The power of feedback.

Organic synthesis is changing; in a world where budgets are constrained and the environmental impacts of practice are scrutinized, it is increasingly recognized that the efficient use of human resource is just as important as material use. New technologies and machines have found use as methods for transforming the way we work, addressing these issues encountered in research laboratories by enabling chemists to adopt a more holistic systems approach in their work. Modern developments in this area promote a multi-disciplinary approach and work is more efficient as a result. This Review focuses on the concepts, procedures and methods that have far-reaching implications in the chemistry world. Technologies have been grouped as topics of opportunity and their recent applications in innovative research laboratories are described.

Organic Synthesis: March of the Machines

A case study of Augmented Reality simulation system application in a chemistry course

Augmented reality in science laboratories

Augmented reality to promote collaborative and autonomous learning in higher education

While MOOCs undoubtedly provide valuable learning resources for students, little research in the MOOC context has sought to evaluate students’ learning gains in the environment. It has been long acknowledged that conversation is a significant way for students to construct knowledge and learn. However, rather than studying learning in MOOC discussion forums, the thrust of current research in that context has been to identify factors that predict dropout. Thus, cognitively relevant student behavior in the forums has not been evaluated for its impact on cognitive processes and learning. In this paper, we adopt a content analysis approach to analyze students’ cognitively relevant behaviors in a MOOC discussion forum and further explore the relationship between the quantity and quality of that participation with their learning gains. As an integral part of our approach, we built a computational model to automate the analysis so that it is possible to extend the content analysis to all communication that occurred in the MOOC. We identified significant associations between discourse behavior and learning. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Investigating How Student's Cognitive Behavior in MOOC Discussion Forums Affect Learning Gains.

Augmented Reality (AR) provides new possibilities for simulating teaching environments, experiencing teaching processes and promoting teaching interaction through certain teaching approaches, including virtual-real blended, real-time interactive or three-dimensional immersive. This paper first briefly introduces the present research status of implementing AR in education and then illustrates the 3D AR learning environment and the long-distance augmented video system. Furthermore, we explain a specific case in which the convex lens image-forming experiment was adopted as the material and we conducted an interactive and integrated image-forming experiment using AR technology to improve teaching. The case study was mainly to investigate the learning attitudes of the experimental group students by using AR instructional applications and to compare the difference in the learning achievements of eighth graders with the convex lens imageforming experiment in two learning environments. The mean scores of the experimental group increased more significantly than the mean scores of the control group; however, there appeared to be no significant difference in the mean scores between the two groups in post-tests. In addition, most students were found to have positive attitudes towards using AR for their learning in physics courses: they believe that AR instructional applications hold their attention and increase their learning motivation in physics courses. The results show that this learning environment that blends reality with virtuality will greatly stimulate the learning interests of students and promote their level of activity, suggesting significant potential for this learning application in practice.

Using the Augmented Reality 3D Technique for a Convex Imaging Experiment in a Physics Course

With the aim of better scaffolding discussion to improve learning in a MOOC context, this work investigates what kinds of discussion behaviors contribute to learning. We explored whether engaging in higher-order thinking behaviors results in more learning than paying general or focused attention to course materials. In order to evaluate whether to attribute the effect to engagement in the associated behaviors versus persistent characteristics of the students, we adopted two approaches. First, we used propensity score matching to pair students who exhibit a similar level of involvement in other course activities. Second, we explored individual variation in engagement in higher-order thinking behaviors across weeks. The results of both analyses support the attribution of the effect to the behavioral interpretation. A further analysis using LDA applied to course materials suggests that more social oriented topics triggered richer discussion than more biopsychology oriented topics.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2883851.2883964

Towards triggering higher-order thinking behaviors in MOOCs

In schools and colleges around the world, open-ended home-work assignments are commonly used. However, such assignments require substantial instructor effort for grading, and tend not to support opportunities for repeated practice. We propose UpGrade, a novel learnersourcing approach that generates scalable learning opportunities using prior student solutions to open-ended problems. UpGrade creates interactive questions that offer automated and real-time feedback, while enabling repeated practice. In a two-week experiment in a college-level HCI course, students answering UpGrade-created questions instead of traditional open-ended assignments achieved indistinguishable learning outcomes in ~30% less time. Further, no manual grading effort is required. To enhance quality control, UpGrade incorporates a psychometric approach using crowd workers' answers to automatically prune out low quality questions, resulting in a question bank that exceeds reliability standards for classroom use.

Xu Wang

Papers

A case study of Augmented Reality simulation system application in a chemistry course

Investigating How Student's Cognitive Behavior in MOOC Discussion Forums Affect Learning Gains.

Using the Augmented Reality 3D Technique for a Convex Imaging Experiment in a Physics Course

Towards triggering higher-order thinking behaviors in MOOCs

UpGrade: Sourcing Student Open-Ended Solutions to Create Scalable Learning Opportunities