ALICE – Analyzing Learning for Individualized Competence Development in Mathematics and Science Education

In the project, students' learning during mathematics and science lessons is evaluated on the basis of data from students' interaction with digital technologies. A theoretical and methodological basis for improved individualization of instruction is being created.

Project Description

The coronavirus crisis has created an urgent need to support students' learning through digital technologies. This need underscores the importance of efforts in the education sector to take advantage of the unique opportunities to support learning based on digital technologies and the analysis of digital data. Far beyond the use of digital platforms to distribute assignments to students, digital technologies make it possible to track individual students' learning and provide targeted support tailored to the individual needs of each student. Greater individualization of learning is advocated as a means to support all students in developing the skills needed for professional, social and cultural participation - especially in such important areas as mathematics and science.

However, individualized learning, also known as personalized and adaptive learning, requires continuous assessment of student learning, reconstruction of learning pathways and extrapolation of these pathways in terms of student competency development. This requires a theory of learning and a model of competency development. In addition, methods that allow for the continuous assessment of student learning across a range of learning activities and the subsequent mapping to student competency development are also needed.

As digital technologies become increasingly ubiquitous in math and science classrooms, they can lend themselves to the development of such a methodology. As students work with digital technologies, their interactions with these technologies can be recorded and automatically analyzed. Automatic analysis of these interactions allows for timely assessment of individual student performance.

Project Objectives

The project investigates the extent to which data derived from students' interactions with digital technologies in mathematics and science classrooms can be used to 1) continuously evaluate individual students' learning, 2) reconstruct learning paths across sequences of learning activities and 3) identify those paths that are consistent with the development of competencies in mathematics and science.
In this way, the project aims to provide the theoretical and methodological basis for greater individualization of mathematics and science instruction in order to help all students develop the competencies necessary for social, cultural and occupational participation and thus achieve educational goals.

Funding

Leibniz Collaborative Excellence

Cooperation

Project Management

Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler

Project Team

Sebastian Gombert

Project Details

Status:
Current project
Area of Focus Education in the Digital World
Department: Information Centre for Education
Unit: Educational Technologies
Education Sector: Primary and Secondary Education
Duration:
04/2021 - 03/3024
Funding:
External funding
Contact: Dr. Daniele Di Mitri, Post-doc Researcher