hours)
Mean (SD) 17.48 (13.26) 0.46 (0.61)
p-value < 0.05 < 0.01
x2 8.2 10.86
Cramer's V 0.23 0.27
No No
MES MES
Level MES Marginals MES Marginals
scaffold scaffold
scaffold scaffold
Low Observed 32 21 53 32 21 53
Expected 24.28 28.72 24.28 28.72
Column % 45.07 25 45.07 25
Residual 7.72 -7.72 7.72 -7.72
Std. Residual 1.57 -1.44 1.57 -1.44
Adj. Residual 4.03 -3.4 4.03 -3.4
Med. Observed 17 35 52 17 35 52
Expected 23.82 28.18 23.82 28.18
Column % 23.94 41.67 23.94 41.67
Residual -6.82 6.82 -6.82 6.82
Std. Residual -1.4 1.29 -1.4 1.29
Adj. Residual -3.63 3.06 -3.63 3.06
High Observed 22 28 50 22 28 50
Expected 22.90 27.1 22.90 27.1
Column % 30.99 33.33 30.99 33.33
Residual -0.90 0.90 -0.90 0.90
Std. Residual -0.19 0.17 -0.19 0.17
Adj. Residual -0.5 0.42 -0.5 0.42
Marginals 71 84 155 71 84 155

Learners in both the blended and fully online modalities accurately recall MES. Not
only do learners recall seeing the MES, over the eight RPG rounds, they also accurately
recall the main pedagogical message contained in the MES. Learners receiving MES in
an online mode demonstrate more behaviors associating with the core pedagogical
MES message content comparing to those in a blended mode. Fully online learners
more frequently check their group’s online RPG statistics and status information while
also taking more time to prepare group attributes for a new RPG round. Both behaviors
relate to the planning stage for the RPG. This result aligns with reports on mere
exposure. While blended-mode learners did accurately recall the MES content, their
group behaviors did not reflect any modification, which we examine next.
462 C. A. Warden and J. F. Chen

6 Conclusion

Teachers, administrators, and learners all face challenges from the unique aspects of the
blended and fully online modalities—requiring careful scaffolding for self-regulated
learning. Moving fully online presents a challenge to social capital [41] such that
constructing learning spaces through peer support is problematic. We examine how the
well-established mere exposure effect can be applied as educational scaffolding. While
the MES affects learner behavior within the online mode, it does not show the same
effect within the blended class. Within the online mode, exposure, to a fundamental
pedagogical message results in learners exhibiting congruent behavior patterns.
The current study has numerous limitations. The current sample frame focuses on
group work within an RPG. While role-playing is a common teaching practice, as is
group work, it is not suitable for all instructional topics and MES may differ in its
impact on other instructional approaches. Next, behavioral variables, in this study, are
limited to the six collected through the group RPG interface Webpages. Other
behaviors may be influenced by MES but are not currently measured.

Acknowledgment. The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Science and Technology of the
Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this research under Contract No. MOST
108-2511-H-240-001 -.

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 Survey Results of Learner Context
in the Development of Constructivist Learning
Environment Model to Enhance Creative
Thinking with Massive Open Online Course
(MOOCS) for Higher Education

Benjaporn Sathanarugsawait1, Charuni Samat2(&),

and Suchat Wattanachai3
1
Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
2
Division of Computer Education, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
thaibannok@hotmail.com
3
Division of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University,
Khon Kaen, Thailand

Abstract. One of the essential skills for learners in the 21st century learning era
is creative thinking that can help them to be productive in innovations. This
study aimed to study the context of learners in terms of learner characteristics,
learning design, and factors influence their learning. The data can be funda-
mentally used in the model design and development process. Survey research
was employed by using a survey form in Open-ended question with 5 Likert
rating scales. The consistency in between theoretical framework and survey
results was examined by the experts. The results were found in 6 aspects as 1)
Demographics: 18 females and 12 males or 60 and 40% respectively 2) Learning
experience: every learners or 100% had the experience in lecturing, demon-
strating, and practice 3) Technology experience: the learners were in moderate
level or as x = 3.01, S.D = 0.64 4) Creative thinking experience: the learners
was in low level shown as x = 2.41, S.D = 0.56 5) Website design experience:
presented value as x = 2.18, S.D = 0.55 and 6) Learning expectation of learners:
it was in very high level or x = 4.29, S.D = 0.58. It thus revealed that they only
had experience in traditional style while requiring to learn with media and
technology as an active learner for knowledge construction and creative thinking
developing.

Keywords: Learner context
Learning environment model
Constructivist

Creative thinking
MOOCs

1 Introduction

The 21st century learning skills are fundamental for the learners in this technology-
based era which the skills of creativity and innovation are particularly emphasized.
Since the ability to think creatively is one of the underlying patterns of invention which

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 465–474, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_51
466 B. Sathanarugsawait et al.

is important to living among multiple real-world situations [1]. The enhancing of

creative thinking as divergent thinking is beneficial to people to think with fluency,
flexibility, originality, and elaboration [2]. This can be the preparation of a learner for
the complex and competitive working environments.
The world nowadays has been changing in many ways including learning para-
digm. Conversely, in the past, a classroom could be a passive classroom where they
acted as an inactive learner while the teacher transmitted the knowledge in front of the
class. On the contrary, a learning theory as Constructivist believes that knowledge is
dynamic which learner’s cognitive structure is provoked to be disequilibrium; and it
requires assimilation and accommodation processes for their prior and new knowledge
as the learner has to be an active learner [3]. The role of teacher is as a coach who helps
them to be able to learn by their own. Significantly, Massive Open Online Courses or
MOOCs are one of the outstanding trends in higher education in current years [4]. It is
open learning system which unlimited learners can access to learn via online platforms
with flexible time and place [5]. MOOCs can enhance life-long education that related
technologies due to their content creation and delivery in forms of flexible learning
styles with preferable classes with own place and time to study [6].
As mentioned earlier, the study of learner context was implemented for the purpose
of developing the Constructivist Learning Environment Model to Enhance Creative
Thinking with Massive Open Online Course (MOOCS) for Higher Education to
advantage learners to construct their own knowledge to think and invent creatively.

2 Literature Review
2.1 Constructivist Learning Theory
Learning is the way the learners construct knowledge, think, and learn through expe-
rience [7]. In addition, Constructivist learning is to construct knowledge for each
individual appropriateness more than to perceive it. Learning environment is essential
to make the knowledge meaningful as well as being an active learner [8].

2.2 MOOCs
Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs is defined as the open learning system which
widely provided and accessed to unlimited learner amount to enroll in a class and learn
through online platform with time and place flexibility [5]. The learners can learn by
video lectures or video-based instructional content, classroom note, discussion forum
and finally be graded by a computer-based.

2.3 Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is the ability to think which defined as the cognitive process that as
Divergent Thinking. It is the thinking in various ways that each person connects,
adjusts, integrates prior knowledge into new ideas. Creative thinking comprises
 Survey Results of Learner Context 467

Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Elaboration [2, 9]. Creative thinking can promote
a learner innovation and creativity in the 21st century [10].

3 Purposes

This study aimed to study the context of learners defined to characteristics and learning
design of the learners as well as factors influenced their learning. Their results could be
used in the design and development of constructivist learning environment model to
enhance creative thinking with massive open online course (MOOCs) for higher
education.

4 Method and Result

4.1 Scope of Research

The Model Research [13] with 3 phases which Phases 1 Model Development was
employed. The results were the fundamental data in other 2 phases as Phases 2 Model
Validation and Phases 3 Model Use. Regarding the scope of these phases, Survey
method was conducted to collect data of learner context as the basis in the design and
development process of the model development.

4.2 Target Group of the Study

The target group was the 30 higher education students who registered in Web Design
and Development for Digital Business course, Sripatum University Khon Kaen
Campus, Thailand.

4.3 Research Design

Research Phases 1 Model development was employed by Survey research. The Survey
Research was implemented for both qualitative and quantitative data. The questionnaire
was used to examine 1) learning context 2) learner characteristics and 3) factors
influenced learning in aspects of 1) Demographics 2) Learning experience 3) Tech-
nology experience 4) Creative experience 5) Website design experience and 6) Lear-
ner’s expectation towards learning.

4.4 Research Instruments

The instruments used in the study was the survey used to study context of the learners
who studied in Web Design and Development for Digital Business course. Which
purposive to examine 1) learning context and 2) learner characteristics. There were 3
developing processes as 1) synthesize and set up basis conceptual framework 2) align
the summarized data of the framework with the questions to be used in the survey and
3) construct the context survey. The 7 following question groups were developed as 1)
Demographics 2) Learning experience 3) Technology experience 4) Creative
468 B. Sathanarugsawait et al.

experience 5) Website design experience and 6) Learner’s expectation towards learn-

ing. The survey was in Likert ration scales in 5 scales (5 = very high, 4 = high,
3 = neutral, 2 = low, 1 = very low).

4.5 Data Collection and Analysis

The constructed survey was used to collect data in areas of learner characteristics,
learning style, and factors affected learning. The forms were allocated to students by the
link via google form. After two weeks, the data was collected and analyzed by statistics
as percentage, mean score, and standard deviation.

5 Research Results

The results revealed the learning context, learner characteristics and factors influenced
learning in aspects of 1) Demographics 2) Learning experience 3) Technology expe-
rience 4) Creative experience 5) Website design experience and 6) Learner’s expec-
tation towards learning as the following.
• Aspect 1 Demographics
They were 18 males and 12 females or 60 and 40%, respectively.
• Aspect 2 Learning experience (Table 1)

Table 1. Learning experience.

Learning experience Number Percent
(n) (%)
Learning theory
Experience in lecturing, demonstration, and practicing 30 100
Experience in design thinking, decision making, and meaning 25 83.33
making based on multiple situations
Experience in discovery learning and self-knowledge construction 20 66.67
Experience in constructivism learning 7 23.33
Learning media
Experience in web-based learning 7 23.33
Experience in learning environment 11 36.67
Experience in learning environment enhancing creative thinking 10 33.33
Experience in MOOCs enhancing creative thinking 5 16.67
Learning model
Experience in problem-based learning 5 16.67
Experience in learning style enhancing creative thinking 7 23.33
Experience in collaborative learning 13 43.33
Experience in Massive Open Online Course (MOOCS) 6 20.00
Experience in Massive Open Online Course (MOOCS) enhancing 2 6.67
creative thinking
 Survey Results of Learner Context 469

The data in Table 2 presented that all 30 learners or 100% had experience in
lecturing demonstration, and practicing while 25 learners or 83.33% experienced in
design thinking, decision making, and meaning making based on multiple situations
and 66.67% or 20 learners used to have discovery learning and self-knowledge
construction.
• Aspect 3 Technology experience

Table 2. Technology experience

Technology experience x S.D Performance
level
Use of technology device
Ability to use a desktop computer 4.57 0.50 Very good
Ability to use a laptop computer 3.97 0.67 Good
Ability to use a smart phone 4.43 0.77 Very good
Ability to use a tablet 2.83 0.53 Moderate
Total 3.95 0.62 High
Use of technology for knowledge construction enhancing
Ability to use Wordpress program to construct knowledge 2.07 0.69 Poor
and design a website
Ability to use Wix program to construct knowledge and 1.93 0.83 Poor
design a website
Total 2.00 0.76 Poor
Use of technology to explore knowledge
Ability to use Google search engine for knowledge survey 4.40 0.56 Very good
Ability to use Bing web browser for knowledge survey 3.03 0.85 Moderate
Ability to use Yahoo search engine for knowledge survey 2.90 0.66 Moderate
Total 3.44 0.69 Good
Use of technology as learning context to enhance action learning
Ability to use Adobe Dreamweaver software for practicing 2.63 0.56 Moderate
and build a website design
Ability to use Weebly software for practicing and build a 2.73 0.74 Moderate
website design
Total 2.68 0.65 Moderate
Use of technology to as social media fora conversation and knowledge sharing
Ability to use Facebook application for making a 3.73 0.45 Good
conversation and knowledge sharing
Ability to use Line application for making a conversation 3.77 0.57 Good
and knowledge sharing
Ability to use E-mail for making a conversation and 4.07 0.52 Good
knowledge sharing
Total 3.86 0.51 Good
(continued)
470 B. Sathanarugsawait et al.

Table 2. (continued)
Technology experience x S.D Performance
level
Use of technology to reflex thinking
Ability to create Vlog to present ideas 2.33 0.66 Poor
Ability to create Web Blogger to create a mind map and 2.03 0.56 Poor
present ideas
Total 2.18 0.61 Poor
All total 3.01 0.64 Moderate

The results of learner context in technology experience were found that in moderate
level or x = 3.01, S.D = 0.64 which the highest value of performance level in use of
technology device is x = 3.95, S.D = 0.62, use of technology to as social media for a
conversation and knowledge sharing is x = 3.86, S.D = 0.51, and use of technology to
explore knowledge is x = 3.44, S.D = 0.69 respectively.
• Aspect 4 Creative thinking experience

Table 3. Creative thinking experience

Creative thinking experience x S.D Performance
level
Fluency
Ability to create numerous conceptual thinking and solution 2.73 0.58 Moderate
in limited time
Flexibility
Ability to differentiate or select other thinking solution for 2.40 0.62 Poor
the purpose of usefulness in various ways
Originality
Ability to produce ideas that different to the original 2.23 0.5 Poor
thinking by adjusting and applying and that for an inventing
Elaboration
Ability to generate details or solution with information to 2.27 0.52 Poor
completely improve or elaborate main ideas
Total 2.41 0.56 Poor

This Table 3 illustrates the overall performance level of a learner in creative

thinking skills for all those four thinking characteristics that in poor level which is 
x=
2.41, S.D = 0.56. Their ability to think as Originality is at  x = 2.23, S.D = 0.50,
Elaboration is x = 2.27, S.D = 0.52, Flexibility is x = 2.40, S.D = 0.62, and Fluency is
x = 2.73, S.D = 0.58 respectively.
• Aspect 5 Website Design Experience (Table 4)
 Survey Results of Learner Context 471

Table 4. Website design experience

Website design experience x S.D Experience level
Experience in website design learning 2.07 0.52 Low
Experience in website design 2.27 0.52 Low
Experience in website design for added value in business 2.17 0.59 Low
Experience in website design by using an application 2.23 0.57 Low
Total 2.18 0.55 Low

The overall experience level of a learner in website design experience is in low

level which the experience in website design learning showed the lowest value as 
x=
2.07, S.D = 0.52.
• Aspect 6 Learner Expectation of Learning (Table 5)

Table 5. Learner expectation of learning

Learners expectations of learning x S.D Expectation
level
Content
Expectation to have learning content that can be used in 4.43 0.57 Very high
daily life
Expectation to have various interesting content forms 4.27 0.52 Very high
Expectation to have content in categories under learning 4.37 0.67 Very high
topics
Expectation to have the clear content and consistent with 4.50 0.57 Very high
learning topics
Total 4.39 0.58 Very high
Learning styles
Expectations to have problem-based learning for knowledge 4.00 0.64 High
discovery and construction
Expectations to have group-based learning to interchange 4.43 0.63 Very high
knowledge in a classroom and outside classroom
Expectations to have the flexible and various learning 4.47 0.51 Very high
environment depends on interest
Expectations to have a coach who can give a guideline 3.93 0.64 High
closely
Expectations to have learning style enhancing creative 4.23 0.63 Very high
thinking
Total 4.21 0.61 Very high
Media and technology
Expectations to have web-based learning 4.27 0.45 Very high
Expectations to learn with e-books 4.33 0.66 Very high
Expectations to learn with an application 4.10 0.61 High
Total 4.23 0.57 Very high
(continued)
472 B. Sathanarugsawait et al.

Table 5. (continued)
Learners expectations of learning x S.D Expectation
level
Evaluation
Expectations to have an evaluation based on learning 4.23 0.57 Very high
activities and learner’s development
Expectations to have a guideline for learning outcomes 4.17 0.59 High
Expectations to have the clear and precise evaluation 4.13 0.63 High
Expectations to have feedback for self-improvement 4.30 0.60 Very high
Expectations to have different evaluation methods 4.37 0.49 Very high
Total 4.24 0.58 Very high
Teacher
A teacher is expected to design learning based on curriculum 4.33 0.61 Very high
in a variety that consistent with each learner’s difference
A teacher is expected to promote learning by doing for 4.43 0.57 Very high
knowledge construction
A teacher is expected to provide numerous and closeable 4.40 0.56 Very high
courses based on their interest
Total 4.39 0.58 Very high
All 4.29 0.58 Very high

=
The overall of learner expectation of learning is in very high level which is as x
4.29, S.D = 0.58. In addition, the expectations in teacher and content was found in
same very high level or as x = 4.39, S.D = 0.58.

6 Conclusions and Discussion

Regarding the results, they were found that in Aspect 1 Demographics that most of the
learners was male or 60% out of all 30 learners. To deeply consider in each aspect,
Aspect 2 Learning experience which examine 1) Learning theories 2) Learning media
and 3) Learning model, it was found that every learner had the experience in lecturing
based learning which possibly that they were familiar with the traditional learning style.
This can be the passive class that does not enrich them to be an active learning in
discovery learning and hence construct their knowledge. In contrast, not a vast number
of them experienced in Constructivist learning, web-based learning, learning envi-
ronment enhancing creative thinking, MOOCs enhancing creative thinking, and
MOOCs. This obvious difference could be used in the design and development of this
study since the attributions of MOOCS that provides video lectures and class note
could be an familiarity for them while experience in such collaborative-based learning
could be fundamental to enhance them to learn collaboratively. As well, the principles
of active learning would be emphasized to foster them to learn among Constructivist
learning environments. Aspect 3) Technology experience, their experience level was in
the moderate level which they could use a personal computer and notebook, tablet, and
 Survey Results of Learner Context 473

smart phone to learn through Facebook, LINE, and email as well as to discover
learning by search engine as Google; however; Wordpress, Wix, Dreamweaver were
not the programs for website design that they were familiar with. Hence, to design the
learning environment model should base on media attributions of such Facebook,
LINE, email that allow them to share and assimilate prior and new knowledge through
collaboration as discussion. Technology can foster learner’s creative thinking for
meaning making [11]. Aspect 4 Creative experience, the outstanding data showed that
they had low performance level of all 4 creative thinking characteristics as 1) Fluency
2) Flexibility 3) Originality and 4) Elaboration based on Guilford [10]. Similarly, the
number of the results presented the low level of their experience Website design
experience or Aspect 5. This supported the importance of the learning environment
model development to enhance learner’s creative thinking. In the final part, Aspect 6
Learner’s Expectation towards Learning, they desired to have learning environment in
terms of Content, Learning Style, Media and Technology, Assessment, and Teachers
that the content needs to be various, adaptive and updated, categorized and consistent.
Furthermore, it should provide problem based and group activity that allows them to
discover and construct knowledge among cognitive friends. As well, the flexible and
ubiquitous learning was required since they could learn by their comfortable time and
place along with coaching. They strongly expected to be enhanced by creative thinking
learning. Moreover, web-based learning, e-book, and learning applications were the
suggested platforms to develop and assess learning performance. Hence, Massive open
online course (MOOCs) can be used to promote the creative thinking of learners by
interacting with the learning environment [12].

Acknowledgement. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technology,

Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, and Research Group for Innovation and Cognitive
Technology, Khon Kaen University which here by giving the thankfulness all through this.

References
1. P21-The Partnership for 21st Century Learning. P21 Framework Definitions (2015). http://
www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2015.pdf
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(1967)
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Press, New York (1952)
4. Baturay, M.H.: An overview of the world of MOOCs. Procedia - Soc. Behav. Sci. 174
(2015), 427–433 (2015)
5. Kaplan, A.M., Haenlein, M.: Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs,
SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster. Bus. Horiz. 59(4), 441–450 (2016). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.03.008
6. Dasarathy, B., Fisher, D.H.: The past, present, and future of MOOCs. In: Proceedings FOSE
2014: Future of Software Engineering Proceedings, May 2014, pp. 212–224 (2013). https://
doi.org/10.1145/2593882.2593897
7. Jonassen, D.H., Peck, K.L., Wilson, B.G.: Learning with Technology: A Constructive
Perspective. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (1999)
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8. Chaijaroen, S., et al.: Educational technology theories and approach into practice. Klaung-
nana-wittaya, Khon Kaen (2008)
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Constructivism. Longman, New York (2004)
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creative thinking and innovation skills for teacher training in the 21st century. In: The 23rd
International Conference on Computers in Education, ICCE, pp. 667–672 (2015)
11. Kwanman, T., Samat, C.: Design framework of constructivist mobile application learning
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creative thinking massive open online courses (MOOCs) for higher education. In: Wu, T.-T.,
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pp. 146–150. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99737-7_14
13. Richey, R.C., Klein, J.: Design and Developmental Research. Lawrence, New Jersey (2007)
 The Development of Constructivist Web-Based
Learning Environments to Enhance Learner’s
Information Processing and Reduce Cognitive
Load

Nat Chaijaroen, Sarawut Jackpeng, and Sumalee Chaijaroen(&)

Department of Educational Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen,

Thailand
Nat_ch@kkumail.com, Sumalee@kku.ac.th

Abstract. Nowadays information processing is human internal process which

essential in information transferring. This procedure first begins in sensory
memory, then short-term memory and encoded into long-term memory. The
study aimed to synthesize the theoretical and designing frameworks of the
constructivist web-based learning environment model to enhance learner’s
information process and reduce cognitive load. Model Research Type I Model
Development [1] was employed by Document Analysis. Data collection pro-
cesses were conducted by 1) reviewing and analyzing related theories as well as
research 2) examining instructional context and 3) synthesizing theoretical and
designing frameworks. The results showed that frameworks comprised 5 basis
and 4 components. Those 5 bases were as 1) Psychological 2) Pedagogical 3)
Information processing and cognitive load l 4) Media theory and technological
and 5) Instructional context bases while 4 model components were to 1) activate
structure of cognition 2) boost the equilibrium of cognition 3) strengthen the
construction of knowledge and 4) supporting and fostering knowledge con-
struction which all by promoting information processing and decreasing level of
cognitive load. In addition, 7 model elements were explored as (1) Problem Base
(2) Vocabulary Plaza (3) Brainstorming Center (4) Center of Information Pro-
cessing Enhancing and Cognitive Load Reducing (5) Friendly Cognitive Tool
(6) Center of Scaffolding and (7) Coaching Desk. Hence, the designed con-
structivist learning environment model can help learners to enhance learner’s
information process and reduce cognitive load.

Keywords: Web-based learning environments model
Constructivist theories

Information processing theory
Cognitive load reducing

1 Introduction

The changed the society world and the advanced technology entering the Information
and Knowledge Society affect the globalization society. Access to information is an
important factor that differentiates the status and quality of education. Which changed
the humans need to learn for life-long learning, especially 21st century. The role and
importance of technology will increase. The new generation will grow with technology.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 475–482, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_52
476 N. Chaijaroen et al.

Thailand today, enters the Thailand 4.0 era, Thailand has driven by intensive digital
technology and innovation to enhance the country’s economic development, so
therefore education is necessary. Developing human potential to enter the learning
society is therefore a tool used to capture the enormous amount of information and
knowledge that comes with today’s technology.
According to the current problem situation, the quality of education and learning of
Thai humans is still quite low. Although, now these people have higher educational
opportunities, which the average number of academic years in the labor age population
aged 15–59 years continuously increasing 9.3% in 2015. Learning problem in Thailand
shows average English score of Grade 6 student of the O-Net test in 2016 at 34.59
scores [2]. The 2017 survey of English language proficiency index of Thai humans by
Education First (EF) in the world was ranked the 56th [3]. Also, the placement test of
English was revealed very low proficiency level [4]. From the above described, it
showed that Thai humans must improve English skill. An important way to help solve
this problem is student-centered learning. The development of learners with this rapid
social change include the method related pedagogical theories and principles such as
Constructivism theory which encourage students to create self-knowledge and the
information processing which help the student to record and retrieve in long term
memory, especially English vocabulary. The English vocabulary is not native language
for Thai human, and it is the important foundations in the create sentence. So, if Thai
humans cannot record recall vocabulary, they cannot be able to learn English
efficiency.
Cognitive load theory [5] is mainly about decreased internal while information
processing in working memory (exceed limit or 7 ± 2). Including media featured and
symbol systems, which showed in hypertext, hyperlink, and hypermedia help to
enhance information processing that focus on cognitive process and reduce cognitive
load.
All the above reasons, the researcher is interested to study for synthesizing the
theoretical framework, especially in learning that required memory such as English
vocabulary, which results in the learners developing language as well.

2 Research Methodology

The Model research phase I: Model development was employed in this study.

2.1 Research Objective

The objective of research was to synthesize the theoretical and designing framework of
the constructivist web-based learning environment model.

2.2 Target Group

This groups consisted as following;
 The Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments 477

1. 9 experts for evaluation of model quality consists 3 experts for evaluation of the
model content, 3 experts for evaluation of the media quality, and 3 experts for
model designing by used ID theory.
2. 3 experts for evaluation of instrument
3. 30 students from grade 11 of Demonstration school, Khon Kaen University
4. 1 model designer for evaluation of model designer characters
5. 1 model developer for evaluation of model developer characters
6. 1 English teacher for evaluation of his characters

2.3 Research Instruments

The instruments consisted as follows;
– Instrument for synthesize and analyzed the theoretical and designing framework
– And survey form for the experts to used evaluation of 3 domains of the theoretical
framework qualities, such as media, contents, and instructional design.

2.4 Data Collecting and Analysis

The data of synthesized and developed this theoretical framework was collected as
follows;
1. To analyze and review the matter
2. To literature review related research
3. To explore instructional context
4. To synthesize and developed theoretical and designing framework
Then, they were analyzed the principles & theories and research. Finally, the
quality of the theoretical framework was assessed analyzed by experts used method of
data summarization and interpretation.

3 Research Result

The theoretical framework consists of 5 bases, as follows;

1. Basic of learning psychology
2. Basic teaching sciences
3. Basic information processing
4. Fundamental of media theory
5. Basic contextual (see Fig. 1)
The first phase for development is the synthesizing and developing of the designing
framework. The results revealed that 4 stages as following;
Activating Cognitive Structure and Enhancing Information Processing with
Reducing Cognitive Load. In this process was activating cognitive structure. The
Cognitive Constructivism theory by Piaget [7] said that the learner who is stimulated
with situation problems and leaded to make them disequilibrium, then they need try
478 N. Chaijaroen et al.

Fig. 1. Theoretical framework of constructivist web-based learning environment model to

enhance learner’s information processing and reduce cognitive load.

into equilibrium. The information processing theory [6] consisted of 3 processes:

sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory with retrieved. The SOI
model [6], which consists 3 processes in order to select, organize and integrate
information. Furthermore, cognitive load theory by Sweller, chunking method, hier-
archical network and Schema theory were used for designing the components called
Problem base (see Fig. 2).
Supporting Cognitive Equilibrium and Enhancing Information Processing Along
with Reducing Cognitive Load. After disequilibrium learner’s cognitive structure,
they need to adjust to equilibrium. The information processing Klausmeier [6] helps
learners. Cognitive load theory [5] was used to design to reduce external cognitive
load, such as chucking principle, which reduced the over limited English. Moreover,
 The Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments 479

Fig. 2. The problem base.

SOI model and Schema were used to design information into component Vocabulary
bank (see Fig. 3).
Enhancing Knowledge Construction and Enhancing Information Processing with
Reducing Cognitive Load. Theory of social constructivism works collaboratively via
sharing their multi-experiences and change their misconception including improve
cognition. All mentioned, Brainstorming center was designed. Cognitive Theory [5]
and SOI model enhance learners to store memory. OLEs [8] is a form of learning
management together with technology that focus on student-center who promote
knowledge building. The component was Cognitive tool center (see Fig. 4).
Supporting and Fostering Knowledge Construction. However, some learners may
not construct knowledge by themselves or under the zone proximal development. The
social constructivism theory [10] and principle of Open Learning Environments
(OLE) [9] including 4 scaffolding were used to design the “Scaffolding center”.
Cognitive Apprenticeship [11] is a theory process that an expert of teaching skills to an
apprentice. It was to use to design the “Coaching center” (see Fig. 5).
The theoretical framework of web-based learning environment model as following
bases: 1) Psychological base 2) Pedagogical base 3) Information processing and cog-
nitive load 4) Media theory and technology 5) Instructional Context The bases were
used to design the model 7 components which comprised (1) Problem bases
(2) Vocabulary bank (3) Collaboration center (4) Cognitive tools center (5) Center
480 N. Chaijaroen et al.

Fig. 3. The Learning Resources (Vocabulary bank).

Fig. 4. The cognitive tools, enhance information processing, and collaboration center.

information processing enhancing and cognitive load reducing (6) Scaffolding center
and (7) Coaching center.
 The Development of Constructivist Web-Based Learning Environments 481

Fig. 5. The scaffolding and coaching center.

4 Discussion and Conclusion

The result of synthesis and development the theoretical framework to enhance learner’s
information processing and reduce cognitive load such as English vocabulary com-
prised 4 processes and 7 components as above described.
This research results congruent with [12], [13], and [14], was shown that theoretical
and Designing framework to enhance learner’s information processing reduce cogni-
tive load which may help learners to remember English vocabulary and to be able to
use.

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technol-

ogy, Faculty of Education, Research Group for Innovation and Cognitive Technology, Khon
Kaen, University, and Research and Technology Transfer Affairs Division, Khon Kaen
University.

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3. The Nation: Thailand ranks near bottom in English proficiency: survey (2013)
4. Sritiwong, U.: Using school newspaper project to promote english writing ability and self-
efficacy of mathayom suksa 6 Students. Thai thesis database, Bangkok, Thailand (2542)
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J. Res. Sci. Teach. 2, 176–186 (1964)
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Instructional Design Theories and Models Volume II: A New Paradigm of Instructional
Theory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New York (1999)
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models. In: Reigeluth, C.M. (ed.) Instructional Design Theories and Models Volume II: A
New Paradigm of Instructional Theory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New York (1999)
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Res. 18, 32–42 (1989)
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Technology and Innovation: Computer-Based Educational Systems for the 21st Century 32,
pp. 565–571. Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education, Christchurch (2017)
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development of the cognitive innovation to enhance problem solving. In: The 24th
International Conference on Computers in Education, India (2016)
 Theoretical and Designing Framework
of Constructivist Web-Based Learning
Environment Model to Problem Solving

Pitchaya Pimsook(&) and Sumalee Chaijaroen

Department of Educational Technology, Khon Kaen University,

Khon Kaen, Thailand
pitchayapimsook@gmail.com

Abstract. The purpose of this research was to synthesize theoretical framework

of constructivist web-based learning environment for problem solving. The
target groups used in study were 1) 3 contents experts for evaluation of the
contents 2) 3 experts for evaluation of the instructional designers 3) experts for
evaluation of the instructional media expert. 4) 3 experts for evaluation of the
collecting tools and 5) 20 students of regional special education center 9, Khon
Kaen in a course of intellectual disability unit in the 2st semester, 2019. The
instruments used were 1) survey form for learning contextual 2) survey form for
students characteristic and 3) The recording form for synthesis of the theoretical
framework of constructivist web-based learning environment model to problem
solving. Summarization, interpretation and analytical description were used to
analyze the data. The result revealed that: Theoretical framework of construc-
tivist web-based learning environment comprise of 5 components as following
1) Psychological base 2) Pedagogy base 3) Problems Solving base 4) Media
theory and Technology base 5) Contextual base.

Keywords: Web-based learning environments
Constructivist theories

Problem solving

1 Introduction

The changing of world society and advancement of technology is influenced society in

globalization. This change affects human being need to learn all their life or life- long
learning, especially 21 century learning focuses on learning creative and problem
solving skills. However, at present instructional management focuses on transmitting
and memorizing information. This results in lacking of problem solving and infor-
mation seeking skills of the learners. Teaching in special education centers in the
present day, emphasis on teaching and learning that allows learners to learn develop
knowledge and skills from classroom instruction from teachers students must wait to
receive knowledge from teachers. Teachers are educators. Focus on memorizing and
following the process the steps that teachers have placed.
Most teachers are based on the study style. By using the lecture method and making
it look as an example and allow students to follow the process steps placed making
students have a variety of ways to think and did not dare to think or using methods that
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 483–489, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_53
484 P. Pimsook and S. Chaijaroen

are different from what teachers assign and can not solve problems that occur beyond
the classroom. But because of the current information and the learning environment has
happened a lot and has changed over time students must therefore develop knowledge
to make changes. The important thing that students lack is problem solving and
experience for solving problems in various situations that occurred beyond the teacher
to memorize and follow the process.
Special education centers therefore must develop teaching and learning to be
modern and appropriate for the learners to learn and develop aiming to engage students
in the learning process by using various techniques and activities to stimulate learning
and develop ideas to solve problems in students. Changes in classroom teaching and
learning into learning information and communication technology therefore being used
to increase the learning efficiency of the learners in accordance with such concepts the
design of teaching and learning by using information technology with the character-
istics of the media to support the creation of knowledge of learners according to
constructivist theory.
For the above reasons, researchers realize the importance of synthesizing the the-
oretical and designing framework of constructivist web-based learning environment
model to problem solving.
This framework may help designer to effectively design the constructivist web
based learning environment model. In addition, it will help to confirm the credibility
and provide beneficial guideline for the designer to design the constructivist web based
learning environment model.

2 Research Methodology

2.1 The Purpose

The purpose of this research was to synthesize theoretical framework of constructivist
web-based learning environment for problem solving.

2.2 Research Design

Document analysis and survey research were employed in this study.

2.3 Target Group

1. 3 contents experts for evaluation of the contents.

2. 3 experts for evaluation of the instructional designers.
3. Experts for evaluation of the instructional media expert.
4. 3 experts for evaluation of the collecting tools and
5. 20 students of regional special education center 9, Khon Kaen in a course of
intellectual disability unit in the 2st semester, 2019.
 Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning 485

2.4 Research Instruments

The instruments in this study consisted of 2 instruments as following:
1. The expert review record form for checking the quality of the designing framework.
2. The synthesis of the designing framework record form for record the data for
synthesis of the theoretical framework of constructivist web-based learning envi-
ronment for problem solving.

2.5 Data Collecting and Analysis

The procedure of gathering and analysis data were as follows:
1. Synthesis of theoretical framework of constructivist web-based learning environ-
ment for problem solving. The data were collected by using the recording from for
synthesis of the theoretical framework. Summarization, interpretation and analytical
description were used to analyze the data.
2. Synthesis of theoretical framework of constructivist web-based learning environ-
ment for problem solving. The data were collected by using the recording from for
synthesis of the designing framework.
Summarization, interpretation and analytical description were used to analyze the
data.

3 Research Results

The theoretical framework for the development of a learning environment on the

network found that the theoretical framework consists of 5 basic areas: (1) the basis of
learning psychology (2) basic science (3) basic of solve complex structural problems
(4) Fundamentals of media theory and technology (5) Contextual basis.
1. The basis of teaching science has introduced the teaching design (ID Theory) that
focuses on applying various learning theory principles to become the basis for
teaching design to promote knowledge creation and cognitive process development,
namely intellectual constructivist theory, with the principle that learning processes
begin with problems that cause causing suspicion or intellectual conflict. Therefore,
it must be invented or searched for additional information to eliminate the internal
intellectual conflict. Which is brought into practice by applying it as a design basis
problem situation and social constructivist theory, with principles of knowledge
creation based on social interaction, namely language, society, culture. Help create
knowledge expand various perspectives and concepts that are brought into practice
by applying as a design basis. Help base including the theory of learning, cognitive
groups including information processing theory that with human information pro-
cessing begins with information coming into the record of the sensory register. Then
will go to collect long-term memory by integrating with previous knowledge is an
intellectual structure schema theory and menthol model theory.
486 P. Pimsook and S. Chaijaroen

2. The basis of learning psychology of constructivist learning is knowledge about

learning and teaching so that students can learn from changes that focus on tech-
nology to be applied in the teaching and learning of learners the researcher therefore
introduced constructivist principles and theories as a basis for teaching and learning
design. Including 1) Hannafin’s Land & Oliver (1999) open learning environments
(OLEs) model that focuses on solving open learning problems. Including learning
resources, intellectual tools and help base 2) Jonassen’s Constructivist Learning
Environments (CLEs) model (1999) that focuses on developing knowledge in
solving complex problems. Which students must link to their previous knowledge
and experience 3) The SOI Model of Mayer (1999) that focuses on creating
knowledge by using text and images that consist of selecting (S), organizing
information (O) and information integration (I) 4) The Mclellan (1996) course
learning that focuses on the real-life context in which the situation is connected in
relation to the problem in real condition.
3. The basic structure for solving complex problems will use a complex problem-
solving framework based on the Jonassen (1997) framework with 7 steps:
(1) Learners Articulate Problem Space and Contextual Constraints (2) Identify and
Clarify Alternative Opinions, Positions, and Perspectives of Stakeholders (3) Gen-
erate Possible Problem Solutions (4) Assess the Viability of Alternative Solutions
by Constructing Arguments and Articulating Personal Beliefs (5) Monitor the
Problem Space and Solution Options (6) Implement and Monitor the Solution and
(7) Adapt the Solution.
4. Fundamentals of media theory and technology the researcher introduced the media
symbol system, which is a multi-dimensional media (Hypermedia) that offers both
animation, graphics, letters, sounds and the ability to process media that is a
multiple link. Hyperlink that is a link in linking knowledge nodes. And using
network technology to manage learning with the features of the internet network
that offers both text, still images, sound animations and relies on the media symbol
system that has the processing capability that can be stopped or reverted to infor-
mation. Which allows learners to create concepts and promote intellectual structure
expansion by the symbol system of the media on the network with the character-
istics of hyperlinks, both images, sounds as well as other symbols.
Allowing learners to create various concepts or have new or use video that helps to
expand the concept further from the existing experience thereby helping to solve
problems with complex structures in learning from that information allowing learners
to create their own knowledge anywhere, anytime, according to the principles of
developing learners in the age of society, news and technology prosperity that responds
to lifelong learning (Sumalee Chaicharoen, 2004).
5. Contextual basis consists of the curriculum of early intervention (EI) students in
intellectual disability.
 Theoretical and Designing Framework of Constructivist Web-Based Learning 487

4 Conclusion

The results of this theoretical framework synthesis found that there is a clear theory of
the principles outlined above. May be due to there are research documents that are
reviewed documents. Study the relevant context and receive quality checks by experts
which the results of the examination there is a consistency between principles clear
theories which consists of 5 basic aspects. 1. The basis of learning psychology consists
of a group of constructivist theory and cognitive theory groups which results in the
synthesis of theoretical concepts in line with the research of Pina Sukcharoen and
Sumalee Chaicharoen (2016), which uses the foundation of constructivist learning
theory that focuses on creating knowledge of learners 2. The basis of teaching science
488 P. Pimsook and S. Chaijaroen

consists of the OLE model, CLE model, SOI and similar learning model, which results
in the synthesis of theoretical frameworks in line with Seksan Yampinin (2011)
research that uses the teaching model as the basis for the design of learning environ-
ment elements that promote fix the problem. 3. The basic problem solving structure
with complex structure consists of solving complex problems with Jonassen (1997),
which is consistent with Suchart Wattanachai (2010) that has adopted this solution
basis to encourage learners to develop solve problems with complex structures. 4. The
basis of the theory of media and technology consists of the symbol system of the
media. Multimedia learning and network technology which corresponds to Pina Suk-
charoen and Sumalee Chaicharoen (2016) who have used technology on networks that
can offer multimedia together with the use of the media symbol system to emphasize
the creation of knowledge of learners. 5. Contextual basis consists of context related to
regional special education center 9, Khon Kaen in a course of intellectual disability
unit. Focused on problem solving skills.
Based on the results of this theoretical framework synthesis found that the
inspection results there is a consistency between principles clear theories resulting in
the synthesis of theoretical frameworks, network learning models based on construc-
tivist concepts that promote problem solving effective can lead to further design and
development of learning environment. Which is consistent with the research of
Watcharaphon Tham Klang and Sumalee Chaicharoen (2017), which studied the the-
oretical conceptual framework of the constructivist learning environment that promotes
problem solving processes which results in this may encourage learners to solve
complex problems that which is necessary for intellectual disability students who need
to continue to work in which the researcher will develop into a learning environment
and continue to use.

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Technology-Enhanced Learning
 A Study of Students’ Context-Aware to Be
Used as a Basis for Designing and Developing
a Model of Mobile-Based Learning
Environment to Enhance Computational
Problem Solving in Programming for the High
School Students

Kanyarat Sirimathep1, Issara Kanjug2, Charuni Samat3(&),

and Suchat Wattanachai4
1
Doctor of Philosophy Student of Education Technology, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, KhonKaen, Thailand
kanyarat.siri@kkumail.com
2
Division O of Computer Education, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, KhonKaen, Thailand
issaraka@kku.ac.th
3
Division O of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education,
Khon Kaen University, KhonKaen, Thailand
thaibannok@hotmail.com
4
Division of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University,
KhonKaen, Thailand
suchat@kku.ac.th

Abstract. Mobile-based learning as a rich environment to manage learning in a

variety of learning contexts. It opens up opportunities to expand the learning
experience of students, students can access to information anytime and any-
where to perform authentic activities, learning programming through mobile
devices helping students to improve programming skills at all times and they can
enhance computational problem solving which important competence to support
the design and development of the program correctly. In developing any mobile
learning environment, learner’s context-aware are necessary for consideration.
The research target was the 45 high school students. The Questionnaires are an
open-ended question and Likert ration scales with 5 levels and the data were
analyzed through descriptive analysis. which were examined by 3 experts based
on the consistency with theoretical framework. The results showed that 1) the
participants were 25 males were 55%, 20 females were 45% in high school.
Most of the students had the learning experience of lecturing. 2) In the basic
ability in using technology, it was found that the students are very familiar with
mobile devices and its applications in high level ( x 3.89 s.d = 0.56) 3) Expe-
rience in computational problem solving found that some students have expe-
rience. 4) Programming experience Some students have experience in c
programming and they can create program flowcharts. The findings show strong
evidence that students are positive towards mobile-based learning and see it as
an opportunity for a more flexible programming learning experience.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 493–503, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_54
494 K. Sirimathep et al.

Keywords: Context-Aware
Learner’s Context-Aware
Learning

environments
Constructivist theories
Computational thinking

Programming
Mobile-based learning

1 Introduction

Computational Thinking (CT) is a type of skill that is necessary to students of the 21st
century, to develop human resources by the Thailand 4.0 policy on the driving of the
Thai economy through innovation. One of the innovations that appear in digital content
or digital media. With both basic learning materials such as teaching and learning
applications, e-book. Cheng [1] said that Computational Thinking (CT) skills should be
added to every child’s analytical ability to be an important component of learning. The
teaching and learning process must encourage students to develop to their full potential.
Teacher must provide a variety of content and teaching activities following the inter-
ests, aptitudes, and differences of students Practice thinking processes, management,
coping situations, and applying knowledge to solve problems, organize activities for
students to learn from real experiences. Emphasize the idea of making and solving
problems as Including promoting the environment, atmosphere, equipment or learning
materials to be able to facilitate learning at all places and all times.
Satyanarayanan proposed mobile devices [2] can (a) engage students in experiential
and situated learning without limitation (place, time and device) (b) enable students to
continue learning activities, inside the classroom, outside the classroom through their
constant and contextual interaction and communication with their classmates and their
teachers (c) support on-demand access to educational resources (d) allow for new skills
or knowledge to be immediately applied. And (e) encourage learners to participate
more actively in the learning process by engaging them to authentic and situated
learning embedded in real-life context.
Mobile-based learning is the concept of using wireless technology devices such as
mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, iPads, the teaching and learning model can be
managed both in support of students to learn on their own. And learning to promote
collaboration among students. Mobile-based learning makes teaching and learning
happen anywhere, anytime, without limits, only in the classroom Students can access
various information including slide data, audio, video, easy to find information. There
is an interaction between students and instructors or students themselves immediately
[3].
Programming is more than just coding. During programming, students are exposed
to computational thinking, it exposes students to computational thinking which
involves problem-solving [4] using computer science concepts like abstraction and
decomposition. Even for non-computing majors, computational thinking is applicable
and useful in their daily lives. The three dimensions of computational thinking are
computational concepts, computational practices, and computational perspectives [5].
Programming through mobile that we carry around with us at all times means instant
gratification for students, as they can show their games and applications to their friends,
and it means that students can do their homework or additional practicing at all times.
 A Study of Students’ Context-Aware to Be Used as a Basis for Designing 495

Students use of computational thinking concepts such as abstraction, debugging,

remixing and iteration to solve problems [6]. This form of thinking can be considered
to be fundamental for students because it requires ‘‘thinking at multiple abstractions’’
[7], and computational thinking is the important aspects of 21st century competencies
such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving [8].
From the importance and problems mentioned above the researcher, studied the
learner context-aware based on the basis of development from the Theoretical frame-
work derived from relevant theoretical principles and from various research studies
Which related to students’ characteristics Learning management model and factors
affecting students to be used as a basis for designing and developing a model of mobile-
based learning environment to enhance computational problem solving in program-
ming for the high school students.

2 Literature Review
2.1 Computational Thinking in Programming
Computational Thinking (CT) in relation to programming is an emerging field in K-12
education,Brennan and Resnick conceptualized CT in a programming context as
comprising three key components: (1) CT concepts, such as sequences, loops, and
conditionals; (2) CT practices, such as testing, debugging, abstraction, and modular-
ization in programming; and (3) CT perspectives, such as students’ views on con-
necting with the digital world. These components, taught while introducing the
fundamentals of programming in K-12 education, enable students to develop CT-based
problem-solving skills as they produce artifacts and become digital producers.

2.2 Mobile-Based Learning

Mobile-based learning is learning based on mobility often through mobile devices like
laptops and smartphones, iPads, and wearable technology, Mobile-based learning
model can manage learning both in support of self-learning, students can search from
various sources of knowledge anywhere, anytime, according to the readiness of each
student and mobile-based learning can support collaboration among students. Mobile-
based learning is the suitable environment for 21st century learning [9] with have these
powerful solutions provided by Education Apps to students.
Provides Systematic and Smart Learning. The Educational apps are arranged in
both systematic and smart learning that it becomes possible for students to go with the
flow.
Enhanced Interaction. The educational apps can make student active and create
better interactive engagement between students. The interaction tendency is also
increased in students by mobile-based Learning apps.
Bridges the Gap Between Parent and Teacher. The educational apps support
teachers to the queries of the parents anytime and anywhere via an education
app. Education apps foster transparency in student’s learning at their schools.
496 K. Sirimathep et al.

Tracks Learning Progress. The educational apps are helping students improve their
skills such as reading, learning new languages, math, and much more. Teacher can
Tracks student’s learning Progress.
E-books and Online Study Materials. The educational apps come with many ben-
efits for students, as it saves a lot of money for buying study material from shops and
libraries. Learning apps allow students to read the study material from the education
app with a few simple clicks. Students can also discover miscellaneous study material
by using education apps.
Anytime/Anywhere. The educational apps are available for students and they can
learn at a convenient time.
Promotes Self-learning. The educational apps come with numerous material resour-
ces so that students can enjoyably interact with them.
Mobile-based Learning provide smooth peer-to-peer interactions along with a better
learning experience. The mix of education and technology creates a positive step
toward better learning experience and student engagement.

3 Purposes

To study of learner context-aware related to students’ characteristics, Learning man-

agement model and factors affecting students to be used as a basis for designing and
developing a model of mobile-based learning environment to enhance computational
problem solving in programming for the high school students.

4 Method and Result

4.1 Scope of Research

The Model research (Richey & Klein) was employed [10]. This is to intensively study
the process of design and development a model which comprises 3 research phrases as
1) Model development 2) Model validation and 3) Model use. In this study, research
phrase 1 Model Development was implemented to present the results of the develop
process by Survey Research in learner context-aware; The results were fundamentally
used to design and develop a model of mobile-based learning environment to enhance
computational problem solving in programming for the high school students.

4.2 Target Group of the Study

The study target was the 45 high school students, who enrolled computer science
subject attending Surathampitak School, Muang District, Nakonratchasima Province,
Thailand in the first semester of the academic year 2020.
 A Study of Students’ Context-Aware to Be Used as a Basis for Designing 497

4.3 Research Design

Research Phrase 1 Model development was employed by Survey research.

4.4 Research Instruments

The survey form was used to study the context of learners. There are 2 sections, the first
section was Student profile Data which had 5 parts as follow 1) Demographics 2)
Learning experience 3) Technology experience 4) Computational thinking experience
5) Programming experience, and the second section was students learning management
expectations. The Survey were an open-ended question and 5 scales Likert [11]. Likert
scale between 1 and 5, where 1 indicates extreme strongly disagree and 5 indicates
strongly agree. The internal consistency and trustworthiness of the questionnaire results
were estimated using Cronbach’s alpha.

4.5 Data Collection and Analysis

This study was survey research using qualitative data collection. The data analysis was
made by percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation by descriptive analysis using charts
and simple percentages.

4.6 Research Results

The results of the study of learner context-aware regarding the characteristics of the
students Learning management and factors affecting students as a basis for designing
and developing a learning environment model, divided into 2 sections, with the fol-
lowing details:
Student’s Profile Data
Demographics. Demographics-basis information of the learners as by Gender and
GPA presented. The Data were analyzed by using the descriptive analysis function.
The outputs are tabulated as seen in Table 1.

Table 1. Demographics-basis information of the learners.

Gender (n) (%)
Male 25 55
Female 20 45
TOTAL 45 100

The results were found that most of the Respondents were males or in amount of 25
learners or 55%; the data also revealed that 31 of them or 68.88% was in very good
level of GPA or 3.00–3.50.
498 K. Sirimathep et al.

Learning Experience. The data of learning experience of the learners was found in 3
subtitles as 1) Learning theory 2) Learning media and 3) Learning model. The outputs
are tabulated as seen in Table 2.

Table 2. Learning experience.

Learning Experience Number Percent
(n) (%)
Learning Theory
1 A learner has had the experience in lecturing, demonstration, 43 95.55
and practicing
2 A learner has had the experience in design thinking, decision 30 66.66
making, and meaning making based on multiple situations
3 A learner has had the experience in discovery learning and 25 55.55
self- knowledge construction
Learning Media
4 Students have experience in learning with mobile 41 91.11
5 Students have experience in learning with a mobile-based 20 44.44
learning environment
6 Students have experience in learning with a mobile-based 22 48
learning environment to enhance computational problem
solving in programming
Learning model
7 Students have experience in learning by using problem-based 32 71.11
learning
8 Students have experience in learning to enhance 29 64.44
Computational problem solving in programming
9 Students have experience in learning by using collaborative 39 86.66
learning
10 Students have experience in learning by using mobile-based 17 37.77
learning to enhance computational problem solving in
programming

The results of the study of learning experience were found that most learners have
the experience in lecturing, demonstration, and practicing as 43 students or 95.55%, 41
students or 91.11% have experience in learning with mobile, and 39 students or
86.66% have collaborative learning experience.
Technology Experience. The study of learners’ Technology experience based on the
survey form was explained by the following aspects as 1) use of technology device 2)
use of technology to support knowledge construction 3) use of technology to explore
knowledge 4) use of knowledge as learning context to enhance action learning 5) use of
technology as social media for a conversation and knowledge sharing 6) use of tech-
nology to reflex thinking. The outputs are tabulated as seen in Table 3.
 A Study of Students’ Context-Aware to Be Used as a Basis for Designing 499

Table 3. Technology experience.

Technology Experience x S.D. Level
Use of Technology Device
1 Desktop computer 4.50 0.20 Very High
2 Laptop computer 3.98 0.62 High
3 Smart phone 4.65 0.69 Very High
4 Tablet 2.45 0.74 Average
Total 3.89 0.56 High
Use of Technology to Support Knowledge Construction
5 Use of Scratch as a tool for programming 3.98 0.65 High
6 Use of Code.org as a tool for programming learning 3.89 0.71 High
7 Use of Microbit as a tool for programming learning 2.45 0.69 Low
Total 3.44 0.68 Average
Use of Technology to Survey Knowledge
8 Use Google search engine for knowledge survey 4.85 0.56 Very High
9 Use Bing search engine for knowledge survey 3.44 0.70 Average
10 Use Yahoo search engine for knowledge survey 2.56 0.65 Low
Total 3.61 0.62 High
Use of Technology as Learning Context to Enhance Action Learning
11 Use of Flowgorithm for flowchart creating 3.59 0.64 High
12 Use of Flowdia Diagrams Lite android 2.45 0.57 Low
application for flowchart creating through mobile
13 Use of Pydroid 3 android application for Python 2.45 0.65 Low
programming
Total 2.83 0.62 Average
Use of Technology to as Social Media for a Conversation and Knowledge Sharing
14 Facebook application 4.87 0.69 Very High
15 Line application 4.27 0.71 High
16 E-mail 3.70 0.74 High
Total 4.28 0.71 High
Technology Experience x S.D. Level
Use of Technology to Reflex Thinking
17 Use of Mind Map software for building mind 3.67 0.65 High
mapping and presenting ideas
18 Use of Padlet application for building mind mapping 2.49 0.59 Low
and presenting ideas
Total 3.08 0.62 Average
All Total 3.52 0.76 High
500 K. Sirimathep et al.

The results of the study of Technology experience were found that most student in
overall had the high level of technology using Specifically, they had the good level of
performance to use a social media platform for a conversation and knowledge sharing
or x = 4.28, S.D. = 0.71, High level of technology device or 
x = 3.89, S.D. = 0.56 as
well as the high level of Use of Technology to Survey Knowledge  x = 3.61,
S.D. = 0.62.
Computational Problem Solving Experience. The study of learners’ Computational
Problem Solving Experience based on the survey form was presented in the following
parts 1) decomposition problem 2) pattern recognition 3) abstraction 4) Algorithm and
5) Evaluating solutions. The outputs are tabulated as seen in Table 4.

Table 4. Computational problem solving experience

Computational Problem Solving Experience x S.D. Level
Decomposition problem
1 Break down a complex problem or system into smaller 3.59 0.79 High
parts that are more manageable and easier to understand
Pattern recognition
2 Find the similarities or patterns among small problem, 3.21 0.52 Average
decomposed problems that can help to solve more complex
problems more efficiently
Abstraction
3 Filter out–essentially, ignore - the characteristics that 2.45 0.71 Low
students don’t need in order to concentrate on those that we
do
Algorithm
4 Plan, a set of step-by-step instructions to solve a problem 2.30 0.64 Low
Evaluating solutions
5 Make sure the solution does the job it has been designed to 2.30 0.64 Low
do and to think about how it could be improved
All total 2.77 0.73 Low

The results disclosed that they had low level in Computational Problem Solving
Experience or x = 2.77, S.D. = 0.73. Among those 5 Computational Problem Solving
Experience, the highest number was shown in Decomposition problem which in High
level or x = 3.59, S.D. = 0.79, Pattern recognition presented 
x = 3.21, S.D. = 0.52 in
low level, Abstraction shown x = 2.45, S.D. = 0.71, while Algorithm shown  x = 2.30,
S.D. = 0.73 in low level, and Evaluating solutions shown in low level  x = 2.30,
S.D. = 0.73.
Programming Experience. The study of learners’ Programming Experience based on
the survey form. The outputs are tabulated as seen in Table 5.
 A Study of Students’ Context-Aware to Be Used as a Basis for Designing 501

Table 5. Programming experience.

Programming Experience x S.D. Experience
Level
1 The experience in Programming learning such as web 4.21 0.69 High
programming, mobile apps programming or software
programming
2 The experience in project programming such as web 2.10 0.72 Low
programming, mobile apps programming or software
programming
3 The experience in programming such as text-based 3.21 0.61 Average
programming, block-based programming
4 The experience in C Programming language 3.21 0.61 Average
5 The experience in Programming using a mobile 2.45 0.74 Low
application software
All total 3.03 0.68 Average

Their overall product Programming Experience was in Average level or  x = 3.03,

S.D. = 0.68 which they most had the experience in Programming learning or 
x = 4.21,
S.D. = 0.69 in High level. Meanwhile, they had low level in the other kinds of Pro-
gramming Experience as in project programming and Programming using a mobile
application software as x = 2.10, S.D. = 0.72, x = 2.45, S.D. = 0.74.
Student’s Expectation. The study of the student’s expectation towards learning com-
prised 3 parts as 1) Content 2) Learning style and 3) Teacher. The outputs are tabulated
as seen in Table 6.

Table 6. Student’s expectation towards learning.

Student’s Expectation towards learning x S.D. Level
Content
1 Modern content that can be applied in daily life 4.57 0.64 Very High
2 Interesting content, and diverse content 4.54 0.72 Very High
3 The content is organized into clear categories. And 4.20 0.69 High
consistent with the study topics
Total 4.43 0.65 High
Learning Style
4 Problem-based Learning 4.77 0.69 Very High
5 Collaborative Learning 4.79 0.77 Very High
6 Flexible learning environment with a diverse learning 4.89 0.74 Very High
and personalization based on students’ interests
7 Learning that enhance computational problem solving 4.69 0.69 Very High
Total 4.77 0.68 Very High
(continued)
502 K. Sirimathep et al.

Table 6. (continued)
Student’s Expectation towards learning x S.D. Level
Teacher
8 A teacher should design a lesson plan that are 4.49 0.74 High
consistent with the curriculum and able to organize a
variety of learning experiences with individual
differences
9 A teacher should support a learner to be an active 4.60 0.65 Very High
learner for the achievement of self-learning
10 A teacher should arrange a variety of courses for 4.78 0.72 Very High
students to choose according to student needs,
interests and ability
Total 4.62 0.67 Very High
All total 4.60 0.74 Very High

The results revealed the student’s expectation in learning that in very high level or
x = 4.60, S.D. = 0.74. Accordingly, they presented the statistical data for in topics that
they required the Flexible learning environment with a diverse learning and person-
alization based on students’ interests x = 4.89, S.D. = 0.74, they expected to have
group-based learning for knowledge sharing in both inside and outside classroom
x = 4.79, S.D. = 0.77, and they presented their expectation that a teacher should
arrange a variety of courses for students to choose according to student needs, interests
and ability x = 4.78, S.D. = 0.72.

5 Conclusions

The present learning styles should highlight knowledge computational problem solving
by several and flexible learning methods. The learners should be enhanced to share and
collaborate in both inside and outside classroom while the teachers act differently by
transforming from a teller to coach (Coaching). Moreover, the learning style is sug-
gested to focus on self- study with innovation improvement in order to enhance a
learner to be able to discover knowledge by themselves.

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by Ph.D. Program in Educational Technol-

ogy, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, and Research Group for Innovation and
Cognitive Technology, Khon Kaen University which hereby giving the thankfulness all through
this.

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 Assistive Technologies for Students
with Dyslexia: A Systematic Literature Review

C. Smith and M. J. Hattingh(&)

University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa

marie.hattingh@up.ac.za

Abstract. The goal of this research review is to identify assistive technologies

available to support students with dyslexia. The study reports on how accessible
these technologies are, as well as the impact these technologies can have on the
students if they are adopted. The main focus of the review lies on identifying
assistive technologies that can help students with dyslexia but investigation is
also done into the surrounding and closely related topics of accessibility,
acceptance and impact of the technology as well as trying to understand some
aspects of the dyslexia disability to better understand how the technologies can
aid these students and help to rehabilitate them. Based on information gathered
from previous research, the study tries to find a weak spot in the field of assistive
technologies and tries to determine how it can be bettered.

Keywords: Systematic literature review
Learning disabilities
Learning

aids
Dyslexia

1 Introduction

Dyslexia is a neurobehavioral disorder that very commonly affects children with rates
up to 17.5% [1]. More research and observations made from The National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), indicates that 17% to 20% of the
United States population has some form of a reading disability, which means that one
out of five children in the United States struggles with this problem and will most likely
keep struggling with it through their teenage and young adult lives [2]. Dyslexia is a
disorder where the person affected struggles with seemingly normal actions like word
recognition, spelling and formulating sentences [3]. Since dyslexia is a problem that
individuals have with language and phonological processing [1, 4] students really
struggled in the past without technology to help them to overcome their disabilities and
learn to move past it. With the world becoming more technological each day, people
with learning disabilities have gotten the chance to utilize these new emerging tech-
nologies to help and assist them with their studying and progression in the academic
system [5]. Diagnosis of the condition is happening more frequently, since new
technology becomes available that helps to identify students with dyslexia traits and
tendencies, like the use of EEG signal patterns [6]. The technological aids that these
students require can get complex and can include different special hardware and
software assistance [7]. Students with learning disabilities have always struggled to
obtain access to the needed aids and technology, and even with institutions providing
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 504–513, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_55
 Assistive Technologies for Students with Dyslexia 505

more resources in recent times, there are still students in many demographics that
cannot obtain access to these needed aids [8]. In this literature review the focus will be
on dyslexia and the technology that can be used to assist students with the disorder
rather than learning disabilities in general, which will allow narrowing the research
field down and producing better quality results on one specific topic in the over-
whelmingly large field.

2 Research Method

The research question to be answered by this study is: What technologies are available
to assist students with dyslexia? The following search terms were used: (“dyslexia” and
“technology”) OR (“dyslexia” and “learning” and “technology”) OR (“assistive” and
“technology”) OR (“dyslexia” and “assistive” and “technology”).
The selection criteria include a set of inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria that
was pre-defined by the author based on information needed to answer the research
question. The following inclusion criteria were used to select the sources, any article
not conforming to this were excluded: (1) Studies in English (2) Articles that focus on
the characteristics and description of dyslexia as a learning disability are included
(3) Articles that define and describe different technological assistance initiatives are
included (4) Studies from 2009 to 2019 (6) Peer reviewed academic journals.
Articles were obtained from ScienceDirect and Emerald Insight databases. Initially
1286 articles were identified, which were reduced to 168 after screening the title and
key words. 164 articles were read and based on their eligibility to the research question,
80 articles were included in final review.

3 Analysis of Findings

The use of EEG signals and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) have been mentioned
and briefly looked at in relation to identifying dyslexia or dyslexic traits within indi-
viduals [6], but there are many technologies being used to actually assist learners that
are suffering from dyslexia with studying and performing their academic duties. Some
of these technologies include speech recognition software, text-to-speech software,
mind mapping software, scanning software, hand reading pens, spell checkers, smart
pens, software on multimedia devices like cell phones and tablets, and computer-based
learning programs. These technological options are very popular options when it comes
to assistive technology according to the Dyslexia Association and will be investigated
further. In this review it was discovered that dyslexia is a learning disability that is
largely misunderstood to the world and every aspects from identifying individuals with
dyslexia to the point of obtaining technological aid to assist them is a very difficult task
and all these steps are investigated in more detail to follow. To be able to assist and
obtain proper technological help for individuals who suffer from dyslexia, it is very
important to correctly diagnose and identify the conditions beforehand. Although many
researches would argue on the different types of dyslexia and how it can be identified, a
common identifying method that is used consistently is the double deficit hypothesis,
506 C. Smith and M. J. Hattingh

which proposes that individuals who have problems with phonological processing as
well as naming speed represent independent dyslexic traits [9]. Many other reports
attribute the identification of dyslexia in individuals because of the identification of a
dissociation between phonological and visual attention span [10]. There are many traits
that can be associated with the dyslexia learning disability and can be used to
hypothesize that an individual may suffer from the disability, but there are also quite a
few technologies available to help identify and diagnose individuals who have
dyslexia. Some of these technologies to help identify the condition include DTI
(Diffusion Tensor Imaging), EEG (Electroencephalography), ERP (Evoked Response
Potential), and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging)
is technology branching from MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and is used gen-
erally to detect and investigate the white matter and fibre in the brain, and can be used
for multiple learning disorders beyond just dyslexia as well as other brain-oriented
diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s Disease [11]. The DTI technology
provides the ability to do extremely detailed investigation into white matter damage in
the brain and is used in practice to investigate both the macro structural and
microstructural integrity of white matter. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is used
for bigger and more overall investigations of the human body and is done by forming
images of the human body through magnetic fields in combination with chemical
contrast agents [12]. MRI technology is frequently used in practice to aid the identi-
fication and investigation of different cancers as well as neurological illnesses and
conditions like dyslexia, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia. As with all tech-
nologies, MRI technology does not come without any form of drawbacks and many
researchers have investigated the effect of the chemical composition, that is needed for
the MRI technology to produce imaging, on the human body and many are actively
trying to determine if those chemicals are actually damaging the organs of people who
go for these scans [13]. EEG (Electroencephalography) is technology that makes use of
elctrophysiological monitoring to investigate and record the electric activities in the
human brain and is generally used mostly for the identification and possible treatment
of more physical problems like brain trauma and other injuries to the head, but can also
be used to investigate some diseases that are of a neurological origin like dementia
[14]. Despite the fact that EEG technology is more commonly used with more physical
problems with the human brain does not mean it has no place to be leveraged when it
comes to dyslexia and other diseases that are neurological in nature. Many studies have
been conducted using EEG technology to help identify dyslexia and dyslexic traits or
tendencies in individuals as well as the EEG technology being leveraged to help create
a treatment and rehabilitation program with great success in helping children who
participated to better their reading skills and speeds by quite a big margin [15]. Evoked
potential is a method that also employs the use of visual, auditory, and sensory stim-
ulation and subsequently using electric signal monitoring. There are different types of
evoked potential studies to investigate neurological deficiencies, which include VER
(Visual Evoked Responses), BAER (Brain stem Auditory Evoked Responses), and
SSEP (Somatosensory Evoked Potentials), and these different studies all focus on
different cognitive brain functions [16].
 Assistive Technologies for Students with Dyslexia 507

3.1 Identification of Dyslexia

There are quite a few technologies that can be leveraged to identify dyslexia and
dyslexic traits in individuals but one important aspect that has been reiterated by so
many researchers is the fact that early identification of the disorder is very important to
be able to help the individual to overcome their difficulties and problems caused by
dyslexia. Once dyslexia or dyslexic traits has been identified and diagnosed in an
individual, the individual can start looking at sources that can aid in overcoming the
disorder, like assistive technologies to aid studying and therapy to learn how to deal
with the disorder in everyday life. A study looking at the use of assistive technologies
and how it is impacted by the social structure of everyday life found that individuals
who use assistive technologies are more likely to abandon the use thereof if these
technologies excludes them or makes them feel different in any way to their peers [17].
It is also recommended that individuals who are diagnosed with dyslexia should
undergo therapy since a lot of people never come to acceptance with the fact that they
have the disorder, which in turn makes it much more difficult to rehabilitate and
overcome the disorder. It is important to distinguish between assistive technology and
learning technology before any further findings and statements can be made. In a broad
overview, learning technology can be explained as technology that is used to help an
individual to learn [18]. Assistive technology, on the other hand, can be described as
technology that is assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative in nature and is designed to aid
individuals with learning disabilities, who struggle to learn with the normal medium
and resources provided [17]. Although these technologies are very similar in the sense
of helping and aiding individuals to learn, they are used by different demographics and
under different circumstances. Even though there are amazing assistive technologies
available to aid students, there is still a socio economic factor that causes most indi-
viduals that are suffering from dyslexia to not be able to obtain access to these tech-
nologies because of financial or other similar reasons. The implementation of assistive
technologies is no simple task either, and comes with both positive and negative
aspects [19]. Some advantages coming with assistive technology implementation
include access to new innovative technology and that the school will have expertise
knowledge on the assistive technology. Some of the drawbacks of implementing
assistive technologies include expensive training, long implementation time and a lot of
funding required to make the implementation successful [20]. It is very important,
despite the cost implication of implementing assistive technologies that schools attempt
to create a safe and inclusive learning environment for students who are affected by
dyslexia and other neurological disorders, through the means of different assistive
technologies as well as an interactive classroom environment [21]. The way a teacher
runs or presents his/her class can make a big difference when they have knowledge and
understanding on different cognitive disabilities and can help a student with a learning
disability to fit in much easier [22].

3.2 Assistive Technologies for Dyslexia

One of the most popular assistive technologies to aid students with dyslexia is the use
of speech recognition software which helps students that struggle with cognitive
508 C. Smith and M. J. Hattingh

problems like reading and writing by allowing these students to speak the sentence they
wish to convey. The software takes a recording of the spoken sentence and breaks it
down into individual sounds, and by making use of different algorithms, will analyse
the individual sound and will then write down a word that it finds most similar to the
spoken word [23]. More research efforts have gone into using speech recognition
software as a base and branching into more specific assistive technology like fully
automated closed captioning. Fully automated closed captioning is technology that
leverages speech recognition software to produce very accurate captions on video
material for students that may struggle with their hearing cognition [24]. Speech
recognition software has not only helped students to improve their learning ability, but
also to boost their confidence since many students have no problem speaking, but
because of the effects of the disorder, struggle with their reading ability [23]. Another
frequently used assistive technology is text-to-speech software and would basically
work in the complete opposite way as speech recognition software, catering for the
students who have trouble puzzling together the words they hear in a way that makes
sense or even more commonly used for students who have visual issues. Text-to-speech
technology is a form of speech synthesis that takes text as input and converts this input
into a voice generated output which enables the student to listen to what is written
down instead of having to see and read the text [25]. One study in particular shows that
readers who were using a text or speech assistive software were able to read at about
165 words per minute, while the average reader is at about 200 words per minute,
showing that even though these software technologies are able to help people, they are
still producing results that are 17% less effective than the average reader [26]. Another
highly technological innovation which has been uncovered to aid students with dys-
lexia and other learning disabilities, is the smart pen. The smart pen is a pen that can be
used by students in a very similar way to that of writing with a normal pen, but the
smart pen has technology built in that records words that are spoken and synchronizes
them with words that a user has written down on a special paper [27]. The biggest
concern about the smart pen that was raised by users has to do with privacy issues,
where the users are not comfortable with their conversations being recorded, seeing as
the smart pen records spoken word in order to perform synchronization with the written
words on the paper [27]. Another widely used assistive technology for students with
dyslexia, is spell checking software. Spell checking software checks the spelling and
sentence structure of the words the user is typing and has the ability to correct words
that are misspelled and indicate where a phrase or word has not been used correctly
[28]. One more medium exists that also plays a very important role in the field of
assistive technologies, and that is the use of multimedia devices like smartphones,
tablets, and even desktop computers. In recent years there has been an immense
increase in the amount of applications being created for assisting students with their
learning journey, because almost everyone in today’s society has a smart phone or
tablet and can leverage these devices to gain access to software applications aimed at
assisting them in a way tailored especially for the learning disorder they might asso-
ciate with [29]. The ability to leverage multimedia devices as a host or platform where
assistive technologies can be used enables developers to really customize and develop
user interfaces and features specifically tailored to the exact needs and preferences of
students with learning disabilities [30]. Another example of software that can be used
 Assistive Technologies for Students with Dyslexia 509

to help students with dyslexia is the use of courseware. Courseware is software that
assists students through the means of any multimedia device that can be used in schools
or even for self-improvement and studying at home, and is presented in the structure of
an academic course, with different work pieces, assignments, tests, and self-evaluation
exercises [31].

3.3 Accessibility and Inclusiveness of Assistive Technologies

Even though there are amazing technologies available nowadays in the field of assistive
technologies, the reality remains that there is a big financial gap between the people
who are able to obtain access to these technologies and those who cannot. It was found
that through primary, secondary, and tertiary school structures in Nigeria, assistive
technologies for students with visual impairments only have an availability rate of 3%
to 6%, assistive technologies for the hearing impaired only have an availability rate of
2% to 4%, assistive technologies for students who are affected by learning disabilities
only have an availability rate of 2% to 8% [32]. The biggest obstacle in today’s world
is the accessibility to these technologies and how the education system can become
more inclusive towards students with learning disabilities. Because students with
dyslexia, or any other cognitive illness for that matter, perceive situations in life dif-
ferently than other students, it can be a difficult task for teachers to include them into
their studying methodology without any flaws [33]. Different studies have already
confirmed accessibility to assistive technologies as a problem in not only the educa-
tional system, but also in society. As such, even regular activities, like working on the
internet becomes a problem for these students [34]. An innovative attempt to solve the
problem of navigating and accessing the web for students with dyslexia is the use of a
customized toolbar to improve web accessibility. The aim of this technology is to
provide a web browser extension that allows students with dyslexia to customize the
web pages to their liking and to have it in a way that they understand and feel
comfortable working with [35]. More research into web accessibility, specifically with
dyslexic users, shows that these users experience problems very similar to most users,
which shows that developers do not necessarily have to go to extremes with their
development and design in order to include these users who have different disabilities
[36]. Some of these problems that are experienced when using the web include con-
fusing design layout, no clear navigation method, making poor use of colors in design,
small and unreadable text, and overcomplicated use of language. Inclusive design can
be seen as developers understanding diversity in a population of potential users and
addressing the diversity to deliver a design or product that is suitable for all the
different users [37]. Design that is more focused on specifically dyslexic users usually
incorporate the above mentioned qualities, as well as being minimalistic and incor-
porating the use of plain, easy to read and understand language and sentence structure
[36]. Taking into account that accessibility is a big issue with assistive technologies,
there are quite a few communities that are trying to fix the issue by establishing an
online environment where individuals have open source access to assistive technology
software, with the goal that individuals in society can benefit from this and that the
adoption of assistive technologies in schools can increase to help learners overcome
their learning difficulties and improve their livelihood [38]. The idea behind this online
510 C. Smith and M. J. Hattingh

“directory” of open source software is to create an environment where developers can

come together and contribute their ideas and software solutions that can be used freely
by anyone who may not necessarily have the financial means to obtain help in another
way. Another problem that was briefly touched on in this study is not only the
accessibility of the technologies but the abandonment thereof even when students have
access to it. The biggest contributing factor to abandonment of assistive technology can
be attributed to students and individuals not accepting that they have a condition or an
illness, as well as other conditions that may be caused because of the knowledge of
their illness, like depression and anxiety [39]. More factors contributing to the aban-
donment of assistive technologies include financial reason, where users may not be able
to sustain the use of the technologies financially and the fact that the use of these
technologies make the users feel different than their peers. These statements are further
backed up by research findings that the use and idea of assistive technologies are still
very foreign and alienated in the minds of society and have not yet been accepted into
their norms of living, and thus causing the users of these technologies to feel self-
conscious and out of place [40]. Cultural diversity is also a factor that comes into play
when investigating the accessibility that students have to assistive technologies. Some
researchers have made statements that the first thing to do when trying to remediate the
inaccessibility to assistive technologies is to try and close the gap between the different
cultures and their ability to obtain these technologies [41]. Steps that can be taken to
achieve this include aiding schools in more rural areas to incorporate assistive tech-
nologies into their classrooms and to provide training and courses for teachers to be
able to teach and run the classroom in a more inclusive manner. By incorporating these
changes students from all cultures have a better chance at obtaining aid as well as
different cultural societies may learn more about dyslexia and other cognitive dis-
abilities which can lead to a more accepting and inclusive society outside of an aca-
demic view [42]. Establishing a culture of inclusive design and development will
greatly benefit these individuals in the academic world and in society as a whole.

4 Conclusion

It is found in this study that a very large number of research articles are based on a
young population who are affected by the dyslexia learning disability, which stems
from researchers having found that it is very important to identify and start treating the
condition at a young age to be able to see more effective results. It was found that there
are numerous assistive technology innovations and products available in the industry
and that these technologies come with both positive as well as negative impacts for the
students that are able to obtain and use them. The acceptance for assistive technologies
and even people who are seen as “different” because of their cognitive disabilities are
still very low in society, making it extremely difficult for these students to be able to
adapt and fit into the educational systems that are in place. This leads to a high rejection
rate of assistive technologies. More problems leading to students not being able to fit
into the educational system are results of teachers not understanding and having
enough knowledge of cognitive disabilities or schools not being able to incorporate a
more inclusive learning experience because of the expenses involved in obtaining and
 Assistive Technologies for Students with Dyslexia 511

incorporating the needed technological solutions. The main problem that arose after
investigating numerous research, was that assistive technologies are extremely inac-
cessible to individuals since it is generally very expensive or it simply is not available
in a lot of areas where the residents are in a low socio-economic class, such as some
third-world and developing countries. The main problem of the accessibility to assistive
technology should be addressed around the world and how these technologies can be
made available in a financially sustainable way.

Acknowledgement. Publication funded by NRF UID/127494.

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 Assistive Technology for ADHD: A Systematic
Literature Review

Emily Black and Marie Hattingh(&)

Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

{emily.black,marie.hattingh}@up.ac.za

Abstract. This paper reports on a study that aimed to identify different assistive
technologies that are currently available to support children living with ADHD.
This review is conducted by using a systematic approach by collecting and
analyzing academically acknowledged qualitative as well as quantitative studies
between 2011 and 2019. For the purpose of this study, assistive technologies
were divided into three categories namely: 1) Wearables, 2) Mobile technology
and applications and 3) Computer-based technology. It was also found that some
believe that the use of technology cannot be the aid to support children living
with ADHD in a school environment. These results indicate that even though
there are several assistive technology solutions that are currently present, there
were mixed conclusions on the effectiveness of utilizing assistive technology as
an aid of ADHD.

Keywords: Assistive technology
ADHD
Children
School performance

1 Introduction

The treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not one of
medication alone, thus multimodal treatments are currently recommended when one is
treating ADHD [1, 2]. ADHD includes characteristics and symptoms of absent-
mindedness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity [3]. Further, an ADHD child will also
display signs of other characteristics such as not listening with understanding of the
context, being forgetful, struggling to stay still or may be fidgety, being restless and
talkative [4]. These behaviors can make it difficult for any educator or parent who
needs to teach ADHD children, especially in a mainstream school environment.
An average of 8.4% of children worldwide is estimated to be diagnosed with
ADHD, making it one of the most prevalent mental disorders that are currently
affecting children [3]. Poor academic performance shows a positive correlation with
ADHD.
ADHD may cause a cognitive impairment for people who suffer from the disability
and results in a deficit in executive functioning of cognitive processes, problem-solving
abilities and working memory [5]. These difficulties have a high impact on academic –
and occupational performance [6]. Treatment for ADHD requires one to look at various
components, such as individual - and family knowledge, collaboration and support
from educators and other school personnel, management of a child’s behavior, as well
as medication to treat the psychological aspect [1].
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 514–523, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_56
 Assistive Technology for ADHD: A Systematic Literature Review 515

Previously, educators had to rely on individually created visual and audio means of
teaching. They used tools such as 16 mm projectors and tape recorders as support to
better reach and teach children who learn differently [7]. Today, the means of teaching
has become more technically orientated and computerized, with different media and
audio functions that can support educational environments. An immense number of
technological advances have increased humans’ dependence on technology and com-
puters to assist them with day-to-day activities.
Assistive Technology (AT) should not only adapt to support each learner’s indi-
vidual needs, but should also comply with the rules and regulations of assessments and
examinations [4]. AT is a set of mechanical, electronic or computerized equipment
designed for - and used by people with disabilities to help them function in their
everyday lives [7]. Each child is different, which means that there is not only one AT
solution that can help all children living with ADHD to learn better and that existing
AT must be able to adapt to a student’s individual need [4]. Hence, AT should not only
be designed for students with visible or physical disabilities, but rather for all those
who need help in order to succeed in a mainstream school environment.
This paper aims to critically evaluate struggles that children, living with ADHD,
have concerning their school performance and how assistive technology can support
these learners with their learning and developmental difficulties to excel in a main-
stream school environment.

2 Research Method

The research question to be answered by this study is: What aspects needs to be
considered when utilising assistive technology as an aid to support ADHD in a school
environment? The following search terms were used: (“Assisting Technology” OR
“Assistive Technology” OR “educational technology” OR “app*”) AND (“Learning
disability*” OR “learning difficult*”) AND (“ADHD” OR “Hyperactivity Deficit
Attention Disorder” OR “cognitive disability” OR “behavioural disorder” OR “conduct
disorders” OR “disruptive disorders”) AND (“School Performance” OR “grade aver-
age” OR “education”) AND (“child*”).
The selection criteria include a set of inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria that
was pre-defined by the author based on information needed to answer the research
question. The following inclusion criteria were used to select the sources, any article
not conforming to this were excluded: (1) Studies in English, (2) Studies where par-
ticipants were younger than 18, diagnosed with ADHD and/or learning disabilities,
(3) Studies where participants display problems signs in regards to school performance,
(4) Studies from 2011 to 2019, (6) Studies from peer reviewed journal articles and
books using qualitative measures for analysis, seeking to understand the impact ADHD
and learning disabilities has on school performance.
516 E. Black and M. Hattingh

3 Analysis of Findings

This section describes the analysis of data found as well as a discussion on each topic.
All the findings are divided in sections that relates to the different parts of the research
question that served as a guide for this literature review. Of the 32 articles, eight
discussed assistive technology intervention for ADHD, eight discussed educator’s
knowledge of ADHD and possible interventions, six articles discussed ADHD in
correlation with learning disabilities, poor executive functioning and poor school
performance, six discussed the prevalence of ADHD and five discussed guidelines
when developing assistive technology for ADHD. Each of these aspects will be dis-
cussed in more detail in the following sections.

3.1 The Impact of the Environment on a Child with ADHD

Figure 1 shows that the school environment for a child with ADHD is influenced by
the type of AT technology, the knowledge of the Educator and the performance of the
child. Each of these aspects will be discussed in the following sections.

Fig. 1. Summation of the environment that impacts.

The Impact of ADHD on a Child. Analyzing the collected research materials, it was
found by [9] and [14] that ADHD is one of the most common disorder affecting
children.
Children living with ADHD shows a significant decrease in executive functioning
[8]. Executive functioning is classified as the cognitive processes that allow us to
respond accordingly in certain circumstances. It enables us to make decisions, develop
 Assistive Technology for ADHD: A Systematic Literature Review 517

new habits, evaluate risks, plan, prioritize and sequence activities [15]. Research done
by [8] states that ADHD children exhibits a decrease in executive functioning skills.
This compliments statements made by [9] and [10], that an average of 75% of ADHD
children will have another psychiatric disorder, such as learning disabilities, anxiety,
depression and aggression, which is impacting the quality of life and academic success
for these children. Children need to use their executive functioning abilities to achieve
daily goals in classrooms.
Educator Knowledge and Training on ADHD and Assistive Technology. Educa-
tors may be aware that cognitive abilities plays a significant role in a child’s learning
process and how this influences their academic success, yet they are less aware of the
impact and symptoms of ADHD in the classroom [8]. The majority of textbooks to
educate teachers on how to interact and teach children with special needs appropriately,
only conveyed brief statements with explanations about learning disabilities in the
classroom [11, 12].
In simple terms a classroom is that where children gets taught by an educator, yet
the simplicity of this statement is influenced by many factors that vary internally as
well as externally [13]. These factors can have a significant influence on the amount of
effort that is spent of efficiently teaching children in that environment [13]. Optimal
learning for students cannot occur without capturing their attention [14] and teachers
should continually refocus a student’s attention to the implied target once they notice
that they lost their attention [13]. In order for teachers to make the best choice they
need to have a prior understanding of the child and what he/she understands of the
content as well as good knowledge about what the capabilities are of each specific
technology that can be utilized in the classroom [14]. It is common for ADHD children
to receive psychological help and medicine to help improve their cognitive processes,
yet without the support the educator’s understanding of the problem at hand and
continuous motivation, these children is at risk of falling behind in school environments
[11].
Developing Assistive Technology for ADHD. Assistive technologies refers to a wide
variety of technology that can be utilized to support learning, teaching and the
assessment of school activities [15]. Computer-assisted technology has been used as a
form of special education for children who expressed a need with learning difficulties
[15]. Smartphones, iPads and tablets has become more accessible to everyday lives.
The capabilities of these devices has also been adopted in many classrooms worldwide
as a form of learning and teaching [20].
There is evidence of many different assistive technologies used to improve a child’s
knowledge and skills when they live with difficulties such as ADHD. Several ongoing
studies on many different assistive technologies and many assistive technologies were
presented over the past years, yet most of them focus on Autism disorder and not
ADHD [11]. People may mistake these two disorders to have many similar charac-
teristics, however they are indeed very different. Thus the technologies developed for
Autism disorder cannot automatically be adopted as an assistive technology solution
for ADHD [16]. The challenge with developing these technologies to support children
living with ADHD is to keep younger children entertained as well as older children or
adolescents [2].
518 E. Black and M. Hattingh

Benton and Johnson [17] argue that researchers and developers should have a
‘bonded design’ method when designing new assistive technology for children with
ADHD. This is when the children who will possibly be users of the program is
involved throughout the process [17]. This will help to increasing the value of the
technology and make the design better [17]. After empirical research was done in the
ADHD domain, [16] identified five major criteria’s that assistive technology for ADHD
should adhere to: 1) All technologies should be unobtrusive to wear, 2) Systems should
be robust enough to handle ADHD behavior in the classroom and outside, 3) Avoid
technology that may expose children to bullying and stigmatization in school, 4) The
system should always deliver real time and continuous feedback, 5) It should be
relatively easy to set up in order to avoid frustration for the child. These devices should
recognize certain activities and movements made by a child in the classroom, it should
then analyses the data, detect the changes that trigger inattentiveness in class and assist
the child to regain attention in a non-intrusive way [16]. Abbott et al. [18] state that
technology is increasingly used by humans to become more efficient and this con-
tributed to rapid and multiple changes in the development domains, enabling tech-
nology to become cheaper, easily accessible, more efficient, reliable and flexible.

3.2 Discussion of Different Types of Assistive Technology for ADHD

This section aims to provide insight into the different methods that can be used as
alternative ways to teach and support children living with ADHD in a mainstream
school environment. Four main topics are covered namely: 1) Wearable technology to
assist ADHD, 2) Mobile technology and applications to assist ADHD, 3) Computer-
based technology to assist ADHD and 4) Arguments against technology intervention.
Wearable Technology that Can Assist with ADHD. Wearable technology is known
as an accessory that can be worn, whether it is part of one’s clothing, implanted in your
body or tattooed on one’s skin [24]. It is a hands-free gadget, used to make one’s life
more efficient that can be used in many practical ways by using microprocessors to
send and receive information to-and-from the internet [24].
Rijo et al. [21] researched Child Activity and Sensitivity Training Tool (CASTT) as
a wearable device for children living with ADHD. This prototype was built around
three important components that needs to be taken into account when one is developing
assistive technology for special needs, especially ADHD, namely: sensing, recognising
and assisting. In 2012, the CASTT device could be combined with Dolce Ultra-lite
(DUL) sensors, a smartphone, and HR monitor and an Electroencephalography
(EEG) headset to sense the child’s physical and psychological state when taking part in
different activities [16]. They have found that the DUL sensors, smartphone and HR
monitor were all comfortable to use by the children. This was magnified when a child
went out for play time and only took off the EEG headset [16].
Finding solutions to help a child living it ADHD is extremely important, as their
focus that is kept during the day in the classroom play a big role in their overall end
year performance. During the rest of the study [16] made the notification on the
smartphone vibrate every 15 min. They noticed that the vibrating notifications from the
smartphone did not disturb the rest of the children in class, while at the same time
 Assistive Technology for ADHD: A Systematic Literature Review 519

reminding the student applicable to stay focused [16]. The average child did return to
his current assignment after the smartphone vibrated and afterwards stayed focused for
an average of 10–12 min of the intervention.
There is currently another smart watch called WatchMinder which can be used to
help ADHD children set such reminders, with each reminder the watch vibrates [25].
Mobile Applications that Can Assist with ADHD. Today, mobile applications are
part of the everyday lives of the average human being and the increase in users has
come from more people being constantly on the move that can make use of the different
applications anywhere at any time to aid several everyday tasks.
The different applications tend to satisfy different needs for different users living
with ADHD as everyone living with ADHD does not exhibit the same characteristics
and does not struggle with the same difficulties.
The iPad, as a useful mobile technology, has gained a substantial following over the
past decade. It is found to be a feasible solution to enhance participation and inclusivity
in the classrooms and many schools have adopted the technology as a means of
learning and teaching, as it supports a wide range of educational needs [20]. The iPad is
a tool to that encourages Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in a school environment
and allows educators to teach children with different needs in different ways that can
help them be successful and improve their overall school performance. Many parents,
teachers and children across the world already own smartphones and tablets. Due to
this, learning how to use the device will take the minimum amount of time for the
applicable party. Educators can use this method to create a more inclusive classroom
and incorporate learning methods based on all children’s multiple complex needs. In
order to implement the use of an iPad successfully the organization or school needs to
provide the teachers as well as the learners with the needed support to gain the nec-
essary skills and knowledge to efficiently use the device and the apps applicable [20].
ProceduralPal is a mobile application that aims to aid children living with ADHD
and who has access to a smartphone to rehearse common daily tasks [25]. The
application allows you to break these tasks up into separate smaller steps that can each
be represented by a picture if needed [25]. Users can then view the images and read the
instructions to know how to accurately and efficiently complete the task at hand step-
by-step [25].
TaskTracker, like ProceduralPal is a mobile application that is designed to aid
children living with ADHD to complete daily tasks efficiently. On the app, each user
can log certain tasks that they may find difficult [25, 26]. For each tasks the app has a
progress bar, alarm reminders and motivational messages that has been designed to
encourage successful task completion with time managed, rather than focusing on
remembering to complete the task alone [25], [19, 20].
While there are many other assistive technologies that can assist children living
with ADHD during execution of everyday tasks and memory, the developers of the
mobile applications mentioned above has included some basic needed features that
others have not. Both ProcedurePal and TaskTracker are apps that not only focuses on
task management, but they also place focus on time management.
The Training Attention and Learning Initiative (TALI) program, is a computerized
software that is specifically designed to improve attention skills [21]. When working
520 E. Black and M. Hattingh

with this program you have 4 activities to complete on a touch screen tablet or
smartphone. Each activity lasts 4 min and the exercises for the day takes approximately
up to 20 min. By using an inbuilt criterion, the software is able to determine the level of
difficulty for each individual user and will automatically adjust it regarding their per-
formance in each activity. The developers created a visual and verbal guide in order to
sufficiently help the child work on the system and through every activity. When a
child’s attention is trained, attention can be better maintained during strenuous school
activities. [21] found that when the children used this app for a 3 month period, had
selective improvements in both short- and long term attention.
Computer-Based Training and Gamification that Can Assist with ADHD.
Computer-based training is seen as a form of training done on a computer. A computer
has the capabilities to teach a student in more forms than one by making use of audio,
video, graphical information and text. The system can be tailored to each individual’s
needs. This form of training can be beneficial when different students in the class each
has different means of processing and gaining new knowledge. When the right training
is offered as an intervention to the right children, who experience a deficit in certain
cognitive functions, it is evident that this type of training will keep the children
engaged and have many noticeable and favorable outcome [21].
Cogmed Working Memory Training is a computer-based application that is aimed
to improve attention difficulties, caused by working memory inefficiencies, that chil-
dren living with ADHD experience [21]. This program is designed to challenge the
capacity of its user’s working memory and target cognitive functioning that is needed
to enhance its user’s everyday lives. This goal is reached through cognitive exercises,
developed by neuroscientists, that can be done by each user. It is developed in such a
way that the difficulty level is set in real-time based on the user’s performance when
completing the different exercises for the day [21].
Plan it commander is a specific program or software aimed to help ADHD, to play
at home, developed by the Ranj Serious Game Project. This program helps the children
to plan for certain events by requiring the player to solve many different problems in a
certain situation [21, 22]. The game consists ten main mission, all with submissions.
These missions consist of activities that improve cognitive functioning by training
complex and critical thinking skills, time management, planning and organizing skills
[22]. Once the one mission is completed, the next will become available. There is an
enclosed space provided where players can ask each other questions and in turn other
players provide assistance [22].
Arguments Against Computer-Assisted Technology as an Aid for ADHD. Weis-
berg [25] argues that even though several new assistive technologies have been
developed to assist ADHD and other executive functioning factors over the past years,
some solutions may be intrusive. Many assistive devices display reminders and vibrate,
this may cause a child living with ADHD to constantly be distracted by the device
instead of it aiding the child to be more efficient when completing tasks.
Children who are allowed to substantially increase screen time to assist them with
different tasks, may become dependent on media [23]. As the child gets older and
child-parent conflict arises, children may seek support from other sources such as
media, smartphones tablets and computers [23]. These children are at risk of becoming
 Assistive Technology for ADHD: A Systematic Literature Review 521

addicted to these devices and can increase their risk for other comorbid disorders that is
common in children living with ADHD, such as anxiety and depression [23]. Side
effects may occur when technology is used continuously, such as changes in beha-
viours, cognitive functioning and emotions [23]. This can be due to the amount of
information one needs to process when working on technology and the constant change
between platforms used.

4 Conclusion

Computer-assisted technology has become more popular as an aid to use in schools

worldwide and is especially used to teach children with special needs. This is attributed
to the fact that learning technology has a gained a reputation of when used appropri-
ately it can substantially improve a child’s experience and performance in a mainstream
school environment. Even though there are verified arguments why technology is not
the best solution to support children living with ADHD in a mainstream school
environment, the positive feedback is far greater. Today, there is an increasing need to
create an environment where access to education is equal for all students, while also
creating a learning process that empowers the child to excel irrespective of their
individual abilities or lack of. Attention should be placed on finding new ways to make
an impact through different teaching practices to accommodate children living with
ADHD learning disabilities or learning difficulties.

Acknowledgement. Publication funded by NRF UID/127494.

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 Chinese Students’ Motivations
to Adopt E-Learning

James O. Stanworth(&)

Department of Business Administration, National Changhua University

of Education, Changhua, Taiwan R.O.C.
stanworth.j@gmail.com

Abstract. Culture influences how students give meanings to, and engage with,
e-learning. Since the predominance of research draws on models construed with
values from the Western world they risk lacking congruence with other contexts.
This study aims to identify the motives of students in Chinese culture towards e-
learning and explain how these predict behavior. I use a form of laddering to
identify students’ motives and associating organizing schema. Results show 37
motives draw students towards while 31 push them away from e-learning. The
analysis reveals that students are drawn towards the temporal spatial benefits of
e-learning. They, however they feel debilitated and lack a sense of mo-qi with
both their classmates and the teacher. These results point towards a different
conceptualization of e-learning motivations than seen so far in the literature.

Keywords: Technology adoption
Chinese learner
Culture
E-learning

1 Introduction

1.1 Research Background

Notions about education and its delivery vary greatly across cultures and these translate
into the way e-learning is also understood. Studies find that students may have different
reactions and understanding to educational approaches that are based on the practices
of a different cultural context [1]. The literature on the structure and approaches to e-
learning is currently dominated by assumptions of educational values and norms that
anchor in the Western world. This translates into a narrative that anticipates that e-
learning facilitates interaction [2] and the development of critical thinking [3, 4] in
environments that encourage the co-construction of knowledge [5]. Culture is already
recognized, for example, as affecting online presence and learner perceptions [6].
Of particular relevance to Chinese learners who have markedly different under-
standing about education norms and values than their Western counterparts. Self-
directed learning, for example is an anomaly in an environment where learning is still
heavily directed by teachers and lectures are regarded as central to passing on
knowledge of any substance [1, 7, 8]. Consequently, e-learning is understood differ-
ently by Chinese learners [9, 10]. The success of e-learning as a form of instruction is
contingent on learners’ willingness to engage with this form of learning.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 524–535, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_57
 Chinese Students’ Motivations to Adopt E-Learning 525

Questions about what explains people’s willingness to engage and use technology
are of enduring interest [11, 12] and this is particularly so in terms of e-learning
technologies [8, 13, 15]. This literature, however, largely overlooks how culture shapes
e-learning technology adoption. This is surprising given the significance of culture in
influencing, “the successful implementation and use of information technology.” [16,
p. 357] It is important to consider the cultural backgrounds of learners if we are to
understand how they react to and consider adoption of e-learning educational tech-
nologies. This then frames significant questions about how and why Chinese e-learners
want to adopt and use e-learning.
I draw on the perspective that adoption is effectively understood and explained
from a motivation perspective. This breaks from the traditional technology acceptance
or technology adoption perspectives. A motivation perspective frames adoption as
motivational goals expressed through schema that reveal individuals’ intentions
towards technology adoption [17, 19]. This perspective aligns effectively with the
aspiration in this project to construct a grounded model (i.e., in Chinese culture norms
and roles) that explains goals (i.e., Chinese e-learners’ motives) towards e-learning
adoption (i.e., explaining their intention to use such technologies).
I frame two main objectives in order to incrementally advance our understanding of
student adoption of e-learning:
• RO1: To identify Chinese students’ motives towards e-learning adoption.
• RO2: To model Chinese students’ motives as predictors of e-learning adoption.

2 Research Method

The goals of this project lead to a qualitative and phased approach. The first phase of
study establishes the basis for the second. Under the first phase the e-learning materials
and platform and developed and customized to the current teaching context. This
provides a base for data collection in the second (i.e., surfacing motives towards e-
learning).

2.1 First Phase

A significant dilemma for educators is how to resolve the dilemma between using
commercially available classes and designing material in house [20]. The intuitional
support that educators often have in-house often comes a significant pedagogical price
[21]. This is a significant issue for those trying to retain control of both their materials
and delivery approach. Establishing control over pedagogy through material design and
delivery was considered particularly important for this research project.
I understood an opportunity to implement my own technologies (e.g., servers and
video recording studio) to maintain greater control of my educational resources and
their delivery). This do-it-yourself approach is increasingly possible as technologies
526 J. O. Stanworth

become more accessible to the untrained [22]. To support this first stage I implemented
a virtual server (ESXI 6.0) (See Fig. 1) that acted as platforms for my two main virtual
servers. The first server, an Ubuntu based interactive website (for delivery of online
course materials). The second, also Ubuntu based, was the BigBluebutton online
classroom (Fig. 2). I also developed a studio (Fig. 3) for recording teaching material
which integrated a series of camera angles on a virtual set. Over 20 h of course video
were shot and edited spread across 52 discrete videos (i.e., each segment varied in
length) (Fig. 4). On line quizzes were developed to supplement the material.

Fig. 1. Virtual servers for online instruction.

Fig. 2. Implementation of blended class (BigBluebutton). (Color figure online)

 Chinese Students’ Motivations to Adopt E-Learning 527

Fig. 3. Studio for e-learning.

Fig. 4. Screenshot of online learning material (from lab).

Post design the courses was delivered, and refined to resolve inconsistencies or
errors between all the multiple constituent parts (e.g., course schedules, online videos,
scheduled times for online class, and links to quizzes). With these delivery issues
resolved the course was delivered for a second time.

2.2 Second Phase

A primary objective of this study is to explore how students, socialized to Chinese
culture, are motivated to engage with and take online courses. This necessitates an
528 J. O. Stanworth

approach elaborate cognitive schema that relates experiences (i.e., of e-learning) to

more abstract reasons for engaging in this behavior. There is long standing discourse on
goal setting and striving within the domain of organizational behavior [23]. Laddering
[24] provides a methodology for examining how explicating the relationship between
goals and values. Bagozzi and colleagues [18, 19, 25] operationalizes this perspective
as a means of explaining individual behaviours; such as, technology adoption. This
approach, primarily qualitative, has two main strengths that align well with the pur-
poses of this study. First, it captures actual expressions (i.e., students’ own words)
about their reasons for engaging with the online class. This helps to avoid the risk of
prescribing concepts that might be relevant in one culture (i.e., Western students’
concepts about e-learning adoption) but not in another (i.e., here, students under
Chinese culture) (an imposed etic [26]. Students’ motives once categorized and ana-
lyzed, can be said to express a cultural norm about engaging with an online class.
Second, by drawing on the broad notion of goal setting as it relates to behavior it gives
researchers latitude to develop theoretical explanation that are culturally congruent
[27]. This represents the researcher exercising their “disciplined imagination” in the
selection and development of the most qualified theoretical explanation [28].
The student participants took either a completely online or a blended class. The
fully online class, in business, was structured so students learned the core theoretical
material through online videos. These were put online and students could elect when to
view them and take the associating quizzes. Class groups had to coordinate amongst
themselves to work through a business simulation that ran interactively through the
semester. As with the rest of the course this was completely online but supported by
teaching assistants. The blended course, also in the business area, drew on the plat-
forms and materials developed above. Students reviewed core-course material as online
video with associating quizzes. They met with the instructor approximately every
fourth class for face-to-face instruction.
Students were invited to participate the data collection via e-mail. To show
appreciation for their time, I sponsored their lunch and offered a coupon (100NT$). To
surface students’ self‐explicated motives for their behaviours, I ask open‐ended
questions following Bagozzi et al. [18]. Students began completing the open ques-
tionnaire by giving up to three reasons that drew them towards engagement with the
online class. Next, students were asked to think of the first reason that they had
provided and explain why it was important to them in the adjacent column. Students
were then asked a final time to consider the explanation they had just given and make a
further justification for it in the next column. I repeated this procedure for the second
reason. Finally, students were asked to provide up to three reasons that explained what
pushed them away from engagement with the online class. I applied the above pro-
cedure to both consequences. Ideally, this resulted in students creating two matrices of
9 motives.
To start the data analysis, I focused on data from the completely online class. My
81 informants, from this class, provided 1,448 discrete motives that explained their
thinking towards engagement with online courses. The first stage of analysis leads to 37
 Chinese Students’ Motivations to Adopt E-Learning 529

categories explaining what draws students towards e-learning and 31 categories elab-
orating what pushes them away. The second stage of analysis yields for draws me
towards e-learning 416 linkages and for pushes me away 364 linkages between
categories.

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Preliminary Results
For the fully online class Table 1 show the categories that explain what drew students
towards learning in the online class. While Table 2 show the categories explicating
students motivates for being pushed away from online course.

Table 1. Student defined motives pushing them towards adopting e-learning.

Attribute Consequence Value
Code Motive Code Motive Code Motive
A1 Learning flexibility B1 Manage my study time C1 Not limited by space
or time
A2 Less time constraints B2 No need to go to the C2 Learn to manage my
classroom schedule
A3 Manage study time B3 Flexible time C3 Effective use of my
by myself management time
A4 Convenience B4 Resource saving C4 Save resources
A5 High efficacy B5 Avoiding course time C5 Less time constraints
conflict
A6 Following the trends B6 Time to do other things C6 Develop friendship
A7 Making new friends B7 Learning flexibility C7 New experiences
A8 Resource saving B8 Advantageous when C8 Take more credits
lacking vitality
A9 Class is interesting B9 Own pace to study C9 Self-development
A10 Schedule more B10 Curious to try C10 Increasing my
classes understanding
A11 At ease B11 Feeling relaxed
A12 Review hard sections B12 Expand the social
network
A13 Learn new things B13 Skills for future
A14 Extensive learning
resources
530 J. O. Stanworth

Table 2. Student defined motives pushing them away from e-learning.

Attribute Consequence Value
Code Motive Code Motive Code Motive
A1 No cooperating or B1 Bad coordination in C1 Hard to create
coordinating group work friendship
A2 Cannot get the feeling of B2 Hard to fully C2 Lifeless
closeness communicate communication
A3 Missing face-to-face B3 Cannot immediately C3 lack of mò qì (默契)
interaction solve problems
A4 Hard to ask questions B4 Lack of pressure to C4 Debilitating
study
A5 Cannot interact directly B5 Cold interaction C5 Hard to take care of
the grade
A6 Health issues B76 Unfamiliar with C6 Lack learning
technology efficacy
A7 Unfamiliar way of B7 Bad for eyes C7 Extra time
having class consuming
A8 Easy to lack self- B8 Monotonous class C8 Inconvenience
discipline
A9 Need access to computer B9 Lack dedication
A10 Overwhelmed by e-mail B10 Unfair grading
information
A11 Rigid schedule B11 Low efficiency in
learning
B12 Knowledge feels scanty

The next stage of the data analysis involves building implication matrices which
show how one motive leads to another. At this stage, the analysis, is still partial and
show only reveals the direct relationships (i.e., how often motive “A” leads to motive
“B”). Indirect relationships (i.e., how often motive “A” leads to “C” but not directly
through “B”) are also significant. Further analysis will also consider centrality (how
often a motive is a target of other motives) and prestige (how often a motive acts as a
source to others) [18]. Figure 5 shows an example of the developing implication
matrix.
 Chinese Students’ Motivations to Adopt E-Learning 531

Fig. 5. Implication matrix of student defined relationships between motivates and e-learning.

The implication matrix provides the basis for developing a cognitive map of
schema which shapes students under Chinese culture engagement with e-learning. The
map needs sufficient complexity to capture respondents’ thoughts while avoiding being
overly cluttered. At this stage I have set a cut-off of four or more motives to arrive at
Fig. 6 and Fig. 7.
Discussion: Reaction to Preliminary Analysis. The results show that students
understand and are drawn towards e-learning by the temporal (e.g., less time con-
straints, schedule more classes) and spatial benefits (e.g., convenient (place & pro-
cess)). As such these show some alignment with the existing literature on e-learning
adoption [13, 29] .
A significant exception is the notion of following the trends that leads students to be
curious to try so as to have new experiences. Understanding something as fresh or
novel under Chinese culture is signal of an emerging trend that might be significant.
Literature in marketing shows queueing (i.e., the visible presence of and engagement
by others in a new/significant phenomena) act to stimulate consumption [30]. I suspect
this motive may be significant in explaining what draws students towards this form of
learning.
532 J. O. Stanworth

The motives explicating what pushes students away contain much that is novel and
significant to this cultural context. Students feel it is easy to lack self-discipline as they
lack pressure to study while blaming themselves for a lack of dedication and this
results in the overall sense that e-learning is debilitating.

Fig. 6. Motivations for students approaching online class.

Students cannot get the feeling of closeness through cold interactions that means
they lack mò qì (默契) with either the instructor or classmates.
These reactions points towards students being demotivated by interactions that
might characterize as inauthentic (fake?) or lacking the genuineness of interpersonal
contact [31]. These findings some broad alignment with work from business man-
agement research [32]. Understanding the implications of these findings, however,
requires more reflection about the meanings around core categories through selective
coding [33].
 Chinese Students’ Motivations to Adopt E-Learning 533

Fig. 7. Motivation for students avoiding online class.

4 Conclusions

The aim of this project is to explore the motives of Chinese students towards engaging
with e-learning. I identify a discrete set of motives that explain what draws Chinese
students towards and what pushes them away from e-learning. I also find a series of
significant connections between these motives that lays the foundation for elaborating a
contextualized explanation for Chinese students’ motives towards e-learning. What
draws Chinese students towards e-learning shows some alignment with existing liter-
ature (e.g., time and spatial benefits of e-learning) [13, 29, 34]. Whilst what pushes
them away, however, grounds in more fundamental elements about how students
understand the nature of learning and education. The Chinese understand learning
process as lead by the relationships between the learner and teacher and between
learners. [35] Consequently, they appear to feel pushed away from e-learning as they
struggle to replicate this model in the online setting.
534 J. O. Stanworth

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 Designing Freirean-Inspired Community
Relevant STEAM Curriculum for Underserved
Students in Pakistan Using Action
Research Process

Midhat Noor Kiyani(&) , Imran Haider, and Fahad Javed

National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan

mkiyani.msite18seecs@seecs.edu.pk

Abstract. This study constituted community-based, action research that sought

to identify community needs and design indigenous community relevant
STEAM projects in a local community of underserved students in Pakistan. This
Community-Based Action Research is conducted in “The Tent School System”;
a slum school in H-11 Islamabad, Pakistan. The five-phase cyclic action
research process is implemented that involved: diagnosing and identifying
community problems using Freirean process of generative themes, creating
STEAM lesson plans for identified problems, designing useful products using
lesson plans to solve problems, evaluation of this STEAM workshop and then
specifying learning for next interaction of this STEAM action project. Drawing
on needs assessment survey, post feedback survey and field notes, this mixed
methods study explored the experiences of low-socioeconomic students par-
ticipating in contextually authentic STEAM Projects. Based on the students’
feedback, it was revealed that the main sources of student engagement in this
action research project were: the overall impact of these STEAM projects on
their community and the skills they inculcated in them that made them capable
of solving local community challenges on their own. The major strength of this
study was its successful practical application of Freire’s theory of critical ped-
agogy for designing community relevant learning environment for the students.
Key learnings of this study imply a useful example of how students can con-
tribute their knowledge and skills to promote general community well-being.
Furthermore, the fusion of critical pedagogy of place in STEAM model offers a
unique pedagogical innovation to education practitioners all around the world.

Keywords: Critical pedagogy
STEAM education
Action research

Community relevant
Authentic learning
Contextual

1 Introduction

This section below highlights the need and motivation to conduct this study.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 536–546, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_58
 Designing Freirean-Inspired Community Relevant STEAM Curriculum 537

1.1 Problem Statement

According to the 2018 report of UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), one out of
every five (nearly 262 million) children, adolescents and youth (between the ages of 6
and 17) are out of school [1]. In case of low and lower-middle-income countries, the
situation is even worse as it increases to one out of every three children for these
socially disadvantaged areas. In Pakistan, nearly 22.6 million boys and girls (44%
children) are out of school. According to the same study, the gross enrollment rate is
70% but almost 50% of the children drop out of school before reaching fifth grade.
Findings of the report ‘The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts’
commissioned by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation connect increasing dropout rate
with the lack of content relevance with the students’ lives [2]. According to this report,
50% of the total 470 surveyed dropouts said that they left the school due to classroom
content that was irrelevant to their lives or career choices. The research article by The
Washington Post [3] further relates the increasing drop out ratio with the decreasing
motivation and interest. Multiple research studies suggest that the student engagement
plays an important part in understanding increasing drop-out rate [4]. These research
findings imply that contextually irrelevant and unauthentic education system is pro-
ducing disengaged students who drop out of school and deem education purposeless.

1.2 Literature Survey for Problem Analysis and Solution

The subsequent section highlights why this study is important to solve the afore-
mentioned problem.
Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) education is the key driver
of future innovation and economic growth [5]. However, it is often argued that the
focus on scientific and technical STEM skills alone fails to meet the needs of inno-
vation required in 21st century global society [6]. The integration of ‘Arts’ in STEM
education gives rise to a transdisciplinary approach that increases creativity, motivation
and problem solving skills [7]. Hence, producing young learners that have the capa-
bility to solve global challenges in today’s world.
STEAM Model with Authentic Learning Approach. To ensure meaningful learning
experiences required for global problem-solving, authentic learning is incorporated in
Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics (STEAM) education. Research
studies [8] show that arts-infused STEM education allow students to connect their
meaningful experiences with the real world. Researchers from Indonesia [9] developed
a contextual project-based learning model to integrate STEAM model in the chemistry
classroom to explore the solution of their daily life problems. Same conclusions were
made in collaborative autoethnography that STEAM allows students to develop per-
sonally relevant connections with their education [10].
Authentic STEAM Education to Engage Underserved Students. Researchers are
now employing authentic and culturally responsive STEAM education models to
engage the minority and underserved students. An exploratory case study was con-
ducted in South Dakota, United States in which native American high school girls were
engaged using culturally relevant STEAM experiential learning activities [11]. In the
538 M. N. Kiyani et al.

public schools of low-income community of Brazil [12], underserved groups of stu-

dents were engaged using community-relevant pedagogical approach. In this research,
a project titled “The City That We Want” was conducted in which students were given
daily-life projects to critically in active case-based learning to solve their local con-
textually authentic issues. Through these projects, students get an opportunity to
develop a learning environment of their interest; shift focus from curriculum in com-
munity to curriculum for community.
Freire’s Theory of Critical Pedagogy and Authentic STEAM Content. For con-
textually relevant and authentic learning in communities, it is recommended to use the
critical pedagogy approach introduced by the Brazilian author Paulo Freire. This
critical pedagogy approach demands the use of problem-posing materials so as the
students may think critically about their lives [13]. The major implication of Frere’s
theory of critical pedagogy is to analyze the revolutionary possibilities offered by
unique educational practices that have the capability to fulfill the hopes of oppressed
and marginalized community [14]. However, there are two shortcomings with the
current research carried out in the development of authentic STEAM content for
engagement of underserved students in the domain of critical pedagogy.
1. The practitioners of critical pedagogy believe that authentic education is one that
allows the students to transform their life conditions [15]. The current research work
explores possibilities of using problem-based learning environment, but not real
community problems are considered i.e. students do not get a chance to work on
their community problems and transform their personal and community lives. This
implies that content which doesn’t provide societal transformation opportunities to
students is contextually unauthentic.
2. According to one research study [16], Freirean perspective suggests that people and
their needs and issues must be the basis of the curriculum planning and content
designing. However, the current STEAM content, often tagged as authentic, is not
based on the community generative themes i.e. community members and stake-
holders are not involved in problem identification process of the research.
In this study, we aim to address these shortcomings by designing contextual
STEAM projects based on community generative themes which also allow students to
promote community welfare.

2 Methodology

To design and conduct contextual STEAM projects based on community themes that
engage underserved students for social community action, the recommended approach
is Community-Based Action Research.

2.1 Action Research (AR) as Research Design

The research design that aligns with the goals and objectives of this study is the
community-based Action Research (AR). Action research is known as “systematic and
 Designing Freirean-Inspired Community Relevant STEAM Curriculum 539

orientated around analysis of data whose answers require the gathering and analysis of
data and the generation of interpretations directly tested in the field of action” [17].The
selection of action research as research design of this study is remarkably significant
and outcome-oriented. It was chosen because:
• It supports the agenda of social change where data is collected not only for problem
identification but also problem resolution with a definite action plan [17].
• Roots of action research can be scientifically traced back to Freire’s theory of
critical pedagogy which implies that critical consciousness development is crucial
for personal and social change [18]. As this consciousness development requires
individuals to be known of the social, political and economic issues to take an
action against them [13], action research is the most suitable research methodology.
• For technology-implication studies like STEAM education that involves econom-
ically and digitally marginalized populations, action research has been reported to
be an effective research methodology [19].

2.2 Research Context: Underserved Community

In this study, the STEAM education model explored is applied in a relatively isolated
social setting considerably different from contexts for which conventional solutions are
usually developed. Hence, in this study, an important concern was to identify and
specify an idiosyncratic setting where problems exist and can be solved.
Site and Sample. Located in the slum area of the capital territory of Pakistan, The
Tent School System was selected as a research site (context) which serves almost 100
children from kindergarten through grade 10. It is a low-tech trust school with three
rooms; two classrooms and one office. The community surrounding the school lacks
the basic facilities of electricity, water and gas.
Through critical case sampling, fifteen students from years 8 to 14 (mean age = 12.3
years, SD = .99; 47% female) took part in this action research (the ‘AR group’). To
identify the needs prevalent in the community through needs assessment surveys,
random sampling was used to select eleven community members from years 20 to 80
(mean age = 35, mean community stay = 15 years, 73% female).

2.3 Data Collection Tools and Analysis

Various mixed methods data collection tools were used within and after the STEAM
based action research. The primary data collection tools included needs assessment
survey and post feedback survey while classroom observations, field notes, pictorial
evidence and STEAM project evaluation rubric served as supplementary performance
evaluation tools.
Needs Assessment Survey. To identify the needs and problems prevailing the selected
community, needs assessment survey questionnaire is used for data collection from the
community members. This survey comprised of quantitative close ended questions
triangulated by qualitative open-ended questions to collect comprehensive data on the
community problems based on responses of community residents.
540 M. N. Kiyani et al.

The questionnaires are analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis
linked to the themes that emerged from the responses of community members. This
content analysis was based on concept of ‘Thematic Analysis’ suggested by the
Brazilian educator Paulo Freire [13] i.e. community generative themes. It helped us to
develop a socially and culturally relevant curriculum that addresses the actual needs of
the community.
Post Feedback Survey. The purpose of this survey is to explore the learning expe-
rience of students in this STEAM projects: the feedback of students on community
relevant STEAM projects and if it has any positive impact on their motivation and
engagement level. This survey contains close-ended questions which are triangulated
by open-ended questions to validate the quantitative data.
The collected data was analyzed using content analysis on qualitative data (open-
ended questions) and descriptive statistics for the quantitative data (close-ended
questions).

3 Action Research in Community School: Stepwise

Procedure with Observations and Findings

The section below details the comprehensive process of action research conducted in
the Tent Schools System while discussing the observations and findings obtained from
the data collection tools employed within this action research.

3.1 Phases of Action Research

According to Blum [20], there are two primary stages of the action research: diagnostic
and therapeutic stage which involve collaborative analysis of the social situation and
formulating change experiments as action plan, respectively. However, in this study we
used a five-phase cyclical process by Susman and Evered [21] for rigorous and com-
prehensive action research project. Before implementation of five-phase process, this
approach first requires developing a research environment (also called client-system
infrastructure), which has been discussed briefly in Sect. 2. The five identifiable phases
in this technique of conducting an action research are: Diagnosing, Action Planning,
Action Taking, Evaluating and Specifying Learning.

3.2 The Tent School Action Research Project

To design community-relevant STEAM content, a five-phase cyclical action research
by Susman and Evered [21] was conducted in the Tent school system. Each phase of
this STEAM workshop is discussed in detail in the section below. Although, this
STEAM workshop was observed by a school teacher and facilitated by the study’s first
author, it is important to note that students were considered expert learners in this
project. The classroom teacher and facilitator were only responsible for coordination,
moderation and overall administration of the Action Research project.
 Designing Freirean-Inspired Community Relevant STEAM Curriculum 541

1. Diagnosing Community Problems. In this phase, researcher worked with the

community school ‘The Tent School System’ administrative staff and community
members to identify the primary problems that are being faced by the community
residents. This was done by using needs assessment survey that contained a mixed set
of questions (needs assessment survey responses available online [22]. For this pur-
pose, researcher visited the community homes and collected responses from 11 com-
munity members of years 20 to 80 (mean age = 35, mean community stay = 15 years,
73% female), each from a different family and home who have been living in the same
community for at least more than 5 years. The sample size of surveyed community
members was limited to 11 due to the data saturation. By performing thematic analysis
(Freirean process of generative themes) on the needs assessment survey responses,
seven themes were collected as community problems as shared by the residents, see
Table 1.

Table 1. Problems identified by community members with repetition frequency

Sr. Problem identified by community members Repetition
no frequency
1 Poverty 1
2 Electricity shortage issues; solar system is used that won’t work for 8
long, especially in summers and rainy season
3 Hard commute; muddy streets to walk in, especially rain 1
4 Have to bring woods from jungle to burn as no gas connection 4
5 Water shortage issues; pump gets broken/damaged after every few 5
days
6 Poor standard of education in our community 1
7 Political workers visit us only when they need votes 1

Then, based on the commonality of issues in the community i.e. repetition frequency
of the theme, three major generative themes were identified.
1. No Gas Connection (use woods instead)
2. Electricity Shortage Issues (due to solar system)
3. Water Availability Issues (water pump breakdown)
One hinged theme (term coined by Freire) was also collected that wasn’t highlighted
by the community members but was evident when authentic observations of the
community were taken.
4. Waste Disposal Issues (mainly due to livestock and improper waste management)
Some of the resources and key strengths of the community as identified by the
community members in this survey included livestock, nearby fresh and vegetables
market, easy transportation and cost-effective place of living.
2. Designing STEAM Projects to Solve Identified Problems. In this phase,
community-relevant and project-based STEAM lesson plans were developed (available
542 M. N. Kiyani et al.

online [22]) for three of the selected generative themes i.e. Ineffective waste disposal,
electricity shortage and non-availability of the gas in the community. These lesson
plans used in the STEAM workshop were designed to relieve or at least lessen the
primary problems identified in the above phase. To make STEAM projects cost-
effective and reproducible for the students, daily life household items were used in the
project. Students were appreciated and encouraged to use the recycled items like
newspapers and plastic bottles in their projects. These lesson plans were designed
according to the Freirean process of critical pedagogy which states that people and their
needs must be the basis of curriculum and content planning [16].
Use of STEAM education model provided an opportunity to create interdisciplinary
and meaningful projects that appeal to students with multiple intelligences for
enhanced engagement in the workshop. Moreover, it provided students a good
opportunity to display their creativity and innovation skills.
3. Students Designing Useful Products in Workshop. After designing community-
relevant STEAM lesson plans to solve the identified problems, students started working
on their chosen projects/programs under guidance of in-class facilitator and a local
teacher from the school. In this study, the directive classroom-based intervention was
selected to take action for solving the identified problems. In this intervention, the
underlying research i.e. problems identified in phase 1 directed the change i.e. design of
useful products by the students to solve the problems identified by community mem-
bers. While students were working on the project, inquiry, dialogue and critical
thinking were promoted aligning with the STEAM model of education.
STEAM Biogas Generator: As indicated in needs assessment survey, community
lacked the facility of gas connection and had plenty of livestock (also, compost which
would otherwise spread diseases). Hence, the project-based lesson plan ‘STEAM
Biogas Generator’ was designed to solve this problem. In this project, students dis-
cussed about the project’s impact in community, watched animated Urdu videos on
biogas generator’s design and learnt key project-related terms, processes and working
of biogas generator. Then, students assembled the materials and started working on the
project.
STEAM Waste Management Program: In the next project, two groups of students
participated in the activities of STEAM Waste Management Program. The project
activities included the motivational discussion on why this project was chosen, ani-
mated short Urdu videos on waste management, vocabulary and brief lesson on waste
management techniques and processes, creating waste bins from recycled biscuits’
boxes, a waste sorting game between 2 groups, recording evidence from community
and practicing waste sorting, waste sorting game competition and the recycled prod-
ucts’ activity where they designed plastic bottle baskets with unique creativity.
STEAM Recycled Electronic Products: To solve the electricity shortage issues, stu-
dents used their waste management knowledge and designed electronic products from
recycled plastic bottles. Students learnt the importance of plastic waste management by
watching animated videos and discussions. Then, plastic bottles were re-used to design
two very useful electronic products: battery powered portable flashlight and table fan.
 Designing Freirean-Inspired Community Relevant STEAM Curriculum 543

The detailed pictorial evidence of this STEAM workshop is available online [22].
4. Evaluation of Workshop Outcomes. After the action had been taken against the
defined community problems by designing useful products to solve them, next step was
to evaluate the workshop outcomes. For evaluation, field notes taken during the
workshop and performance-based assessments (project evaluation rubric) were used
(project rubric and rubric scores are available online [22]). In this phase, it was
determined whether the opted solution for each community problem was successful in
relieving that problem. In case of biogas generator designed by students to solve the
non-availability of gas in the community, the project remained unsuccessful. Even after
multiple days, the designed biogas generator was unable to produce biogas for their use
due to some design flaws that caused gas leakage. However, the students reported that
they were able to learn and understand all about the biogas generator design and were
determined to design it on their own again (prototype 2). Except biogas generator,
students successfully relieved the identified problems of ineffective waste disposal and
electricity shortage. Students used recycled items like cardboard and plastic bottle to
create useful daily-use items like baskets and birdfeeders. The battery powered fan and
flashlight designed by students were in working condition that we tested ourselves.
5. Specifying Learning. In this workshop, one of the observations noted was that the
products designed by students in phase 3 were able to relieve problems at small scale
only. Hence, in the next action research cycle, it was determined that the objective
would be to design products for problem solution at mega scale.

4 Student Feedback and Comments

To collect student feedback and their perception on outcomes of action research pro-
ject, post feedback survey was conducted after concluding STEAM workshop (the
detailed responses are available online [22]). Almost 93% students reported that they
found this action research project of community-relevant STEAM workshop engaging
and interesting to perform. It was very interesting to note that all of the students showed
their interest in performing more of such action research projects and 87% even stated
to recommend this approach to their other teachers in the school, see Fig. 1.
Based on field notes and students’ comments in open-ended questions of post
survey, it was revealed that there were multiple reasons behind high student engage-
ment, motivation and interest to participate again. After qualitative analysis of the data
obtained through open ended questions, three themes were identified. These themes
included:
1. Impact. Realization that each of the STEAM project they did in the action research
had significant impact on their cognitive abilities, formal/informal learning, community
and the environment around them.
2. Problem Generalization. While participating collaboratively in the projects, they
learnt how can they use this new information and skills to solve other local community
problems in their areas.
544 M. N. Kiyani et al.

Fig. 1. Graphical Description of students’ responses when asked about engagement.

3. Alternative Solutions. Due to community-relevant projects, students were able to

suggest alternative ideas on how to solve the identified community problems using
several other techniques and methods. Table 2 summarizes some of the students’
responses according to the themes defined above.

Table 2. Students’ responses to post survey feedback

Theme Student response
Impact We learnt to never throw plastic in the oceans rather make items from it like
plastic bottles’ products
We can learn it now and then teach it to other kids; we can use these recycled
bottles to make items and then teach it to others as well
We can re-use a lot of items here in the community now. We learnt about
various new items like compost that we can re-cycle or re-use
If this biogas generator works, then gas availability is biggest impact.
Otherwise, I learnt that there is an alternative solution of biogas for gas
availability
The flashlight we made can be used at night and fan in summers
Problem Pick up bricks lying in the mid of path and dispose them off properly: waste
Generalization disposal and also, we will be helping other people
If your house has no floor and becomes muddy (especially after rain): Cut
each plastic bottle in half, then use them to cover the muddy ground.
Reduce cow manure by using it in biogas generator and prevent diseases in
community
Waste reduced in the community (cow manure); Save trees in the forest as
we no longer have to go and cut trees to burn for cooking
Waste management along with useful electronic products
(continued)
 Designing Freirean-Inspired Community Relevant STEAM Curriculum 545

Table 2. (continued)
Theme Student response
Alternative Should try to make a proper place for waste disposal
Solutions Use waste disposal vehicles/trucks and use them to pick waste from our
community and dispose it off at some waste management cite
Put compost in a landfill, cover it, then waste vehicles will come and pick it
up. We can practice this activity
I think biogas generator was the best solution to solve gas issues
Make any battery powered heavy-duty light
We can make mobile charger to solve charging issues in homes

5 Conclusion

In this paper, we discuss the lessons learnt from implementing Freire’s theory of critical
pedagogy by designing community relevant STEAM curriculum for underserved stu-
dents in Pakistan. The research design employed for the paper was 5-phase cyclic
action research that allowed us to systematically design authentic and contextual cur-
riculum. However, the whole process was pragmatically small scale due to the rigid
timetable, constrained school calendar and limited school resources. Moreover, due to
the inadequate human resources and narrow timeframe, there were limitations on the
scope of this study, which is exactly what Flicker [23] highlights about action research
projects. Even with these real-world limitations, the study produced some key results
and outcomes. The student engagement and empowerment as observed from the stu-
dent feedback responses validate the notion that authentic and community relevant
pedagogy can engage underserved students, as implied by the Freire’s theory of critical
pedagogy. An interesting breakthrough while conducting action research was when
students mentioned how their useful knowledge will create a greater impact on their
community and help them solve other local community challenges as well. Results
obtained from this study will be used to inform the teachers, schools, parents, policy
makers and NGO’s to engage with the communities and teach students how to solve
their local problems for community welfare.

Funding. This study was funded by the National University of Sciences and Technology
(NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.

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 Digital Natives and Educational Traditions.
What Changes When Exchanging Textbook
Content with Internet Search?

Lisbet Rønningsbakk(&)

UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Box 6050 Langnes N-9037, Tromsø,
Norway
Lisbet.ronningsbakk@uit.no

Abstract. Use of technology challenge traditional concepts of learning in

school. But what is actually changing? The paper shows result from a study that
finds that the shift from textbook to internet content implicates significant
changes. Textbooks present qualified content that is well adapted to the cog-
nitive development of students of certain ages. Using internet content gives no
such guarantees. The content validation has to be taken care of by the students.
The internet search demands more complex skills than accessing content
through the textbook. The students have to find relevant search terms, review
and validate the results they find, select relevant content, use relevant strategies
for storing and retrieving content and having the ability to present abstracts of
their findings that are adapted to their learning purpose.
Collaboration works well for searching for content online because the stu-
dents can benefit from each other’s prior knowledge when discussing and
reflecting during the learning work. Communicative and collaborative skills are
important. So are good relations, to able students to work through obstacles and
keep focus on the task even when internet searching takes them everywhere.
Internet content has a flexibility that makes it easy adaptable to all students’
learning prerequisites. Student collaboration between heterogeneous peers can
work well because the complexity of the task involves a lot of different tasks to
manage and are easy to distribute. It also makes possible for high performing
students to find engaging content that will motivate and nourish the learning
motivation.

Keywords: Digital content in school
Learning content
Technology

supported teaching
Learning with technology
Profession oriented digital
competence for teachers
Didactics
Content

1 Introduction

To be able to understand how new technologies can benefit learning in classrooms, we

need to understand the changes that come with teaching with technologies. This paper
sum up how using technologies can impact the didactical categories content and
methods in teaching when exchanging textbook content with internet search. The paper

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 547–556, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_59
548 L. Rønningsbakk

is based on a recent phd-study with a broader focus on students’ learning with

technology.
Research show that the use of technology in Norway so far tends to being adapted
to a traditional teaching practice. After using technology in schools for decades, the
expected pedagogical innovations have not occurred [1, 2]. This was the background
for a phd-study which aimed to understand how the use of technology impact the ways
students work, emphasizing content, methods and students’ role behavior [2]. The aim
of the study was to question the needs of revising the didactics when new technologies
were introduced to a field of old professional practice in school teaching.
The study documented that using technologies in many ways challenged teachers’
practices. It also put forward some perspectives on how didactical theory needs to
change to meet new perspectives on teaching and learning when using technologies in
classrooms. This paper will present the study’s results on the changes that occurred
when exchanging the textbook content with internet search.

2 Method

The study was conducted as a multi-case study at two schools in the North of Norway,
including 25 students at 4th (9–10 years old) and 10th grade (15–16 years old), selected
on the background of their teachers’ special interest and engagement for using tech-
nology, categorized as excellent cases. The empirical basis of the study mainly build on
reflection notes from participating observations, students’ products, notes from meet-
ings and other documents, as documented in the thesis [2].
The case study strategy meets the need to investigate a phenomenon thoroughly
through different sources of information [3, 4], even if it has some challenges gener-
alizing results based on few units. However, literature supports the idea that knowledge
generated from a case study can have general value for similar phenomenon [5, 6].
The data collection took place during five weeks during one academic year through
participating observations. I conducted open observations to situations where students
worked with technology, to try to capture what they really were doing and describe it.
All observations were written down immediately after classes. Then the texts were
elaborated into reflection notes which were distributed to the teachers within a week
after observations. The teachers could respond to these narratives, and add and change
if they wanted, but that never happened. The general response was that I had captured
well what they tried to do and that my observations were more nuanced and detailed
than expected. As a previous teacher I rapidly got the role as an extra teacher in both
classes. This gave me solid experiences of the students and the teachers. But it also
gave some challenges concerning the contradictive roles as teacher and researcher.
These have been handled with a hermeneutic approach considering the researcher’s
preoccupations caused by professional experience within the field [7, 8].
To be sure I had understood the situation well, I discussed my observations and
preliminary findings with the school leaders at each school and also presented the data
describing each child in a specific report to their parents. This should assure that all
participants would be well taken care of in the matter of informed consent.
 Digital Natives and Educational Traditions 549

Later, all texts were analyzed using qualitative methods and the digital platform
NVivo. Through repeatedly reading, coding and reflections, the theoretical categories
emerged. Finally, the empirical data where elaborated into two narratives, one for each
class/school. They contented a selection of specific narratives which could enlighten
the research questions of the study. The narratives were analyzed, using a selection of
theory of learning, knowledge and didactics, to be able to understand the matter in a
general way and draw the final conclusions.
The thesis also contents a thorough review of theories of learning and teaching to
establish a conceptual framework that makes it possible to value the results in a future
perspective where knowledge and learning conditions are rapidly changing due to
technological development [2]. It is not room for a full presentation of the framework
here, but the next subchapter will present some of the perspectives that is important for
the research question presented here.

3 Digital Technologies and New Perspectives on Content

in School’s Education

An important prerequisite for the study was to be sure that concepts of knowledge and
learning in school meets future standards for education. The need to measuring learning
outcome has increased in Norwegian Education as result of Norway’s participation and
focus on international programs like PISA [9]. This tendency is worrying policy
makers and Education scientist in Norway who point at the importance to develop
sustainable competence instead of remembering bits of information. New technologies
bring new concepts of what knowledge is or should be and challenge the traditional
school’s content [10, 11]. Hence, revisions of concepts of knowledge and learning is
important to able teachers to develop profession oriented digital skills.
School knowledge in a European tradition is closely connected with content.
Norwegian education is strongly influenced by the German Bildung tradition which
emphasizes the transformation that certain content brings to the learner. An important
issue for teachers were then to find the right content that could serve this purpose [12].
School knowledge is often connected with what is viewed as appropriate content. But
this concept needs a revision for a future use. A sustainable concept of knowledge must
meet the constant changes that occurs when information is nonstop available through
digital sources. Technologies extend the abilities to store and retrieve knowledge and
dismiss our need to remember in a traditional way [13, 14]. Hence the need of storing
content as part of the individual learning process is no longer the main issue for
education, but rather to develop good strategies to search and validate knowledge for
certain purposes in certain contexts [15].

3.1 Learning as an Infinite Movement Between Previous Learning

Experiences and Future Expectations
Danish professor Mads Hermansen describes learning as positioned in the actual point
of now and stretched out between the two positions; feed-forward and feedback. Feed-
forward is the expectation of new learning outcome while feedback relates to prior
550 L. Rønningsbakk

understanding. The learning process is an infinite movement between these positions

and changes both dynamically from the perspective of the actual now [16, 17]. This
means that prior and future knowledge is continuously changing when the learning
process develops. This is also the situation when students learn in school.
Before starting learning something new, the previous knowledge has to be put
forward. This is important to establish a zone of proximal development (ZPD). This
process involves creating expectations to new learning (feed-forward) based upon the
review of what you already know (feedback). In class the teacher will start the new
learning task with asking the students what they know about the new learning task,
what they can recall from previous, involve students in concept mapping, mediate
discussions and so on, to establish the feed-forward. When feed-forward is established,
it will work dynamically with the actual learning outcome. As the learning task is going
on, students will revise their prior knowledge which will impact their feed-forward. All
learning leads to new perspectives on both what they know and what they expect of
future learning.
Hermansen adds two more dimensions to his model; a dynamic movement between
habitus and reflection, and between toil and exuberance [16]. The two pairs point at
important movements that are crucial for learning. Through the learning process, stu-
dents’ cognition moves between the outer positions of habitus and reflection, meaning
that they move between acting on automatized scripts and on conscious actions. The
habituated skills and knowledge makes it possible to build new knowledge upon the
existing because it releases cognitive capacity for conscious processes. Learning as an
interaction between toil and exuberance, points at the fact that learning drives forward
through both flow and resistance. The will to struggle when meeting resistance, is
important to achieve results.
Hermansen’s dynamic model embody learning as an infinite process moving for-
ward through shifts between feed-forward-feedback, habitus-reflection, and toil-
exuberance. The model and the concepts can be used directly to show how technology
impacts learning as shown later in the paper.

3.2 Tiller’s Learning Sun as Motivational Power

Norwegian scholars Rita and Tom Tiller are occupied with motivation for learning.
Their model of the Learning Sun [18] is useful to understand how the learning process
are nourished. Learning in school should carefully consider what the students will find
meaningful. Like Freire who view education as the means to meaningful existence [19,
20], Tiller and Tiller state that schooling should enrich students’ lives. Hence, school
has to adapt to its students instead of students’ adapting to school [18, 21].
Tiller and Tiller’s metaphor, the Learning Sun, embodies four important prereq-
uisites for motivation and learning in school. The four dimensions are presented as four
learning suns with mutual effect on each other. The first sun, learn to know, is about the
intellectual dimension of learning and point at the individual’s need of knowledge [18].
The need to know is a natural force for humans and a motivation in itself. The second
learning sun, learn to do, is connected with practical knowledge or skills [18]. Some
knowledge is embodied in the individual without being possible to describe in words.
In my work I understand this dimension as the tacit knowledge [22, 23], which is
 Digital Natives and Educational Traditions 551

necessary for performing within a social and cultural context. The third sun, learn to be,
is about belonging and appreciation within a social group [18]. Taking turns, com-
munication skills, and well behaving towards others etc. are social skills that promote a
good adaption to the group and the class, are important for the third sun. The fourth
learning sun, to learn to live, has to do with general well-being [18]. The importance of
peers and companions who want will promote your well-being, to understand the needs
of those around you and being willing to scarify something for others when it is
needed. Empathy is important for this. It has to do with generally having a good time
together with humor and a good spirit to make learning thriving. Tiller and Tiller add
important prerequisites to Hermansen’s concepts, and show that motivation is the basic
force in learning. issues are important to understand the impact of technology in school.

4 When Content Moves from Textbooks to Internet

The study showed that technology changes the way students work with content in
different ways, with more or less significant impact. The study findings present these
changes: the changes that occur when the content moves from textbooks to internet; the
technology’s possibility to support content creation in new ways; and the fact that
online resources can provide content that are updated and adapted to the local context.
This paper will focus specifically on the changes occurring when textbook content is
exchanged with internet search.
The internet is a never ending source of information of more or less relevance and
trust value. When using the textbook, the teacher can control and trust the quality of the
content. When students search for information online, the teachers no longer control
this and the responsibility of the content validation is distributed to the students.
Also the search for content in itself demands more complex skills on internet.
Students have to decide what kind of information they need and find relevant search
terms for the purpose. They need to review and value the results to be able to pick
relevant information before storing what they find useful. And they need strategies to
store and retrieve the essence of the content for various purposes. All these activities
demand different strategies than working with textbooks. Textbooks have undergone
quality control and present the information in a way that is adapted to the students’
level of cognition and previous knowledge. With internet content, quality control,
valuing relevance and adapting to students’ level of cognition, needs to be implemented
in the search strategies [2]. Narratives from the study will exemplify this.

4.1 Internet Search and Heterogeneous Collaborations. Vivian and Thor

Vivian and Thor are collaborating to find information about the planet Jupiter for a
joint presentation. Sitting together by the computer, the two 10 year olds have to
perform different tasks: first discuss and agree about relevant search terms and then
review and validate their findings before they choose the content best suited for their
task. The two enter the collaboration with different prerequisites. Vivian is an eager
student with high level of achievement in all theoretical subjects. Thor is not so fond of
theory and tend to miss focus when the matter is not interesting. But they have a very
552 L. Rønningsbakk

good relationship and often play together in the breaks. The good relation makes it easy
to work through the obstacles they meet about the task and the collaboration itself.
When they search together for information about planet Jupiter, they have to calibrate
their different conceptions, views and strategies. This is a complex process that depends
on collaborative skills from both since their prerequisites are so different. Making this a
real learning situation for both, require that both get the possibility to recall their former
knowledge about the matter and communicate this to their mate to establish a common
assumption of what they are looking for at the internet.
It is easy to picture a situation where Vivian, with her solid competence and
advanced strategies, would take over the task and direct what Thor should do. But here
they manage to create a collaborative situation where they both participate on an even
level. Thor has some prior knowledge and interest for planets, and is also ahead of
Vivian in digital skills. Their good relationship makes it easy to communicate well
about the task and to established a common zone of proximal development where they
both engage in the task and make their feed-forward-feedback-dynamic work. The
work flow is good and motivating, nourishing the learning suns. This is obvious when
listening to their learning dialogues during the search. They focus on the task and seem
to communicate with intentions of scaffolding each other’s thoughts and understanding.
The result becomes very good.

4.2 Internet Search and High Performing Students. Margaret and Sean
In the same assignment, Sean and Margaret is presenting the planet Mercury. They
show a different pattern of collaboration than Vivian and Thor. They are both high
performing and ambitious students who rapidly settle for a common understanding of
the task and start searching for proper information. In their communication about the
content during the search, they don’t spend time to negotiate about other things than the
pure content. They look through a lot of sources and discuss how it will fit their
purpose, quite a lot more sources than the average for the class. Margaret and Sean are
used to working together and often prefer each other in collaborative tasks. But Sean’s
ability to focus is not as good as Margaret’s. Sean’s attention is often drawn to the other
students because the tendency to compare his performance to them. But when the
students work directly on screen, it is easier for Sean to focus on the content. This
makes the collaboration with Margaret also easier. She doesn’t have to repeatedly call
on his attention to focus on their work, like she sometimes needs to.

4.3 Internet Search Demands New Learning Strategies. William.

Theresa, Margaret and Vivian
For another multimedia presentation, the 4th graders were searching for pictures to
illustrate folk tales. They worked in pairs and started with defining some search terms.
William was disappointed with his search terms because they gave too many different
results. He was annoyed to find that when he searched for pictures of a wood he also
got portraits of people named Wood. It is not possible to avoid situations where
students stumble upon content which is irrelevant or even abusive, when working with
open google search.
 Digital Natives and Educational Traditions 553

During this activity we experienced the latter when one of the students retrieved a
picture of a man holding his hands on a woman’s breasts. Even quite so innocent, a
picture like this can offend a child at this age. But the teachers in this class welcomed
the situation because they got the chance to talk about abusive content on internet.
They told me that they preferred to have these incidents in class instead of when
students were sitting alone somewhere else, to be able to discuss digital awareness.
Another situation also showed that using internet for content search depends on
having sufficient competences. Vivian and Margaret was involved in this situation
together with Theresa. The three girls were usually good friends but this day some
relational issues disturbed their collaboration. They had worked out a set of search
terms to find pictures for their task. But they did not manage to agree about using any
of the results. This was a stressful experience and they expressed doubt about how to
fulfill the task. Theresa went back to the computer and ran the same search terms again.
Vivian and Margaret got very angry at her because they meant that running them again
showed lack of trust in what they previous had done. This led to an intermezzo which
ended with agreement that Theresa agreed to change learning partner, which solved the
problem. It came up that the girls had had a conflict the day before at home and that this
had fostered some insecurity that had strong impact on their communication. They did
not manage the task because of the underlying conflict. It can be argued that this
situation is not about internet content in itself but the class as a learning environment is
full of relational issues that also impact learning tasks. When the work with content
gets more complex because it has to undergo discussions, it is also important that the
students have the communicative skills and guts to say what they mean and to confront
each other’s different opinions.

5 Discussion and Conclusion

The narratives above document various challenges that occurs when changing from
textbooks to content retrieved from internet search.
They all demonstrate the necessity of good collaborative skills to work together
with searching for information on the internet. Internet search is a more complex task
than looking it up in the textbook. When students collaborate they have to start with
defining a joint understanding of the task. This involves a calibration of what they think
the task is about and how they can work to fulfill the task. Communication is important
to establish a feed-forward, an expectation of what the task is about based on the
feedback to prior knowledge and understanding. They establish a feedforward together
based on their previous knowledge and skills and the resources they both bring in to the
collaboration, and they support each other’s dynamic movement between habitus and
reflection through discussing the task [16, 17].
The collaborative peers will have different prerequisites to take part in the common
task. Prior knowledge will vary and make the dynamic between feed-forward and
feedback different. They will also experience differences between habitus and reflec-
tion. While some have an intuitive understanding of what to do, others need to reflect to
be able to decide what is the right action. Therefore, good communication is important.
If the relations between the peers are good they will be able to communicate well and
554 L. Rønningsbakk

be motivated to do a good work together. The learning sun will get energy and learning
will thrive.
The situation with Thor and Vivian shows that students can form well-functioning
collaborative partnerships with different levels of basic knowledge and attitudes
towards learning in school. The use of technology, as in internet searching, seems to
frame their collaborative learning well. Using technology increases the field of task
specific knowledge and opens for using skills and knowledge gained from other
activities than school work. When Vivians’ learning strategies are more developed than
Thors’, he adds his interest for planets and his digital skills to their collaboration.
A more complex task demands more complex strategies and opens for distributed
learning. In practice more different tasks will need attention and makes it possible to
draw on both students’ resources. Vivian’s advanced learning strategies and basic
school knowledge will benefit Thor’s learning and his knowledge of planets and digital
skills will be of use to her. Even if what is learnt are different for Thor and Vivian they
will experience the collaboration as meaningful. Their good relation will support their
dynamics between habitus and reflection [16], and feed the learning energy and all four
learning suns [18] are nourished and they will be motivated for further learning and
further collaboration. The collaboration will form a strong force to overcome exu-
berance when occurring [16].
Margaret and Sean experiences something similar in their work. But here the actual
content is the driving force. Since they both have high ambitions and are high per-
forming, they extend the use of internet content to a high level. For them the source of
information is the main issue, and they use it to deepen and widen their understanding
of planet Mercury. Their discussions show that they are reviewing their search results
thoroughly in a way the textbook never would promote with its’ quality secured
content. Margaret and Sean have together the ability to elaborate the information with a
critical view, looking for real information to use in their presentation. They discuss and
discard, discuss and accept, source after source, before they agree about something they
can decide to use. The feedforward-feedback-dynamics are fed with a lot of infor-
mation which they never would have found in the textbook alone. Finding advanced
content online motivates them for further investigation. Students with high academic
performance can get the extra stimulation that they need to find to extend their feed-
forward – feedback and habitus – reflection-movements [16]. For these two the text-
book content will limit their learning instead of nourish it they are highly motivated for
the work and the collaboration and the learning sun shines.
When working with different content the possibility of comparison with other peers
is not the same as when you can cast a look towards your peer’s textbook to find out
how much he has read compared to yourself. For Sean, whose attitude was quite
competitive, this is an advantage.
William’s frustration about search terms might on the other side, be an example that
shows how literally children at the age of 10 understand their results. Open internet
search doesn’t discriminate between adults and children and it is impossible for
teachers to determine searches to assure that they don’t get unwanted results, either of
irrelevant or abusive kind. Using internet as a source of content therefore involves work
with critical review of all results and general digital awareness. Students need to know
 Digital Natives and Educational Traditions 555

about the dangers of meeting unwanted and abusive content to develop strategies to
handle these situations.
Finally, the narratives show that good relations are important prerequisites for a
successful internet search collaboration. Retrieving content from internet demands the
ability to question and be critical towards the peers’ arguments. Without confronting
and questioning the content, the validation process can be too shallow and the content
will be accepted without the necessary discussions. Therese, Vivian and Margaret
couldn’t work themselves through the obstacles that a present conflict gave them, and
all their feed-forward – feedback-processes was about their relationship and not the
content. It is always a danger of losing focus at the actual content when collaboration
problems occur. Teaching therefore also must have focus on learning communication
and social skills to be able to establish a good situation that makes the learning suns
shine [18].

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 Experiences Using Three App Prototyping
Tools with Different Levels of Fidelity
from a Product Design Student’s Perspective

Amanda Coelho Figliolia1,2 , Frode Eika Sandnes1(&) ,

and Fausto Orsi Medola2
1
Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway
frodes@oslomet.no
2
Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Bauru, Brazil
{amanda.figliolia,fausto.medola}@unesp.br

Abstract. Prototyping has become a widely embraced technique in different

design fields to facilitate early user involvement to ensure that the end-product
meets the users’ needs. Each design field has its tools and traditions for working
with prototypes. This paper documents experiences with smartphone app pro-
totyping from a product design student’s perspective. Three prototyping tools
with different fidelity levels were explored. Based on these experiences we
reflect upon the prototyping tool characteristics and their suitability for non-
computer scientist. We envisage that our experiences may be useful for other
product designers who want to develop smartphone apps.

Keywords: Smartphone app prototyping
Product design
Interaction design

1 Introduction

Revolutionary prototyping is a well-established part of product development were ideas

are tested early before committing to time-consuming and expensive productions.
Prototyping is used within several fields such as architecture, product design, interior
design, and computer science. Each field have specific techniques and methods for
working with concept development and prototyping. This study focuses on prototyping
smartphone apps. The prototyping of smartphone apps involves certain constraints [1],
i.e., the interface communicates via the smartphone display with limited real estate,
audio, and vibrator for tactile sensations, while input is provided via on-screen gestures
such as taps and swipes. Other input modalities are possible such as tilting, in air-
gestures, speech, etc., but these will not be discussed herein.
Concept sketches are sometimes mistaken for prototypes. Buxton gives an
informed explanation of the differences [2], namely that prototypes are intended to be
used for testing, and are therefore concrete and solution oriented, while sketches are
used to represent ideas, facilitate communication among designers and generate dis-
cussion and evolvement of ideas. Prototypes can be realized with simple hand drawings
[3]. Some argue that the organic nature of hand-drawings is beneficial, while others
criticize these for not being aesthetically pleasing and argue for drawing aids such as

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 557–566, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_60
558 A. C. Figliolia et al.

GUI-control stencils [4]. Our experiences also show that many computing students
prefer to design visual layouts using software (Photoshop) to achieve more realistic-
looking results.
Still, computer assisted prototyping tools are popular. Clearly, a prototype gener-
ated with a computer tool appears more realistic and holds potential for smoother user
testing sessions. Yet, the danger of computer-assisted prototyping is a shift in focus
from the concept to technical details resulting in more time being wasted on prototype
creation. Moreover, a realistic-looking prototype is more likely to raise customers’
expectations giving them a false sense of product completion.
This study explored three prototyping tools with different levels of fidelity [5],
namely Adobe XD, Figma and React Native. The experiences with the tool is docu-
mented with a product design student who is well trained in design-thinking and
prototyping of physical objects using rapid prototyping and 3D printing [6–9], and
basic experience with software development and interface prototyping.

2 Related Work

Prototypes are often used to test technologies that are not easily available such as
augmented reality displays [10–12], public kiosks [13, 14], or technologies that do not
yet exist such as novel application-specific smart devices [15]. Such prototypes can be
simple mockups that leave much to the imagination, or it can be more complete
implementations such as using Arduino to prototype mobile technology [16]. The
calder toolkit [17] is another example of making complex hardware more easily
available for simple and rapid prototyping. Prototyping of objects in three-dimensional
space is also a much-studied area [18–25] since the three dimensions somewhat need to
be represented using the two-dimensional computer screen. Holograms allows three-
dimensional objects to be visualized on two-dimensional planes, and prototyping of
holograms using abrasions has also been explored [26]. A general review of proto-
typing tools and techniques can be found in [27, 28]. For a review of the history of
graphical user interface prototyping tools see [29, 30].
Much have been written about prototyping of mobile technology. Raento et al. [31]
discussed a prototyping platform for context-aware mobile applications that gets better
access to the hardware than other prototyping platforms. Mora, Gianni and Divitini [32]
presented an approach for prototyping internet-of-things applications that usually
require detailed domain specific knowledge about the underlying technologies. Sabbir
et al. [16] discussed the use of the Arduino toolkit to make mobile prototypes.
Bochmann and Ritz [5] classified mobile prototyping along several dimensions
such as requirements for hardware functionality, target device, audience, prototype
creator, range, focus, stage of project, speed, fidelity and longevity. Bochmann and Ritz
[5] reviewed several mobile prototyping tools including Balsamiq Mockups, Axure RP
and Adobe Fireworks. Bähr [33] proposed 16 requirements for mobile prototyping
tools. Leiva and Beaudouin-Lafon [34] described a system where paper prototypes can
be inserted into existing videos using markup points and green-screen areas to avoid re-
shooting video montages.
 Experiences Using Three App Prototyping Tools 559

3 Method

Smartphone apps holds great promise for health and rehabilitation. Advanced tech-
nology can bridge the gap between health professionals and users at a lower cost than
was previously possible. Examples include oral health promotion [35], diabetes self-
management [36], and blood donation [37]. This project involved the design of a
smartphone app concept to facilitate the communication between rehabilitation pro-
fessionals and users of prosthetic assistive technologies. The concept was identified
during practical work with the development of a customized prosthesis. First, the vision
of the app was determined followed by early concept sketches (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Initial paper sketches of the app.

Next, app prototypes were created. The first prototypes were created using
Adobe XD and used for preliminary user tests. These tests showed the need of a more
detailed prototype with more responsive features and more interactivity. For this, React
Native was used. Development with React Native proceeded at a low pace and towards
the end of the project the React Native was replaced with Figma. In this study we focus
on the experiences with the prototyping tools, and not the artefact per se.
The product design student found the process of developing the application very
interesting and educational specially as the approach was quite different to typical
product design practices. Product designers tend to focus on the details in the beginning
of the project development, while with app development it is not equally relevant to
focus on details in the beginning. Also, with app development it is very common to
conduct many user tests early in the development as the feedback provides clues to
relevant adjustments. This is especially helpful when the application is being developed
for a specific user group.
560 A. C. Figliolia et al.

It is worth noting that the product designer had no previous experience with the
three prototyping tools. Although Figma and Adobe XD are quite different, their
interface and workflow have several similarities. It was therefore easier to switch
between Figma and Adobe XD than between these and React Native.

3.1 Product Design Versus Interface Design

This project explored design from the perspectives of product design and computer
science. Product designers typically design and develop products by analyzing all the
aspects of a product and its interaction with the user. A product can be defined as
having three functions, namely practical, symbolic, and aesthetic. When designing a
product, it is also common to focus on the usability and the user experience. Many
products are developed with a user-centered design approach, where the user is
involved in the process of development, increasing the chances of a successful product
that is adaptable especially customizable assistive technology products. The computer
science perspective on user interface design often focus on usability and user experi-
ence, as well as accessibility and appeal. What both disciplines have in common is the
focus on the needs and requirements of the user, the creation of prototypes to evaluate
ideas by the participation of the user during the process. The final prototype serves as
the requirements specification to be used to code the final product and put it into
production.

3.2 Prototyping Tools

Three prototyping tools were explored, namely Adobe XD, React Native and Figma.
Adobe XD [38] is a simple prototyping tool allowing the designers to define the layout
of the views and connect these with navigation structure. Adobe XD had the lowest
fidelity of the three tools but for user testing it was found to be more suitable than
Figma overall. The student was unable finish any React Native prototypes and this tool
was therefore not used for user testing.
React Native [39] can both serve as a prototyping tool and an implementation tool
as the final products can be deployed and put into production. React Native require
programming in JavaScript and design of views that are then connected. React Native
is the most high-fidelity tool of the three tools. Yet, the general nature of the tool means
that it can be used for cross platform development with the same codebase, that is,
develop apps for both the IOS and Android platforms simultaneously. See Dalmasso
et al. [40] for a survey of cross-platform mobile application development tools.
Figma [37, 41, 42] is a mid-fidelity prototyping tool that allows the designer to use
several interface controls and connect these together. The designs can be immediately
tested and users get a realistic impression of the application.
 Experiences Using Three App Prototyping Tools 561

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Adobe XD
At the time of writing Adobe XD is freely available. Adobe XD has the lowest fidelity
of the tools explored, and the easiest tool to get started as no programming is needed. It
is relatively efficient to operate with some templates provided. The interface (see
Fig. 2) was perceived as intuitive and easy to use. The interface is consistent with other
Adobe software such as Photoshop and Illustrator allowing designers with experience
from such tools to reuse existing experience and skills. It was relatively easy to make
changes to designs, once exception being changes that involved multiple modifications
in connections between pages which may require many time-consuming edits.
Adobe XD designs can be stored in the cloud and updates deployed to the smartphones.
This allows for easy and rapid user testing. It also simplifies the sharing of the project
with other designers and testers. To access the prototype, one only need to install the
app on the smartphone via a shareable link. Adobe XD support more complex inter-
actions, however these were not perceived as straightforward to use. It was easy to view
changes to the design using the desktop preview. The prototype quality was perceived
as good but did not fully meet the expectations in terms of features and experiences
during testing. One problem was the mismatch between available fonts in the desktop
tool and the Android test app.

Fig. 2. App prototype in Adobe XD.

When testing the prototype on a smartphone we found that the swipe action could
be enabled, but there was not a straightforward way to realize the swipe flow according
to the artboards linking order. When swiping to go back to the previous page, the
system was only going back to the previous linked artboard, even when it was con-
nected to a different artboard. It was possible to share the project with other designers.
Our tests showed that the Adobe XD Android app gave the most realistic experience
despite the problems with swipe.
562 A. C. Figliolia et al.

We found that the tool could be learned quickly. The first prototype did not require
advanced functions as the attention was on the interaction, intuitiveness of the steps,
and aesthetics. Some features were not responding realistically, such as swipe, popups,
and textual field input. Consequently, the workflow could not be fully analyzed during
the preliminary user testing.

4.2 Figma
Figma is a commercial product, but it has a free edition with fewer features. Figma can
be classified as a medium fidelity prototyping tool. It was therefore more intricate and
time-consuming to operate than Adobe XD. However, more advanced features such as
popups and long screen with scrolling were perceived as more intuitive than the
Adobe XD static views. Many tutorials facilitate exploring more advanced features. It
is seemingly easier to make changes to existing designs as changes involves fewer
operations than with Adobe XD. Figma is browser-based platform (see Fig. 3) with
similarities to Adobe XD but with some differences, notably the prototype mode.

Fig. 3. App prototype in Figma.

The prototypes created with Figma were more interactive than Adobe XD hence
giving users a more realistic experience and continuous flow. Figma also supports
different templates giving more realistic prototypes. Most of the difficulties that
occurred with Figma were relatively easy to solve due to the available tutorials and
examples. More challenging issues included pages extending beyond the height of the
screen.
It was straightforward to test the prototypes on the desktop. It took several attempts
to make the prototypes run on a smartphone because the Figma Mirror app needed to
work together with the Figma tool in the web browser and the frame to be tested need
to be selected. This procedure complicates user testing.
 Experiences Using Three App Prototyping Tools 563

4.3 React Native

React Native is both a high-fidelity prototyping tool and a development tool for cross
platform development. React Native can thus also be used for incremental prototyping
where the final prototype is the actual product. React native require programming.
Development is thus slower than with Adobe XD and Figma and programming
knowledge is needed. Changes are easily made if the code is well structured. Hence, it
is hard to maintain and make changes to code that is made in a rush. Clearly, React
Native gives easier access to the hardware functionality than the other two platforms.
React Native is not visually oriented to the same degree as the two other tools. The lack
of visual orientation was perceived as negative as product designers usually work
visually.
The product designer had some coding knowledge. However, difficulties arose
already during the installation of React Native CLI Quickstart (Development OS
Windows and Target OS Android) as the process was perceived as confusing with
much trial and error. Note that Node, Android Studio and Visual Studio Code (see
Fig. 4) were also installed. After many difficulties compiling example code snippets
and smartphone deployment following the tutorial steps, the debugging tools on
Sandbox Code website was used instead. Eventually, React Native was abandoned as
the time invested did not yield any concrete results. The curve was too steep. It seems
that one needs extensive coding experience, and investment in time to use React
Native. This tool seems not suitable for non-designers.

Fig. 4. React Native interface.

5 Conclusion

Experiences with smartphone app prototyping tools with varying levels of fidelity were
reported. Our experiences show development took much longer than expected. Using
React Native proved quite challenging, and we would conclude that implementation-
oriented tools such as React Native requires too much programming experience and
564 A. C. Figliolia et al.

knowledge to be practical for individuals without a computer science background.

Adobe XD and Figma are both pragmatic alternatives, with Figma being perceived as
the most practical tool. Our experiences show that much time went into the operation of
the tools diverting attention away from the concept. We would therefore argue for
using even simpler means such as hand drawn prototypes, or software package the
designer masters, if this cuts prototyping time and help maintain the attention on
exploring the design space rather than aesthetics [43]. Especially, as product designers
are trained in sketching. Also, choosing tools that facilitate simple prototype devel-
opment may benefit the design process and the product quality. Our experiences
support separating design from implementation as designers should focus on the
concept development and user testing, leaving the implementation to programmers.

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8876490
 How Engineering Design Ability Improve
via Project-Based Truss Tower STEM Course?

Wan-Hsuan Yen(&) and Chi-Cheng Chang

Department of Technology Application and Human Resource Development,

National Taiwan Normal University, No. 162, Sec. 1, HePing E. Rd. 106, Taipei,
Taiwan
gordonwyen@gmail.com

Abstract. Engineering design ability is critical in today’s society due to the

vast development of technology. However, the development of it is not easy.
The introduction of STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) and the
utilization of PBL (Project-based Learning) seem to promise a bright future in
the development of such ability. We adopted Atman’s Engineering Design
Process to evaluate the progress that students made after learning from a project-
based Truss Tower STEM course. Students were grouped in six to design and
construct a light-weight water tower type truss structure that can withstand
severe earthquake. 137 students participated in this course and took pre-test as
well as post-test. Students demonstrated significant progress in Developing
Alternative Solutions and Project Realization. However, students did not show
significant progress in Problem Scoping. Our research result echoes earlier
research that some of engineering abilities might be trainable in classroom while
other abilities might need other development methods.

Keywords: STEM
Science-Technology-Engineering-Math
PBL
Project-

based learning
Truss tower
Engineering design process

1 Introduction

Engineering design ability is critical in today’s world because more jobs rely on
technology or artificial items. Besides, engineering education is more than making
students to become engineers. Engineering education should also train students to
become problem solvers, systematic thinkers, and hands-on makers. However, in most
of the world, engineering education is not systematically provided until college level.
This approach might hinder high school students from familiarizing themselves with
this subject before making their decisions in future career. More importantly, this might
also exclude those who do not choose engineering as their majors from basic engi-
neering know-hows that are critical in today’s society. As a result, the overall engi-
neering readiness is not as sufficient as it could and should possibly be.
In the United States, according to National Science Board, NSB, and President’s
Council of Advisor on Science and Technology, PCAST, the demand for scientific and
technical qualified employee is increasing but the supply of suitable talents is con-
tinuously decreasing for years [1, 2]. This challenge is even more severe as American’s

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 567–575, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_61
568 W.-H. Yen and C.-C. Chang

PISA score remained at mediocre level or lower level comparing to other OECD
countries for decades. The difficulty in training engineering capability and the lack of
science and math ability both worsen the rate in developing such talents.
To respond to this challenge, STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math)
education was proposed for K-12 students. The idea of STEM focuses on the inte-
gration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In short, one of the
goals of STEM Education is to let students be able to perform and also learn the
relating knowledge. However, many researchers cautioned unclearness of the goal of
STEM education may let STEM education less effective. Furthermore, multiple facets
of STEM education remained quite challenging in reality [3].
Although Taiwanese students performed better in PISA than their peers in the
United States, the problem of Taiwanese education system is the mere emphasis of
knowledge while insufficient efforts on attitude and applications. Some educators
hoped the adoption of STEM can help students gain interests in such aspects. As we
can see here, the seamless integration between learning subjects and the physical
realization from abstract knowledge is quite important. Project-based learning
(PBL) allows students to learn through completing a task that is challenging but well-
designed [4]. With appropriate support and guidance, students are able to learn prior,
during, or after the process. PBL is considered to be beneficial to STEM education
since the challenging task will trigger students to actively search for know-hows that fit
into the challenge. These knowledges may come from various subjects, such as Sci-
ence, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and even the combination of them. It is
supported that project–based learning did increase the integration attitude and behavior
as well as the attitude toward Science, Engineering and Technology. Project-based
learning also shew to have benefits to specific engineering techniques [5]. However,
whether such method can greatly increase the whole and overall engineering design
ability remains questionable.
We hereby developed a course around the challenging project that aims to build a
water tower that can withstand earthquakes. Students are required to design and build a
water tank with truss structure. The challenge of this task is to build the truss tower
with minimum material while withstanding the maximum earthquake possible. Stu-
dents will learn the knowledge pieces of STEM in the introductory classes and also
combine them together when implementing the model construction. In the following
text, we will describe the specialty of PBL, its usage in STEM education, and the
engineering learning outcome expected.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Its Benefit for STEM Education
Project-based learning (PBL) is a model that organizes learning around projects [6].
Projects are complex tasks, based on challenging questions or problems, which involve
students in design, problem solving, decision making or investigative activities. They
give students the opportunity to work with relative autonomy over extended periods of
time; and culminate in realistic products or presentations [6]. Erdogan and Bozeman [4]
 How Engineering Design Ability Improve via Project 569

considered Project-based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical method containing several

features, including: (a) authentic assessment and content, (b) challenging projects with
complex tasks, (c) decision making and problem solving, (d) explicit objectives with
individual and collective learning, (e) realistic products to real-world problems,
(f) student directed and teacher facilitated and (g) time limited.
Although many PBL models exist, a lot of them use different words to describe
similar concepts. For instance, Buck Institute [7] define PBL as “Standards focused
PBL is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and
skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic
questions and carefully designed products and tasks.” On comparison, “knowledge and
skills” was mentioned as “various learning outcomes” in the Aggie STEM Center
definition referring to what students gain through PBL [8]. In addition, both definitions
indicate that students participating in PBL go through a series of investigative pro-
cesses. Finally, both definitions describe an “engaging” process for those students
learning STEM content through PBL [4].
Why is PBL such an ideal method for STEM education? This is probably because it
is natural for scientists and engineers to solve problem or optimize solution. On the
contrary, traditional scientific or engineering teaching method is through one way
lecturing and lacks the experience in real-world problems, or the scenarios where
decisions are not clear-cut and requirements conflicts. In addition, with the back-up of
constructivist theory, PBL approach to STEM education can improve students’
achievement in higher-level cognitive tasks that are not easily fulfilled by other
teaching methods.

2.2 Engineering Design Process

Engineering design is a critical element of engineering education. It is also considered
as a critical competency that engineering students need to acquire. In K-12 Technology
and Engineering Education (TEE), the traditional models used to illustrate engineering
content and design practice are shown as Fig. 1. It is represented as a circular cycle by
a representation of a series of steps. Teacher are expected to teach all the steps when
engaging students in designing engineering solutions.
However, although TEE model fit the engineering requirement well, it is not
adequate in conveying the ideas used in STEM education. Wells [9] suggested that the
primary goal of Integrated-STEM education is to teach students the content and
practice of Technology and Engineering as well as Science and Mathematics. Wells [9]
believes the current monodisciplinary STEM model cannot serve as the framework for
conveying the integration of concurrent pedagogies.
The PRIPOSAL model, although also convey the engineering design process as a
circle, it tries to categories each step as phase of engagement encountered when
attempting to resolve an engineering challenge [9]. It is suggested the engineering
students should learn from such approach to gain higher level of learning achievement
when designing a solution (Fig. 2).
Another way to evaluate the learning outcome of an engineering student is to
compare the student’s performance level to the expert’s performance level. Atman et al.
[10] suggested five themes should be adopted when evaluating the engineering design
570 W.-H. Yen and C.-C. Chang

Fig. 1. Typical engineering design loop [9]

Fig. 2. PIRPOSAL model of integrative STEM education [9]

ability: problem scoping, project realization, alternative solutions generation, distri-

bution of activity over time, and solution quality. With a further trimming based on the
engineering textbook, Atman et al. [10] proposed the below design process with three
design stages and ten design activities. The three stages are: Problem Scoping (in-
cluding three activities: Identification of a Need, Problem Definition, and Gathering
Information), Developing Alternative Solutions (including four activities: Generating
Ideas, Modeling, Feasibility Analysis, and Evaluation), Project Realization (including
 How Engineering Design Ability Improve via Project 571

three activities: Decision, Communication, and Implementation). Not only did Atman
et al. [10] find engineering experts spend more in problem scoping, they also found
experts gather more information covering more categories. They also considered these
two stages (problem scoping and information gathering) are important competencies
for engineering students to develop.
In our research, we’d like to explore the following questions:
1. What is the learning outcome of truss tower STEM course?
2. Is there difference in improvement among different engineering design process
stages?

3 Method

3.1 Participants and Procedures

One hundred and thirty-seven high school students from twenty different schools
registered the truss tower STEM class voluntarily. Seventy-five students are male
(54.7%) and sixty-two students are female (45.3%). Due to the massive requests for the
class, only parts of the intending students were recruited due to the limit of capacity.
The aim of this course is to help students build a truss tower with minimum weight
that withstands the maximum earthquake possible (Fig. 3). The course lasts 10 weeks
and its activities include: The introduction of earthquake and building safety, the
analysis of truss tower structure, using of CAD system (2D), using of CAD system
(3D), using of 3D printer, truss tower structure manufacturing and assemble, strength
test and analysis, re-design and re-test. Before the course begin, each student needs to
fill out the pre-test of Atman et al.’s (2007) Engineering Design Process. After finishing
the course, the students would fill out the post-test of the same questionnaire to evaluate
their progress.
Since earthquake is a common phenomenon in Taiwan, students are quite familiar
with the possible consequences of it. The building process also requires students to
calculate and structure design, which consists of the elements of M and E. The course
also taught the cause of earthquake and the use of 2D/3D drawing, which added the S
and T components to the whole setting.
Before and after the course, we surveyed the students’ engineering design ability.
We then analyzed the progress in each category to see if there is improvement in the
engineering design process.

3.2 Engineering Design Process Inventory

To assess students’ progress in engineering design ability, we adopted Engineering
Design Process Inventory developed by Atman et al. [10]. Atman’s model categorized
engineering design process into three stages and ten activities. The three stages are:
Problem Scoping (including three activities: Identification of a Need, Problem Defi-
nition, and Gathering Information), Developing Alternative Solutions (including four
activities: Generating Ideas, Modeling, Feasibility Analysis, and Evaluation), Project
572 W.-H. Yen and C.-C. Chang

Fig. 3. Water tower truss structure

Realization (including three activities: Decision, Communication, and Implementa-

tion). According to Atman et al., the first and the last activity is not included in survey.
We also delete the “other” questionnaire as it is not relevant to our research purpose.
The final questionnaire consists of 28 items such as: “I know how to evaluate whether
the designed product fit the constraint and requirement.” and “I will consider the
variety of engineering design as many as possible in the beginning.” Students rated
their perception on Likert 5-point scale.

3.3 Data Analysis

We used SPSS 23 for the descriptive statistics and paired t-test to examine whether the
course make a difference in students’ engineering design ability. If the paired t-test
between pre- and post-test of certain design activity/stage is significant, the students’
aspect for that shows the course make an impact on that dimension.

4 Results

4.1 Descriptive Analysis

The mean and standard of pre-test and post-test of each design activity is listed in
Table 1. As shown in Table 1, the lowest ability in pre-test is Modeling (3.94) and the
 How Engineering Design Ability Improve via Project 573

highest ability is Problem Definition (4.58). In post-test, Problem Definition is still the
highest (4.56) but the lowest changed to Feasibility Analysis (4.32).

Table 1. Mean and standard deviation of pretest and posttest of each engineering design activity
Design activity Mean of pretest SD of pretest Mean of posttest SD of posttest
Problem definition 4.58 .41 4.56 .41
Gathering information 4.51 .50 4.53 .43
Generating ideas 4.04 .65 4.38 .51
Modeling 3.94 .66 4.34 .53
Feasibility analysis 3.96 .52 4.32 .48
Evaluation 4.03 .62 4.35 .50
Decision 4.15 .59 4.39 .55
Communication 4.30 .46 4.46 .40

4.2 Progress Between Pre-test and Post-test

The paired t-test result is shown in Table 2. Six out of eight items show significant
differences between tests: Generate Ideas, Modeling, Feasibility Analysis, Evaluation,
Decision, and Communication all show significant advancement. On the other hand,
Problem Definition and Gather Information did not show significant differences.

Table 2. Paired t-test for pre- and post-test

Item Pre-Post Mean Diff. S.D. t p
Problem definition .02 .38 .62 .54
Gathering information −.03 .53 −.57 .57
Generating ideas −.34 .61 −6.50*** <.00
Modeling −.40 .61 −7.68*** <.00
Feasibility analysis −.36 .49 −8.40*** <.00
Evaluation −.32 .51 −7.17*** <.00
Decision −.24 .64 −4.42*** <.00
Communication −.16 .43 −4.25*** <.00
*
p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001

5 Discussion and Conclusion

Our research shows that, prior to the truss tower course, the variance of students’ ability
in each engineering process is larger. Students were less confident and knowledgeable
in Modeling and Feasibility Analysis. They were also not competent in Evaluation,
Generating Ideas, and Decision. On the contrary, students were quite confident in
Problem Definition and Gathering Information. They also considered Communication
is one of their top three abilities.
574 W.-H. Yen and C.-C. Chang

After learning from the truss tower course, all of the ability perception level were
higher than 4.3. Students shew biggest gain in Modeling, Feasibility Analysis, Gen-
erating Ideas, and Evaluation.
Our research found students gain significant progress after truss tower class in:
Generate Ideas, Modeling, Feasibility Analysis, Evaluation, Decision, and Communi-
cation. Among all the above items, the score in post-test are all higher than the score in
pre-test. This shows the ability of “Developing Alternative Solutions” and “Project
Realization” may possible to be developed by training. Atman et al. (2007) also found
the time spent on “Project Realization” by senior engineering students is also signifi-
cantly higher than freshman engineering students. This might imply these abilities are
trainable in classroom.
On the other hand, students did not show significant improvement in Problem
Definition and Gather Information after truss tower class. When comparing the level of
each items, Problem Definition and Gather Information are two of the highest items at
Pre-test. The average of these two items were both close to the maximum value, 5.0.
Accordingly, there is a possibility of no significant growth due to the fact that these pre-
test scores are already at high level and the room of improvement is quite small.
However, comparing to Atman et al.’s [10] result, they also found the differences of
time spent for Problem Scoping Stage, aka. Problem Definition and Gathering Infor-
mation, was also not significantly different between freshman and senior engineering
students. On the contrary, Atman et al. [10] found experts did spend significant more
time than senior and freshman students. This could imply that although these abilities
are not teachable in classroom, but only learnable in a workplace or by experience.

6 Limitations and Future Direction

There are several limitations of this research. First of all, the sample of high school
students might be biased since only the self-registered and selected students enrolled
the course and completed the study. Since students who voluntarily participated in
STEM related courses may be more interested or confident in their STEM ability.
Furthermore, their parents might emphasize more in similar direction and make them
more knowledgeable or less scared about relating issues. This may decrease the
external validity of our research. In the future, it is suggested to include all kinds of
students or the combination of different type in our study. Second, since the ques-
tionnaire is self-evaluated, it is not avoidable that the common method bias may
influence the reliability. For the future research, it might be better if other’s evaluation
such as teacher’s evaluation or peer’s evaluation can be included to avoid such bias.
Last but not least, the progress of the engineering process perception might not come
from the teaching only. Since truss tower is a group activity, the group level knowledge
and group level atmosphere might have influence on students’ gain. In the future, it
would be better if the influencing factors from group dynamic can be included for
analysis to achieve better understanding about the mechanism of the advancement of
high school students’ engineering design ability.
 How Engineering Design Ability Improve via Project 575

References
1. Casey, B.: STEM Education: Preparing Jobs of the Future (2012). https://www.jec.senate.
gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2012/4/stem-education-preparing-jobs-of-the-future.
Accessed 18 May 2020
2. Raju, P.K., Clayson, A.: The future of STEM education: an analysis of two national reports.
J. STEM Educ. Innov. Res. 11(5), 25–28 (2010)
3. Margot, K.C., Kettler, T.: Teachers’ perception of STEM integration and education: a
systematic literature review. Int. J. STEM Educ. 6, 2 (2019)
4. Erdogan, N., Bozeman, T.D.: Models of project-based learning for the 21st century. In:
Sahin, A. (ed.) A Practice-based Model of STEM Teaching: STEM Students on the Stage
(SOS)TM, pp. 31–42. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam (2015)
5. Moore, T., Miller, R., Lesh, R., Stohlmann, M., Kim, Y.R.: Modeling in engineering: the
role of representational fluency in students’ conceptual understanding. Res. J. Eng. Educ.
102(1), 141–178 (2013)
6. Ozer, O., Ayyildiz, I., Esch, N.: Project-based learning in a world focused on standards. In:
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(SOS) TM, 63–73. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam (2015)
7. Markham, T.H., Larmer, J., Ravitz, J.: Project Based Learning Handbook a Guide to
Standards-Focused Project Based Learning for Middle and High School Teachers. Buck
Institute for Education, Novato (2003)
8. Capraro, R.M., Slough, S.W.: Why PBL? Why STEM? Why now? an Introduction to STEM
Project-Based Learning. In: Capraro, R.M., Capraro, M.M., Morgan, J.R. (eds.) STEM
Project-Based Learning: An Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
(STEM) Approach, pp. 1–5. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam (2013)
9. Wells, J.G.: PIRPOSAL model of integrative STEM education: conceptual and pedagogical
framework for classroom implementation. Technol. Eng. Teacher 75(6), 12–19 (2016)
10. Atman, C.J., Adams, R.S., Cardella, M.E., Turns, J., Mosborg, S., Saleem, J.: Engineering
design processes: a comparison of students and expert practitioners. J. Eng. Educ. 96(4),
359–379 (2007)
 Improving Student Learning Satisfaction
in Lectures in English as a Medium
of Instruction with Speech-Enabled Language
Translation Application

Rustam Shadiev1(&), Narzikul Shadiev2, Mirzaali Fayziev2,

and Yuliya Halubitskaya1
1
Nanjing Normal University, No. 122, Ninghai Road, Nanjing 210097, China
rustamsh@gmail.com
2
Samarkand State University, No. 15, University Blv, Samarkand 140104,
Uzbekistan

Abstract. Speech-enabled language translation (SELT) was applied to support

learning of students during lectures in English as a medium of instruction (EMI).
We aimed to investigate whether SELT support can facilitate students’ learning
satisfaction in EMI lectures. A qualitative research method was used in this
study to address the research question. Thirty-three university students were
hired for the study. All of them were non-native speakers of English and
attended lectures in EMI. Their learning satisfaction was measured via a ques-
tionnaire and compared across two groups (i.e. low and high English as a
foreign language ability). The results showed that all students had high level of
learning satisfaction. In addition, we found that level of perceived learning
satisfaction of low language ability students was significantly higher compared
to that of high language ability students. Based on the results of this study, we
suggest that educators and researchers may consider applying SELT technology
during lectures in EMI because it is beneficial for the students with low lin-
guistic competency as to have high level of learning satisfaction.

Keywords: Speech-enabled language translation
Learning satisfaction

English as a medium of instruction

1 Introduction

Many countries have been using English in education in general and expanding
teaching in English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in particular in the last few
decades (Tsui 2018). In EMI teaching, the instructors use English to teach academic
subjects for students whose first language is not English (Chang 2010). Although, the
number of EMI courses remarkably increases, scholars argued that some issues (with
student linguistic incompetency as the most important among them) are not taken into
considerations so that EMI courses result in lower student achievement. For example,
scholars suggested that because of linguistic incompetency not every student attending
foreign language-medium lectures fully understands the lecture content (Barnes and

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 576–581, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_62
 Improving Student Learning Satisfaction in Lectures in English 577

Lock 2010). This notion was clearly reflected in the study of Chang (2010), who
surveyed perceptions of 370 undergraduate students in Taiwan regarding the imple-
mentation of EMI for content courses, and found that about 13% of students could
understand less than 24% of lecture and about 23% of students could understand less
than 50% of lecture. Huang (2009) suggested that students who “suffer” from such
learning via English are mostly students with low language ability.
In order to understand the reason behind student inability to understand content of
lectures in EMI we need to refer to the notion of information processing. Information
processing in EMI lecture is very complex. It involves taking in information, orga-
nizing and storing it to be retrieved at a later time (Siegler 1998). That is, first, a learner
pays attention to information and brings it in; after that, information is actively
manipulated in working memory and passively held in long-term memory (Slate and
Charlesworth 1988; Smith and Kosslyn 2013). As working memory has limited
capacity it is possible that it may become overloaded because information from EMI
lecture is difficult to understand (Chow and Conway 2015). If students are not able to
fully comprehend lecture content, this may negatively influence their learning
satisfaction.
Scholars use various approaches to support learning and comprehension of students
attending lectures in EMI. For example, the instructor provided real-time transcription
of the lecture content during lectures (Kushalnagar et al. Kushalnagar et al. 2014) or
lecture notes (Goodman 2014), audio-recorded (Soruç et al. 2018) or video-recorded
(Shimoyamada et al. 2019) files after lectures to help enhance student comprehension.
In this study, we employed SELT technology in EMI lectures. SELT receives speech
input in one language and then simultaneously translates it into different language.
Such approach was used in cross-cultural learning project in Shadiev and Huang
(2016), Shadiev et al. (2018) and Shadiev et al. (2019). Participants representing dif-
ferent nationalities communicated with each other in their mother tongue and SELT
was employed to translate their communication content for student to be able to
understand it.
It is important to measure learning satisfaction. According to Keller (2010),
learning satisfaction is a positive or negative affective response to the technology-
supported learning environment. Jung (2014) defined learning satisfaction as the degree
to which a student senses a positive association with the overall learning experiences.
Keller (2010) argued that satisfaction can result from extrinsic (e.g. grades) and
intrinsic (e.g. feelings of self-esteem) factors. Hui et al. (2008) highlighted that three
essential satisfaction determinants are learning effectiveness, perceived course learn-
ability, and perceived learning community support. That is, students’ learning satis-
faction can be enhanced if they believe that they have acquired specific skills, the
course materials are easy to learn, and a learning environment created an active,
strongly bonded community. Baturay et al. (2010) suggested that learning satisfaction
is an important consideration for future participation in learning. One reason is because
it is a critical variable that contributes to consistent participation and activation in
learning and it affects continuing learning (Hui et al. 2008).
Informed by related literature, in this study, we administered lectures in EMI for
non-native speakers of English and applied SELT technology to facilitate student
comprehension of lecture content. Students perceived learning satisfaction during
578 R. Shadiev et al.

lectures in EMI supported by SELT was investigated. In this present study, we assumed
that translating lecture content into student native language could be useful for learning
so that students will be able to comprehend lecture content. As a result, we expect that
student learning satisfaction will be positive. Our investigation was carried out with
respect to students’ language ability, i.e. we were interested in what satisfaction of all
students, of students of low language ability and students of high language ability are.
The following research question was addressed in this study:
– What is perceived learning satisfaction of students during lectures in EMI supported
by SELT?

2 Method

A qualitative research method was used in this study to address the research questions.
Thirty-three students from one university in Taiwan were recruited. They were between
18 and 23 years old. The participants were native speakers of Mandarin Chinese.
English was their foreign language (EFL).
The participants attended two lectures on general topics given in English as the
medium of instruction. We applied SELT during lectures to facilitate participant
comprehension of lecture content. SELT received speech input from the instructor and
simultaneously translated it from English into Mandarin Chinese. Translated texts were
displayed for the participants during two lectures. After lectures, a questionnaire survey
was administered to the participants to measure their perceived learning satisfaction
with SELT support. In addition, one-on-one semi-structured interviews with the par-
ticipants were conducted.
Demographic information was collected using a questionnaire and we measured the
participants EFL ability using scores from their officially-recognized Test of English
for International Communication (TOEIC) certificates.
The participants were divided into low and high EFL ability groups with 16 stu-
dents in the former and 17 students in the latter.
One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants to
explore their experiences during lectures in EMI. Each participant was interviewed for
approximately 30 min. An open-coding approach was used for the interview data
analysis. That is, all interviews were audio-recorded first, and then the recorded content
was fully transcribed for the purpose of the analysis. The text segments that met the
criteria for providing the best research information were highlighted and coded. Codes
with similar meanings were sorted into categories, and the established categories
produced a framework within which to illustrate findings of the study.

3 Results

The questionnaire results demonstrated that the students had high level of learning
satisfaction (M = 3.38, SD = 1.10). High standard deviation value suggests high
variability in student perceptions. When we compared perceptions of low EFL ability
 Improving Student Learning Satisfaction in Lectures in English 579

students (M = 4; SD = 0.82) and high EFL ability students (M = 2.73; SD = 0.98), we

found a significant difference, t = 6.944, p = 0.000. That is, low EFL ability students
had higher level of perceived learning satisfaction compared to high EFL ability stu-
dents (Table 1).

Table 1. Learning satisfaction with SELT.

Variable All LA* HA t p
M SD M SD M SD
Learning satisfaction 3.38 1.10 4.00 0.82 2.73 0.98 6.944 0.000
*
LA – low EFL ability; HA – high EFL ability.

4 Discussion and Conclusion

When we considered all students in general, our results showed that their level of
learning satisfaction with SELT was high. We also noted that standard deviation value
was high which suggests high variability in students’ perceptions. When we considered
different EFL ability, we found that low EFL ability students had significantly higher
perceived learning satisfaction than high EFL ability students. The reason is because
SELT were beneficial for low EFL ability students but not so useful for high EFL
ability students. Some possible reasons were revealed during interviews with the stu-
dents. For example, low EFL ability students mentioned that they were always anxious
before lectures in English because of their low EFL ability. However, they were
relieved after SELT technology was applied during lectures as they could read trans-
lated texts and understand content of the lecture. On the other hand, high EFL ability
students mentioned that their language ability is high enough so they do not need any
additional support. When SELT texts were shown to them they were distracted and
confused because the instructor spoke in English but SELT texts were in Chinese.
These findings are in line with those obtained in previous related research (Shadiev and
Huang 2016; Shadiev et al. 2018; Shadiev et al. 2019).
Based on our results, we suggest that educators may consider applying SELT
technology during lectures in EMI. Such approach, as we found from our study, can be
useful for the students with low linguistic competency to comprehend lecture content
and may satisfy learning needs of the students. Furthermore, as we found that SELT
texts can be distracting for some students, an adaptive approach to use SELT texts can
be used. That is, all students should have an option to choose whether to be exposed to
SELT texts or not. In this situation, students who do not need SELT support may
decide not to turn SELT option on whereas students who need SELT support may
decide to turn it on. Future studies may also consider extending applications of SELT
technology to other media. That is, SELT texts were presented as pure texts to the
students in this study and future studies may consider embed them with other media
such as figures, charts and tables. So that the students will receive not only pure texts
but also figures, charts and tables accompanied with relevant textual captures in their
native language to enhance their comprehension of content. Another promising future
research direction is to design collaborative learning activities around SELT texts.
580 R. Shadiev et al.

Perhaps, in the future, the students may collaborate and discuss with each other lecture
content with translated texts by SELT technology.

References
Baturay, M.H., Daloglu, A., Yildirim, S.: Language practice with multimedia supported web-
based grammar revision material. ReCALL 22(3), 313–331 (2010)
Barnes, B.D., Lock, G.: The attributes of effective lecturers of English as a foreign language as
perceived by students in a Korean University. Aust. J. Teach. Educ. 35(1), 139–152 (2010)
Chang, Y.Y.: English-medium instruction for subject courses in tertiary education: reactions
from Taiwanese undergraduate students. Taiwan Int. ESP J. 2(1), 53–82 (2010)
Chow, M., Conway, A.R.A.: The scope and control of attention: Sources of variance in working
memory capacity. Mem. Cogn. 43(3), 325–339 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-014-
0496-9
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1250-3_3
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 Model of Technology Enhanced Affective
Learning

Satu-Maarit Frangou(&) and Minna Körkkö

University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

{satu-maarit.frangou,minna.korkko}@ulapland.fi

Abstract. In this paper, the concept of affective learning is discussed in today’s

context, in which technology plays a significant role, with the objective of
developing a model of affective learning. The study is guided by Frangou’s [6]
embodied knowledge construction model of affects in writing and Körkkö’s [18]
holistic model of learning and guiding reflection. The models are examined and
then merged to form a model of affective learning that can serve as a peda-
gogical framework to facilitate teaching and learning in a holistic learning
environment that takes into account the learner’s motivations, interests, and
experiences. In this context, the learner’s sensory and motor perceptions,
together with embodied cognition, are intertwined into a technology-enhanced
holistic pedagogy that considers the learner’s individual embodied learning
environment. This paper concludes with discussing the model and providing
ideas for future research.

Keywords: Affective learning
Embodied cognition
Emotions in learning

Holistic learning
Technology enhanced learning

1 Introduction

The use of technology has become pervasive in classrooms around the world; therefore,
affective learning is bound to be technology enhanced, as with other forms of learning.
Learning is also inherently an emotional and embodied experience in which one is
continuously exposed to feelings of failure and success, as well as challenges that can
be both psychological and physical [4, 8]. Personal emotions are the key driving force
that influence an individual’s behaviors, attitudes, engagement in learning, and faith in
one’s abilities; in other words, learning is a process in which body, mind, and brain are
interdependent [10, 11, 23]. New neuroscientific findings have confirmed that emo-
tions, rational thinking, perceiving, and performing an action have the potential to
support memory retrieval and decision making, highlighting the connection between
emotional functions and cognitive processes [8, 11]. Technology, given its far reaching
uses and potential, can then be used as a tool to enhance learning through applications
that engage embodied cognition.
Each learner has an individual set of experiences and a unique way of perceiving.
Also, they process their learning experiences through their own emotions, which
suggests the need for an individualized and flexible approach to learning [13]. How-
ever, the emotions’ influence on learning is often neglected due to their instinctive

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 582–590, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_63
 Model of Technology Enhanced Affective Learning 583

nature [8, 9, 12, 21] and difficulties in measuring learners’ emotional and affective
states, particularly during interactions [2]. Most theoretical models of learning seem to
highlight the learners’ experiences, actions, and reflection on the two, which can be
summed up as the rational side of learning (e.g. [14, 22]). Some models address
personal, emotional, and motivational sides of learning as well [3, 15]; however, those
models do not consider the use of technology in the learning process, so there is a call
for models that aim to combine these different aspects of learning while also integrating
the role of technology.
To respond to this research gap, the principal aim of this study was to synthesize
the concept of affective learning by zooming in on technology enhanced affective
learning in which the emotions, technologies, and, embodied cognition all play a role.
The authors wish to contribute to the scientific debate on affective learning by iden-
tifying its idiosyncrasies and peculiarities and thereby developing a model of tech-
nology enhanced affective learning. In what follows, we first present and discuss key
insights from Frangou’s [6] embodied knowledge construction model of affects in
writing and Körkkö’s [18] holistic model of learning and guiding reflection. Based on
the review and interrelation of the two models, we argue for their suitability for
merging and further development to provide a didactical approach that supports learner
knowledge construction holistically. Then, we introduce a reflection of the created
model and an elaboration of its adaptability to different settings. The paper ends by
recapitulating our perspective and by discussing how it can lay the ground for a new
way of approaching affective learning.

2 An Embodied Knowledge Construction Model of Affects

in Writing

Although there is general agreement regarding the centrality of processing external and
internal stimuli in embodied cognition, theoretical conceptualizations in the past have
overlooked the emotions and affect, not to mention subjectivity and motivation [6, 19,
24]. Indeed, today’s scientific literature on embodied cognition draws on multi-
disciplinary perspectives, highlighting the entirety of cognition in which motor func-
tions and emotions are interrelated and function in conjunction with one another [6,
24]. Recent neuroscientific research underscores the harmonious synergy of the two
separate but parallel processes of perceiving and registering the emotions and subse-
quently utilizing them in one’s decision making processes [2]. Furthermore, according
to the theory of embodied cognition, perceiving an action and performing the same
action activate the same sensory-motor circuitry within the brain [11]. This means that
the mind is not only in charge of the body, but that the body affects the mind,
demonstrating their interrelation and the intersubjectivity of embodied cognition.
The embodied knowledge construction model of affects in writing [6] takes into
consideration particularly the mind’s learning environment and the intertwined spatial
and temporal factors influencing the learning moment (Fig. 1). The model connects the
six aspects of embodied cognition listed by [25] together with Hayes’s [7] framework
for the cognitive process of writing.
584 S.-M. Frangou and M. Körkkö

Fig. 1. The embodied knowledge construction model of affects in writing [6].

To consider the possibilities involved in developing a model of technologically

enhanced affective learning, the significant factors we examine are taken from the
embodied knowledge construction model of affects in writing [6] (Fig. 1). Knowledge
construction is influenced by several factors in and around the learner. The Perception
and Action sequence is fundamental and pervasive, having a connection to both the
learner’s inner and outer worlds. The learner’s earlier experiences can influence their
self-perception of their abilities and skills, as well as motivation by increasing or
inhibiting it. Motivation affects learner predisposition to the task at hand; additionally,
goals and benefit estimates also play a role. The Outer World of the learner incorpo-
rates first, the learner’s sociocultural history and background along his/her learning
environment and the classroom culture. Second, the outer world includes the physical
task environment, which in this case contains the technology being used. It also
includes the context and any time pressure, or lack of it. These can affect the learner’s
approach to the learning task. The Inner World’s core is the body and mind activity of
the learner, and beside it runs the working memory and long-term memory, which
incorporate also the influence of actions on cognition. Additionally, the long-term
memory holds significant knowledge about one’s earlier experiences and learning,
sociocultural background, and context. The long-term memory guides the learner to
behave in an appropriate manner in a given context and time. The component of
working memory also contains within itself the cognitive processes that motor acti-
vation has initiated by the consequent brain activation. In sum, the learner’s body,
mind, and brain form an active learning environment in which the learner’s body and
mind perceive the sensations inside oneself as well as outside in the surroundings, use
imagination, and propagate emotions that affect the learning moment.
 Model of Technology Enhanced Affective Learning 585

3 Holistic Model of Learning and Guiding Reflection

Today, it is increasingly highlighted that in addition to theoretical knowledge, factors

that may remain subconsciously experienced, such as the emotions, motivation, and
self-efficacy, determine learning and behavior [17]. Some researchers have pursued
approaches that consider the multidimensionality of learning. For instance, Korthagen
[15, 16] argues that learning occurs in the theory-practice-person connection and that
learning from experience requires meaning-oriented reflection, which means an
awareness of the essence of the problem under consideration. To find a deeper meaning
in their experiences, learners must reflect carefully on emotional and motivational
dimensions and their self-identity. According to Korthagen’s [17] holistic approach,
learning is a multidimensional process, which means that it can be rational and non-
rational and can include motivation and emotions. Moreover, from a holistic per-
spective, learning is also seen as multilevel, which means that reflection starts from
individual experience and is pondered in relation to the environment, competencies,
beliefs, identity, mission and core qualities, such as individual strengths and devel-
opmental needs. These aspects form the layers of the onion model of reflection [16],
which highlights the fact that learners must reflect on the inner layers in order to
understand the meaning of their experiences. Blömeke et al. [3] share similar ideas
when discussing the affective and motivational aspects of teacher behavior.
In the holistic model of learning and guiding reflection [18] (Fig. 2), the ideas of
Korthagen’s holistic approach were combined with the writings of theorists of reflec-
tive practice [1, 5, 14, 24]. Following the principal ideas of Korthagen, the model is
comprised of the cognitive, emotional, and motivational dimensions of learning. per-
sona forms the core of learning. Learning is based on experience, occurs in a certain
context, and develops during interaction with others. Learning and behavior are
determined by the learner’s self-efficacy beliefs, which are affected by, e.g., the lear-
ner’s prior experiences, motivation, self-concept, and environmental factors. At the
same time, the teaching profession is influenced by wider social, cultural, and ethical
aspects of schooling. The model (Fig. 2), originally designed for student teachers, can
serve as a practical and theoretical guide for learners and learning facilitators at all
levels of education. Learners can use it as, for example, a guide for their individual or
peer reflection during learning and learning projects. The model helps learners to
consider various dimensions of learning and ponder their actions from different
viewpoints, e.g., theoretical and environmental factors or their personal strengths.
Teachers and learning facilitators can benefit from the model in seeking to elaborate on
discussions and encourage productive reflection.
As Fig. 2 shows, the model consists of eight parts, with a persona in the middle. The
parts are connected to personal development and, through that, to student teachers’
professional development. All parts of the model interact with one another. Following
the ideas of the holistic approach, the persona forms the heart of the model. Inside the
persona are one’s personal characteristics and qualities, which can be regarded as
strengths and developmental needs. Moreover, the persona includes one’s mission—i.e.,
what student teachers aim for in the teaching profession. The environment in the model
refers to those factors that are essential in a student teacher’s lessons and that affect
586 S.-M. Frangou and M. Körkkö

Fig. 2. Holistic model of learning and guiding reflection [18].

teaching and learning. Behavior refers to the behavior of student teachers and learners
and the interactions between them. The model includes both teacher and learner learning
and learning aims. Because part of teacher learning is unconscious and relates to the
emotions and motivation, the model encourages student teachers to recall their emotions
in specific moments. Regarding the emotional aspect, the model draws attention to
student teachers’ self-efficacy, motivation, self-concept, and self-confidence, as well as
the relationship between these and student teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. The aim of the
model is for student teachers to find connections between their practical experiences and
educational theories. The model refers to specific teaching instances under focus. This is
because reflection and learning always occur in certain contexts [5, 22]. Outside the
circle, there are social, cultural, and ethical issues of schooling that are beyond the
context and affect everything that happens in learning situations.
 Model of Technology Enhanced Affective Learning 587

In what follows, the two theoretical models of Frangou [6] and Körkkö [18] are
used as a platform to develop a model of technology enhanced affective learning and as
a lens that affords a theoretically robust background for the exploration of affect related
issues emerging from the synthesized theories.

4 Model of Technology Enhanced Affective Learning

Learning design involves the consideration of several factors simultaneously. Today,

learners’ individual differences are taken into account all the more when developing
new pedagogies. Patience [20] stated that, “Affective pedagogy is as much about
feelings and emotions as it is about learning outcomes”. To contribute to this devel-
opment direction, we have unified two theories to form a pedagogical framework for
the facilitation of teaching and learning in a technology enhanced holistic learning
environment that takes into account the learner’s inner learning environment. Tech-
nology is in a central position in this model due to its potential to significantly improve
and support learning. However, we refrain from pointing to any particular techno-
logical device, because the used technology and its meaningfulness in the specific
learning moment is defined by the teacher and learners (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Model of technology enhanced affective learning.

588 S.-M. Frangou and M. Körkkö

The synergy of the underlying theories [6, 18] is particularly influential and fitting
for the design of a flexible and adaptive pedagogy that can support teachers in changing
contexts to improve learning outcomes. Experiences of action and perception are at the
very core of embodied cognition [25], highlighting the significance of the embodied
self-experience of action or perception. This means that initiating a high level of
engagement in learning improves learning achievement and develops agency, and
through engagement, technology can play a significant role. The prior experiences of
the learner can influence the learner’s disposition and thereby motivate or demotivate
the learner’s engagement in the learning task. Hence, elaborating positive learning
experiences and expanding learning opportunities with the meaningful use of tech-
nology are pivotal to having a learner who is eager to return to class the next day.
Similarly, the emotions of the moment and the self-efficacy of the learner derived from
their self-perception of their abilities and competency, increase or inhibit the learner’s
drive to participate in the learning process. Encouraging and boosting the learner’s
confidence in their own abilities enhance not only the learner’s self-perception, but also
the teacher-learner relationship and through this, the general learning environment. The
social and physical environment of the learner encompasses his/her cultural and social
background, environment (together with the possible digital devices used for learning),
and context. These are all out of the learner’s own control, but they still affect the
learner, because they can create an emotional connection to learning, classmates, and
school in general. Therefore, exploring and expanding perspectives can create a sen-
sitive, dialogical, and positive learning environment that energizes and empowers
learners to achieve their potential and goals, supporting their development into
reflective learners. Moreover, affect plays a significant role in learning, impacting how
learners maintain their activity, reflect on their experiences, and motivate themselves to
carry out tasks. Affect is shaped by learners’ cultural, contextual, and environmental
issues, extending to their identity and perception. Hence, the created model can extend
one’s understanding of one’s history and how it influences the present, as well as
helping learners to locate themselves in time.

5 Conclusion and Future Directions

In this paper, we have shown how the unification of two theories [6, 18] can provide a
fruitful foreground for a technology enhanced affective learning approach. The theories
were adopted based on four aspects; action and perception, experiences and motiva-
tions, emotions and self-efficacy, and culture, environment and context. Affects were
thought to impact all of these aspects.
We see that the model of technology enhanced affective learning can extend the
existing theoretical frameworks by highlighting the multidimensionality of learning
combined with the use of technology. In our opinion, the model can serve as an
adaptive theoretical and practical guide at all educational level for students and teachers
when discussing and guiding learning. However, we understand that the model has
shortfalls that must be addressed when applying the model in practice. First, it is
probable that the implementation of the model requires specific guiding questions to be
used by students and supervisors. Hence, the model requires practical testing. Second,
 Model of Technology Enhanced Affective Learning 589

the model does not provide guidelines as to how to use technology in affective learning.
Rather, it remains to be refined for each context. Third, the term affective learning
remains ambiguous and requires users of the model to understand the basic theoretical
elements involved. Therefore, it would be necessary to guide users in how to concretize
the model when applying it.
Future research should address the defining of guiding questions and practical
testing of the model of technology enhanced affective learning at different educational
levels. Through empirical research, it is possible to determine how the model should be
further developed and how technology can support the learning process. Further
research will also help to clarify the meaning of affect in learning, making this element
more visible in the model and to develop a new way of approaching and implementing
affective learning.

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 Outcomes of Problem-Solving Using
Constructivist Learning Environment
to Enhance Learners’ Problem Solving

Sumalee Chaijaroen1(&), Issara Kanjug1, Charuni Samat2,

and Piyaporn Wonganu3
1
Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University,
Khon Kaen, Thailand
sumalee@kku.ac.th
2
Computer Education, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University,
Khon Kaen, Thailand
3
Educational Technology and Innovation, Faculty of Education,
Loei Rajabhat University, Loei, Thailand

Abstract. This study aims to study and affirm the use of the constructivist
learning environment to enhance learners’ problem solving. The sample groups
consisted of the 40 students of Sanambin school, Khon Kaen, Thailand as the
experimental group while the other 40 students in the same school was the
control group. The instruments were 1) the learning environment to enhance
problem solving in science subject titled Life Relationship 2) achievement tests
3) assessment form of executive functions based on Tower of London and 4)
interviewing form of problem solving. The Model Research phrase 3- Model
Use was employed by interviewing and protocol analysis based on Jonassen [1]
with descriptive analysis and interpreting for percentage, Standard Deviation,
and t-test value.
The results revealed that the control group had the difference of problem
solving after learning while the experimental group showed the same. In addi-
tion, the executive function assessment based on Tower of London by time
using in problem solving showed the experimental group spent less time than
the control group as 18.60 and 21.15 min that differed significantly at .05 and
moving time of those both groups as 4.15 and 7.40 min at .05 significantly.
Likewise, the experiment group presented the higher achievement test scores as
34.85 than the control group as 20.72.

Keywords: Constructivist
Learning environment
Problem-solving

1 Introduction

In the rapidly changing of Thai society in the 21st century, the information has been
transmitting into a variety of channels and resulted in the information consuming of
people both moderately and immoderately [2]. The different uses of ideas checking in
simple or complex system could arouse and cause a problem and become more
complex problems that happen in the society all the time. In addition, the competitive

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 591–597, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_64
592 S. Chaijaroen et al.

conditions that occur in both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
community and the world society requires the characteristics of people that being
curious to learn throughout life, have the ability to discover, analyze and process
information including apply various kinds of knowledge to solve problems in life
effectively. This could help to enrich a national intellectual capital that helps increase
the capacity of human resources which is consistent with the research plans and
government education policies Including the 12th National Economic and Social
Development Plan (2017–2021) [3]. Problem solving is a learning process that students
will learn through both at school and throughout our daily lives.
Furthermore, much research has been carried out to study problem solving. For
instance, Cornoldi C. et al. [4] examined the feasibility of improving problem-solving
skills in primary school students. Yanjie S. [5] explored an innovative pedagogical
design to improve upper primary students’ collaborative problem solving. Csaba C. and
Judit S. [6] aimed to reveal teachers’ views and pedagogical content knowledge on
teaching elementary students to solve word problems. Robert M., Patricia M. and
Sara H. [7] investigating the nature of ‘problem-solving’ activity in technology
classrooms. From above studies, it revealed that the problem solving is the importance
skill for students. Moreover, the World Economic Forum envisages that the one
importance skill for the future job is problem solving [8].
Therefore, for people to be able to live in society, it is necessary to learn and
develop thinking systems as problem solving process. That could help develop both
cognitive and physical aspects as increasing cognitive activities or brain cell numbers
along with the satisfaction of studying. It also can be a motivation for learners and
enhance human efficiency for the readiness of ASEAN community and world society
creatively.
The practicing in the study was to have the pedagogy that emphasizes on the
cognitive processes that based on cognitive theories in which to promote cognitive
processes in depth more than study the behavior that can only be measured and
observed. This study also focuses on constructivist learning theory which highlights the
cognitive process that help the learner construct their own knowledge by elaborating
the prior and new knowledge together.
As mentioned above, the focusing on conducting studies to promote cognitive
processes based on the two theoretical foundations mentioned above, processes of data
collection and analysis for both quantitative and qualitative for the purpose of empirical
data, and the objective of enhancing the learner to be able to construct their own
knowledge and improve thinking skills by using technology are all the keys to shift the
learning paradigm into learner-centered and lifelong learning. This could be beneficial
to national intellectual capital and capability of human resources for the readiness of
world competition and cooperation.

2 Research Purpose

To study the problem solving of learners who learned with the constructivist learning
environment to enhance learners’ problem solving and compare the executive function
using Tower of London between the experimental group who learned with the
 Outcomes of Problem-Solving Using Constructivist Learning Environment 593

constructivist learning environment to enhance learners’ problem solving and the

control group who used the normal learning style.

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The Model Research (phase 3: model use) [9] was employed in this study.

3.2 The Participations

The sample group was the 80 students of Sanambin school, Mueang, Khon Kaen who
studied in science subject in the second semester of 2016 by randomly selecting to be
the experimental and control groups by 40 students each.

3.3 Research Instruments

The interviewing form of problem solving were used to study the learners’ problem
solving. Then, the Tower of London were used to study executive functions. Fur-
thermore, the achievement tests were used to study learners’ achievement scores.

3.4 Data Collection

Before learning with learning environment, those two experimental and control groups
was assigned to do the executive function form based on Tower of London. They were
then allocated to work in groups with 3–5 members each and provided the instructions.
Each group studied the problem situations presented in the learning environment and
completed the learning tasks. After that, the assessment form of executive functions
based on Tower of London was used after learning with the environment. Finally, the
learners had an interview towards problem solving.

3.5 Data Analysis

The data of problem solving was analyzed by interviewing and protocol analysis based
on Jonassen [1] as interpreting and descriptive analysis. Then, the data collected from
the assessment form of executive functions based on Tower of London was used after
learning with the environment was analyzed by statistics as mean scores, standard
deviation, percentage, and t-test.

4 Results
4.1 Learners’ Problem Solving
The outcomes of the study of learners’ problem solving in science subject titled Life
Relationship which based on Jonassen [1] found that those two groups were unable to
594 S. Chaijaroen et al.

identify the solving steps clearly. However, the control group had the difference of
problem solving after learning while the experimental group could not show the dif-
ference. In addition, the control group could choose the appropriate solutions to be
applied in various situations. They could process by the 6 steps of Jonassen’s problem
solving as the following.
Step 1. They could specify the gap pf the problem which found out that they
analyzed the problem and identify the situation they wanted to have after solving it,
for instance; 1) if the rice could grow up then the fish could survive and live 2) the
fish and rice could grow and 3) the rice provided more productive.
Step 2. The leaners could identify and explain the real problems with causes. For
example, the problems of life and environment, they identified many possible
factors that could cause the problems such as polluted water or bad plant species but
they finally made the real factor that undisturbed fish affected the real problem.
Step 3. They sample group generated various possible solutions for each situation.
In this case, they listed possible solutions as reducing amount of frog spawn, getting
rid of all frog spawn and buying fish feed, keeping all spawn but moving water
plants out, or trying reducing some of spawn and monitoring the grow up rate of fish
and other water plants.
Step 4. They could assess the possibility of all proposed alternatives that could be
used to solve a problem. For instance, the relationships in this situation that the fish
died or unable to grow up because of the fast spreading of frog spawn that affected
their fish feed. The learners assessed and selected the possible solution that reducing
amount of frog spawn which some still could be the fish feed and provided more air
space.
Step 5. They were able to use the solution in real problem situation as selecting a
simple, effective, useful, and economize solution. For instance, in the learning topic
as “What is the food chain?” which the problem was the decreasing of rice product
that affected from the situation that many grasshoppers and insects consume rice.
The students chose the possible solution that use bird net because it was simple,
effective, and economized by letting it balance the insect amount naturally and
making profit since those caught insects could be sold.
Step 6. The students could adjust the solutions for the best of efficiency, usefulness,
cost, and appropriateness as in the topic of “What is the food chain?” which
presented the problem of low volume in rice product due to the grasshoppers and
rice insects. Hence, they adjust the solution by finding animal that eating those type
of insect instead of using bird net.

4.2 The Comparison of the Executive Functions Using Tower of London

The comparison results were found that the mean scores of time consuming in solving a
problem of plate moving based on Tower of London test of the experimental group and
control group were 4.15 and 7.40 with significantly different at .05 level as shown in
Table 1.
 Outcomes of Problem-Solving Using Constructivist Learning Environment 595

Table 1. Results presented the executive functions using Tower of London.

Student Experimental Control group T value Sig.
number group
x S.D. 
x S.D.
Average value of time 40 18.60 6.01 21.15 8.20 −0.737 .033
consuming of plate
moving solution
Average value of 40 4.15 1.53 7.40 2.85 −2.284 .025
frequency of plate
moving solution

4.3 The Comparison of the Achievement Scores

The results of comparison were found that the mean scores from achievement test of
the experimental group were higher than the control group as 34.85 and 20.72
respectively which differed significantly at .05 level as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Results of the achievement scores.

Students Student Number x S.D. T value Sig.
Experimental group 40 34.85 5.79 −7.820 .000
Control group 40 20.72 9.84

5 Conclusion and Discussion

The outcomes of problem-solving using constructivist learning environment to enhance

learner problem solving was found consistent with the studies of Chaijareon Sumalee,
Samat Charuni, and Kanjug Issara [10]; Clover [11]; Samat Charuni [12]; Chaijaroen
Sumalee et al. [13] that conducted the researches based on problem solving theory of
Jonassen [1]. The theory was fundamentally used in design of learning environment to
enhance problem solving as well as pedagogy. To study the problem solving, such
pedagogy was used to develop the assessment instruments, for example, an evaluation
of problem solving, and an interviewing form. Despite this, this study presented the
difference by integrating with neuroscience as the executive function evaluation form
based on Tower of London was used to examine the learner outcomes.
The learner solving results revealed that they had all 6 steps of the solving as
1) identify the problem gap 2) identify the real problem and cause with explanation
3) generate possible solutions 4) assess each possible solution 5) choose the most
possible solution to and 6) adjust and apply the solution used in various situations.
Furthermore, the comparison of the experimental and control groups could present the
obvious results. The comparison results were found that the mean scores of time
consuming in solving a problem of plate moving based on Tower of London test of the
experimental group and control group were 4.15 and 7.40 with significantly different at
596 S. Chaijaroen et al.

.05 level. Whereas, the results of comparison were found that the mean scores from
achievement test of the experimental group were higher than the control group as 34.85
and 20.72 respectively which differed significantly at .05 level.
This is consistent with the studies of Khumphai Ariya [14]; Sriphutorn Wichian
[15]; E. Hartman, S. Houwen, E. Scherder, C. Visscher [16]; Ramakrishnan, M et al.
[17]; Schurink, J. et al. [18]; Abdul Aziz S, Fletcher J, Bayliss DM. [19]; George E.,
et al. [20]; Rebecca Bull., et al. [21] which found that the evaluation of executive
function using Tower of London could help the learners have better planning, decision
making, and problem solving. Moreover, children with language Impairment could
probably had higher score of Tower of London to self-speaking regulation.
In conclusion, the study presented the obvious results of problem solving
enhancing by using the developed constructivist learning environment to enhance
learner problem solving. In according to this, all of the instructional design theories
were the basis of learning environment design, moreover as well as Model Research
method which processed theory and related research review, learning context survey,
theoretical and designing framework synthesizing, and innovative components devel-
oping were purposive to knowledge construction in 6 steps of problem solving theory
based on Jonassen [1]. This empirical evidence can represent that the developed
innovation integrating pedagogy and neuroscience can result in problem solving
eventually.

Acknowledgement. This work was supported by the Innovation and Cognitive Technology
Research Center, Faculty of Education, and the Research and Technology Transfers Affairs
Division, Khon Kaen University.

References
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 Removing Digital Natives from Technological
Illiteracy with the Weblog

Michele Della Ventura(&)

Department of Music Technology, Music Academy “Studio Musica”,

Treviso, Italy
michele.dellaventura@tin.it

Abstract. The terms “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants” were intro-
duced by Prensky to underline how the use of the Information and Communi-
cation Technologies is different between young people and their teachers,
parents and more generally “adult people”. Digital Native is not synonymous
with technological literacy or digital literacy. This article aims to reflect on the
possible uses of ICT to help students to acquire a heightened critical awareness
in the use of technologies. The study investigates the digital literacy of a group
of students in the fourth and fifth years of high school, through the development
and use of the Weblog. The results show that students can improve their digital
skills when they become the protagonists of the learning process through the use
of technologies. However, they must be leaded by teachers on this process,
making them know the pillars of the digital literacy and offering them the
opportunity to use these pillars for significant purposes.

Keywords: Digital skill
ICT
Technological illiteracy
Weblog

1 Introduction

Digital technologies have now become an integral part of the society of the 21st
century. APPs (Applications) represent a new way to learn about social reality and
make decisions. If we consider the fact that an APP is enough to buy, travel, manage
your car or home, we can understand that digital technologies are taking shape a new
way of life. Young people are fascinated by this digital world because they are digital
natives [1, 2] and feel in their natural habitat [3].
Digital technologies are what writing was for Plato’s generation.
Educating through digital systems can be difficult, risky, but it is a fundamental
resource for what concerns the free circulation of knowledge [4]. The digital education
that is needed today must be based on specific skills that allow a balanced, critical and
aware use of technology [5]. As an educator, the teacher must teach these skills to
students, because even if they are defined as “digital natives”, this does not mean that
they know how to use technologies correctly. They have not enough experience and
knowledge to use technology safely and consciously [6]. They spend a lot of time on
social networks every day, but they are unable to register on a site, write a message
and/or send emails correctly, attach a document, install applications or use the main
programs productively. They use the APPs mechanically, without associating a

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 598–609, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_65
 Removing Digital Natives from Technological Illiteracy with the Weblog 599

meaning to the images (icons) of the various functions, thus finding themselves dis-
oriented when they approach a new APP. They use the APPs without knowing their
potential [7]: they use Social Networks to publish photos but are not aware of the fact
that these platforms can be used for art or literature projects; record and/or send voice
messages (rather than written) without thinking that these APPs could be used for
journalism projects or as an aid to studying, especially in the presence of dyslexic
students.
Students need to be guided in this new world of theirs [8], to avoid that mistakes
and wrong habits, over time, take the place of good habits, they get confused with them
and, finally, replace them, because after a little everyone thinks that’s right, just
because everyone does this or because it has always been like this [9].
Helping students to get out of technological illiteracy becomes a necessity and
teachers must work in this direction, looking for tools that are suitable for this purpose
and that can help students use them as tools to expand their learning opportunities.
This paper presents a case study referred to a Music Technologies teaching project
developed in a Music High School. The goal of the study was to analyse the benefits of
using the Weblog (or Blog) as a tool to make know to all students the meaning and the
importance of the “digital literacy”.
This paper is organized as follows.
Section 2 presents a brief introduction of the use of the weblog in education in the
related researches. Section 3 describes the characteristics of the weblog. This is fol-
lowed by a description of the strengths and opportunity of using the weblog in edu-
cation. Section 4 shows a case study that illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed
method. Finally, in Sect. 5 the paper ends with concluding remarks.

2 Related Researches

In today’s society, defined as the information society (to emphasize the centrality of
information as the engine of contemporary society), it is very important to know how to
read and understand a message in order to be able to actively participate in society. The
school has become the ideal environment for developing these skills by identifying the
most suitable tools to achieve this goal.
One of these tools is the weblog.
Ranker [10] highlights how the blog can improve learning and writing skills
through written social interaction, when the research topic is stimulating for students.
The results are better when the interaction takes place between peers [11]. Writing a
text allows students, even those who are less confident, to improve their vocabulary
[12]. Stover et al. [13, 14] focused their attention on the advantages deriving from the
use of the weblog to help students share personal opinions regarding certain readings.
The goal of their research was to introduce teachers to new tools and strategies to help
students improve reading and understanding of a text. Clark [15] points out that young
people enjoy writing texts when they can be read by other people like in the case of the
blog.
In all these researches the weblog is used by teachers to help students improve their
reading, writing, analysis and argumentation skills. The research presented in this
600 M. Della Ventura

article was developed based on these researches, to introduce students to digital literacy
through the weblog. The fact that young people enjoy using digital technologies to
share sensations/emotions/opinions, looking for and creating interactions with multiple
people (but especially among peers), through tools (from the web) capable of involving
a wide audience of readers, can help teachers get students away from digital illiteracy.
It is not only important to know how to write a text well in order to share it and make it
understood, but it is important that this text respects the multiple rules that underlie
netiquette, privacy, copyright.

3 The Weblog

The object of teaching is teaching which creates favorable conditions for student
learning [16, 17]. More and more teachers work with heterogeneous classes, from the
point of view of learning. The presence of dyslexic students imposes on the teacher
some didactic choices which help these students and which are also useful for all the
other students (those who are not dyslexic) in order to make didactic practice more
efficient, the study method more conscious and the learning more long lasting and more
profound [18].
To teach digital literacy, teachers must create learning paths adaptable to the class
group, placing students at the center of the learning process to allow each of them to
develop their own potential, through meaningful activities (within the field of study)
and which sees them creative, critical and collaborative [19, 20].
In this sense, the weblog proves to be a useful tool for teaching.
First of all, the Weblog (or Blog) is a tool that takes technological aspects into
consideration: it is a web page where texts, images, sounds, videos and links are
published [21].
Considering its content, the Weblog can be classified according to the topic it deals
with and the purpose for which it is written [22]. In this case we can speak of: Review
weblog, with the aim of signaling (through the link) information available on the net;
Comment weblog, which considers a link to information available on the net as a
starting point to trigger a broader comment; Storytelling Weblog, which allows the
publication of writings in the form of a personal story; Project weblog, which has an
informative purpose because it allows the collection and sharing of information on a
project; Collaborative weblog, in which the responsibility for inserting contents is
shared by a group of people; Experimental weblog, characterized by the desire to test
new multimedia languages, which technologies make increasingly accessible.
Finally, the Weblog is a complex system that considers its contents, the people who
write them, the social bonds that derive from them and the relationships that exist
between all these elements [21].
The Weblog, therefore, is a text that must be written by the student thinking about
the content, which must be consistent with the theme of the Blog and must motivate a
reader to read. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid a text that cannot be understood
independently by a person, excluding people with learning disabilities (such as dyslexic
people). The text must respect the ideas of others but also the spelling and punctuation
[23].
 Removing Digital Natives from Technological Illiteracy with the Weblog 601

All this allows the student to develop a critical sense in front of the writing of a text,
not only as regards the content and form, but above all as regards the concept of
inclusiveness [24]. The student can learn that “diversity” is not a danger or a limit to
communication, but an advantage, a resource. The person with learning disabilities
should not be considered an obstacle, but a continuous source of enrichment, both
humanly and professionally.
In addition to being a text (or set of texts), the Weblog is part of a collective
hypertext because, by its very nature, it is related to many other Weblogs (Churchill,
D.: Educational applications of Web 2.0: using blogs to support teaching and learning.
Br. J. Educ. Technol. 40[22], pp. 179−183 2009; [24].
From the didactic point of view, this means that the student must learn to: know the
web by improving research techniques; analyze and select information in order to
obtain quality content; develop the ability to generate good connections (links) to give
the reader the opportunity to continue on his path and therefore to leave the reading of
the Blog to go and read another Blog, creating a virtuous circle in which the shift of
attention is functional and not detrimental to interest.
Developing these skills allows the student to learn about the meaning of copyright
and plagiarism. The fight against plagiarism is an important part of managing a reliable
and credible Weblog. The student must learn that: if he decides to take inspiration from
an article found on the web, he must first ascertain whether the author allows its use and
which use is allowed; if he wants his copyright to be respected, he must also respect the
copyrights of others, making sure to use images, videos or multimedia files that are not
protected by copyright.
The weblog is therefore a tool ‘‘for and of didactics’’, which can actively involve
students in the learning process and in the process of building new knowledge:
developing the ability to participate in the community life of practice by building
knowledge in a virtual environment, in a cooperative way. During this practice, indi-
viduals create new objects (documents, concepts etc.) and new procedures, which
enrich the shared repertoire and the knowledge distributed within the community.

4 Application and Analysis: A Case Study

The case study described in this paper refers to a Music Technologies teaching project
developed in a Music High School. The goal of the study was to analyse the benefits of
using the weblog as a tool to make know to all students the meaning and the impor-
tance of the “digital literacy”. The project was conducted for a time period of 20 weeks.

4.1 Participants
The project engaged 43 students in the fourth and fifth years of high school, 22 girls (of
which 2 affected by dyslexia) and 21 boys.
Before starting with the project, the teacher asked students to fill in a survey to
know:
602 M. Della Ventura

1. their attitudes towards thinking and learning [25]: in this way it was possible to
evaluate if a student was a “connected knower” (that means a person able to find
learning enjoyable, to cooperate with other students, to accept the ideas of other
students) or a “separate knower” (that means a person who has a critical and
argumentative position towards learning);
2. their confidence in using technology (see Table 1): in this way it was possible to
know the ‘‘affective-motivational’’ relationship that everyone of them had with the
technologies.
The survey supplied important information.
Students showed relatively high value in questions related to “Connected Learning”
(Fig. 1). This pattern was repeated in the survey related to “Separate Learning” but
with lower value: here the lowest value were the ones of the declaration “Argue with
others” (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1. Attitudes towards thinking and learning survey: connected learning.

Fig. 2. Attitudes Towards Thinking and Learning Survey: Separated Learning.

 Removing Digital Natives from Technological Illiteracy with the Weblog 603

The teacher was also interested to capture information about the level of confidence
in digital skills among students, in order to know their ability in using the technologies
and the relationships that everyone of them had with the digital information (see
Table 1).

Table 1. Excerpt from the Use of Technologies Survey.

Item Very Unconfident Somewhat Confident Very
unconfident confident confident
Browsing, searching, filtering
data, information and digital
content
Scanning/skimming a web
page to get to the key relevant
information quickly
Keeping track of Websites you
have visited so that you can
return to them later
Sharing through digital
technologies
Managing data, information
and digital content
Interacting through digital
technologies
Solving technical problems
Developing content
Identifying needs and
technological responses
Collaborating through digital
technologies
Managing digital identity
… … … … … …

The main results emerging from the survey (Fig. 3) can be summarized as follows:
it was difficult to state the presence of relevant differences among the answers, because
in general students declared to have good skills in managing digital resources (Table 1,
questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8), good skills in using the digital technologies to com-
municate with a peer (Table 1, questions 6, 10 and 11), and difficulties in dealing with
technical problems (Table 1, questions 7 and 9): for examples, not recognizing the lack
of a drive or a software to reproduce an audio/video file, not knowing the possibilities
to use an opensource software instead of a commercial software. These are some
information provided by the students in the survey.
604 M. Della Ventura

Fig. 3. Use of technology.

From these considerations and based on the classrooms group structure (that
included 2 dyslexic students), the teacher decided to start the project: realize a Weblog
on the theme “The Spring”.

4.2 The Method

During the first period (5 weeks) the lessons took place in the classroom (3 h a week).
In the first week the teacher explained the “Filter Bubble” concept and asked students
to write a newspaper article about it: the aim was to verify their ability to search for
information on the Internet and manage the information in order to realize the assigned
work. This work confirmed the teacher’s initial hypotheses about the students, namely
the lack of knowledge in using a search engine (almost all the students wrote the same
references corresponding to the first items on the search engine list), use of unknow
technical terms that made it difficult to understand the text, poor reworking skills and
lack of knowledge of the concept of plagiarism (many texts were a copy and paste of
various sentences found on websites and there were no certain information about the
copyright of the images included in the text).
• In the following four weeks students were introduced to the concepts of internet
research, in order to learn how to find, manage and use online information more
effectively and with less risks. Every week students had to do an online research on
a different topic.
 Removing Digital Natives from Technological Illiteracy with the Weblog 605

In the following period (from the sixth to the fifteenth week) the didactic activity
was divided between classroom lesson (where the teacher used the “face-to-face”
lessons to focus and check their oral skills) and online lesson: students were invited to
start working in a digital classroom set up on Moodle.
The online class was divided in five section: Blog Management and Maintenance (a
group of students responsible for identifying the platform that could host the blog for
free and for publishing the materials produced by the other sections); Editorial board (a
group of students in charge of writing the posts to be published on the blog); Proof-
reading (a group of students with the task of identifying and correcting grammatical
errors, spelling, punctuation, or the presence and typos and oversights in the posts
written by Editorial board); Research materials (a group of students who work together
with the editorial staff to search for resources on the web); Production: Audio/Video (a
group of students with the task of creating multimedia resources to support posts
written by the Editorial board).
In addition to these sections, a discussion forum (where students could present a
doubt or a problem that could be solved with everyone’s participation) and links to
online resources (blogs, FAQ) were added.
The students had to work together, exchanging information among the various
sections regarding:
• which platform to choose to host the blog, among the ones available on the web;
they had to collect information in order to make the best choice based on their
needs; the final choice was related to Blogger.com (which is owed by Google)
because it could host the blog for free, it was one of the easiest to use and it had
some levels of privacy that were important for a class blog;
• the topics of the posts: they had to write one a week; they learned to share and
accept ideas and opinions;
• the type of online resources they needed (texts, images, videos, links, …): this
required them to pay attention to the copyright; they had the opportunity to know
the Creative Commons License and then they found out a lot of website where it
was possible to get images, videos and other resources for free;
• how to exchange information (with reference to the format of the files used to share
information or resources); students used different operating systems and software,
so they had to identify software that allowed the sharing of resources among all of
them. This allowed them to get to know the Open Source World, therefore to learn
to evaluate the types of files necessary for their purposes and to search and find
suitable software.
Teamwork entailed an individual work for each student based on his role.
Individual work often required online research which allowed the student to apply
the concepts acquired during the classroom lessons regarding the web search tech-
niques. In this way, they learned to share their doubts or problems in the discussion
forum, but also their findings in order to obtain the approval of the teacher and the other
606 M. Della Ventura

students. Sometimes, the research led the student to find interesting or valuable things
by chance (serendipity) that they shared in the discussion forum.
At the beginning there were few conversations in the forum and only by the
students with high academic performance; gradually there was an increase of the
interventions with the participation (more or less wide) of all students.
Students learned to write a post, taking into account the concepts explained by the
teacher during the classroom lessons, such as the link to a web page to avoid copyright
and plagiarism problems, the use of an easy and simple language to make the text
understandable to everyone (the presence of two dyslexic students helped in this
regard), the use of specific layouts and fonts to attract more readers and avoid that
readers with reading difficulties bypassed the blog (such as dyslexic readers).
The individual work within the group work allowed students: to improve their
creativity, writing original content leads to a continuous creative process; to express
both their opinions and their personalities through the writing of posts and responses to
the interactions received in the forum (and always respecting the ideas and opinions of
others); to improve writing and communication skills (the blog is essentially com-
munication, exchange of thoughts, experiences, knowledge), and become more
responsible (creating content, respecting the deadlines, ideas and opinions of others,
accepting the differences).

4.3 The Results

The results of project, indicate positive opinion of the students for the integration of the
weblog into the process of learning/teaching digital literacy.
Students showed positive attitudes towards working collaboratively with peers
throughout the project, even if some students highlighted the little work done by
someone.
Students recognized that there were advantages in realizing the weblog with lessons
both in the classroom and in the virtual classroom: in terms of effectiveness, when they
attempted to solve an information sharing problem, a technical problem or a doubt in
general; in terms of efficiency, because through both theoretical and practical examples
it was possible to acquire and/or improve individual skills.
At the end of the project, in order to evaluate its effectiveness, the teacher asked the
students to fill in the initial survey related to the use of technologies, rethought how
they should have answered the various questions based on the knowledge and skills
acquired during the project. Figure 4 shows the results of the survey from which it is
easy to verify that the students declared that level of confidence in digital skills was
lower than the level they thought to have before starting the project.
 Removing Digital Natives from Technological Illiteracy with the Weblog 607

Fig. 4. Use of technology.

5 Discussion and Conclusions

The research presented in this article has focused on the concept of digital (or tech-
nological) literacy, highlighting how this is not limited only to the use of the computer
or an app, but also to the ability to use a technology to participate in an active way to
the Society. In other words, knowing how to access information and therefore develop
communication and collaboration skills with others (through digital technologies).
The weblog has proved to be useful for the students, improving learning processes
and offering opportunities to carry out collaborative activities even outside the con-
ventional classroom. The social aspect of the weblog and the possibility of working
side-by-side with dyslexic classmates helped students to develop a reflective thought,
paying attention not only to the contents but also and above all to the form of the
messages. The technical aspect of the weblog has allowed students to learn more about
the internet and research techniques, to discover the philosophy of open-source and
consequently concepts such as copyright and plagiarism (helping them to develop
and/or improve the skills of textual reworking).
The weblog offered students the opportunity to think through the information and
resources found on the net; having to search and consult more than one source, students
learned to select the sources by analysing their content.
608 M. Della Ventura

In this context (characterized by the intertwining person/communication/society)

the teacher must be able to guide the students towards a critical use of digital tech-
nologies, teaching to find information, to adequately relate to the virtual community, to
build and organize effectively own knowledge and to know how to share it.
In conclusion, the teacher must pay attention to how to avoid teaching students to
become passive consumers/users, who ultimately represent digital illiterates.

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 The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data
in a Course on Basic Logic

Peter Øhrstrøm1(&), Steinar Thorvaldsen2, Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen1,

Thomas Ploug1, and David Jakobsen1
1
Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University,
9000 Aalborg, Denmark
poe@hum.aau.dk
2
Department of Education, Uit the Arctic University of Norway,
9037 Tromsø, Norway

Abstract. This paper is a study of the use of e-learning tools and log data in
evaluating and further developing a course on basic logic. It is a continuation of
earlier studies involving practical experiments with students of communication
from Aalborg University. Two tools are involved: Syllog for training syllogistic
reasoning and Proplog for training basic propositional logic. The data are log-
ged anonymously during the course, as well as during the individual exam.
Using the log data, we have obtained important insights into the effects of the
lectures and exercises. We argue that the log data from using the two tools can
be transformed into useful learning analytics. Careful studies based on log data
can provide useful information on how the quality of the course. On this basis, it
can be suggested how the course can be improved using the learning analytics
based on the log data. This is evident from studies carried out over seven to eight
years using log data from the use of Syllog and recent studies based on log data
from the use of Proplog, also show how insight based on the log data may lead
us to improvements of the course. During the present study we have developed a
method by which we can determine whether the students will handle one kind of
symbolic logic test better than another.

Keywords: Syllogistics
Propositional logic
Validity of arguments

Learning analytics
E-learning tools
Logic teaching

1 Introduction

For more than 20 years, a course on basic logic and argumentation has been offered to
students in the area of ‘communication and digital media’ at Aalborg University. One
of the authors of this paper (Peter Øhrstrøm) has been involved as a teacher throughout
this whole period, whereas two of the other authors (Thomas Ploug and David
Jakobsen) have been involved for some of the years. The topics covered in the course
have varied a bit from year to year, but Aristotelian syllogistics [1] and basic propo-
sitional logic have been on the agenda throughout the whole period. A joint textbook
[2] is used for the course, along with two learning tools, Syllog and Proplog, which
have been developed specifically for this course.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 610–620, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_66
 The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data 611

The focus in the present study is on the use of log data that emerged from using the
tools to develop and improve the parts of the course on basic logic dealing with
Aristotelian syllogistics and basic propositional logic. The students using these tools to
further their learning, and the teachers and course developers can improve the quality of
the course using insight based on the log data.
In 2010, the Syllog tool was designed (cf. [3–5, 10]), and slightly improved ver-
sions of it have been used in the course since then. The tool has been employed during
logic exercises to make the learning experience game-like and joyful. Furthermore, all
the interactions with the tools are logged in a database. Of course, the students have
been informed that this is done, but none of them have seen it as problematic because
the logging is done anonymously.
Studies of the log data have led to several improvements in the course when it
comes to teaching syllogistics (cf. [6, 7]). Since 2018, the ambition has been to do
something similar based on the analysis of log data from the use of Proplog. In the
current paper, we discuss the use of Syllog and Proplog as teaching tools and as tools
for providing valuable learning analytics.

2 Syllog and Proplog

The interface of the present version of the Syllog tool is shown in Fig. 1. The user can
click on ‘New syllogism’ to get a new syllogism presented on the screen. Then, the user
will have to decide whether the syllogism presented is valid or invalid, that is, whether
the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises (in any possible/thinkable sce-
nario). The systems allow for some kind of gamification, since a sound will play when
the group obtains 10 right answers in a row. This has worked as a kind of competition
(see [7] and [10]). During the exercises, the students were asked to work with Syllog in
small groups of two to three people each for about 15 min.

Fig. 1. Interface of the Syllog tool. Note that in case of a valid syllogism, the system will give
the medieval name of the argument. The student may compare these names with the Aristotelian
theory presented during the lectures of the course.
612 P. Øhrstrøm et al.

A student’s ability to do logic reasoning can be analysed in terms of a score cal-

culated based on the log data from the use of Syllog. This score is calculated as follows:

Score ¼ correctanswers = answercount ð1Þ

The statistical analyses of the scoring data were performed using standard methods
from descriptive statistics and statistical testing. Student t-tests and Cohen’s d effect
size were applied to measure the difference between the responses in two independent
samples. The following Cohen’s conventions were applied: 0.2 = small effect,
0.5 = medium effect and 0.8 = large effect [10, p. 267]. The quantitative data were
analysed with MS Excel (Windows). Data from the groups that answered less than five
questions were excluded from the measurements; thus, the value N of each test does not
include sessions with very few answers. Furthermore, some student groups apparently
took long pauses during their sessions, and groups with an average time of more than
two minutes per exercise were not taken into account in the computation of the time
statistics in the tables. The aggregated scores and use of time are shown in Tables 1, 2,
3 and 4.
It is well-known that there are 256 possible syllogistic arguments. According to
Aristotelian theory, 24 of them are valid, whereas 232 are invalid (cf. [1] and [8]). In
Syllog, valid and invalid arguments occur with the same frequency. This means that a
student who is giving answers at random should end up with a score of about 50%. One
interesting result is that the score is significantly higher than 50% even before they have
been taught any logic. At this early stage, the score is typically 60–70%, mainly
depending on an individual’s abilities (cf. [6, 7, 11]).
A very important learning goal is to make the student able to decide on the question of
validity/invalidity in a qualified manner. The student should not only be able to raise his
or her ability to identify a valid argument (and an invalid argument), but he or she should
also be able to understand and explain why a particular argument is valid (or invalid).
The strategy in case of the use of Proplog is basically the same as in the Syllog
case. The user interface of Proplog is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. The user interface of the Proplog system. The user can click on ‘New argument’ to have
a new problem presented on the screen, cf. [9].
 The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data 613

All the propositions in Proplog have to do with ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ being at home or
not being at home. Furthermore, the system uses negation, implication, conjunction and
disjunction. The tool uses the below set of simple propositional arguments, where
p stands for ‘Adam is at home’ and q stands for ‘Eve is at home’.
For the construction of Proplog, we have considered two kinds of basic proposi-
tional reasoning:
1. Implicative: A ! B, C ╞ D
2. Disjunctive: *(A ˄ B), C ╞ D and (A ˅ B), C ╞ D
Here, each of the pairs, (A, B) and (C, D), includes both p and q in any order and
with each of the two propositions being negated or unnegated. Clearly, this gives us 64
possible arguments for each of the above structures. However, many of these argu-
ments seem rather similar and uninteresting. Furthermore, it will be good to bring the
number of arguments down to obtain reliable statistics when calculating scores on the
basis of the log data. For this reason, we have chosen to concentrate on the following
set of 32 arguments, 16 valid and 16 invalid, which we find representative for basic
implicative and disjunctive reasoning (cf. the classical forms mentioned above).
1. p → q, p ╞ q 17. p → q, q ╞ p
2. q → p, q ╞ p 18. q → p, p ╞ q
3. ~p → q, ~p ╞ q 19. ~p → q, q ╞ ~p
4. ~q → p, ~q ╞ p 20. ~q → p, p ╞ ~q
5. p → ~q, p ╞ ~q 21. p → ~q, ~q ╞ p
6. q → ~p, q ╞ ~p 22. q → ~p, ~p ╞ q
7. p → q, ~q ╞ ~p 23. p → q, ~p ╞ ~q
8. q → p, ~p ╞ ~q 24. q → p, ~q ╞ ~p
9. ~p → q, ~p ╞ q 25. p → ~q, ~p╞ q
10. ~q → p, ~q ╞ p 26. q → ~p, ~q ╞ p
11. p → ~q, q ╞ ~p 27. q → ~p, ~q ╞ p
12. q → ~p, p ╞ ~q 28. p → ~q, ~p ╞ q
13. ~(p ˄ q), p ╞ ~q 29. ~(p ˄ q), ~q ╞ p
14. ~(q ˄ p), q ╞ ~p 30. ~(q ˄ p), ~p ╞ q
15. (p ˅ q), ~q ╞ p 31. (p ˅ q), p╞ ~q
16. (q ˅ p), ~p ╞ q 32. (q ˅ p), q╞ ~p

It would, of course, have been possible to base the Proplog tool on another
selection of propositional arguments. However, some selection of this kind will be
needed to build the Proplog tool because we need a procedure for picking the new
arguments, that is, a scope to the arguments that can occur in the system. The above set
has been composed in a rather systematic manner. In the first place, it consists of
arguments in which one premise is an implication between p and q (perhaps with one of
them negated), and the antecedent and the consequent (or their negations) in any order
serve as another premise and as a conclusion, respectively. In addition, a few argu-
ments from disjunctive reasoning (and their invalid counterparts) have been included in
the set. It is evident that the set is closed under permutations of p and q.
614 P. Øhrstrøm et al.

Proplog is—like Syllog—using the same frequency of valid and invalid arguments.
Again, the score before any logic teaching will be significantly higher than 50%. As in
the Syllog case, we have reasons to believe that the score will be 60–70% properly,
mainly depending on an individual’s abilities (cf. [11]).
The results of a recent study (cf. [11]) indicate that our current lectures and exer-
cises help the student be able to perform significantly better when it comes to Syllog. In
fact, the score rises from 67% at the pretest (before the teaching) to 80% at the post-test
(after the teaching). It should also be mentioned that the students on average take more
time for the post-test (70 s) compared with the pretest (47.5 s). This seems to indicate
that based on the teaching, they knew how to handle the problem and that they—given
a little extra time to ponder—could come up with more precise answers. However, in
the same study, something similar did not happen in the Proplog case. On average, the
students took more time for the post-test (90 s) than the pretest (37.7 s). Nevertheless,
the Proplog score remained the same (65%).
The difference between the Syllog and Prolog cases is rather surprising because we
have tried to show the students through the lectures and exercises how the questions of
validity/invalidity should be handled. It was definitely not the intention that the Prolog
teaching should be sloppier than the Syllog teaching. In the following section, we have
tried to explore this surprising difference again using new data and another group of
students.

3 A New Experiment

The surprising observation mentioned above has recently been studied empirically
using data from new students. Whereas the earlier study (cf. [11]) was based on data
from the course offered in the spring of 2019, the current study is based on data from
the course offered to second-year students in ‘communication and digital media’ at
Aalborg University in Aalborg and Copenhagen during the spring of 2020. All the
lectures on the two topics in question were given before the COVID-19 lockdown in
Denmark on March 11, 2020. The same holds true for most of the exercises. We use
data from the training sessions (exercises) after the lectures in question and before the
COVID-19 lockdown. The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Summarising counts from the 2020 course of how well student groups scored on the
training period after the lectures. The training sessions are carried out in groups of two to three
people, and the students are encouraged to discuss the question carefully before they agree on an
answer.
Score Mean (SD) Time Mean (SD), [sec]
Syllog training (N = 103 groups) 0.73 (0.20) 36.8 (28.8)
Proplog training (N = 138 groups) 0.65 (0.17) 35.9 (24.3)
P-value (Effect size) 0.0009 (0.43) –
 The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data 615

Based on the study of an experiment from 2019 (cf. [11]), it seems likely that many
students found the Proplog case more difficult to handle than the Syllog case. If so, the
Proplog score should be significantly lower than the Syllog score if both scores are
measured during the training period. The above results confirm this expectation
(p-value = 0.0009 and effect size = 0.43).
Given that many students find propositional logic more difficult than syllogistics
and that most students have been unable to improve their Proplog score based on
lectures, the challenge is to update the lectures to support the students’ learning in a
more effective manner. For this reason, it would be helpful to know which aspects of
propositional logic the students need help with. Actually, the new experiment has also
provided information on the Proplog scores of each of the arguments—1–32—during
the training session. However, it is evident that the differences between the evaluations
of the members of the symmetric pairs (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, etc.) are very small. It seems
reasonable to ignore these differences as variations within statistically acceptable limits.
As a consequence, we may consider the pairs as units in the further discussion (i.e.,
each pair basically represents the same argument). The results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. The scores of the arguments based in log data from the use of Proplog during the
training period after the lectures in propositional logic. The training sessions are carried out in
groups of two to three people, and the students are encouraged to discuss the question carefully
before they agree on an answer.
Task number Total number of responses Score
1/2 216 0.97
3/4 233 0.93
5/6 191 0.93
7/8 198 0.44
9/10 216 0.36
11/12 206 0.54
13/14 226 0.75
15/16 216 0.87
17/18 210 0.49
19/20 202 0.48
21/22 208 0.53
23/24 224 0.62
25/26 204 0.63
27/28 235 0.70
29/30 197 0.58
31/32 225 0.65

The number of responses for each task varies between 191 and 235, as generated by
a random number generator in the programme. By the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Uniform
Test, the distribution of the numbers of responses is not significantly different from a
616 P. Øhrstrøm et al.

uniform distribution (p-value = 0.98). Obviously, calculating scores based on just 200
responses may be uncertain. On the other hand, the results are sufficiently clear to show
some important tendencies.
The highest score—97%—is obtained for arguments 1 and 2:
If Adam is at home, then Eve is at home.
Adam is at home.
Therefore, Eve is at home.

This is clearly an instance of Modus Ponens, and almost all students found this
argument valid. In general, the scores of the Modus Ponens argument are very high.
The lowest Proplog score in the experiment—36%—is obtained for the arguments
9/10:
If Eve is not at home, then Adam is at home.
Adam is not at home.
Therefore, Eve is at home.

This is like arguments 7–12 an instance of Modus Tollens, which is known to be

significantly more difficult to handle than Modus Ponens. However, 36% is a very low
score for somebody who has attended a course dealing with basic propositional logic. It
should also be mentioned that the responses are given by groups of two to three
students after some discussion.
It should also be mentioned that the Proplog score of argument 19/20 is as low as
47%:
If Eve is not at home, then Adam is at home.
Adam is at home.
Therefore, Eve is not at home.
Furthermore, the score of argument 29/30 is just 58%:
Adam and Eve are both not at home.
Eve is not at home.
Therefore, Adam is at home.

In both cases, the score is at the level of random answers. These results suggest that
the students’ understanding of the properties of implicative and disjunctive reasoning is
unsatisfactory.
All this is a very strong indication of the need for rethinking the introduction to
propositional logic in the course on basic logic. Apparently, the students need to
understand the use of truth values better, and the course should focus more on making
the students able to evaluate simple propositional arguments using truth values and
techniques based on semantical trees.
We should note one further insight into the students’ understanding of basic logic.
This has to do with the asymmetry between the evaluation of valid and invalid argu-
ments. The mean value of the scores of the 16 valid arguments in the set is 72%,
whereas the mean value of the scores of the 16 valid arguments in the set is 59%. This
indicates that it is significantly easier to identify a valid propositional argument than to
identify an invalid propositional argument.
 The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data 617

4 The Use of Syllog and Proplog at the Exam

Syllog and Proplog have both been used during individual exams at the end of the logic
course. For the exam, the students were asked to find 10 syllogistic arguments using
Syllog and five propositional arguments using Proplog. They were supposed to include
the arguments found by the tools in their assignments in the form of screenshots from
the systems. Their task was to explain carefully why the arguments have the validities
suggested by the system. This means that the students should be able to demonstrate
that the valid arguments actually are valid and that the invalid arguments actually are
invalid. This kind of assignment is quite relevant because the answer given by the
student clearly indicates to what extent he or she has understood the validity of the
syllogistic and propositional logic. In both cases, it turns out that understanding the
notion of validity is rather weak. In particular, it should be noted that although many
students have a rather clear understanding of what it takes to demonstrate that a
syllogistic argument is valid, the students have a very weak understanding of how it
should be shown that a syllogistic argument is invalid. In the analysis of the syllogistic
arguments in their assignments for the exam, most of the students failed to explain or
demonstrate the invalidity of one or more arguments offered by Syllog. Given this
weakness in the assignments, it would be a good idea in the lectures to put more
emphasis on the use of Venn diagrams to show the invalidity of a syllogistic argument.
It might even be possible to create a new tool for analysing invalid syllogistic
arguments.
A lot of log data from the use of Syllog and Proplog have been stored during the
exam period. The context of these data is clearly very different from the context of the
log data collected during the training sessions. First, the use of the tools during the
exam period is not motivated by obtaining a high score or 10 right answers in a row. In
this period, the tools are just used to find the number of arguments that the student
wants to write about in his or her assignment for the exam. This means that the student
is using less time to consider his or her responses. Furthermore, the student is working
alone during the exam period (four days), whereas the training sessions are carried out
in groups of two to three people, and the students are encouraged to discuss the
question carefully before they agree on an answer. All this means that it should be
expected that the Syllog score is less during the exam period, mainly because of using
less time for each response and not being able to discuss the response with a group. The
results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Summarising the counts from the 2020 course of how well the students in groups and
individually scored using Syllog in the training period and in the exam period after the lectures.
Syllog Score Mean (SD) Time Mean (SD), [sec]
Training (N = 103 groups) 0.73 (0.20) 36.8 (28.8)
Exam (N = 288 individual sessions) 0.62 (0.19) 17.8 (23.8)
P-value (Effect size) <10−6 (0.56) –
618 P. Øhrstrøm et al.

These results show that the students tended to speed up their interaction with Syllog
when left alone with the system. The results also show that the Syllog score is sig-
nificantly higher when more time is used to consider the responses and when the
responses can be discussed with a group. The individual sessions displayed a strongly
significant negative effect of medium size (effect size = 0.56). However, when
restricting the mean response time per exercise for the exam sample to be more than
10 s, the score raised to 0.72 (SD = 0.20). Apparently, several students used the
program quite hastily and with mistakes.
When it comes to Proplog, the situation is different. The results in Table 4 show
that the students do not speed up their interaction with Proplog when left alone with the
system. The results also show that the Proplog score is not very diverse compared with
the responses that coming from a group. The individual sessions show a significant
negative effect of small size (effect size = 0.28).
This indicates a difference in familiarity with the two systems. The students
probably felt that they knew Syllog better and could use it much easier than Proplog.
For this reason, they were ready to move faster on the Syllog tests when left alone
during the individual exam period. Because propositional logic and the Proplog tool
remained rather unfamiliar to the students, something similar did not happen in this
case. This is at least a possible explanation of the difference between the results in
Tables 3 and 4.
In the analysis of the propositional arguments, many students have apparently not
obtained a clear understanding of how propositional validity and invalidity can be
demonstrated. It seems that there is a need for an even stronger emphasis on the
analysis of arguments in terms of truth values and semantical trees.

Table 4. Summarising counts from the 2020 course of how well the students in groups and
individually scored using Proplog in the training period and in the exam period after the lectures.
Proplog Score Mean (SD) Time Mean (SD), [sec]
Training (N = 155 groups) 0.65 (0.17) 35.9 (24.3)
Exam (N = 195 individual sessions) 0.60 (0.19) 34.9 (29.1)
P-value (Effect size) 0.015 (0.28) –

5 Conclusion

It is evident that the two e-learning tools Syllog and Proplog can be useful for the
students during their course in basic logic. The use of the tools can make logic learning
much more joyful, and the game-like properties of the systems can stimulate their
exploration of the logical structures significantly. Furthermore, the use of Syllog and
Proplog can support teamwork and groupwork in logic learning because they can
stimulate cooperation and discussion in the joint exploration of logical structures and
problems. It may, in fact, be possible to develop the material further to establish a
proper online course in logic and argumentation. For this purpose, we may consider
 The Use of E-learning Tools and Log Data 619

further developments of the tools. One obvious option could be an automatic and
online calculation of the score during a session.
It is very welcome that Syllog and Proplog offer quantitative feedback on the effect
of their teaching in terms of the log data. As we have seen, these data can be very
helpful when we want to improve our logic course. In fact, an interesting learning
analytics can be based on log data. It seems that we in this way can obtain a very
detailed account of how much formal logic the students have actually learned during
the course. This makes it rather obvious how we can improve our course in basic logic.
In the present case, there is no doubt that there should be a stronger emphasis on
propositional logic in the next version of the course. In particular, the course should
include a better and more precise introduction to the evaluation of propositional
arguments with respect to validity.
The results of the present study show that the students handle the Syllog test
significantly better than the Proplog test. It is tempting to conclude that students´
performance in logic tests depends on the type of formalism. Maybe the majority of
students will simply handle syllogistic logic better than propositional logic. However, it
is important to be careful here. In principle, the relation between the Syllog and Proplog
performances may alternatively depend on order in which the topics have been pre-
sented during the course. For this reason, it should be investigated whether a new
organisation of the topics in the course would provide different learning conditions for
the students. Right now, the two topics within basic symbolic logic—syllogistics and
propositional logic—are presented at the beginning of the course. Syllogistics is pre-
sented first mainly for historical reasons, given that syllogistics goes back to Aristotle,
whereas the first propositional logic was formulated by the generation of logicians
succeeding Aristotle. For systematic reasons, however, the opposite order might be
more natural. In addition, it might be attractive to have more informal material pre-
sented between the introductions of the two formal topics. It might be attractive to
design and run a new experiment in order to investigate whether another organisation
and order to the topics in itself could enable the students to handle the two kinds of
symbolic logic in a better manner.

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9. Sandborg-Petersen, U., Øhrstrøm, P., Ploug, T., Thorvaldsen, S.: Proplog. https://proplog.
emergence.dk. Accessed 16 Sep 2020
10. King, B.M., Rosopa, P.J., Minium, E.W.: Statistical Reasoning in the Behavioral Sciences,
6th edn. John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken (2011)
11. Øhrstrøm, P., Thorvaldsen, S., Sandborg-Petersen, U., Ploug, T.: Teaching propositional and
syllogistic logic using E-learning tools. In: Rønningsbakk, L., Wu, T.-T., Sandnes, F.E.,
Huang, Y.-M. (eds.) ICITL 2019. LNCS, vol. 11937, pp. 854–864. Springer, Cham (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35343-8_89
 Towards a Knowledge Conversion Platform
to Support Information Systems Analysis
and Design Industry Ready Graduates

Marie Hattingh(&) and Lizette Weilbach

University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
marie.hattingh@up.ac.za

Abstract. The dynamic field of Information Systems Design (ISD) presents

several challenges to educators at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) when
being tasked to provide “industry-ready” graduates. An added challenge is the
lack of instructional material that not only provides the theoretical content, but
also includes appropriate applicable examples and an environment where “les-
sons learnt” can be integrated into the instructional content. This paper reports
on a study undertaken by the authors to develop a web-based knowledge con-
version platform that will allow ISD educators to provide theoretical content,
case study examples and lessons learnt by lecturers and students from previous
years, which could assist current students’ understanding of this dynamic
environment. The paper presents the BA bot: a chatbot integrated with Google
Drive which provides a knowledge conversion platform for students and lec-
turers. The authors map the BA bot to the knowledge conversion platform to
illustrate how knowledge conversion takes place, from the lowest level (data) to
the highest level (capability). The paper concludes with a reflection and a
summary of future work to be undertaken in order to extend the capabilities of
the BA bot.

Keywords: Knowledge conversion model
Chatbot
Technology platform

ISD industry ready graduates

1 Introduction

The field of Information Systems Design (ISD) is dynamic [1, 2] and ISD educators
need to ensure that ISD graduates have the capability to meet the needs of industry.
A number of researchers have reported on the challenges of ISD education, for
example: Tepper [3] reported on the importance of analytical and inter-personal skills
for ISD graduates. Saulnier [4] emphasized the need for ISD graduates to have both
soft skills and hard skills. Furthermore, Pretorius and Hattingh [5] reported on the
contextual environment which influences student performance whilst completing their
ISD course modules. These challenges are compounded by the need for good
instructional content that will give the students the “real-life” exposure required to be
“industry-ready”.
The authors are respectively the second year and third year ISD module co-
ordinators at their institution. The way in which their modules are aligned, allows
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T.-C. Huang et al. (Eds.): ICITL 2020, LNCS 12555, pp. 621–631, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63885-6_67
622 M. Hattingh and L. Weilbach

students gradual exposure to ISD concepts until they have to complete their capstone
project (for a real-life client) in their final year. Their main challenge is to optimize the
transition between the first and second year; the second and third year; and finally
completing the third year, while there is no “textbook” that provides an all-
encompassing theory explanation with appropriate examples, supported by add-on
lessons learnt throughout the years (by both the students and the lecturers). Finding a
suitable and all-encompassing textbook to prepare “industry-ready” graduates is
problematic.
One way to address this challenge is to create an online platform where the
knowledge from lecturers, current and former students can be shared with students
preparing for, and those currently busy with, the capstone project. In this context, ISD
knowledge refers to the soft- and technical skills of a lecturer facilitating the project
implementation, as well as the soft- and technical abilities of a student who needs to
operate in a group to deliver such a project. Researchers distinguish between
tacit/explicit and implicit knowledge [6] and [7]. Tacit/explicit knowledge refers to
knowledge that is contained in books, databases and manuals [6]. It is proposed that the
platform includes explicit knowledge for ease of reference in a summarized (abbre-
viated) form. Implicit knowledge is knowledge contained in organizational practices,
which is not necessary documented [5]. Capturing the implicit knowledge of both the
lecturers (based on their years of experience in facilitating the capstone project) and
that of the students who completed the project is invaluable to students preparing for,
and those that are currently completing the capstone project. To this extent, the research
question answered by this paper is:
To what extent can an Education Chatbot be developed as a knowledge conversion
platform for industry ready ISD students?
In order to answer this question, the authors provide an overview of the knowledge
conversion model in Sect. 2, followed by a brief discussion on the use of chatbots in
education in Sect. 3. Section 4 provides a summary of the case for which the
knowledge conversion platform was developed. Section 5 details the methodology
followed and Sect. 6 presents the mapping of the chatbot platform to the knowledge
conversion model. The paper concludes in Sect. 7 with a reflection on the applicability
of the platform for ISD educators and explanations of future research in Sect. 8.

2 The Knowledge Conversion Model

The knowledge conversion model used as basis to develop the knowledge conversion
platform presented in this paper was proposed by Smuts and Hattingh [1] and needs
further explanation (see Fig. 1). In their model Smuts and Hattingh describe the four
learning process steps of turning data into information; information into knowledge;
knowledge into capability; and capability back into knowledge. These steps are
important for learning to take place and should be considered from a bottom up
approach when developing a platform to cater for knowledge conversion. Smuts and
Hattingh link each of the steps to the level of understanding required for the step to take
place and they describe the knowledge conversion process which is linked to each
 Towards a Knowledge Conversion Platform 623

step. Furthermore, their model proposes examples of educational program enablers to

assist with each of the steps.

Fig. 1. Knowledge conversion model [1].

Data is found on the lowest level of the model and represents the learning of
concepts or facts without context which need to be remembered so that students can
recall it when needed. The process of converting data into information is called
“combination” and the level of understanding required for this process to take place is
described as researching and absorbing. The mechanisms proposed to be used as
enablers on this level in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are email, online message
forums, gazettes, lecture notes, textbooks, book marking, learning based on repetition
and reading.
The second layer of the knowledge conversion model is information. For data to be
converted into information, it has to have added relevance and purpose to make it more
usable. This knowledge conversion process is called “internalization” and the required
level of understanding needed is described as doing. The mechanisms proposed to be
used as enablers on this level in HEIs are lectures, workshops, tutorials, group work,
simulations, experiments, virtual reality, e-learning, context-steered learning, blogs,
‘fishbowls’ and debates.
The knowledge layer is the third layer of the model. On this layer a number of
different sources of information merges to form conceptual frameworks that provide
perspective. Knowledge is gained through experience and insights and includes the
holder’s beliefs and expectations. Having knowledge means that you will be able to
apply what you understand and have learnt in a new situation.
The fourth layer of the model is capability. Having capability means that you are
able to apply your knowledge to solve problems and that you are able to build new
meaning from different fundamentals while making use of your own judgement and
evaluation capabilities. The knowledge conversion process when moving from
knowledge to capability is called “socialization” and the required level of under-
standing needed, is interacting. The mechanisms proposed to be used on this level in
HEIs are social activities, industrial training, apprenticeship, hands-on experience,
design labs and incubation centers.
The knowledge conversion process called “externalization” takes place when
capability is transformed back into knowledge. This process requires a reflecting level
624 M. Hattingh and L. Weilbach

of understanding and entails the articulation of tacit knowledge by transforming

capabilities into a graspable or understandable form. It is only when tacit knowledge is
made explicit and clear that it could be shared with others and turned back into
knowledge. The mechanisms proposed to be used as enablers on this level in HEIs are
orals, tests, examination, assignments, peer presentations, tutoring, industry projects,
co-operative research, community collaboration, academic spin-offs, mentoring, imi-
tation, observation and practice.

3 The Use of Chatbots in Formal Education

Shawar and Atwell (in: Molnár and Szüts [8]) define chatbots as chat software or
computer programs which are supported by artificial intelligence. The functionalities of
these bots range from answering simple elementary questions, to acting as fully-fledged
participants in complex conversations. Chatbots can take part in both text-based and
voice dialogues and can typically provide answers to questions posed by different
users. According to Britz [9] chatbots, also known at conversational agents or dialogue
systems, are currently a hot topic and well-known companies such as Microsoft,
Facebook (M), Apple (Siri), Google, WeChat, and Slack are making big bets on them.
Chatbots range from simple bots that can only handle basic messages and requests
to more complex bots that are able to participate in more complex dialogues by being
programmed to learn from their previous conversations [9]. A taxonomy of chatbots
differentiates between retrieval-based and generative models [8].
Retrieval-based chatbots use repositories and heuristic imitation of human memory
to answer questions. This is done by simple pairing, while more complex questions are
answered through the incorporation of machine language. Decision tree structures are
created which are used to direct users to pre-determined conversations.
Generative models on the other hand are smarter and they might mislead you into
thinking that you are talking to a real human. They imitate a human conversation and
are not ‘taught’ to provide predetermined human answers. They rely on machine-based
translation and generate the responses they provide from scratch. One disadvantage of
these type of chatbots are that they might make some grammatical errors in their
responses and training them is a lot more time consuming as they require quite a lot of
training data to perform well.
According to Cunningham-Nelson et al. [10] chatbots could be used to improve
student interaction as they are able to provide standardized information to hundreds of
students in a prompt way. This information can include assessment criteria, assessment
due dates, and the location of suggested resources. In doing so they can reduce the
administrative burden of lecturers and increase the support offered to students. Lec-
turers could consequently have more time at hand to do course development and
needed research. The current methods to engage with students, which include email
and face-to-face conversations, lack prompt and personalized communication at more
suitable times.
Another common use for chatbots in education is to provide answers on common
questions [10]. Answering FAQs on behalf of the lecturer could mean that the bot is
available 24/7 and able to answer students’ questions in a timeous way. The knowledge
 Towards a Knowledge Conversion Platform 625

base of multiple FAQ could also be kept for several years and could easily be trans-
ferred between lecturers who might be presenting the same subject. The chatbot also
offers the potential to identify problematic communication between the lecturer and the
learners should many students ask the same question.
Chatbots could also play a significant role in answering online short response
questions [10]. The advantage offered by this is that the bot could confirm the wording
or understanding of a student and if misconceptions are discovered, the student could
be directed to the sources relevant for clarifying the misconception. The statistics of the
feedback provided could furthermore also highlight the areas that most students
struggle with.

4 The Case for Which the Knowledge Conversion Platform

Was Developed

In a second year ISD module students are expected to follow a structured systems
development methodology to analyze and design an end-to-end software solution for a
given mini business case. Students choose their own teams of five members each and
are given a detailed case study. They are then required to complete four project
deliverables which include: (1) a software solution proposal (i.e. a written-up business
case with a complete set of functional (use cases) and non-functional requirements);
(2) a functional specification (i.e. a detailed logical analysis including logical models
that represent the various functional requirements (use cases) and the data needed to
fulfill the requirements as set out in the solution proposal – in doing this they could
either follow the structured analysis or the object oriented route (UML models)); (3) a
technical specification (i.e. a detailed technical design including technical models that
add the technology required to implement the different functional requirements); and
(4) a complete prototype (i.e. detailed screen designs for each requirement).
When students reach their third and final year, they again get exposed to the
complete development of an end-to-end software solution, but this time around they
don’t get given a written-up mini business case as in their second year. They now have
to find their own real-life client for which they can develop a solution and use the
knowledge gained from their second year, to write up the business case themselves.
By completing the mini case in their second year and the real-life project in their
third year, students are inter alia exposed to data and facts on the following topics:
(1) Information Systems Development methodologies; (2) Problem Solving Tech-
niques; (3) Project Management aspects; (4) Project Management tools (MS Project
and ASANA), (5) Process Modelling (logical and technical); (6) Relational Database
Modelling (logical and technical); (7) Object Oriented modeling (UML); (8) Modelling
tools (Systems Architect and PowerDesigner); (9) Interface design; and (10) Output
design.
626 M. Hattingh and L. Weilbach

5 The Research Methodology Used

In order to design and develop the knowledge conversion platform to support the
learning of ISD industry ready students, the authors followed a design-based research
approach [11]. According to van den Akker [12] this approach is also known as design
research, development research or design experiments. It can be defined as a: “sys-
tematic but flexible methodology aimed to improve educational practices through
iterative analysis, design, development, and implementation, based on collaboration
among researchers and practitioners in real-world settings, and leading to contextually-
sensitive design principles and theories” [13] (p. 6). This approach typically consists of
four cycles which include [14]: (1) Analysis of practical problems by researchers and
practitioners in collaboration; (2) Development of solutions informed by existing
design principles and technological innovations; (3) Iterative cycles of testing and
refinement of solutions in practice; and (4) Reflection to produce design principles and
enhance solution implementation.
During the first phase of the research, the practical problem of representing the
required content on ISD to both second and third year students were investigated.
Furthermore, the problem of third year students not having a platform on which they
could share their tacit knowledge, knowhow, tips, and lessons learnt, with forthcoming
third year students, were analyzed. In the same way, the problem of finding a way in
which the tacit knowledge and knowhow of the third year lecturer could be captured to
assist newly assigned lecturers in facilitating the third year projects and in preparing the
second year students for their final year, were also analyzed and discussed.
In the second phase of the research, the knowledge conversion model, as proposed
by Smuts and Hattingh [1], as well as the characteristics and possibilities offered by
chatbots to assist with formal education, were studied and used to inform the design
and structure of the knowledge conversion platform proposed in this paper.
In anticipation of formal testing, a feedback link has been included in the chatbot
connected to a Google Form to allow students to provide feedback. The intention is to
use this feedback to adjust, enhance and refine the proposed platform, after which the
researchers will aim at reflecting on the platform in an attempt to come up with the
design principles of a typical knowledge conversion platform to support ISD learning
on undergraduate level.

6 The Proposed Knowledge Conversion Platform

The first iteration of the knowledge conversion platform was developed as a web-based
chat bot using free online Chabot software - Snatchbot.me. As the bot provides a
platform to share content on ISD topics, it was named the Business Analysis bot, or in
short, the BA bot. The following sections will discuss the structure of the BA Bot and
the tools used to support the structure of the BA Bot.
 Towards a Knowledge Conversion Platform 627

6.1 The Structure of the Platform

On determining the content of the platform, it became evident that the bot had to
contain both tacit and explicit knowledge to produce industry-ready students. Figure 2
represents how the BA Bot was structured. Each topic included a theoretical overview
of the most important concepts of that topic, with additional examples and case studies
(from past tests, examinations and assignments) which allow students to practice the
concepts in different scenarios, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)/Common mis-
takes, and videos and notes explaining how to execute the modelling concepts within
the modelling tool.
The current structure of the bot is represented in Fig. 2 below.

Fig. 2. The current structure of the BA bot.

Finding a textbook which ticks all the necessary boxes on the content required by
the second and third year curriculums, is a tedious and almost impossible task, espe-
cially when one considers the extent to which the IT industry evolves and changes.
Extending the bot to include changes or new topics is easy and much less cumbersome.
For each of the topics presented in Sect. 5, the bot provides content which can be
related to all four levels of the knowledge conversion model as presented by Smuts and
Hattingh and as presented in Fig. 3 [1]:

6.1.1 Converting Data into Information

On the data level the platform presents discreet building blocks in the format of
theoretical overviews, and FAQs, populated by the second and third year lecturers and
assistant lecturers. Students have to move upwards through the levels of the knowledge
conversion model to use the data or facts they learnt in their first and second years, to
combined it with relevance and purpose, and to consequently turn it into information.
Figure 3 below is a snapshot of theoretical concepts covered in the BA Bot.
628 M. Hattingh and L. Weilbach

Fig. 3. Applying the knowledge conversion model to the knowledge conversion platform.

Figure 4 presents a snapshot from the Google Doc for Logical data modelling FAQ
and common mistakes.

Fig. 4. Applying the knowledge conversion model to the knowledge conversion platform.

6.1.2 Converting Information into Knowledge

Internalization happens by doing. As experience and insight are needed to turn
information into knowledge, students on the second-year level tend to struggle with
applying their knowledge to the context of the given case studies. The platform pre-
sents integrated examples, case studies and “know how” videos which could assist
them in this regard (Fig. 5).
Additionally, lecturers developed integrated notes that integrate the Commerce
subject content within the ISD environment. Figure 6 provides an excerpt where lec-
turer notes within Google Docs explain how the VAT component needs to be inte-
grated within an IS.

6.1.3 Converting Knowledge into Capability and Capability

into Knowledge
These two processes happen firstly through socialization and then through external-
ization. For the former, students get to turn their knowledge into capabilities to solve
 Towards a Knowledge Conversion Platform 629

Fig. 5. Options in the BA Bot to learn from contextualized case studies.

Fig. 6. Integrating commerce knowledge within the ISD environment.

real world problems when they attempt the capstone project in their third year. For the
latter, students and lecturers can capture their learnt lessons and knowhow using
Google Forms. In this way they can provide feedback and add to the content of the bot.
In the same way third year students can share their tips, knowhow and lessons learnt
with the bot, making it available and accessible to second (and future third year)
students. Figure 7 shows a screenshot of the Google Form used for feedback that is
accessible through the BA Bot.

Fig. 7. BA bot feedback form.

6.2 The Tools Utilized in Conjunction with the Platform

The tools associated with creating the BA Bot environment in which knowledge
conversion takes place, is free, which makes it an attractive approach for HEIs. The
following tools were used: (1) Snatchbot.me used for the bot environment; (2) Google
630 M. Hattingh and L. Weilbach

Drive which provides flexibility in updating content; (3) Google Forms used for student
feedback; (4) Google Docs used for FAQs, summary feedback on assignments/tutorial
and lessons learnt. This dynamic environment makes it very easy for lectures to add to
their content, as opposed to only having a static textbook with set case studies; and
(5) A YouTube video channel used to post recordings of practical lessons and tutorials
using the document camera, as well as student recordings (to instigate a learning
community/culture).

7 Conclusion

The proof of concept of the knowledge conversion platform proposed in this paper was
implemented as a Chabot, better known as the BA bot. The aim of the bot was to
develop a platform that could support knowledge conversion between the different
levels of the knowledge conversion model as presented by Smuts and Hattingh [1], in
an attempt to support industry-ready ISD graduates. Finding an appropriate textbook
that stays up to date and covers all aspects as required by the IS curriculum is a tedious
and almost impossible task. The flexibility and adjustability of the BA bot provides for
the timeous and constant adjustment of its content. The bot therefore contains the
necessary discreet building blocks and theoretical overviews required by ISD students
and students can turn these facts into information by combining it with relevance and
purpose, but the biggest advantage of the bot is that it provides a platform on which
students and lecturers could share their tacit knowledge in the form of lessons learnt,
knowhow and best practices. This provides for the externalization of ISD knowledge
and offers a way in which both the tacit an explicit knowledge apparent in the second
and third year ISD modules could be cultivated and preserved for the future.

8 Future Work

For future work we intend to enhance the current bot by integrating it with Slack – a
collaboration platform. The success of the bot will be measured through experimental
research to determine the continuous intention of second year ISD students to use the
platform for their capstone project.

Acknowledgement. Publication funded by NRF UID/127494.

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 Author Index

Asmara, Andik 59 Gao, Yu-Chen 172

Attane, Poramin 361 Guo, Jia-Yue 172

Bardone, Emanuele 349 Haider, Imran 536

Barroso, João 409 Halubitskaya, Yuliya 576
Black, Emily 514 Hattingh, M. J. 504
Hattingh, Marie 514, 621
Chaijaroen, Nat 475 Hooshyar, Danial 349
Chaijaroen, Sumalee 189, 328, 385, 391, Hsiao, Hsi-Chi 172
399, 442, 475, 483, 591 Hsu, Jane Lu 263
Chang, Chi-Cheng 567 Huang, Chih-Wei 33
Chang, Jen-Chia 172, 182 Huang, Tai-Yi 100
Chang, Kuang-Ling 182 Huang, Tien-Chi 77
Chang, Li-Yun 289 Huang, Yu-Che 93
Chang, Pei-Yu 100 Huang, Yueh-Min 13, 23, 100, 227, 268
Chang, Rong-Chi 137 Huang, Yueh-Ming 93
Chang, Yu-mei 109
Chao, Wen-Hung 137
Jackpeng, Sarawut 475
Chen, Chia-Chen 33
Jakobsen, David 610
Chen, Dyi-Cheng 172
Javed, Fahad 536
Chen, Hong-Ren 33
Junruang, Chinnaphat 219
Chen, Judy F. 167, 453
Chen, Su-Chang 172
Chen, Ying Ling 128 Kanjug, Issara 219, 338, 361, 493, 591
Chen, You-Ren 263 Kiyani, Midhat Noor 536
Cheng, Shu-Chen 227 Komany, Kan 189
Cheng, Wai Khuen 40 Körkkö, Minna 582
Cheng, Yuh-Ming 84 Kwan, Christopher Chung Lim 196
Cheng, Yu-Ping 227
Chiang, I. Robert 227 Lai, ChinLun 109
Chien, Pei-ling 77 Lai, Hui-Min 77
Chien, Yu-Cheng 100 le Roux, Petra 373
Chou, Pao-Nan 71 Lee, Hsin-Yu 100
Chung, Chih-Chao 84 Lee, Tony Szu-Hsien 289
Li, Shuijing 296
Dai, Zhicheng 317 Li, Zhe 296, 419
de H. Basoeki, Olivia 23 Lin, Chen-Yu 40
Della Ventura, Michele 598 Lin, Jim-Min 40
Lisboa, Isolda 409
Fayziev, Mirzaali 576 Liu, Feng 317
Figliolia, Amanda Coelho 557 Liu, Shiang-Yao 289
Fodor, Szabina 147 Lou, Shi-Jer 84
Frangou, Satu-Maarit 582 Lu, Yi-Chen 50
634 Author Index

Maneeratana, Autsanee Seenonlee 391 Tang, Jih-Hsin 245

Mawas, Nour El 349 Ternai, Katalin 147
Medola, Fausto Orsi 557 Thammabut, Thawach 328
Mîndruț, Bogdan M. 119 Thorvaldsen, Steinar 255, 610
Murti, Astrid Tiara 13 Tsai, Ming-Hsiu Michelle 40
Tung, Chun-Chun 84
Øhrstrøm, Peter 610
Oprea, Claudiu A. 119
van Biljon, Judy 306
Pilkington, Colin 306 van Staden, Corné 373
Pimdee, Paitoon 158 Viriyavejakul, Chantana 158
Pimsook, Pitchaya 483
Ploug, Thomas 610
Puratep, Pasatorn 385 Wang, Hei Chia 367
Wang, Mengting 317
Rocha, Tânia 409 Wang, Yi-Jin 77
Rønningsbakk, Lisbet 547 Wannapipat, Wanwisa 442
Warden, Clyde A. 167, 453
Saengrith, Waristha 158 Wattanachai, Suchat 328, 338, 465, 493
Samat, Charuni 338, 465, 493, 591 Wei, Chih-Fen 245
Sandborg-Petersen, Ulrik 610 Wei, Yin-Ling 289
Sandnes, Frode Eika 206, 557 Weilbach, Lizette 621
Sari, Noviati Aning Rizki Mustika 3 Wen, Kuo-Cheng 172
Sathanarugsawait, Benjaporn 465 Wonganu, Piyaporn 591
Shadiev, Narzikul 576 Wongchiranuwat, Sathaporn 338
Shadiev, Rustam 576 Wu, Chih-Hung 268
Shen, Wei-Wei 40 Wu, Ting-Ting 3, 13, 23, 50, 59
Shih, Hsiao-Fang 182
Shih, Ru-Chu 71
Singkaew, Chan 399 Yan, Ming 296, 419
Sirimathep, Kanyarat 493 Yang, Fu-Rung 245
Smith, C. 504 Yang, Yeongwook 349
Smuts, Corlia 428 Yen, Wan-Hsuan 567
Smuts, Hanlie 428 Yordanova, Zornitsa 236, 277
Stanworth, James O. 524 Yu, Sen-Chi 33
Starcic, Andreja Istenic 93 Yuan, Huimin 419
Steynberg, Johanna 306
Su, Yi-Lun 33 Zhang, Xin 296
Szabó, Ildikó 147 Zhao, Ya Lan 367