Learning and Assessing Competencies: New challenges for Mathematics in Engineering Degrees in Spain.

The introduction of new degrees adapted to the European Area of Higher Education (EAHE) has involved a radically different approach to the curriculum. The new programs are structured around competencies that should be acquired. Considering the competencies, teachers must define and develop learning objectives, design teaching methods and establish appropriate evaluation systems. While most Spanish universities have incorporated methodological innovations and evaluation systems different from traditional exams, there is enough confusion about how to teach and assess competencies and learning outcomes, as traditionally the teaching and assessment have focused on knowledge. In this paper we analyze the state-of-the-art in the mathematical courses of the new engineering degrees in some Spanish universities.

Assessing user bias in affect detection within context-based spoken dialog systems

This paper presents an empirical evidence of user bias within a laboratory-oriented evaluation of a Spoken Dialog System. Specifically, we addressed user bias in their satisfaction judgements. We question the reliability of this data for modeling user emotion, focusing on contentment and frustration in a spoken dialog system. This bias is detected through machine learning experiments that were conducted on two datasets, users and annotators, which were then compared in order to assess the reliability of these datasets. The target used was the satisfaction rating and the predictors were conversational/dialog features. Our results indicated that standard classifiers were significantly more successful in discriminating frustration and contentment and the intensities of these emotions (reflected by user satisfaction ratings) from annotator data than from user data. Indirectly, the results showed that conversational features are reliable predictors of the two abovementioned emotions.

Assessing Creativity In Engineering Students: A Comparative Between Degrees and Sudents In First And Last Year

An online open access test (CREAX self-assessment) has been used in this work so that students from degrees in engineering in the Universidad Polite¿cnica of Madrid (UPM) could self-assess their creative competence after several classroom activities. Different groups from the first year course have been statistically compared using data from their assessment. These first year students had different professors in the subject ?Technical Drawing? and belonged to several degrees in the UPM. They were as well compared regarding sex and a group of first year students was also compared to another last year group of the degree so as to observe possible differences in the achievement of this competence. Only one difference was detected concerning sex in one of the degrees. Among degrees, the higher marks obtained by students who had done specific exercises for the development of creativity in class is highlighted. Finally, a significantly high mark was observed in students during their last year of degree with respect to first year students. The tool CREAX has become very useful in the assessment of this competence in the UPM degrees in which it has been implemented.

Assessing the suitability of student interactions from Moodle data logs as predictors of cross-curricular competencies

In the past decades, online learning has transformed the educational landscape with the emergence of new ways to learn. This fact, together with recent changes in educational policy in Europe aiming to facilitate the incorporation of graduate students to the labor market, has provoked a shift on the delivery of instruction and on the role played by teachers and students, stressing the need for development of both basic and cross-curricular competencies. In parallel, the last years have witnessed the emergence of new educational disciplines that can take advantage of the information retrieved by technology-based online education in order to improve instruction, such as learning analytics. This study explores the applicability of learning analytics for prediction of development of two cross-curricular competencies – teamwork and commitment – based on the analysis of Moodle interaction data logs in a Master’s Degree program at Universidad a Distancia de Madrid (UDIMA) where the students were education professionals. The results from the study question the suitability of a general interaction-based approach and show no relation between online activity indicators and teamwork and commitment acquisition. The discussion of results includes multiple recommendations for further research on this topic.