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Providing feedback to students is one of the most effective ways to enhance their learning. With the advancement of technology, many tools have been developed to provide personalized feedback. However, these systems are only beneficial when interactions are done on digital platforms. As paper-based assessment is still a dominantly preferred evaluation method, particularly in large blended-instruction classes, the sole use of electronic educational systems presents a gap between how students learn the subject from the physical and digital world. This has motivated the design and the development of a new educational technology that facilitates the digitization, grading, and distribution of paper-based assessments to support blended-instruction classes. With the aid of this technology, different learning analytics can be readily captured. A retrospective analysis was conducted to understand the students' behaviors in an Object-Oriented Programming and Data Structures class from a public university. Their behavioral differences and the associated learning impacts were analyzed by leveraging their digital footprints. Results showed that students made significant efforts in reviewing their examinations. Notably, the high-achieving and the improving students spent more time reviewing their mistakes and started doing so as soon as the assessment became available. Finally, when students were guided in the reviewing process, they were able to identify items where they had misconceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The big data (BD) era and pertinent computer science, pedagogy, and educational psychology knowledge are the foundations of this essay, based on the idea of the holistic development of human beings, the IPE (Ideological and Political Education) carrier theory, the new idea of educational development, and the strategy of strengthening the nation through education; the challenges IPECU (Ideological and political education in Colleges and Universities) faces and its path toward optimization are discussed relatively in detail in this paper, which conforms to the context of mega data thinking. The influence of IPECU's subject, object, and educational effect is discussed in this paper, along with tips for how to improve and innovate IPECU in the context of big data. In addition, it is noted that in the age of mega data, we must not only bravely take on challenges, but also actively seize opportunities if we are to realize the innovative and optimized development of IPECU. Moreover, the definitions of mega data and big data prediction function are provided in this paper. IPE can be used with the big data prediction function, which is further explored in this article. In order to realize the innovation of IPE mode in universities, this paper aims to encourage the integration and development of IPE and big data in academic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of educational information technology, "online and offline" hybrid teaching has become the main trend of foreign language teaching reform in colleges and universities. The blended teaching mode integrates the traditional teaching mode with modern educational technology and reconstructs the traditional college English teaching mode in the aspects of teaching object, teaching content, teaching method, teaching environment, and teaching evaluation. Based on the multisource data such as students' learning situation, learning duration, and academic performance, this paper builds a student English learning analysis system that realizes the integration of multisource data, completes the unified processing and analysis of multisource data, and then displays it through the interface. The system helps English teachers to guide students in different degrees according to the students' English learning situation and academic performance, so that English teachers have a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of students' learning and living conditions and timely guide students with incorrect learning attitudes, so as to avoid students' detours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance education is essentially the basis for the development of educational institutions that provide innovative services, which cannot be obtained elsewhere. It is believed that distance education is a substitute for the traditional as part of simplifying and cheapening the learning process. At the same time, the leading global trends suggest the need for the development of elements of self-education and the expansion of the geographical nature of educational offers. The relevance of the study is that it is necessary to distinguish between the use of distance education methods in the traditional sphere and the sphere of training professionals. The paper presents the concept of the need to integrate elements of distance education in the process of preparing university teachers. The authors believe that teachers in drawing up courses and applying learning technologies use the same techniques as in distance learning. Therefore, the use of distance learning technologies can be shown as the basis for the development of advanced training programs and additional professional education. The authors proposed a study on the need and sufficiency of the use of distance education technologies and the possibilities for their integration into the process of postgraduate education. The practical significance of the work is determined by the fact that the possibilities of self-development of teachers are fully disclosed, not only as subjects of the educational process but also as subjects of training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dewey was perhaps the foremost theorist and advocate of participatory democracy as an ethical ideal based on a belief and faith in human experience as a general theory of education that would generate the requisite aims and methods for what he called ‘organized intelligence’ and what we might call today ‘collective intelligence’ – that is, as he says, ‘faith in democracy is all one with faith in experience and education’. In this paper we revisit Dewey’sDemocracy and Education. An introduction to the philosophy of education(1916/2001) in order to evaluate the growth and development of democracy against the decline of social democracy in the West. We identify the three turns which separate democracy of Dewey’s times and democracy of today – the global, the ecological, and the digital turn – and relate them to changing notions of citizenship. We analyse complex interplay between the turns, and show that they cannot be understood and / or analysed in separation. While the identified turns have indeed significantly changed circumstances in which Dewey produced his understanding of democracy, we conclude that his work still carries a lot of value and call for its reinvention in and for the age of digital reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper relates two basic aspects of assessment evaluation in higher education (Formative Assessment and Competency Assessment) with the existence of an Inter-University Network that carries five years working these issues systematically. First, we analyze the state of the Formative and Shared Assessment in Higher Education. Second, we explain the organization and operation of the Network of Formative Assessment in Higher Education: purpose, basic methodology of work, different actions and framework: innovation projects and educational research, seminars, action-research, dissemination of results, annual conferences and thematic work-groups. We also present the main results, organized into four sections: a-advantages; b-cons, problems and possible solutions; c-influence on academic performance; d-load of work required by teachers and pupils. In the third and final section of the paper we explain the fundamental aspects of Competency Assessment in Higher Education, the changes required and the importance of coherence among curriculum elements, in this sense, we provide a practical application that we hope will be helpful in achieving higher level of coherence in our curriculum subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines eLearning from three related perspectives, two of which address the planning and administration of online courses. The second part of this paper examines the assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes in an eLearning environment. The initial phase thoroughly explores current and recommended front-end approaches to improving online instruction. It looks at the organizational alms and the vision within which eLearning can be applied. The second phase examines the planning, implementation and administration of online courses. It investigates characteristics of effective eLearning environments that address physical, technical, pedagogical, professional and environmental elements. The third and final phase explores several reliable and valid approaches to online measurement and testing methods that are designed to eliminate such problems as plagiarism, technical problems associated with access, matching learners' and instructors' technical skill levels, learner isolation, and the impersonality of computerized assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to explore the design and implementation of early years educational policy in England in the period 1997-2004. First to be described are the innovations in policy (i.e. the promise), followed by the 'evidence base' for new policy (i.e. the research), the delivery of new services (i.e. the achievement), and finally the tensions and gaps which remain (i.e. the shortfall). The paper will focus on evidence concerning expansion of services and on the benefit of early years education on children's development. It is argued that early years education in England has been transformed through the following: integration of education and care at local and national level, the introduction of the Foundation Stage Curriculum 3-6 years and its birth-3 years supplement, and the firm focus on families as well as children in the delivery of services. There are, however, gaps and tensions to be resolved before the overall vision can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the use of didactic material in mathematics classes. It focuses on the mathematical activities of students and the didactical activities of teachers. Its point of departure is a critique of technical-managerial approaches to teaching, learning, and innovation. Based on this critique, fundamental tensions between the development of new didactic material and the cognitive style and daily routines of practising teachers are identified. In the last part of the paper, the concept of mathematical literacy is introduced in order to set the crucial relationship between didactic material for mathematics instruction and the ways in which it is used in the classroom on new and fertile grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern technologies whose development defines the beginning of the twenty-first century information civilization create entirely new possibilities for organizing and delivering educational processes. Thanks to them an opportunity for education opens up, which is a move away from the narrowly conceived encyclopaedism in education to independent work, revealing activities, and sometimes creativity. The paper will consider the benefits that can be associated with the use of IT in teaching on the one hand understood as a set of devices, on the other as education software packages. At the same time features which entails risks for the organization of teaching and learning processes as well as for themselves educated will be indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To use information technology to improve leaning processes, the pedagogical assumptions underlying the design of information technology for educational purposes must be understood. This paper reviews different models of learning, surfaces assumptions of electronic teaching technology, and relates those assumptions to the differing models of learning. Our analysis suggests that initial attempts to bring information technology to management education follow a classic story of automating rather than transforming. IT is primarily used to automate the information delivery function;in classrooms. In the absence of fundamental changes to the teaching and learning process, such classrooms may do little but speed up ineffective processes and methods of teaching. Our mapping of technologies to learning models identifies sets of technologies in which management schools should invest in order to informate up and down and ultimately transform the educational environment and processes. For researchers interested in the use of information technology to improve learning processes, the paper provides a theoretical foundation for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are in the era where various processes need to be online. However, data from digital learning platforms are still underutilised in higher education, yet, they contain student learning patterns, whose awareness would contribute to educational development. Furthermore, the knowledge of student progress would inform educators whether they would mitigate teaching conditions for critically performing students. Less knowledge of performance patterns limits the development of adaptive teaching and learning mechanisms. In this paper, a model for data exploitation to dynamically study students progress is proposed. Variables to determine current students progress are defined and are used to group students into different clusters. A model for dynamic clustering is proposed and related cluster migration is analysed to isolate poorer or higher performing students. K-means clustering is performed on real data consisting of students from a South African tertiary institution. The proposed model for cluster migration analysis is applied and the corresponding learning patterns are revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-organization, especially in the framework of embodiment in biologically inspired robots, allows the acquisition of behavioral primitives by autonomous robots themselves. However, it is an open question how self-organization of basic motor primitives and goal-orientation can be combined, which is a prerequisite for the usefulness of such systems. In the paper at hand we propose a goal-orientation framework allowing the combination of self-organization and goal-orientation for the control of autonomous robots in a mutually independent fashion. Self-organization based motor primitives are employed to achieve a given goal. This requires less initial knowledge about the properties of robot and environment and increases adaptivity of the overall system. A combination of self-organization and reward-based learning seems thus a promising route for the development of adaptive learning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Production and Operations Management topic is a part of all engineering curricula. Reforms in the teaching plans of various countries have extended the range of subjects framed in this discipline, which must coordinate and split the content. On the other hand, companies require engineers trained in systematic processes improvement methodologies and also in a practical approach to problem solving focused on the systematic elimination of waste. This paper presents a teaching proposal focused on the explanation of Lean Manufacturing tools, including quantitative evaluation methods, allowing students to acquire, in a practical way, specific abilities and skills in Production and Operations Management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has grown enormously, with communities of players reaching into the millions. Their fantasy narratives present multiple challenges created by the virtual environment and/or other players. The games' potential for education stems from the fact that players are immersed in a virtual world where they have the opportunity to manipulate and explore, thus motivating the construction of knowledge. The interaction and collaboration between participants allows students to exchange information, test their understanding and reflect on what they have learned. Given the promising results of using MMORPG technologies for educational purposes, this paper translates the multiplayer role playing game (MRPG) aspect, the essential concept behind MMORPGs, into the classroom context. We present the abstraction behind a Classroom Multiplayer Presential Role Playing Game (CMPRPG) and the development of a CMPRPG for teaching ecology. The game has a quest structure in which each result highlights a key teaching objective. It is implemented at a high level, with interaction between reusable game elements defined using triggers. It is observed that the implemented CMPRPG has appropriate usability levels, benefits the learning and application of the concepts of ecology and, in the interactive dimensions, it encourages participation and collaborative narrative structures among participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the new major directions in research on web-based educational systems is the notion of adaptability: the educational system adapts itself to the learning profile, preferences and ability of the student. In this paper, we look into the issues of providing adaptability with respect to learning pathways. We explore the state of the art with respective to deriving the most apt learning pathway to recommend to the learner. Our proposal suggests a novel way of modeling learning pathways that combines rule-based prescriptive planning, which could be found in many of the classic Intelligent Tutoring Systems, and Ant Colony Optimization-based inductive planning, for recommending learning paths by stochastically computing past learners' traveled paths and their performances. A web-based prototype has been developed using C# and .NET technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper posits an approach for the design of programming language courses. The approach consists of 7 steps. Step 1 was thought to help learners to rectify their negative beliefs in order to cope with the learners' emotional aspect. Step 2 proposes the intersection among the learners' knowledge and abilities background in order to help the learners to construct their own knowledge based on their prior knowledge Step 3 was established in order to determined the set of problems in which the course will be based. Step 4 gives some procedures to approach the designed syllabus. Step 5 and Step 6 introduce some guidelines for the teaching of programming concepts and the fostering of programming abilities. Step 7 introduces how to evaluate the new acquired knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with accelerating poverty, the Malawi government has re-awakened its commitment to the development of human capacity and the role of development in this context. This paper explores the relationship between development and science and technology. It goes on to review the country’s science and technology needs and how these justify taking developmental action. It concludes that strategies designed to increase access to education should not be limited to the primary sector, but should also include secondary curricula and university science and technology programmes. Drawing on the arguments in the article and personal experience, the authors suggest promoting the development of human capacity in Malawi by creating special “science schools” in the secondary sector and increasing the number of scholarships for university science students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The learning object remains an ill-defined concept, despite numerous and extensive discussion in the literature. This paper attempts to address this problem by providing a classification that potentially brings together various perspectives of what a learning object may be. Six unique types of learning objects are proposed and discussed: presentation, practice, simulation, conceptual models, information and contextual representation objects. The common characteristics of each are synthesized in a proposal that a learning object is best described as a representation designed to afford uses in different educational contexts. The classification of learning objects proposed could be useful as a framework for designers of digital resources and for those engaged in use of these resources in educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation, together with readier access to capability-enhancing technologies and to technological insights once restricted to a few leading economies, are resulting in greater competition within Europe, and more widely within the developed world, for influence of all kinds (not just influence over the choices that foreign students make about the Higher Education courses on offer to them from Europe, but also influence of a more overtly imperialist kind, extending to the policies, incomes and futures of others). This article looks at trends in one important market for European Higher Education, the Middle East (particularly the GCC countries), which has many providers from North America and Australia. As observed by the late Edward Said, the USA is particularly forceful in the Middle East. Its technological superiority is accompanied by fervour to introduce American methods and curricula, and strong belief in their merit, reminiscent of the belief of the old French empire that ‘France had a “mission civilisatrice”, to civilize the natives”. The danger, highlighted in a recent UNESCO report ‘New Ignorances, New Literacies’, is that the natives will not be listened to. Is Europe listening more or less than the USA, and is it being listened to? Despite attention-gaining initiatives such as the proposed European Institute of Technology, EIT, and the commitment of EU governments to the Lisbon goals on competitiveness, there are indications of a drop in the influence of European Higher Education institutions in the Middle East. This paper explores the kinds of issues that may be at work, and the implications for European Higher Education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]