Concepts in Action

This open access book is a timely contribution in presenting recent issues, approaches, and results that are not only central to the highly interdisciplinary field of concept research but also particularly important to newly emergent paradigms and challenges. The contributors present a unique, holistic picture for the understanding and use of concepts from a wide range of fields including cognitive science, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, and computer science. The chapters focus on three distinct points of view that lie at the core of concept research: representation, learning, and application. The contributions present a combination of theoretical, experimental, computational, and applied methods that appeal to students and researchers working in these fields

Concepts in Action

This open access book is a timely contribution in presenting recent issues, approaches, and results that are not only central to the highly interdisciplinary field of concept research but also particularly important to newly emergent paradigms and challenges. The contributors present a unique, holistic picture for the understanding and use of concepts from a wide range of fields including cognitive science, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, and computer science. The chapters focus on three distinct points of view that lie at the core of concept research: representation, learning, and application. The contributions present a combination of theoretical, experimental, computational, and applied methods that appeal to students and researchers working in these fields

Embracing imperfection in learning analytics

© 2018 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Learning Analytics (LA) sits at the confluence of many contributing disciplines, which brings the risk of hidden assumptions inherited from those fields. Here, we consider a hidden assumption derived from computer science, namely, that improving computational accuracy in classification is always a worthy goal. We demonstrate that this assumption is unlikely to hold in some important educational contexts, and argue that embracing computational “imperfection” can improve outcomes for those scenarios. Specifically, we show that learner-facing approaches aimed at “learning how to learn” require more holistic validation strategies. We consider what information must be provided in order to reasonably evaluate algorithmic tools in LA, to facilitate transparency and realistic performance comparisons

Doing social network ethics: a critical, interdisciplinary approach

Purpose: This paper proposes an inter-disciplinary approach to the ethics of social networking services (SNS) that connects critical analysis with the doing of ethics in terms of both pedagogic and technological practice. Design/methodology/approach: Primarily conceptual and discursive, drawing on theoretical concepts from a broad, inter-disciplinary field. These concepts are integrated into a multi-dimensional framework that proceeds through four sequential stages; socio-economic, ethical, legal and practical/professional. Particular instances of SNS are used as illustrative examples. Findings: The evaluation of ethical issues can be enriched by broader, holistic approaches that take account of the socio-economic, technical and legal contexts in which SNS technologies are designed, deployed and used. Inter-disciplinary approaches have the potential to generate new connections and possibilities for both the teaching and the professional practice of ethics. Practical implications: Applied ethics are used to consider practical solutions that explore regulatory measures and envision alternative models of social networking. The approach proposed has practical value for teachers and students of computer ethics, as well as for IT practitioners. Originality/value: This paper synthesises elements from media, communication and cultural studies, science and technology, information systems and computer science. The paper offers a strategy of inquiry to understand various aspects of SNS ethics—legal, socio-economic and technical. It presents a methodology for thinking about and doing ethics which can be used by IT practitioners

Doing social network ethics: a critical, interdisciplinary approach

Purpose: This paper proposes an inter-disciplinary approach to the ethics of social networking services (SNS) that connects critical analysis with the doing of ethics in terms of both pedagogic and technological practice. Design/methodology/approach: Primarily conceptual and discursive, drawing on theoretical concepts from a broad, inter-disciplinary field. These concepts are integrated into a multi-dimensional framework that proceeds through four sequential stages; socio-economic, ethical, legal and practical/professional. Particular instances of SNS are used as illustrative examples. Findings: The evaluation of ethical issues can be enriched by broader, holistic approaches that take account of the socio-economic, technical and legal contexts in which SNS technologies are designed, deployed and used. Inter-disciplinary approaches have the potential to generate new connections and possibilities for both the teaching and the professional practice of ethics. Practical implications: Applied ethics are used to consider practical solutions that explore regulatory measures and envision alternative models of social networking. The approach proposed has practical value for teachers and students of computer ethics, as well as for IT practitioners. Originality/value: This paper synthesises elements from media, communication and cultural studies, science and technology, information systems and computer science. The paper offers a strategy of inquiry to understand various aspects of SNS ethics—legal, socio-economic and technical. It presents a methodology for thinking about and doing ethics which can be used by IT practitioners