https://dl.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk/jspui/handle/123456789/4732 2026-04-25T22:55:01Z 2026-04-25T22:55:01Z Jayasinghe, K.P.U. https://dl.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk/jspui/handle/123456789/4762 2024-09-25T07:51:54Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Application of Edutainment Concepts and Tracking Emotions Based on Transient Emotion Peak in Online Education Systems Authors: Jayasinghe, K.P.U. Abstract: Abstract The current teaching practice in most of the educational institutes is to follow the conventional approach where the role of the teachers is to communicate everything outlined in the syllabus to the students rather than encouraging them to learn and explore themselves. As a result, the intellectual creativity and the thinking ability of the students are limited to a frame. It is found that learning by experience is more efficient and effective than learning in a teacher centered learning environment. From a few decades ago, introduction of computer games for educational purposes was drawn attention of the educationists since a variety of opportunities are available to apply the knowledge within a virtual world facilitating the learning process through the concept of “Edutainment”. The two main approaches that are considered as “Edutainment” concepts are GBL and gamification. This research is an attempt of investigating the feasibility of implementing a virtual learning environment by using “Edutainment” concepts to teach Computer Science subjects to undergraduate students, to find the most the effective way out of GBL and gamification approaches in teaching Computer Science subjects to undergraduates and to facilitate an online test environment to the students to have frequent formative assessments to self-evaluate themselves so that they can go for a higher grade at the end of the summative assessment. Even though, there were many games available for undergraduates, those games were not challenging games, they were role-play games or quests-based games. Hence, the first attempt of this research was to introduce a challenging game as a GBL approach to Computer Science undergraduates. A car game was developed to teach ‘Peterson’s algorithm’ which comes under Operating Systems course module in Computer Science undergraduate syllabus. The game was given to students prior and after they attend the lecture based on this algorithm and gathered their feedback on the game through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to analyse the students’ opinions on the game. As there were no proper analysis had been carried out by researchers to compare Computer Science undergraduate students’ perspectives towards gamification vs Game based learning (GBL) learning approaches, the next target was to compare the higher education students’ perspective towards these two approaches. Taking into account the feedback that the students had provided at the previous study, it was decided to compare a game based learning instance with a gamification instance. A quantitative analysis was done to compare the effectiveness of the two approaches by letting the students to answer a quiz after letting the students to study through the game and the gamification module. The test marks and time taken to answer each question were analysed to compare which method was effective with this cohort of the students. Moreover, a qualitative analysis was conducted by getting the students feedback on each approach. The other goal was to facilitate the students to have frequent formative assessments and to let the students to self-evaluate their performance. Under this section, it was found that synthesizing a feedback should consider not only the correctness of the answer but also another two factors i.e. the effort that a student has put when engaging in learning and an evaluation based on their performance like analysing the time-spent in answering a question. It is easier to mark an answer as correct or iii wrong and to get the time spent to answer a question. It is a proven thing that students’ emotions can be analysed to find the effort that a student has put in answering a question. Considering all these factors, emotional level of the student, correctness of the answer and time taken to answer a question had been identified as the key factors of generating an effective feedback. It was found that, usage of hardware equipment in analysing the emotional changes in online education systems, impedes the effort of gathering the true emotional changes of the students. Hence, it was decided to use a webcam to track the facial expressions to interpret the emotions of the students. There were research work carried out to track emotions by using the webcams, however those research were used to analyse the changes in emotional/concentration level for a longer period of time for example to measure the concentration level during a lecture. But here, the intention was to analyse the emotional changes while a student is answering to set of questions. Therefore, this study proposes a systematic way to track the emotional changes based on the transient emotion peak. Further, it was noted that, the emotional changes elaborate through facial expressions can be intensified through body cues. There were no research work conducted to investigate the effect of body cues in analysing the emotions through facial expressions in online education systems, but there were research work that were carried out to check the effect body cues of in analysing emotions in fields like sports. Finally, this research can be concluded with three main findings. When it comes to adult learning, it was discovered that adult students mostly tend to grab the core concepts rather than playing fancy games, but they can be motivated with basic gaming concepts. The first observation and the conclusion that was able to derive from this study was that the concept called “gamification” is a better solution than GBL for Computer Science undergraduates. The second conclusion that was able to derive was that the proposed systematic algorithm works at a 71.52% accuracy level in identifying the emotional changes in an online test environment. However, it can be said that, it would be better to use this proposed time interval to track the concentration level of the students by tracking the eye-ball movements. The other conclusion was, that there is no significance effect in body cues in analysing the emotional changes through facial expressions in online education systems. Finally, this research was able to design a set of lessons and tests as formative assessments components to Computer Science undergraduates along with three feedback components which have to be taken into account when forming an effective feedback.

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z Jamaldeen, F. F https://dl.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk/jspui/handle/123456789/4761 2024-09-25T07:47:37Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Design and Development of mobile language learning applications in blended environment Authors: Jamaldeen, F. F Abstract: Abstract In the present growing field of educational applications, mobile learning has been found to be one of the major developing areas through the new learning experience provided along with mobile technologies. The advancement of mobile technology has paved way for new learning experience through mobile learning opportunities. A typical mobile application can be developed using the software development life cycle. Beyond that the present available instructional design methodologies can be used when developing mobile based learning materials. But when considering the available models to develop m-learning materials using the existing e-learning course is questionable. Through this study, authors present a set of design guidelines which could be used to create m-learning artefacts based on an existing e-learning curriculum. The main motivation of this study was driven through the lack of English proficiency in young adults and increasing mobile penetration in the society which was seen as an opportunity. The subject area selected in this research is English due to the present challenges in teaching and learning English language learning within the context of young leaners in Sri Lanka. Following research questions were drawn and addressed throughout this study. RQ1: What are the factors to be considered while designing mobile learning application on top of an existing e-learning curriculum? RQ2: How effective is mobile learning in the context of promoting English language learning as a supporting and a primary medium of learning? This research was carried out as a Design Based research (DBR), since DBR has been proved as an appropriate research method in exploring possibilities for creating novel learning and teaching environments. Adhering DBR, the first stage of this study was to carry out a contextual analysis and investigate the current state of m-learning in Sri Lanka. Thereafter, an artefact named ‘Mobile4E’ was created and evaluated with various user groups using case study approach including experts and actual users. The findings of each case studies were then compared to initial set of design considerations in order to refine the initial design guidelines and draw the conclusions of this study. One of the main conclusions of this study was that m-learning could be much effective when carried out as a supporting medium of learning along with other teaching and learning methods. The study also emphasizes on the importance of designing learning materials in a way to keep the learners motivated. Further, creating an m-learning application consists of number of stages and vi design considerations which needs to be taken into account. Careful designing needs to be undertaken based on technological, pedagogical and human centred foundations, and the content needs to be re-designed in a way that enhances learning. The design guidelines derived through this study could be used for designing any m-learning artefact which is based on an existing e-learning curriculum Keywords: m-learning, designing m-learning, mobile assisted language learning, design guidelines, effectiveness, English language learning

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z Peramunugamage, H.P.A https://dl.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk/jspui/handle/123456789/4760 2024-09-25T07:39:48Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: A Mobile Learning Framework to Support Problem-Based Learning Among Engineering Students Authors: Peramunugamage, H.P.A Abstract: ABSTRACT Engineering is a profession, a discipline that can be considered as a field that uses science and mathematics to practically address social needs. Cooperative and collaborative forms of learning with hands-on experience have proven to be the most effective way to learn engineering subjects, as they involve a significant component of practical aspects. In today’s technology-driven world, a teacher is no longer the primary source of knowledge, as their role has shifted to a student-centric facilitator, and providing sufficient practical exposure is a common challenge, especially in engineering education. In this context, Problem Based Learning (PBL) provides opportunities for teachers to work as facilitators to achieve specific learning outcomes and higher education allows students to work with peers. However, this method of course delivery seems time-consuming and requires greater individual attention from the teachers. As a solution, a Moodle mobile plugin (MOOMobiPBL) has been designed, developed, and introduced to enhance PBL among engineering students. The study evaluates the effectiveness of this mobile application by using the Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology. Moodle was selected as the Learning Management System (LMS) to design the mobile plugin. The Barrett T (2006) PBL model has been deployed to conduct surveys with students and teachers to identify the requirements for the design and development of the Moodle App extension prototype. The key outcomes of the study included a generating framework that could aid the development of PBL in mobile-based environments and an interactive design solution that would be user-friendly, effective, and enjoyable with enhanced interaction among teachers and students. Three sets of iterative cycles have been conducted to finalize the prototype. Several improvements were made during the design stage, such as the MOOMobiPBL, which provides the ability to conduct inter-group evaluations, download assessment reports, track individual students based on a diary, and submit different versions of reports submissions. It was also revealed that students are accustomed to traditional teaching methods and are reluctant to absorb TEL techniques unless they are made compulsory. Hence, a blended-learning approach with gradually increased use of TEL techniques is recommended. Even though class size influences the learning activities in the traditional theatre-based education environment, redesigning a course that suits PBL and the use of Moodle, could cater to a range of learning styles such as less capable students getting a chance to meet the pace of the course, while competent students enjoy the challenges in open-ended topics. The developed mobiPBL framework will serve as a resource for teachers as they implement PBL in their classes. Students will also benefit from working in a collaborative learning setting where they are given authentic tasks to complete. It will also serve as a clear roadmap for instructional designers and course developers who are working on PBL-based curriculum development. Furthermore, researchers in engineering education can be employed to aid in the advancement of the field. It utilized six major stages of the Taziar et al model, and the findings demonstrated that it is necessary to have peer, teacher, group, and self-evaluations. The advent of a moodle plugin for the mobile PBL feature will present teachers with a new mode of communication with students and actively facilitate technology-enabled learning. Thus, mobile technology can be used not only for communication and entertainment but also for educational purposes through the execution of appropriate pedagogical strategies, especially in engineering education. Therefore, this research aims to present possible pedagogical strategies that can be used in the construction and use of apps in engineering education, by referring to examples of educational activities that have already been tested at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Keywords: Design-Based Research, Engineering Education, Mobile Learning, MoodleApp, Problem Based Learning

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z