How teachers, learners, and technologies can support one another in hands-on learning of science, technology, engineering, and math.
PELARS, Practice-based Experiential Learning Analytics Research and Support, is a a project about learning and making. The project studies how people learn about science, technology, and mathematics when they use their hands as well as their heads.
A big part of the project is making more explicit the implicit practices of science teachers, such as ‘Lab demos’ and hands-on experiments, which have been a big part of science teaching for as long as anyone can remember. But, how to model and analyse these practices, while empowering teachers, is far less understood. The PELARS project will find ways of generating ‘analytics’ (data about the learning process and analysis of this data), which helps learners and teachers by providing feedback from hands-on, project-based, and experiential learning situations.
Select publications
- A Learning Analytics Framework for Practice-Based Learning. G. Dabisias, D. Spikol, D, and E. Ruffaldi. 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. 2015. [open access]
- CSCL Opportunities with Digital Fabrication through Learning Analytics. D. Spikol, K. Avramides, E.S. Katterfeldt, E. Ruffaldi, and C. Cuartielles. 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. 2015.
- Design Strategies for Developing a Visual Platform for Physical Computing with Mobile Tools for Project Documentation and Reflection. D. Spikol, N. Ehrenberg, C. Cuartielles, and J. Zbick. 17th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education. 2015. [open access]
- Toward an Adaptive and Adaptable Architecture to Support Ubiquitous Learning Activities. J. Zbick, B. Vogel, D. Spikol, M. Jansen, and M. Milrad. Mobile, Ubiquitous, and Pervasive Learning, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. 2015.
PELARS was represented at the ARS Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, in September, 2015. See the video embedded below (or on Vimeo)
Project updates:
- Smart learning analytics (Apr. 11, 2017)
Project period: 2014-02-15 – 2017-01-31
Funding: The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration activities under grant agreement no 619738.
Contact: The project is coordinated by CIID, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. IOTAP is represented by Daniel Spikol.
More information: See the PELARS website