Uma ferramenta de apoio para a análise de comportamento de estudantes em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem

Abstract

This master thesis aims to present a tool to support student behavior analysis when performing activities within Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). In an overview, this work seeks to clarify issues regarding access, frequency and interaction of students with the activities and resources available in VLE during the course in order to provide elements that can help the mediators in the decision-making educational process and in teaching activities. This research has an exploratory character and uses the case study method. The initial motivation for developing the work was due to the need to know how students are using the VLE to develop their academic activities, given the fact the high rates of rejection, avoidance and withdrawal in distance learning courses offered by the Distance Education Centre (DEC), of Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM). In preliminary studies it conducted a literature which was collected works related to the topic of research that gave theoretical basis to conduct the procedures that were adopted during the investigation. The case study is the collection and analysis of documents and data stored in records and logs during the course of the Informatics discipline in the Physical Education in the course of degree in physics, in semesters 2013/02, 2014/01, 2014/02 and 2015/01. In the study we used two versions of Moodle system, the version without change in the form of distribution, which will be referred to this work as conventional, which provided exclusive access for web browsers, and Moodle version adapted to support access by applications and mobile devices. This version also used the official distribution of Moodle for mobile devices with adaptations, and was named MobiLMS. To track student participation was developed a plugin for Moodle system with the purpose of presenting visual information to support teachers and students in identifying behaviors within the VLE. In developing the plugin was used an information visualization technique known as Treemap. With this tool might be identified more easily students with little participation. The visual representations of the data helped to identify the access habits, highlighting through charts, days, times and dates with the highest concentration of interactions with the content.