Developing a student model for distance education. Master of Distance Education thesis, Athabasca University.

Abstract

The current thesis describes a number of educational problems which arise in asynchronous distance education, such as discontinuity of educational sessions or lack of effective student supervising, and explores how such problems may be addressed by the use of Student Models. A number of typical examples of Student Models that have been developed are reviewed, in order to indicate the uses and the achievements of Student Models in education. The question of how Student Models could potentially be useful in asynchronous distance education is discussed, in addition to criteria for testing the applicability of such models. Furthermore, the pilot implementation of a student model called See Yourself Improve (SYIM) and the application of this model to a real asynchronous distance education session as a field test is described. The thesis closes with an evaluation of the feedback provided by the field test participants, and the modifications/recommendations for further improvement of the SYIM model.