Know Center Research

Publikationen

Ruiz-Calleja Adolfo, Prieto Luis P., Ley Tobias, Rodrıguez-Triana Marıa Jesus, Dennerlein Sebastian
2021
Despite the ubiquity of learning in workplace and professional settings, the learning analytics (LA) community has paid significant attention to such settings only recently. This may be due to the focus on researching formal learning, as workplace learning is often informal, hard to grasp and not unequivocally defined. This paper summarizes the state of the art of Workplace Learning Analytics (WPLA), extracted from a two-iteration systematic literature review. Our in-depth analysis of 52 existing proposals not only provides a descriptive view of the field, but also reflects on researcher conceptions of learning and their influence on the design, analytics and technology choices made in this area. We also discuss the characteristics of workplace learning that make WPLA proposals different from LA in formal education contexts and the challenges resulting from this. We found that WPLA is gaining momentum, especially in some fields, like healthcare and education. The focus on theory is generally a positive feature in WPLA, but we encourage a stronger focus on assessing the impact of WPLA in realistic settings.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Tomberg Vladimir, Treasure-Jones, Tamsin, Theiler Dieter, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias
2020
PurposeIntroducing technology at work presents a special challenge as learning is tightly integrated with workplace practices. Current design-based research (DBR) methods are focused on formal learning context and often questioned for a lack of yielding traceable research insights. This paper aims to propose a method that extends DBR by understanding tools as sociocultural artefacts, co-designing affordances and systematically studying their adoption in practice.Design/methodology/approachThe iterative practice-centred method allows the co-design of cognitive tools in DBR, makes assumptions and design decisions traceable and builds convergent evidence by consistently analysing how affordances are appropriated. This is demonstrated in the context of health-care professionals’ informal learning, and how they make sense of their experiences. The authors report an 18-month DBR case study of using various prototypes and testing the designs with practitioners through various data collection means.FindingsBy considering the cognitive level in the analysis of appropriation, the authors came to an understanding of how professionals cope with pressure in the health-care domain (domain insight); a prototype with concrete design decisions (design insight); and an understanding of how memory and sensemaking processes interact when cognitive tools are used to elaborate representations of informal learning needs (theory insight).Research limitations/implicationsThe method is validated in one long-term and in-depth case study. While this was necessary to gain an understanding of stakeholder concerns, build trust and apply methods over several iterations, it also potentially limits this.Originality/valueBesides generating traceable research insights, the proposed DBR method allows to design technology-enhanced learning support for working domains and practices. The method is applicable in other domains and in formal learning.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Kowald Dominik, Lex Elisabeth, Ley Tobias, Pammer-Schindler Viktoria
2018
Co-Creation methods for interactive computer systems design are by now widely accepted as part of the methodological repertoire in any software development process. As the communityis becoming more and more aware of the factthat software is driven by complex, artificially intelligent algorithms, the question arises what “co-creation of algorithms” in the sense of users ex-plicitly shaping the parameters of algorithms during co-creation, could mean, and how it would work. They are not tangible like featuresin a tool and desired effects are harder to be explained or understood. Therefore, we propose an it-erative simulation-based Co-Design approach that allows to Co-Create Algo-rithms together with the domain professionals by making their assumptions and effects observable. The proposal is a methodological idea for discussion within the EC-TEL community, yet to be applied in a research practice
Kowald Dominik, Seitlinger Paul , Ley Tobias , Lex Elisabeth
2018
In this paper, we present the results of an online study with the aim to shed light on the impact that semantic context cues have on the user acceptance of tag recommendations. Therefore, we conducted a work-integrated social bookmarking scenario with 17 university employees in order to compare the user acceptance of a context-aware tag recommendation algorithm called 3Layers with the user acceptance of a simple popularity-based baseline. In this scenario, we validated and verified the hypothesis that semantic context cues have a higher impact on the user acceptance of tag recommendations in a collaborative tagging setting than in an individual tagging setting. With this paper, we contribute to the sparse line of research presenting online recommendation studies.
Seitlinger Paul, Ley Tobias, Kowald Dominik, Theiler Dieter, Hasani-Mavriqi Ilire, Dennerlein Sebastian, Lex Elisabeth, Albert D.
2017
Creative group work can be supported by collaborative search and annotation of Web resources. In this setting, it is important to help individuals both stay fluent in generating ideas of what to search next (i.e., maintain ideational fluency) and stay consistent in annotating resources (i.e., maintain organization). Based on a model of human memory, we hypothesize that sharing search results with other users, such as through bookmarks and social tags, prompts search processes in memory, which increase ideational fluency, but decrease the consistency of annotations, e.g., the reuse of tags for topically similar resources. To balance this tradeoff, we suggest the tag recommender SoMe, which is designed to simulate search of memory from user-specific tag-topic associations. An experimental field study (N = 18) in a workplace context finds evidence of the expected tradeoff and an advantage of SoMe over a conventional recommender in the collaborative setting. We conclude that sharing search results supports group creativity by increasing the ideational fluency, and that SoMe helps balancing the evidenced fluency-consistency tradeoff.
Ruiz-Calleja Adolfo, Prieto Luis Pablo, Jesús Rodríguez Triana María , Dennerlein Sebastian, Ley Tobias
2017
Despite the ubiquity of learning in the everyday life of most workplaces, the learning analytics community only has paid attention to such settings very recently. One probable reason for this oversight is the fact that learning in the workplace is often informal, hard to grasp and not univocally defined. This paper summarizes the state of the art of Workplace Learning Analytics (WPLA), extracted from a systematic literature review of five academic databases as well as other known sources in the WPLA community. Our analysis of existing proposals discusses particularly on the role of different conceptions of learning and their influence on the LA proposals’ design and technology choices. We end the paper by discussing opportunities for future work in this emergent field.
Kopeinik Simone, Lex Elisabeth, Seitlinger Paul, Ley Tobias, Albert Dietrich
2017
In online social learning environments, tagging has demonstratedits potential to facilitate search, to improve recommendationsand to foster reflection and learning.Studieshave shown that shared understanding needs to be establishedin the group as a prerequisite for learning. We hypothesisethat this can be fostered through tag recommendationstrategies that contribute to semantic stabilization.In this study, we investigate the application of two tag recommendersthat are inspired by models of human memory:(i) the base-level learning equation BLL and (ii) Minerva.BLL models the frequency and recency of tag use while Minervais based on frequency of tag use and semantic context.We test the impact of both tag recommenders on semanticstabilization in an online study with 56 students completinga group-based inquiry learning project in school. Wefind that displaying tags from other group members contributessignificantly to semantic stabilization in the group,as compared to a strategy where tags from the students’individual vocabularies are used. Testing for the accuracyof the different recommenders revealed that algorithms usingfrequency counts such as BLL performed better whenindividual tags were recommended. When group tags wererecommended, the Minerva algorithm performed better. Weconclude that tag recommenders, exposing learners to eachother’s tag choices by simulating search processes on learners’semantic memory structures, show potential to supportsemantic stabilization and thus, inquiry-based learning ingroups.
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias, Klamma Ralf, Wild Fridolin
2016
Recognizing the need for addressing the rather fragmented character of research in this field, we have held a workshop on learning analytics for workplace and professional learning at the Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) Conference. The workshop has taken a broad perspective, encompassing approaches from a number of previous traditions, such as adaptive learning, professional online communities, workplace learning and performance analytics. Being co-located with the LAK conference has provided an ideal venue for addressing common challenges and for benefiting from the strong research on learning analytics in other sectors that LAK has established. Learning Analytics for Workplace and Professional Learning is now on the research agenda of several ongoing EU projects, and therefore a number of follow-up activities are planned for strengthening integration in this emerging field.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Treasure-Jones Tamsin, Lex Elisabeth, Ley Tobias
2016
Background: Teamworking, within and acrosshealthcare organisations, is essential to deliverexcellent integrated care. Drawing upon an alternationof collaborative and cooperative phases, we exploredthis teamworking and respective technologicalsupport within UK Primary Care. Participants usedBits&Pieces (B&P), a sensemaking tool for tracedexperiences that allows sharing results and mutuallyelaborating them: i.e. cooperating and/orcollaborating.Summary of Work: We conducted a two month-longcase study involving six healthcare professionals. InB&P, they reviewed organizational processes, whichrequired the involvement of different professions ineither collaborative and/or cooperative manner. Weused system-usage data, interviews and qualitativeanalysis to understand the interplay of teamworkingpracticeand technology.Summary of Results: Within our analysis we mainlyidentified cooperation phases. In a f2f-meeting,professionals collaboratively identified subtasks andassigned individuals leading collaboration on them.However, these subtasks were undertaken asindividual sensemaking efforts and finally combined(i.e. cooperation). We found few examples ofreciprocal interpretation processes (i.e. collaboration):e.g. discussing problems during sensemaking ormonitoring other’s sensemaking-outcomes to makesuggestions.Discussion: These patterns suggest that collaborationin healthcare often helps to construct a minimalshared understanding (SU) of subtasks to engage incooperation, where individuals trust in other’scompetencies and autonomous completion. However,we also found that professionals with positivecollaboration history and deepened SU were willing toundertake subtasks collaboratively. It seems thatacquiring such deepened SU of concepts andmethods, leads to benefits that motivate professionalsto collaborate more.Conclusion: Healthcare is a challenging environmentrequiring interprofessional work across organisations.For effective teamwork, a deepened SU is crucial andboth cooperation and collaboration are required.However, we found a tendency of staff to rely mainlyon cooperation when working in teams and not fullyexplore benefits of collaboration.Take Home Messages: To maximise benefits ofinterprofessional working, tools for teamworkingshould support both cooperation and collaborationprocesses and scaffold the move between them
Trattner Christoph, Kowald Dominik, Seitlinger Paul, Ley Tobias
2016
Several successful tag recommendation mechanisms have been developed, including algorithms built upon Collaborative Filtering, Tensor Factorization, graph-based and simple "most popular tags" approaches. From an economic perspective, the latter approach has been convincing since calculating frequencies is computationally efficient and effective with respect to different recommender evaluation metrics. In this paper, we introduce a tag recommendation algorithm that mimics the way humans draw on items in their long-term memory in order to extend these conventional "most popular tags" approaches. Based on a theory of human memory, the approach estimates a tag's reuse probability as a function of usage frequency and recency in the user's past (base-level activation) as well as of the current semantic context (associative component).Using four real-world folksonomies gathered from bookmarks in BibSonomy, CiteULike, Delicious and Flickr, we show how refining frequency-based estimates by considering recency and semantic context outperforms conventional "most popular tags" approaches and another existing and very effective but less theory-driven, time-dependent recommendation mechanism. By combining our approach with a simple resource-specific frequency analysis, our algorithm outperforms other well-established algorithms, such as Collaborative Filtering, FolkRank and Pairwise Interaction Tensor Factorization with respect to recommender accuracy and runtime. We conclude that our approach provides an accurate and computationally efficient model of a user's temporal tagging behavior. Moreover, we demonstrate how effective principles of recommender systems can be designed and implemented if human memory processes are taken into account.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Ley Tobias, , Lex Elisabeth, Seitlinger Paul
2016
In the digital realm, meaning making is reflected in the reciprocal manipulation of mediating artefacts. We understand uptake, i.e. interaction with and understanding of others’ artefact interpretations, as central mechanism and investigate its impact on individual and social learning at work. Results of our social tagging field study indicate that increased uptake of others’ tags is related to a higher shared understanding of collaborators as well as narrower and more elaborative exploration in individual information search. We attribute the social and individual impact to accommodative processes in the high uptake condition.
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias, Sack Harald
2015
Dennerlein Sebastian, Rella Matthias, Tomberg Vladimir, Theiler Dieter, Treasure-Jones Tamsin, Kerr Micky, Ley Tobias, Al-Smadi Mohammad, Trattner Christoph
2015
Sensemaking at the workplace and in educational contexts has beenextensively studied for decades. Interestingly, making sense out of the own wealthof learning experiences at the workplace has been widely ignored. To tackle thisissue, we have implemented a novel sensemaking interface for healthcare professionalsto support learning at the workplace. The proposed prototype supportsremembering of informal experiences from episodic memory followed by sensemakingin semantic memory. Results from an initial study conducted as part ofan iterative co-design process reveal the prototype is being perceived as usefuland supportive for informal sensemaking by study participants from the healthcaredomain. Furthermore, we find first evidence that re-evaluation of collectedinformation is a potentially necessary process that needs further exploration tofully understand and support sensemaking of informal learning experiences.
Ruiz-Calleja Adolfo, Dennerlein Sebastian, Tomberg Vladimir , Pata Kai, Ley Tobias, Theiler Dieter, Lex Elisabeth
2015
This paper presents the potential of a social semantic infrastructure that implements an Actor Artifact Network (AAN) with the final goal of supporting learning analytics at the workplace. Two applications were built on top of such infrastructure and make use of the emerging relations of such a AAN. A preliminary evaluation shows that an AAN can be created out of the usage of both applications, thus opening the possibility to implement learning analytics at the workplace.
Ruiz-Calleja Adolfo, Dennerlein Sebastian, Tomberg Vladimir , Ley Tobias , Theiler Dieter, Lex Elisabeth
2015
This paper presents our experiences using a social semantic infrastructure that implements a semantically-enriched Actor Artifact Network (AAN) to support informal learning at the workplace. Our previous research led us to define the Model of Scaling Informal Learning, to identify several common practices when learning happens at the workplace, and to propose a social semantic infrastructure able to support them. This paper shows this support by means of two illustrative examples where practitioners employed several applications integrated into the infrastructure. Thus, this paper clarifies how workplace learning processes can be supported with such infrastructure according to the aforementioned model. The initial analysis of these experiences gives promising results since it shows how the infrastructure mediates in the sharing of contextualized learning artifacts and how it builds up an AAN that makes explicit the relationships between actors and artifacts when learning at the workplace.
Cook John, Ley Tobias, Maier Ronald, Mor Yishay, Santos Patricia, Lex Elisabeth, Dennerlein Sebastian, Trattner Christoph, Holley Debbie
2015
In this paper we define the notion of the Hybrid Social Learning Network. We propose mechanisms for interlinking and enhancing both the practice of professional learning and theories on informal learning. Our approach shows how we employ empirical and design work and a participatory pattern workshop to move from (kernel) theories via Design Principles and prototypes to social machines articulating the notion of a HSLN. We illustrate this approach with the example of Help Seeking for healthcare professionals.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Kowald Dominik, Lex Elisabeth, Lacic Emanuel, Theiler Dieter, Ley Tobias
2015
Informal learning at the workplace includes a multitude of processes. Respective activities can be categorized into multiple perspectives on informal learning, such as reflection, sensemaking, help seeking and maturing of collective knowledge. Each perspective raises requirements with respect to the technical support, this is why an integrated solution relying on social, adaptive and semantic technologies is needed. In this paper, we present the Social Semantic Server, an extensible, open-source application server that equips clientside tools with services to support and scale informal learning at the workplace. More specifically, the Social Semantic Server semantically enriches social data that is created at the workplace in the context of user-to-user or user-artifact interactions. This enriched data can then in turn be exploited in informal learning scenarios to, e.g., foster help seeking by recommending collaborators, resources, or experts. Following the design-based research paradigm, the Social Semantic Server has been implemented based on design principles, which were derived from theories such as Distributed Cognition and Meaning Making. We illustrate the applicability and efficacy of the Social Semantic Server in the light of three real-world applications that have been developed using its social semantic services. Furthermore, we report preliminary results of two user studies that have been carried out recently.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Treasure-Jones Tamsin, Tomberg Vladimir, Theiler Dieter, Lex Elisabeth, Ley Tobias
2015
Sensemaking at the workplace and in educational contexts has been extensively studied for decades. Interestingly, making sense out of the own wealth of learning experiences at the workplace has been widely ignored. To tackle this issue, we have implemented a novel sensemaking interface for healthcare professionals to support learning at the workplace. The proposed prototype supports remembering of informal experiences from episodic memory followed by sensemaking in semantic memory. Results from an initial study conducted as part of an iterative co-design process reveal the prototype is being perceived as useful and supportive for informal sensemaking by study participants from the healthcare domain. Furthermore, we find first evidence that re-evaluation of collected information is a potentially necessary process that needs further exploration to fully understand and support sensemaking of informal learning experiences.
Seitlinger Paul, Kowald Dominik, Kopeinik Simone, Hasani-Mavriqi Ilire, Ley Tobias, Lex Elisabeth
2015
Classic resource recommenders like Collaborative Filtering(CF) treat users as being just another entity, neglecting non-linear user-resource dynamics shaping attention and inter-pretation. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid rec-ommendation strategy that re nes CF by capturing thesedynamics. The evaluation results reveal that our approachsubstantially improves CF and, depending on the dataset,successfully competes with a computationally much moreexpensive Matrix Factorization variant.
Kowald Dominik, Seitlinger Paul, Kopeinik Simone, Ley Tobias, Trattner Christoph
2015
We assume that recommender systems are more successful,when they are based on a thorough understanding of how people processinformation. In the current paper we test this assumption in the contextof social tagging systems. Cognitive research on how people assign tagshas shown that they draw on two interconnected levels of knowledge intheir memory: on a conceptual level of semantic fields or LDA topics,and on a lexical level that turns patterns on the semantic level intowords. Another strand of tagging research reveals a strong impact oftime-dependent forgetting on users' tag choices, such that recently usedtags have a higher probability being reused than "older" tags. In thispaper, we align both strands by implementing a computational theory ofhuman memory that integrates the two-level conception and the processof forgetting in form of a tag recommender. Furthermore, we test theapproach in three large-scale social tagging datasets that are drawn fromBibSonomy, CiteULike and Flickr.As expected, our results reveal a selective effect of time: forgetting ismuch more pronounced on the lexical level of tags. Second, an extensiveevaluation based on this observation shows that a tag recommender interconnectingthe semantic and lexical level based on a theory of humancategorization and integrating time-dependent forgetting on the lexicallevel results in high accuracy predictions and outperforms other wellestablishedalgorithms, such as Collaborative Filtering, Pairwise InteractionTensor Factorization, FolkRank and two alternative time-dependentapproaches. We conclude that tag recommenders will benefit from goingbeyond the manifest level of word co-occurrences, and from includingforgetting processes on the lexical level.
Kowald Dominik, Kopeinik S., Seitlinger Paul, Trattner Christoph, Ley Tobias
2015
In this paper, we introduce a tag recommendation algorithmthat mimics the way humans draw on items in their long-term memory.Based on a theory of human memory, the approach estimates a tag'sprobability being applied by a particular user as a function of usagefrequency and recency of the tag in the user's past. This probability isfurther refined by considering the inuence of the current semantic contextof the user's tagging situation. Using three real-world folksonomiesgathered from bookmarks in BibSonomy, CiteULike and Flickr, we showhow refining frequency-based estimates by considering usage recency andcontextual inuence outperforms conventional "most popular tags" approachesand another existing and very effective but less theory-driven,time-dependent recommendation mechanism.By combining our approach with a simple resource-specific frequencyanalysis, our algorithm outperforms other well-established algorithms,such as FolkRank, Pairwise Interaction Tensor Factorization and CollaborativeFiltering. We conclude that our approach provides an accurateand computationally efficient model of a user's temporal tagging behavior.We demonstrate how effective principles of recommender systemscan be designed and implemented if human memory processes are takeninto account.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Cook John, Kravcik Milos, Kunzmann Christine, Pata Kai, Purma Jukka, Sandars John, Santos Patricia , Schmidt Andreas, Al-Smadi Mohammad, Trattner Christoph, Ley Tobias
2014
Workplace learning happens in the process and context of work, is multi-episodic, often informal, problem based and takes place on a just-in-time basis. While this is a very effective means of delivery, it also does not scale very well beyond the immediate context. We review three types of technologies that have been suggested to scale learning and three connected theoretical discourses around learning and its support. Based on these three strands and an in-depth contextual inquiry into two workplace learning domains, health care and building and construction, four design-based research projects were conducted that have given rise to designs for scaling informal learning with technology. The insights gained from the design and contextual inquiry contributed to a model that provides an integrative view on three informal learning processes at work and how they can be supported with technology: (1) task performance, reflection and sensemaking; (2) help seeking, guidance and support; and (3) emergence and maturing of collective knowledge. The model fosters our understanding of how informal learning can be scaled and how an orchestrated set of technologies can support this process.
Divitini Monica, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Pammer-Schindler Viktoria, Ley Tobias
2013
With this workshop, we intend to bring together the European communities of technology-enhanced learning, which typically meets at the ECTEL, and of computersupported cooperative work, which typically meets at the ECSCW. While the ECTEL community has traditionally focused on technology support for learning, be it in formal learning environments like schools, universities, etc. or in informal learning environments like workplaces, the ECSCW community has traditionally investigated how computers can and do mediate and influence collaborative work, in settings as diverse as the typical “gainful employment” situations, project work within university courses, volunteer settings in NGOs etc. Despite overlapping areas of concerns, the two communities are also exploiting different theories and methodological approaches. Within this workshop, we discuss issues that are relevant for both communities, and have the potential to contribute to a more lively communication between both communities.
Trattner Christoph, Smadi Mohammad, Theiler Dieter, Dennerlein Sebastian, Kowald Dominik, Rella Matthias, Kraker Peter, Barreto da Rosa Isaías, Tomberg Vladimir, Kröll Mark, Treasure-Jones Tamsin, Kerr Micky, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias
2013
Cook John, Santos Patricia, Ley Tobias, Dennerlein Sebastian, Pata Kai, Colley Joanna, Sandars John, Treasure-Jones Tamsin
2013
Ley Tobias, Cook John, Dennerlein Sebastian, Kravcik Milos, Kunzmann Christine, Laanpere Mart, Pata Kai, Purma Jukka, Sandars John, Santos Patricia, Schmidt Andreas
2013
While several technological advances have been suggested to scale learning at the workplace, none has been successful to scale informal learning. We review three theoretical discourses and suggest an integrated systems model of scaffolding informal workplace learning that has been created to tackle this challenge. We derive research questions that emerge from this model and illustrate these with an in-depth analysis of two workplace learning domains.
Dennerlein Sebastian, Moskaliuk Johannes , Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara
2013
The co-evolution model of collaborative knowledge building by Cress & Kimmerle (2008)assumes that cognitive and social processes interact when users build knowledge with shareddigital artifacts. While these assumptions have been tested in various lab experiments, a testunder natural field conditions in educational settings has not been conducted. Here, wepresent a field experiment where we triggered knowledge co-evolution in an accommodationand an assimilation condition, and measured effects on student knowledge building outsidethe laboratory in the context of two university courses. Therefore, 48 students receiveddifferent kinds of prompts that triggered external accommodation and assimilation whilewriting a wiki text. Knowledge building was measured with a content analysis of the students‟texts and comments (externalization), and with concept maps and association tests(internalization). The findings reveal that (a) different modes of externalization(accommodation and assimilation) could be triggered with prompts, (b) across bothconditions, this externalization co-occurred with internalization (student learning), and (c)there is some evidence that external assimilation and accommodation had differential effectson internal assimilation and accommodation. Thus, the field experiment supports theassumptions of the co-evolution model in a realistic course setting. On a more general note,the study provides an example of how wikis can be used successfully for collaborativeknowledge building within educational contexts.
Seitlinger Christian, Schöfegger Karin, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias
2012
Kump Barbara, Seifer Christin, Beham Günter, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias
2012
User knowledge levels in adaptive learning systems can be assessed based on user interactions that are interpreted as Knowledge Indicating Events (KIE). Such an approach makes complex inferences that may be hard to understand for users, and that are not necessarily accurate. We present MyExperiences, an open learner model designed for showing the users the inferences about them, as well as the underlying data. MyExperiences is one of the first open learner models based on tree maps. It constitutes an example of how research into open learner models and information visualization can be combined in an innovative way.
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Kump Barbara, Beham Günter, Pammer-Schindler Viktoria, Ley Tobias, de Hoog R., Dotan A.
2010
We present a work-integrated learning (WIL) concept which aims atempowering employees to learn while performing their work tasks. Withinthree usage scenarios we introduce the APOSDLE environment whichembodies the WIL concept and helps knowledge workers move fluidly alongthe whole spectrum of WIL activities. By doing so, they are experiencingvarying degrees of learning guidance: from building awareness, over exposingknowledge structures and contextualizing cooperation, to triggering reflectionand systematic competence development. Four key APOSDLE components areresponsible for providing this variety of learning guidance. The challenge intheir design lies in offering learning guidance without being domain-specificand without relying on manually created learning content. Our three monthsummative workplace evaluation within three application organizationssuggests that learners prefer awarenss building functionalities and descriptivelearning guidance and reveals that they benefited from it.
Beham Günter, Kump Barbara, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias
2010
According to studies into learning at work, interpersonal help seeking is the most important strategy of how people acquireknowledge at their workplaces. Finding knowledgeable persons, however, can often be difficult for several reasons. Expertfinding systems can support the process of identifying knowledgeable colleagues thus facilitating communication andcollaboration within an organization. In order to provide the expert finding functionality, an underlying user model is needed thatrepresents the characteristics of each individual user. In our article we discuss requirements for user models for the workintegratedlearning (WIL) situation. Then, we present the APOSDLE People Recommender Service which is based on anunderlying domain model, and on the APOSDLE User Model. We describe the APOSDLE People Recommender Service on thebasis of the Intuitive Domain Model of expert finding systems, and explain how this service can support interpersonal helpseeking at workplaces.
Beham Günter, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara, Seifert C.
2010
When inferring a user’s knowledge state from naturally occurringinteractions in adaptive learning systems, one has to makes complexassumptions that may be hard to understand for users. We suggestMyExperiences, an open learner model designed for these specificrequirements. MyExperiences is based on some of the key design principles ofinformation visualization to help users understand the complex information inthe learner model. It further allows users to edit their learner models in order toimprove the accuracy of the information represented there.
Ley Tobias, Seitlinger Paul
2010
Researching the emergence of semantics in social systems needs totake into account how users process information in their cognitive system. Wereport results of an experimental study in which we examined the interactionbetween individual expertise and the basic level advantage in collaborative tagging.The basic level advantage describes availability in memory of certain preferredlevels of taxonomic abstraction when categorizing objects and has beenshown to vary with level of expertise. In the study, groups of students taggedinternet resources for a 10-week period. We measured the availability of tags inmemory with an association test and a relevance rating and found a basic leveladvantage for tags from more general as opposed to specific levels of the taxonomy.An interaction with expertise also emerged. Contrary to our expectations,groups that spent less time to develop a shared understanding shifted tomore specific levels as compared to groups that spent more time on a topic. Weattribute this to impaired collaboration in the groups. We discuss implicationsfor personalized tag and resource recommendations.
Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara, Gerdenitsch C.
2010
Adaptive scaffolding has been proposed as an efficient means for supporting self-directed learning both in educational as well as in adaptive learning systems research. However, the effects of adaptation on self-directed learning and the differential contributions of different adaptation models have not been systematically examined. In this paper, we examine whether personalized scaffolding in the learning process improves learning. We conducted a controlled lab study in which 29 students had to solve several tasks and learn with the help of an adaptive learning system in a within-subjects control condition design. In the learning process, participants obtained recommendations for learning goals from the system in three conditions: fixed scaffolding where learning goals were generated from the domain model, personalized scaffolding where these recommendations were ranked according to the user model, and random suggestions of learning goals (control condition). Students in the two experimental conditions clearly outperformed students in the control condition and felt better supported by the system. Additionally, students who received personalized scaffolding selected fewer learning goals than participants from the other groups.
Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara, Albert D.
2010
Ley Tobias, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Schöfegger Karin, Seitlinger Paul, Weber Nicolas, Hu Bo, Riss Uwe, Brun Roman, Hinkelmann Knut, Thönssen Barbara, Maier Ronald, Schmidt Andreas
2009
Schoefegger K., Weber Nicolas, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias
2009
The changes in the dynamics of the economy and thecorresponding mobility and fluctuations of knowledge workers within organizationsmake continuous social learning an essential factor for an organization.Within the underlying organizational processes, KnowledgeMaturing refers to the the corresponding evolutionary process in whichknowledge objects are transformed from informal and highly contextualizedartifacts into explicitly linked and formalized learning objects.In this work, we will introduce a definition of Knowledge (Maturing)Services and will present a collection of sample services that can be dividedinto service functionality classes supporting Knowledge Maturingin content networks. Furthermore, we developed an application of thesesample services, a demonstrator which supports quality assurance withina highly content based organisational context.
Schmidt A., Hinkelmann K., Ley Tobias, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Maier R., Riss U.
2009
Effective learning support in organizations requires a flexible and personalizedtoolset that brings together the individual and the organizational perspectiveon learning. Such toolsets need a service-oriented infrastructure of reusable knowledgeand learning services as an enabler. This contribution focuses on conceptualfoundations for such an infrastructure as it is being developed within the MATUREIP and builds on the knowledge maturing process model on the one hand, and theseeding-evolutionary growth-reseeding model on the other hand. These theories areused to derive maturing services, for which initial examples are presented.
Weber Nicolas, Ley Tobias, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Schoefegger K., Bimrose J., Brown A., Barnes S.
2009
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Beham Günter, Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara
2009
Work-integrated learning (WIL) poses unique challenges for usermodel design: on the one hand users’ knowledge levels need to be determinedbased on their work activities – testing is not a viable option; on the other handusers do interact with a multitude of different work applications – there is nocentral learning system. This contribution introduces a user model and correspondingservices (based on SOA) geared to enable unobtrusive adaptabilitywithin WIL environments. Our hybrid user model services interpret usage datain the context of enterprise models (semantic approaches) and utilize heuristics(scruffy approaches) in order to determine knowledge levels, identify subjectmatter experts, etc. We give an overview of different types of user model services(logging, production, inference, control), provide a reference implementationwithin the APOSDLE project, and discuss early evaluation results.
Ley Tobias, Ulbrich Armin, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Scheir Peter, Kump Barbara, Albert Dietrich
2008
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a way to support work-integrated learning forknowledge work, which poses a great challenge for current research and practice.Design/methodology/approach – The authors first suggest a workplace learning context model, whichhas been derived by analyzing knowledge work and the knowledge sources used by knowledgeworkers. The authors then focus on the part of the context that specifies competencies by applying thecompetence performance approach, a formal framework developed in cognitive psychology. From theformal framework, a methodology is then derived of how to model competence and performance in theworkplace. The methodology is tested in a case study for the learning domain of requirementsengineering.Findings – The Workplace Learning Context Model specifies an integrative view on knowledge workers’work environment by connecting learning, work and knowledge spaces. The competence performanceapproach suggests that human competencies be formalized with a strong connection to workplaceperformance (i.e. the tasks performed by the knowledge worker). As a result, competency diagnosisand competency gap analysis can be embedded into the normal working tasks and learninginterventions can be offered accordingly. The results of the case study indicate that experts weregenerally in moderate to high agreement when assigning competencies to tasks.Research limitations/implications – The model needs to be evaluated with regard to the learningoutcomes in order to test whether the learning interventions offered benefit the user. Also, the validityand efficiency of competency diagnosis need to be compared to other standard practices incompetency management.Practical implications – Use of competence performance structures within organizational settings hasthe potential to more closely relate the diagnosis of competency needs to actual work tasks, and toembed it into work processes.Originality/value – The paper connects the latest research in cognitive psychology and in thebehavioural sciences with a formal approach that makes it appropriate for integration intotechnology-enhanced learning environments.Keywords Competences, Learning, Workplace learning, Knowledge managementPaper type Research paper
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias, Scheir Peter, Ulbrich Armin
2008
This contribution introduces the concept of work-integrated learning which distinguishes itself from traditional e-Learning in that it provides learning support (i) during work task execution and tightly contextualized to the work context,(ii) within the work environment, and (iii) utilizes knowledge artefacts available within the organizational memory for learning. We argue that in order to achieve this highly flexible learning support we need to turn to" scruffy" methods (such as associative retrieval, genetic algorithms, Bayesian and other probabilistic methods) which can provide good results in the presence of uncertainty and the absence of fine-granular models. Hybrid approaches to user context determination, user profile management, and learning material identification are discussed and first results are reported.
Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara, Ulbrich Armin, Scheir Peter, Lindstaedt Stefanie
2008
The paper suggests a way to support work-integrated learning for knowledge workwhich poses a great challenge for current research and practice. We first present a WorkplaceLearning Context Model which has been derived by analyzing knowledge work and the knowledgesources used by knowledge workers. The model specifies an integrative view on knowledgeworkers’ work environment by connecting learning, work and knowledge spaces. We then focuson the part of the context which specifies learning goals and their interrelations to task and domainmodels. Our purpose is to support learning needs analysis which is based on a comparison of tasksperformed in the past to those tasks to be tackled in the future. A first implementation in theAPOSDLE project is presented including the models generated for five real world applications andthe software prototype. We close with an outlook on future work.
Kooken J., Ley Tobias, de Hoog R.
2007
Any software development project is based on assumptions about the state of the world that probably will hold when it is fielded. Investigating whether they are true can be seen as an important task. This paper describes how an empirical investigation was designed and conducted for the EU funded APOSDLE project. This project aims at supporting informal learning during work. Four basic assumptions are derived from the project plan and subsequently investigated in a two-phase study using several methods, including workplace observations and a survey. The results show that most of the assumptions are valid in the current work context of knowledge workers. In addition more specific suggestions for the design of the prospective APOSDLE application could be derived. Though requiring a substantial effort, carrying out studies like this can be seen as important for longer term software development projects.
Ley Tobias, Kump Barbara, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Albert D., Maiden N. A. M., Jones S.
2006
Challenges for learning in knowledge work are being discussed.These include the challenge to better support self-directed learning whileaddressing the organizational goals and constraints at the same time, andproviding guidance for learning. The use of competencies is introduced as away to deal with these challenges. Specifically, the competence performanceapproach offers ways to better leverage organizational context and to supportinformal learning interventions. A case study illustrates the application of thecompetence performance approach for the learning domain of requirementsengineering. We close with conclusions and an outlook on future work.
Ley Tobias, Lindstaedt Stefanie , Albert D.
2005
This paper seeks to suggest ways to support informal, self-directed, work-integrated learning within organizations. We focus on a special type of learning in organizations, namely on competency development, that is a purposeful development of employee capabilities to perform well in a large array of situations. As competency development is inherently a self-directed development activity, we seek to support these activities primarily in an informal learning context. AD-HOC environments which allow employees context specific access to documents in a knowledge repository have been suggested to support learning in the workplace. In this paper, we suggest to use the competence performance framework as a means to enhance the capabilities of AD HOC environments to support competency development. The framework formalizes the tasks employees are working in and the competencies needed to perform the tasks. Relating tasks and competencies results in a competence performance structure, which structures both tasks and competencies in terms of learning prerequisites. We conclude with two scenarios that make use of methods established in informal learning research. The scenarios show how competence performance structures enhance feedback mechanisms in a coaching process between supervisor and employee and provide assistance for self directed learning from a knowledge repository.
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Ley Tobias, Farmer Johannes
2004
Ley Tobias, Albert D.
2004
Ley Tobias
2004
Lindstaedt Stefanie , Farmer J., Ley Tobias
2004
Woels K., Kirchpal S., Ley Tobias
2003
Ley Tobias
2003
Ley Tobias, Albert D.
2003
Ley Tobias, Albert D.
2003
Ley Tobias, Albert D.
2003
We present a formalisation for employee competencies which is based on a psychological framework separating the overt behavioural level from the underlying competence level. On the competence level, employees draw on action potentials (knowledge, skills and abilities) which in a given situation produce performance outcomes on the behavioural level. Our conception is based on the competence performance approach by [Korossy 1997] and [Korossy 1999] which uses mathematical structures to establish prerequisite relations on the competence and the performance level. From this framework, a methodology for assessing competencies in dynamic work domains is developed which utilises documents employees have created to assess the competencies they have been acquiring. By means of a case study, we show how the methodology and the resulting structures can be validated in an organisational setting. From the resulting structures, employee competency profiles can be derived and development planning can be supported. The structures also provide the means for making inferences within the competency assessment process which in turn facilitates continuous updating of competency profiles and maintenance of the structures.
Clancy J.M. , Elliott G., Ley Tobias, Odomei M.M., Wearing A.J., McLennan J., Thorsteinsson E.B.
2003
Dösinger G., Ley Tobias
2002
Ley Tobias, Rollett H., Dösinger G., Bruhnsen K., Droschl G.
2002
Ley Tobias, Ulbrich Armin
2002
Ley Tobias, Rollett H.
2001
Rollett H., Ley Tobias
2001