Join us for an interactive session exploring how AI can be used as a tool for critical literacy. Across subjects, teachers want to support students in expanding their communicative abilities in different contexts while also gaining awareness of underlying assumptions and expectations around language. As professors in Developmental Education, we have been using generative AI tools in our classrooms because we want our students to be digitally prepared. At the same time, we want to find balance between the positive uses of AI and concerns about how AI's can impact language by homogenizing our communication. Participants will try some of the activities from our classroom, using generative AI tools to remix texts and analyze the results to gain insights. We will demonstrate how using AI to adapt text can help students compare language contexts, enhance communication skills, and critically examine the rules around language use. Join us for an engaging session where we explore the transformative power of AI in language analysis. This interactive experience is designed to provide hands-on practice with generative AI tools that can help students analyze the contexts for language use and apply various stylistic transformations.
Adult learners returning to undergraduate education often have nonlinear pathways and may struggle to articulate how their experiences align with future goals. To support these students, Northwestern University's School of Professional Studies incorporates ePortfolio completion in their capstone course, fostering self-awareness and professional readiness.
A successful ePortfolio strategy starts by understanding the student's current identity and future aspirations post-graduation. This approach enables learners to delve into their learning experiences, reflect on the methods they employ, and apply knowledge practically. The process of creating an ePortfolio is emphasized as being just as crucial as the final product.
Presenters will cover strategies and challenges associated with adult learners' ePortfolios. They will share best practices from both faculty and student perspectives and involve participants in discussions on integrating ePortfolios within their own programs.
In today’s rapidly changing educational landscape, fostering active participation and enhancing student engagement remains a focal point in higher education. This session will explore EchoPoll’ impact on student engagement, providing case studies of demonstrated success, and how the solution’s interoperability with Echo360’s Learning Transformation Platform™ (LTP™) - the Echosystem™ - is transforming the future of education.
Through the power of the EchoSystem, the world’s and only first Learning Transformation Platform, Echo360 has delivered a wholistic approach to student engagement with EchoEngage. By leveraging real-time, interactive polling technology, EchoPoll, one of the two EchoEngage solutions, instructors around the world are transforming traditional classroom dynamics into a more accessible and personalized exchange of ideas.
EchoPoll empowers instructors to integrate data-driven engagement strategies into lectures in a new way, seamlessly adding polls, quizzes, and surveys into their live and recorded lessons. This real-time interaction, which can always be captured and distributed for asynchronous engagement and review, not only provides immediate feedback on student understanding but also promotes critical thinking and semester-long discussions. This technology ensures that every voice is heard, regardless of class size, and allows students to respond anonymously, which can improve participation rates and reduce the barriers to speaking up.
I did a study to investigate how learners with diverse cognitive abilities process data stories presented through infographics, focusing on the impact of visual and verbal data representations. Conducted in a controlled lab setting using an eye tracker, the experiment examined how individual cognitive differences -- such as working memory, visuospatial abilities, and inhibitory control -- affect infographic comprehension. I used Machine Learning algorithms to analyze learners' eye movement data and explored how they engage with data presented through both visual (graphs, charts) and verbal (textual descriptions) formats.
The results suggest that learners engage more effectively with data stories when critical information is communicated verbally rather than through data visualizations, especially when the content requires comprehension of complex data relationships. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the need to minimize seductive details in graphical representations, as these details can distract learners and hinder their ability to extract key information.
The study also highlighted important implications for educators and developers. Teachers should implement strategies to enhance learners' visuospatial abilities to improve overall engagement with graphical content. Developers should consider using eye-movement data to create adaptive infographics that cater to individual cognitive strengths, ultimately improving accessibility and comprehension for all learners.
Mellon Postodctoral Fellow, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences
Hi!I am Kristine, and I’m excited to share with you my presentation, "Designing Data Infographics for Adaptive Learning: Enhancing Engagement." This presentation is based on my research aimed at understanding how people generally comprehend visual data and make decisions in learning... Read More →
Thursday May 22, 2025 10:45am - 11:30am CDT Rock Room
