Computer microworld development adapted to children\u27s conceptions : a case study.

This research studied changes in ten middle school students\u27 scientific conceptions during interaction with a computer microworld designed adaptively for exploring phases of the moon. Following direct observations of lunar phenomena, five students participated in the development of the computer microworld. The researcher implemented software design requests from the students based on their real world and microworld experience. Five different students used the final revised microworld and provided additional feedback. All sessions were transcribed and analyzed. Evidence from this case study suggests that this constructionist activity was a good catalyst for inducing conceptual change in learners—especially the five who had considerable ownership in the software development. Implications for classroom teaching strategies and suggestions for future research are offered

Dynamic reasoning in a knowledge-based system

Any space based system, whether it is a robot arm assembling parts in space or an onboard system monitoring the space station, has to react to changes which cannot be foreseen. As a result, apart from having domain-specific knowledge as in current expert systems, a space based AI system should also have general principles of change. This paper presents a modal logic which can not only represent change but also reason with it. Three primitive operations, expansion, contraction and revision are introduced and axioms which specify how the knowledge base should change when the external world changes are also specified. Accordingly the notion of dynamic reasoning is introduced, which unlike the existing forms of reasoning, provide general principles of change. Dynamic reasoning is based on two main principles, namely minimize change and maximize coherence. A possible-world semantics which incorporates the above two principles is also discussed. The paper concludes by discussing how the dynamic reasoning system can be used to specify actions and hence form an integral part of an autonomous reasoning and planning system

IDR : a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary design in technology enhanced learning

One of the important themes that emerged from the CAL’07 conference was the failure of technology to bring about the expected disruptive effect to learning and teaching. We identify one of the causes as an inherent weakness in prevalent development methodologies. While the problem of designing technology for learning is irreducibly multi-dimensional, design processes often lack true interdisciplinarity. To address this problem we present IDR, a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary techno-pedagogical design, drawing on the design patterns tradition (Alexander, Silverstein & Ishikawa, 1977) and the design research paradigm (DiSessa & Cobb, 2004). We discuss the iterative development and use of our methodology by a pan-European project team of educational researchers, software developers and teachers. We reflect on our experiences of the participatory nature of pattern design and discuss how, as a distributed team, we developed a set of over 120 design patterns, created using our freely available open source web toolkit. Furthermore, we detail how our methodology is applicable to the wider community through a workshop model, which has been run and iteratively refined at five major international conferences, involving over 200 participants

Software development as social activity: distributed cognition or hermeneutic pratice?

How shall we render understandable the social-practical processes of software development? First, I am going to present the theory of Distributed Cognition (dCog), because, given its privileged position within Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) literature, this is the most likely candidate for a philosophical theory of software development. Next, I am going to demonstrate with a case study that the processes, which I call hermeneutic activities, lie outside the domain of this theory. These hermeneutic episodes are characterized exactly by the lack of a commonly shared functional description level, but the existence of such a level is indispensable for the theses of dCog to hold. According to my argumentation, the hidden premise that assumes the existence of such a level is not only problematic, but is also inconsistent with the other theoretical roots of dCog. In order to see this, we have to turn our attention toward the practices of interpretation that are taking place in situated hermeneutic activities. In my analysis, I am going to lean on the other branch of dCog´s theoretical roots, predominantly on the works of Suchman, Winograd, Dreyfus, and Norman

Linking visual and linguistic composition : a study of cognition using computer microworlds.

This study is devoted to investigating links between the mental processes of visual composition and those of linguistic composition. The study has two components, each of which compares visual/verbal pairs. First is a comparison of visual and verbal features in picture books created by students. These books are alphabet books created in the tradition of ABC books for children. They were produced using standard desk-top publishing techniques. Because desk-top publishing involves text and graphics, it is an environment in which an individual\u27s skill with both sentences and pictures may be studied. Second is a set of case studies of students\u27 visual and linguistic compositions. These compositions have been constructed within the constraints of computer based microworlds designed by the researcher. (Computers are compositional tools with a new generality. They let the two media meet on common ground.) This study accentuates the importance of the computer as a tool for generalized composition, perhaps the most important role of computers in education

A model of empathy for artificial agent teamwork.

This thesis introduces a model of empathy as a basis for helpful behaviour in teams consisting purely of artificial agents that collaborate on practical problem-solving tasks, and investigates whether the performance of such teams can benefit from empathic help between members as the analogy with human teams might suggest. Guided by existing models of natural empathy in psychology and neuroscience, it identifies the potential empathy factors for artificial agents, as well as the mechanisms by which they produce affective and behavioural responses. The performance of empathic agent teams situated in a microworld similar to the Coloured Trails game is studied through simulation experiments, with the model parameters optimized by a genetic algorithm. For low to moderate levels of random disturbance in the environment, empathic help is superior to random help, and it outperforms rational help as rational decision complexity grows, in particular at higher levels of environmental disturbance. --P. ii.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b180582

The development and evaluation of an experiential computer simulation for animal science students

After reviewing the literature regarding the use of computers in education, the researcher identified a gap between state-of-art educational research and current educational practice; the majority of the presently available CAL software lacked appropriate design features that would enable the computer to meet its potential for the infusion of problem solving, information processing, and model building skills into the existing curriculum. With this gap in mind, the researcher proposed the development of a CAL lesson that could serve as a model of one type of computer use that better met the need for infusion of higher order thinking skills into the curriculum and also to serve as a model of how to develop software with these goals in mind;An experiential computer simulation was designed, using a state-of-the-art software development system, to enhance teaching and learning of a limited concept in animal science. A field test was undertaken with animal science students in order to determine lesson revisions needed to ensure the lesson adequately interacted with the varying student models. Results indicated that this lesson could enhance the existing curriculum, and that much attention throughout the developmental process must be focused on the possible student models and how the lesson can provide appropriate feedback for each student

How Co-Designing Computational Modeling Activities Helped Teachers Implement Responsive Teaching Strategies

In recent years, science education has shifted focus, from content to practice. This is reflected in the NGSS, which advocate learning science concepts through engagement in science and engineering practices. Theory building is a central activity of science and computational modeling is a key practice through which contemporary scientists construct theory. In this paper, we discuss an 8th grade science teacher\u27s implementation of a computational modeling lesson. The teacher had co-designed the computational modeling microworld and lesson with the research team over the preceding summers. We investigate the teacher\u27s activity during a whole-class discussion near the end of the lesson, to understand her responsive teaching strategies and how the co-designed technology supported her in eliciting and responding to student ideas. We examine the transcript from a follow-up interview to understand her experience implementing the co-designed technology and responsive teaching strategies, and to identify foci of future co-design iterations

A commonsense language for reasoning about causation and rational action

AbstractCommonsense causal discourse requires a language with which to express varying degrees of causal connectedness. This paper presents a commonsense language for reasoning about action and causation whose semantics is expressed by way of counterfactuals. Causal relations are analyzed along several dimensions including notions of resource consumption, degree of responsibility, instrumentality, and degree of causal contribution. Grounding the semantics in a level of counterfactual reasoning is shown to play an important role in constraining the set of allowable event descriptions instantiating reports expressed by any of the relations in the language. These ideas are also applied to a causal analysis of rational action: by adopting an explanatory stance, one can characterize action through descriptions that refer to causal connections between mental states and actions. Such a causal analysis resolves some well-known difficulties in correctly ascribing agency and intentionality. Finally, an implementation is described—used to motivate and refine the theory—in which queries involving causal relations between the activities of agents engaged in purposeful behavior within a microworld can be posed