Digitale Lehre an und rund um der Technischen Universität Graz
The second presentation at this year EDMedia conference (online) was about „Practitioner Integration in Computational Thinking Education“. Find here the slides of the talk of Michael:
Klicken Sie auf den unteren Button, um den Inhalt von www.slideshare.net zu laden.
My PhD-Students wrote a chapter about the usage of Microsoft Hololens „Simulation data visualization using mixed reality with Microsoft HoloLensTM„. Now it got published within the book „New Perspectives on Virtual and Augmented Reality„.
Abstract:
Simulations and test beds are very difficult topics, especially for non-experienced students or new employees in the mechanical engineering domain. In this chapter, a HoloLens app and a CAD/Simulation workflow are introduced to visualize CAD models and sensor and simulation data of a test run on an air conditioning system test bed. The main challenge is to visualize temperature and pressure changes within opaque parts, such as tubes, compressors, condensers or electrical expansion valves. The HoloLens app supports various simulations and CAD visualizations. We exemplary implemented colouring the temperature or pressure changes of the test bed parts as Mixed-Reality (MR) overlays. The main purpose of the HoloLens app is to reduce the learning effort and time to understand such simulations and test bed settings. Additionally, the app could be used as a communication tool between different departments to transfer experiences and domain specific knowledge.
[chapter @ book homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Spitzer, M., Rosenberger, M., Ebner, M. (2020) Simulation data visualization using mixed reality with Microsof HoloLensTM, In: New Perspectives on Virtual and Augmented Reality, Daniela, L. (ed.), pp. 147-162, London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003001874
Our first research article concerning the situation of COVID-19 titled „COVID-19 Epidemic as E-Learning Boost? Chronological Development and Effects at an Austrian University against the Background of the Concept of “E-Learning Readiness” is published right now.
Abstract:
Website Future Internet
The COVID-19 crisis influenced universities worldwide in early 2020. In Austria, all universities were closed in March 2020 as a preventive measure, and meetings with over 100 people were banned and a curfew was imposed. This development also had a massive impact on teaching, which in Austria takes place largely face-to-face. In this paper we would like to describe the situation of an Austrian university regarding e-learning before and during the first three weeks of the changeover of the teaching system, using the example of Graz University of Technology (TU Graz). The authors provide insights into the internal procedures, processes and decisions of their university and present figures on the changed usage behaviour of their students and teachers. As a theoretical reference, the article uses the e-learning readiness assessment according to Alshaher (2013), which provides a framework for describing the status of the situation regarding e-learning before the crisis. The paper concludes with a description of enablers, barriers and bottlenecks from the perspective of the members of the Educational Technology department.
[full article @ ResearchGate]
[full article @ journal’s homepage]
Reference: Ebner, M.; Schön, S.; Braun, C.; Ebner, M.; Grigoriadis, Y.; Haas, M.; Leitner, P.; Taraghi, B. COVID-19 Epidemic as E-Learning Boost? Chronological Development and Effects at an Austrian University against the Background of the Concept of “E-Learning Readiness”. Future Internet 2020, 12, 94.
Für das Buch „Lehren und Lernen mit Tutorials und Erklärvideos“ durften wir einen Kurzbeitrag zu „Was macht ein gutes Erklärvideo aus?“ schreiben.
Zusammenfassung:
Teaser des Beitrags
Basierend auf der Analyse und der Gestaltungspraxis von Erklärvideos in der Hochschulbildung stellen Dr. Schön und Dr. Ebner die wichtigsten medialen und didaktischen Gestaltungskriterien für großartige Erklärvideos vor.Basierend auf der Analyse und der Gestaltungspraxis von Erklärvideos in der Hochschulbildung stellen Dr. Schön und Dr. Ebner die wichtigsten medialen und didaktischen Gestaltungskriterien für großartige Erklärvideos vor.
Zitation: Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2020) Was macht ein gutes Erklärvideo aus? In: Lehren und Lernen mit Tutorials und Erklärvideos. Dorgerloh, S. & Wolf, K. (Hrsg.). Beltz. ISBN 978-3-407-63126-8. S. 75-80
We did a short publication about „The Use of Gamification in Gastronomic Questionnaires“ for the International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM).
Abstract:
Homepage iJIM
Obtaining customer opinions and customer wishes is increasingly becoming an important part of any entrepreneurial activity for determining customer satisfaction and, subsequently, optimizing products and services as well as strengthen customer loyalty. In catering, there are several ways to capture the guest’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction, as well as customer preferences and customer needs across different channels. One way to obtain a customer’s opinion is to provide a digital online questionnaire. Unfortunately, the participation of guests in such surveys is usually low. In addition, many online questionnaires are aborted prematurely, and questions which require an individual text answer are often left unanswered. Gamification is a process to use game ele-ments, game techniques and game mechanics from games in a different context in order to motivate and force people to do certain activities. This paper discusses whether the use of game elements in an existing gastronomical online questionnaire enhances the engagement of users and whether customer satisfac-tion remains the same. Based on an existing gastronomical online questionnaire from the company ITELL.SOLUTIONS GmbH a gamified questionnaire vari-ant has been developed. Game elements such as points, badges, avatar, story, progress bar and instant feedback have been included. The investigation showed that the use of gamification in questionnaires on open questions did not worsen the involvement of users. The customer satisfac-tion remained unchanged by the embedding of game elements too. Users of the expanded game questionnaire tended to give more precise and longer answers. The completion time also slightly increased for the gamified questionnaire. A direct comparison between the two variants of the questionnaire, showed that users preferred the design of the gamified questionnaire.
[article @ journal’s homepage]
[article @ researchgate]
Reference: Prott, D., & Ebner, M. (2020). The Use of Gamification in Gastronomic Questionnaires. International Journal Of Interactive Mobile Technologies (IJIM), 14(02), pp. 101-118. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v14i02.11695
Congratulations to my PhD-student who did his first publication about a literature research to computational thinking. His work got published right now in Future Internet, enjoy the great reading.
Abstract:
After a lengthy debate within the scientific community about what constitutes the problem solving approach of computational thinking (CT), the focus shifted to enable the integration of CT within compulsory education. This publication strives to focus the discussion and enable future research in an educational setting with a strong focus on the Austrian circumstances and the goal to allow wide international adoption later on. Methodically, a literature review was conducted to gain knowledge about the current strands of research and a meta study to show the diversity of proposed and materialized studies. Three main questions were answered, establishing that CT as an idea is rooted in scientific literature dating back to the 1980s and grew in popularity after Wing introduced the concept to a broader audience. A number of authors contributed to the current state of the field, with the most cited review coming from Grover and Pea. The challenge to integrate CT in curricula around the world was met by many experiments and case studies but without a conclusive framework as of yet. Ultimately, this paper determines that expert integration is a blank spot in the literature and aims to create a strong, inclusive path to CT education by inviting practitioners.
[Full article @ journal’s homepage]
[Full article @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Pollak, M.; Ebner, M. (2019) The Missing Link to Computational Thinking. Future Internet 2019, 11, 263.
We contributed to this year „Third IFIP TC 5, TC 12, WG 8.4, WG 8.9, WG 12.9 International Cross-Domain Conference (CD-MAKE 2019)“ with a publication titled „Insights into Learning Competence Through Probabilistic Graphical Models„.
Abstract:
One-digit multiplication problems is one of the major fields in learning mathematics at the level of primary school that has been studied over and over. However, the majority of related work is focusing on descriptive statistics on data from multiple surveys. The goal of our research is to gain insights into multiplication misconceptions by applying machine learning techniques. To reach this goal, we trained a probabilistic graphical model of the students’ misconceptions from data of an application for learning multiplication. The use of this model facilitates the exploration of insights into human learning competence and the personalization of tutoring according to individual learner’s knowledge states. The detection of all relevant causal factors of the erroneous students answers as well as their corresponding relative weight is a valuable insight for teachers. Furthermore, the similarity between different multiplication problems – according to the students behavior – is quantified and used for their grouping into clusters. Overall, the proposed model facilitates real-time learning insights that lead to more informed decisions.
[Proceedings online @ Springer]
Reference: Saranti, A., Taraghi, B., Ebner, M., Holzinger, A. (2019) Insights into Learning Competence Through Probabilistic Graphical Models. In: Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction. Third IFIP TC 5, TC 12, WG 8.4, WG 8.9, WG 12.9 International Cross-Domain Conference, CD-MAKE 2019, Canterbury, UK, August 26–29, 2019, Proceedings. pp. 250-271
Our article about „From refugee to programmer? A framework for a collaborative coding program for higher education institutions“ got published in the Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning.
Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share the lessons learned in teaching programming skills to refugees during a time when circumstances were changing quickly and constantly and the needs of the target group were not well known.Design/methodology/approach
The integration of refugees poses serious challenges for the hosting society’s education system. A large number of refugees can put a strain on all kinds of public resources, and difficulties with differences in languages, previous curricula, falling behind due to having to spend time outside of education, and psychological traumas have to be expected. In response to the refugee crisis and in order to manage mass migration, the adaptive nature and rapid development of civic approaches can contribute to overcoming some of these challenges. To evaluate the impact of civic approaches, the authors have paid attention to refugees{code} an Austrian coding school for refugees which was developed by the civic community and which shows great potential in terms of providing rapid, innovative and adaptive kinds of educational support for refugees, as well as helping to combat the lack of programmers in the Austrian job market.Findings
As the great potential that initiatives like refugees{code} have for education, there are also substantial challenges. As we learned from the first course, course completion rates were very low. Therefore, it is important to build an infrastructure and a learning environment around the course. This learning environment includes providing mentoring and support, creating spaces where participants can learn. It was also found that having a pedagogically trained staff who is sufficient in the English language, too, is necessary to cater to a heterogeneous group. Also varying teaching strategies according to the needs and skills of the learner is necessary. One of the issues that confronts projects like refugees{code} is also receiving legal status. The collaboration with universities and colleges can be greatly helpful because they are already familiar with the structure of public authorities as well as with heterogeneous groups. Initiatives like refugees{code} are agile and flexible and know how to take advantage of that. The authors conclude that bringing successful education to heterogeneous and culturally different groups is multi-faceted. It is not something any individual organization or project can do; it can only be the result of a system of different actors working together with traditional educational institutions.Originality/value
This research study reports on two courses of programming for refugees and seeks to offer practical advice for further research and for the implementation of such courses into the educational system. Therefore a framework is proposed which should be taken into account in case of doing similar work.
[article @ Journal’s Homepage]
Reference: Wolf, D., Ebner, M. (2018) From refugee to programmer? A framework for a collaborative coding program for higher education institutions, Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-09-2017-0024
Our publication about „Learning analytics to improve writing skills for young children – an holistic approach“ has been published in the Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning.
Abstract:
Purpose
Due to the important role of orthography in society, the project called IDeRBlog presented in this paper created a web-based tool to motivate pupils to write text as well as to read and to comment on texts written by fellow students. In addition, IDeRBlog aims to improve student’s German orthography skills and supports teachers and parents with training materials for their students. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach
With the aid of learning analytics, the submitted text is analyzed and special feedback is given to the students so that they can try to correct the misspelled words themselves. The teachers as well as the parents are benefiting from the analysis and exercises suggested by the system.Findings
A recent study showed the efficiency of the system in form of an improvement of the students’ orthographic skills. Over a period of four months 70 percent of the students achieved a significant reduction of their spelling mistakes.Originality/value
IDeRBlog is an innovative approach to improving orthography skills combining blogging and new media with writing and practice.
Reference: Nina Steinhauer, Michael Gros, Martin Ebner, Markus Ebner, Anneliese Huppertz, Mike Cormann, Susanne Biermeier, Lena Burk, Konstanze Edtstadler, Sonja Gabriel, Martina Wintschnig, Christian Aspalter, Susanne Martich, (2017) Learning analytics to improve writing skills for young children – an holistic approach, Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, Vol. 10 Issue: 2, pp.143-159, https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-07-2017-0013
Our publication about „1×1 Trainer with Handwriting Recognition“ got published in the International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM). We described our successful app, which has been firstly announced already here.
Abstract:
Nowadays, computers and mobile devices play a huge role in our daily routines; they are used at work, for private purposes and even at school. Moreover, they are used as support for different kinds of activities and task, like for example, learning applications. The interaction of these applications with a computer is based on predefined input methods, whereas a touchscreen facilitates direct input via handwriting by using a finger or a pen. This paper deals with the invention of a mobile learning application, which is supposed to facilitate children’s learning of simple multiplication. The aim of this paper is to collect the data of children’ experiences using interactive handwriting on mobile devices. In order to gain this data, a school class of the school “Graz-Hirten” was tested and afterwards for evaluational purposes interviewed. The results of these usability tests have shown that children perceived handwriting via finger on screen as quite positive.
Reference: Rabko, M., Ebner, M. (2018) 1×1 Trainer with Handwriting Recognition. International Journal of Mobile Technologies (iJIM). 12/2. pp. 69-79. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v12i2.7714