Integrating Constructive Feedback in Personalised E-Learning

Integrating Constructive Feedback in Personalised E-Learning
Jude T. Lubega1 and Shirley Williams2
1

Makerere University, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa [e-mail] 2 Department of Computer Science, University of Reading, P.O. Box 225, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AY, United Kingdom [e-mail]

Abstract. When using e-learning material some students progress readily, others have difficulties. In a traditional classroom the teacher would identify those with difficulties and direct them to additional resources. This support is not easily available within e-learning. A new approach to providing constructive feedback is developed that will enable an e-learning system to identify areas of weakness and provide guidance on further study. The approach is based on the tagging of learning material with appropriate keywords that indicate the contents. Thus if a student performs poorly on an assessment on topic X, there is a need to suggest further study of X and participation in activities related to X such as forums. As well as supporting the learner this type of constructive feedback can also inform other stakeholders. For example a tutor can monitor the progress of a cohort; an instructional designer can monitor the quality of learning objects in facilitating the appropriate knowledge across many learners. Keywords: E-Learning, Tracking, Constructive Personalisation, Knowledge Construction. Feedback, LMS,

1 Introduction
The internet has created possibilities for transferring, sharing and reusing content. The increasing adoptation of the internet use in higher education learning demonstrates its potential as a future learning medium. Educational providers are exploring the effective use of e-learning by incorporating it in their teaching. There are several factors that have influenced educational providers to incorporate Learning Management Systems (LMS) within

References: 1. Harasim, L.: Shift Happens: Online Education as a new Paradigm in Learning. Internet and Higher Education 3(1) (2000) 2. SCORM: Best Practices Guide for Content Developers. Learning Systems Architecture Lab (2005), http://www.lsal.cmu.edu/lsal/expertise/projects/ (retrieved September 9, 2006) 228 J.T. Lubega and S. Williams 3. IEEE: Standard for Learning Object Metadata. Learning Technology Standards Committee (2003), http://grouper.ieee.org/LTSC/wg12/ (retrieved August 15, 2006) 4. IMS: IMS Open Specifications for Interoperable Learning Technology (2003), http://www.imsglobal.org/ (retrieved August 15, 2006) 5. Hill, J.R.: Overcoming obstacles and creating connections: Community building in Webbased learning environments. Journal of Computing in Higher Education 14(1), 67–86 (2002) 6. Wiley, D.A.: Connecting learning objects to instructional design theory: A definition, a metaphor, and a taxonomy. In: Wiley, D.A. (ed.) The Instructional Use of Learning Objects (2000), http://reusability.org/read/chapters/wiley.doc (retrieved June 23, 2006) 7. Keefe, J.W.: Learning style: An overview. In: NASSP’s Student learning styles: Diagnosing and prescribing programs Reston, pp. 1–17. National Association of Secondary School Principals, VA (1979) 8. Bergeron, D.P., Rosen, D.H., Arnau, R.C., Mascaro, N.: Picture Interpretation and Jungian Typology. Journal of Analytical Psychology 48(1), 83–99 (2003) 9. Jung, C.G.: Psychological types or the psychology of individuation, Brace, Harcourt, New York (1923) 10. Fosnot, C.: Constructivism: A Psychological theory of learning. In: Fosnot, C. (ed.) Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice. Teachers College Press, New York (1996) 11. Steffe, L.P., Gale, J.: Constructivism in Education. Erlbaum, Hillsdale (1995) 12. Honebein, P.C., Duffy, T., Fishman, B.: Constructivism and the Design of Learning Environment: Context and Authentic Activities for Learning. In: Duffy, T.M., Lowyck, J., Jonassen, D. (eds.) Design Environments for Constructivist Learning, pp. 87–108. Springer, Heidelberg (1993) 13. Chickering, A.W., Gamson, Z.F.: Seven Principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 3–7 (1987) 14. Cisco: Cisco Reusable Learning Object Strategy: Designing and Developing Learning Objects for Multiple Learning Approaches (2003), http://business.cisco.com/ (retrieved August 15, 2006) 15. Sun, L., Williams, S.: An Instructional Design Model for Constructivist Learning. In: Conference Proceedings, EdMedia 2004, World Conference on Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunication, Lugano, Switzerland, pp. 2476–2483 (2004) 16. Lubega, J., Sun, L., Williams, S.A.: A Method for Personalised Tracking in Knowledge Construction. In: 4th European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2005) 17. Elwood, J., Klendowski, V.: Creating of Shared Practice: The Challenges of Assessment Use in Learning and Teaching. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 3, 243–256 (2002) 18. Stiggins, R.: Assessment Crisis: The Absence of Assessment FOR Learning. Phi Delta Kappan 83, 758–765 (2002) 19. Torrance, H., Pryor, J.: Investigating Formative Assessment. Open University Press, Buckingham (1998) 20. Sun, L., Fu, Y.: Interoperability for eLearning Services Management and Provision. Journal of World Wide Web: Internet and Web Information Systems 8, 1–18 (2005) 21. Wiggins, G.: Educative assessment: Designing assessments to inform and improve student performance. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco (1998) Integrating Constructive Feedback in Personalised E-Learning 229 22. Duffy, T.M., Cunningham, D.J.: Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. In: Jonassen, D.H. (ed.) Handbook of research for educational communications and technology. MacMillian Library, New York (1996) 23. Kluger, A.N., DeNisi, A.: The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis and preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin 119, 2 (1996) 24. Mory, E.H.: Feedback research revisited. In: Jonassen, D.H. (ed.) Handbook of research for educational communications and technology. MacMillian Library, New York (2003) 25. Lubega, J., Sun, L., Williams, S.: A Design for Generating Personalised Feedback in Knowledge Construction, pp. 302–310. Springer, Heidelberg (2005) 26. Rowntree, D.: Assessing Students: How Shall We Know Them. Kogan Page, London (1987) 27. Gipps, C.V.: Beyond Testing: Towards a Theory of Educational Assessment. The Falmer Press, London (1994) 28. Lubega, J., Williams, S.: A Study of Factors Contributing to Late Submission of Course Work. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-learning (EURODL), 2 (2006) 29. Grabtree, I., Soltysiak, S.: Identifying and Tracking Changing Interests. International Journal of Digital Libraries 2, 38–53 (1998) 30. Koychev, I., Schwab, I.: Adaptation to Drifting User’s Intersects. In: ECML2000/MLnet workshop: ML in the New Information Age, Barcelona, Spain, pp. 39–45 (2000) 31. Paiva, A., Machado, I.: Lifelong Training with Vincent, a Web-based Pedagogical Agent. International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Lifelong Learning 12(1-4), 254–256 (2002)