Deliberative DeLP agents with multiple informants

In this paper we define a trust-based argumentative reasoning formalism where the source of the received information is used to decide the warranted conclusions. In the proposed formalism, the agent’s tentative conclusions are supported by arguments, and these conclusions can in turn be attacked by other arguments, referred to as counter-arguments. The inference mechanism compares arguments and counter-arguments to decide which conclusion prevails. We propose a novel development of different argument comparison criteria based on trust. Thus, given a particular application domain, the more appropriate criterion can be used. Finally, since a realistic scenario should consider that trust on informants is usually subject to change, a complete change theory over the agents’ trust is introduced.Fil: Tamargo, Luciano Héctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Gottifredi, Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: García, Alejandro Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Falappa, Marcelo Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Simari, Guillermo Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; Argentin

An informant-based approach to argument strength in Defeasible Logic Programming

This work formalizes an informant-based structured argumentation approach in a multi-agent setting, where the knowledge base of an agent may include information provided by other agents, and each piece of knowledge comes attached with its informant. In that way, arguments are associated with the set of informants corresponding to the information they are built upon. Our approach proposes an informant-based notion of argument strength, where the strength of an argument is determined by the credibility of its informant agents. Moreover, we consider that the strength of an argument is not absolute, but it is relative to the resolution of the conflicts the argument is involved in. In other words, the strength of an argument may vary from one context to another, as it will be determined by comparison to its attacking arguments (respectively, the arguments it attacks). Finally, we equip agents with the means to express reasons for or against the consideration of any piece of information provided by a given informant agent. Consequently, we allow agents to argue about the arguments’ strength through the construction of arguments that challenge (respectively, defeat) or are in favour of their informant agents.Fil: Cohen, Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Gottifredi, Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Tamargo, Luciano Héctor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: García, Alejandro Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Simari, Guillermo Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación. Instituto de Ciencias e Ingeniería de la Computación; Argentin

Mejoramiento de los servicios de razonamiento basados en programación lógica rebatible

Esta línea de investigación se enfoca en mejorar las capacidades de razonamiento de agentes que participan en Sistemas Multi-Agente (SMA). Su objetivo general es mejorar y desarrollar nuevas técnicas para los servicios de razonamiento basados en Programación Lógica Rebatible (Defeasilble Logic Programming o DeLP) combinando revisión de creencias, argumentación y mecanismos de confianza y reputación para su aplicación en SMA. En particular, se espera avanzar en la implementación de nuevos servicios y facilidades de los Servicios de Razonamiento basados en DeLP. Dicha integración permitirá realizar un avance en las tres áreas de investigación, y además, proveerá de técnicas avanzadas aplicables a los modelos de razonamiento de agentes inteligentes y sistemas multi-agente para entornos dinámicos.Eje: Agentes y Sistemas InteligentesRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Confianza y reputación de agentes en sistemas multiagente para entornos dinámicos

Esta línea de investigación se enfoca en el área de confianza y reputación de agentes en sistemas multi-agente. Su objetivo general es el análisis, desarrollo y formalización de la dinámica de la confianza y reputación de los agentes, a partir de la interacción con sus pares en el marco de un sistema multi-agente (SMA). Esto involucra el desarrollo y formalización de técnicas de representación y actualización del grado de confianza y de reputación de un agente, y también, la integración de estas técnicas con mecanismos de razonamiento automático y dinámica de creencias. En particular, se espera avanzar en el estudio y desarrollo de formalismos para aplicaciones de naturaleza dinámica y distribuida, que combinen mecanismos de confianza, dinámica de creencias y argumentación.Eje: Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Confianza y reputación de agentes en sistemas multiagente para entornos dinámicos

Esta línea de investigación se enfoca en el área de confianza y reputación de agentes en sistemas multi-agente. Su objetivo general es el análisis, desarrollo y formalización de la dinámica de la confianza y reputación de los agentes, a partir de la interacción con sus pares en el marco de un sistema multi-agente (SMA). Esto involucra el desarrollo y formalización de técnicas de representación y actualización del grado de confianza y de reputación de un agente, y también, la integración de estas técnicas con mecanismos de razonamiento automático y dinámica de creencias. En particular, se espera avanzar en el estudio y desarrollo de formalismos para aplicaciones de naturaleza dinámica y distribuida, que combinen mecanismos de confianza, dinámica de creencias y argumentación.Eje: Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Co-enforcing Labor Standards: The Unique Contributions of State and Worker Organizations in Argentina and the United States

Labor inspection is a central response to the tremendous gap between regulations on the books and outcomes for workers throughout the world. Scholarly and policy debates on labor regulation have focused attention on improving the targeting of enforcement, changing strategies of street-level agents, and creating private alternatives to state regulation. This paper argues that these proposals, while important, fail to systematically incorporate the potential contributions of worker organizations and, as a result, overlook opportunities for co-enforcing labor standards, a key element of labor inspection. By contrast, we develop a framework to analyze the relationships between worker organizations and state regulators that underpin co- enforcement. We ground this framework empirically in comparative cases, set in Argentina and the United States, presenting two cases of co-enforcement in highly different institutional contexts. By doing so, we seek to illuminate key attributes of labor inspection and guide attempts to enhance enforcement by forging partnerships between regulators and worker organizations

Using the EBAM Across Educational Contexts: Calibrating for Technical, Policy, Leadership Influences

This article reports on a rigorous approach developed for calibrating the Evidence-Based Adequacy Model to suit the Ontario K–12 public education context, and the actual calibrations made. The four-step calibration methodology draws from expert consultations and a review of the academic literature. Specific attention is given to the technical revisions and, importantly, the significant influence of policy(values) and leaders’ decision-making on the calibration process. It also presents emerging implications for leaders and researchers who are considering calibrating the EBAM for use in their educational context. Calibrating the instrument was a necessary step before use in a jurisdiction outside of the United States, where the model was developed, and our team has been the first to outline a methodology and bring Canadian evidence to the discussion

Education Research in the Canadian Context

This special issue of the International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership (IJEPL), Research in the Canadian Context, marks a significant milestone for the journal. Throughout our twelve-year history, we have sought to publish the best research in leadership, policy, and research use, allowing authors to decide the topics by dint of their research. While this model still serves as the foundation for IJEPL content, we decided to give researchers a chance to engage in deeper conversations by introducing special issues. In our first special issue, researchers discuss their work within the scope of education policy, leadership, and research use within the Canadian context. While many aspects of leadership, teaching, and learning can be seen as similar across contexts, there are also issues of particular concern within national, regional, provincial, or local spheres, particularly when looking at policy and system changes. The researchers featured in this issue provide an important look into education in Canada.PolicyIn the policy realm, Sue Winton and Lauren Jervis examine a 22-year campaign to change special education assessment policy in Ontario, examining how discourses dominant in the province enabled the government to leave the issue unresolved for decades. Issues of access and equity play out within a neoliberal context focused on individualism, meritocracy, and the reduced funding of public services. While Winton and Jervis highlight the tension between policy goals and ideological contexts, Jean-Vianney Auclair considers the place of policy dialogues within governmental frames, and the challenge of engaging in broadly applicable work within vertically structured governmental agencies. One often-touted way to move beyondResearch useWithin the scope of research use, Sarah L. Patten examines how socioeconomic status (SES) is defined and measured in Canada, the challenges in defining SES, and potential solutions specific to the Canadian context. In looking at knowledge mobilization, Joelle Rodway considers how formal coaches and informal social networks nserve to connect research, policy, and practice in Ontario’s Child and Youth Mental Health program.LeadershipTurning to leadership, contributing researchers explored the challenges involved in staff development, administrator preparation, and student outcomes. Keith Walker and Benjamin Kutsyuruba explore how educational administrators can support early career teachers to increase retention, and the somewhat haphazard policies and supports in place across Canada to bring administrators and new teachers together. Gregory Rodney MacKinnon, David Young, Sophie Paish, and Sue LeBel look at how one program in Nova Scotia conceptualizes professional growth, instructional leadership, and administrative effectiveness and the emerging needs of administrators to respond to issues of poverty, socioemotional health, and mental health, while also building community. This complex environment may mean expanding leadership preparation to include a broader consideration of well-being and community. Finally, Victoria Handford and Kenneth Leithwood look at the role school leaders play in improving student achievement in British Columbia, and the school district characteristics associated with improving student achievement.Taken together, the research in this special issue touches on many of the challenges in policy development, application, and leadership practice, and the myriad ways that research can be used to address these challenges. We hope you enjoy this first special issue of IJEPL

The Role of School Administrator in Providing Early Career Teachers’ Support: A Pan-Canadian Perspective

This article is based on an extensive mixed-methods pan-Canadian study that examined the differential impact of teacher induction and mentorship programs on the retention of early career teachers (ECTs). It discusses the findings from the analysis of publicly available pan-Canadian documents detailing the mandated roles, duties, and responsibilities of school administrators in teacher induction and mentorship. It then describes the results of the Teacher Induction Survey (N = 1,343) and the telephone interviews (N = 36) that elicited the perceptions of Canadian early career teachers regarding the school administrator’s role and engagement in effective teacher induction and mentoring programs

Financialisation of Care: Investment and organising in the UK and US

PhDThis research investigates the relationship between the crises of care and finance, and efforts to ensure that care is valued more highly. It explores why investment funds have acquired care homes, how they realise value, and the implications for workers and residents. It also examines the factors that have limited financialisation, including the activities of social and labour movements. These developments are studied through empirical case studies of three major UK care companies, and analysis of the strategies of selected movements in the UK and US. The research involved 64 interviews, observation and document analysis. A geographical perspective helps to illuminate uneven investment in real estate, the quality of the care homes produced, and the spatial dimensions of organising within globalised care systems. The research finds that financial ownership of care companies has been driven by their real estate assets, the availability of debt financing, and specific business models. Corporate debt has also enabled governments to displace and depoliticise responsibility for funding care. However, finance has not replaced labour as a source of value: care remains labour intensive and value can be extracted from low-status, poorly organised workers and clients. The thesis deploys feminist care ethics to analyse the effects of financial ownership and crisis on labour and residents, including evictions that result from care home closures and the production of new, ‘hotel-like’ facilities. Financialisation has, though, been limited by a lack of material resources in care and political opposition. In contesting financialised care, movements have used stories to locate economic agency; to address political, experiential and affective divides; and to promote alternative social relations of interdependence. Organising is crucial to creating space for such stories. Overall, financialisation has been enabled by the undervaluing of care, but it has also been limited by social values and relationships associated with care.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), grant number ES/J500124/1, from 2014-17