Exploring the mathematics of motion through construction and collaboration

In this paper we give a detailed account of the design principles and construction of activities designed for learning about the relationships between position, velocity and acceleration, and corresponding kinematics graphs. Our approach is model-based, that is, it focuses attention on the idea that students constructed their own models – in the form of programs – to formalise and thus extend their existing knowledge. In these activities, students controlled the movement of objects in a programming environment, recording the motion data and plotting corresponding position-time and velocity-time graphs. They shared their findings on a specially-designed web-based collaboration system, and posted cross-site challenges to which others could react. We present learning episodes that provide evidence of students making discoveries about the relationships between different representations of motion. We conjecture that these discoveries arose from their activity in building models of motion and their participation in classroom and online communities

Visualising Discourse Coherence in Non-Linear Documents

To produce coherent linear documents, Natural Language Generation systems have traditionally exploited the structuring role of textual discourse markers such as relational and referential phrases. These coherence markers of the traditional notion of text, however, do not work in non-linear documents: a new set of graphical devices is needed together with formation rules to govern their usage, supported by sound theoretical frameworks. If in linear documents graphical devices such as layout and formatting complement textual devices in the expression of discourse coherence, in non-linear documents they play a more important role. In this paper, we present our theoretical and empirical work in progress, which explores new possibilities for expressing coherence in the generation of hypertext documents

Plug-in to fear: game biosensors and negative physiological responses to music

The games industry is beginning to embark on an ambitious journey into the world of biometric gaming in search of more exciting and immersive gaming experiences. Whether or not biometric game technologies hold the key to unlock the “ultimate gaming experience” hinges not only on technological advancements alone but also on the game industry’s understanding of physiological responses to stimuli of different kinds, and its ability to interpret physiological data in terms of indicative meaning. With reference to horror genre games and music in particular, this article reviews some of the scientific literature relating to specific physiological responses induced by “fearful” or “unpleasant” musical stimuli, and considers some of the challenges facing the games industry in its quest for the ultimate “plugged-in” experience