Linking Printed Books to Computerized Speech

Adult students who experience difficulties in comprehending written (printed) language frequently are limited in their scholastic development and possible employment opportunities. These individuals, who represent a growing segment of the learning disabled population, include poor readers and dyslexics and they routinely seek help and remediation through various educational techniques. One remediation technique often used is books on tape . Through books on tape, recorded spoken text is presented in a sequential manner to the remedial reader as he or she is reading the corresponding printed document. This dissertation reviewed the books on tape paradigm, and through the use of current computer technology and random access storage, created an interface to enable the remedial reader to correlate a relative position on a printed page to the corresponding, pre-recorded spoken text presented by the computer

Empowering vulnerable people with serious games and gamification

Although many people will associate games with entertainment and leisure, games can also aim more serious purposes, such as training or education. Games with such goals are called serious games. In addition, gamification means that a (serious) task is enhanced with game elements. Examples of serious games and gamification can be seen in many aspects of daily life. Loyalty programs of stores, educational games in schools, fitness wearables and their gamified applications, rehabilitation games, and so on. In this dissertation, the focus is on a specific domain in which serious games and gamification can create societal benefit, namely by using them to empower vulnerable target groups. In the first part of this dissertation, a literature review is performed to understand the domain of serious games and gamification for vulnerable target groups. Based on this review, research gaps can be identified. Moreover, the review resulted in a taxonomy that is used throughout the dissertation to classify different games and applications. In the following parts of the dissertation, projects addressing two different target groups and in total three vulnerabilities are discussed. The first target group is older adults, who are vulnerable in different ways. In this dissertation, safety risks for doorstep scams and health risks through malnutrition are addressed. The first vulnerability is addressed by a serious game using interactive scenarios of doorstep scams. A diet tracking system that was used to support participants in a diet trial addressed the latter vulnerability. The second target group is young adults, which is an age group with a vulnerable mental well-being. The last part of this dissertation aims to study how gamification can be used to enhance self-compassion among young adults via an online 6-weeks training program, to increase their resilience in the face of mental well-being difficulties. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can be used to personalize and adapt the experience of a game to users. Tone of voice analysis was used to influence the progression in scenarios of the serious game about doorstep scams, and it gave players the possibility to assess the assertiveness of their voice. Machine learning algorithms were used to create personalized meal recommendations that can be used to improve the user experience of the diet tracking system for older adults. These algorithms base their recommendations on information about the historical intake of users to suggest meals and to additional items during meal editing. This makes the process of registering a meal less time-consuming. Sentiment analysis is used to adapt responses of the system in an exercise from the self-compassion training program. In addition, a topic detection algorithm was designed to assign one topic from a predefined set of topics to a note by a user of the training program. With this information, users can choose different types of situations to use in the exercises: frequently or rarely discussed topics. Aside from those techniques, knowledge representation is used in all projects, which is important for serious games/gamified applications since they are often based on expert and/or domain knowledge. This dissertation contributes to understanding the domain of serious games and gamification to empower vulnerable groups. The work also contributes to the research on the development of applications within that domain. On top of that, it contributes to understanding how AI techniques can be used to offer (personalized) features that enrich serious games or gamified applications. Finally, for each of the project centered parts, the results that are found in those parts contribute to the research in those specific fields

A report on the commercial and educational applications of expert systems

Expert, or intelligent knowledge-based, systems have emerged as the main practical application of Artificial Intelligence research. This thesis reports on their history, development and increasing commercial application. An analysis of the tasks and domains of 785 systems is reported which indicated a level of task specificity. The technology is suggestive of significant educational relevance as it is closely linked with concepts of expertise, intelligence, knowledge and learning. These basic educational concepts are discussed. The thesis reports on a survey of the use of the NCC Expert System Starter Pack in Further and Higher Education. The relationship between other computer-based learning systems and expert systems are discussed and it is argued that the development of intelligent tutoring systems is a more complex operation than the educational application of expert systems. A wide spectrum of potential educational applications is indicated. It is suggested that placing pupils in the position of knowledge engineers provides an exciting curriculum application. It is further argued that the use of expert systems in a commercial training role promises to be a major future development. Other educational applications are considered and the wider social implications associated with the use of expert systems are summarised

Communications

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article The Georgia Confederate Flag Dispute, by J. Michael Martinez in the summer 2008 issue along with the response of the author

Learning Basic Electrical Concepts With Models and Analogies Using a Multimedia Package

Secondary school teachers aim at helping their students to learn efficiently by using many exploratory treatments, especially in physics. Leading science educators and researchers promote learning by confronting students with the inconsistencies entailed by their own beliefs. The thesis indicates that well designed computer based environments with models and analogies can provide advantages over many approaches using other media. The facilities provided by such environments can be exploited to promote cognitive conflict which is believed to be beneficial for learning. Within the framework of using models and analogies to support learning science, the claim of the thesis is explored through: the nature of students' beliefs about electrical concepts which are in conflict with scientific beliefs the required prerequisites of computer based environments which can promote learning of these concepts through models and analogies the issues which relate to educational theory and practice, students' learning & teaching, and the design of software using HyperCard techniques and multimedia for the creation of models and analogies. Software was constructed within the framework of the design claimed by this research. Questionnaires were given to the students, and interviews and observations were made of their use of the software. With reference to the results, an analysis is included of the use of models and analogies in teaching & learning science topics. The advantages and disadvantages of these kinds of computational environments for the improvement of students' learning are discussed in details mainly with emphasis on the nature of students' beliefs, which are deeply seated and persistent. The recommendations included focus on how such environments can be designed and constructed in the near future in order to create suitable mental models for a better understanding of electrical concepts and phenomena