mBook

Using the example of a multimedia book (‚mBook’ for lower secondary school) it is investigated how individual competency development, i.e. the concrete use of a multimedia textbook in institutional and home learning environments describable with log data, can be explained. For the project history didacts, empirical educational and educational data mining researchers cooperate. This interdisciplinary co-operation aims at analysing user data, e.g. log data from the use of the mBook, by using complex statistical methods of machine learning, making statements about probable user behaviour as well as creating relations between use and learning success. By this means, mBook shall be optimized concerning handling and increase of competence. For this purpose, we are investigating the integration of suggestions (“This could be also interesting for you”) as well as personalized comprehension questions (see adaptive testing).
Therefore, the project innovatively contributes to the question, to which extent multimedia textbooks, depending on personal learning style, can support competency oriented learning of students.

In the context of the DIPF-2015 proposal for mBook four objectives shall be achieved:

1. Joint Project Proposal
   Preliminary studies shall be conducted for submitting a project proposal to the German Research Foundation (DFG) or Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) together with the co-operating partners, Catholic University of Eichstätt, University of Tübingen.
2. Application Modeling Technique
   The developed modeling techniques of machine learning shall be applied in the context of learner related process data.
3. Intensification of Co-Operation

   The co-operation of the involved areas and teams shall be intensified.

4. Research Data Infrastructure at DIPF

   The infrastructure of mBook shall be located at DIPF to gain experience with new data, e.g. log data and their exploitation for empirical research. Perspectively, the collected project experience offers the possibility to fathom the inclusion of log data in the Research Data Centre (RDC) to provide DIPF a further national as well as international unique feature regarding research data infrastructure.

Cooperation:

• Catholic University of Eichstätt
• University of Tübingen

Further Links: The multimedial textbook