EVALOE_SSD (Decision Support System) by UB

The CLOD group (Communication, Oral Language and Diversity) of the Universitat de Barcelona, coordinated by Dr. Marta Gràcia was awarded the grant for the project “Decision Support Systems (DSS) for teachers and the development of linguistic competence (speaking and listening)” in the call “EXCELENCIA Projects and RETOS Projects” of 2015 of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

The objective of the CLOD group is to study the teaching and learning processes of oral language in diverse contexts, especially the school context.

This project is the evolution of several projects developed by this research group, specifically it is an evolution of l’Escala de Valoración de la enseñanza de la Lengua Oral (EVALOE, 2015).

EVALOE is a useful tool for teacher tutors, specialist teachers, speech therapists, educational psychologists, counselors, among others, to reflect on the teaching and learning procedures of oral language in different subjects, and how they influence the communicative and linguistic behavior of students. It is understood that this reflection, which has a self-evaluative character and is promoted through discussion groups or collaborative work, is the key element for planning proposals to improve teaching activities in all curricular areas.

EVALOE consists of two parts:

• Observation scale divided into five subscales. Each of these subscales contains items (questions) referring to teachers and students with three response options (1,2,3).
• A protocol that includes 30 questions in order for an advisor and a teacher to have a semi-structured interview with the objective of reflecting together on the aspects previously analyzed.

This project includes the development of a system to facilitate the interview proposed by the EVALOE tool, to semi-automate the reflection, and to give the appropriate recommendations according to the result of the interview.