Construction and evaluation of a gold standard syntax for formal logic formulas and systems

Classical logic plays a significant role in computer science where formal proofs eventually make their way into a student’s curriculum via discrete mathematics, philosophy logic, or some other medium. We traditionally see propositional logic in Boolean algebra, conditional statements, program and data structure definitions and invariants, and much more. In fact, everyday language is easily expressible in first-order logic. Accordingly, a solid understanding of classical logic is paramount. Natural deduction, as the name suggests, is a method of reasoning about an argument using natural intuition, and as a result, it appears quite frequently as a topic of study in introductory logic courses. Due to its relevance, natural deduction intelligent tutors and solvers are widespread on the internet and in the classroom to improve the pedagogical appeal of logic. In this thesis, we present and solve two questions. The first is a proposed research question wherein we evaluate the efficacy of publicly-available natural deduction tutors/solvers with the prospect of determining what inherently defines understandability and difficulty in natural deduction proofs. In the second question, we investigate the problem of unnecessary intermingling of logic syntaxes. With this, we propose a gold standard language for zeroth and first-order logic with the goal and hope of tutor/proof systems adapting to said language to ease the currently laborious task of system evaluation and comparison

Practitioner based inquiry: taking the case of homeopathy.

After twenty years of practising and teaching homeopathy, I am concerned that research into treatment by professional homeopaths has become stifled by evidence based medicine discourse. Homeopathy’s distinguishing features are obscured by erroneous assumptions that a homeopathic prescription is subject to the same biochemical pathways as pharmacological medication. Homeopaths are urged by external parties to ‘prove homeopathy works’ on biomedical terms. This reflexive inquiry is an attempt to redress the balance. From postmodern and pragmatic perspectives I reflexively engage with professional experiences (Smith, 2009) as a means of articulating practitioner based knowledge (Freshwater and Rolfe, 2001, Rolfe et al., 2001). The subjectivity of the practitioner researcher is transformed from a research problem into an opportunity to critically examine practitioner experience (Lees and Freshwater, 2008). The research process is a focus for the inquiry itself, with the intention of creating an open text that invites participation from the reader (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). I ‘take the case’ of my own practice and its wider context, and enact a synergy of homeopathic practice and research methodologies. The thesis is organised around the eight principles of homeopathy. Case vignettes and homeopathy’s visual iconography (Cherry, 2008) are used to integrate clinical experience into the thesis. Multiple analytical strategies evolved, including discourse analysis, action research, narrative analysis and writing as inquiry. These are not applied to pre-existing professional experiential data (Lees, 2005), but engaging with these strategies has shaped data creation and the inquiry itself. Use of multiple methods is not an attempt to triangulate, rather the dissonance between them is essential to achieving competing and multiple perspectives on professional experience. There is no intention to present a discrete set of findings. The inquiry is framed through the inquiry process, creating an innovative approach to practitioner based inquiry as a collage of reflexive, experiential interpretations and interactions with professional practice. I redefine evidence as being the inquiry process itself and the practitioner as integral to knowledge creation and application in practice. The open dialogic text invites practitioners to adapt this model of practitioner based research in their own practices. The self-critical iterative dialogue gives voice to the practitioner researcher in discourses that are congruent with homeopathic practice. I make original contributions to knowledge by examining homeopathic practice from different theoretical and experiential perspectives, including observations on the connections between homeopathy’s enduring popularity and how the patients’ own belief systems about health and illness are still influenced by the old humoural system of medicine

Schools of Liberty : The Ideological Background to John Milton's Tract "Of Education" (1644)

Milton was outspoken in defence of individual liberties, within certain social and religious limits. He believed that even fallen man still retained freedom of will and the power of reason. Sound schooling could produce virtuous social leaders through whom a nation could be regenerated and brought closer to God. Such an education should be by persuasion where possible, coercion where necessary. Milton's contemporaries, the Comenians aimed to make education universal, materially and morally useful, and free of traditional metaphysics and rhetoric. Their scheme tended to favour intellectual conformity. Whilst sharing their dislike of traditional university courses, Milton remained true to the elitist and literary humanist tradition, which he traced back to the Greek Academies. He hoped to teach a broad general knowledge, firm moral principles and the art of rhetoric

Issues, opportunities and concepts in the teaching of programming to novice programmers at the University of Lincoln : three approaches.

This thesis describes three small-scale, computer-based approaches developed and used by the author in her teaching of programming concepts to novice programmers, using Pascal as a first language, within a higher education context. The first approach was the development of a piece of tutorial CAL, the second was the development of an on-line help system and the third the development of a pattern language. For the first two, the author created the product. For the pattern language, she designed the template. These three approaches are described and the results obtained outlined. The work also looks at the kind of research methodologies and tools available to the author and present a rationale for her choices of method and tools. This work also briefly reviews some learning theories that could be used to underpin the design, use and evaluation of CAL. The thesis looks at a range of topics associated with the teaching of programming and the use of CAL. It looks at issues around the psychology and human aspects of learning to program, such as confirmatory bias and vision. It looks at other research efforts aimed at developing software to support inexperienced programmers, including new programming languages specifically designed to teach programming concepts and sophisticated programming support environments. The work briefly reviews various types of CAL and their uses. It also examines some key projects in CAL development from the 1960s onwards, with particular emphasis on UK projects from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. It looks at what conclusions can be drawn from examining some of the many CAL projects in the past. Finally, the work reviews the various strands of the author's research efforts and presents a brief overview and some initial suggestions for the teaching of programming to novice programmers

Introduction to the Content and Context of the Ratio Studiorum: Notes, Quotes and Commentaries on the Jesuit Educational Ideal

Explanatory Notes: The topic I chose for my project was Jesuit Education in Colonial Brazil as outlined in the Ratio Studiorum of 1599. The Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis lesu {Method and System of the Studies of the Society of Jesus) defined the organization, operation and teaching methodology of Jesuit secondary and higher education institutions during the greater part of the colonial period, which extended from April 1500 when the first Portuguese explorers set foot on the Brazilian shore to July 1822 when Brazil declared its independence from Portugal. The Jesuitic Period encompassed the years between 1549 when the Brazilian Province of the Society of Jesus was established to 1757 when the Order was expelled from Brazil and its colleges closed by edict of the Portuguese Crown. During this period, the Society\u27s colleges dominated the educational landscape. The Ratio Studiorum was a document of broad intent and universal application. Its rules applied to all Jesuit institutions in European countries and their colonies. The expectation of the Society was that its teaching members would faithfully follow the rules prescribed by the document and carry on instruction by its established methods. Farrell (1970) notes that the Ratio was in good part a manual for teachers, who were expected to follow carefully the rules of their respective classes (p. 132). The expectation of fidelity to the Ratio also applied to Brazilian Jesuits. This obligation suggests that its pedagogical guidelines were implemented in Brazil. The goal of the project was to organize and present information about the content and context of the Ratio Studiorum. The content consists of the origin, policies and procedures of the curricula and pedagogy of the tiered Jesuit educational system as expounded in the Ratio. The context refers to authors, publications and intellectual traditions that directly or indirectly influenced the Jesuit Ideal of Education. Given the vast amount of information and diversity of opinions about the history of the Society of Jesus and its educational activities, this compendium is offered as a modest introduction to the Ratio Studiorum. A relatively small number of items of information (i.e. entries) are presented in this work. While more material could have been included, I selected information that was useful in pursuing my research interests and in satisfying my curiosity

24th International Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases

In the last three decades information modelling and knowledge bases have become essentially important subjects not only in academic communities related to information systems and computer science but also in the business area where information technology is applied. The series of European – Japanese Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases (EJC) originally started as a co-operation initiative between Japan and Finland in 1982. The practical operations were then organised by professor Ohsuga in Japan and professors Hannu Kangassalo and Hannu Jaakkola in Finland (Nordic countries). Geographical scope has expanded to cover Europe and also other countries. Workshop characteristic - discussion, enough time for presentations and limited number of participants (50) / papers (30) - is typical for the conference. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: 1. Conceptual modelling: Modelling and specification languages; Domain-specific conceptual modelling; Concepts, concept theories and ontologies; Conceptual modelling of large and heterogeneous systems; Conceptual modelling of spatial, temporal and biological data; Methods for developing, validating and communicating conceptual models. 2. Knowledge and information modelling and discovery: Knowledge discovery, knowledge representation and knowledge management; Advanced data mining and analysis methods; Conceptions of knowledge and information; Modelling information requirements; Intelligent information systems; Information recognition and information modelling. 3. Linguistic modelling: Models of HCI; Information delivery to users; Intelligent informal querying; Linguistic foundation of information and knowledge; Fuzzy linguistic models; Philosophical and linguistic foundations of conceptual models. 4. Cross-cultural communication and social computing: Cross-cultural support systems; Integration, evolution and migration of systems; Collaborative societies; Multicultural web-based software systems; Intercultural collaboration and support systems; Social computing, behavioral modeling and prediction. 5. Environmental modelling and engineering: Environmental information systems (architecture); Spatial, temporal and observational information systems; Large-scale environmental systems; Collaborative knowledge base systems; Agent concepts and conceptualisation; Hazard prediction, prevention and steering systems. 6. Multimedia data modelling and systems: Modelling multimedia information and knowledge; Contentbased multimedia data management; Content-based multimedia retrieval; Privacy and context enhancing technologies; Semantics and pragmatics of multimedia data; Metadata for multimedia information systems. Overall we received 56 submissions. After careful evaluation, 16 papers have been selected as long paper, 17 papers as short papers, 5 papers as position papers, and 3 papers for presentation of perspective challenges. We thank all colleagues for their support of this issue of the EJC conference, especially the program committee, the organising committee, and the programme coordination team. The long and the short papers presented in the conference are revised after the conference and published in the Series of “Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence” by IOS Press (Amsterdam). The books “Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases” are edited by the Editing Committee of the conference. We believe that the conference will be productive and fruitful in the advance of research and application of information modelling and knowledge bases. Bernhard Thalheim Hannu Jaakkola Yasushi Kiyok