1. Enhancing Pen-based Experiences with the Use of Concept Maps Adina Magda Florea, Serban Radu University “Politehnica” of Bucharest PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007

2. Aim Can the use of pen technology increase the effectives of different pedagogical approaches? Can digital ink successfully support various teaching styles? Can we optimally use concept maps in a classroom if endowed with a pen? Experiment for the “Data Structures and Algorithm” course

3. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Learning styles Students are characterized by different learning styles Teaching methods also vary Match the teaching style with the learning style?

4. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Felder and Silverman model  Active learners understand new information by doing something with it.  Reflective learners prefer to think about new information first before acting on it.  Sensing learners like learning facts and solving problems by well established methods.  Intuitive learners prefer discovering new relationships and can be innovative in their approach to problem solving.

5. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Felder and Silverman model  Visual learners understand new information best by seeing it in the form of pictures, demonstrations, diagrams, charts, films and so on.  Verbal learners understand new information best through written and spoken words.  Global learners tend to learn in large jumps by absorbing material in a random order without necessarily seeing any connections until they have grasped the whole concept.  Sequential learners understand new information in linear steps where each step follows logically from the previous one.

6. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Concept maps Offer a method to represent information visually As a learning tool, concept maps can contribute to meaningful learning May be used as an instructional tool and as an assessment tool

7. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Pedagogical scenarios Try to evaluate the impact of using:  the digital ink on students’ learning style  the pen on drawing concept maps  concept maps in teaching students characterized by different learning styles Lecture teaching Laboratory work Students are equipped with tablet PCs

8. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Lectures Instructor Present the learning goals of the class either by using a concept map or by using bullet text Annotate slides Students Develop short exercises in order to practice the acquired knowledge Answer 2-3 short questions to catch misconceptions

9. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Lectures Instructor Draw a concept map of the concepts presented during the class Mark on that concept map the associated relevant slides in the lecture Ask the students to draw a concept map for a particular concept Save the annotated slides together with the topics concept map

10. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Laboratory Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html draw flowcharts or pseudocode of the program solve exercises that require depiction of data structures

11. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Laboratory point out errors in a solution of an assignment and explain why the solution is erroneous draw concept maps for topics covered by laboratory work or annotate existing concept maps write the solution of a programming exercise instead of keying and running it

12. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Current results Questions concerning the general evaluation of the new approach Ex: –This new way of presenting the class is enjoyable –This new way of presenting the class is stressful SA, A, D, SD (N?)

13. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Current results Questions regarding the added value of using concept maps –I prefer having the lecture goals presented as a concept map –The concept map helps my understanding of the topic –I prefer to build the concept map by selecting concepts from a given list –Building concept maps is boring

14. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Current results Questions focused on the benefits of using pen-based input –I like using the pen during the class –I am more attentive during the class when I use the pen –Using the pen distracts me –Having the possibility to annotate the slides helps me retain knowledge –I learn better if I can review teacher's annotated slides

15. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Current results Questions geared towards the students' preference for using key/mouse input or pen based input, depending on a particular task –I prefer drawing the concept map with a pen rather than with a mouse –I prefer writing a pseudocode with a pen rather than using key input –I prefer making corrections to a piece of code with a pen rather than using key input

16. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Findings Most students appreciated: –the new pedagogical approach –the use of an interactive teaching style  help them stay more focused during the classes –the possibility of having annotated slides with both teacher's annotations and their own

17. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Findings Visual learners, global learners, and intuitive learners strongly agreed that the use of concept maps help them better understand and retain the presented topics Sensing learners did not value concept maps and found this activity somehow boring Active learners preferred drawing a concept map with a pen Reflective learners preferred the use of mouse to draw a concept map Most students preferred making corrections to a piece of code using key input than analyzing the code and making corrections with the pen Some visual learners (few) preferred the pen for program correction

18. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Tools Pen Annotator - allows graphical annotation of documents and runs on Tablet-PCs or any PC or mobile computer equipped with a pen @Graph concept map builder – allows the development and management of concept maps for PCs, for which concept maps are drawn with a mouse, or on Tablet-PC or PCs equipped with a pen, for which concept maps are drawn with the pen.

19. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Conclusions The overall response to our pedagogical experience was positive The students enjoyed being part of the experiment The students liked practicing with the new approaches of input data into the computer Concerns: –deployment of the technology –pedagogical –instructors

20. PLT’07 Catania 24-25 May 2007 Future work Extend experiment Refine the set of questions Conduct more surveys Interpret the results Expand the capabilities of the designed software tools together with their integration in a collaborative learning system