Research & Technology

The ExplainIt software framework consists of (1) the ExplainIt Instructor Dashboard and Authoring Tool, (2) the ExplainIt Student Explanation App, and (3) the ExplainIt Explanation Analyzer. 

The questions and sample representative responses can be authored by the instructors using the Instructor Authoring Tool. These are modeled together with students’ actual responses to create natural language processing models of the Explanation Analyzer that assess students’ self-explanation responses. Instructors can also use the Instructor Dashboard to pose questions from a pool of pre-authored questions instead of authoring new questions or modify pre-authored questions to create new questions. 

Once students complete their responses, instructors can see students’ understanding of key concepts derived from analysis of student explanation responses by the Explanation Analyzer. The authored questions and responses are stored in a database for future use by instructors, and students’ interaction data and analysis results are also stored in the database to support the Instructor Dashboard and investigation of student learning outcomes. 

The ExplainIt Instructor Authoring Tool is a web-based application, where the tool runs in a web browser. The tool enables instructors to create or edit questions and a list of possible answers. All questions and lists of answers are categorized by their subjects and topics in the tool. All authored content is stored and accessed from the cloud so that it can be shared among instructors who teach the same subjects. The Dashboard provides a search mechanism for instructors to search for specific questions and subjects for the courses. 

The ExplainIt Instructor Dashboard is also designed as a web application that runs in a web browser. The Dashboard can present the pool of questions for a subject by pulling data from the cloud, and it allows instructors to select and send questions to the ExplainIt Student Explanation App, so that students can view and interact with the questions in class. The Dashboard also displays students’ self-explanation responses and analysis results in visual analytics. 

The ExplainIt Student Explanation App is a web-based application which enables students to receive questions from instructors and write self-explanation-based responses. When students submit their responses, the ExplainIt Student Explanation App accesses the ExplainIt Explanation Analyzer that assesses students’ written explanations in real-time, provides feedback for students, and sends analysis reports to instructors about students’ understanding of key concepts covered in the lecture. The generated feedback from the Analyzer is returned to students by the App. The App also displays a history of prior questions and responses that were answered.

The ExplainIt Student Explanation App can be integrated into courses hosted in LMS platforms such as Moodle and Canvas. This approach will allow students to use ExplainIt Student Explanation App in the courses using their own LMS accounts, which are associated with their interaction data, and it dispenses with the need of manually creating rosters or accounts by instructors.