ICCE 2022: Analytics-Driven Motivation Nudges on Online Learning Platforms

This year, I participated in ICCE's Early Career Workshop. I have participated in ICCE before, which is a yearly conference hosted by the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE). I submitted a version of my application for the international postdoctoral fellowship offered by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The goal of the workshop is to allow early career researchers to consult with more senior academics about their research plans, challenges, and future career direction. I guess I will talk more about academic job prospects in Japan for a non-Japanese speaking, female, Asian foreigner in Japan.

Cover slide of my presentation

I had been applying to the said fellowship since the semester before graduating except having skipped submitting in September 2022. Obviously, I had been rejected repeatedly. I had also been seeking academic jobs in Japan for almost two years now, managing only to secure about two to three interviews per year and yet to receive a full-time offer. As such, being in this workshop is very important to me and is really emotionally charged. I was the only mentee in this year's workshop, so I was really grateful to the organizers for pushing through (and I was participating online when the conference is hybrid, to boot). For better or worse, it seems my work was not included in the proceedings. While I would have loved it to be there as evidence of my efforts, it is still a proposal that I might get a competitive advantage if kept secret. Nevertheless, I am sharing the abstract below and willing to share especially if it can open doors.

For a copy of relevant materials (e.g., presentation, paper) or any questions you may have, please feel free to reach out to me through the Contact Me gadget on this blog's side bar.

Details

Title: Analytics-Driven Motivation Nudges on Online Learning Platforms

Authors: May Kristine Jonson Carlon

Venue: 30th International Conference on Computers in Education

Specifics: November 28 to December 2, 2022

Abstract

Nudge theory is a behavioral economics concept where positive reinforcement is predictably induced by changing an individual’s environment. With the ability to better understand learners through learning analytics, online learning environments are ideal situations where nudges can be implemented. An economics-based approach to nudges will differ from other triggers in educational technology studies in that instead of the learning tools allowing the learners to react to motivation level changes, nudges will enable learners to proactively choose positive behaviors. The idea is to create a short online course with extensive data-gathering methods to inform the nudging mechanism. Multiple treatment conditions will be tested to see what types of nudges work best, and what are potential adverse effects of introducing such nudges. This research aims to tackle the challenges of succeeding in an online learning environment through a transdisciplinary approach as online learning becomes even more crucial in a new normal society.