Observational Studies of the Learning Behaviour of Distance Education Students using an Asynchronous, Remote, Recording and Replay Tool

This thesis gives details of a series of studies that were designed to investigate how distance education students use courseware in their learning and how time, comfort and learning styles, should be taken into account when designing distance education courses. The online behaviour of groups of distance education students, who volunteered to take part, were observed using an asynchronous, remote recording and replay tool (AESOP) as they completed online practical exercises as part of the Open University course M206 Computing: An Object Oriented Approach. Web based questionnaires were used to determine data not obtainable from the recording software, including students’ levels of comfort with computing tasks and learning styles as measured by two well known questionnaires and another developed for the study. The profile of the times at which students study suggests the times at which they study are constrained by their personal circumstances. Time of day was not found to be a factor that affected academic performance or online behaviour. Students’ self expressed levels of comfort with computing tasks were found to be significantly related to academic performance. Significant relationships were also noted between students’ levels of preferences for the Activist and Dependent learning styles and academic performance. The Theorist, Collaborative and Visual styles were also found to be significantly related to the time students took to complete online practical work. A series of fine grained analyses looking at students' workspace arrangement, use of the notes page and sequence in which they used the course material, all raise further issues pertinent to the research and improvement in computer based instructional materials and distance education

Improving User Involvement Through Live Collaborative Creation

Creating an artifact - such as writing a book, developing software, or performing a piece of music - is often limited to those with domain-specific experience or training. As a consequence, effectively involving non-expert end users in such creative processes is challenging. This work explores how computational systems can facilitate collaboration, communication, and participation in the context of involving users in the process of creating artifacts while mitigating the challenges inherent to such processes. In particular, the interactive systems presented in this work support live collaborative creation, in which artifact users collaboratively participate in the artifact creation process with creators in real time. In the systems that I have created, I explored liveness, the extent to which the process of creating artifacts and the state of the artifacts are immediately and continuously perceptible, for applications such as programming, writing, music performance, and UI design. Liveness helps preserve natural expressivity, supports real-time communication, and facilitates participation in the creative process. Live collaboration is beneficial for users and creators alike: making the process of creation visible encourages users to engage in the process and better understand the final artifact. Additionally, creators can receive immediate feedback in a continuous, closed loop with users. Through these interactive systems, non-expert participants help create such artifacts as GUI prototypes, software, and musical performances. This dissertation explores three topics: (1) the challenges inherent to collaborative creation in live settings, and computational tools that address them; (2) methods for reducing the barriers of entry to live collaboration; and (3) approaches to preserving liveness in the creative process, affording creators more expressivity in making artifacts and affording users access to information traditionally only available in real-time processes. In this work, I showed that enabling collaborative, expressive, and live interactions in computational systems allow the broader population to take part in various creative practices.PHDComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145810/1/snaglee_1.pd

The VPS ReplaySuite: development and evaluation of a novel, Internet based telepathology tool

The ReplaySuite is a web-based telepathology tool that replicates the doubleheaded microscope environment online, enabling a reviewing pathologist to ‘replay’ an archived virtual slide examination. Examination-tracking data obtained by the Virtual Pathology Slide (VPS) virtual slide viewer is exploited, allowing a remote pathologist to review an examination conducted at a different time and location. This removes temporal and spatial issues associated with double-headed microscopy. In order to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the technology, 9 pathologists used the ReplaySuite to review examination replays and diagnostic data from archived examinations of 10 needlecore breast biopsies. Diagnostically difficult cases were most frequently evaluated, either via diagnostic concordance graphs or examination replays, and all 3 participants who replayed more than 10 examinations stated the ReplaySuite to be of some or great benefit in pathology training and quality assurance. Of those who replayed an examination by another pathologist, 83% (5/6) agreed that replays provided an insight into the examining pathologists diagnosis, and 33% (2/6) reconsidered their own diagnosis for at least one case. Of those who reconsidered their original diagnosis, all reclassified either concordant with group consensus or original glass slide diagnosis. This study demonstrated that the ReplaySuite was of potential benefit in pathology education, however the technology required evaluation in a setting that would facilitate its impact on diagnostic performance. Accordingly, a redeveloped VPS and ReplaySuite were incorporated into the EQUALIS External Quality Assurance (EQA) study in chronic hepatitis staging and grading. During the study, 9 Swedish pathology departments examined and scored digital representations of liver needlecore biopsies during two sessions, with 10 cases per session and two digital slides per case. Between scoring sessions, participants were provided with access to two supplementary electronic resources: the ReplaySuite, and a library of pre-selected reference images. Comparison of concordance with gold standard (KVAST group) scoring before and after electronic resource use facilitated the elucidation of impact on diagnostic performance. Between scoring sessions, participant concordance with KVAST staging increased by 18% (49%-67%), while concordance with KVAST grading increased by 20% (34%-54%). Mean staging un-weighted kappa improved from 0.347 to 0.554 (+0.207), or from ‘fair’ to ‘moderate’ exact agreement with KVAST staging. Linear weighted staging kappa improved from 0.603 to 0.688 (+0.085), indicating close agreement in both sessions. Mean grading unweighted kappa increased from 0.132 to 0.412 (+0.280), or from a ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ level o f exact agreement with KVAST, while linear weighted kappa improved from 0.328 to 0.624 (+0.295), or from ‘fair’ to ‘good’ level of approximate agreement with KVAST. Subsequent to the EQA scheme, an expert liver pathologist used the ReplaySuite to evaluate study examinations, assessing examination technique and identifying sources of error. Examinations scoring concordant with KVAST were observed to exhibit acceptable examination technique more frequently than discordantly scoring examinations. When grading, 28% (46% - 18%) more concordant than discordant examinations were considered to have viewed sufficient tissue, and at the appropriate magnification. A similar disparity of 24% (59% - 35%) was observed in staging, suggesting that examination technique was important both when determining the degree of necroinflammation within a biopsy, and when ascertaining the extent of fibrosis. In assessing sources of error, the expert pathologist identified a potential source in 50% of grading examinations, with misinterpretation of observed pathology cited in 19%, and missed pathology (oversight) cited in 31% of grading examinations. Of the 41% of staging examinations in which a source was identified, misinterpretation of observed pathology was cited in 20% of examinations, and missed pathology (oversight) in 21% of examinations. This study demonstrated that the use of supplementary electronic resources could result in improvements in diagnostic performance. It also illustrated the significant ‘add on’ value that could be provided by the ReplaySuite in EQA, by providing means to assess not only diagnostic concordance, but also diagnostic technique and identify sources of error. In order to assess Irish trainee pathologist’s perceptions of computer-assisted learning (CAL), a number of commercial systems were utilised to incorporate digital slides into a postgraduate seminar series, and provide subsequent access to seminar digital slides, diagnoses and expert annotations online. All surveyed trainees considered the use of digital slides and expert annotations of benefit in pathology training, and considered the potential implementation of expert examination replays, online self-assessment and the capability to search online for material by organ, diagnosis or pathological feature of benefit. The work described herein illustrates that both expert and trainee pathologists alike consider the use of supplementary electronic resources of benefit in pathology education, and demonstrates that their use can improve diagnostic performance. The ability to evaluate participation in EQA studies via the ReplaySuite provides significant additional value to education schemes, providing a depth of assessment not possible with conventional microscopy

Video-Based Interventions: Teaching Adults and Preschoolers

Long gone are the days in which technology is looked upon as a trivial novelty. Whether evoking positive or negative reactions, advancements in technology continue to alter our daily environments. One such example is Video Based Interventions (VBI). VBI utilize video recording to facilitate the acquisition of various skills and behaviors (Rayner, Denholm, & Sigafoos, 2009). While it may sound like a simple intervention at first, many procedural variations of have been examined in research and practice. The two experiments comprising the current study examined the effectiveness of video models when used in conjunction with other instructional methods. Experiment I examined the effectiveness of video prompting when paired with backward chaining. This treatment package was used to promote functional skill acquisition in preschool and kindergarten age children. Experiment II then used video modeling combined with performance feedback to teach the aforementioned video prompting treatment package to novel adults. During this experiment, the adults’ performance was assessed via treatment adherence when working with typically developing children. All child participants acquired and maintained their target skills through the use of the video-based treatment package. Adult participants were also able to maintain sufficient levels of treatment adherence upon completion of the adult video training. Social validity data indicated that both interventions were acceptable and practical methods of skill acquisition. This study’s findings support previous research regarding the effectiveness of video-based treatment packages when training children and treatment agents (Bellini & Akullian, 2007; Giannakakos et al., 2016; McCulloch & Noonan, 2013; Mechling, 2005; Moore & Fisher, 2007; Keenan, Keenan et al., 2007; Reeve et al., 2007)

Mixed reality architecture

This thesis develops and investigates Mixed Reality Architectures (MRA), dynamic shared architectural topologies, which span physical and virtual spaces. A theoretical framework is developed to describe the field of possible architectures. As the result of a first pilot study, this is then extended with the concept of the Mixed Reality Architectural Cell (MRACell). MRACells consist of one physical and one virtual space, linked by a two-way video and audio connection. The video of a real physical space is rendered on an MRACell, which can move within the virtual environment. A projector and screen in the real space renders an image of the virtual environment from the point of view of that MRACell. Inhabitants can move their MRACell in relation to all others within the shared virtual environment, allowing ad hoc as well as planned remote social interaction. In this sense MRACells can be described as novel architectural interfaces extending real physical space, via a shared virtual environment to link to other real spaces. An in-depth study lasting one year and involving six office-based MRACells, used video recordings, the analysis of event logs, diaries and an interview survey. This produced a series of ethnographic vignettes describing social interaction within MRA in detail. The study found that the MRA was effective at supporting remote social interaction between users. Usage patterns appeared to be motivated by awareness and communication or conversely privacy requirements. This usage maintained and strengthened social ties. Social interaction was both visible to others and part of the everyday activities at the respective office spaces. It resulted from the virtual adjacencies introduced by MRA that allowed the ‘spatial’ integration of remote locations. However, the virtual spatial framework making this possible, introduced new topological limitations on the number of concurrent connections that were available. Overall, it was found that the dynamic architectural topology directly affected social interaction, while social interaction itself re-shaped the topology. These findings are of direct relevance to current developments, which aim to use communications media to overcome the spatial dispersion of work groups in modern organizations. Finally, the differences in use that were observed between groups of inhabitants suggest that spatial cognition in Mixed Reality is affected both by the interface technology and by the social practices surrounding it. In response, it is suggested that in order to investigate the new generation of mixed physical and virtual technologies, cognitive science should take into account their affordances as ‘virtual extensions’ to both our bodies and to our environment

On-Demand Collaboration in Programming

In programming, on-demand assistance occurs when developers seek support for their tasks as needed. Traditionally, this collaboration happens within teams and organizations in which people are familiar with the context of requests and tasks. More recently, this type of collaboration has become ubiquitous outside of teams and organizations, due to the success of paid online crowdsourcing marketplaces (e.g., Upwork) and free online question-answering websites (e.g., Stack Overflow). Thousands of requests are posted on these platforms on a daily basis, and many of them are not addressed in a timely manner for a variety of reasons, including requests that often lack sufficient context and access to relevant artifacts. In consequence, on-demand collaboration often results in suboptimal productivity and unsatisfactory user experiences. This dissertation includes three main parts: First, I explored the challenges developers face when requesting help from or providing assistance to others on demand. I have found seven common types of requests (e.g., seeking code examples) that developers use in various projects when an on-demand agent is available. Compared to studying existing supporting systems, I suggest eight key system features to enable more effective on-demand remote assistance for developers. Second, driven by these findings, I designed and developed two systems: 1) CodeOn, a system that enables more effective task hand-offs (e.g., rich context capturing) between end-user developers and remote helpers than exciting synchronous support systems by allowing asynchronous responses to on-demand requests; and 2) CoCapture, a system that enables interface designers to easily create and then accurately describe UI behavior mockups, including changes they want to propose or questions they want to ask about an aspect of the existing UI. Third, beyond software development assistance, I also studied intelligent assistance for embedded system development (e.g., Arduino) and revealed six challenges (e.g., communication setup remains tedious) that developers have during on-demand collaboration. Through an imaginary study, I propose four design implications to help develop future support systems with embedded system development. This thesis envisions a future in which developers in all kinds of domains can effortlessly make context-rich, on-demand requests at any stage of their development processes, and qualified agents (machine or human) can quickly be notified and orchestrate their efforts to promptly respond to the requests.PHDInformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166144/1/yanchenm_1.pd

Tangible user interfaces : past, present and future directions

In the last two decades, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) have emerged as a new interface type that interlinks the digital and physical worlds. Drawing upon users' knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show a potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information. However, TUI research is still in its infancy and extensive research is required in or- der to fully understand the implications of tangible user interfaces, to develop technologies that further bridge the digital and the physical, and to guide TUI design with empirical knowledge. This paper examines the existing body of work on Tangible User In- terfaces. We start by sketching the history of tangible user interfaces, examining the intellectual origins of this field. We then present TUIs in a broader context, survey application domains, and review frame- works and taxonomies. We also discuss conceptual foundations of TUIs including perspectives from cognitive sciences, phycology, and philoso- phy. Methods and technologies for designing, building, and evaluating TUIs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limita- tions of TUIs and chart directions for future research

Optogenetic Interrogation of Hippocampal Circuit Stabilization

Understanding the response of excitatory and inhibitory populations to varying input is vital to understanding how a brain region transforms information. Optogenetics - the combined use of optics and genetics to control the activity of proteins, provides neuroscientists with a tool to interrogate neuronal circuits with high spatio-temporal resolution and targeted cell specificity. This thesis examines the effects of optogenetic manipulations on hippocampal circuit responses. The hippocampus is a structure required for the formation and retention of episodic memories and is comprised of anatomically distinct subregions including cornu ammonis 3 (CA3) and cornu ammonis 1 (CA1). Both regions, despite differences in local circuitry, contain excitatory cells that fire in a spatially selective manner as an animal explores an environment. Based on these differences in circuitry, studies have proposed different computational roles of each region. In order to gain insight into how distinct hippocampal networks respond to light-induced external drive we measured the responses of neurons in CA1 and CA3 to optogenetic perturbation. To date, no work has explored the differences in CA3 and CA1 network responses to acute optogenetic manipulation of the circuits. This thesis uses a combined approach of optogenetic perturbation with simultaneous high-density electrophysiological recordings to answer two fundamental questions related to the computational roles of region CA3 and CA1. The first question asks, what role does region CA3 play in shaping spiking activity in downstream CA1? To address this question, electrophysiological recordings of CA1 were combined with optogenetic silencing of CA3 using the light-driven proton pump ArchT in both freely moving and urethane-anesthetized rodents. Since the major projection from CA3 to CA1 is excitatory, our initial hypothesis predicted an overall decrease in CA1 activity due to the expected decrease in excitatory drive from CA3. Surprisingly, suppression of CA3 resulted in a robust and consistent increase in interneuron firing in CA1 (awake: 68\% increase, 10\% decrease, 22\% no response n = 87, anesthetized: 59\% increase, 26\% decrease, 15\% no response, n = 96). The second question asks, how do excitatory and inhibitory populations in CA3 and CA1 differentially respond to incoming signals? To address this question, integrated opto-electrode devices were used to simultaneously manipulate and measure the responses of CA3 and CA1 circuits to perturbations. We found that focal suppression of CA3 driven by both ArchT and the light-driven chloride channel stGtACR2 resulted in a paradoxical increase in firing of both inhibitory and excitatory cell at all distances from the site of photoinhibition. In contrast, CA1 cells responded to focal photoinhibition by showing nearly 100\% decrease in cell response at the site of illumination. Paradoxical increases in firing in response to external inhibitory input to interneurons can be a feature of networks with highly-recurrent excitatory connections that are unstable in the absence of inhibition (ISNs: inhibitory-stabilized networks. Broad (600 $\mu$m diameter) photoinhibition was applied and network responses were measured over a range of laser intensities to test whether differences in responses between CA3 and CA1 can be attributed to CA3 operating in an ISN-regime. Paradoxical increases in pyramidal cell or interneuron firing were not observed when inhibitory opsins were expressed in both pyramidal cells and interneurons. When external input was restricted to interneurons, CA1, and to a smaller extent, CA3 showed increased firing in response to varying intensities of photoinhibition, suggesting both CA1 and CA3 operate as ISNs. Taken together, these results indicate that perturbations of neuronal activity can produce paradoxical effects that affect both local and connected regions. The emerging patterns depend on the detailed interactions between excitatory and inhibitory subpopulations within a region, and can be broadly explained by network models of global stabilization through inhibition. Our results further highlight the need for simultaneous monitoring of cellular responses when using optogenetics or other manipulations that alter neuronal activities

Replay of memories of extended behavior in the rat hippocampus

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 2009.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.The hippocampus is a highly conserved structure in the medial temporal lobe of the brain that is known to be critical for spatial learning in rodents, and spatial and episodic memory in humans. During pauses in exploration, ensembles of place cells in the rat hippocampus re-express firing sequences corresponding to recent spatial experience. Such 'replay' co-occurs with ripple events: short-lasting (~50-120 ms), high frequency (-200 Hz) oscillations that are associated with increased hippocampal-cortical communication. In previous studies, rats explored small environments, and replay was found to be anchored to the rat's current location, and compressed in time such that replay of the complete environment occurred during a single ripple event. In this thesis, we develop a probabilistic neural decoding approach that allows us to show that firing sequences corresponding to long runs through a large environment are replayed with high fidelity (in both forward and reverse order). We show that such replay can begin at remote locations on the track, and proceeds at a characteristic virtual speed of -8 m/s. Replay remains coherent across trains of sharp wave-ripple events. These results suggest that extended replay is composed of chains of shorter subsequences, which may reflect a strategy for the storage and flexible expression of memories of prolonged experience. We discuss the evidence for the operation of similar mechanisms in humans.by Thomas James Davidson.Ph.D