A Guided Chatbot Learning Experience in the Science Classroom

This dissertation describes a practitioner’s design-based development of a prototype chatbot to guide students in learning biological concepts of genetic mutations and protein synthesis. This chatbot’s architecture provides learning activities, feedback, and support throughout a series of short, connected lessons. The chatbot is designed to scaffold learners through a predict, observe, explain model of inquiry learning. It utilizes real-world phenomena to lead students through biology core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Results of prototype testing include survey results in support of the proof of concept among both students and teachers, as well as accuracy measurements of chatbot intents. Descriptive statistics and suggestions were collected from both groups to evaluate the relevancy, consistency, practicality, and effectiveness of the project as well as speak to improvements for future projects. The designer finds that the construction of chatbots as guided learning experiences holds untapped potential in science educational technology. Advisor: Guy Traini

The Development of Information Assurance and Cyber Security Competencies

Information assurance and cybersecurity has become a critical element in the daily lives of almost every individual and organization across the globe. To be able to protect Personal Identity Information (PII), Intellectual Property (IP) and organizational trademarks requires producing more cybersecurity practitioners. The problem being addressed by this study is the identification of comprehensive competency levels for information assurance and cybersecurity practitioners is unknown. This research created definitions for three levels of cybersecurity practitioners that can be utilized by government, industry and academia individuals and organizations. 14 core competencies for cybersecurity practitioners were identified and defined. The Qualtrics survey was distributed through email by sending a link to survey participants. To obtain the opinions of the government the survey was distributed to the United States Army Information Technology and Security community and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Technology. To gain insight from the academia community the survey was distributed to the Purdue community and affiliates of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) and the Department of Computer and Information Technology. For input from the industry the following Information Assurance and Security departments of the following companies received the survey: Lockheed Martin Cybersecurity, Cook Medical, RSA Security, LLC., Dell, Cisco, SAP Software Solutions, and Business Applications and Technology. The data was analyzed using SPSS a statistical software package available to Purdue faculty, staff, and students. Overall there were 61 government participants, 27 industry participants, and 13 academia participants. The one-way ANOVA test for all the government, industry and academia practitioners yielded many significant findings. Some of the most important competencies that spanned across all affiliations and levels were Access Control and Incident Management and Response. This research aimed to identify a broad list of competencies that could be used to design training, curriculum, and certification courses for cybersecurity practitioners

Technology, Science, and Culture: A Global Vision

The aim of the Workshop: Technology, Science, and Culture - A Global Vision is to create a discussion forum on research related to the fields of Water Science, Food Science, Intelligent Systems, Molecular Biomedicine, and Creation and Theories of Culture. The workshop is intended to discuss research on current problems, relevant methodologies, and future research streams and to create an environment for the exchange of ideas and collaboration among participants

Investigation and development of a tangible technology framework for highly complex and abstract concepts

The ubiquitous integration of computer-supported learning tools within the educational domain has led educators to continuously seek effective technological platforms for teaching and learning. Overcoming the inherent limitations of traditional educational approaches, interactive and tangible computing platforms have consequently garnered increased interest in the pursuit of embedding active learning pedagogies within curricula. However, whilst Tangible User Interface (TUI) systems have been successfully developed to edutain children in various research contexts, TUI architectures have seen limited deployment towards more advanced educational pursuits. Thus, in contrast to current domain research, this study investigates the effectiveness and suitability of adopting TUI systems for enhancing the learning experience of abstract and complex computational science and technology-based concepts within higher educational institutions (HEI)s. Based on the proposal of a contextually apt TUI architecture, the research describes the design and development of eight distinct TUI frameworks embodying innovate interactive paradigms through tabletop peripherals, graphical design factors, and active tangible manipulatives. These computationally coupled design elements are evaluated through summative and formative experimental methodologies for their ability to aid in the effective teaching and learning of diverse threshold concepts experienced in computational science. In addition, through the design and adoption of a technology acceptance model for educational technology (TAM4Edu), the suitability of TUI frameworks in HEI education is empirically evaluated across a myriad of determinants for modelling students’ behavioural intention. In light of the statistically significant results obtained in both academic knowledge gain (μ = 25.8%) and student satisfaction (μ = 12.7%), the study outlines the affordances provided through TUI design for various constituents of active learning theories and modalities. Thus, based on an empirical and pedagogical analyses, a set of design guidelines is defined within this research to direct the effective development of TUI design elements for teaching and learning abstract threshold concepts in HEI adaptations

NP3 – New Purposes, New Practices, New Pedagogy: Meta-analysis report

This is the main report of the findings of the NP3 project, which looked at children's use of ICT outside school and the extent to which this influenced pedagogy inside primary schools

Programming tools for intelligent systems

Les outils de programmation sont des programmes informatiques qui aident les humains à programmer des ordinateurs. Les outils sont de toutes formes et tailles, par exemple les éditeurs, les compilateurs, les débogueurs et les profileurs. Chacun de ces outils facilite une tâche principale dans le flux de travail de programmation qui consomme des ressources cognitives lorsqu’il est effectué manuellement. Dans cette thèse, nous explorons plusieurs outils qui facilitent le processus de construction de systèmes intelligents et qui réduisent l’effort cognitif requis pour concevoir, développer, tester et déployer des systèmes logiciels intelligents. Tout d’abord, nous introduisons un environnement de développement intégré (EDI) pour la programmation d’applications Robot Operating System (ROS), appelé Hatchery (Chapter 2). Deuxièmement, nous décrivons Kotlin∇, un système de langage et de type pour la programmation différenciable, un paradigme émergent dans l’apprentissage automatique (Chapter 3). Troisièmement, nous proposons un nouvel algorithme pour tester automatiquement les programmes différenciables, en nous inspirant des techniques de tests contradictoires et métamorphiques (Chapter 4), et démontrons son efficacité empirique dans le cadre de la régression. Quatrièmement, nous explorons une infrastructure de conteneurs basée sur Docker, qui permet un déploiement reproductible des applications ROS sur la plateforme Duckietown (Chapter 5). Enfin, nous réfléchissons à l’état actuel des outils de programmation pour ces applications et spéculons à quoi pourrait ressembler la programmation de systèmes intelligents à l’avenir (Chapter 6).Programming tools are computer programs which help humans program computers. Tools come in all shapes and forms, from editors and compilers to debuggers and profilers. Each of these tools facilitates a core task in the programming workflow which consumes cognitive resources when performed manually. In this thesis, we explore several tools that facilitate the process of building intelligent systems, and which reduce the cognitive effort required to design, develop, test and deploy intelligent software systems. First, we introduce an integrated development environment (IDE) for programming Robot Operating System (ROS) applications, called Hatchery (Chapter 2). Second, we describe Kotlin∇, a language and type system for differentiable programming, an emerging paradigm in machine learning (Chapter 3). Third, we propose a new algorithm for automatically testing differentiable programs, drawing inspiration from techniques in adversarial and metamorphic testing (Chapter 4), and demonstrate its empirical efficiency in the regression setting. Fourth, we explore a container infrastructure based on Docker, which enables reproducible deployment of ROS applications on the Duckietown platform (Chapter 5). Finally, we reflect on the current state of programming tools for these applications and speculate what intelligent systems programming might look like in the future (Chapter 6)

Information knowledge and technology for Development in Africa

Information, knowledge, and technology occupy significant space in the information and knowledge society and ongoing debates on development such as sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda 2030 and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Disruptive technologies and cyber-physical systems, obscuring the lines between the physical, digital and biological, escalated by the COVID-19 pandemic, present a ‘new normal’ that profoundly affects the nature and magnitude of responses required to sustain and benefit from the new developments. Africa, known for late adoption of new technologies and innovations, is leapfrogging development stages in several enviable ways. This book, Information knowledge and technology for development in Africa’, written by eminent African scholars, comprises chapters that satisfactorily address information access, artificial intelligence, information ethics, e-learning, library and information science education (LISE) in the 4IR, data literacy and e-scholarship, and knowledge management, which are increasingly essential for information access, services, and LISE in Africa. We expect the book to support research, teaching and learning in African higher education and worldwide for comparative scholarship

A Common Digital Twin Platform for Education, Training and Collaboration

The world is in transition driven by digitalization; industrial companies and educational institutions are adopting Industry 4.0 and Education 4.0 technologies enabled by digitalization. Furthermore, digitalization and the availability of smart devices and virtual environments have evolved to pro- duce a generation of digital natives. These digital natives whose smart devices have surrounded them since birth have developed a new way to process information; instead of reading literature and writing essays, the digital native generation uses search engines, discussion forums, and on- line video content to study and learn. The evolved learning process of the digital native generation challenges the educational and industrial sectors to create natural training, learning, and collaboration environments for digital natives. Digitalization provides the tools to overcome the aforementioned challenge; extended reality and digital twins enable high-level user interfaces that are natural for the digital natives and their interaction with physical devices. Simulated training and education environments enable a risk-free way of training safety aspects, programming, and controlling robots. To create a more realistic training environment, digital twins enable interfacing virtual and physical robots to train and learn on real devices utilizing the virtual environment. This thesis proposes a common digital twin platform for education, training, and collaboration. The proposed solution enables the teleoperation of physical robots from distant locations, enabling location and time-independent training and collaboration in robotics. In addition to teleoperation, the proposed platform supports social communication, video streaming, and resource sharing for efficient collaboration and education. The proposed solution enables research collaboration in robotics by allowing collaborators to utilize each other’s equipment independent of the distance between the physical locations. Sharing of resources saves time and travel costs. Social communication provides the possibility to exchange ideas and discuss research. The students and trainees can utilize the platform to learn new skills in robotic programming, controlling, and safety aspects. Cybersecurity is considered from the planning phase to the implementation phase. Only cybersecure methods, protocols, services, and components are used to implement the presented platform. Securing the low-level communication layer of the digital twins is essential to secure the safe teleoperation of the robots. Cybersecurity is the key enabler of the proposed platform, and after implementation, periodic vulnerability scans and updates enable maintaining cybersecurity. This thesis discusses solutions and methods for cyber securing an online digital twin platform. In conclusion, the thesis presents a common digital twin platform for education, training, and collaboration. The presented solution is cybersecure and accessible using mobile devices. The proposed platform, digital twin, and extended reality user interfaces contribute to the transitions to Education 4.0 and Industry 4.0