Conversational natural language interaction for place-related knowledge acquisition

We focus on the problems of using Natural Language inter- action to support pedestrians in their place-related knowledge acquisi- tion. Our case study for this discussion is a smartphone-based Natu- ral Language interface that allows users to acquire spatial and cultural knowledge of a city. The framework consists of a spoken dialogue-based information system and a smartphone client. The system is novel in com- bining geographic information system (GIS) modules such as a visibility engine with a question-answering (QA) system. Users can use the smart- phone client to engage in a variety of interleaved conversations such as navigating from A to B, using the QA functionality to learn more about points of interest (PoI) nearby, and searching for amenities and tourist attractions. This system explores a variety of research questions involving Natural Language interaction for acquisition of knowledge about space and place

Examining Upper and Lower Case Letter Knowledge with Item Response Theory

Education and Human Ecology: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)Children’s alphabet knowledge is among the strongest predictors of children’s early literacy skills (Scarborough, 1998) and is a key component of emergent literacy development (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998). Alphabet knowledge is typically conceptualized as total number of letters a child knows (i.e., a simple sum score). Therefore, the fact that some letters are more likely to be known than others (i.e., inter-letter differences) is not taken into account in alphabet knowledge assessments. However, research studies suggest that specific alphabet knowledge does vary in acquisition (McBride-Chang, 1999), indicating that researchers and educators should consider inter-letter differences in alphabet knowledge. In addition, some experts contend that there are potential inter-letter differences between upper and lower case letters. Sophisticated measurement techniques, such as those based on Item Response Theory (IRT), allow for a more nuanced and precise understanding of alphabet knowledge through explicitly modeling potential inter-letter differences. The purpose of the present study was to use IRT to further identify inter-letter patterns in children’s acquisition of alphabet knowledge, and thus provide insight for alphabetic assessment and instruction.No embarg

Opportunistic Acquisition of Adaptation Knowledge and Cases - The IakA Approach

International audienceA case-based reasoning system relies on different knowledge containers, including cases and adaptation knowledge. The knowledge acquisition that aims at enriching these containers for the purpose of improving the accuracy of the CBR inference may take place during design, maintenance, and also on-line, during the use of the system. This paper describes IakA, an approach to on-line acquisition of cases and adaptation knowledge based on interactions with an oracle (a kind of “ideal expert”). IakA exploits failures of the CBR inference: when such a failure occurs, the system interacts with the oracle to repair the knowledge base. IakA-NF is a prototype for testing IakA in the domain of numerical functions with an automatic oracle. Two experiments show how IakA opportunistic knowledge acquisition improves the accuracy of the CBR system inferences. The paper also discusses the possible links between IakA and other knowledge acquisition approaches

Architects and designers meet sociologists to design urban space : reflection on the (im)possible crossing of disciplinary borders

Space as an academic concept occupies a place in various disciplines and professions. In each case it tends to be named, studied, understood and created in the appropriate conceptual apparatus, using the relevant methodology for the acquisition and analysis of data. On the other hand, an ever greater role in the process of designing space is accorded to the users themselves, who have certain specific preferences and their own models of shaping the space. Awareness of these different perspectives requires interdisciplinary cooperation. The paper refers to experience gained during interdisciplinary spatial design workshops, at which students of architecture, interior architecture, sociology and philosophy jointly prepared designs for urban space. The design process is analysed as communication between the representatives of disciplines using different resources of reflexivity about space. This workshop experience is not treated as ordinary, empirical research. It is rather an impulse and a starting point for further research on the cognitive aspects of cooperation gathering together experts rooted in different institutional contexts and fields of knowledge. The article discusses the possibility of cross-disciplinary cooperation between architects, designers, sociologists, philosophers, artists and other space constructors and users. Our assumption based on the conceptions of reflexivity by Pierre Bourdieu, Scott Lash and Anthony Giddens is that this cooperation is practised as an interdisciplinary relationship, incapable of overcoming disciplinary borders

Absorptive capacity: a process and structure approach

The aim of this study is to understand and explain different dimensions of absorptive capacity and the strategies used in practice to realise it. The theoretical and conceptual contribution of the study lies in the adoption of a dual process and structure approach, aiming at identifying, respectively, how learning takes place and what learning takes place. The study is based upon a case study research design to explore the manifestation of absorptive capacity processes and its relationship to knowledge structures in four company case studies. The findings of the research indicate that knowledge acquisition, transformation and integration involve successive iterations of codification, abstraction and diffusion of knowledge in relation to product concepts, process requirements and problem-solving approaches. This relates to the capability to adopt, simultaneously, different trajectories in terms of knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation strategies. The combined adoption of these different strategies enables both strategic and operational flexibility and underlies the successful realisation of absorptive capacity

Visualizing visualisation : spatial conceptualisation as a stepping stone in the transition of real-virtual world interactionism

The acquisition of a concept of space is an essential requirement for immersive migration from the real to the virtual worlds. Knowledge of space and place posit a hard-to-acquire concept for the non technological person. The move from a techno-centric reality to a socio-technic one has aided the transposition of the non-technic disciplines to take up the virtual environments as the next level interactive domain. Initial activity would have come from the geographically-equipped disciplines, with eventual porting to the civil-protection-related disciplines and eventually to the social sciences and the arts. The resultant knowledge gain is yet to yet fully established, as technology has outshone the actual transition, with most disciplines still struggling to understand the shift. This paper reviews the issue of knowledge of spaces, the efforts made to acquire a reality-to- virtual transition, as pushed through the establishment of a spatial information system. The paper highlights the initial work carried out to create an initial gaming environment for social interactionism to occur. The target is that based on available gaming engines and focuses on the process employed to establish the launching environment. The DIKA model is employed through its Data acquisition of real space, it being given a meaning through spatial Information, its conversion to 2D environments and in turn to 3D space as a Knowledge markup and the final Action process employed to create the interactive space through the gaming engine. The paper posits a case study based on the spatial data transition from real to virtual spaces through the creation of a 3D model of the city of Valletta, which model pivots around the creation of point clouds and the resultant voxel/tin models that can be ported to worlds such as Minecraft. The process is envisaged to include potential visualisation through Virtual Reality technology.peer-reviewe

Enhancing sustainability practice through ICT-enabled innovation knowledge management

Currently, in Malaysia sustainability issues are still very much underlined by the scope required under Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approvals and the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) requirements based on the demands of the Department of Environment (DOE). Additionally, the MS 1525:2007 on the practice of energy efficiency and use of non-renewable energy for new construction projects as well as the acquisition of green rated designed buildings are not mandatory. The focus of such requirements are seen as being minimalist, and can only serve to ensure limited negative effects on the immediate project environment. Taking the case of Malaysia as a developing country, the level of awareness regarding the impacts of unsustainable practices in the construction sector is noticeably significant, however the efforts towards sustainability attainment is rather low. Taking the view that developing countries have a greater possibility to shift towards the implementation of a new development model based on higher innovation capability, this paper outlines a sustainability capacity model to be implemented for new residential developments based on a proposed Innovation Knowledge Management Methodology (IKM2). A key feature of this initiative is the open-source characteristic component. The argument towards this principle is based on neo-Schumpeterian economics, and the notion that innovation is a key enabler for sustainability attainment. Here, innovation competition is seen to take the place of price competition as the coordinating mechanism of interes

Collaborative peer-feedback practices in hybrid learning environments

The article describes a technology-mediated collaborative peer-feedback experience. 125 students took part into the activity during the delivery of a 3- months teaching in “Methodology of Action Research”, within a 3-year Degree Course in Psychological, Social and Occupational Sciences. The activity was based on a 4-phases cycle of collaborative output production, structured peer- feedback, collaborative output improvement, individual reflection. The aim of the exploratory case-study here presented is to observe if and how the peer- feedback activity supported the development of collaborative, meta-cognitive and digital skills, other than knowledge acquisition. To answer our research questions, we used a mixed system, able to provide both objective data with respect to the activity carried out and the skills put in place, and subjective data related to the students' personal experience and the perceived impact on their learning. Results show a good appropriation of metacognitive skills and offer numerous hints on the design aspects which have been found to be effective in supporting students’ learning

Grounding accumulation by dispossession in everyday life: the unjust geographies of urban regeneration under the private finance initiative

Purpose – This paper aims to ground Harvey’s (2003) top-down theory of “accumulation by dispossession” in the everyday lives of people and places with specific focus on the role of law. It does this by drawing upon the lived experiences of residents on a public housing estate in England (UK) undergoing regeneration and gentrification through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Design/methodology/approach – Members of the residents association on the Myatts Field North estate, London, were engaged as action research partners, working with the researchers to collect empirical data through surveys of their neighbours, organising community events and being formally interviewed themselves. Their experiential knowledge was supplemented with an extensive review of all associated policy, planning, legal and contractual documentation, some of which was disclosed in response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Findings – Three specific forms of place-based dispossession were identified: the loss of consumer rights, the forcible acquisition of homes and the erasure of place identity through the estate’s rebranding. Layard’s (2010) concept of the “law of place” was shown to be broadly applicable in capturing how legal frameworks assist in enacting accumulation by dispossession in people’s lives. Equally important is the ideological power of law as a discursive practice that ultimately undermines resistance to apparent injustices. Originality/value – This paper develops Harvey’s concept of accumulation by dispossession in conversation with legal geography scholarship. It shows – via the Myatts Field North estate case study – how PFI, as a mechanism of accumulation by dispossession in the abstract, enacts dispossession in the concrete, assisted by the place-making and ideological power of law

Exploring the Impact of Feedback on Learning Transfer in the Liminal Space for Information Literacy

Mastering new knowledge is a transformative process, but what happens between initial confrontation with new knowledge and the moment it is mastered? This qualitative case study investigated perceptions on how feedback loops influenced student growth and learning transfer in the liminal space. Myer and Land (2005) described the liminal space as a stuck place where learners are wrestling with their conceptual understanding of knowledge that is troublesome. Students were adult undergraduates in an online information literacy course. Librarians teaching the course were early adopters of ACRL’s The Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education (the Framework) and participated in on-site professional development for effective feedback practices and Framework implementation. The Framework, based on Meyer and Land’s threshold concept theory, represents a pedagogical shift in how librarians teach and assess information literacy. Previous practice focused on skills-based standards; the Framework focuses on development students’ conceptual understanding of information creation, acquisition, and use. Findings of the study indicated that instructors and students have divergent perceptions regarding student entry points into the liminal space. Identifying liminal spaces can influence which feedback strategies are used to support learning transfer. Findings further indicated that instructors are also within a liminal space with Framework implementation as the pedagogy adoption is still new for Library Science. Conclusions identified effective feedback strategies to support learning transfer for students in the liminal space. The study offers a pathway for qualitative assessment of the Framework and suggests support strategies for librarians as learners as they continue to teach and assess the Framework