Abstract
The rise of educational technology has linked almost every educational activity to the use of the Internet. Seeking and evaluating information online is a common practice and an essential skill for students. In the same time, Learning Management Systems allow teaching, learning, interacting and assessment to happen in the same environment, providing data to create an overview of the learning process. Data Analytics permit evidence-based decision making. This is a great advantage, widely used in the commercial sector. However, educational adaptation takes too long, leaving untapped large amount of educational data, mainly because the technology must be fully aligned with educational objectives, standards, curricula, assessments, interventions, and professional development. This task demands a network of stakeholders and specialists with different backgrounds in interdisciplinary collaboration.
Research work has been conducted in HOU regarding analyzing educational data in order to provide information that could improve students’ support and predict their performance. A crucial issue is to find ways to convert all available data in actionable knowledge for tutors and learning designers. This issue raises a series of research questions concerning the type of interactions that could enable data mining for in-depth analysis and the ways that could enhance students’ meaningful interaction in online learning which can provide a thorough understanding of their actions and performance. Additionally, it is significant to define efficient methods of leveraging data for real-time or offset prescriptive results. The scope of this thesis is to investigate the potential use of a holistic data analysis approach, that would include the use of up-to-date methods such as Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science, that could enable targeted action for improving learning outcomes.
Advisory Committee
Vasilios Verykios (supervisor), Professor, School of Science and Technology, HOU
Evangelos Sakkopoulos (member), Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus
Sotiris Kotsiantis (member), Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Patras