Koh, Elizabeth

Networked learning provides opportunities for learners to develop their critical thinking, an important 21st century competency, through dialogue with fellow learners to consider other perspectives and negotiate and critique ideas and arguments. However, much extant literature has not examined networked learning environments among younger learners nor the optimal conditions for enhancing critical thinking. Therefore, a study was carried out to investigate these conditions. A learning analytics networked learning environment was designed and 264 secondary three students participated in the 10-week long intervention as part of their English curriculum. Individual and collective social network metrics, critical reading scores, and self-reported survey data were used to quantitatively evaluate students’ critical reading performance in relation to their participation in networked learning. Results highlight several optimal conditions, notably that it is not just participation of the learner that enhances critical thinking but the learners’ reciprocity in replying and the distance of those posts in the network. Discussions and implications of the findings follow to provide insightful understanding of how the rich and complex settings of networked learning can enhance critical thinking capacities in secondary schooling.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education and learning analytics (LA) tools are increasingly being developed and implemented to enhance teaching and learning within Singapore’s education landscape. This paper provides an overview of key AI in education and LA projects and initiatives in Singapore, organized by the types of technology. The identified projects and initiatives involve a range of techniques and systems to achieve personalized learning, improve student engagement, optimize resources, and also predict student success among a list of educational outcomes. We briefly describe each identified project before further discussing the collective impact and limitations, as well as the implications for Singapore and her education environments. Overall, this paper seeks to provide an overview of the state and use of AI and LA in education-related projects within Singapore and highlights the need for further research and development in this area to fully realize the potential of these technologies for improvement of teaching and learning.

As the integration of technology in education undergoes continuous development, Learning Analytics Dashboards (LADs) have become vital tools for both instructors and learners, facilitating the monitoring and optimization of the learning experience. Student-facing LADs have been designed with various reference frames which enable various feedback, comparisons and reflection. However, there has been limited examination of the reference frames and their indicators employed in student-facing LADs as well as its evaluation. This research aims to address this gap by conducting a systematic literature review using PRISMA to synthesize existing literature to identify and offer insights on reference frames and key indicators used in student-facing LADs. We identified 42 articles and analyzed that social reference frames as compared to progress reference frames are commonly employed in LADs. Key indicators include class performance average, class performance mean, average performance of the class, etc. These insights contribute to the ongoing development and best practices of LAD design. The knowledge and findings can help educators, researchers, system designers and policymakers decide how best to incorporate these tools into educational settings.

In 2011, the Ministry of Education (MOE) embarked on a study of five Integrated Programme (IP) schools, and sought to find out how the IP had enabled students to achieve the intended outcomes as well as the unique characteristics of IP students. Since the study was done seven years after the IP was incepted and there was no comparison group of students in the same school that had gone through an O level programme (OP), it was difficult to attribute the outcomes to the IP. It is possible that the outcomes could be due to the quality of that IP intake or it might be that the outcomes had already been achieved in those schools prior to the IP. Since 2013, more schools have started to offer IP. This study involved four of the new schools, namely: Pawai School (PS), Istana School (IS), Marina School (MS), and Sentosa School (SS). Besides the IP, these schools also offer the O level Programme, and OP students were included as a comparison group. A fifth school, Ujong Junior College (UJC), also participated in the study as it receives students from three of the schools after Year 4.

In the field of learning analytics (LA), actionable insight from LA designs tends to be a buzzword without clear understandings. As the teacher is a key stakeholder, what teacher-actionable insights can be derived from LA designs? Towards providing greater clarity on this issue, we concretize a taxonomy of LA decision support for teacher-actionable insights in student engagement. Four types of decision support are conceived in this taxonomy with relevant teacher implications. Through this taxonomy, we hope to offer possible pathways for actionable insight in LA designs and make clearer the role of the teacher.

In the emerging field of learning analytics (LA), actionable insight from LA designs tends to be a buzzword without clear understandings. Student engagement is commonly measured in LA designs and used to inform actionable insight. Moreover, in K-12 education, where the teacher is a key stakeholder, what teacher-actionable insights can be derived from LA designs? Towards providing greater clarity on this issue, we concretize a taxonomy of LA decision support for teacher-actionable insights in student engagement. Four types of decision support are conceived in this taxonomy with relevant teacher implications. Through this taxonomy, we hope to offer possible pathways for actionable insight in LA designs and make clearer the role of the teacher.

Teamwork is one of the core competencies for the 21st century student and it is important to promote the development of the skills needed in teamwork. In this study, we continue the development and trial of a techno-pedagogical tool My Groupwork Buddy (MGB), designed to support student teamwork awareness, reflection and growth. The system has been trialled with students in two Secondary Schools, involved in collaborative inquiry tasks. Employing design-based research, we focus on the latest two trials of MGB. Drawing from feedback obtained during the study, we refined and evaluated MGB with its related design principles. The continued enhancement of MGB through iterative trials has enabled the evolution of a platform capable of supporting the formative assessment approach of teamwork growth for 21st century students.

Teamwork is an important life skill and competency for 21st century learners. It also contributes to effective learning teams. In this exploratory study, we examine the different levels of team effectiveness and describe the varying patterns of teamwork competency dimensions from students’ online problem-solving chatlogs. We employed two types of measures for a holistic understanding of team effectiveness, namely, task performance scores and learners’ perception of how effective they are as a team. Teams were categorized into four levels of team effectiveness based on the measures. A content analysis of teamwork competency dimensions was also performed. Our findings revealed the need for balance in teamwork competency behaviors for effective learning teams. Insights from the findings could lead to design principles for interventions to nurture teamwork competency in our 21st century learners.