PLT 07 Catania 24 25 May 2007 Enhancing

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PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007 Enhancing Pen-based Experiences with the Use of

PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007 Enhancing Pen-based Experiences with the Use of Concept Maps Adina Magda Florea, Serban Radu University “Politehnica” of Bucharest

Aim • Can the use of pen technology increase the effectives of different pedagogical

Aim • Can the use of pen technology increase the effectives of different pedagogical approaches? • Can digital ink successfully support various teaching styles? • Can we optimally use concept maps in a classroom if endowed with a pen? • Experiment for the “Data Structures and Algorithm” course PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Learning styles • Students are characterized by different learning styles • Teaching methods also

Learning styles • Students are characterized by different learning styles • Teaching methods also vary • Match the teaching style with the learning style? PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Felder and Silverman model § Active learners understand new information by doing something with

Felder and Silverman model § Active learners understand new information by doing something with it. § Reflective learners prefer to think about new information first before acting on it. § Sensing learners like learning facts and solving problems by well established methods. § Intuitive learners prefer discovering new relationships and can be innovative in their approach to problem solving. PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Felder and Silverman model § Visual learners understand new information best by seeing it

Felder and Silverman model § Visual learners understand new information best by seeing it in the form of pictures, demonstrations, diagrams, charts, films and so on. § Verbal learners understand new information best through written and spoken words. § Sequential learners understand new information in linear steps where each step follows logically from the previous one. § Global learners tend to learn in large jumps by absorbing material in a random order without necessarily seeing any connections until they have grasped the whole concept. PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Concept maps • Offer a method to represent information visually • As a learning

Concept maps • Offer a method to represent information visually • As a learning tool, concept maps can contribute to meaningful learning • May be used as an instructional tool and as an assessment tool PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Pedagogical scenarios • Try to evaluate the impact of using: q q q the

Pedagogical scenarios • Try to evaluate the impact of using: q q q the digital ink on students’ learning style the pen on drawing concept maps in teaching students characterized by different learning styles • Lecture teaching • Laboratory work • Students are equipped with tablet PCs PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Lectures Instructor • Present the learning goals of the class either by using a

Lectures Instructor • Present the learning goals of the class either by using a concept map or by using bullet text • Annotate slides Students • Develop short exercises in order to practice the acquired knowledge • Answer 2 -3 short questions to catch misconceptions PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Lectures Instructor • Draw a concept map of the concepts presented during the class

Lectures Instructor • Draw a concept map of the concepts presented during the class • Mark on that concept map the associated relevant slides in the lecture • Ask the students to draw a concept map for a particular concept • Save the annotated slides together with the topics concept map PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Laboratory • Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire http: //www. engr. ncsu. edu/learningstyles/ilsweb. html •

Laboratory • Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire http: //www. engr. ncsu. edu/learningstyles/ilsweb. html • draw flowcharts or pseudocode of the program • solve exercises that require depiction of data structures PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Laboratory • point out errors in a solution of an assignment and explain why

Laboratory • point out errors in a solution of an assignment and explain why the solution is erroneous • draw concept maps for topics covered by laboratory work or annotate existing concept maps • write the solution of a programming exercise instead of keying and running it PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Current results • Questions concerning the general evaluation of the new approach Ex: –

Current results • Questions concerning the general evaluation of the new approach Ex: – This new way of presenting the class is enjoyable – This new way of presenting the class is stressful SA, A, D, SD (N? ) PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Current results • Questions regarding the added value of using concept maps – I

Current results • Questions regarding the added value of using concept maps – I prefer having the lecture goals presented as a concept map – The concept map helps my understanding of the topic – I prefer to build the concept map by selecting concepts from a given list – Building concept maps is boring PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Current results • Questions focused on the benefits of using pen-based input – I

Current results • Questions focused on the benefits of using pen-based input – I like using the pen during the class – I am more attentive during the class when I use the pen – Using the pen distracts me – Having the possibility to annotate the slides helps me retain knowledge – I learn better if I can review teacher's annotated slides PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Current results • Questions geared towards the students' preference for using key/mouse input or

Current results • Questions geared towards the students' preference for using key/mouse input or pen based input, depending on a particular task – I prefer drawing the concept map with a pen rather than with a mouse – I prefer writing a pseudocode with a pen rather than using key input – I prefer making corrections to a piece of code with a pen rather than using key input PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Findings • Most students appreciated: – the new pedagogical approach – the use of

Findings • Most students appreciated: – the new pedagogical approach – the use of an interactive teaching style help them stay more focused during the classes – the possibility of having annotated slides with both teacher's annotations and their own PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Findings • Visual learners, global learners, and intuitive learners strongly agreed that the use

Findings • Visual learners, global learners, and intuitive learners strongly agreed that the use of concept maps help them better understand retain the presented topics • Sensing learners did not value concept maps and found this activity somehow boring • Active learners preferred drawing a concept map with a pen • Reflective learners preferred the use of mouse to draw a concept map • Most students preferred making corrections to a piece of code using key input than analyzing the code and making corrections with the pen • Some visual learners (few) preferred the pen for program correction PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Tools • Pen Annotator - allows graphical annotation of documents and runs on Tablet-PCs

Tools • Pen Annotator - allows graphical annotation of documents and runs on Tablet-PCs or any PC or mobile computer equipped with a pen • @Graph concept map builder – allows the development and management of concept maps for PCs, for which concept maps are drawn with a mouse, or on Tablet-PC or PCs equipped with a pen, for which concept maps are drawn with the pen. PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Conclusions • The overall response to our pedagogical experience was positive • The students

Conclusions • The overall response to our pedagogical experience was positive • The students enjoyed being part of the experiment • The students liked practicing with the new approaches of input data into the computer • Concerns: – deployment of the technology – pedagogical – instructors PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007

Future work • • • Extend experiment Refine the set of questions Conduct more

Future work • • • Extend experiment Refine the set of questions Conduct more surveys Interpret the results Expand the capabilities of the designed software tools together with their integration in a collaborative learning system PLT’ 07 Catania 24 -25 May 2007