Papers by Federica Picasso
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2024
ICERI proceedings, Oct 31, 2023
The project "Algorithmically: from problem-solving to computer science" is a re... more The project "Algorithmically: from problem-solving to computer science" is a research-action project funded and carried out in the academic year 2022-23 by the Scientific High School "Leonardo da Vinci" (Trento, Italy), in collaboration with the University of Trento. The goal of the project was to validate the PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make) methodology for teaching programming, which subverts the traditional approach based on early program writing. Instead, students are encouraged to read and understand segments of code before writing their own, emphasising a "reading before writing" approach. The teaching experimentation was applied in 5 second classes of the high school, with 4 control group classrooms (190 students and 9 classes). To understand the effectiveness of this new methodology, the design was a Pre-Test and Post-Test, with a test aiming at understanding skills and knowledge and another based on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). The first iteration of this experimental teaching approach provides promising results but also indicates the need for refining the sample and some methods and procedures. However, there are significant findings: The PRIMM approach's integration into computer science teaching thus appears promising, but additional research and iterations are needed to optimise its effectiveness.
ICERI proceedings, Oct 31, 2023
The University of Trento Teaching and Learning Centre (called FormID) promotes educational leader... more The University of Trento Teaching and Learning Centre (called FormID) promotes educational leadership and strategic initiatives that consolidate the processes of teaching, learning and assessment continuous enhancement [1] by supporting the professional development of academics, with the ultimate goal of promoting student success [2]. FormID offers both formal and non-formal initiatives [3] tailored to individual needs, such as consultancies with an academic developer or Communities of Practice-CoPs [4], as formative environments useful for disseminating innovative teaching, learning and assessment practices and collective reflection on the continuous improvement [5, 6]. This contribution aims to present the results of a research study carried out to assess the impact of CoPs and eventually improve their role for academics. For this purpose, one of the Community Assessment Toolkit (CAT) was used, in particular, the questionnaire addressed to members [7]. Furthermore, the data collected were triangulated with observation conducted by an external member in each community and an interview with the CoP facilitators.
Proceedings of the First International Workshop on High-performance Artificial Intelligence Systems in Education co-located with 22nd International Conference of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AIxIA 2023), 2024
Nowadays, there is growing attention on enhancing the quality of teaching, learning and assessmen... more Nowadays, there is growing attention on enhancing the quality of teaching, learning and assessment processes. As a recent EU Report underlines, the assessment and feedback area remains a problematic issue regarding educational professionals' training and adopting new practices. In fact, traditional summative assessment practices are predominantly used in European countries, against the recommendations of the Bologna Process guidelines that promote the implementation of alternative assessment practices that seem crucial in order to engage and provide lifelong learning skills for students, also with the use of technology. Looking at the literature, a series of sustainability problems arise when these requests meet real-world teaching, particularly when academic instructors face the assessment of extensive classes. With the fast advancement in Large Language Models (LLMs) and their increasing availability, affordability and capability, part of the solution to these problems might be at hand. In fact, LLMs can process large amounts of text, summarise and give feedback about it following predetermined criteria. The insights of that analysis can be used both for giving feedback to the student and helping the instructor assess the text. With the proper pedagogical and technological framework, LLMs can disengage instructors from some of the time-related sustainability issues and so from the only choice of the multiple-choice test and similar. For this reason, as a first step, we are proposing a starting point for such a framework to a panel of experts following the Delphi methodology and reporting the results.
Communications in computer and information science, 2023
This article presents the reflections developed by the members of the Scientific Committee (SC) o... more This article presents the reflections developed by the members of the Scientific Committee (SC) of the FormID, Teaching and Learning Centre at the University of Trento, on the Centre's directions and perspectives, with specific reference to the role played by learning technologies. The reflections also address problems and opportunities experienced by the SC members and, above all, the identification of strategies to support academics' professional development. The research addressed two questions: how is it possible to establish a new recognised identity for the Centre and how to orient its actions to maximise the benefits of technologies in teaching and learning practices? The research adopted a collaborative ethnographic approach: the main results emerged from the narratives are discussed and interpreted using the eight P's framework [1]: purpose, people, place, practices, profile, politics, professional development and publication.
Communications in computer and information science, 2023
Nowadays there is a growing attention to teachers’ and students’ digital competencies in this dev... more Nowadays there is a growing attention to teachers’ and students’ digital competencies in this developed and digital world. Some important theoretical frameworks underline the importance of the development of these new skills, such as DigCompEdu [1] as well as the framework for the development of data literacy for educators [2]. These frameworks are at the bases of our research which is focused on higher education, with particular attention at the university teachers digital and technological competencies. One area that is relatively new and less researched is that of assessment and feedback, namely which use of technology is adopted in evaluative practices.
The contribution aims to investigate, in the Italian context, teachers’ use of technology-enhanced assessment and feedback assessment practices throughout the implementation of a syllabi analysis.
Form@re - Open Journal per la formazione in rete
The Syllabus, namely the document which contains the program of each university course, represent... more The Syllabus, namely the document which contains the program of each university course, represents the first instrument for teachers to interact with students. It should be designed with a correct and effective way of communication, aimed at sharing its formative value, and stimulating the student's initial involvement in the learning process. In this framework, the interest of the empirical research presented here is to investigate how this instrument is designed by university teachers, paying particular attention to the drafting of learning outcomes and internal coherence between its parts. A stratified and randomised sample of 343 syllabi selected among those of the Italian state "Mega Universities" was analysed. The results of the analysis revealed some interesting elements both regarding the role played by the Syllabus in the educational design and in relation to academics’ teaching practices. Risultati d’apprendimento e allineamento costruttivo nei Syllabi dei ...
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Papers by Federica Picasso
The contribution aims to investigate, in the Italian context, teachers’ use of technology-enhanced assessment and feedback assessment practices throughout the implementation of a syllabi analysis.
The contribution aims to investigate, in the Italian context, teachers’ use of technology-enhanced assessment and feedback assessment practices throughout the implementation of a syllabi analysis.