An Interactive Model to Teach Motor Skills

There has been a tremendous increase in our knowledge of hum motor performance over the last few decades. Our theoretical understanding of how an individual learns to move is sophisticated and complex. It is difficult however to relate much of this information in practical terms to physical educators, coaches, and therapists concerned with the learning of motor skills (Shumway-Cook & Woolcott, 1995). Much of our knowledge stems from lab testing which often appears to bear little relation to real-life situations. This lack of ecological validity has slowed the flow of information from the theorists and researchers to the practitioners. This paper is concerned with taking some small aspects of motor learning theory, unifying them, and presenting them in a usable fashion. The intention is not to present a recipe for teaching motor skills, but to present a framework from which solutions can be found. If motor performance research has taught us anything, it is that every individual and situation presents unique challenges. By increasing our ability to conceptualize the learning situation we should be able to develop more flexible and adaptive responses to the challege of teaching motor skills. The model presented here allows a teacher, coach, or therapist to use readily available observations and known characteristics about a motor task and to conceptualize them in a manner which allows them to make appropriate teaching/learning decisions.

AR-based Technoself Enhanced Learning Approach to Improving Student Engagement

The emerging technologies have expanded a new dimension of self – ‘technoself’ driven by socio-technical innovations and taken an important step forward in pervasive learning. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) research has increasingly focused on emergent technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) for augmented learning, mobile learning, and game-based learning in order to improve self-motivation and self-engagement of the learners in enriched multimodal learning environments. These researches take advantage of technological innovations in hardware and software across different platforms and devices including tablets, phoneblets and even game consoles and their increasing popularity for pervasive learning with the significant development of personalization processes which place the student at the center of the learning process. In particular, augmented reality (AR) research has matured to a level to facilitate augmented learning, which is defined as an on-demand learning technique where the learning environment adapts to the needs and inputs from learners. In this paper we firstly study the role of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which is one of the most influential theories applied in TEL on how learners come to accept and use a new technology. Then we present the design methodology of the technoself approach for pervasive learning and introduce technoself enhanced learning as a novel pedagogical model to improve student engagement by shaping personal learning focus and setting. Furthermore we describe the design and development of an AR-based interactive digital interpretation system for augmented learning and discuss key features. By incorporating mobiles, game simulation, voice recognition, and multimodal interaction through Augmented Reality, the learning contents can be geared toward learner's needs and learners can stimulate discovery and gain greater understanding. The system demonstrates that Augmented Reality can provide rich contextual learning environment and contents tailored for individuals. Augment learning via AR can bridge this gap between the theoretical learning and practical learning, and focus on how the real and virtual can be combined together to fulfill different learning objectives, requirements, and even environments. Finally, we validate and evaluate the AR-based technoself enhanced learning approach to enhancing the student motivation and engagement in the learning process through experimental learning practices. It shows that Augmented Reality is well aligned with constructive learning strategies, as learners can control their own learning and manipulate objects that are not real in augmented environment to derive and acquire understanding and knowledge in a broad diversity of learning practices including constructive activities and analytical activities.

Students’ Use of Knowledge Resources in Environmental Interaction on an Outdoor Learning Trail

This study examined how students leveraged different types of knowledge resources on an outdoor learning trail. We positioned the learning trail as an integral part of the curriculum with a pre- and post-trail phase to scaffold and to support students’ meaning-making process. The study was conducted with two classes of secondary two students. We coded two groups’ discourse to examine the use of knowledge resource types in the meaning-making process in an outdoor learning setting: contextual resource, new conceptual resource, prior knowledge resource, as well as the relationship among these knowledge resource types. Next, we also examined environmental interaction and integration in the students’ use of these knowledge resource types. Analysis showed that contextual resources are chiefly instrumental in fostering students’ capacity to harness new conceptual resource and to activate prior knowledge resource in interacting with and integrating the outdoor learning environment in the meaning-making process.

Designing an interactive laboratory experiment to investigate buoyancy

Laboratory classes provide a visual and practical way of supplementing traditional teaching through lectures and tutorial classes. A criticism of laboratories in our School is that they are largely based on demonstration with insufficient participation by students. This provided the motivation to create a new laboratory experiment which would be interactive, encourage student enthusiasm with the subject and improve the quality of student learning.

The topic of the laboratory is buoyancy. While this is a key topic in the first-year fluids module, the laboratory has been designed in such a way that prior knowledge of the topic is unnecessary and therefore it would be accessible by secondary school pupils. The laboratory climaxes in a design challenge. However, it begins with a simple task involving students identifying some theoretical background information using given websites. They then have to apply their knowledge by developing some equations. Next, given some materials (a sheet of tinfoil, card and blu-tack), they have to design a vessel to carry the greatest mass without sinking. Thus, they are given an open-ended problem and have to provide a mathematical justification for their design. Students are expected to declare the maximum mass for their boat in advance of it being tested to create a sense of competition and fun. Overall, the laboratory involves tasks which begin at a low level and progressively get harder, incorporating understanding, applying, evaluating and designing (with reference to Bloom’s taxonomy).

The experiment has been tested in a modern laboratory with wall-mounted screens and access to the internet. Students enjoyed the hands-on aspect and thought the format helped their learning.

The use of cheap materials which are readily available means that many students can be involved at one time. Support documentation has been produced, both for the student participants and the facilitator. The latter is given advice on how to guide the students (without simply giving them the answer) and given some warning about potential problems the students might have.

The authors believe that the laboratory can be adapted for use by secondary school pupils and hope that it will be used to promote engineering in an engaging and enthusing way to a wider audience. To this end, contact has already been made with the Widening Participation Unit at the University to gain advice on possible next steps.

A Machine Learning Analysis of Twitter Sentiment to the Sandy Hook Shootings

Gun related violence is a complex issue and accounts for a large proportion of violent incidents. In the research reported in this paper, we set out to investigate the pro-gun and anti-gun sentiments expressed on a social media platform, namely Twitter, in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, USA. Machine learning techniques are applied to classify a data corpus of over 700,000 tweets. The sentiments are captured using a public sentiment score that considers the volume of tweets as well as population. A web-based interactive tool is developed to visualise the sentiments and is available at this http://www.gunsontwitter.com. The key findings from this research are: (i) There are elevated rates of both pro-gun and anti-gun sentiments on the day of the shooting. Surprisingly, the pro-gun sentiment remains high for a number of days following the event but the anti-gun sentiment quickly falls to pre-event levels. (ii) There is a different public response from each state, with the highest pro-gun sentiment not coming from those with highest gun ownership levels but rather from California, Texas and New York.

Learning from Text: Examining Teacher Thinking and Practice in AP Environmental Science

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Evolution of an Interactive Online Magazine for Students, Academics and Expert Practitioners to Engage Students in ESD

Urgency to embed awareness of sustainability principles and practice across society, and need for digital literacy and advocacy for sustainability are reshaping ESD. These, together with developments in learning and teaching, demand new tools to support implementation of project-based learning and more interactive approaches. This investigation explores the evolution of susthingsout.com, an online magazine for students, academics and expert practitioners, developed by the University of Worcester. This comprises two parts; the first, a private site specifically for students involved in sustainability learning on-campus; the second, an open-access site developed to deliver sustainability information and good practice across campus, community and not-for-profit and commercial organisations. This paper involves only the private site i.e. the equivalent of an in-house VLE specifically designed to support the teaching of sustainability to multi-disciplinary first and second year undergraduate students. It reports on the progress of the VLE, following three years of use and initial improvements, in terms of the student support and engagement, as well as considering the practical issues affecting these. The results fall into four categories of pedagogical, operational, cultural and external factors, which are synthesised to capture and share emerging knowledge of good practice offering insights to other developers of online sustainability materials.

Finnish Preclinical and Clinical Medical Students as Strategic L2 English Learners: Language Learning Strategies and Communicating with Patients

This thesis focused on medical students’ language learning strategies for patient encounters. The research questions concerned the types of learning strategies that medical students use and the differences between the preclinical students and the clinical students, two groups who have had varying amounts of experience with patients. Additionally, strategy use was examined through activity systems to gain information on the context of language learning strategy use in order to learn language for patient encounters. In total, 130 first-year medical students (preclinical) and 39 fifth-year medical students (clinical) participated in the study by filling in a questionnaire on language learning strategies. In addition, two students were interviewed in order to create activity systems for the medical students at different stages of their studies. The study utilised both quantitative and qualitative research methods; the analysis of the results relies on Oxford’s Strategic Self-Regulation Model in the quantitative part and on activity theory in the qualitative part. The theoretical sections of the study introduced earlier research and theories regarding English for specific purposes, language learning strategies and activity theory. The results indicated that the medical students use affective, sociocultural-interactive and metasociocultural-interactive strategies often and avoid using negative strategies, which hinder language learning or cease communication altogether. Slight differences between the preclinical and clinical students were found, as clinical students appear to use affective and metasociocultural-interactive strategies more frequently compared to the preclinical students. The activity systems of the two students interviewed were rather similar. The students were at different stages of their studies, but their opinions were very similar. Both reported the object of learning to be mutual understanding between the patient and the doctor, which in part explains the preference for strategies that support communication and interaction. The results indicate that the nature of patient encounters affects the strategy use of the medical students at least to some extent.

Playing for Real: Designing Alternate Reality Games in Learning Contexts

Alternate Reality Game (ARG) represent a new genre of transmedia practice where players hunt for scattered clues, make sense of disparate information, and solve puzzles to advance an ever-evolving storyline. Players participate in ARGs using multiple communications technologies, ranging from print materials to mobile devices. However, many interaction design challenges must be addressed to weave these everyday communication tools together into an immersive, participatory experience. Transmedia design is not an everyday process. Designers must create and connect story bits across multiple media (video, audio, text) and multiple platforms (phones, computers, physical spaces). Furthermore, they must engage with players of varying skill levels. Few studies to-date have explored the design process of ARGs in learning contexts. Fewer still have focused on challenges involved in designing for youth (13-17 years old). In this study, I explore the process of designing ARGs as vehicles for promoting information literacy and participatory culture for adolescents (13-17 years old). Two ARG design scenarios, distinguished by target learning environment (formal and informal context) and target audience (adolescents), comprise the two cases that I examine. Through my analysis of these two design cases, I articulate several unique challenges faced by designers who create interactive, transmedia stories for – and with – youth. Drawing from these design challenges, I derive a repertoire of design strategies that future designers and researchers may use to create and implement ARGs for teens in learning contexts. In particular, I propose a narrative design framework that allows for the categorization of ARGs as storytelling constructs that lie along a continuum of participation and interaction. The framework can serve as an analytic tool for researchers and a guide for designers. In addition, I establish a framework of social roles that designers may employ to craft transmedia narratives before live launch and to promote and scaffold player participation after play begins. Overall, the contributions of my study include theoretical insights that may advance our understanding of narrative design and analysis as well as more practical design implications for designers and practitioners seeking to incorporate transmedia features into learning experiences that target youth.

Tutoria da anatomia mamária feminina utilizando uma rede neural artificial interactive activation and competition orientada a serviço

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade Gama, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Biomédica, 2015.

Interactive storytelling to improve the listening skill of 8th grade at INAN High School

Este trabajo de investigación se trata de Cuentacuentos de respuesta física total y su influencia en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de Inglés como segunda lengua de los estudiantes del octavo grado de Educación General Básica del Colegio "INTEGRACIÓN ANDINA" en la ciudad de Cuenca en el Año Lectivo 2014 y 2015. Es necesario un nuevo sistema educativo para responder a las necesidades de la sociedad actual para permitir el desarrollo general de la educación, implementando un nuevo programa de enseñanza en el aprendizaje del Inglés a través de la narración. La búsqueda de una mejor manera de aprender y enseñar es responsabilidad ineludible de todos los maestros que deben enfrentar los desafíos con entusiasmo mientras se mira hacia innovaciones futuras permitiendo a los estudiantes mejorar sus habilidades de escucha y demás destrezas. Dado que el 90% de conocimiento de un nuevo idioma se adquiere a través de la lectura; el uso de Cuentacuentos ayuda a los estudiantes a adquirir el conocimiento necesario que será la base para un alto nivel cultural, tanto en el aprendizaje y en el desarrollo de habilidades de lenguaje, la lectura es un medio esencial para el desarrollo cultural en Educación. La falta de preparación en la lectura obstaculiza los esfuerzos del maestro secundario para lograr una formación integral en el alumno. Es necesario implementar estrategias para tratar de superar la falta de lectura, mediante el uso de la narración de cuentos en clase para animar a los estudiantes a leer en casa.

The effect of mobile technology as an active student response system on the acquisition of U.S. history content of secondary students with specific learning disabilities

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) typically learn less history content than their peers without disabilities and show fewer learning gains. Even when they are provided with the same instructional strategies, many students with SLD struggle to grasp complex historical concepts and content area vocabulary. Many strategies involving technology have been used in the past to enhance learning for students with SLD in history classrooms. However, very few studies have explored the effectiveness of emerging mobile technology in K-12 history classrooms. ^ This study investigated the effects of mobile devices (iPads) as an active student response (ASR) system on the acquisition of U.S. history content of middle school students with SLD. An alternating treatments single subject design was used to compare the effects of two interventions. There were two conditions and a series of pretest probesin this study. The conditions were: (a) direct instruction and studying from handwritten notes using the interactive notebook strategy and (b) direct instruction and studying using the Quizlet App on the iPad. There were three dependent variables in this study: (a) percent correct on tests, (b) rate of correct responses per minute, and (c) rate of errors per minute. ^ A comparative analysis suggested that both interventions (studying from interactive notes and studying using Quizlet on the iPad) had varying degrees of effectiveness in increasing the learning gains of students with SLD. In most cases, both interventions were equally effective. During both interventions, all of the participants increased their percentage correct and increased their rate of correct responses. Most of the participants decreased their rate of errors. ^ The results of this study suggest that teachers of students with SLD should consider a post lesson review in the form of mobile devices as an ASR system or studying from handwritten notes paired with existing evidence-based practices to facilitate students’ knowledge in U.S. history. Future research should focus on the use of other interactive applications on various mobile operating platforms, on other social studies subjects, and should explore various testing formats such as oral question-answer and multiple choice. ^

Reading Between the Lines of Teaching and Learning

Some students lack reading skills due to biological or environmental factors. Accordingly, in my role as an educator, I would like to know if Dialogic Reading Strategies can help Spanish speaking caregivers to facilitate an interactive reading routine at home with their child.

Efficient and precise interactive hand tracking through joint, continuous optimization of pose and correspondences

Fully articulated hand tracking promises to enable fundamentally new interactions with virtual and augmented worlds, but the limited accuracy and efficiency of current systems has prevented widespread adoption. Today's dominant paradigm uses machine learning for initialization and recovery followed by iterative model-fitting optimization to achieve a detailed pose fit. We follow this paradigm, but make several changes to the model-fitting, namely using: (1) a more discriminative objective function; (2) a smooth-surface model that provides gradients for non-linear optimization; and (3) joint optimization over both the model pose and the correspondences between observed data points and the model surface. While each of these changes may actually increase the cost per fitting iteration, we find a compensating decrease in the number of iterations. Further, the wide basin of convergence means that fewer starting points are needed for successful model fitting. Our system runs in real-time on CPU only, which frees up the commonly over-burdened GPU for experience designers. The hand tracker is efficient enough to run on low-power devices such as tablets. We can track up to several meters from the camera to provide a large working volume for interaction, even using the noisy data from current-generation depth cameras. Quantitative assessments on standard datasets show that the new approach exceeds the state of the art in accuracy. Qualitative results take the form of live recordings of a range of interactive experiences enabled by this new approach.

The interactive dynamics in the university context: the classroom environment

Interpersonal relationships in human communities gained a great value since the begging of mankind, these relationships are constructed on interaction and socialization. The educational context is not exempt of these interactive and communicative processes, and it is specifically in the classroom where they can be found. The classroom can be identified as a physical and a humane space, in which dynamics are developed from the interactions between teachers and students, learning content, learning strategies and the class environment. All of these aspects are presented in the classroom as part of the teaching and learning processes. It is interesting to analyze the classroom environment and the interactive dynamics that are developed in it, regardless of the student’s age, wether in the case of infants, adolescents or adults. In this particular case, we analyze the classroom environment at the university level. Understanding the interactive dynamics that are being developed in the classroom, determine whether or not an environment is appropriate for the teaching and learning processes, which must be considered, if someone chooses an integral and quality of education.