PIs: Ronald DeMara, Samuel Spiegel, Laurie Campbell, Charles Hartshorne, Joseph Beck
University of Central Florida
Award Details

This project will convene a workshop of researchers, educators, and practitioners to advance transformative pedagogical approaches for technology-enhanced team learning within science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. The workshop will advance the utilization and efficacy of next-generation learning architectures through a focus on instructional technologies that facilitate digitally-mediated team-based learning. Interdisciplinary science and engineering researchers, developers, and educators will identify near-term and future research directions to facilitate adaptable digital environments for highly-effective, rewarding, and scalable team-based learning. The workshop will emphasize personalization of collaborations among diverse learners by automating the identification and utilization of learners’ efficacies and knowledge gaps to create complementary collaborative teams that maximize avenues for peer teaching and learning. The workshop will advance both national and societal goals of improving STEM instruction to develop a stronger national STEM workforce, while uniting experts in data analytics, data mining, and instructional design & technology. Dissemination of the findings from the workshop will include social, traditional, and popular media outlets, and the outcomes of the workshop will benefit researchers, educators, and practitioners from multiple disciplines, while informing digitally-enhanced learner-centered approaches to learning.

The project will focus on technical objectives of: (1) identifying new research in learning analytics required to automate more optimal composition, formation, and adaptation of learner design teams; (2) detecting advances in physical and virtual learning environments that can achieve more effective and scalable observation and assessment of learner teams in real-time; (3) distinguishing data mining techniques to leverage devices such as monitors, trackers, and automated camera observations to increase efficacy of team learning; and (4) extending collaborative learning technologies to broaden participation and achievement of diverse learner groups, including women and other underrepresented and underserved populations in STEM. Prior to the workshop, a call for papers will solicit submission of an expertise profile and position abstract. During the two-day workshop, participants will be afforded opportunities to participate in a poster session, keynote, panel session, breakout technical sessions, and action committees. The workshop will result in 1-, 3-, and 5+ year research and development plans organized into tracks for each technical focus. In addition to social and popular media, dissemination activities will include a white paper, executive summary, infographics, and public-facing website to maximize the outreach towards the goal of providing a unifying roadmap for the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of digitally-mediated teams advancing the achievement of all learners.