An agent-based architecture for supporting the workgroups creation and the detection of out-of-context conversation on problem-based learning in virtual learning environments

  • Authors:

  • Laysa Mabel de Oliveira Fontes;Francisco Milton Mendes Neto;Alexandre Ádames Alves Pontes;Gustavo Augusto de Lima Campos

  • Affiliations:

  • Rural Federal University of the Semiarid;Rural Federal University of the Semiarid;Rural Federal University of the Semiarid;State University of Ceará

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 2011 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

A computer-supported collaborative learning environment can enable the students of web-based distance education courses to interact with each other and with one or more facilitators to conduct group work. The problem- based learning (PBL) is a learning theory that emphasizes collaboration and teamwork to solve a problem. However, a problem that occurs frequently in the implementation of PBL is the out-of-context conversation, which is a situation in which the students lose focus and start talking about topics that are not related to the discussion. In presential learning, the teacher can easily detect this problem and try to avoid it in order to improve the learning process. In distance learning, however, detecting this problem is not a trivial task. That is mostly due to issues related to the students' geographic distribution and the lack of information regarding their motivation. Another noteworthy aspect is the creation of workgroups. In PBL, the members of a workgroup that is responsible for solving a problem must have certain complementary knowledge and skills related to the problem, and it might be difficult for the facilitator to assign students to workgroups, since the lack of presential contact makes it difficult to perceive important characteristics of the students' profiles. Then, this paper presents an agent-based architecture for detecting out-of-context conversation and for helping in the creation of workgroups on the PBL.