Automating Formative Assessment for STEM Courses in Hybrid Learning Environments

This paper presents an innovative courseware project based on the Adaptive Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative”s Total Learning Architecture (TLA [1]), which encompasses a technical framework for education and training based on a data strategy built around open standards to support interoperability across diverse organizations and products ([2]). This framework includes definitions of a set of policies, specifications., and standards that enable a future learning ecosystem to facilitate lifelong learning principles promoting personalized and flexible learning environments that include both formal and informal activities [3]. In Fall 2023, a TLA-inspired course framework was implemented in a data visualization course for senior undergraduates and graduate students, using Moodle and a Learning Record Store (LRS) to track over 200,000 learning records. This system allowed instructors to visually monitor online learning activities for the whole class as well as selected individual learners. As future work, the course will expand to 10 STEM courses across 11 universities in the next three years as part of an existing NSF commitment.