Intelligent Support for Exploration of Data Graphs

This research investigates how to support a user’s exploration through data graphs generated from semantic databases in a way leading to expanding the user’s domain knowledge. To be effective, approaches to facilitate exploration of data graphs should take into account the utility from a user’s point of view. Our work focuses on knowledge utility – how useful exploration paths through a data graph are for expanding the user’s knowledge. The main goal of this research is to design an intelligent support mechanism to direct the user to ‘good’ exploration paths through big data graphs for knowledge expansion. We propose a new exploration support mechanism underpinned by the subsumption theory for meaningful learning, which postulates that new knowledge is grasped by starting from familiar concepts in the graph which serve as knowledge anchors from where links to new knowledge are made. A core algorithmic component for adapting the subsumption theory for generating exploration paths is the automatic identification of Knowledge Anchors in a Data Graph (KADG). Several metrics for identifying KADG and the corresponding algorithms for implementation have been developed and evaluated against human cognitive structures. A subsumption algorithm which utilises KADG for generating exploration paths for knowledge expansion is presented and evaluated in the context of a semantic data browser in a musical instrument domain. The resultant exploration paths are evaluated in a controlled user study to examine whether they increase the users’ knowledge as compared to free exploration. The findings show that exploration paths using knowledge anchors and subsumption lead to significantly higher increase in the users’ conceptual knowledge. The approach can be adopted in applications providing data graph exploration to facilitate learning and sensemaking of layman users who are not fully familiar with the domain presented in the data graph

Adaptive and Reactive Rich Internet Applications

In this thesis we present the client-side approach of Adaptive and Reactive Rich Internet Applications as the main result of our research into how to bring in time adaptivity to Rich Internet Applications. Our approach leverages previous work on adaptive hypermedia, event processing and other research disciplines. We present a holistic framework covering the design-time as well as the runtime aspects of Adaptive and Reactive Rich Internet Applications focusing especially on the run-time aspects

Identification and evaluation of factors affecting use of knowledge-based systems in a manufacturing environment

A large amount of work has been carried out in the field of developing knowledge-based systems from initial analysis of the domain task, through formalisation and computerisation of knowledge to a completed knowledge-based system. However, issues relating to the use of such systems appear not to have been so clearly identified. It is essential to pay detailed attention to all of the human as well as technological issues which affect the practical use of such systems. The factors that influence the use of a knowledge-based system need to be identified to ensure that any systems developed will in fact be used by the intended end-users. In this thesis we propose a model for effective utilisation of knowledge-based systems. We will discuss how this model has been validated, then used as a basis for the identification of factors that affect system use. We will describe how we select and evaluate factors which we believe have a significant impact on the use of a system. We will present a set of initial findings based on experimental work we have performed as to the most significant factors. A set of conclusions are drawn on the approach we have adopted, the results we have obtained and the success of this work. We have identified a four phase model of system use, namely, acquisition, handover, operation and maintenance based on current literature. The model depicts the relationship between roles, functions and entities. By validation of the model, we have identified an initial set of 55 parameters that impact the effective use of a system. We have selected a subset of these parameters (those which we believe have significant impact and those which have less impact on the utilisation of knowledge-based systems) which we are able to control in order to evaluate a set of 17 hypotheses. The important parameters were: Role of system, Familiarity with system. Functionality, Robustness of system, Breadth of knowledge. Depth of knowledge, Method of displaying information (HCI), and Method of selecting options (HCI). The less important parameters were: Familiarity with domain tasks. User role. Fit with user requirement. Provision of system help. Provision of explanation. Response time. Security features. Error reporting, and Maintenance procedure. The experiments we performed allowed a systematic examination of the degree to which each parameter we selected impacts system use. From the data we obtained we identified a number of key parameters and the impact they have on effective use of a system. Specifically, from our experimental work we have identified the following factors as having the greatest degree of impact on system use: Role of system. Breadth of knowledge. Depth of knowledge. Provision of explanation. Provision of system help. Method of displaying information (HCI), Method of selecting options (HCI), Functionality, and Maintenance procedures. We also identified areas where additional work is required to further investigate the factors that impact on the effective use of knowledge-based systems

USING THE MUTUAL INFORMATION METRIC TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY AND UNDERSTANDABILITY IN BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOLS

The rapidly-growing organizational data resources introduce a growing difficulty to locate and understand the relevant data subsets within large datasets – what can be seen as a severe information quality issue in today\u27s decision-support environments. The study proposes a quantitative methodology, based on the mutual-information metric, for assessing the relative importance of different data subsets within a large dataset. Such assessments can grant the end-user with faster access to relevant subsets within a large dataset, the ability to better understandits contents, and gain deeper insights from analyzing it – e.g., when such a dataset is being used for Business Intelligence (BI) applications. This manuscript provides the background and the motivation for integrating the proposed assessments of relative importance. It then defines the calculations behind the mutualinformation metric, and demonstrates their applications using illustrative examples

The role of motivation in regulating the extent to which data visualisation literacy influences business intelligence and analytics use in organisations

Dissertation (MCom (Informatics))--University of Pretoria 2022.The ability to read and interpret visualised data is a critical skill to have in this information age where business intelligence and analytics (BI&A) systems are increasingly used to support decision-making. Data visualisation literacy is seen as the foundation of analytics. Moreover, there is great hype about data-driven analytical culture and data democratisation, where users are encouraged to have wide access to data and fully use BI&A to reap the benefits. Motivation is a stimulant to the richer use of any information system (IS), yet literature provides a limited understanding of the evaluation of data visualisation literacy and the effect of motivation in the BI&A context. Thus, this study aims to explain the role of motivation in regulating the extent to which data visualisation literacy influences BI&A’s exploitative and explorative use in organisations. Data visualisation literacy is measured using six data visualisations that focus on the five cognitive basic intelligent analytical tasks that assess the user's ability to read and interpret visualised data. Two types of motivations are assessed using perceived enjoyment as an intrinsic motivator and perceived usefulness as an extrinsic motivator. The model is tested using quantitative data collected from 111 users, applying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results indicate that intrinsic motivation exerts a positive effect on BI&A exploitative and explorative use while extrinsic motivation has a positive effect on BI&A exploitative use but weakens innovation with a negative effect on explorative use. The results further show an indirect relationship between data visualisation literacy with BI&A use through motivation. In addition, exploitation leads to creativity with exploitation positively being associated with exploration.InformaticsMCom (Informatics)Unrestricte

Army-NASA aircrew/aircraft integration program (A3I) software detailed design document, phase 3

The capabilities and design approach of the MIDAS (Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System) computer-aided engineering (CAE) workstation under development by the Army-NASA Aircrew/Aircraft Integration Program is detailed. This workstation uses graphic, symbolic, and numeric prototyping tools and human performance models as part of an integrated design/analysis environment for crewstation human engineering. Developed incrementally, the requirements and design for Phase 3 (Dec. 1987 to Jun. 1989) are described. Software tools/models developed or significantly modified during this phase included: an interactive 3-D graphic cockpit design editor; multiple-perspective graphic views to observe simulation scenarios; symbolic methods to model the mission decomposition, equipment functions, pilot tasking and loading, as well as control the simulation; a 3-D dynamic anthropometric model; an intermachine communications package; and a training assessment component. These components were successfully used during Phase 3 to demonstrate the complex interactions and human engineering findings involved with a proposed cockpit communications design change in a simulated AH-64A Apache helicopter/mission that maps to empirical data from a similar study and AH-1 Cobra flight test

Technologies to enhance self-directed learning from hypertext

With the growing popularity of the World Wide Web, materials presented to learners in the form of hypertext have become a major instructional resource. Despite the potential of hypertext to facilitate access to learning materials, self-directed learning from hypertext is often associated with many concerns. Self-directed learners, due to their different viewpoints, may follow different navigation paths, and thus they will have different interactions with knowledge. Therefore, learners can end up being disoriented or cognitively-overloaded due to the potential gap between what they need and what actually exists on the Web. In addition, while a lot of research has gone into supporting the task of finding web resources, less attention has been paid to the task of supporting the interpretation of Web pages. The inability to interpret the content of pages leads learners to interrupt their current browsing activities to seek help from other human resources or explanatory learning materials. Such activity can weaken learner engagement and lower their motivation to learn. This thesis aims to promote self-directed learning from hypertext resources by proposing solutions to the above problems. It first presents Knowledge Puzzle, a tool that proposes a constructivist approach to learn from the Web. Its main contribution to Web-based learning is that self-directed learners will be able to adapt the path of instruction and the structure of hypertext to their way of thinking, regardless of how the Web content is delivered. This can effectively reduce the gap between what they need and what exists on the Web. SWLinker is another system proposed in this thesis with the aim of supporting the interpretation of Web pages using ontology based semantic annotation. It is an extension to the Internet Explorer Web browser that automatically creates a semantic layer of explanatory information and instructional guidance over Web pages. It also aims to break the conventional view of Web browsing as an individual activity by leveraging the notion of ontology-based collaborative browsing. Both of the tools presented in this thesis were evaluated by students within the context of particular learning tasks. The results show that they effectively fulfilled the intended goals by facilitating learning from hypertext without introducing high overheads in terms of usability or browsing efforts