In an asynchronous e-learning, students find themselves all alone in their learning process. This feeling of loneliness results in frustration and loss of motivation, leading to a high drop-out... Show More

In an asynchronous e-learning, students find themselves all alone in their learning process. This feeling of loneliness results in frustration and loss of motivation, leading to a high drop-out rate. Tracking engagement while the student is learning allows intervention at an appropriate time. Instructors are overwhelmed by data reports provided to them in the online courses. In this work, the researchers proposed a student engagement visualization dashboard that visualizes the instantaneous engagement levels every minute, visualizes trends of student engagement levels, and filters and displays the least engaged learner to address the above challenges. The researchers also evaluated the usability of this visualizer in a controlled experiment and found out that the perceived usefulness by the teachers was high. The visualizer allows teachers to gain insight into the engagement levels of all the students at a glance. It will also allow the teacher to take immediate action.

This study determined the effects of computer-based training in computer hardware servicing with a pedagogical agent named “DAC: The Builder” on the academic performance of computing students.... Show More

This study determined the effects of computer-based training in computer hardware servicing with a pedagogical agent named “DAC: The Builder” on the academic performance of computing students. Fifty-six university students (30 students in the control group, 26 students in the experimental group) participated in a two-week experiment. The majority of the experimental group exhibited gaming behavior but subsequently reduced it after DAC intervention. The data collected in this study showed that the null hypothesis stating that there is no significant difference in the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group can be rejected. Moreover, the hands-on posttest scores of both groups had significant differences. This study demonstrates that returning students to the lecture when they exhibit gaming the system behavior is an effective tool for discouraging this behavior. The use of the DAC is therefore recommended for students taking up computer hardware servicing. Implications and recommendations were also discussed.