Template Approach For Adaptive Learning Strategies

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Template Approach For Adaptive Learning
Strategies

• Jana Abbing, Kevin Koidl
• Telecooperation Group, CS Dept.Prof. Max
  Mühlhäuser,Darmstadt University of
  TechnologyHochschulstr. 1064289 Darmstadt,
  GERMANY

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Overview

• Background
• SAP LSO
• WiBA-Net Project
• Concept
• Motivation and Main Goal
• Main Idea Basic Scenario
• New Features Possible extensions
• Strategy Editor
• Metadata
• Future Research

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Background
SAP LSO - Authoring Environment
To explore the structure of the course
To organize the content (learning networks,
learning objects, knowledge items) and define
relations between the nodes
To specify knowledge type (x)or test parameters
and other metadata for the current node
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Background
SAP LSO - Learning Path

• Dynamically generated according to the authors
  settings and user preferences (learning
  strategy)
• Only a recommendation, user can leave the
  learning path whenever he/she wishes
• Navigation support for the better orientation of
  the learners

Current element
Recommended element
Finished element
Test
Current node
Element not yet recommended

• Structure of the course can be hidden user can
  simply follow the learning path by clicking on
  forward/back buttons

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Background
SAP LSO - Learning Strategies
Learning strategies adjust the learning path
according to the learners preferences, taking
existing relations into account.

• Orientation only
• Orientation first
• Action oriented
• Explanation oriented
• Example oriented
• Index

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Background
WiBA-Net Project

• Project WiBA Net (2001-2003)
• In cooperation with civil engineers, architects
  and pedagogical department of TU Darmstadt
• Testing and evaluating of L3 Authoring
  Environment (SAP LSO)

• Main problems during the authoring process
• Creating of self-contained reusable learning
  units
• Understanding of different pedagogical concepts
  and creating a reasonable structure for the
  course adaptive to the specific learning needs
  of student
• Predicting the behaviour of the course under
  different LS

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Motivation
Concept

• Continuous demand on pedagogical/didactical
  templates
• Support for different pedagogical approaches
• Experiences from different L3-projects
• Current learning strategies (LS) are very often
  considered not to be enough transparent
• Authors are very often hard-wiring the courses
• Too many relations, without clear function
• Need for more flexibility of LS

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Main Goal
Concept

• Provide a visual oriented authoring environment,
  which allows
• to model different pedagogical templates
• to model own LS
• to re-use pedagogical templates and decide about
  LS to be used
• Keep (respectively improve) the adaptive
  character of learning environment, which provides
  an epistemological pluralism for the learner
  (e.g., learner can choose from different learning
  strategies)
• Compatibility with former versions of SAP LSO
• Support for import/export of standardized content

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Main idea
Concept

• Teaching approach (represented by Strategy
  template)
• Course-author can choose for each course module
  one underlying pedagogy (Teaching Approach)
• Each strategy template contains
• Set of KI with assigned basic metadata (e.g.
  knowledge type, test type)
• Set of different LS offered to be used with the
  strategy template
• Appropriate didactical explanation and
  recommendations
• Predefined by a strategy-designer in Strategy
  editor
• Learning strategy
• Keep epistemological pluralism gt one strategy
  template should include more LS
• Ordered (sub)set of KI
• KI may be re-used in different LS
• gt Strategy template (commented) set of KI set
  of LS

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Main idea (example)
Concept
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Concept
Basic Scenario
Course-author

• Author

Strategy-designer

• Strategy editor extension of Authoring
  environment
• Basic scenario
• Strategy-designer creates a strategy template
  (using a Strategy editor)
• Course-author loads the strategy template into
  AE
• Set of (partially predefined) KI appears on the
  desktop
• Course-author fills the KI with content and sets
  up a course
• Learner chooses a LS (from those predefined by
  strategy-designer) and view the course in adopted
  order

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New features I.
Concept

• Relations
• Didactical defined throughout strategy template
• Matter of fact Editable in AE
• Before 2 KI must be presented in suggested
  order
• Belongs to close relationship of connected KI,
  does not specify any policy on the order
• Associated objects
• Group of learning objects with the same
  pedagogical role
• Not all of them must be visited
• Support for explorative learning
• Can address
• Learning styles
• Learner context
• Based on the concept of adaptive presentation
• Learner or system can choose the most suitable
  knowledge item

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New features II.
Concept

• Tests
• Adding of decision fork (depending on the
  test-result)
• Metadata
• Course authors are forgetting to fill e.g.,
  knowledge type and media type gt content player
  does not have valid data
• Solution no default value (resp. neutral)
• Visualization

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Basic description
Strategy Editor

• Editor for implementation of strategy templates
• Each strategy template includes
• Set of KI
• Instruction Elements
• Tests
• Associated Objects
• Set of LS
• Sequences of subsets of KI
• Pedagogical comments and recommendations
• for the course-author
• for learner (e.g. descriptions of LS)

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Strategy Editor
Implementation

• Management of templates, LS and KI
• List of opened templates and used KI
• Metadata
• Strategy template
• Represents different pedagogical approaches
  
• Carries set of (complementary) learning
  strategies.
• Contains appropriate didactical description.
• Author (in AE) is free to (pre)select
  different learning strategies from the
  template.

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Design of a Learning Strategy
Strategy Editor

• Linear sequence of knowledge items

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Metadata

• Currently
• LOM based files
• SCORM export (1.2)
• Analysis for export into SCORM 2004 restrictions
  on functionality
• New version (to be implemented)
• Content will be organized in few independent
  structures (according to learning strategies).
• Order of KI in associated objects will vary
  (e.g., according to learners preferences) and
  will be dynamically generated by the system.
• Number of obligatory KI from within associated
  object is predefined (by a course-author).
• Each test can be freely linked with (at least)
  two spots in the learning path according to test
  result.
• SS of SCORM 2004 does not support associated
  objects
• IMS LD seems to a good possibility, but there may
  be difficulties with adaptivity within an
  assosiaced object (?)

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Future Research

• Preparation of the Authoring Environment for the
  integration of the strategy templates.
• Guideline based on learning theories (for
  Strategy editor and for Authoring environment).
• Preparation of Content Player for the usage of
  design learning strategies.
• Extension of the Meta data definition for a more
  general usage in other Learning Environment.
• Evaluation of the efficiency of learning
  strategies.
• Evaluation of the efficiency of the suggested
  authoring process.

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Thank you for your attention!...any questions?

• Contact jana_at_tk.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de
• koidl_at_hotmail.com

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Possible extensions
Concept

• Priority (AE)
• Different possibilities to achieve more
  flexibility by learning
• must or can
• most important concepts, recommended for good
  understanding of the topic, for students
  interested in the area
• Based on experiment allow 0-100 and observe,
  which granularity is the most useful for
  course-authors.
• Learner can choose minimal priority of KI (e.g,
  last repetition before exams - only most
  important concepts)
• Importance (SE)
• Attribute for KI how important is the KI for the
  particular LS? (core, recommended, additional)
• AE not possible to delete a core KI
• First course, second template
• Scenario for course-author create KI, search for
  the most fitting strategy template (comparison of
  used KI)

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Concept Adaptivity

• Adaptive navigation
• The navigation will stay in principle the same,
  but will be enriched of associated objects and in
  extended version also of related pages (see
  Extended version)
• Teaching approach (strategy templates)
• author can choose for each course module from the
  database of strategy templates the one which fits
  the best learning materials provided and
  underlying teaching approach (pedagogy)
• Learning strategy (adaptive order)
• each strategy template will be contain several
  possible learning strategies and each of them
  will provide
• a specific choice of learning units (not all of
  the learning units must be included in each
  learning strategy, some of them might be left
  out)
• a specific order of the learning units, which
  defines the best offer learning path for each
  learning strategy
• a possibility to use the fork after the test (for
  defining of specific flow for passed/failed test)
• Associated objects
• Within one associated object will be applied
  adaptive selection (respectively adaptive order)
  according to the KT or MT
• Related pages (from Possible extensions)
• adaptive selection and adaptive order

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Concept LS in use

• Combining of different LS of different LN within
  the course
• Random
• Learner-oriented approach
• Learners profile includes preferred LS for each
  strategy-template
• Active choice for each new strategy template
  (based on description provided by
  strategy-designer)