A Cross-Platform Engagement Analysis for Supporting Knowledge Transformation Through Complex Learning Settings

Abstract

To promote the transformation of conceptual knowledge into practical knowledge, educators would incorporate real-world situations as a learning setting. Yet, it is uncertain whether learners who actively acquired knowledge in the classroom will also be engaged in applying knowledge in the real world. Educators have scarce clues to understand learners’ status and provide adequate support in such learning processes. Utilizing digital tools, especially cross-platform approaches, has the potential to address this issue by collecting and analyzing activity logs of various tools used in each learning setting. Nonetheless, prior studies rarely examined the continuity of engagement across complex learning settings involving the real world. This study aims to fill the gap by analyzing a dataset from a university course in Japan. We investigated the activity logs from a material reader for knowledge acquisition in the classroom and those from a mobile app dedicated to knowledge application in the real world. As a result, we found that engagement in the knowledge acquisition activity was not promising engagement in the knowledge application activity. We then identified four types of engagement across the complex learning settings. Notably, the types relatively less engaged in the knowledge application activity showed lower understanding levels, even when partially engaged in the knowledge acquisition activity. The findings emphasize the importance of scaffolding during activities in the real world. Further, we discussed the potential of cross-platform analyses to recognize and support less engaged learners toward more effective knowledge transformation that leverages complex learning settings.