Research Focus

Roberto Martinez-Maldonado’s research focuses on applying Human-Centred Data Science techniques to create augmented teamwork and collaborative learning experiences in formal education contexts. He develops data-intensive technologies, using interactive systems and sensors, to automatically capture data related to salient aspects of collaboration. He creates visual interfaces that mirror curated representations of these data back to students and educators, in educationally meaningful ways, with the purpose of helping young people reflect on their development of collaboration and teamwork skills.

My plans for the fellowship period

During the 3 years of the fellowship, my plan is to crystallize a Human-Centred Collaboration Analytics 2025 vision: this is to create methods to assist the formative assessment and improvement of collaboration and teamwork, by making salient activity traces automatically visible and available for children and youth, and their educators in the form of data stories that provoke reflective thinking. This will involve co-designing data representations with students to improve collaboration skills such as effective communication, group organization and team leadership. Similarly, teachers will also co-design teaching companions that will capture evidence about students’ progress to, for example, automatically generate insights based on teachers’ pedagogical intentions.

How will my work change children’s and youth’s lives?

I strongly believe that each child and young adult has unique strengths and needs. Through my research in the area of collaborative learning analytics, I want to contribute to the provision of effective support to students who are developing critical skills, tailored to their unique individual and group needs.