Números Publicados > NOV 2019 VOL. 7 NÚMERO/NUMBER 4

Title- Spreading Remote Laboratory Scope through a Federation of Nodes: VISIR Case

Abstract- New social learning demands are fostered by continuous learning culture and self-learning environments. This demanding scenario requires ubiquitous educational environments without temporal restrictions. For these reasons, educational institutions increasingly rely on remote laboratories (RLs) as educational tools in order to provide real-world experiences in science education. RLs present several advantages to students which have been widely reported. Although quite powerful, RLs have intrinsically some drawbacks. While some of these drawbacks are inherent to the remote interaction and cannot be addressed, such as the impossibility to provide manual skill, many others derive from technical constraints. Traditionally, the approach to deal with these limitations on the performance is based on the redesign and improvement of the RL. However, due to the number of operating systems, an alternative approach is open for a RL: Virtual Instruments System in Reality (VISIR). VISIR is a RL designed to construct and test electrical/electronic circuits. The possibility of building a federation of VISIR nodes emerged from the actual needs detected by the VISIR community. In this paper, we describe a federation of VISIR nodes reporting the architecture implemented for the federation and the integration of the resulting federated resources into the different learning environments provided by the institutions to their students.

Index Terms- federation of remote laboratories, PILAR, remote laboratory, VISIR, RLMS.

Title- Scratch as driver to foster interests for STEM and educational robotics

Abstract- Today, there are a multitude of initiatives that favor the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and educational robotics (ER). Thanks to the available means, it is very easy to access a wide variety of tools based on programmable hardware. Although there are many options, most of them either require a high economic investment or require a great deal of time for the development of educational activities. Through the results shown in this paper, the great potential of Scratch as a solution for students who are just starting out in the knowledge related to STEM and ER is shown. To show the usefulness of Scratch a course has been designed, which dedicates three modules to the use of Scratch. The three modules have different levels of difficulty for the students, a basic level of difficulty, another intermediate level of difficulty and a last module with an advanced degree of difficulty.

Index Terms- education, project-based learning, programming, robotics, STEM.

Title- A Solution to Manage the Full Life Cycle of Learning Analytics in a Learning Management System: AnalyTIC

Abstract- Learning Analytics (LA) has a significant impact in learning and teaching processes. These processes can be improved using the available data retrieved from students’ activity inside the virtual classrooms of a learning management system (LMS). This process requires the development of a tool that allows one to handle the retrieved information properly. This paper presents a solution to this need, in the form of a development model and actual implementation of an LA tool. Four phases (Explanation, Diagnosis, Prediction and Prescription) are implemented in the tool, allowing a teacher to track students’ activity in a virtual classroom via the Sakai LMS. It also allows for the identification of users who face challenges in their academic process and the initiation of personalised mentoring by the teacher or tutor. The use of the tool was tested on groups of students in an algorithms course in the periods 2017-1, 2017-2, 2018-1 and 2018-2, with a total of 90 students – in parallel with the control groups in the same periods that totalled 95 students – obtaining superior averages in the test groups versus the control groups, which evidenced the functionality and utility of the software.

Index Terms- Learning Analytics, Educational Technology, Online Education, Personalised Learning, Personalised Mentoring

Title- Maker in Electrical Engineering education based on emergent technology Mapping study.

Abstract- 'Hands-on activities' with emergent technology is being integrated into the curriculum of Electrical Engineering education. This mapping study carry out an overview of the evidence of the Making movement using emergent technology in Electrical Engineering education. Primary studies in the literature were selected, classified and analysed according to the type of technology used and, the design-based research (DBR) intervention. 20 primary studies were identified. Making related to activities with Robotics is the application most used at the undergraduate level. The most of the studies reported an intervention focused on the instructional approach of the curriculum unit and, that students improved motivation.

Index Terms- Electrical engineering, Technology, Educational technology, Review.

Title- Achievements and challenges of international academic cooperation. The case of VISIR+ Project

Abstract- This article presents the results of a research on the achievements and challenges of international academic cooperation to contribute to professional training in higher education. To achieve this goal, it describes relevant aspects inherent to the modality through a case study focused in a multilateral Project; specifically, the VISIR + Project that involves engineering careers from six Latin American and European countries. Methodologically, it is based on participant observation in different instances of its implementation (in person meetings and virtual interchanges). The results allow to systematize its achievements and challenges, in order to promote international academic cooperation as a fundamental strategy for the improvement of higher education.

Index Terms- Educational cooperation, Engineering education, Higher Education, VISIR.

Title- An exploratory study of Brain Computer Interfaces in Computer Science Education

Abstract- This work offers an outline of how Brain Computer Interaction can interconnect with education, namely concerning the cognitive and emotional processes occurring during difficult learning. We believe that understanding how to optimize the learner’s attention and workload in learning tasks can improve the efficacy of educational processes, especially in tasks involving high cognitive activities, such as programming problem solving. The main objective of this study was to examine several brain parameters (attention, concentration and the energy of several brain waves) in a programming orientated task, as well as their variability during tasks of varying complexity. We consider that this work presents very promising future developments, including the possibility of incorporating this technology into a customised automatic system adapted to the student's cognitive and emotional state.

Index Terms- Attention, Brain Computer Interaction, Computer Science Education, Concentration, Programming problem solving

Title- What Brazilian Computing Community is Saying about Gender Gap

Abstract- Gender gap is the term used to describe the large difference between the proportion of men and women working in a field. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are traditionally considered “male fields”. However, while in other areas gender gap has been decreasing, in Computing it has become more glaring. In this paper, we presented the results of a study where we asked Brazilians to share their thoughts about gender gap and gender equity in the field. We hold the interviews during, probably, the biggest Computing conference of Brazil, in order to capture diversity. We found that Women and Men share similar thoughts about what causes this phenomenon and why the presence of more Women is important in this field. In addition, we discuss some of the responses, establishing parallels with state of art researches.

Index Terms- gender gap, gender equity, computing, diversity

Title- Game Learning Analytics, Facilitating the Use of Serious Games in the Class

Abstract- Serious games are still complex to deploy in classrooms for average teachers. Game Learning Analytics can help teachers to apply serious games, using data from students' in-game interactions to provide learning information. Many teachers do not see games as tools to improve their classes, particularly due to perceived loss of control when using games; so it is essential to retain their benefits while avoiding most of the deployment complexity. In this paper, we describe our experience using Game Learning Analytics to encourage the application and deployment of Serious Games in class as learning tools.

Index Terms- serious games, learning analytics, game-based learning, educational data mining, stealth assessment

Title- A Content Analysis System that supports Sentiment Analysis for Subjectivity and Polarity detection in Online Courses

Abstract- Given the current and increasing relevance of research aimed towards the optimization of teaching and learning experiences in online Education, a plethora of studies regarding the application of different technologies to this purpose have been developed. Specifically, Natural Language Processing (NLP) has been used to detect potential sentiments and opinions in texts, enabling a broader scope for making inferences. At Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain, we have designed and developed a tool for the application of NLP techniques to analyse the contents of online courses and the contributions of their learners (video transcriptions, readings, questions and answers of the evaluation activities and learner’s posts in forums, among others) to improve the teaching material and the teaching-learning processes of these courses. This tool is called edX-CAS (“Content Analyser System for edX MOOCs”). In this paper, we provide a detailed description of the tool, its functionalities and its NPL processes that support Sentiment Analysis for Subjectivity and Polarity detection. Moreover, we present a review of current research in the field of application of NLP in the improvement of teaching and learning experiences in MOOCs.

Index Terms- MOOC, sentiment analysis, opinion mining, natural language processing, polarity, subjectivity.

Title- The VirtualSign Channel for the Communication Between Deaf and Hearing Users

Abstract- Deaf students, who use sign language as their mother language, continuously experience difficulties to communicate with non-deaf in their daily lives. This is a severe handicap in education settings seriously jeopardizing deaf people chances to progress in their professional career. Deaf people’s comprehension of texts is limited due to grammar differences between sign and oral languages. There is a need to improve the communication between deaf and non-deaf and to support deaf students in environments where they are unable to be accompanied by sign interpreters. This article details the improvements and current structure of the VirtualSign platform, a bidirectional sign language to text translation tool in development since 2015. The platform has two main components, sign to text and text to sign, that are both described. Translation from text to sign relies on a 3D avatar. Translation from sign to text relies on a set of data gloves and Kinect. In this paper we discuss the relevance of different types of data gloves. VirtualSign is being developed in cooperation with the deaf communities from six different European countries and Brazil. This solution to support deaf students in educational settings has received positive feedback on several tests and pilot experiments. Some planned improvements and future functionalities for the tool are also mentioned and detailed.

Index Terms- Sign Language, Sign Language Recognition, Translation, Deaf, Hearing Disabilities, Accessibility, Inclusion

Title- Improving the students Computational Thinking skills with collaborative learning techniques

Abstract- In this paper we present a STEM Education initiative. This initiative involves an improved learning approach by mean of the implementation of collaborative learning techniques. The proposed approach is founded in the promoting of computational thinking skills in a group manner to improve learning of geometry. Two case studies were performed with primary school children from fourth grade at the Comfacor School (Montería-Colombia). The aim of these studies were to analyse the effects of the improved approach in three aspects: the children’ motivation, satisfaction and performance. The obtained results give us evidences that the learning of geometry was enhanced thanks to the proposed approach implemented based on a computational thinking strategy.

Index Terms- Computational thinking skills, Moodle-G, Pair-Learning of Geometry, collaborative learning techniques.