Mathew Hillier

The University of New South Wales, Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Education, Faculty Member

The University of Queensland, Australia, Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovation, Faculty Member

Monash University, Monash University Office for Learning and Teaching, Faculty Member

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My current academic role is Academic Lead: Digital Assessment at the University of New South Wales. This post involves leading the investigation and trailing of digital assessment technologies, particularly focused on computerised examinations as well as support and advice to senior management on matters relating to e-assessment, policy and process. I am also the leader of a half million dollar national e-exam project partnering with nine Australian universities. The project has developed a pathway and technology platform to enable the delivery of 'authentic assessment' in high stakes exams. see http://transformingexams.com
Previously I held a role at Monash University where I was the theme leader for 'technology and space' under the 'CEED' academic development program.
I also hold an honorary post at the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation (ITaLI), University of Queensland.
Another previous role was in the Centre for Learning and Professional Development (CLPD) at University of Adelaide where I was researching e-assessment within web 2.0 and 3D virtual worlds as well as teaching within the Graduate Certificate in Online Learning (Higher Education). During that period I was involved in a collaboration on Transforming Assessment ( See http://transformingassessment.com ) which continues to this day with Professor Geoffrey Crisp.
I have previously taught in disciplines such as business information systems, computing, digital media design and communications in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

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Integrating mixed reality spatial learning analytics into secure electronic exams

by Mathew Hillier and James Birt

Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education Annual conference, 2018

This paper presents an approach to using mixed reality (MR) technologies in supervised summative ... more This paper presents an approach to using mixed reality (MR) technologies in supervised summative electronic exams. The student learning experience is increasingly replete with a rich range of digital tools, but we rarely see these same e-tools deployed for higher stakes supervised assessment, despite the increasing maturity of technologies that afford authentic learning experiences. MR, including augmented and virtual reality, enables educators to provide rich, immersive learner centred experiences that have unique affordances for collecting a range of learning analytics on student performance. This is especially so in disciplines such as health, engineering, and physical education requiring a spatial dimension. Yet, in many institutions, paper-based exams still dominate, in some measure due to concerns over security, integrity and scalability. This is despite a key concern for educators and institutions in producing employment ready 21 st century graduates being the authenticity of assessments used for high stakes judgements. We therefore present a proposal for how MR pedagogies can be deployed for use in supervised examination contexts in a manner that is secure, reliable, and scalable. Introduction In many higher education institutions paper-based exams still dominate higher stakes supervised assessment. Researchers such Hillier & Fluck (2013) cite concerns over security, integrity, and scalability with respect to using digital technology in exam halls. However, there is an increasing need to bring these outdated means of assessment into line with the digitally rich work and education practices of today. In disciplines that require the examination of spatial skills such in heath, engineering, architecture and physical education, paper based higher states assessment restricts examiners to assess spatial understanding of students (Roca-González, Martin-Gutierrez, GarcÍa-Dominguez & del Carmen Mato Carrodeguas, 2017). This is concerning because research suggests that manipulating physical objects is valuable to create a feedback loop for learning (Paas & Sweller, 2014) in spatial disciplines. Mixed reality (MR) technologies-comprising augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and 3D printing-allow for spatial skills assessment (Birt, Moore & Cowling, 2017), but the uptake in education has been hindered by cost, expertise and capability. This is changing with the recent wave of low-cost immersive 3D MR hardware and powerful interactive 3D visualisation software platforms such as Unity3D. However, while the latest MR technology has been deployed for formative learning with respect to spatial capabilities, these technologies have yet to be deployed in electronic exams (e-exams). A barrier to deploying MR technology for e-exams is that spatial data gathering using MR technology (primarily mobile devices) relies on having access to an internet connection and networked data storage. Conversely for e-exams to be reliable and secure the reliance on an internet connection presents a point of potential system failure while the use of hard-to-control mobile devices presents risks to assessment integrity. Therefore, a question in deploying MR for e-exams is " How can an e-exam effectively be administered whilst still allowing the use of MR technologies for spatial visualisation and data gathering? ". This paper addresses this question through a MR learning solution for spatial analytics and assessment, which can be merged into an existing e-exam system. Providing a spatial visualisation experience for students, addressing security and authenticity required for an examination.

Please cite as: Cowling, M., Hillier, M. & Birt, J. (2018). Integrating mixed reality spatial learning analytics into secure electronic exams. In M. Campbell, J. Willems, C. Adachi, D. Blake, I. Doherty, S. Krishnan, S. Macfarlane, L. Ngo, M. O’Donnell, S. Palmer, L. Riddell, I. Story, H. Suri & J. Tai (Eds.), Open Oceans: Learning without borders. Proceedings ASCILITE 2018 Geelong (pp. 330-334).

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