A comparison of elaborated and restricted feedback in LogEx, a tool for teaching rewriting logical formulae.

This article describes an experiment with LogEx, an e‐learning environment that supports students in learning how to prove the equivalence between two logical formulae, using standard equivalences such as DeMorgan. In the experiment, we compare two groups of students. The first group uses the comple...

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Published in:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 35; no. 5; pp. 620 - 633
Main Authors: Lodder, Josje, Heeren, Bastiaan, Jeuring, Johan
Format: equations & formulas research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Oct2019
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Oct2019
      vid: 35
      iid: 5
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        138441196
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        138441196
        10.1111/jcal.12365
        138441196
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        atl: A comparison of elaborated and restricted feedback in LogEx, a tool for teaching rewriting logical formulae.
      aug:
        au:
          Lodder, Josje
          Heeren, Bastiaan
          Jeuring, Johan
        affil: Faculty of Management, Science and Technology, Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen The Netherlands
      sug:
        subj:
          Computer-Assisted Instruction
          Learning Methods
          Learning Environment
          Feedback
          Academic Performance
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Pilot Studies
          Male
          Adult
          Nonparametric Statistics
          Descriptive Statistics
          Kruskal-Wallis Test
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Education, Non-Traditional
          Human
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
      ab: This article describes an experiment with LogEx, an e‐learning environment that supports students in learning how to prove the equivalence between two logical formulae, using standard equivalences such as DeMorgan. In the experiment, we compare two groups of students. The first group uses the complete learning environment, including hints, next steps, worked solutions, and informative timely feedback. The second group uses a version of the environment without hints or next steps, but with worked solutions, and delayed flag feedback. We use pretest and posttest to measure the performance of both groups with respect to error rate and completion of the exercises. We analyse the loggings of the student activities in the learning environment to compare its use by the different groups. Both groups score significantly better on the posttest than on the pretest. We did not find significant differences between the groups in the posttest, although the group using the full learning environment performed slightly better than the other group. In the examination, which took place 5 weeks after the experiment, the group of students who used the complete learning environment scored significantly better than a control group of students who did not participate in the experiment. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: An intelligent tutoring system can be very effective in supporting students solving stepwise exercises.Balancing the giving and withholding of feedback in an intelligent tutor can benefit the learning of students.The question, how to decide in general which information should be given at any moment, is a fundamental open problem. What this paper adds: Practicing with the logic tutor LogEx improves skills in propositional logic.There is no significant difference in posttest performance after restricted or elaborated feedback.The examination results of students who received elaborated feedback using LogEx are significantly better than the results of students who did not participate, even after correcting for possible general difference in skills or motivation. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Practicing with an e‐learning tool can help students in learning logic.Providing immediate feedback together with hints and feedback can help students to complete the exercises and improve their performance.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        equations & formulas
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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