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European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning

EC-TEL 2020: Addressing Global Challenges and Quality Education pp 274–287Cite as

Assessing the Impact of the Combination of Self-directed Learning, Immediate Feedback and Visualizations on Student Engagement in Online Learning

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12315))

Abstract

This paper introduces OPEL, a novel Online Learning Environment currently used by undergraduate university students to learn SQL programming and database design as part of their degree program. As student engagement in online learning remains a key challenge faced by researchers, this work aims to support learner engagement through self-directed learning coupled with immediate student feedback and personalized visual dashboards. The self-directed learning supported by OPEL enables students to find and use online resources of their choice, including papers, books, tutorials, and videos to study the topics defined in the course curriculum. The feedback provides learners with advice immediately after exercises are submitted and the personalized visual dashboards enable the students to scrutinize and explore their learning activity data and their knowledge models. An evaluation is discussed which compares the engagement of the students using OPEL against its predecessor (an online learning environment used for the same module in previous years but did not support self-directed learning or immediate feedback).

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the Science Foundation Ireland through the CNGL program (Grant 12/CE/I2267) in the ADAPT Center (www.adaptcentre.ie) at Trinity College Dublin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ADAPT Centre, School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Bilal Yousuf, Owen Conlan & Vincent Wade

Authors
  1. Bilal Yousuf
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  2. Owen Conlan
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  3. Vincent Wade
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bilal Yousuf , Owen Conlan or Vincent Wade .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganés (Madrid), Spain

    Carlos Alario-Hoyos

  2. Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

    María Jesús Rodríguez-Triana

  3. Open University Netherlands, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Maren Scheffel

  4. Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Inmaculada Arnedillo-Sánchez

  5. Graz University of Technology and Know-Center, Graz, Austria

    Sebastian Maximilian Dennerlein

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Yousuf, B., Conlan, O., Wade, V. (2020). Assessing the Impact of the Combination of Self-directed Learning, Immediate Feedback and Visualizations on Student Engagement in Online Learning. In: Alario-Hoyos, C., Rodríguez-Triana, M.J., Scheffel, M., Arnedillo-Sánchez, I., Dennerlein, S.M. (eds) Addressing Global Challenges and Quality Education. EC-TEL 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12315. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57717-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57717-9_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-57716-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-57717-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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