The FeedBook

An Intelligent Tutoring System accompanying English as a Foreign Language in School

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What is the FeedBook?

FeedBook is an intelligent language tutoring system that provides immediate feedback to students and adaptively proposes activities that fit the individual learning paths. The system supports individualized practice that is functionally integrated into a task-based foreign language classroom. To instantiate our general research and development vision, we currently focus on the 7th grade English curriculum in German secondary schools.

Students

  • ✓ receive individualized support while practicing → 63% learning improvement
  • ✓ at their level → automatic internal differentiation
  • ✓ regardless of family characteristics → educational equity
  • ✓ gamification elements → motivational support

Teachers

  • ✓ have a reduced burden to provide written feedback
  • ✓ can rely on internally differentiated practice without additional effort
  • ✓ can work in class with better-prepared students
  • ✓ are better informed about abilities of individuals and class

Researchers in authentic settings can investigate the effects of

  • ✓ different types of feedback, exercise types, learning targets given individual learner differences

Textbook authors and curricular designers

  • ✓ learner & activity analytics enable systematic, empirically-based improvement of materials & curriculum

AI2Teach - the current version of the FeedBook

The project

The AI2Teach project (2021-2026) introduces an innovative feature to the FeedBook - a teacher dashboard. With the help of the teacher dashboard providing real-time learning analytics and adaptive feedback, the project aims to enhance both personalized student learning and teacher-led instruction, creating a hybrid approach to education.

Project Team: Stephen Bodnar, Leona Colling, Tanja Heck, Walid El Hefny, Kristian Lange, Detmar Meurers, Mariia Soliar

AI2Teach

The study

The AI2Teach project has conducted a in a Randomized Controlled Trial that focused on training teachers to effectively incorporate AI into classroom teaching. The research examines how teacher training on technology-supported teaching and learning can improve classroom dynamics by enabling educators to use AI-powered tools.

Reference: Berens, F., Wendebourg, K., Kholin, M., Colling, L., Schmidt-Peterson, J., Hopp, M., Heck, T., Bodnar, S., El Hefny, W., Nuxoll, F., Deeg, C., Krey, K., Schrader, J., Schröter, H., Nagengast, B., Meurers, D., Trautwein, U. (2024). AI2Teach: Effectiveness of a teacher training on technology-supported teaching and learning. Pre-registration of the study design. PDF

Previous FeedBook Projects

FeedBook

The original FeedBook project (2016-2019) transformed a printed workbook into an intelligent tutoring system providing immediate feedback to learners. The full-year randomized controlled field study conducted at the end of the project was the first such study conducted in a German school context. It established the effectiveness of the immediate scaffolded feedback in an authentic German classroom setting.

Reference: Meurers, D., De Kuthy, K., Nuxoll, F., Rudzewitz, B., & Ziai, R. (2019). Scaling up intervention studies to investigate real-life foreign language learning in school. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 39, 161-188. DOI

DigBinDiff (DiDi)

DigBinDiff (2019-2023) investigated how digital differentiation and adaptive feedback help students by selecting tasks suited to their individual needs, improving their learning experience.

Reference: Quixal, M., Gawrilow, C., Meurers, D., Rudzewitz, B., Heck, T., & Xiong, Y. (2024). Supporting mastery learning by adapting exercise sequences in English as a foreign language to working memory and learner performance. DOI

Interact4School

The Interact4School project (2020-2023 focused on the integration of motivational feedback and a student dashboard supporting the transparent integration of the individualized practice into a task-oriented foreign language classroom.

Reference: Parrisius, C., Pieronczyk, I., Blume, C., Wendebourg, K., Pili-Moss, D., Assmann, M., ... & Trautwein, U. (2022). Using an intelligent tutoring system within a task-based learning approach in English as a foreign language classes to foster motivation and learning outcome (interact4school): Pre-registration of the study design. DOI

Any questions? Get in touch with us!

feedbook-help@iwm-tuebingen.de

Publications and theses related to the FeedBook

Colling, L., Pieronczyk, I., Parrisius, C., Holz, H., Bodnar, S., Nuxoll, F., & Meurers, D. (2024). Towards Task-Oriented ICALL: A Criterion-Referenced Learner Dashboard Organising Digital Practice. In CSEDU (1) (pp. 668-679). DOI

Heck, T., & Meurers, D. (2024). Exercise parameters influencing exercise difficulty. CALL for all Languages - EUROCALL 2023 Short Papers (pp. 236-241). DOI

Colling, L., Kholin, M., & Meurers, D. (2024). A Learning Analytics Dashboard for K-12 English Teachers-Bridging the Gap Between Student Process Data and Teacher Needs. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 32nd ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization (pp. 538-548). DOI

Ruiz, S., Rebuschat, P., Meurers, D. (2024). Supporting Individualized practice through Intelligent CALL. In Y. Suzuki (Ed.), Practice and automatization in second language research: Perspectives from skill acquisition theory and cognitive psychology. Routledge. DOI

Colling, L., Heck, T., & Meurers, D. (2023). Reconciling Adaptivity and Task Orientation in the Student Dashboard of an Intelligent Language Tutoring System. In Proceedings of the 18th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (BEA 2023) (pp. 288-299). DOI

Deininger, H., Lavelle-Hill, R., Parrisius, C., Pieronczyk, I., Colling, L., Meurers, D., ... & Kasneci, G. (2023). Can you solve this on the first try?–Understanding exercise field performance in an intelligent tutoring system. In International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 565-576). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. DOI

Heck, T., & Meurers, D. (2023). Exercise generation supporting adaptivity in intelligent tutoring systems. In International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 659-665). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. DOI

Heck, T., & Meurers, D. (2023). Using learning analytics for adaptive exercise generation. In Proceedings of the 18th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (BEA 2023) (pp. 44-56). DOI

Heck, T., & Meurers, D. (2023). On the relevance and learner dependence of co-text complexity for exercise difficulty. In Swedish Language Technology Conference and NLP4CALL (pp. 71-84). DOI

Hui, B., Rudzewitz, B., & Meurers, D. (2023). Learning processes in interactive CALL systems: Linking automatic feedback, system logs, and learning outcomes. Language Learning & Technology 27(1), 1–23. URL

Parrisius, C., Pieronczyk, I., Wendebourg, K., Rieger, S., Schmidt, T., Meures, D., ... & Nagengast, B. (2023). Examining Effects of Gamification Elements in an Intelligent Tutoring System for 7th Grade English Learners on Their Motivation–A Randomized Controlled Field Trial (Pre-registration). PDF

Ruiz, S., Rebuschat, P., & Meurers, D. (2023). Supporting Individualized Practice through Intelligent CALL. In Practice and Automatization in Second Language Research (pp. 119-143). Routledge. DOI

Alexopoulou, T., Meurers, D., & Murakami, A. (2022). Big data in SLA: Advances in methodology and analysis. In The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and technology (pp. 92-106). Routledge. PDF

Heck, T., Meurers, D., & Nuxoll, F. (2022). Automatic exercise generation to support macro-adaptivity in intelligent language tutoring systems. Intelligent CALL, granular systems and learner data: short papers from EUROCALL, 2022, 162-167. DOI

Heck, T., & Meurers, D. (2022). Parametrizable exercise generation from authentic texts: Effectively targeting the language means on the curriculum. In Proceedings of the 17th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (BEA 2022) (pp. 154-166). DOI

Parrisius, C., Wendebourg, K., Rieger, S., Loll, I., Pili-Moss, D., Colling, L., ... & Nagengast, B. (2022). Effective Features of Feedback in an Intelligent Tutoring System-A Randomized Controlled Field Trial (Pre-Registration). DOI

Pili-Moss, D., Schmidt, T., Blume, C., Middelanis, L., & Meurers, D. (2022). Enhancing EFL classroom instruction via the FeedBook: effects on language development and communicative language use. Arnbjörnsdóttir, Birna; Bédi, Branislav; Bradley, Linda; Friðriksdóttir, Kolbrún, 328-333. DOI

Schmidt, T., & Strasser, T. (2022). Artificial intelligence in foreign language learning and teaching: a CALL for intelligent practice. Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies, 33(1), 165-184. PDF

Heck, T., Meurers, D., & Bodnar, S. (2021). Automatic generation of form-based grammar exercises from authentic texts. Master's Thesis, University of Tübingen. PDF

Quixal, M., Rudzewitz, B., Bear, E., & Meurers, D. (2021). Automatic annotation of curricular language targets to enrich activity models and support both pedagogy and adaptive systems. Proceedings of the 10th Workshop on Natural Language Processing for Computer Assisted Language Learning (NLP4CALL 2021). Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 177: 38–54. PDF

Rudzewitz, B. (2021). Learning Analytics in Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Doctoral Thesis, University of Tübingen. DOI

Rudzewitz, B., Ziai, R., Nuxoll, F., De Kuthy, K., & Meurers, D. (2019). Enhancing a Web-based Language Tutoring System with Learning Analytics. In EDM (Workshops) (pp. 1-7). PDF

Ziai, R., Nuxoll, F., De Kuthy, K., Rudzewitz, B., & Meurers, D. (2019). The impact of spelling correction and task context on short answer assessment for intelligent tutoring systems. In Proceedings of the 8th Workshop on NLP for Computer Assisted Language Learning (pp. 93-99). PDF

Rudzewitz, B., Ziai, R., De Kuthy, K., Möller, V., Nuxoll, F., & Meurers, D. (2018). Generating feedback for English foreign language exercises. In Proceedings of the thirteenth workshop on innovative use of NLP for building educational applications (pp. 127-136).DOI

Ziai, R., Rudzewitz, B., De Kuthy, K., Nuxoll, F., & Meurers, D. (2018). Feedback strategies for form and meaning in a real-life language tutoring system. In Proceedings of the 7th workshop on NLP for Computer Assisted Language Learning (pp. 91-98). DOI

Ziai, R. (2018). Short Answer Assessment in Context: The Role of Information Structure. Doctoral Thesis, University of Tübingen. DOI

Rudzewitz, B., Ziai, R., De Kuthy, K., & Meurers, D. (2017). Developing a web-based workbook for English supporting the interaction of students and teachers. In Proceedings of the joint workshop on NLP for Computer Assisted Language Learning and NLP for Language Acquisition (pp. 36-46). DOI