Disputerer på matematikklæring på mobil og nettbrett

Maurice Isabwe disputerer på UiAs Fakultet for teknologis doktorgradsprogram med spesialisering i IKT, men har både vært knyttet til forskningsmiljøet ved Institutt for IKT og matematikkdidaktikk-forskerne ved Institutt for matematiske fag.

Gjennom bruk av læringsprogrammer tilpasset smart-mobiltelefoner og tablets – nettbrett så som iPad eller tilsvarende løsninger på android-plattform – blir studentene i stand til å individualisere undervisningen og gjøre den mer fleksibel. Ved at de får et sterkere eierforhold til læringen siden de blir mer involvert, tar de også økt ansvar for egen læring. Teknologien gir dem også mulighet til å følge opp sin egen læringsprogresjon, gjerne i samarbeid med andre studenter.

Ved å ta ny læringsteknikk i bruk – både teknologi og pedagogikk tilpasset mulighetene i ny læringsteknologi – kan studentene bli dypere involvert i læringen. Slik antyder avhandlingen et rammeverk for fremtidig universitetsundervisning.

Slik beskriver kandidaten selv essensen i avhandlingen:

University education is changing rapidly, in terms of what people need to learn, how they want to learn and the available learning opportunities. More and more people are expected to take on higher and further studies in order to satisfy the evolving work environments. There is a high demand on educational institutions to serve many and largely varied categories of students.

The cost of education keeps increasing, whilst universities have to operate under budget restrictions. It is important to ensure that quality education is delivered at affordable costs. There are risks related to the fact that teachers face a challenging task of supporting disproportionate large student numbers.

One of the possible solutions is to invest into innovative teaching and learning methods with technology support.  Many students have access to personal computers and other digital devices which could be used to improve their learning experience. Devices such as smart telephones and mobile tablets like iPad, can help students to communicate with the teacher, to interact with each other and learn together.

University of Agder, as a modern university, devotes a great deal of resources in developing advanced solutions for future learning. A three-year PhD research project was established to investigate on how to involve students more deeply into the learning cycle and assist teachers in providing critical feedback to their students.

Students are treated as the principal elements of the whole educational system, whereas teachers are seen as facilitators for learning. Students should be encouraged to be active, to take responsibility and ownership of learning. This research work has developed a framework for future university teaching, which interconnects the learning contents with methods of teaching and educational technology.

Using information and communication technology, the project showed that learning can be customised and personalised to provide a student with flexibility and more learning opportunities. Students are able to make choices and decisions about their learning and also monitor their learning progress. The research project investigated how students can be more involved into learning mathematics through assessing each other’s work. This kind of assessment by students can inform them on their learning achievement so that they can make improvements before the end of the study period.

The project proposed the use of mobile devices and web technology to enable collaborative learning of mathematics. The novel mobile tablet based solution is to support the assessment for learning and feedback provision on mathematical tasks, as well as other science and engineering subjects.

The proposal presented how to design a tool in a learning environment with a focus on student involvement, engagement in learning and cost restrictions. In order to develop the tool, a system process was devised and tried out in Norway and Rwanda. Students contributed in the trial implementation of this tool through multiple design and test series. Working with students early on in design process produced easy-to-use interfaces which improved the users’ satisfaction.

The research work contributed to the difficult task of assessing mathematics in order to provide high quality feedback to many students, and engaging them more into learning. Involving students in assessment motivates them to learn and the learning becomes more effective.

The outcome of this research has resulted into eight conference papers in the direction of technology supported student centered learning (6 published, 1 accepted and 1 submitted).

Kandidaten: Ghislan Maurice Norbert Isabwe obtained his MSc in Communications Engineering (2006) and MPhil in Advanced Telecommunications (2011) from the Robert Gordon University and Swansea University respectively; both in the United Kingdom (UK). Prior to that, he received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Bharathiar University (India) in 2002.

He has a multidisciplinary working experience in engineering, education and technology management in Rwanda as well as the UK. His research interests are broadly in the area of user centered design, with a focus on designing for mobile devices in general and educational solutions in particular. In august 2010, Ghislain joined the University of Agder as a PhD research fellow to provide solutions for future learning, under the main supervision of Professor Frank Reichert

Prøveforelesning og disputas finner sted i Auditorium A3 041, UiA Campus Grimstad.

Instituttleder ved Institutt for IKT,  professor Andreas Prinz, leder disputasen.

Tid for prøveforelesning: 14. juni 2013  kl 10.00

Oppgitt emne for prøveforelesning: “Protection  mechanisms for WLAN based on hardware and software solutions”

Tid for disputas 14. juni 2013 kl 12:30

Tittel på avhandling: “Enhancing Mathematics Learning Through Peer Assessment Using Mobile Tablet Based Solutions»

Les avhandlingen i AURA - Agder University Research Archive, http://brage.bibsys.no/hia/ som er et digitalt arkiv for vitenskapelige artikler, avhandlinger og masteroppgaver fra ansatte og studenter ved Universitetet i Agder.

Førsteopponent: Dr. Martine Herpers, (1st opponent), Geschäftsführerin, Unternehmensberatung Qualitätsprozesse und Gender-Diversity, Germany

Annenopponent: Associate Professor Nils-Olav Skeie (2nd opponent), Telemark University College, Department of Electro, ICT and Cybernetics , Norway

Bedømmelseskomitéen har vært ledet av Associate Professor Linga Reddy Cenkeramaddi, ICT department, University of Agder, Norway

Veiledere i doktorgradsarbeidet var: Hovedveileder: Professor Frank Reichert, Institutt for IKT, UiA

Biveileder: Førsteamanuensis Martin Carlsen, Institutt for matematiske fag, UiA