The Learning Informatics Lab (LIL) would like to congratulate the four LIL Summer Fellows for 2023. Püren Öncel will be researching engagement and affect during learning with LIL Co-Directors Pani Kendeou and Caitlin Mills. Lauren Flynn will explore scaffolding in open-ended debugging with LIL core faculty David DeLiema, Meixi, and Laura Allen. Jasmine Kim will examine epistemic themes in peer review with Laura Allen and David DeLiema. Justine Scattarelli will research people’s knowledge and data sharing behavior with Xiaoran Sun, Pani Kendeou, and Caitlin Mills.
Tag: Learning Informatics
The Role of Conceptions of Learning in Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments with Dr. Chin-Chung Tsai (National Taiwan Normal University)
On Thursday, October 7, the Learning Informatics Lab hosted its first seminar of the Fall 2021 semester. This talk, featuring Dr. Chin-Chung Tsai, reviews a series of studies from his research team regarding students’ conceptions of learning for different subject matters and various types of technology-enhanced instructional activities. It is found that the students possess quite different conceptions of learning by technology-enhanced learning environments than those in traditional school settings. The interplay among conceptions of learning, approaches to learning and learning outcomes for certain technology-supported environments will be discussed. How the technology may play a role in fostering students’ conceptualization of learning will also be addressed.
Watch a recording of the talk below.
Should We Double Down on Truth? The Promise and Risks of Collective Sense-making with Dr. Noah Weeth Feinstein (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
The final talk in the Lab’s Spring 2021 Learning in a ‘Post-Truth’ World series took place Thursday, April 22 and featured the University of Wisconsin- Madison’s Dr. Noah Weeth Feinstein.
In 2020, Noah Weeth Feinstein and David Waddington argued for shifting the balance of science education away from individual truth-judgments and toward collective sense-making. How does that argument hold up? In this talk, Dr. Weeth Feinstein will review their argument and discuss both the promise and risks of wading deeper into the social world and engaging directly with messy problems in messy practical contexts. Dr. Weeth Feinstein concludes by asking whether concepts like value and appropriate respect offer more fruitful territory for science education than the familiar framing of truth and trust.
Watch a recording of the talk below.
Promoting Apt Epistemic Performance with Dr. Clark Chinn (Rutgers University)
On Thursday, March 11, the Lab hosted its second talk in our Learning in a ‘Post-Truth’ World series. Drawing on recent collaborations with Sarit Barzilai and Ravit Golan Duncan, Dr. Clark Chinn (Rutgers University) presents an overview of how educators can effectively respond to the “post-truth” challenges of misinformation, conflicting information, and mistrust in formerly trusted institutions of knowledge (e.g. science, media). Dr. Chinn begins with an analysis of apt epistemic performance as the goal of epistemic education. This analysis identifies five aspects of apt epistemic performance; many post- truth challenges can be viewed as involving breakdowns in these five aspects of apt epistemic performance. Dr. Chinn then outlines a set of design principles to improve education and address these breakdowns. These principles specify new ways to design learning environments that can foster the individual and collective abilities needed to think well in the modern world.
Watch a recording of the talk below.
Who to Believe? Conceptualizing and Navigating Epistemic Disagreement with Dr. Simon Knight (University of Technology Sydney)
The Lab’s Learning in a ‘Post-Truth’ World speaker series kicked off Monday, February 22, 2021 with Dr. Simon Knight‘s seminar Who to Believe? Conceptualizing and Navigating Disagreement. Dr. Knight is a senior lecturer in the University of Technology Sydney, Transdisciplinary School, Director of the Centre for Research on Learning in a Technological Society, and co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Learning Analytics. His talk draws on research in epistemic cognition, including his own research on how people search for and talk about evidence, as well as recent work in conceptualizing expert-expert disagreement, to flag key implications for helping people navigate these issues.
Watch a recording of the webinar below.
UMN Learning Informatics Seminar with Dr. Marcelo Worsley (Northwestern University)
On October 27, 2020, the Lab hosted a Learning Informatics Seminar featuring Dr. Marcelo Worsley, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Learning Sciences at Northwestern University. The seminar’s title was: Multimodal Learning Analytics: Core Commitments for Intentionally Centering Inclusivity in Data Science. Replay the recording below:
UMN Learning Informatics Seminar with Dr. Simon Buckingham Shum (University of Technology Sydney)
On September 24, 2020, the Lab hosted a Learning Informatics Seminar featuring Dr. Simon Buckingham Shum, Professor of Learning Informatics at the University of Technology Sydney, where he serves as inaugural director of the Connected Intelligence Centre. The seminar’s title was: Learning Informatics: A.I. • Analytics • Accountability • Agency. Replay the recording below:
UMN Learning Informatics Seminar with Dr. Alyssa Wise (NYU)
On July 28, 2020, the Lab hosted a Learning Informatics Seminar featuring Dr. Alyssa Wise, Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Educational Technology at New York University and the Director of NYU-LEARN, NYU’s pioneering university-wide Learning Analytics Research Network. The seminar’s title was: Learning Analytics and the Changing Landscape of Higher Education. Replay the recording below:
Learning Informatics Lab Featured in Connect Magazine
Lab co-directors Sashank Varma (left) and Bodong Chen discuss the College of Education and Human Development’s (CEHD) new Learning Informatics Lab in the Spring/Summer 2020 issue of Connect.