Teaching meta-heuristics within virtual learning environments

Modern education of operations research and management science (OR/MS) can greatly benefit from interactive learning methods in order to build and develop modeling and problem‐solving skills. In this paper we consider the teaching of meta‐heuristics as an important part of OR/MS with significant recent interest. We discuss possibilities of supporting the teaching of meta‐heuristics such as simulated annealing or tabu search through interactive learning. The paper also presents a survey of some relevant issues within VORMS (Virtual Operations Research/Management Science), a project currently undertaken at six universities within Germany, and provides a presentation of the advances regarding the teaching of meta‐heuristics within this project. Further ideas refer to incorporating hotframe, a heuristic optimization framework, into the virtual learning environment.     

网络环境下教与学的研究与实现

近年来,随着现代信息技术的飞速发展与网络技术的迅速普及,网络教育已经成为最具发展潜力的教育形式之一.网络教育的发展使现代信息社会的必然选择.但是,纵观当前网络环境下的教育学,对这种教育形式的运用也出现了许多问题.本文将就目前网络环境下的教与学进行分析,并对网络环境下的教与学的前景做出展望.     

A model of (en)action to approach embodiment: a cornerstone for the design of virtual environments for learning

This paper presents a model of (en)action from a conceptual and theoretical point of view. This model is used to provide solid bases to overcome the complexity of designing virtual environments for learning (VEL). It provides a common grounding for trans-disciplinary collaborations where embodiment can be perceived as the cornerstone of the project. Where virtual environments are concerned, both computer scientists and educationalists have to deal with the learner/user’s body; therefore the model provides tools with which to approach both human actions and learning processes within a threefold model. It is mainly based on neuroscientific research, including enaction and the neurophysiology of action.     

Virtual organizational learning in open source software development projects

We studied virtual organizational learning in open source software (OSS) development projects. Specifically, our research focused on learning effects of OSS projects and the factors that affect the learning process. The number and percentage of resolved bugs and bug resolution time of 118 SourceForge.net OSS projects were used to measure the learning effects. Projects were characterized by project type, number and experience of developers, number of bugs, and bug resolution time. Our results provided evidence of virtual organizational learning in OSS development projects and support for several factors as determinants of performance. Team size was a significant predictor, with mid-sized project teams functioning best. Teams of three to seven developers exhibited the highest efficiency over time and teams of eight to 15 produced the lowest mean time for bug resolution. Increasing the percentage of bugs assigned to specific developers or boosting developer participation in other OSS projects also improved performance. Furthermore, project type introduced variability in project team performance.     

Exploring activity theory as a tool for evaluating interactivity and learning in virtual environments for children

This paper explores the use of Activity Theory for the evaluation of user behaviour in immersive virtual environments. Specifically, the study of user behaviour focuses on interactivity, which is argued to be one of the most important processes that take place between a user and the system in virtual reality. The ultimate intention is to study the role and the effect of interactivity on learning and conceptual change and to examine how interaction and conceptual learning are related in the context of virtual environments developed primarily for informal educational settings. As a first step to this study, a set of exploratory experiments was carried out with children aged 7–12. The children were asked to complete tasks, such as the assembly of ancient columns from parts, which were designed to promote constructivist learning and explore the methods of carrying out in-depth experiments with children. This paper describes the analysis of these exploratory case studies from an Activity Theory perspective.

Requirements elicitation for virtual actors in collaborative learning environments

This paper reports on the elicitation of requirements for Virtual Actors in Collaborative Virtual Learning Environments (CVLEs). The methodological approach followed involves the phased development of a series of learning environments which are observed in use by parents, children and teachers. The focus of study is on the interactivity and social communication issues that arise in the learning situation. The research uses as its case study the work of the Manchester Museum Education Service with children at Key Stage Level 2 (9–11 years old) of the National Curriculum. The particular learning situation is based on senet, an ancient Egyptian board game from the Museum’s collection of artefacts from the pyramid builders’ town of Kahun. Results are presented of the first phase prototype, a single display groupware system where interactions take place face-to-face in the ‘real-world’ external to the environment. Results are also presented of the second phase prototype, a multi-user groupware environment in which the users are remotely located and interaction is mainly internal to the environment. The paper discusses how the results from these two phases are being used to establish requirements for a CVLE to be developed in the third phase of research.     

Deploying learning designs across physical and web spaces: Making pervasive learning affordable for teachers

Pervasive computing devices and communication infrastructures enable learning situations that occur in both the physical and the virtual world. However, deploying these pervasive situations is still a challenge for teachers. This paper presents GLUEPS-AR, a system for deploying learning designs across physical and web spaces, using mainstream Virtual Learning Environments, Web 2.0 artifacts and Augmented Reality applications. GLUEPS-AR has been evaluated through a mixed methods study on the deployment of three authentic pervasive learning situations. Results highlight that GLUEPS-AR supports teachers in deploying their pedagogical ideas on pervasive learning environments, overcoming the main limitations of existing approaches.     

Exploring the user experience of three-dimensional virtual learning environments

This study examines the users' experiences with three-dimensional (3D) virtual environments to investigate the areas of development as a learning application. For the investigation, the modified technology acceptance model (TAM) is used with constructs from expectation-confirmation theory (ECT). Users' responses to questions about cognitive perceptions and continuous use were collected and analysed with factors that were modified from TAM and ECT. Whilst the findings confirm the significant roles by users' cognitive perceptions, the findings also shed light on the possibility of 3D application serving as an enabler of learning tools. In the extended model, the moderating effects of confirmation/satisfaction and demographics of the relationships amongst the variables were found to be significant.     

Virtual peers as partners in storytelling and literacy learning

Abstract   Literacy learning — learning how to read and write — begins long before children enter school. One of the key skills to reading and writing is the ability to represent thoughts symbolically and share them in language with an audience who may not necessarily share the same temporal and spatial context. Children learn and practice these important language skills everyday, telling stories with the peers and adults around them. In particular, storytelling in the context of peer collaboration provides a key environment for children to learn language skills important for literacy. In light of this, an embodied conversational agent, Sam , who tells stories collaboratively with children was designed. Sam looks like a peer for pre-school children, but tells stories in a developmentally advanced way, modelling narrative skills important for literacy. Results demonstrated that children who played with the virtual peer told stories that more closely resembled the virtual peer's linguistically advanced stories: using more quoted speech and temporal and spatial expressions. In addition, children listened to Sam's stories carefully, assisting her and suggesting improvements. The potential benefits of having technology play a social role in young children's literacy learning is discussed.     

Design characteristics of virtual learning environments: state of research

Virtual learning environments constitute current information systems’ category for electronically supported training and development in (higher) education(al) and vocational training settings. Frequently expected advantages of using virtual learning environments refer, for instance, to the efficiency, individuality, ubiquity, timeliness and learning task orientation. However, a crucial precondition of realising such advantages is an appropriate system design. Hence, the question “Which specific design characteristics actually characterise successful virtual learning environments?” is of specific interest for training and development practice. This paper therefore discusses virtual learning environments’ design characteristics by conducting an in-depth literature review. Based on this, a comprehensive set of diverse design characteristics of virtual learning environments as well as particular information associated with them are elicited, presented and discussed. Beyond this, particular implications for research and practice are derived. This may contribute to a successful development, implementation and (continuous) improvement/evaluation of virtual learning environments.     

Learning medicine through collaboration and action: collaborative,experiential, networked learning environments

The SUMMIT Lab and William LeRoy Heinrichs, at Stanford University, were honored to be the 2002 awardees of the Satava Award for Virtual Reality in Medicine. Since the award, the group has followed two main threads of research, which we describe below. The first, “building a high-performance, network-aware, collaborative learning environment” has investigated the framework and components needed when students in multiple locations collaborate using computation-intensive simulations and large image datasets. The second thread, “online, interactive human physiology for medical education and training”, has focused on the application of interactive physiology models embedded in 3D visualizations of virtual patients in naturalistic medical environments. These environments support immersive, experiential learning where students act as medical providers and manage authentic medical events and crises. These research efforts, and our conclusions, are presented in the chapter below.     

Promoting self-regulated learning in web-based learning environments

Self-regulated learning with the Internet or hypermedia requires not only cognitive learning strategies, but also specific and general meta-cognitive strategies. The purposes of the Study2000 project, carried out at the TU Dresden, were to develop and evaluate authoring tools that support teachers and students in web-based learning and instruction. This paper presents how the authoring tools of the Study2000 project can implement psychologically sound measures to promote (a) active and elaborated learning activities and (b) meta-cognitive activities in a web-based learning environment. Furthermore, it describes a study involving 72 university students in the use of such a web-based learning environment in a self-regulated learning setting at the university level. Results show that students spent almost 70% of their study time with texts, 11% with learning tasks and 12% with the active and elaborated learning tools, whereas meta-cognitive aids where hardly used (<1%).     

A study of learning time patterns in asynchronous learning environments

Abstract This research makes use of learning time intensity, burst evaluating equations, and state denotation approaches to evaluate the learning time characteristics of students. Through comparing learning time intensity, six burst styles and three diligence styles are categorized. From the statistical results and interaction content analysis, some pedagogical phenomena were found. The first finding is that the more diligent learners were, the higher the quality and quantity of their interaction. The second is that learners whose learning time intensity was mainly located in the early period of the course and whose interaction content included many complaints were suspected to be possible dropouts. The third finding is that learners whose learning time intensity was mainly located in the later period had achievements that were significantly different from those of the regular periodical reading learners whose learning time intensity was distributed in all periods of the course. The above findings raise some issues and suggestions for those concerned with proposing asynchronous courses. As students can pace their own learning in an asynchronous learning environment, it is hard to avoid getting used to intermittent intensive reading. Instructors should consider seriously how to guide students to learn in a proper sequence through a well‐scheduled instructional programme. It is necessary to encourage students to exercise self‐discipline in regular on‐line reading for better learning outcomes.     

FARMTASIA: an online game-based learning environment based on the VISOLE pedagogy

Virtual interactive student-oriented learning environment (VISOLE) is a game-based constructivist pedagogical approach that encompasses the creation of an online interactive world modeled upon a set of interdisciplinary domains, in which students participate as “citizens” to take part cooperatively and competitively in shaping the development of the virtual world as a means to construct their knowledge and skills. FARMTASIA is the first online game designed using the VISOLE philosophy, encompassing the subject areas of biology, government, economics, technology, production system and natural environment. The “virtual world” deployed is a farming system covering the domains of cultivation, horticulture and pasturage, situated in a competitive economy governed by good public policies. The design and implementation of FARMTASIA pursue three vital principles. The first one is to make the game as realistic as possible so that students can learn in a near-real life environment; the second one is to inject motivational elements so that students can sustain to learn and acquire various knowledge and skills with the game; and the third one is to make easy for teachers to conduct various VISOLE facilitation tasks. According to our exploratory educational study, we show evidentially that positive perceptions and an advancement of subject-specific and interdisciplinary knowledge appeared among the students who participated in VISOLE learning with FARMTASIA.     

The effects of practice teaching sessions in second life on the change in pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of practice teaching in Second Life on the change of preservice teachers’ teaching efficacy, and the difference of changes between individual teaching practice and collaborative teaching practice in their teaching efficacy. Participants were placed into the individual teaching practice or collaborative teaching practice group as a part of a teaching methods and educational technology course. Both groups completed practice teaching sessions twice in Second Life and an instrument adopted for measuring of pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs was administered after each of three stages. The researcher collected data from both groups before the first practice teaching, after the first practice teaching session, and after the second session. Results from a Repeated Measure ANOVA indicated that the practice sessions influenced changes in participants’ personal teaching efficacy but not teaching outcome expectancy. In addition, the results indicated significant difference between groups on their personal teaching efficacy after the second practice session, but not on teaching outcome expectancy. The difference between the two groups is attributed to the different methods in preparing for the practice session, practicing the teaching, and the reflection methods posed to each group of participants. This research suggests that pre-service teachers can gain valuable teaching practice in Second Life, and furthermore that collaborative practice teaching is more effective way than individual approaches to practicing teaching.     

Investigation of effects of virtual reality environments on learning performance of technical skills

Practical training is what brings imagination and creativity to fruition, which relies significantly on the relevant technical skills needed. Thus, the current study has placed its emphasis on strengthening the learning of technical skills with emerging innovations in technology, while studying the effects of employing such technologies at the same time. As for the students who participated in the study, technical skills had been cultivated in the five dimensions of knowledge, comprehension, simulation, application, and creativity, in accordance to the set teaching objectives and the taxonomy for students learning outcome, while the virtual reality learning environment (VRLE) has also been developed to meet different goals as the various technical skills were being examined. In terms of the nature of technology, operation of machines, selection of process parameters, and process planning in technical skills, VRLE has also designed the six modules of “learning resource”, “digital content”, “collaborative learning”, “formative evaluation”, “simulation of manufacturing process”, and “practical exercise” in particular for providing students with assistance in the development on their technical skills on a specific, gradual basis. After assessing the technical skills that have been developed for the time period of one semester, the students have reported finding VRLE to be a significantly effective method when considering the three dimensions of “operation of machines”, “selection of process parameter”, and “process planning”, though not so much so when it came to the dimension of “nature of technology”. Among the six modules, “simulation of manufacturing process” and “practical exercise” were the two that were most preferred by students for the three dimensions considered.     

Optimal self-explanation prompt design in dynamic multi-representational learning environments

Self-explanation prompts are considered to be an important form of scaffolding in the comprehension of complex multimedia materials. However, there is little theoretical understanding to date of self-explaining prompt formats tailored to different expertise levels of learners to help them fully exploit the advantages of dynamic multi-representational materials. To address this issue, this study designed two types of self-explaining prompts: the reasoning-based prompts asked the learners to reason the action run of the animation; the predicting-based prompts asked the learners to predict the upcoming action of the animation, and then asked for reasoning if they made a wrong prediction. Furthermore, multiple indicators including learning outcome, cognitive load demand, learning time, and learning efficiency were used to interpret the prompts’ effects on different expertise levels of learners. A total of 244 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: a control and two different self-explaining prompt conditions. The results indicate that the learning effects of self-explaining prompts depend on levels of learner expertise. Based on the results, this study makes recommendations for adaptive self-explaining prompt design.     

虚拟现实技术在三峡升船机仿真中的应用

虚拟现实是一门在近10年来得到飞速发展的综合性极强的应用学科,已经广泛地应用到了军事,医疗,工业生产,娱乐等领域,该文主要介绍了虚拟现实在三峡升船机仿真中的应用,并提出了在建立虚拟场景过程中碰到的一些问题及其解决方法,如模型简化,贴图处理等,最后,文章还对虚拟现实技术未来的发展方向进行了展望。