e-Learning Blog

At this year LAK 2012 Conference on „Learning Analytics and Knowledge“ we presented our first results of the netidee project „Multiplication Trainer„. Our publication is also online available:
Abstract:

One of the first and basic mathematical knowledge of schoolchildren is the multiplication table. At the age of 8 to 10 eachchild has to learn by training step by step, or more scientifically, by using a behavioristic learning concept. Due to this fact it can be mentioned that we know very well about the pedagogicalapproach, but on the other side there is rather less knowledgeabout the increase of step-by-step knowledge of the schoolchildren.In this publication we present some data documenting thefluctuation in the process of acquiring the multiplication tables.We report the development of an algorithm which is able to adaptthe given tasks out of a given pool to unknown pupils. For this purpose a web-based application for learning the multiplicationtable was developed and then tested by children. Afterwards so-called learning curves of each child were drawn and analyzed bythe research team as well as teachers carrying out interestingoutcomes. Learning itself is maybe not as predictable as we knowfrom pedagogical experiences, it is a very individualized processof the learners themselves.It can be summarized that the algorithm itself as well as thelearning curves are very useful for studying the learning success.Therefore it can be concluded that learning analytics will becomean important step for teachers and learners of tomorrow.

Reference: Schön, M., Ebner, M., Kothmeier, G. (2012) It’s Just About Learning the Multiplication Table, Conferecnce Proceeding of LAK12: 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, 29 April – 2 May 2012, Vancouver, BC, Canada