LA-ReflecT: Modeling meta-cognitive processes in reflective reading and its open book assessments

Project Gist

Learning Analytics of Critical Thinking (CT) processes in an interactive learning environment

Keywords

Critical Thinking, Critical Reading, Open-book Assessment, Multi-modal Learning Analytics, Interactive Learning Environment

Background and Purpose

To be a reflective reader in this modern information age, it is crucial for learners to learn critical thinking and reading skills. These skills are also required for appreciating and nurturing humanities and social science knowledge. For instance, to appreciate literary content, individuals need to comprehend a piece of text and then interpret it. Open book assessments can be considered as a reflective task for learners that involves the execution of critical reading skills. While online platforms can support such reading activities, there are still limited ways to capture individual’s critical thinking process. LA-ReflecT (Learning Analytics of Reflective Tasks) project aims to collect learners’ interaction logs in the online learning environment and data from sensors in physical wearable devices. The core innovation of the LA-ReflecT is to trace the meta-cognitive processes of critical thinking from the logged data and support learners to activate it.

Project Achievements

The LA-ReflecT project initiated a way to design an interactive learning system to trace and support critical thinking processes with the use of log data. Teachers used the interactive learning environment and could conduct innovative pedagogy. With data from multiple sources (reading logs, questionnaires, wearable sensors) a research agenda was initiated for multimodal analytics of critical thinking tasks. To achieve this, I formed an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers across humanities, design, educational technology, cognitive science, and learning analytics and we collaborated and published the findings in various leading academic forums.

Future Prospects

Tracing learning processes based on interaction logs opens up the possibility of incorporating various AI-driven services for supporting those processes. The platform and methods designed in the LA-ReflecT project serve as one of the technology infrastructures to continue further research and development in that direction. The next plan is to investigate the processes in collaborative critical thinking and reading and add features in the LA-reflecT platform to support the learners.

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Principal Investigator