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We present the results of a study where we provided students with textual explanations for learning content recommendations along with adaptive navigational support, in the context of a personalized system for practicing Java programming. We evaluated how varying the modality of access (no access vs. on-mouseover vs. on-click) can influence how students interact with the learning platform and work with both recommended and non-recommended content. We found that the persistence of students when solving recommended coding problems is correlated with their learning gain and that specific student-engagement metrics can be supported by the design of adequate navigational support and access to recommendations' explanations. 

We present here a novel instructional resource, called DeepCode, to support deep code comprehension and learning in intro-to-programming courses (CS1 and CS2). DeepCode is a set of instructional code examples which we call a codeset and which was annotated by our team with comments (e.g., explaining the logical steps of the underlying problem being solved) and related instructional questions that can play the role of hints meant to help learners think about and articulate explanations of the code. While DeepCode was designed primarily to serve our larger efforts of developing an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that fosters the monitoring, assessment, and development of code comprehension skills for students learning to program, the codeset can be used for other purposes such as assessment, problem-solving, and in various other learning activities such as studying worked-out code examples with explanations and code visualizations. We present here the underlying principles, theories, and frameworks behind our design process, the annotation guidelines, and summarize the resulting codeset of 98 annotated Java code examples which include 7,157 lines of code (including comments), 260 logical steps, 260 logical step details, 408 statement level comments, and 590 scaffolding questions. 

Educational data mining research has demonstrated that the large volume of learning data collected by modern e-learning systems could be used to recognize student behavior patterns and group students into cohorts with similar behavior. However, few attempts have been done to connect and compare behavioral patterns with known dimensions of individual differences. To what extent learner behavior is defined by known individual differences? Which of them could be a better predictor of learner engagement and performance? Could we use behavior patterns to build a data-driven model of individual differences that could be more useful for predicting critical outcomes of the learning process than traditional models? Our paper attempts to answer these questions using a large volume of learner data collected in an online practice system. We apply a sequential pattern mining approach to build individual models of learner practice behavior and reveal latent student subgroups that exhibit considerably different practice behavior. Using these models we explored the connections between learner behavior and both, the incoming and outgoing parameters of the learning process. Among incoming parameters we examined traditionally collected individual differences such as self-esteem, gender, and knowledge monitoring skills. We also attempted to bridge the gap between cluster-based behavior pattern models and traditional scale-based models of individual differences by quantifying learner behavior on a latent data-driven scale. Our research shows that this data-driven model of individual differences performs significantly better than traditional models of individual differences in predicting important parameters of the learning process, such as performance and engagement. 

The paper focuses on a new type of interactive learning content for SQL programming - worked examples of SQL code. While worked examples are popular in learning programming, their application for learning SQL is limited. Using a novel tool for presenting interactive worked examples, Database Query Analyzer (DBQA), we performed a large-scale randomized controlled study assessing the value of worked examples as a new type of practice content in a database course. We report the results of the classroom study examining the usage and the impact of DBQA. Among other aspects, we explored the effect of textual step explanations provided by DBQA. 

The paper focuses on a new type of interactive learning content for SQL programming - worked examples of SQL code. While worked examples are popular in learning programming, their application for learning SQL is limited. Using a novel tool for presenting interactive worked examples, Database Query Analyzer (DBQA), we performed a large-scale randomized controlled study assessing the value of worked examples as a new type of practice content in a database course. 

In this paper, we describe the integration of a step-by-step interactive trace table into an existing practice system for introductory Java programming. These autogenerated trace problems provide help and scaffolding for students who have trouble in solving traditional one-step code tracing problems, accommodating a wider variety of learners. Findings from classroom deployments suggest the scaffolding provided by the trace table is a plausible form of help, most notably increases in performance and persistence and lower task difficulty. Based on usage data, we propose future implications for an adaptive version of the interactive trace table based on learner modeling. 

Individual differences have been recognized as an important factor in the learning process. However, there are few successes in using known dimensions of individual differences in solving an important problem of predicting student performance and engagement in online learning. At the same time, learning analytics research has demonstrated that the large volume of learning data collected by modern e-learning systems could be used to recognize student behavior patterns and could be used to connect these patterns with measures of student performance. Our paper attempts to bridge these two research directions. By applying a sequence mining approach to a large volume of learner data collected by an online learning system, we build models of student learning behavior. However, instead of following modern work on behavior mining (i.e., using this behavior directly for performance prediction tasks), we attempt to follow traditional work on modeling individual differences in quantifying this behavior on a latent data-driven personality scale. Our research shows that this data-driven model of individual differences performs significantly better than several traditional models of individual differences in predicting important parameters of the learning process, such as success and engagement. 

This paper contributes to the research on explainable educational recommendations by investigating explainable recommendations in the context of personalized practice system for introductory Java programming. We present the design of two types of explanations to justify recommendation of next learning activity to practice. The value of these explainable recommendations was assessed in a semester-long classroom study. The paper analyses the observed impact of explainable recommendations on various aspects of student behavior and performance. 

This paper describes updates to Database Query Analyzer (DBQA) that increase its interoperability with other learning tools using the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) protocol. As a result, DBQA has been integrated with Mastery Grids and allows for integration with learning management systems. 

We present the initial version of a “live catalog” of LTI enabled smart learning objects that instructors and educators are able to preview and test before deciding whether to integrate these tools in their own courses. The catalog is available on the public Instructure Canvas site and currently showcases LTI tools from multiple educational institutions.