Adaptive and Intelligent Systems for Collaborative Learning Support: A Review of the Field
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paper_title: Adaptive and Intelligent Web-based Educational Systems

paper_content:

Currently, Web-based educational systems form one of the fastest growing areas in educational technology research and development. Benefits of Web-based education are independence of teaching and learning with respect to time and space. Courseware installed and maintained in one place may be used by a huge number of users all over the world. A challenging research goal is the development of adaptive and intelligent Web-based educational systems (W-AIES) that offer some amount of adaptivity and intelligence.
---
paper_title: Building Intelligent Interactive Tutors: Student-Centered Strategies for Revolutionizing e-Learning

paper_content:

Computers have transformed every facet of our culture, most dramatically communication, transportation, finance, science, and the economy. Yet their impact has not been generally felt in education due to lack of hardware, teacher training, and sophisticated software. Another reason is that current instructional software is neither truly responsive to student needs nor flexible enough to emulate teaching. The more instructional software can reason about its own teaching process, know what it is teaching, and which method to use for teaching, the greater is its impact on education. ::: ::: Building Intelligent Interactive Tutors discusses educational systems that assess a student's knowledge and are adaptive to a student's learning needs. Dr. Woolf taps into 20 years of research on intelligent tutors to bring designers and developers a broad range of issues and methods that produce the best intelligent learning environments possible, whether for classroom or life-long learning. The book describes multidisciplinary approaches to using computers for teaching, reports on research, development, and real-world experiences, and discusses intelligent tutors, web-based learning systems, adaptive learning systems, intelligent agents and intelligent multimedia. ::: ::: *Combines both theory and practice to offer most in-depth and up-to-date treatment of intelligent tutoring systems available ::: *Presents powerful drivers of virtual teaching systems, including cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and the Internet ::: *Features algorithmic material that enables programmers and researchers to design building components and intelligent systems
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paper_title: From Mirroring to Guiding: A Review of State of the Art Technology for Supporting Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

We review a representative selection of systems that support the management of collaborative learning interaction, and characterize them within a simple classification framework. The framework distinguishes between mirroring systems, which display basic actions to collaborators, metacognitive tools, which represent the state of interaction via a set of key indicators, and coaching systems, which offer advice based on an interpretation of those indicators. The reviewed systems are further characterized by the type of interaction data they assimilate, the processes they use for deriving higher-level data representations, the variables or indicators that characterize these representations, and the type of feedback they provide to students and teachers. This overview of technological capabilities is designed to lay the groundwork for further research into which technological solutions are appropriate for which learning situations.
---
paper_title: Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes

paper_content:

This game has an adjustable support to be worn around the torso of a player. A resilient ball is tethered to the support with a flexible cord. The length of the flexible cord is adjustable to a suitable length for allowing the ball to be hit in a forward stroke by a person wearing the adjustable support, passed partially around the torso of the wearer and be hit in a reverse stroke. The adjustable support and the tether may be formed from a single, flexible cord with one loop for adjustment around the torso and a second loop for adjustment of the length of the tether. This game allows a single player to maintain a volley with alternate forehand and backhand strokes.
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paper_title: B.M.: CoChemEx: Supporting Conceptual Chemistry Learning via Computer-Mediated Collaboration Scripts

paper_content:

Chemistry students, like students in other disciplines, often learn to solve problems by applying well-practiced procedures. Such an approach, however, may hinder conceptual understanding. We propose to promote conceptual learning by having pairs of students collaborate on problems in a virtual laboratory (VLab), assisted by a computer-mediated collaboration scriptthat guides the students through the stages of scientific experimentation and adaptsto their needs for support. We used the results from a small-scale study comparing how singles and dyads solve chemistry problems with the VLab with and without scripts to develop a scripted collaborative experimentation environment. A subsequent small-scale study compared an adaptive and a non-adaptive version of the system. Qualitative data analyses revealed a tendency for the dyads in the adaptive feedback condition to improve their collaboration and be more motivated than the non-adaptive dyads. In this paper, we present our research framework and report on preliminary results from the two small-scale studies.
---
paper_title: Adaptive and Intelligent Web-based Educational Systems

paper_content:

Currently, Web-based educational systems form one of the fastest growing areas in educational technology research and development. Benefits of Web-based education are independence of teaching and learning with respect to time and space. Courseware installed and maintained in one place may be used by a huge number of users all over the world. A challenging research goal is the development of adaptive and intelligent Web-based educational systems (W-AIES) that offer some amount of adaptivity and intelligence.
---
paper_title: NUCLEO: Adaptive Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in a Role Game Based Scenario

paper_content:

This paper presents the adaptation model used in NUCLEO, a pilot e-learning environment that is currently being developed at the Complutense University of Madrid. The NUCLEO system combines two approaches grounded in the constructive pedagogical stream, the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and the Problem Based Learning, with the engaging and immersive formats of the videogames. It provides a futurist scenario in which students (represented by avatars and organized in small teams) have to collaborate to solve a learning ldquomissionrdquo following the mechanics of a classical role based play. In order to increase the efficiency of the collaborative work and to reduce the teacherpsilas workload, NUCLEO applies user modeling techniques to the studentspsila learning strategies, considering a simplified framework of Vermuntpsilas model for learning styles. The model determines how the system brings together students whose learning strategies are complementary to build up collaborative and semi-autonomous learning teams. Examples from an ongoing study with NUCLEO to teach programming disciplines illustrate the presentation of these adaptation models.
---
paper_title: Supporting Teachers Intervention in Collaborative Knowledge Building

paper_content:

In the context of distributed collaborative learning, the teacher's role is different from traditional teacher-centered environments, they are coordinators/facilitators, guides, and co-learners. They monitor the collaboration activities within a group, detect problems and intervene in the collaboration to give advice and learn alongside students at the same time. We have designed an Assistant to support teachers' intervention in collaborative knowledge building. The Assistant monitors the collaboration, visualizes it and provides advice to the teacher on the subject domain and the collaboration process. The goal of the research present in this paper is to explore the possibilities of enriching Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments with tools to support collaborative interaction.
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paper_title: Exploring Foundations for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

In 1996 Koschmann (1996) suggested computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) as an emerging paradigm of educational technology. After six years, how has the field developed? What does research say about CSCL to date? What is the state of the art? The aim of the present paper is to explore the foundations for CSCL, and in doing so, to contribute to the theoretical as well as empirical understanding and development of CSCL research.
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paper_title: Computer-supported collaborative learning : An historical perspective

paper_content:

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is an emerging branch of the learning sciences concerned with studying how people can learn together with the help of computers. As we will see in this essay, such a simple statement conceals considerable complexity. The interplay of learning with technology turns out to be quite intricate. The inclusion of collaboration, computer mediation and distance education has problematized the very notion of learning and called into question prevailing assumptions about how to study it. Like many active fields of scientific research, CSCL has a complex relationship to established disciplines, evolves in ways that are hard to pinpoint and includes important contributions that seem incompatible. The field of CSCL has a long history of controversy about its theory, methods and definition. Furthermore, it is important to view CSCL as a vision of what may be possible with computers and of what kinds of research should be conducted, rather than as an established body of broadly accepted laboratory and classroom practices. We will start from some popular understandings of the issues of CSCL and gradually reveal its more complex nature. We will review CSCL's historical development and offer our perspective on its future. CSCL within education As the study of particular forms of learning, CSCL is intimately concerned with education. It considers all levels of formal education from kindergarten through graduate study as well as informal education, such as museums. Computers have become important in this, with school districts and politicians around the world setting goals of increasing student access to computers and the Internet. The idea of encouraging students to learn together in small groups has also become increasingly emphasized in the broader learning sciences. However, the ability to combine these two ideas (computer support and collaborative learning, or technology and education) to effectively enhance learning remains a challenge—a challenge that CSCL is designed to address.
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paper_title: The Pedagogical Challenges to Collaborative Technologies.

paper_content:

Collaborative technologies offer a range of new ways of supporting learning by enabling learners to share and exchange both ideas and their own digital products. This paper considers how best to exploit these opportunities from the perspective of learners’ needs. New technologies invariably excite a creative explosion of new ideas for ways of doing teaching and learning, although the technologies themselves are rarely designed with teaching and learning in mind. To get the best from them for education we need to start with the requirements of education, in terms of both learners’ and teachers’ needs. The argument put forward in this paper is to use what we know about what it takes to learn, and build this into a pedagogical framework with which to challenge digital technologies to deliver a genuinely enhanced learning experience.
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paper_title: Efficient embedding of information and knowledge into CSCL applications

paper_content:

This study aims to explore two crucial aspects of collaborative work and learning: the importance of enabling CSCL applications, on the one hand, to capture and structure the information generated by group activity and, on the other hand, to extract the relevant knowledge in order to provide learners and tutors with efficient awareness and support as regards collaboration. To this end, we first identify and define the main types of information generated in online group activity and then propose a process for efficiently embedding this information and the knowledge extracted from it into CSCL applications for awareness and feedback purposes. The conceptual model proposed finally gave rise to the design and implementation of a CSCL generic platform, called the Collaborative Learning Purpose Library (CLPL), which serves as a basis for the systematic development of collaborative learning applications and for providing full support to the mentioned process of knowledge management.
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paper_title: Context and consciousness: activity theory and human-computer interaction

paper_content:

Part 1 Activity theory basics: introduction activity theory and human-computer interaction, Bonnie A. Nardi activity theory as a potential framework for human-computer interaction research, Kari Kuutti computer-mediated activity - functional organs in social and developmental contexts, Victor Kaptelinin studying context - a comparison of activity theory, situated action models and distributed cognition, Bonnie A. Nardi activity theory - implications for human-computer interaction, Victor Kaptelinin. Part 2 Activity theory in practical design: introduction designing educational technology - computer-mediated change, R.K.E. Bellamy applying activity theory to video analysis - how to make sense of video data in HCI, Susanne Bodker tamed by a rose - computers as tools in human activity, Ellen Christiansen joint attention and co-construction of tasks - new ways to foster user-designed collaboration, Arne Raeithel and Boris M. Velichkovsky some reflections on the application of activity theory, Bonnie A. Nardi. Part 3 Activity theory - theoretical development: introduction activity theory and the view from somewhere - team perspectives on the intellectual work of programming, Dorothy Holland and James R. Reeves developing activity theory - the zone of proximal development and beyond, Vladimir P. Zinchenko mundane tool or object of affection? the rise and fall of the postal buddy, Yrjo Engestrom and Virginia Escalante epilogue, Bonnie A. Nardi.
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paper_title: Beyond explicit feedback: new directions in adaptive collaborative learning support

paper_content:

Adaptive collaborative learning support (ACLS) may be better than fixed forms of support at increasing learning from collaboration. While much existing adaptive assistance has focused on providing explicit feedback directly to the relevant student, we propose a two-dimensional design space which explores alternative methods of adaptive assistance that are implicit, indirect, or both. We investigated the viability of these ideas using data collected in a classroom evaluation of an ACLS system for peer tutoring which incorporated the design ideas in a manner that provided cognitive support to peer tutors. In this paper, we discuss how students interacted with the different forms of feedback, and propose a second iteration of the assistance that involves collaborative support in addition to domain support.
---
paper_title: NUCLEO: Adaptive Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in a Role Game Based Scenario

paper_content:

This paper presents the adaptation model used in NUCLEO, a pilot e-learning environment that is currently being developed at the Complutense University of Madrid. The NUCLEO system combines two approaches grounded in the constructive pedagogical stream, the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and the Problem Based Learning, with the engaging and immersive formats of the videogames. It provides a futurist scenario in which students (represented by avatars and organized in small teams) have to collaborate to solve a learning ldquomissionrdquo following the mechanics of a classical role based play. In order to increase the efficiency of the collaborative work and to reduce the teacherpsilas workload, NUCLEO applies user modeling techniques to the studentspsila learning strategies, considering a simplified framework of Vermuntpsilas model for learning styles. The model determines how the system brings together students whose learning strategies are complementary to build up collaborative and semi-autonomous learning teams. Examples from an ongoing study with NUCLEO to teach programming disciplines illustrate the presentation of these adaptation models.
---
paper_title: From Mirroring to Guiding: A Review of State of the Art Technology for Supporting Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

We review a representative selection of systems that support the management of collaborative learning interaction, and characterize them within a simple classification framework. The framework distinguishes between mirroring systems, which display basic actions to collaborators, metacognitive tools, which represent the state of interaction via a set of key indicators, and coaching systems, which offer advice based on an interpretation of those indicators. The reviewed systems are further characterized by the type of interaction data they assimilate, the processes they use for deriving higher-level data representations, the variables or indicators that characterize these representations, and the type of feedback they provide to students and teachers. This overview of technological capabilities is designed to lay the groundwork for further research into which technological solutions are appropriate for which learning situations.
---
paper_title: A Bayesian approach to generating tutorial hints in a collaborative medical problem-based learning system

paper_content:

Objectives: Today a great many medical schools have turned to a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching. While PBL has many strengths, effective PBL requires the tutor to provide a high degree of personal attention to the students, which is difficult in the current academic environment of increasing demands on faculty time. This paper describes intelligent tutoring in a collaborative medical tutor for PBL. The main contribution of our work is the development of representational techniques and algorithms for generating tutoring hints in PBL group problem solving, as well as the implementation of these techniques in a collaborative intelligent tutoring system, COMET. The system combines concepts from computer-supported collaborative learning with those from intelligent tutoring systems. Methods and materials: The system uses Bayesian networks to model individual student clinical reasoning, as well as that of the group. The prototype system incorporates substantial domain knowledge in the areas of head injury, stroke and heart attack. Tutoring in PBL is particularly challenging since the tutor should provide as little guidance as possible while at the same time not allowing the students to get lost. From studies of PBL sessions at a local medical school, we have identified and implemented eight commonly used hinting strategies. In order to evaluate the appropriateness and quality of the hints generated by our system, we compared the tutoring hints generated by COMET with those of experienced human tutors. We also compared the focus of group activity chosen by COMET with that chosen by human tutors. Results: On average, 74.17% of the human tutors used the same hint as COMET. The most similar human tutor agreed with COMET 83% of the time and the least similar tutor agreed 62% of the time. Our results show that COMET's hints agree with the hints of the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.652, @k=0.773). The focus of group activity chosen by COMET agrees with that chosen by the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.774, @k=0.823). Conclusion: Bayesian network clinical reasoning models can be combined with generic tutoring strategies to successfully emulate human tutor hints in group medical PBL.
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paper_title: Interaction Analysis Supporting Participants ’ Self-regulation in a Generic CSCL System

paper_content:

Interaction analysis can provide information directly to learners and teachers in order to assess and self-regulate their ongoing activity. Omega+ is a generic CSCL system that uses explicit models as parameters for flexibly supporting different kinds of collaborative applications. This paper describes Omega+ model-based generic approach for supporting participants' self-regulation through interaction analysis. Some quantitative and qualitative results obtained with the proposed approach are discussed.
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paper_title: Group mirrors to support interaction regulation in collaborative problem solving

paper_content:

Two experimental studies test the effect of group mirrors upon quantitative and qualitative aspects of participation in collaborative problem solving. Mirroring tools consist of a graphical representation of the group's actions which is dynamically updated and displayed to the collaborators. In addition, metacognitive tools display a standard for desirable behavior. Results show that a mirroring tool did not substantively affect the behavior of subjects while a metacognitive tool led to increased participation in dialogue, including more frequent and precise planning.
---
paper_title: Group mirrors to support interaction regulation in collaborative problem solving

paper_content:

Two experimental studies test the effect of group mirrors upon quantitative and qualitative aspects of participation in collaborative problem solving. Mirroring tools consist of a graphical representation of the group's actions which is dynamically updated and displayed to the collaborators. In addition, metacognitive tools display a standard for desirable behavior. Results show that a mirroring tool did not substantively affect the behavior of subjects while a metacognitive tool led to increased participation in dialogue, including more frequent and precise planning.
---
paper_title: Methodological challenges for collaborative learning research

paper_content:

Abstract Research on collaborative learning, both face-to-face and computer-supported, has thrived in the past 10 years. The studies range from outcome-oriented (individual and group learning) to process-oriented (impact of interaction on learning processes, motivation and organisation of collaboration) to mixed studies. Collaborative learning research is multidisciplinary. This introduces a multitude of theoretical accounts for collaborative learning, accompanied by a broad spectrum of methods to study processes and outcomes of collaboration. This special issue will provide an overview of methods that are at the core of current research effort, but also identifies opportunities and problems to sensibly combine methods into mixed method approaches.
---
paper_title: Technology in Support of Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

This paper reviews the research conducted in the last 20 years on the application of technology in support of collaborative learning in higher education. The review focuses primarily on studies that use Internet-based technologies and social interaction analysis. The review provides six sets of observations/recommendations regarding methodology, empirical evidence, and research gaps and issues that may help focus future research in this emerging field of study.
---
paper_title: Educational game design for online education

paper_content:

The use of educational games in learning environments is an increasingly relevant trend. The motivational and immersive traits of game-based learning have been deeply studied in the literature, but the systematic design and implementation of educational games remain an elusive topic. In this study some relevant requirements for the design of educational games in online education are analyzed, and a general game design method that includes adaptation and assessment features is proposed. Finally, a particular implementation of that design is described in light of its applicability to other implementations and environments.
---
paper_title: Designing for interaction: Six steps to designing computer-supported group-based learning

paper_content:

At present, the design of computer-supported group-based learning (CSGBL) is often based on subjective decisions regarding tasks, pedagogy and technology, or concepts such as 'cooperative learning' and 'collaborative learning'. Critical review reveals these concepts as insufficiently substantial to serve as a basis for CSGBL design. Furthermore, the relationship between outcome and group interaction is rarely specified a priori. Thus, there is a need for a more systematic approach to designing CSGBL that focuses on the elicitation of expected interaction processes. A framework for such a process-oriented methodology is proposed. Critical elements that affect interaction are identified: learning objectives, task-type, level of pre-structuring, group size and computer support. The proposed process-oriented method aims to stimulate designers to adopt a more systematic approach to CSGBL design according to the interaction expected, while paying attention to critical elements that affect interaction. This approach may bridge the gap between observed quality of interaction and learning outcomes and foster CSGBL design that focuses on the heart of the matter: interaction.
---
paper_title: An Ontology Engineering Approach to the Realization of Theory-Driven Group Formation

paper_content:

One of the main difficulties during the design of collaborative learning activities is adequate group formation. In any type of collaboration, group formation plays a critical role in the learners’ acceptance of group activities, as well as the success of the collaborative learning process. Nevertheless, to propose both an effective and pedagogically sound group formation is a complex issue due to multiple factors that influence group arrangement. The current (and previous) learner’s knowledge and skills, the roles and strategies used by learners to interact among themselves, and the teacher’s preferences are some examples of factors to be considered while forming groups. To identify which factors are essential (or desired) in effective group formation, a well-structured and formalized representation of collaborative learning processes, supported by a strong pedagogical basis, is desirable. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to present an ontology that works as a framework based on learning theories that facilitate group formation and collaborative learning design. The ontology provides the necessary formalization to represent collaborative learning and its processes, while learning theories provide support in making pedagogical decisions such as gathering learners in groups and planning the scenario where the collaboration will take place. Although the use of learning theories to support collaborative learning is open for criticism, we identify that they provide important information which can be useful in allowing for more effective learning. To validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this approach, we use this ontology to form and run group activities carried out by four instructors and 20 participants. The experiment was utilized as a proof-of-concept and the results suggest that our ontological framework facilitates the effective design of group activities, and can positively affect the performance of individuals during group learning.
---
paper_title: An algorithm for peer review matching using student profiles based on fuzzy classification and genetic algorithms

paper_content:

In the context of Intelligent Tutoring Systems, there is a potential for adapting either content or its sequence to student as to enhance the learning experience. Recent theories propose the use of team-working environments to improve even further this experience. In this paper an effective matching algorithm is presented in the context of peer reviewing applied to an educational setting. The problem is formulated as an optimization problem to search a solution that satisfies a set of given criteria modeled as "profiles". These profiles represent regions of the solution space to be either favored or avoided when searching for a solution. The proposed technique was deployed in a first semester computer engineering course and proved to be both effective and well received by the students.
---
paper_title: Modeling Adaptive Educational Methods with IMS Learning Design

paper_content:

The paper describes a classification system for adaptive methods developed in the area of adaptive educational hypermedia based on four dimensions: What components of the educational system are adapted? To what features of the user and the current context does the system adapt? Why does the system adapt? How does the system get the necessary information? Based on this taxonomy several classical methods of adaptive educational hypermedia are classified. In a second step the paper gives an overview of key features in IMS-LD for implementing adaptive educational methods and gives some examples. In the last section the work is integrated and IMS-LD features are identified which can be used for the four dimensions of the classification system. Editors: Daniel Burgos.
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paper_title: Considering the Intrinsic Constraints for Groups Management of TAPPS and Jigsaw CLFPs

paper_content:

When applying a Collaborative Learning Flow Pattern (CLFP) to structure the sequence of activities in a real context, one of the tasks is to organize groups of students according to the constraints imposed by the pattern. Sometimes,unexpected events occurring on runtime force this pre-defined distribution to be changed. In such situations, a re-definition of the group structure for adjusting the activity to the actual context is needed. This paper proposes a flexible solution for supporting teachers in the group organization and adaptation profiting from the intrinsic constraints defined by a CLFPs codified in IMS Learning Design. A prototype of a web-based tool for the TAPPS and Jigsaw CLFPs and the preliminary results of a controlled user study are also presented as a first step towards flexible solutions in this context.
---
paper_title: The Application of Learning Styles in Both Individual and Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

With the goal of applying learning styles in both individual and collaborative learning, some adaptation mechanisms have been developed. These mechanisms try to improve the process of learning by matching the teaching style with the student's learning style and by grouping students in some specific ways. We use the Felder-Silverman learning style model and its index of learning styles (ILS) questionnaire, in order to classify students, depending on their preferences on four dimensions (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global). The benefits of learning styles, it can be of interest for adaptive hypermedia learning systems in both individual and collaborative activities, especially if they support automatic grouping of users. From the results obtained by a case study with students of Computer Science in a collaborative task can be concluded that some dimensions of the learning style model seem to affect the quality of the resulting work. With this aim, new grouping rules have been incorporated in the TANGOW/WOTAN system to be used in the corresponding courses
---
paper_title: Using Learning Styles for Dynamic Group Formation in Adaptive Collaborative Hypermedia Systems

paper_content:

The Spanish Interdepartmental Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), project number TIC2001-0685-C02-01, has sponsored this work.
---
paper_title: NUCLEO: Adaptive Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in a Role Game Based Scenario

paper_content:

This paper presents the adaptation model used in NUCLEO, a pilot e-learning environment that is currently being developed at the Complutense University of Madrid. The NUCLEO system combines two approaches grounded in the constructive pedagogical stream, the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and the Problem Based Learning, with the engaging and immersive formats of the videogames. It provides a futurist scenario in which students (represented by avatars and organized in small teams) have to collaborate to solve a learning ldquomissionrdquo following the mechanics of a classical role based play. In order to increase the efficiency of the collaborative work and to reduce the teacherpsilas workload, NUCLEO applies user modeling techniques to the studentspsila learning strategies, considering a simplified framework of Vermuntpsilas model for learning styles. The model determines how the system brings together students whose learning strategies are complementary to build up collaborative and semi-autonomous learning teams. Examples from an ongoing study with NUCLEO to teach programming disciplines illustrate the presentation of these adaptation models.
---
paper_title: Interactive Problem Solving Support in the Adaptive Educational Hypermedia System MATHEMA

paper_content:

This paper describes the interactive problem solving support offered by our adaptive educational hypermedia system called MATHEMA. The general goal of the MATHEMA is the support of senior high school students or the beginners of higher education, through an interactive and constructivist environment, in learning physics (electromagnetism) individually and/or collaboratively, and to overcome their possible misconceptions and learning difficulties. Initially, a review of related work about the implemented AEHS/ITS and the didactic design principles of the MATHEMA are presented. Through the interactive problem solving, the system supports the students in solving electromagnetism problems, individually and/or collaboratively, by following an activity that is based on the experimentation with simulations, explorations, guided discovery, and collaboration didactic approaches. An experimental study with senior high school students showed that they improve their performances when following this activity. A questionnaire that we gave to the students to express their opinion about our system helped us to improve the quality of the courses. Index Terms—Adaptive educational hypermedia, interactive problem solving, learning styles, misconceptions. C
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paper_title: The impact of learning styles on student grouping for collaborative learning: a case study

paper_content:

Learning style models constitute a valuable tool for improving individual learning by the use of adaptation techniques based on them. In this paper, we present how the benefit of considering learning styles with adaptation purposes, as part of the user model, can be extended to the context of collaborative learning as a key feature for group formation. We explore the effects that the combination of students with different learning styles in specific groups may have in the final results of the tasks accomplished by them collaboratively. With this aim, a case study with 166 students of computer science has been carried out, from which conclusions are drawn. We also describe how an existing web-based system can take advantage of learning style information in order to form more productive groups. Our ongoing work concerning the automatic extraction of grouping rules starting from data about previous interactions within the system is also outlined. Finally, we present our challenges, related to the continuous improvement of collaboration by the use and dynamic modification of automatic grouping rules.
---
paper_title: A Group Formation Tool in an E-Learning Context

paper_content:

In this paper we present a Web-based group formation tool that supports the instructor to automatically create both homogeneous and heterogeneous groups based on up to three criteria and the learner to negotiate the grouping. Moreover, the instructor is allowed to manually group learners based on specific criteria. A discriminative feature of this tool is the use of the fuzzy c-means algorithm for homogeneous grouping, which provides for each learner the probability of belonging to different groups. This information is also provided to the instructor to support him/her in manually exchanging learners or intervening in the initial grouping. Moreover, the learners are informed for the groups formed and they are allowed to negotiate their group assignment. Preliminary evaluation results provide indications for the efficiency of the proposed approach informing homogeneous and heterogeneous groups in a real context.
---
paper_title: Coalescing individual and collaborative learning to model user linguistic competences

paper_content:

A linguistic, pedagogic and technological framework for an ICALL system called COPPER is presented here, where individual and collaborative learning are combined within a constructivist approach to facilitate second language learning. Based upon the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the ability to use language is viewed as one of several cognitive competences that are mobilised and modified when individuals communicate. To combine the different types of learning underlying the European Framework, a student model has been developed for COPPER that represents linguistic competences in a detailed way, combining high granularity expert-centric Bayesian networks with multidimensional stereotypes, and is updated following student activities semi-automatically. Instances of this model are used by an adaptive group formation algorithm that dynamically generates communicative groups based upon the linguistic capabilities of available students, and a collection of collaborative activity templates. As well as the student model, which is a representation of individual linguistic knowledge, preferences, etc., there is a group model, which is a representation of how a set of students works together. The results of a student's activity within a group are evaluated by a student monitor, with more advanced linguistic competences, thereby sidestepping the difficulties present when using NLP techniques to automatically analyse non-restricted linguistic production. The monitor role empowers students and further consolidates what has been previously learnt. Students therefore initially work individually in this framework on certain linguistic concepts, and subsequently participate in authentic collaborative communicative activities, where their linguistic competences can develop approximately as they would in `real foreign language immersion experiences'.
---
paper_title: Supporting Teachers Intervention in Collaborative Knowledge Building

paper_content:

In the context of distributed collaborative learning, the teacher's role is different from traditional teacher-centered environments, they are coordinators/facilitators, guides, and co-learners. They monitor the collaboration activities within a group, detect problems and intervene in the collaboration to give advice and learn alongside students at the same time. We have designed an Assistant to support teachers' intervention in collaborative knowledge building. The Assistant monitors the collaboration, visualizes it and provides advice to the teacher on the subject domain and the collaboration process. The goal of the research present in this paper is to explore the possibilities of enriching Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments with tools to support collaborative interaction.
---
paper_title: User Modelling in a Collaborative Learning Environment for UML

paper_content:

In this paper, we describe AUTO-COLLEAGUE that is an adaptive and collaborative learning environment for UML. There are two kinds of user: the trainer and the trainee. The trainees can design UML diagrams given by the trainer or run certain tests/exercises for specific problems that are given. They can collaborate with each other. The system offers them adaptive help and advice regarding the most effective and productive organization of the trainees in groups. This is done so that the users' collaboration among them can be more efficient. The adaptivity is achieved through user modelling based on stereotypes. The stereotypes are related to three aspects of the performance of the trainee: the Level of Expertise, the Performance Types and the Personality.
---
paper_title: Modeling Adaptation Patterns with IMS-LD Specification: A Case Study as a Proof of Concept Implementation

paper_content:

In this paper we present a design case study exemplifying the implementation of the core specification of an Adaptation Pattern (Input, Rules, Model and Output) on the basis of using tools compliant to the IMS-LD modeling language. Research on collaborative learning has emphasized the need for providing flexible yet supportive tools to teachers in order to design collaborative learning tasks. In our work we present a next step in our pattern-based approach demonstrating how educators’ ideas can provide the basis for adaptation patterns which, in turn, can be implemented using IMS-LD. We analyze what is necessary for implementing an adaptation pattern and discuss the benefits of the pattern-based approach. Finally, we highlight what would be important issues toward integrating the adaptation pattern capabilities in LD compliant tools for collaborative learning design.
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paper_title: Cluster Analysis in Personalized E-Learning Systems

paper_content:

Personalized e-learning system should be tailored into student needs, which usually differ even among learners, who attend the same course and have similar technical skills. In the chapter, it is proposed the system architecture, in which teaching paths as well as proper layouts are adjusted to groups of students with similar preferences, created by application of clustering techniques. Learner models are based on dominant learning style dimensions, according to which students focus on different types of information and show different performances in educational process. Extension of the model by including usability preferences is investigated. There are examined different clustering techniques to obtain groups of the best quality. It is presented the algorithm that will fulfill tutor requirements especially concerning the choice of parameters. Some experimental results for real groups of students and different algorithms are described and discussed.
---
paper_title: The Application of Learning Styles in Both Individual and Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

With the goal of applying learning styles in both individual and collaborative learning, some adaptation mechanisms have been developed. These mechanisms try to improve the process of learning by matching the teaching style with the student's learning style and by grouping students in some specific ways. We use the Felder-Silverman learning style model and its index of learning styles (ILS) questionnaire, in order to classify students, depending on their preferences on four dimensions (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global). The benefits of learning styles, it can be of interest for adaptive hypermedia learning systems in both individual and collaborative activities, especially if they support automatic grouping of users. From the results obtained by a case study with students of Computer Science in a collaborative task can be concluded that some dimensions of the learning style model seem to affect the quality of the resulting work. With this aim, new grouping rules have been incorporated in the TANGOW/WOTAN system to be used in the corresponding courses
---
paper_title: To tutor the tutor: Adaptive domain support for peer tutoring

paper_content:

The effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems at increasing learning might be improved if the systems were combined with collaborative activities that encouraged conceptual elaboration. We extended the Cognitive Tutor Algebra, an intelligent tutoring system for high-school mathematics, with a peer tutoring activity that was designed to encourage interaction, reflection, and accountability. Two types of domain support were provided: adaptive support, which used the intelligent tutor domain models to provide feedback to the peer tutor, and fixed support, which simply consisted of answers to the problems. We compared the two peer tutoring conditions (adaptive or fixed support) to individual use of the cognitive tutor (without peer-tutoring activities). Even though students in the individual condition solved more problems during instruction, we did not find significant differences between the individual and collaborative conditions on learning. However, we found a correlation between tutee impasses and tutor learning.
---
paper_title: Supporting Teachers Intervention in Collaborative Knowledge Building

paper_content:

In the context of distributed collaborative learning, the teacher's role is different from traditional teacher-centered environments, they are coordinators/facilitators, guides, and co-learners. They monitor the collaboration activities within a group, detect problems and intervene in the collaboration to give advice and learn alongside students at the same time. We have designed an Assistant to support teachers' intervention in collaborative knowledge building. The Assistant monitors the collaboration, visualizes it and provides advice to the teacher on the subject domain and the collaboration process. The goal of the research present in this paper is to explore the possibilities of enriching Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments with tools to support collaborative interaction.
---
paper_title: An Adaptive, Collaborative Environment to Develop Good Habits in Programming

paper_content:

In this paper we discuss how computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) can be deployed to develop new skills and habits in students at university level. These considerations led to the development of an adaptive environment to develop good programming habits. We start by describing the difficulties in teaching and learning programming and more concretely, in making students good programmers. Afterwards, we explain why group work is an adequate approach to learn programming. Next HabiPro, an environment that trains students in Programming is described. The principal features of this system are: It is adaptive: depending on the group features the environment proposes different pedagogic methodologies and different exercises. The tool promotes collaboration and interaction among the students. The pedagogic methodologies are based on reflection, observation, and relation. Finally, we present our conclusions and discuss future work.
---
paper_title: Scaffolding Peer-questioning Strategies to Facilitate Metacognition During Online Small Group Discussion

paper_content:

Meaningful discussion that facilitates reflective thinking can be initiated when learners raise thoughtful questions or provide critical feedback; however, generating effective questions requires a certain level of domain knowledge and metacognitive skills of the question-askers. We propose a peer-questioning scaffolding framework intended to facilitate metacognition and learning through scaffolding effective peer-questioning in online discussion. This framework assumes that novice students who lack domain and metacognitive knowledge can be scaffolded to generate meaningful interactions at an early stage of learning and the resulting peer-generated adaptive questions can facilitate learners’ metacognition. Thus, this study investigated the effects of providing online scaffolding for generating adaptive questions to peers during online small group discussion. A field experimental time-series control-group design was employed as a mixed model for the research design. Thirty-nine college students from an online introductory class on turfgrass management participated in the study. The findings revealed that the scaffolds were useful to increase the frequency of student questioning behavior during online discussion. For some students, the online guidance reportedly served as “a starting point” to generate questions when they had difficulty asking questions. However, the guidance did not improve the quality of questions and thus learning outcomes. The interview data indicated that peer-generated adaptive questions served a critical role in facilitating learner’s reflection and knowledge reconstruction. Further study should focus on the quality improvement of peer-generated questions while considering adaptive and dynamic forms of scaffolding and intermediate factors such as prior knowledge, metacognition, task complexity, and scaffolding type.
---
paper_title: A Bayesian approach to generating tutorial hints in a collaborative medical problem-based learning system

paper_content:

Objectives: Today a great many medical schools have turned to a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching. While PBL has many strengths, effective PBL requires the tutor to provide a high degree of personal attention to the students, which is difficult in the current academic environment of increasing demands on faculty time. This paper describes intelligent tutoring in a collaborative medical tutor for PBL. The main contribution of our work is the development of representational techniques and algorithms for generating tutoring hints in PBL group problem solving, as well as the implementation of these techniques in a collaborative intelligent tutoring system, COMET. The system combines concepts from computer-supported collaborative learning with those from intelligent tutoring systems. Methods and materials: The system uses Bayesian networks to model individual student clinical reasoning, as well as that of the group. The prototype system incorporates substantial domain knowledge in the areas of head injury, stroke and heart attack. Tutoring in PBL is particularly challenging since the tutor should provide as little guidance as possible while at the same time not allowing the students to get lost. From studies of PBL sessions at a local medical school, we have identified and implemented eight commonly used hinting strategies. In order to evaluate the appropriateness and quality of the hints generated by our system, we compared the tutoring hints generated by COMET with those of experienced human tutors. We also compared the focus of group activity chosen by COMET with that chosen by human tutors. Results: On average, 74.17% of the human tutors used the same hint as COMET. The most similar human tutor agreed with COMET 83% of the time and the least similar tutor agreed 62% of the time. Our results show that COMET's hints agree with the hints of the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.652, @k=0.773). The focus of group activity chosen by COMET agrees with that chosen by the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.774, @k=0.823). Conclusion: Bayesian network clinical reasoning models can be combined with generic tutoring strategies to successfully emulate human tutor hints in group medical PBL.
---
paper_title: Intelligent Coaching for Collaboration in Ill-Defined Domains

paper_content:

This research seeks to improve learning by integrating intelligent coaching with peer-to-peer collaboration. We combine advanced technologies that support student freedom and exploration, allow for collaboration and peer tutoring, and provide task advice by modeling student work and behavior. We empirically evaluated both the effect of added collaborative features that enable peer-to-peer interaction and the potential to use this collaboration to improve the intelligent coaching features of the system. We found that collaboration enhances student work and that the coaching features provide opportunities to promote collaboration.
---
paper_title: Designing and Applying Adaptation Patterns Embedded in the Script

paper_content:

CeLS is a web-based system designed to enable teachers and researchers to create, enact and test multi-stage CSCL scripts in actual educational settings. The paper presents CeLS approach and potential for adaptive collaboration scripting, aimed to tailor the activity according to students' performance, personal characteristics and preferences. We specifically focus on two aspects: 'on the fly' adaptations according to enactment events and Adaptation Patterns: pre-designed processes that are embedded in the script definition.
---
paper_title: Enriching Web Based Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Systems by Considering Misunderstandings among Learners during Interactions

paper_content:

Remote collaboration has many benefits; however, due to the geographical distribution of learners, many misunderstandings can occur during interaction. For example, learners may miss the context of the discussion or do not hear parts of it, leading to inefficient discussions. In this paper, we propose an “Enriched Cyberspace” approach for dependable web based computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) to overcome these problems. The system based on the approach assesses the situations of remote users through fusing information of multiple biological sensors and the related general contexts to enrich the cyberspace. A formative scenario evaluation demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of the approach for developing effective web-based CSCL systems.
---
paper_title: Helping Teachers Handle the Flood of Data in Online Student Discussions

paper_content:

E-discussion tools provide students with the opportunity not only to learn about the topic under discussion but to acquire argumentation and collaboration skills and to engage in analytic thinking. However, too often, e-discussions are not fruitful and moderation is needed. We describe our approach, which employs intelligent data analysis techniques, to support teachers as they moderate multiple simultaneous discussions. We have generated six machine-learned classifiers for detecting potentially important discussion characteristics, such as a "reasoned claim" and an "argument-counterargument" sequence. All of our classifiers have achieved satisfactory Kappa values and are integrated in an online classification system. We hypothesize how a teacher might use this information by means of two authentic e-discussion examples. Finally, we discuss ways to bootstrap from these fine-grained classifications to the analysis of more complex patterns of interaction.
---
paper_title: An evolutionary approach to prototyping pedagogical agents: from simulation to integrated system

paper_content:

We have developed and integrated software agents with two educational groupware systems (TeamWave Workplace and FLE), using evolutionary prototyping and empirical-based design as development techniques. The resulting prototypes of pedagogical agents (CoPAS, SA-Agent and RuleEditor) provide learners and teachers with increasingly domain-specific support for distributed collaborative learning activities. Employing the evolutionary approach has enabled us to build and evaluate early prototypes of complex systems with cost-effective techniques and involving users in this process helped us to constrain the design space and direct further development. CoPAS is a simulation experiment carried out with the Wizard of Oz technique, SA-Agent is a pedagogical agent integrated with an open-source learning environment, and RuleEditor is a customizer for the SA-Agent. The agents collect statistical information on user activity and analyze that information based on principles of collaboration and knowledge building. The results are presented as advice in the user interface of the learning environments to promote students' reflection on their collaboration and knowledge-building activities. If instructors disagree about the phrasing of the advice or the frequency of intervention, they can change it using the RuleEditor agent customizer.
---
paper_title: Optimizing Worked-Example Instruction in Electrical Engineering: The Role of Fading and Feedback during Problem-Solving Practice

paper_content:

How can we help college students develop problem-solving skills in engineering? To answer this question, we asked a group of engineering freshmen to learn about electrical circuit analysis with an instructional program that presented different problem-solving practice and feedback methods. Three findings are of interest. First, students who practiced by solving all problem steps and those who practiced by solving a gradually increasing number of steps starting with the first step first (forward-fading practice) produced higher near-transfer scores than those who were asked to solve a gradually increasing number of steps but starting with the last step first (backward-fading practice). Second, students who received feedback immediately after attempting each problem-solving step outperformed those who received total feedback on near transfer. Finally, students who learned with backward-fading practice produced higher near- and far-transfer scores when feedback included the solution of a similar worked-out problem. The theoretical and practical implications for engineering education are discussed.
---
paper_title: Interaction-Aware Design for Learning Applications Reflections from the CSCL Field

paper_content:

Interaction analysis (IA) is an essential element for formative evaluation, self-regulation and other important functions, especially in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scenarios. However, several problems have impeded its regular use in real environments, in spite of the significant advancement of the field. This paper analyzes the main problems and alternatives encountered in the process of effectively supporting IA in CSCL, based on lessons learned from the authorspsila active involvement in this field during the last decade. Thus, it proposes a decoupled architecture together with the use of a standard common data format for interaction as main components of a new framework for a global design process that will support practitioners, researchers and technology providers in a sustainable and transparent way.
---
paper_title: Providing support for adaptive scripting in an on-line collaborative learning environment

paper_content:

This paper describes results from a series of experimental studies to explore issues related to structuring productive group dynamics for collaborative learning using an adaptive support mechanism. The first study provides evidence in favor of the feasibility of the endeavor by demonstrating with a tightly controlled study that even without adaptive support, problem solving in pairs is significantly more effective for learning than problem solving alone. The results from a second study offer guidelines for strategic matching of students with learning partners. Furthermore, the results reveal specific areas for needed support. Based on the results from the second study, we present the design of an adaptive support mechanism, which we evaluate in a third study. The results from the third study provide evidence that certain aspects of our design for adaptive support in the form of strategic prompts are effective for manipulating student behavior in productive ways and for supporting learning. These results also motivate specific modifications to the original design.
---
paper_title: Modeling Helping Behavior in an Intelligent Tutor for Peer Tutoring

paper_content:

Giving effective help is an important collaborative skill that leads to improved learning for both the help-giver and help-receiver. Adding intelligent tutoring to student interaction may be one effective way of assisting students in giving and receiving better help. However, such systems have proven difficult to implement, in part due to the challenges of modeling productive dialogue in a collaborative activity. We present a theoretical model of good helping behavior in a peer tutoring context, and validate the model using student tutoring data, linking optimal and buggy behaviors to learning outcomes. We discuss the implications of the model with respect to providing intelligent tutoring for peer tutoring.
---
paper_title: Applying adaptive swarm intelligence technology with structuration in web-based collaborative learning

paper_content:

Abstract One of the key challenges in the promotion of web-based learning is the development of effective collaborative learning environments. We posit that the structuration process strongly influences the effectiveness of technology used in web-based collaborative learning activities. In this paper, we propose an ant swarm collaborative learning (ASCL) environment based on a swarm intelligence system (SIS) that structures opportunities for effective collaboration and learning in a dynamic way. The results of our experiments indicate that: (1) the self-organizing behavior of SIS is positively associated with system appropriation; (2) the multi-agent-based mechanism of SIS is positively associated with system appropriation; (3) the cohesive capability of SIS is positively associated with system appropriation; and (4) the learner’s tendency toward system appropriation is positively associated with learning effectiveness. Our findings also show that learners in an ASCL environment outperform their counterparts in a general web-based learning (GWL) environment. We conclude that different types of technological support can influence the achievement in a web-based learning environment.
---
paper_title: Analysing Face to Face Computer-mediated Interactions

paper_content:

Detailed analysis of face to face computer mediated interactions implies a study of a corpus composed of the interaction traces produced by the collaborative tool and video and audio recordings. Because of their separate nature, it is frequently difficult to perform this joint analysis. In order to facilitate such analyses we propose a model for describing corpora composed of sources from different media; we also describe how certain types of analyses can be modelled and reified for future use. We show how a tool based on these models facilitates a number of analysis methodologies by simplifying situations where entities are multiple: several researchers (inter-coder reliability), several sources for the corpus (multi-modal interactions) or several analyses (for re-use of prior analyses or for the confrontation and comparison of two different analyses. We believe that capitalizing on previous analyses and affording parallel analysis of video and computer-mediated traces will open new avenues for researchers and teachers.
---
paper_title: Intelligent assistance for teachers in collaborative e-learning environments

paper_content:

Collaborative learning environments provide a set of tools for students acting in groups to interact and accomplish an assigned task. In this kind of systems, students are free to express and communicate with each other, which usually lead to collaboration and communication problems that may require the intervention of a teacher. In this article, we introduce an intelligent agent approach to assist teachers through monitoring participations made by students within a collaborative distance learning environment, detecting conflictive situations in which a teacher's intervention may be necessary. High precision rates achieved on conflict detection scenarios suggest great potential for the application of the proposed rule-based approach for providing personalized assistance to teachers during the development of group works.
---
paper_title: Monitoring Students' Collaboration in Computer-Mediated Collaborative Problem-Solving: Applied Feedback Approaches

paper_content:

This research describes a methodology for applying design- and management-based scaffolding techniques aimed to enhance cooperative behavior. Based on assumptions of how successful online learning groups act together, we developed feedback-based mechanisms that aimed at contributing to group functions of well-being, member support, and productive learning outcomes. The collaborative online learning environments were enriched by functions such as tracking, analyzing, and feeding back parameters of participation, collaboration, motivation, and emotional state to group members. Two studies were conducted to analyze effects of these mechanisms. In the first study, we showed advantages of feedback on processes of group well-being, parameters of participation, and interaction. In the second study, we combined feedback approach for monitoring and fostering collaborative behavior with a design-based approach using distributed learning resources. Results suggest that by distributing learning material, collaboratio...
---
paper_title: A Data Mining Approach to Reveal Representative Collaboration Indicators in Open Collaboration Frameworks

paper_content:

Data mining methods are successful in educational environments to discover new knowledge or learner skills or features. Unfortunately, they have not been used in depth with collaboration. We have developed a scalable data mining method, whose objective is to infer information on the collaboration during the collaboration process in a domain-independent way and to improve collaboration process management and learning in an open collaborative educational web environment. Thus, we used statistical indicators of learner's interactions in forums as the data source and a clustering algorithm to classify the data according to learner's collaboration. We showed the information on learner's collaboration to the tutor and learners to help them with collaboration process management. The experimental results support this method.
---
paper_title: On enhancing on-line collaboration using fuzzy logic modeling

paper_content:

Web-based collaboration calls for professional skills and competences to the benefit of the quality of the collaboration and its output. Within this framework, educational virtual environments may provide a means for training upon these skills and in particular the collaborative ones. On the basis of the existing technological means such training may be enhanced even more. Designing considerations towards this direction include the close follow-up of the collaborative activity and provision of support grounded upon a pedagogical background. To this vein, a fuzzy logic-based expert system, namely Collaboration/ReflectionFuzzy Inference System (C/R-FIS,) is presented in this paper. By means of interconnected FISs, the C/RFIS expert system automatically evaluates the collaborative activity of two peers, during their asynchronous, written, web-based collaboration. This information is used for the provision of adaptive support to peers during their collaboration, towards equilibrium of their collaborative activity. In particular, this enhanced formative feedback aims at diminishing the possible dissonance between the individual collaborative skills by challenging self-adjustment procedures. The proposed model extents the evaluation system of a web-based collaborative tool namely Lin2k, which has served as a test-bed for the C/R-FIS experimental use. Results from its experimental use have proved the potentiality of the proposed model to significantly contribute to the enhancement of the collaborative activity and its transferability to other collaborative learning contexts, such as medicine, environmental engineering, law, and music education.
---
paper_title: ePro: a system for supporting collaboration that enhances interactions

paper_content:

Many systems that support group activities utilize computer and network technologies so that people in different places or at different times can communicate with each other. In this paper, we propose a system called ePro for supporting face-to-face collaboration by integrating physical and virtual worlds. In order to enhance interactions among group members and raise their engagement, ePro connects a sensor-embedded board and a computer simulation. In our current implementation, ePro is used to discuss urban planning and environmental problems. Group members collaboratively construct a town by placing a piece, such as a house, on a sensor-embedded board (physical world). The computer simulation program automatically recognizes the arrangement of pieces on the board. It then visualizes environmental changes to the town on the board through simulations (virtual world). The visualization shown to the group members amplifies the interaction among them and gives them feedback for re-designing the town on the board. In order to evaluate the effects of supporting group activities by combining physical and virtual worlds, preliminary experiments with ePro were carried out.
---
paper_title: Analyzing Collaborative Learning Processes Automatically: Exploiting the Advances of Computational Linguistics in Computer-Supported . . .

paper_content:

In this article we describe the emerging area of text classification research focused on the problem of collaborative learning process analysis both from a broad perspective and more specifically in terms of a publicly available tool set called TagHelper tools. Analyzing the variety of pedagogically valuable facets of learners' interactions is a time consuming and effortful process. Improving automated analyses of such highly valued processes of collaborative learning by adapting and applying recent text classification technologies would make it a less arduous task to obtain insights from corpus data. This endeavor also holds the potential for enabling substantially improved on-line instruction both by providing teachers and facilitators with reports about the groups they are moderating and by triggering context sensitive collaborative learning support on an as-needed basis. In this article, we report on an interdisciplinary research project, which has been investigating the effectiveness of applying text classification technology to a large CSCL corpus that has been analyzed by human coders using a theory-based multi- dimensional coding scheme. We report promising results and include an in-depth discussion of important issues such as reliability, validity, and efficiency that should be considered when deciding on the appropriateness of adopting a new technology such as TagHelper tools. One major technical contribution of this work is a demonstration that an important piece of the work towards making text classification technology effective for this purpose is designing and building linguistic pattern detectors, otherwise known as features, that can be extracted reliably from texts and that have high predictive power for the categories of discourse actions that the CSCL community is interested in.
---
paper_title: Sharing corpora and tools to improve interaction analysis

paper_content:

A very wide range of online interaction analysis staying in the hands of researchers, and tools being implemented in research prototypes, often used only in non-replicated experimentations, we point out the need for TEL research community to reach large scale validation for its results. This paper is a concrete step in this direction. For a deeper collaboration in our community, we suggest to share structured data collections. The Mulce project aims at proposing a structure for teaching and learning corpora (including pedagogical and research context), and especially for interaction tracks. Two main corpora are built according this structure. This paper defines a teaching and learning corpus, shows its main structure and browses some parts of the structured interaction data. We also describe the platform that enables the community to browse and analyze a shared corpus.
---
paper_title: Tutorial Dialogue as Adaptive Collaborative Learning Support

paper_content:

In this paper we investigate the role of reflection in simulation based learning by manipulating two independent factors that each separately lead to significant learning effects, namely whether students worked alone or in pairs, and what type of support students were provided with. Our finding is that in our simulation based learning task, students learned significantly more when they worked in pairs than when they worked alone. Furthermore, dynamic support implemented with tutorial dialogue agents lead to significantly more learning than no support, while static support was not statistically distinguishable from either of the other two conditions. The largest effect size in comparison with the control condition of individuals working alone with no support was Pairs+Dynamic support, with an effect size of 1.24 standard deviations.
---
paper_title: Providing adaptive support in computer supported collaboration environments

paper_content:

Many misunderstandings can occur during remote interaction due to different user domain competency levels, different cognitive capacity of users as well as different user backgrounds. In this paper, we propose an adaptive keyword/summary presentation approach that aims at identifying potential misunderstandings of individual users and provide these users with effective and personalized content of the current discussion. Our approach is developed for virtual worlds and tested and implemented based on the Wonderland Project. In order to evaluate our approach, a practical scenario has been designed and tested, which demonstrates how the system enriches the cyberspace for collaboration by making adaptive use of keyword/summary presentation.
---
paper_title: Supporting the Development of Mobile Adaptive Learning Environments: A Case Study

paper_content:

In this paper, we describe a system to support the generation of adaptive mobile learning environments. In these environments, students and teachers can accomplish different types of individual and collaborative activities in different contexts. Activities are dynamically recommended to users depending on different criteria (user features, context, etc.), and workspaces to support the corresponding activity accomplishment are dynamically generated. In this article, we present the main characteristics of the mechanism that suggests the most suitable activities at each situation, the system in which this mechanism has been implemented, the authoring tool to facilitate the specification of context-based adaptive m-learning environments, and two environments generated following this approach will be presented. The outcomes of two case studies carried out with students of the first and second courses of ldquoComputer Engineeringrdquo at the ldquoUniversidad Autonoma de Madridrdquo are also presented.
---
paper_title: Detecting and Solving Negative Situations in Real CSCL Experiences with a Role-Based Interaction Analysis Approach

paper_content:

Collaborative learning has a number of potential benefits, which do not always occur, partially due to the difficulties that students and teachers have to establish good social interaction patterns. These interaction patterns depend on the roles assumed by participants in the learning process. In real practice, teachers need support to be able to detect these emergent roles and undesired interaction patterns, especially if collaboration is mediated by computers, and thus is not directly observable by humans. Interaction analysis (IA) methods and tools are adequate to support the regulation of the collaborative activities, using the analysis results to provide adequate feedback to the different participants in their specific roles. We have proposed a role-based approach supported by a tool called Role-AdaptIA to detect and help to solve problematic situations in authentic computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scenarios. Role-AdaptIA is an adaptive interaction analysis tool based on a theoretical framework for the description of roles. The framework permits to define and characterize the roles to take into account in a given situation. Based on this information, Role-AdaptIA automatically detects role changes during the development of the collaborative experiences and warns the teacher about these changes. With this advice, the teacher is able to regulate the collaboration, providing support to the students to improve their interaction patterns. This chapter presents four examples of how Role-AdaptIA was used by teachers in order to regulate collaboration, detecting and solving undesired collaborative situations in several University courses where we have applied CSCL methods during the last years.
---
paper_title: Adaptive Peer Review Based on Student Profiles

paper_content:

Intelligent tutoring systems cover a wide range of educational processes. However, in the context of peer review methodology, there is no previous work about adaptation of the process according to the student's profile. In this paper, a methodology for adaptive peer review is introduced. Experimental application of adaptive peer review through two courses allows to confirm pedagogical benefits with actual students' results.
---
paper_title: Adapting and personalizing the communication in a synchronous communication tool

paper_content:

In this paper, we present a synchronous text-based communication tool, referred to as Adaptive Communication Tool (ACT), which provides capabilities for adaptation and personalization. ACT supports both the free and the structured form of dialogue. The structured dialogue is implemented by two types of Scaffolding Sentence Templates (SST); i.e. sentence openers or communicative acts. The capability of adaptation is considered in the sense of making suggestions for the supported form of dialogue and SST type and providing the most meaningful and complete set of SST with respect to the learning outcomes addressed by the collaborative learning activity and the model of collaboration followed by the group members. Also, ACT enables learners to have control on the adaptation by selecting the form of dialogue and the SST type they prefer to use and enriching the provided SST set with their own ones in order to cover their communication needs. The results from the formative evaluation of the tool showed that (i) the proposed dialogue form, SST type and the provided set of SST cover students’ communication needs, (ii) the capability of personalizing the communication by selecting the desired communication means as well as by enriching the provided SST set satisfied students, and (iii) students used adequately both types of SST resulting into on-task and coherent dialogues.
---
paper_title: Creating cognitive tutors for collaborative learning: steps toward realization

paper_content:

Our long-term research goal is to provide cognitive tutoring of collaboration within a collaborative software environment. This is a challenging goal, as intelligent tutors have traditionally focused on cognitive skills, rather than on the skills necessary to collaborate successfully. In this paper, we describe progress we have made toward this goal. Our first step was to devise a process known as bootstrapping novice data (BND), in which student problem-solving actions are collected and used to begin the development of a tutor. Next, we implemented BND by integrating a collaborative software tool, Cool Modes, with software designed to develop cognitive tutors (i.e., the cognitive tutor authoring tools). Our initial implementation of BND provides a means to directly capture data as a foundation for a collaboration tutor but does not yet fully support tutoring. Our next step was to perform two exploratory studies in which dyads of students used our integrated BND software to collaborate in solving modeling tasks. The data collected from these studies led us to identify five dimensions of collaborative and problem-solving behavior that point to the need for abstraction of student actions to better recognize, analyze, and provide feedback on collaboration. We also interviewed a domain expert who provided evidence for the advantage of bootstrapping over manual creation of a collaboration tutor. We discuss plans to use these analyses to inform and extend our tools so that we can eventually reach our goal of tutoring collaboration.
---
paper_title: A Tool to Support Interaction and Collaboration Analysis of Learning Activity

paper_content:

An increasing amount of data is collected today during studies in which students and educators are engaged in learning activities using information technology and other tools. These data are indispensable for analysis and evaluation of learning activities, for evaluation of new tools and for students’ meta-cognitive activities. The data can take various forms, including video and audio recordings, log files of computing-related activity, field notes, results of students work in electronic or other forms, activity sheets etc. The need for analysis tools, which can annotate these data, classify them, process them and facilitate their inspection, is of increased importance especially for science education, since the latter involves experimentation and use of laboratory and other equipment that necessitate thorough off-line analysis and evaluation. In this paper we discuss first the key requirements of a new generation of interaction and collaboration analysis tools. We then present how these requirements have lead to the design of a prototype tool, recently developed. This tool can relate and synchronize various streams of field data. An important characteristic of the tool is its support for a multi-layer structure of annotations of various levels of abstraction, through which the activity can be interpreted and presented. This multi-layer representation can be inter-related to the raw field data, and can drive the navigation of the researcher in the activity data. An example of use of this tool for analysis and evaluation of a collaborative problem solving activity is also included.
---
paper_title: A framework for process-solution analysis in collaborative learning environments

paper_content:

One of the most challenging aspects of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research is automation of collaboration and interaction analysis in order to understand and improve the learning processes. It is particularly necessary to look in more depth at the joint analysis of the collaborative process and its resulting product. In this article, we present a framework for comprehensive analysis in CSCL synchronous environments supporting a problem-solving approach to learning. This framework is based on an observation-abstraction-intervention analysis life-cycle and consists of a suite of analysis indicators, procedures for calculating indicators and a model of intervention based on indicators. Analysis indicators are used to represent the collaboration and knowledge building process at different levels of abstraction, and to characterize the solution built using models of the application domain, the problems to solve and their solutions. The analysis procedures combine analysis of actions and dialogue with analysis of the solution. In this way, the process and the solution are studied independently as well as together, enabling the detection of correlations between them. In order to exemplify and test the framework, the methodological process underlying the framework was followed to guide the implementation of the analysis subsystems of two existing CSCL environments. In addition, a number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the framework's approach, demonstrating that certain modes of collaborating and working imply particular types of solutions and vice versa.
---
paper_title: Reveal the Collaboration in a Open Learning Environment

paper_content:

The management and characterization of collaboration to improve students' learning is still an open issue, which needs standardized models and inferring methods for effective collaboration indicators, especially when online courses are based on open approaches where students are not following CSCL scripts. We have supplied our students with a scrutable (manageable and understandable) web application that shows an ontology, which includes collaborative features. The ontology structures collaboration context information, which has been obtained form explicit (based on questionnaires) and implicit methods (supported by several machine learning techniques). From two consecutive years of experiences with hundreds of students we researched students' interactions to find implicit methods to identify and characterize students' collaboration. Based on the outcomes of our experiments we claim that showing useful and structured information to students and tutors about students' collaborative features can have a twofold beneficial impact on students learning and on the management of their collaboration.
---
paper_title: Designing and Applying Adaptation Patterns Embedded in the Script

paper_content:

CeLS is a web-based system designed to enable teachers and researchers to create, enact and test multi-stage CSCL scripts in actual educational settings. The paper presents CeLS approach and potential for adaptive collaboration scripting, aimed to tailor the activity according to students' performance, personal characteristics and preferences. We specifically focus on two aspects: 'on the fly' adaptations according to enactment events and Adaptation Patterns: pre-designed processes that are embedded in the script definition.
---
paper_title: Enriching Web Based Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Systems by Considering Misunderstandings among Learners during Interactions

paper_content:

Remote collaboration has many benefits; however, due to the geographical distribution of learners, many misunderstandings can occur during interaction. For example, learners may miss the context of the discussion or do not hear parts of it, leading to inefficient discussions. In this paper, we propose an “Enriched Cyberspace” approach for dependable web based computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) to overcome these problems. The system based on the approach assesses the situations of remote users through fusing information of multiple biological sensors and the related general contexts to enrich the cyberspace. A formative scenario evaluation demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of the approach for developing effective web-based CSCL systems.
---
paper_title: Helping Teachers Handle the Flood of Data in Online Student Discussions

paper_content:

E-discussion tools provide students with the opportunity not only to learn about the topic under discussion but to acquire argumentation and collaboration skills and to engage in analytic thinking. However, too often, e-discussions are not fruitful and moderation is needed. We describe our approach, which employs intelligent data analysis techniques, to support teachers as they moderate multiple simultaneous discussions. We have generated six machine-learned classifiers for detecting potentially important discussion characteristics, such as a "reasoned claim" and an "argument-counterargument" sequence. All of our classifiers have achieved satisfactory Kappa values and are integrated in an online classification system. We hypothesize how a teacher might use this information by means of two authentic e-discussion examples. Finally, we discuss ways to bootstrap from these fine-grained classifications to the analysis of more complex patterns of interaction.
---
paper_title: An evolutionary approach to prototyping pedagogical agents: from simulation to integrated system

paper_content:

We have developed and integrated software agents with two educational groupware systems (TeamWave Workplace and FLE), using evolutionary prototyping and empirical-based design as development techniques. The resulting prototypes of pedagogical agents (CoPAS, SA-Agent and RuleEditor) provide learners and teachers with increasingly domain-specific support for distributed collaborative learning activities. Employing the evolutionary approach has enabled us to build and evaluate early prototypes of complex systems with cost-effective techniques and involving users in this process helped us to constrain the design space and direct further development. CoPAS is a simulation experiment carried out with the Wizard of Oz technique, SA-Agent is a pedagogical agent integrated with an open-source learning environment, and RuleEditor is a customizer for the SA-Agent. The agents collect statistical information on user activity and analyze that information based on principles of collaboration and knowledge building. The results are presented as advice in the user interface of the learning environments to promote students' reflection on their collaboration and knowledge-building activities. If instructors disagree about the phrasing of the advice or the frequency of intervention, they can change it using the RuleEditor agent customizer.
---
paper_title: An Ontology Engineering Approach to the Realization of Theory-Driven Group Formation

paper_content:

One of the main difficulties during the design of collaborative learning activities is adequate group formation. In any type of collaboration, group formation plays a critical role in the learners’ acceptance of group activities, as well as the success of the collaborative learning process. Nevertheless, to propose both an effective and pedagogically sound group formation is a complex issue due to multiple factors that influence group arrangement. The current (and previous) learner’s knowledge and skills, the roles and strategies used by learners to interact among themselves, and the teacher’s preferences are some examples of factors to be considered while forming groups. To identify which factors are essential (or desired) in effective group formation, a well-structured and formalized representation of collaborative learning processes, supported by a strong pedagogical basis, is desirable. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to present an ontology that works as a framework based on learning theories that facilitate group formation and collaborative learning design. The ontology provides the necessary formalization to represent collaborative learning and its processes, while learning theories provide support in making pedagogical decisions such as gathering learners in groups and planning the scenario where the collaboration will take place. Although the use of learning theories to support collaborative learning is open for criticism, we identify that they provide important information which can be useful in allowing for more effective learning. To validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this approach, we use this ontology to form and run group activities carried out by four instructors and 20 participants. The experiment was utilized as a proof-of-concept and the results suggest that our ontological framework facilitates the effective design of group activities, and can positively affect the performance of individuals during group learning.
---
paper_title: An algorithm for peer review matching using student profiles based on fuzzy classification and genetic algorithms

paper_content:

In the context of Intelligent Tutoring Systems, there is a potential for adapting either content or its sequence to student as to enhance the learning experience. Recent theories propose the use of team-working environments to improve even further this experience. In this paper an effective matching algorithm is presented in the context of peer reviewing applied to an educational setting. The problem is formulated as an optimization problem to search a solution that satisfies a set of given criteria modeled as "profiles". These profiles represent regions of the solution space to be either favored or avoided when searching for a solution. The proposed technique was deployed in a first semester computer engineering course and proved to be both effective and well received by the students.
---
paper_title: Providing support for adaptive scripting in an on-line collaborative learning environment

paper_content:

This paper describes results from a series of experimental studies to explore issues related to structuring productive group dynamics for collaborative learning using an adaptive support mechanism. The first study provides evidence in favor of the feasibility of the endeavor by demonstrating with a tightly controlled study that even without adaptive support, problem solving in pairs is significantly more effective for learning than problem solving alone. The results from a second study offer guidelines for strategic matching of students with learning partners. Furthermore, the results reveal specific areas for needed support. Based on the results from the second study, we present the design of an adaptive support mechanism, which we evaluate in a third study. The results from the third study provide evidence that certain aspects of our design for adaptive support in the form of strategic prompts are effective for manipulating student behavior in productive ways and for supporting learning. These results also motivate specific modifications to the original design.
---
paper_title: The Application of Learning Styles in Both Individual and Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

With the goal of applying learning styles in both individual and collaborative learning, some adaptation mechanisms have been developed. These mechanisms try to improve the process of learning by matching the teaching style with the student's learning style and by grouping students in some specific ways. We use the Felder-Silverman learning style model and its index of learning styles (ILS) questionnaire, in order to classify students, depending on their preferences on four dimensions (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global). The benefits of learning styles, it can be of interest for adaptive hypermedia learning systems in both individual and collaborative activities, especially if they support automatic grouping of users. From the results obtained by a case study with students of Computer Science in a collaborative task can be concluded that some dimensions of the learning style model seem to affect the quality of the resulting work. With this aim, new grouping rules have been incorporated in the TANGOW/WOTAN system to be used in the corresponding courses
---
paper_title: Using Learning Styles for Dynamic Group Formation in Adaptive Collaborative Hypermedia Systems

paper_content:

The Spanish Interdepartmental Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), project number TIC2001-0685-C02-01, has sponsored this work.
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paper_title: NUCLEO: Adaptive Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in a Role Game Based Scenario

paper_content:

This paper presents the adaptation model used in NUCLEO, a pilot e-learning environment that is currently being developed at the Complutense University of Madrid. The NUCLEO system combines two approaches grounded in the constructive pedagogical stream, the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and the Problem Based Learning, with the engaging and immersive formats of the videogames. It provides a futurist scenario in which students (represented by avatars and organized in small teams) have to collaborate to solve a learning ldquomissionrdquo following the mechanics of a classical role based play. In order to increase the efficiency of the collaborative work and to reduce the teacherpsilas workload, NUCLEO applies user modeling techniques to the studentspsila learning strategies, considering a simplified framework of Vermuntpsilas model for learning styles. The model determines how the system brings together students whose learning strategies are complementary to build up collaborative and semi-autonomous learning teams. Examples from an ongoing study with NUCLEO to teach programming disciplines illustrate the presentation of these adaptation models.
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paper_title: 1 User Models for Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Educational Systems

paper_content:

One distinctive feature of any adaptive system is the user model that represents essential information about each user. This chapter complements other chapters of this book in reviewing user models and user modeling approaches applied in adaptive Web systems. The presentation is structured along three dimensions: what is being modeled, how it is modeled, and how the models are maintained. After a broad overview of the nature of the information presented in these various user models, the chapter focuses on two groups of approaches to user model representation and maintenance: the overlay approach to user model representation and the uncertainty-based approach to user modeling.
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paper_title: To tutor the tutor: Adaptive domain support for peer tutoring

paper_content:

The effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems at increasing learning might be improved if the systems were combined with collaborative activities that encouraged conceptual elaboration. We extended the Cognitive Tutor Algebra, an intelligent tutoring system for high-school mathematics, with a peer tutoring activity that was designed to encourage interaction, reflection, and accountability. Two types of domain support were provided: adaptive support, which used the intelligent tutor domain models to provide feedback to the peer tutor, and fixed support, which simply consisted of answers to the problems. We compared the two peer tutoring conditions (adaptive or fixed support) to individual use of the cognitive tutor (without peer-tutoring activities). Even though students in the individual condition solved more problems during instruction, we did not find significant differences between the individual and collaborative conditions on learning. However, we found a correlation between tutee impasses and tutor learning.
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paper_title: Integrating Media And Modalities In The User-Machine Interface

paper_content:

In this paper, we address one of the main issues that affect the ergonomic quality of multimedia user interfaces, namely the integration of media and modalities from a user’s perspective. In particular, we present a methodological approach for the selection/allocation of appropriate (combinations of) media and modalities to optimally convey information, taking into account fundamental aspects of the usermachine interaction, such as the user’s profile, task nature, etc. The methodology can be easily customised to the requirements of different application domains and target user groups. It enables the combination of partial allocation rules, suggestions and guidelines, that can be found in the human factors and ergonomics literature, into a set of aggregated allocation rules. A simple, indicative example of the application of the methodology, based on actual data derived from the related literature is also presented, in order to illustrate the advantages of our approach.
---
paper_title: Modeling Helping Behavior in an Intelligent Tutor for Peer Tutoring

paper_content:

Giving effective help is an important collaborative skill that leads to improved learning for both the help-giver and help-receiver. Adding intelligent tutoring to student interaction may be one effective way of assisting students in giving and receiving better help. However, such systems have proven difficult to implement, in part due to the challenges of modeling productive dialogue in a collaborative activity. We present a theoretical model of good helping behavior in a peer tutoring context, and validate the model using student tutoring data, linking optimal and buggy behaviors to learning outcomes. We discuss the implications of the model with respect to providing intelligent tutoring for peer tutoring.
---
paper_title: Interactive Problem Solving Support in the Adaptive Educational Hypermedia System MATHEMA

paper_content:

This paper describes the interactive problem solving support offered by our adaptive educational hypermedia system called MATHEMA. The general goal of the MATHEMA is the support of senior high school students or the beginners of higher education, through an interactive and constructivist environment, in learning physics (electromagnetism) individually and/or collaboratively, and to overcome their possible misconceptions and learning difficulties. Initially, a review of related work about the implemented AEHS/ITS and the didactic design principles of the MATHEMA are presented. Through the interactive problem solving, the system supports the students in solving electromagnetism problems, individually and/or collaboratively, by following an activity that is based on the experimentation with simulations, explorations, guided discovery, and collaboration didactic approaches. An experimental study with senior high school students showed that they improve their performances when following this activity. A questionnaire that we gave to the students to express their opinion about our system helped us to improve the quality of the courses. Index Terms—Adaptive educational hypermedia, interactive problem solving, learning styles, misconceptions. C
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paper_title: Applying adaptive swarm intelligence technology with structuration in web-based collaborative learning

paper_content:

Abstract One of the key challenges in the promotion of web-based learning is the development of effective collaborative learning environments. We posit that the structuration process strongly influences the effectiveness of technology used in web-based collaborative learning activities. In this paper, we propose an ant swarm collaborative learning (ASCL) environment based on a swarm intelligence system (SIS) that structures opportunities for effective collaboration and learning in a dynamic way. The results of our experiments indicate that: (1) the self-organizing behavior of SIS is positively associated with system appropriation; (2) the multi-agent-based mechanism of SIS is positively associated with system appropriation; (3) the cohesive capability of SIS is positively associated with system appropriation; and (4) the learner’s tendency toward system appropriation is positively associated with learning effectiveness. Our findings also show that learners in an ASCL environment outperform their counterparts in a general web-based learning (GWL) environment. We conclude that different types of technological support can influence the achievement in a web-based learning environment.
---
paper_title: Intelligent assistance for teachers in collaborative e-learning environments

paper_content:

Collaborative learning environments provide a set of tools for students acting in groups to interact and accomplish an assigned task. In this kind of systems, students are free to express and communicate with each other, which usually lead to collaboration and communication problems that may require the intervention of a teacher. In this article, we introduce an intelligent agent approach to assist teachers through monitoring participations made by students within a collaborative distance learning environment, detecting conflictive situations in which a teacher's intervention may be necessary. High precision rates achieved on conflict detection scenarios suggest great potential for the application of the proposed rule-based approach for providing personalized assistance to teachers during the development of group works.
---
paper_title: A Data Mining Approach to Reveal Representative Collaboration Indicators in Open Collaboration Frameworks

paper_content:

Data mining methods are successful in educational environments to discover new knowledge or learner skills or features. Unfortunately, they have not been used in depth with collaboration. We have developed a scalable data mining method, whose objective is to infer information on the collaboration during the collaboration process in a domain-independent way and to improve collaboration process management and learning in an open collaborative educational web environment. Thus, we used statistical indicators of learner's interactions in forums as the data source and a clustering algorithm to classify the data according to learner's collaboration. We showed the information on learner's collaboration to the tutor and learners to help them with collaboration process management. The experimental results support this method.
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paper_title: On enhancing on-line collaboration using fuzzy logic modeling

paper_content:

Web-based collaboration calls for professional skills and competences to the benefit of the quality of the collaboration and its output. Within this framework, educational virtual environments may provide a means for training upon these skills and in particular the collaborative ones. On the basis of the existing technological means such training may be enhanced even more. Designing considerations towards this direction include the close follow-up of the collaborative activity and provision of support grounded upon a pedagogical background. To this vein, a fuzzy logic-based expert system, namely Collaboration/ReflectionFuzzy Inference System (C/R-FIS,) is presented in this paper. By means of interconnected FISs, the C/RFIS expert system automatically evaluates the collaborative activity of two peers, during their asynchronous, written, web-based collaboration. This information is used for the provision of adaptive support to peers during their collaboration, towards equilibrium of their collaborative activity. In particular, this enhanced formative feedback aims at diminishing the possible dissonance between the individual collaborative skills by challenging self-adjustment procedures. The proposed model extents the evaluation system of a web-based collaborative tool namely Lin2k, which has served as a test-bed for the C/R-FIS experimental use. Results from its experimental use have proved the potentiality of the proposed model to significantly contribute to the enhancement of the collaborative activity and its transferability to other collaborative learning contexts, such as medicine, environmental engineering, law, and music education.
---
paper_title: ePro: a system for supporting collaboration that enhances interactions

paper_content:

Many systems that support group activities utilize computer and network technologies so that people in different places or at different times can communicate with each other. In this paper, we propose a system called ePro for supporting face-to-face collaboration by integrating physical and virtual worlds. In order to enhance interactions among group members and raise their engagement, ePro connects a sensor-embedded board and a computer simulation. In our current implementation, ePro is used to discuss urban planning and environmental problems. Group members collaboratively construct a town by placing a piece, such as a house, on a sensor-embedded board (physical world). The computer simulation program automatically recognizes the arrangement of pieces on the board. It then visualizes environmental changes to the town on the board through simulations (virtual world). The visualization shown to the group members amplifies the interaction among them and gives them feedback for re-designing the town on the board. In order to evaluate the effects of supporting group activities by combining physical and virtual worlds, preliminary experiments with ePro were carried out.
---
paper_title: A Group Formation Tool in an E-Learning Context

paper_content:

In this paper we present a Web-based group formation tool that supports the instructor to automatically create both homogeneous and heterogeneous groups based on up to three criteria and the learner to negotiate the grouping. Moreover, the instructor is allowed to manually group learners based on specific criteria. A discriminative feature of this tool is the use of the fuzzy c-means algorithm for homogeneous grouping, which provides for each learner the probability of belonging to different groups. This information is also provided to the instructor to support him/her in manually exchanging learners or intervening in the initial grouping. Moreover, the learners are informed for the groups formed and they are allowed to negotiate their group assignment. Preliminary evaluation results provide indications for the efficiency of the proposed approach informing homogeneous and heterogeneous groups in a real context.
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paper_title: Analyzing Collaborative Learning Processes Automatically: Exploiting the Advances of Computational Linguistics in Computer-Supported . . .

paper_content:

In this article we describe the emerging area of text classification research focused on the problem of collaborative learning process analysis both from a broad perspective and more specifically in terms of a publicly available tool set called TagHelper tools. Analyzing the variety of pedagogically valuable facets of learners' interactions is a time consuming and effortful process. Improving automated analyses of such highly valued processes of collaborative learning by adapting and applying recent text classification technologies would make it a less arduous task to obtain insights from corpus data. This endeavor also holds the potential for enabling substantially improved on-line instruction both by providing teachers and facilitators with reports about the groups they are moderating and by triggering context sensitive collaborative learning support on an as-needed basis. In this article, we report on an interdisciplinary research project, which has been investigating the effectiveness of applying text classification technology to a large CSCL corpus that has been analyzed by human coders using a theory-based multi- dimensional coding scheme. We report promising results and include an in-depth discussion of important issues such as reliability, validity, and efficiency that should be considered when deciding on the appropriateness of adopting a new technology such as TagHelper tools. One major technical contribution of this work is a demonstration that an important piece of the work towards making text classification technology effective for this purpose is designing and building linguistic pattern detectors, otherwise known as features, that can be extracted reliably from texts and that have high predictive power for the categories of discourse actions that the CSCL community is interested in.
---
paper_title: Coalescing individual and collaborative learning to model user linguistic competences

paper_content:

A linguistic, pedagogic and technological framework for an ICALL system called COPPER is presented here, where individual and collaborative learning are combined within a constructivist approach to facilitate second language learning. Based upon the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the ability to use language is viewed as one of several cognitive competences that are mobilised and modified when individuals communicate. To combine the different types of learning underlying the European Framework, a student model has been developed for COPPER that represents linguistic competences in a detailed way, combining high granularity expert-centric Bayesian networks with multidimensional stereotypes, and is updated following student activities semi-automatically. Instances of this model are used by an adaptive group formation algorithm that dynamically generates communicative groups based upon the linguistic capabilities of available students, and a collection of collaborative activity templates. As well as the student model, which is a representation of individual linguistic knowledge, preferences, etc., there is a group model, which is a representation of how a set of students works together. The results of a student's activity within a group are evaluated by a student monitor, with more advanced linguistic competences, thereby sidestepping the difficulties present when using NLP techniques to automatically analyse non-restricted linguistic production. The monitor role empowers students and further consolidates what has been previously learnt. Students therefore initially work individually in this framework on certain linguistic concepts, and subsequently participate in authentic collaborative communicative activities, where their linguistic competences can develop approximately as they would in `real foreign language immersion experiences'.
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paper_title: Supporting Teachers Intervention in Collaborative Knowledge Building

paper_content:

In the context of distributed collaborative learning, the teacher's role is different from traditional teacher-centered environments, they are coordinators/facilitators, guides, and co-learners. They monitor the collaboration activities within a group, detect problems and intervene in the collaboration to give advice and learn alongside students at the same time. We have designed an Assistant to support teachers' intervention in collaborative knowledge building. The Assistant monitors the collaboration, visualizes it and provides advice to the teacher on the subject domain and the collaboration process. The goal of the research present in this paper is to explore the possibilities of enriching Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments with tools to support collaborative interaction.
---
paper_title: Tutorial Dialogue as Adaptive Collaborative Learning Support

paper_content:

In this paper we investigate the role of reflection in simulation based learning by manipulating two independent factors that each separately lead to significant learning effects, namely whether students worked alone or in pairs, and what type of support students were provided with. Our finding is that in our simulation based learning task, students learned significantly more when they worked in pairs than when they worked alone. Furthermore, dynamic support implemented with tutorial dialogue agents lead to significantly more learning than no support, while static support was not statistically distinguishable from either of the other two conditions. The largest effect size in comparison with the control condition of individuals working alone with no support was Pairs+Dynamic support, with an effect size of 1.24 standard deviations.
---
paper_title: An Adaptive, Collaborative Environment to Develop Good Habits in Programming

paper_content:

In this paper we discuss how computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) can be deployed to develop new skills and habits in students at university level. These considerations led to the development of an adaptive environment to develop good programming habits. We start by describing the difficulties in teaching and learning programming and more concretely, in making students good programmers. Afterwards, we explain why group work is an adequate approach to learn programming. Next HabiPro, an environment that trains students in Programming is described. The principal features of this system are: It is adaptive: depending on the group features the environment proposes different pedagogic methodologies and different exercises. The tool promotes collaboration and interaction among the students. The pedagogic methodologies are based on reflection, observation, and relation. Finally, we present our conclusions and discuss future work.
---
paper_title: Providing adaptive support in computer supported collaboration environments

paper_content:

Many misunderstandings can occur during remote interaction due to different user domain competency levels, different cognitive capacity of users as well as different user backgrounds. In this paper, we propose an adaptive keyword/summary presentation approach that aims at identifying potential misunderstandings of individual users and provide these users with effective and personalized content of the current discussion. Our approach is developed for virtual worlds and tested and implemented based on the Wonderland Project. In order to evaluate our approach, a practical scenario has been designed and tested, which demonstrates how the system enriches the cyberspace for collaboration by making adaptive use of keyword/summary presentation.
---
paper_title: User Modelling in a Collaborative Learning Environment for UML

paper_content:

In this paper, we describe AUTO-COLLEAGUE that is an adaptive and collaborative learning environment for UML. There are two kinds of user: the trainer and the trainee. The trainees can design UML diagrams given by the trainer or run certain tests/exercises for specific problems that are given. They can collaborate with each other. The system offers them adaptive help and advice regarding the most effective and productive organization of the trainees in groups. This is done so that the users' collaboration among them can be more efficient. The adaptivity is achieved through user modelling based on stereotypes. The stereotypes are related to three aspects of the performance of the trainee: the Level of Expertise, the Performance Types and the Personality.
---
paper_title: Detecting and Solving Negative Situations in Real CSCL Experiences with a Role-Based Interaction Analysis Approach

paper_content:

Collaborative learning has a number of potential benefits, which do not always occur, partially due to the difficulties that students and teachers have to establish good social interaction patterns. These interaction patterns depend on the roles assumed by participants in the learning process. In real practice, teachers need support to be able to detect these emergent roles and undesired interaction patterns, especially if collaboration is mediated by computers, and thus is not directly observable by humans. Interaction analysis (IA) methods and tools are adequate to support the regulation of the collaborative activities, using the analysis results to provide adequate feedback to the different participants in their specific roles. We have proposed a role-based approach supported by a tool called Role-AdaptIA to detect and help to solve problematic situations in authentic computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scenarios. Role-AdaptIA is an adaptive interaction analysis tool based on a theoretical framework for the description of roles. The framework permits to define and characterize the roles to take into account in a given situation. Based on this information, Role-AdaptIA automatically detects role changes during the development of the collaborative experiences and warns the teacher about these changes. With this advice, the teacher is able to regulate the collaboration, providing support to the students to improve their interaction patterns. This chapter presents four examples of how Role-AdaptIA was used by teachers in order to regulate collaboration, detecting and solving undesired collaborative situations in several University courses where we have applied CSCL methods during the last years.
---
paper_title: Adaptive Peer Review Based on Student Profiles

paper_content:

Intelligent tutoring systems cover a wide range of educational processes. However, in the context of peer review methodology, there is no previous work about adaptation of the process according to the student's profile. In this paper, a methodology for adaptive peer review is introduced. Experimental application of adaptive peer review through two courses allows to confirm pedagogical benefits with actual students' results.
---
paper_title: Adapting and personalizing the communication in a synchronous communication tool

paper_content:

In this paper, we present a synchronous text-based communication tool, referred to as Adaptive Communication Tool (ACT), which provides capabilities for adaptation and personalization. ACT supports both the free and the structured form of dialogue. The structured dialogue is implemented by two types of Scaffolding Sentence Templates (SST); i.e. sentence openers or communicative acts. The capability of adaptation is considered in the sense of making suggestions for the supported form of dialogue and SST type and providing the most meaningful and complete set of SST with respect to the learning outcomes addressed by the collaborative learning activity and the model of collaboration followed by the group members. Also, ACT enables learners to have control on the adaptation by selecting the form of dialogue and the SST type they prefer to use and enriching the provided SST set with their own ones in order to cover their communication needs. The results from the formative evaluation of the tool showed that (i) the proposed dialogue form, SST type and the provided set of SST cover students’ communication needs, (ii) the capability of personalizing the communication by selecting the desired communication means as well as by enriching the provided SST set satisfied students, and (iii) students used adequately both types of SST resulting into on-task and coherent dialogues.
---
paper_title: A Bayesian approach to generating tutorial hints in a collaborative medical problem-based learning system

paper_content:

Objectives: Today a great many medical schools have turned to a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching. While PBL has many strengths, effective PBL requires the tutor to provide a high degree of personal attention to the students, which is difficult in the current academic environment of increasing demands on faculty time. This paper describes intelligent tutoring in a collaborative medical tutor for PBL. The main contribution of our work is the development of representational techniques and algorithms for generating tutoring hints in PBL group problem solving, as well as the implementation of these techniques in a collaborative intelligent tutoring system, COMET. The system combines concepts from computer-supported collaborative learning with those from intelligent tutoring systems. Methods and materials: The system uses Bayesian networks to model individual student clinical reasoning, as well as that of the group. The prototype system incorporates substantial domain knowledge in the areas of head injury, stroke and heart attack. Tutoring in PBL is particularly challenging since the tutor should provide as little guidance as possible while at the same time not allowing the students to get lost. From studies of PBL sessions at a local medical school, we have identified and implemented eight commonly used hinting strategies. In order to evaluate the appropriateness and quality of the hints generated by our system, we compared the tutoring hints generated by COMET with those of experienced human tutors. We also compared the focus of group activity chosen by COMET with that chosen by human tutors. Results: On average, 74.17% of the human tutors used the same hint as COMET. The most similar human tutor agreed with COMET 83% of the time and the least similar tutor agreed 62% of the time. Our results show that COMET's hints agree with the hints of the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.652, @k=0.773). The focus of group activity chosen by COMET agrees with that chosen by the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.774, @k=0.823). Conclusion: Bayesian network clinical reasoning models can be combined with generic tutoring strategies to successfully emulate human tutor hints in group medical PBL.
---
paper_title: A framework for process-solution analysis in collaborative learning environments

paper_content:

One of the most challenging aspects of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research is automation of collaboration and interaction analysis in order to understand and improve the learning processes. It is particularly necessary to look in more depth at the joint analysis of the collaborative process and its resulting product. In this article, we present a framework for comprehensive analysis in CSCL synchronous environments supporting a problem-solving approach to learning. This framework is based on an observation-abstraction-intervention analysis life-cycle and consists of a suite of analysis indicators, procedures for calculating indicators and a model of intervention based on indicators. Analysis indicators are used to represent the collaboration and knowledge building process at different levels of abstraction, and to characterize the solution built using models of the application domain, the problems to solve and their solutions. The analysis procedures combine analysis of actions and dialogue with analysis of the solution. In this way, the process and the solution are studied independently as well as together, enabling the detection of correlations between them. In order to exemplify and test the framework, the methodological process underlying the framework was followed to guide the implementation of the analysis subsystems of two existing CSCL environments. In addition, a number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the framework's approach, demonstrating that certain modes of collaborating and working imply particular types of solutions and vice versa.
---
paper_title: Intelligent Coaching for Collaboration in Ill-Defined Domains

paper_content:

This research seeks to improve learning by integrating intelligent coaching with peer-to-peer collaboration. We combine advanced technologies that support student freedom and exploration, allow for collaboration and peer tutoring, and provide task advice by modeling student work and behavior. We empirically evaluated both the effect of added collaborative features that enable peer-to-peer interaction and the potential to use this collaboration to improve the intelligent coaching features of the system. We found that collaboration enhances student work and that the coaching features provide opportunities to promote collaboration.
---
paper_title: Cluster Analysis in Personalized E-Learning Systems

paper_content:

Personalized e-learning system should be tailored into student needs, which usually differ even among learners, who attend the same course and have similar technical skills. In the chapter, it is proposed the system architecture, in which teaching paths as well as proper layouts are adjusted to groups of students with similar preferences, created by application of clustering techniques. Learner models are based on dominant learning style dimensions, according to which students focus on different types of information and show different performances in educational process. Extension of the model by including usability preferences is investigated. There are examined different clustering techniques to obtain groups of the best quality. It is presented the algorithm that will fulfill tutor requirements especially concerning the choice of parameters. Some experimental results for real groups of students and different algorithms are described and discussed.
---
paper_title: Reveal the Collaboration in a Open Learning Environment

paper_content:

The management and characterization of collaboration to improve students' learning is still an open issue, which needs standardized models and inferring methods for effective collaboration indicators, especially when online courses are based on open approaches where students are not following CSCL scripts. We have supplied our students with a scrutable (manageable and understandable) web application that shows an ontology, which includes collaborative features. The ontology structures collaboration context information, which has been obtained form explicit (based on questionnaires) and implicit methods (supported by several machine learning techniques). From two consecutive years of experiences with hundreds of students we researched students' interactions to find implicit methods to identify and characterize students' collaboration. Based on the outcomes of our experiments we claim that showing useful and structured information to students and tutors about students' collaborative features can have a twofold beneficial impact on students learning and on the management of their collaboration.
---
paper_title: Modeling Helping Behavior in an Intelligent Tutor for Peer Tutoring

paper_content:

Giving effective help is an important collaborative skill that leads to improved learning for both the help-giver and help-receiver. Adding intelligent tutoring to student interaction may be one effective way of assisting students in giving and receiving better help. However, such systems have proven difficult to implement, in part due to the challenges of modeling productive dialogue in a collaborative activity. We present a theoretical model of good helping behavior in a peer tutoring context, and validate the model using student tutoring data, linking optimal and buggy behaviors to learning outcomes. We discuss the implications of the model with respect to providing intelligent tutoring for peer tutoring.
---
paper_title: Beyond explicit feedback: new directions in adaptive collaborative learning support

paper_content:

Adaptive collaborative learning support (ACLS) may be better than fixed forms of support at increasing learning from collaboration. While much existing adaptive assistance has focused on providing explicit feedback directly to the relevant student, we propose a two-dimensional design space which explores alternative methods of adaptive assistance that are implicit, indirect, or both. We investigated the viability of these ideas using data collected in a classroom evaluation of an ACLS system for peer tutoring which incorporated the design ideas in a manner that provided cognitive support to peer tutors. In this paper, we discuss how students interacted with the different forms of feedback, and propose a second iteration of the assistance that involves collaborative support in addition to domain support.
---
paper_title: A Bayesian approach to generating tutorial hints in a collaborative medical problem-based learning system

paper_content:

Objectives: Today a great many medical schools have turned to a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching. While PBL has many strengths, effective PBL requires the tutor to provide a high degree of personal attention to the students, which is difficult in the current academic environment of increasing demands on faculty time. This paper describes intelligent tutoring in a collaborative medical tutor for PBL. The main contribution of our work is the development of representational techniques and algorithms for generating tutoring hints in PBL group problem solving, as well as the implementation of these techniques in a collaborative intelligent tutoring system, COMET. The system combines concepts from computer-supported collaborative learning with those from intelligent tutoring systems. Methods and materials: The system uses Bayesian networks to model individual student clinical reasoning, as well as that of the group. The prototype system incorporates substantial domain knowledge in the areas of head injury, stroke and heart attack. Tutoring in PBL is particularly challenging since the tutor should provide as little guidance as possible while at the same time not allowing the students to get lost. From studies of PBL sessions at a local medical school, we have identified and implemented eight commonly used hinting strategies. In order to evaluate the appropriateness and quality of the hints generated by our system, we compared the tutoring hints generated by COMET with those of experienced human tutors. We also compared the focus of group activity chosen by COMET with that chosen by human tutors. Results: On average, 74.17% of the human tutors used the same hint as COMET. The most similar human tutor agreed with COMET 83% of the time and the least similar tutor agreed 62% of the time. Our results show that COMET's hints agree with the hints of the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.652, @k=0.773). The focus of group activity chosen by COMET agrees with that chosen by the majority of the human tutors with a high degree of statistical agreement (McNemar test, p=0.774, @k=0.823). Conclusion: Bayesian network clinical reasoning models can be combined with generic tutoring strategies to successfully emulate human tutor hints in group medical PBL.
---
paper_title: Educational game design for online education

paper_content:

The use of educational games in learning environments is an increasingly relevant trend. The motivational and immersive traits of game-based learning have been deeply studied in the literature, but the systematic design and implementation of educational games remain an elusive topic. In this study some relevant requirements for the design of educational games in online education are analyzed, and a general game design method that includes adaptation and assessment features is proposed. Finally, a particular implementation of that design is described in light of its applicability to other implementations and environments.
---
paper_title: User Data Management and Usage Model Acquisition in an Adaptive Educational Collaborative Environment

paper_content:

In this paper we describe the basis of aLF (active learning framework) an environment for web-based distance learning on the web and how it can be extended with a user modelling subsystem aimed at providing an adaptive response which can meet users' knowledge state, preferences and goals. We concentrate on user data collection and its further processing to create a user model. Furthermore, as regards the user modelling task, we claim that a combination of different machine learning algorithms should perform better than individual methods. To support our approach we will provide some preliminary experimental results.
---
paper_title: NUCLEO: Adaptive Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in a Role Game Based Scenario

paper_content:

This paper presents the adaptation model used in NUCLEO, a pilot e-learning environment that is currently being developed at the Complutense University of Madrid. The NUCLEO system combines two approaches grounded in the constructive pedagogical stream, the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and the Problem Based Learning, with the engaging and immersive formats of the videogames. It provides a futurist scenario in which students (represented by avatars and organized in small teams) have to collaborate to solve a learning ldquomissionrdquo following the mechanics of a classical role based play. In order to increase the efficiency of the collaborative work and to reduce the teacherpsilas workload, NUCLEO applies user modeling techniques to the studentspsila learning strategies, considering a simplified framework of Vermuntpsilas model for learning styles. The model determines how the system brings together students whose learning strategies are complementary to build up collaborative and semi-autonomous learning teams. Examples from an ongoing study with NUCLEO to teach programming disciplines illustrate the presentation of these adaptation models.
---
paper_title: Incorporating assessment in a pattern-based design process for CSCL scripts

paper_content:

Scripting has already been shown to be a way of increasing the chances of effective collaborative learning, and especially when computer support is available. Formal specifications, such as IMS-LD, and software authoring tools have provided instructional designers and educational practitioners with mechanisms for the creation and automation of flexible collaborative learning scripts ready to run in real scenarios. Within the context of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) script design, the application of design patterns has been proposed as the basis for a design process that promotes the reuse of good practices, implemented in an IMS-LD authoring tool, Collage. However, it is well known that assessment is a key aspect in real learning scenarios, and therefore it should be included in CSCL scripts. In this sense, this paper reports data and findings derived from two case studies performed to explore how assessment design can be included in the aforementioned pattern-based process. Results provide preliminary evidence that additional support is necessary for assessment design within this process for non-expert users. In order to tackle this limitation, the use of assessment patterns is analyzed. Evidence gathered in the case studies supports the need, adequacy and feasibility of a more systematic assessment-aware design process for CSCL scripts.
---
paper_title: The remote control approach – how to apply scaffolds to existing collaborative learning environments

paper_content:

In this paper we present an architecture for the integration of tutoring and process scaffolds into existing collaborative applications. The architecture allows to combine existing research results concerning collaborative processes and their formalization, and existing and tested collaborative learning environments. The architecture allows to control the learning environments either by a human or a pedagogic agent. Both types of tutors are using the same set of primitives – either via an intuitive user interface or a slim Java interface. To prove the soundness of the architecture an example is given using IMS LD collaboration scripts with Coppercore as a workflow engine controlling the Cool Modes environment. A description of the possible applications of the architecture in intelligent tutoring systems gives an insight into the opportunities opened by such a flexible approach. The paper closes with an outlook concerning the use of the architecture with more and different learning systems and process control engines.
---
paper_title: CTRL: A research framework for providing adaptive collaborative learning support

paper_content:

There is evidence suggesting that providing adaptive assistance to collaborative interactions might be a good way of improving the effectiveness of collaborative activities. In this paper, we introduce the Collaborative Tutoring Research Lab (CTRL), a research-oriented framework for adaptive collaborative learning support that enables researchers to combine different types of adaptive support, particularly by using domain-specific models as input to domain-general components in order to create more complex tutoring functionality. Additionally, the framework allows researchers to implement comparison conditions by making it easier to vary single factors of the adaptive intervention. We evaluated CTRL by designing adaptive and fixed support for a peer tutoring setting, and instantiating the framework using those two collaborative scenarios and an individual tutoring scenario. As part of the implementation, we integrated pre-existing components from the Cognitive Tutor Algebra (CTA) with custom-built components. The three conditions were then compared in a controlled classroom study, and the results helped us to contribute to learning sciences research in peer tutoring. CTRL can be generalized to other collaborative scenarios, but the ease of implementation relates to the complexity of the existing components used. CTRL as a framework has yielded a full implementation of an adaptive support system and a controlled evaluation in the classroom.
---
paper_title: A Framework to Support Monitoring and Moderation of e-Discussions with Heterogeneous Discussion Tools

paper_content:

This paper presents an integration architecture and a technical framework for moderation of e-discussions, a specific type of scenario for collaborative learning. The approach for monitoring and moderating discussions is supported at a generic level and defines interfaces to integrate diverse discussion environments smoothly into the generic framework. The usage of the developed monitoring and moderation system has been tested practically with two different stand-alone discussion environments and first empirical results of the moderation approach have been collected. We conclude with future work on the framework system and additional discussion tools to be integrated into the architecture.
---
paper_title: Adaptation patterns in systems for scripted collaboration

paper_content:

This work presents a prototype method (DeACS) for identifying useful adaptation patterns to be embedded in systems for adaptive collaboration scripting. Collaboration scripts are didactic scenarios that guide and support the collaborative learning activity while adaptive collaboration scripting is the idea that computer-supported collaboration scripts can be adapted during run time, to provide learning experiences tailored to individual and group characteristics. An adaptation pattern is described as a well-defined adaptation process that can be initiated by the system when specific conditions are identified during script implementation. In order to model the proposed method twelve postgraduate students were engaged in a pyramid-type collaboration script and the analysis of the learning experience provided the basis for identifying a number of possible adaptation patterns. The paper discusses also next steps for advancing the design and evaluation of adaptation patterns in systems for scripted collaboration.
---
paper_title: Design of Social Group Collaborative Learning System

paper_content:

Nowadays, the whole society is undergoing transformation on resources, groups, conceptions, contents and environments of learning, however, the current e-learning system cannot adapt to this transformation. The concept of social group collaborative learning (SGCL) was brought forward in our previous work. In this paper, we present a design of social group collaborative learning system. In our design, we try to provide mechanisms and technologies that can bring the e-learning into play and support social group collaborative learning. In the system, individuals can construct their knowledge maps in personal space and share whole or part of their knowledge maps in public space. The system will aggregate all shared knowledge maps into group knowledge maps. Individuals can refer to group knowledge maps when they construct their own and they can vote for and against on nodes and links of group knowledge maps. Communications and collaborations between personal space and public space are supported by tags, RSS and voting technologies. The whole system changes dynamically as individuals construct their knowledge maps in their learning processes.
---
paper_title: Ontoolcole: Supporting Educators in the Semantic Search of CSCL Tools

paper_content:

Collaborative learning systems can be constructed following the service- oriented computing paradigm. This allows educators to integrate external tools, offered as services by software providers, in order to support the realization of collaborative learning situations. Discovering appropriate services is a challenging task that requires the description of their capabilities. This can be accomplished with Ontoolcole, an on- tology of collaborative learning tools designed with the aim of supporting educators in the search of CSCL tools. Ontoolcole is depicted here and some new, relevant features are discussed. Namely, Ontoolcole incorporates an artifact module, a task-level coordi- nation module and the description of static information resources, further improving the capabilities to describe complex CSCL tools. As a proof of concept, we also present a preliminary prototype of the intended target application of Ontoolcole, an interac- tive system for the search of CSCL tools, named Ontoolsearch. A case study with practitioners has been carried out to evaluate whether Ontoolcole can be employed by educators to search CSCL tools. Evaluation results show that Ontoolcole abstractions fit educators' questions based on their real practice while retrieving useful tools for their educational needs.
---
paper_title: Assessing process in CSCL: An ontological approach

paper_content:

Educational technology innovations enable students to collaborate in online educational tasks, across individual, institutional, and national boundaries. However, online interactions across these boundaries are seldom transparent to each other. As a result, students are not motivated to share their best learning practices. Also, there is no singular basis on which one can compare learning practices of multiple students. In addressing these problems, we offer a solution that encourages students to record and share their learning interactions using our ontology-oriented theory-centric software tool. In doing so, students not only observe the products of their learning but also the process of how they learnt. These unique and computationally formal recordings of learning interactions not only allow educators to observe how learners learn, but also provide opportunities for learners to reflect on their understanding of meta-cognitive processes that they employed or neglected in their learning. Further, these recordings feed our software system to autonomously analyze students' learning behaviour and to actively promote self- and co-regulation among learners. This article presents the need for such a system, the architecture of the system, and concludes with key experimental observations from software prototypes.
---
paper_title: An Ontology Engineering Approach to the Realization of Theory-Driven Group Formation

paper_content:

One of the main difficulties during the design of collaborative learning activities is adequate group formation. In any type of collaboration, group formation plays a critical role in the learners’ acceptance of group activities, as well as the success of the collaborative learning process. Nevertheless, to propose both an effective and pedagogically sound group formation is a complex issue due to multiple factors that influence group arrangement. The current (and previous) learner’s knowledge and skills, the roles and strategies used by learners to interact among themselves, and the teacher’s preferences are some examples of factors to be considered while forming groups. To identify which factors are essential (or desired) in effective group formation, a well-structured and formalized representation of collaborative learning processes, supported by a strong pedagogical basis, is desirable. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to present an ontology that works as a framework based on learning theories that facilitate group formation and collaborative learning design. The ontology provides the necessary formalization to represent collaborative learning and its processes, while learning theories provide support in making pedagogical decisions such as gathering learners in groups and planning the scenario where the collaboration will take place. Although the use of learning theories to support collaborative learning is open for criticism, we identify that they provide important information which can be useful in allowing for more effective learning. To validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this approach, we use this ontology to form and run group activities carried out by four instructors and 20 participants. The experiment was utilized as a proof-of-concept and the results suggest that our ontological framework facilitates the effective design of group activities, and can positively affect the performance of individuals during group learning.
---
paper_title: The Social Semantic Web in Intelligent Learning Environments: state of the art and future challenges

paper_content:

Today's technology-enhanced learning practices cater to students and teachers who use many different learning tools and environments and are used to a paradigm of interaction derived from open, ubiquitous, and socially oriented services. In this context, a crucial issue for education systems in general, and for Intelligent Learning Environments (ILEs) in particular, is related to the ability of leveraging these new paradigms for creating, maintaining and sharing the knowledge that these systems embed. This will enable ILEs to benefit from shared information from disparate systems, which is related to learning content and student activities, so that the overall complexity of system development and maintenance would be reduced while at the same time improving the capability of personalization, context-awareness, and interaction. In this article, we investigate how the Social Semantic Web can be leveraged for enabling and easing this process. We first analyze each module of a typical ILE, showing how it can ...
---
paper_title: Meaning Of A Tag: A collaborative approach to bridge the gap between tagging and Linked Data

paper_content:

This paper introduces MOAT, a lightweight Semantic Web framework that provides a collaborative way to let Web 2.0 content producers give meanings to their tags in a machine- readable way. To achieve this goal, this approach relies on Linked Data principles, using URIs from existing resources to define these meanings. That way, users can create inter- linked RDF data and let their content enter the Semantic Web, while solving some limits of free-tagging at the same time.
---
paper_title: Ontology-based Support for Designing Inquiry Learning Scenarios

paper_content:

Ontology support has been incorporated into a design environment for inquiry learning scenarios in the context of an ongoing European project. The underlying ontology is being elaborated as an interdisciplinary agreement on basic concepts, their relationships and attributes between designers and developers. The ontology encapsulates concepts such as "pedagogical plan", "scenario", "learning activity", or "tool" together with compatibility relations. This forms the semantic basis of a cooperative graphical editing environment. Similarity measures addressing structural aspects (graph matching) as well as semantic similarities allow for generating social recommendations in the SCY 2 design community.
---
paper_title: The adaptive web: methods and strategies of web personalization

paper_content:

I. Modeling Technologies.- User Models for Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Educational Systems.- User Profiles for Personalized Information Access.- Data Mining for Web Personalization.- Generic User Modeling Systems.- Web Document Modeling.- II. Adaptation Technologies.- Personalized Search on the World Wide Web.- Adaptive Focused Crawling.- Adaptive Navigation Support.- Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systems.- Content-Based Recommendation Systems.- Case-Based Recommendation.- Hybrid Web Recommender Systems.- Adaptive Content Presentation for the Web.- Adaptive 3D Web Sites.- III. Applications.- Adaptive Information for Consumers of Healthcare.- Personalization in E-Commerce Applications.- Adaptive Mobile Guides.- Adaptive News Access.- IV. Challenges.- Adaptive Support for Distributed Collaboration.- Recommendation to Groups.- Privacy-Enhanced Web Personalization.- Open Corpus Adaptive Educational Hypermedia.- Semantic Web Technologies for the Adaptive Web.- Usability Engineering for the Adaptive Web.
---
paper_title: A Learning Design Ontology based on the IMS Specification

paper_content:

In this paper, we present an ontology to represent the semantics of the IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) specification, a meta-language used to describe the main elements of the learning design process. The motivation of this work relies on the expressiveness limitations found on the current XML-Schema implementation of the IMS LD conceptual model. To solve these limitations, we have developed an ontology using Protege at the knowledge level. In addition, we provide its implementation in OWL, the standard language of the Semantic Web, and the set of associated axioms in first-order logic. The OWL file is available at http://www.eume.net/ontology/imsld_a.owl.
---
paper_title: Reveal the Collaboration in a Open Learning Environment

paper_content:

The management and characterization of collaboration to improve students' learning is still an open issue, which needs standardized models and inferring methods for effective collaboration indicators, especially when online courses are based on open approaches where students are not following CSCL scripts. We have supplied our students with a scrutable (manageable and understandable) web application that shows an ontology, which includes collaborative features. The ontology structures collaboration context information, which has been obtained form explicit (based on questionnaires) and implicit methods (supported by several machine learning techniques). From two consecutive years of experiences with hundreds of students we researched students' interactions to find implicit methods to identify and characterize students' collaboration. Based on the outcomes of our experiments we claim that showing useful and structured information to students and tutors about students' collaborative features can have a twofold beneficial impact on students learning and on the management of their collaboration.
---
paper_title: Knowledge awareness map for computer-supported ubiquitous language-learning

paper_content:

This paper describes a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) in a ubiquitous computing environment. In the environment called CLUE, the learners provide and share individual experience and interaction corpus and discuss about them. This paper focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of knowledge awareness map. The map visualizes the relationship between the shared knowledge and the current and past interactions of learners. The map plays a very important role for finding peer helpers, and inducing collaboration.
---
paper_title: A Multi-Layer Ubiquitous Middleware for Bijective Adaptation between Context and Activity in a Mobile and Collaborative learning

paper_content:

In all learning scenarios and especially mobile and collaborative ones, the learner?s context is an essential asset in designing the learning process. Researches in context aware mobile learning have concentrated on how to adapt applications to context. In this paper, we present an innovative approach for modeling a bijective adaptation between context and learning activities because they influence each others in learning processes. Furthermore, it proposes an ubiquitous middleware, a new multi-layer conceptual framework for building contextaware mobile learning systems. This framework supports tasks including: acquiring, interpreting, modeling, storing, reasoning, updating and adapting context. The originality of this framework comes especially from its top-most layer which is an adaptor that defines two classes of functionalities: the adaptation of learning activity to context and the adaptation of context to learning activity.
---
paper_title: An Ontology Engineering Approach to the Realization of Theory-Driven Group Formation

paper_content:

One of the main difficulties during the design of collaborative learning activities is adequate group formation. In any type of collaboration, group formation plays a critical role in the learners’ acceptance of group activities, as well as the success of the collaborative learning process. Nevertheless, to propose both an effective and pedagogically sound group formation is a complex issue due to multiple factors that influence group arrangement. The current (and previous) learner’s knowledge and skills, the roles and strategies used by learners to interact among themselves, and the teacher’s preferences are some examples of factors to be considered while forming groups. To identify which factors are essential (or desired) in effective group formation, a well-structured and formalized representation of collaborative learning processes, supported by a strong pedagogical basis, is desirable. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to present an ontology that works as a framework based on learning theories that facilitate group formation and collaborative learning design. The ontology provides the necessary formalization to represent collaborative learning and its processes, while learning theories provide support in making pedagogical decisions such as gathering learners in groups and planning the scenario where the collaboration will take place. Although the use of learning theories to support collaborative learning is open for criticism, we identify that they provide important information which can be useful in allowing for more effective learning. To validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this approach, we use this ontology to form and run group activities carried out by four instructors and 20 participants. The experiment was utilized as a proof-of-concept and the results suggest that our ontological framework facilitates the effective design of group activities, and can positively affect the performance of individuals during group learning.
---
paper_title: Interaction-Aware Design for Learning Applications Reflections from the CSCL Field

paper_content:

Interaction analysis (IA) is an essential element for formative evaluation, self-regulation and other important functions, especially in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scenarios. However, several problems have impeded its regular use in real environments, in spite of the significant advancement of the field. This paper analyzes the main problems and alternatives encountered in the process of effectively supporting IA in CSCL, based on lessons learned from the authorspsila active involvement in this field during the last decade. Thus, it proposes a decoupled architecture together with the use of a standard common data format for interaction as main components of a new framework for a global design process that will support practitioners, researchers and technology providers in a sustainable and transparent way.
---
paper_title: Incorporating assessment in a pattern-based design process for CSCL scripts

paper_content:

Scripting has already been shown to be a way of increasing the chances of effective collaborative learning, and especially when computer support is available. Formal specifications, such as IMS-LD, and software authoring tools have provided instructional designers and educational practitioners with mechanisms for the creation and automation of flexible collaborative learning scripts ready to run in real scenarios. Within the context of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) script design, the application of design patterns has been proposed as the basis for a design process that promotes the reuse of good practices, implemented in an IMS-LD authoring tool, Collage. However, it is well known that assessment is a key aspect in real learning scenarios, and therefore it should be included in CSCL scripts. In this sense, this paper reports data and findings derived from two case studies performed to explore how assessment design can be included in the aforementioned pattern-based process. Results provide preliminary evidence that additional support is necessary for assessment design within this process for non-expert users. In order to tackle this limitation, the use of assessment patterns is analyzed. Evidence gathered in the case studies supports the need, adequacy and feasibility of a more systematic assessment-aware design process for CSCL scripts.
---
paper_title: Interactive Problem Solving Support in the Adaptive Educational Hypermedia System MATHEMA

paper_content:

This paper describes the interactive problem solving support offered by our adaptive educational hypermedia system called MATHEMA. The general goal of the MATHEMA is the support of senior high school students or the beginners of higher education, through an interactive and constructivist environment, in learning physics (electromagnetism) individually and/or collaboratively, and to overcome their possible misconceptions and learning difficulties. Initially, a review of related work about the implemented AEHS/ITS and the didactic design principles of the MATHEMA are presented. Through the interactive problem solving, the system supports the students in solving electromagnetism problems, individually and/or collaboratively, by following an activity that is based on the experimentation with simulations, explorations, guided discovery, and collaboration didactic approaches. An experimental study with senior high school students showed that they improve their performances when following this activity. A questionnaire that we gave to the students to express their opinion about our system helped us to improve the quality of the courses. Index Terms—Adaptive educational hypermedia, interactive problem solving, learning styles, misconceptions. C
---
paper_title: Analysing Face to Face Computer-mediated Interactions

paper_content:

Detailed analysis of face to face computer mediated interactions implies a study of a corpus composed of the interaction traces produced by the collaborative tool and video and audio recordings. Because of their separate nature, it is frequently difficult to perform this joint analysis. In order to facilitate such analyses we propose a model for describing corpora composed of sources from different media; we also describe how certain types of analyses can be modelled and reified for future use. We show how a tool based on these models facilitates a number of analysis methodologies by simplifying situations where entities are multiple: several researchers (inter-coder reliability), several sources for the corpus (multi-modal interactions) or several analyses (for re-use of prior analyses or for the confrontation and comparison of two different analyses. We believe that capitalizing on previous analyses and affording parallel analysis of video and computer-mediated traces will open new avenues for researchers and teachers.
---
paper_title: The Social Semantic Web in Intelligent Learning Environments: state of the art and future challenges

paper_content:

Today's technology-enhanced learning practices cater to students and teachers who use many different learning tools and environments and are used to a paradigm of interaction derived from open, ubiquitous, and socially oriented services. In this context, a crucial issue for education systems in general, and for Intelligent Learning Environments (ILEs) in particular, is related to the ability of leveraging these new paradigms for creating, maintaining and sharing the knowledge that these systems embed. This will enable ILEs to benefit from shared information from disparate systems, which is related to learning content and student activities, so that the overall complexity of system development and maintenance would be reduced while at the same time improving the capability of personalization, context-awareness, and interaction. In this article, we investigate how the Social Semantic Web can be leveraged for enabling and easing this process. We first analyze each module of a typical ILE, showing how it can ...
---
paper_title: The remote control approach – how to apply scaffolds to existing collaborative learning environments

paper_content:

In this paper we present an architecture for the integration of tutoring and process scaffolds into existing collaborative applications. The architecture allows to combine existing research results concerning collaborative processes and their formalization, and existing and tested collaborative learning environments. The architecture allows to control the learning environments either by a human or a pedagogic agent. Both types of tutors are using the same set of primitives – either via an intuitive user interface or a slim Java interface. To prove the soundness of the architecture an example is given using IMS LD collaboration scripts with Coppercore as a workflow engine controlling the Cool Modes environment. A description of the possible applications of the architecture in intelligent tutoring systems gives an insight into the opportunities opened by such a flexible approach. The paper closes with an outlook concerning the use of the architecture with more and different learning systems and process control engines.
---
paper_title: The adaptive web: methods and strategies of web personalization

paper_content:

I. Modeling Technologies.- User Models for Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Educational Systems.- User Profiles for Personalized Information Access.- Data Mining for Web Personalization.- Generic User Modeling Systems.- Web Document Modeling.- II. Adaptation Technologies.- Personalized Search on the World Wide Web.- Adaptive Focused Crawling.- Adaptive Navigation Support.- Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systems.- Content-Based Recommendation Systems.- Case-Based Recommendation.- Hybrid Web Recommender Systems.- Adaptive Content Presentation for the Web.- Adaptive 3D Web Sites.- III. Applications.- Adaptive Information for Consumers of Healthcare.- Personalization in E-Commerce Applications.- Adaptive Mobile Guides.- Adaptive News Access.- IV. Challenges.- Adaptive Support for Distributed Collaboration.- Recommendation to Groups.- Privacy-Enhanced Web Personalization.- Open Corpus Adaptive Educational Hypermedia.- Semantic Web Technologies for the Adaptive Web.- Usability Engineering for the Adaptive Web.
---
paper_title: Exploring Foundations for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

paper_content:

In 1996 Koschmann (1996) suggested computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) as an emerging paradigm of educational technology. After six years, how has the field developed? What does research say about CSCL to date? What is the state of the art? The aim of the present paper is to explore the foundations for CSCL, and in doing so, to contribute to the theoretical as well as empirical understanding and development of CSCL research.
---
paper_title: Sharing corpora and tools to improve interaction analysis

paper_content:

A very wide range of online interaction analysis staying in the hands of researchers, and tools being implemented in research prototypes, often used only in non-replicated experimentations, we point out the need for TEL research community to reach large scale validation for its results. This paper is a concrete step in this direction. For a deeper collaboration in our community, we suggest to share structured data collections. The Mulce project aims at proposing a structure for teaching and learning corpora (including pedagogical and research context), and especially for interaction tracks. Two main corpora are built according this structure. This paper defines a teaching and learning corpus, shows its main structure and browses some parts of the structured interaction data. We also describe the platform that enables the community to browse and analyze a shared corpus.
---
paper_title: CTRL: A research framework for providing adaptive collaborative learning support

paper_content:

There is evidence suggesting that providing adaptive assistance to collaborative interactions might be a good way of improving the effectiveness of collaborative activities. In this paper, we introduce the Collaborative Tutoring Research Lab (CTRL), a research-oriented framework for adaptive collaborative learning support that enables researchers to combine different types of adaptive support, particularly by using domain-specific models as input to domain-general components in order to create more complex tutoring functionality. Additionally, the framework allows researchers to implement comparison conditions by making it easier to vary single factors of the adaptive intervention. We evaluated CTRL by designing adaptive and fixed support for a peer tutoring setting, and instantiating the framework using those two collaborative scenarios and an individual tutoring scenario. As part of the implementation, we integrated pre-existing components from the Cognitive Tutor Algebra (CTA) with custom-built components. The three conditions were then compared in a controlled classroom study, and the results helped us to contribute to learning sciences research in peer tutoring. CTRL can be generalized to other collaborative scenarios, but the ease of implementation relates to the complexity of the existing components used. CTRL as a framework has yielded a full implementation of an adaptive support system and a controlled evaluation in the classroom.
---
paper_title: The opportunity of grid services for CSCL-application development

paper_content:

The choice of the most suitable middleware technology for a specific problem or domain is sometimes erroneously based on current trends instead of on a thorough comparison of the features offered by the different options. This could be the case of grid services technology, which is claimed to be a technological advance, but whose characteristics are not clearly contrasted with other middleware technologies. The aim of this paper is to analyze whether grid services technology truly present some required properties for CSCL (computer supported collaborative learning) application development in comparison with other service-oriented middleware technologies, as well as with other types of middleware paradigms (object-oriented or component-oriented). To this end, we present relevant requirements of CSCL applications and theoretical discussion about how well they are satisfied by the aforementioned paradigms and technologies. Finally, we introduce a case study in order to illustrate our conclusions.
---

Title: Adaptive and Intelligent Systems for Collaborative Learning Support: A Review of the Field

Section 1: INTRODUCTION
Description 1: Provide an overview of the purpose of the paper, including the review of adaptive and intelligent systems developed for collaborative learning, and state the focus areas and goals of the review.

Section 2: BACKGROUND
Description 2: Discuss the context of technology-enhanced learning, the distinction between adaptive and intelligent systems, the emergence of Adaptive Hypermedia Systems and Intelligent Tutoring Systems, and the integration of these systems in the domain of CSCL.

Section 3: METHOD
Description 3: Explain the literature search process, including the databases used, search criteria, and the criteria for including articles in the review.

Section 4: Classification Scheme
Description 4: Introduce and describe the classification scheme used to analyze the AICLS systems, focusing on system dimensions such as pedagogical objectives, targets of intervention, modeling, and technology.

Section 5: System Pedagogical Objective
Description 5: Elaborate on how CSCL systems are characterized based on their pedagogical objectives and provide examples of guiding systems in the context of collaborative learning.

Section 6: Target of Intervention
Description 6: Discuss various targets of intervention in adaptive and intelligent CSCL systems, including group formation, domain knowledge support (D-type support), and peer interaction support (PI-type support).

Section 7: Group Formation
Description 7: Examine approaches and research efforts in optimizing group formation for effective collaborative learning, and present key findings and implications.

Section 8: Domain Knowledge Support (D-Type Support)
Description 8: Analyze systems aimed at providing domain-specific support to learners and summarize the main findings, challenges, and examples of such systems.

Section 9: Peer Interaction Support (PI-Type Support)
Description 9: Discuss the significance of supporting peer interactions in CSCL, describe different methods and systems employed for interaction analysis, and highlight key results from the reviewed studies.

Section 10: Modeling and Technology
Description 10: Focus on the types of modeling techniques and technologies used in AICLS systems, examine how different models are applied, and explore the link between adaptation determinants and constituents.

Section 11: Design Space
Description 11: Outline the design space for AICLSs, including the dimensions of explicit/implicit instruction and direct/indirect presentation, and discuss how these design choices impact user interaction.

Section 12: Frameworks/Architectures and Current Trends
Description 12: Review articles presenting comprehensive frameworks and architectures for AICLS systems, and discuss current trends such as the integration of semantic technologies and social web tools.

Section 13: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Description 13: Summarize the key findings from the review, discuss the impact of AICLS systems on student learning, and highlight emerging research opportunities and future directions in the field.