Understanding the learners’ actions when using mathematics learning tools. (English) Zbl 1359.97006

Libbrecht, Paul; Rebholz, Sandra; Herding, Daniel; Müller, Wolfgang; Tscheulin, Felix

Jeuring, Johan (ed.) et al., Intelligent computer mathematics. 11th international conference, AISC 2012, 19th symposium, Calculemus 2012, 5th international workshop, DML 2012, 11th international conference, MKM 2012, systems and projects, held as part of CICM 2012, Bremen, Germany, July 8–13, 2012. Proceedings. Berlin: Springer (ISBN 978-3-642-31373-8/pbk). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 7362. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, 111-126 (2012).

Summary: The use of computer-based mathematics tools is widespread in learning. Depending on the way that these tools assess the learner’s solution paths, one can distinguish between automatic assessment tools and semi-automatic assessment tools. Automatic assessment tools directly provide all feedback necessary to the learners, while semi-automatic assessment tools involve the teachers as part the assessment process. They are provided with as much information as possible on the learners’ interactions with the tool.
How can the teachers know how the learning tools were used and which intermediate steps led to a solution? How can the teachers respond to a learner’s question that arises while using a computer tool? Little is available to answer this beyond interacting directly with the computer and performing a few manipulations to understand the tools’ state.
This paper presents SMALA, a web-based logging architecture that addresses these problems by recording, analyzing and representing user actions. While respecting the learner’s privacy, the SMALA architecture supports the teachers by offering fine-grained representations of the learners’ activities as well as overviews of the progress of a classroom.
For the entire collection see [Zbl 1245.68013].

MSC:

97D60	Student assessment, achievement control, and rating (aspects of mathematics education)
97U50	Computer-assisted instruction, e-learning (aspects of mathematics education)
97U70	Technological tools, calculators (aspects of mathematics education)

Software:

SetSails!; SMALA