Work-­‐in-­‐Progress: Design of an Online Learning Coach

Fred W DePiero

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Computers in Education (CoED) Engineering Poster Session
Tagged Division: Computers in Education
Page Count: 15
Page Numbers: 23.1398.1 - 23.1398.15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22775
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22775
Download Count: 468

Paper Authors

biography

Fred W DePiero California Polytechnic State University

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Dr. Fred DePiero received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in 1985 and 1987. He then worked as a Development Associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory until 1993. While there he was involved in a variety of real-time image processing projects and several laser-based ranging systems. Dr. DePiero began working on his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee while still at ORNL, and completed it in May 1996. His research interests include multidisciplinary applications of graph matching and range data sensing, registration and surface modeling. Fred joined the faculty at CalPoly in September of 1996. Fred is presently the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs in the College of Engineering.

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Abstract

Work-‐in-‐Progress: ‘Like’ that Lecture XYZ is a new computer-‐based learning tool primarily designed to support engineering science courses. XYZ is intended to supplement instruction in courses having large enrollments, and for students who may have varied backgrounds and aptitudes. Because of the diversity of learners in these courses, our approach is to present material in a variety of styles (e.g. including both systematic and intuitive, conceptual and applied…). This wide variety of presentation styles can help students, in general. But a large class lecture doesn’t provide the opportunities to adjust delivery in a learner-‐centered fashion compared to a small class setting. Hence an objective for XYZ is to provide instruction that supplements standard lectures, and that is learner-‐centered. For example: the order, selection and number of practice problems can be tailored to individual needs. Thus, where a large format lecture does not provide the opportunity to customize delivery to the individual, XYZ can. XYZ employs concepts from social media to incorporate ‘like’ / ‘dislike’ declarations in order to characterize a student’s comfort zone, along with performance measures. These data serve as a guide for learner-‐centered delivery. XYZ presents the student with content, examples, and practice problems inside the comfort zone, first. It then challenges the student by pushing the comfort boundaries. We hypothesize that the social media-‐type of approach might have advantages over a fixed characterization of learning style. The social media technique is more fluid. Hence it may serve as a better basis for a prediction, for example, when students adapt their learning style as they progress through a course. Research questions for our early development include: • Will students use the ‘Like/Dislike’ declarations consistently? • How well can the social media declarations predict a student’s comfort zone? • How much does ‘optimal’ ordering and selection of examples / homework problems, reduce study time and improve performance? The full paper describes XYZ features and implementation. XYZ includes some relatively common features for computer-‐based tools such as the integration of lecture, examples, and assessment. XYZ guides the student through subject content, interactive examples, and assessments in a sequential manner. These features are designed to engage the learner with interactive exercises, and to verify readiness prior to moving on to additional material. Our timeline for this work-‐in-‐progress has system testing in Fall Quarter 2012, recording content in Winter 2013, and initial deployment to students in Spring 2013. Control groups for assessment can be formed with students who opt out of the social media declarations, for example.

Citation
Format

DePiero, F. W. (2013, June), Work-‐in-‐Progress: Design of an Online Learning Coach Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22775

TY - CPAPER
AB - Work-‐in-‐Progress: ‘Like’ that Lecture XYZ is a new computer-‐based learning tool primarily designed to support engineering science courses. XYZ is intended to supplement instruction in courses having large enrollments, and for students who may have varied backgrounds and aptitudes. Because of the diversity of learners in these courses, our approach is to present material in a variety of styles (e.g. including both systematic and intuitive, conceptual and applied…). This wide variety of presentation styles can help students, in general. But a large class lecture doesn’t provide the opportunities to adjust delivery in a learner-‐centered fashion compared to a small class setting. Hence an objective for XYZ is to provide instruction that supplements standard lectures, and that is learner-‐centered. For example: the order, selection and number of practice problems can be tailored to individual needs. Thus, where a large format lecture does not provide the opportunity to customize delivery to the individual, XYZ can. XYZ employs concepts from social media to incorporate ‘like’ / ‘dislike’ declarations in order to characterize a student’s comfort zone, along with performance measures. These data serve as a guide for learner-‐centered delivery. XYZ presents the student with content, examples, and practice problems inside the comfort zone, first. It then challenges the student by pushing the comfort boundaries. We hypothesize that the social media-‐type of approach might have advantages over a fixed characterization of learning style. The social media technique is more fluid. Hence it may serve as a better basis for a prediction, for example, when students adapt their learning style as they progress through a course. Research questions for our early development include: • Will students use the ‘Like/Dislike’ declarations consistently? • How well can the social media declarations predict a student’s comfort zone? • How much does ‘optimal’ ordering and selection of examples / homework problems, reduce study time and improve performance? The full paper describes XYZ features and implementation. XYZ includes some relatively common features for computer-‐based tools such as the integration of lecture, examples, and assessment. XYZ guides the student through subject content, interactive examples, and assessments in a sequential manner. These features are designed to engage the learner with interactive exercises, and to verify readiness prior to moving on to additional material. Our timeline for this work-‐in-‐progress has system testing in Fall Quarter 2012, recording content in Winter 2013, and initial deployment to students in Spring 2013. Control groups for assessment can be formed with students who opt out of the social media declarations, for example.
AU - Fred W DePiero
CY - Atlanta, Georgia
DA - 2013/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Work-‐in-‐Progress: Design of an Online Learning Coach
UR - https://peer.asee.org/22775
DO - 10.18260/1-2--22775
ER -