A User-Centered Approach to Gamify the Manual Creation of Training Data for Machine Learning

The development of artificial intelligence, e. g. for Computer Vision, through supervised learning requires the input of large amounts of annotated or labeled data objects as training data. Usually, the creation of high-quality training data is done manually which can be repetitive and tiring. Gamification, the use of game elements in a non-game context, is one method to make such tedious tasks more interesting. We propose a multi-step process for gamifying the manual creation of training data for machine learning purposes. In this article, we give an overview of related concepts and existing implementations and present a user-centered approach for a real-life use case. Based on a survey within the target user group we identified annotation use cases and dominant player characteristics. The results served as a foundation for designing the gamification concepts which were then discussed with the participants. The final concept includes levels of increasing difficulty, tutorials, progress indicators and a narrative built around a robot character which at the same time is a user assistant. The implemented prototype is an extension of an existing annotation tool at an AI product company and serves as a basis for further observations.

Effects of Annotation Types Used at Different Point of Time during Reading on Vocabulary Learning

The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of two annotation types (text-only and text-picture) as well as the timing in annotation use during reading (pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading) on vocabulary learning of English major freshmen. Based on the analysis of the data collected from posttests and questionnaire, the following findings are obtained: 1) among three points of time in annotation use, the pre-reading annotation use results in the best vocabulary production and recognition, closely followed by the post-reading annotation use and then the while-reading annotation use; 2) when comparing the two annotation types, the text-picture annotations were more effective than the text-only annotations on improving vocabulary production and recognition; 3) there was no interaction between annotation types and points of time in annotation use. The findings indicate that the right use of annotations during reading will substantially promote vocabulary learning. They also shed some light on the research on annotation and vocabulary learning and provide implications on vocabulary instruction and teaching materials design.

Effect of Annotation Preferences of the EFL Students’ on Their Level of Vocabulary Recall and Retention

The contemporary era brings technology into every part of our lives. As a result of technological improvements, education process has been affected and the use of technological devices is inevitable. Teaching language has also been affected by this movement. Thus, Mobile-Assisted Language Learning has gained importance through the recent years. Within light of these, the aim of this study is to understand the effect of annotation use on vocabulary recall and retention levels of English as a foreign language students. A software called Vocastyle was developed for this study. It included annotations that helped students to learn and remember new vocabulary items. The participants of the study were 122 students of a state elementary school in which multimedia learning is benefited at a major city of Turkey. In order to understand whether the use of annotations caused any difference between students’ level of vocabulary recall and retention, the pre-, post-, and delayed posttests were applied. Quantitative data analyses were done via descriptive statistics, chi-square, multivariate analysis of variance, and Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. The results implied that learners who used multimedia annotations recalled and retained better than the learners who used paper-based annotations and who received no treatment at all.

Effects of topic interest and prior knowledge on text recall and annotation use in reading a hypermedia text in the L2

This study investigates the effects of topic interest and prior knowledge on text recall and annotation use of second language learners engaged in reading a hypermedia text. The participants were proficient learners of English enrolled in an undergraduate English Language Teaching programme. They were asked to read a hypermedia text that incorporated word-level and topic-level annotations, and complete an immediate recall task. Participants’ interaction with the text was recorded during the reading task. Data collection tools also included a topic interest questionnaire, a prior knowledge test, and semi-structured interviews. Results indicated no meaningful relationship between topic interest and prior knowledge. Moreover, topic interest had a significant main effect on text recall while prior knowledge did not. In other words, topic interest facilitated the number of propositions recalled. Finally, a significant interaction between topic interest and prior knowledge was found in terms of access to annotations. When topic interest was low, the participants with low prior knowledge utilized content-related annotations more frequently than those with high prior knowledge. On the other hand, when topic interest was high, the participants with high prior knowledge accessed content-related annotations more frequently than those with low prior knowledge.