Internet-based support for creative collaboration

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Information Technology.This work shows that the sharing of non-deliberate communicative actions is important in creative collaboration and that such non-deliberate communications can be shared over the Internet Problem This work concerns computer support tor designers. Design work typically involves the solution of poorly-defined problems (Goel 1995; Lawson 1990), and it is often necessary during this process for designers to seek help from and to collaborate with others (Fischer 2000; Ancona and Caldwell 1990). Studies have revealed several patterns of collaboration in creative work (John-Steiner 2000; Candy and Edmonds 2002; Mamykina, Candy et al. 2002), the most successful of which typically involve collaborators working closely together rather than one person acting as an assistant to another. The selection of collaborators must go beyond assessing their expertise and must also include their level of enthusiasm, willingness or ability to become deeply involved with the problem. When we meet a person face to face, there are two sorts of information available to us in support of our formation of an impression of that person. People may make what Schutz (1967) describes as “expressive acts", deliberate actions intended to communicate some message or to give some impression. In addition, people make "expressive movements", which while informative to an observer, are unintentional and contribute to what Goffman might describe as the impression that the person "gives off" (Goffman 1959). There are many tools and processes that allow people to publish or display information about themselves for others to see and to send information to one another. That is, to make expressive acts. An area that has not been so thoroughly covered, either in research or in the design of tools, relates to the sharing of expressive movements. The problem that this work addresses is how computer-based tools might be used to support the formation of collaborative relationships. In particular, the concern is with the sharing of expressive movements over the Internet. Methods As part of the work described here, a number of studies have been carried out: • A user evaluation of an online scrapbook tool (WISA) described in (Weakley and Edmonds 2004) and with an extended discussion in (Weakley and Edmonds 2005) as well as in (Weakley and Edmonds 2004) • Three studies of creative collaborations. The first specifically related to requirements for tools to support collaboration (Costello, Weakley et al. 2004; Costello, Weakley et al. 2005). The others reported on experiences of using systems as they are being developed as communication tools while collaborating on a creative work (Turner, Neumark et al. 2004; Weakley, Johnston et al. 2005). • A survey of how people respond to expressive acts (in this case a person's curriculum vitae) compared with expressive movements (a photograph of the same person's bookshelf). • A series of repertory grid interviews investigating how people form impressions of others based on a photograph of their workspace (Weakley and Edmonds 2005). Key Results The studies showed that interpretation of expressive movements can lead to people forming new impressions about one another and that their exchange can support creative work. The survey confirmed that people gain different insight from expressive movements than they do from expressive acts. The interviews shed light on which of the artefacts that people surround themselves with contribute to which sorts of impression about them. A tool that goes beyond the exchange of deliberate expressive acts to include the exchange of expressive movements would be useful. The key aspects of such a tool are described

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis in two tertiary centres in the Western Cape, South Africa

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is defined as arthritis of unknown aetiology that begins before the 16th birthday and persists for at least 6 weeks, other conditions being excluded. As JIA is a disease with serious functional implications, a descriptive study would not be complete without reviewing both the functional and clinical parameters of the disease. There has been very little African data on this subject. The objective of this study is to describe the functional disability and clinical disease characteristics in a sample of children diagnosed with JIA in Cape Town, South Africa

The Nature of War: Implications for the Debate on America’s Strategy Against ISIL

While the character of any war is unique to its context, Prussian theorist Carl von Clausewitz gives us three observations about the enduring nature of war that apply to the war against ISIL and anticipate the conflict’s course. First, war cannot be considered separately from the political purpose which animates its combatants. Second, war is interactive and even the weakest of opponents has the opportunity to strike back. Third, we cannot count on war to give us a final result; instead, what we can count on is a new strategic challenge to confront in place of the former one. As the debate over America’s approach to war with ISIL continues, advocates on both sides would better serve the American public to consider these points before promising quick, decisive solutions that come without cost, trade-offs, or risk. To do otherwise would be a failure to see war with ISIL for what it is, “neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something alien to its nature.”

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Educating Novice Programmers

Programming is an inherently difficult skill to acquire and develop. Those who attempt to learn programming may be easily discouraged. The current landscape for computer science education does not address the needs of every novice programmer. Literature reports a discrepancy between student misconceptions and instructors’ perceptions of those misconceptions. Those who can afford a one-on-one human tutor perform on average two standard deviations better than those who learn via conventional methods, suggesting there is a need for a comparable, cheaper replacement. As a result, a number of intelligent tutoring systems have been developed for the purpose of teaching introductory programming concepts and replicating the benefits of one-on-one human tutoring. In this thesis, we analyze and discuss the literature pertaining to student misconceptions, selecting five fundamental misconception categories for introductory programming to demonstrate the effectiveness of existing intelligent tutoring systems. The features of existing intelligent tutoring systems are discussed and analyzed with respect to their effectiveness in addressing student misconceptions. Finally, we highlight the current gap in research on intelligent tutoring systems, hypothesizing the architecture and features of an ideal intelligent tutoring system for introductory programming.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

An aureomycin rose bengal agar for enumeration of yeast and mold in cottage cheese

An aureomycin rose Bengal agar for the enumeration of yeast and mold in cottage cheese was studied. When mold isolate, yeast isolate, and yeast and mold on cottage cheese counts were compared, preliminary results indicated two of seven levels of aureomycin and rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar gave comparable or higher counts than potato dextrose agar. The two levels of aureomycin and rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar were given more detailed study. The first level contained 20 parts per million aureomycin and 20 parts per million rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar. The results of mold isolate, yeast isolate, and yeast and mold on cottage cheese counts with this agar were compared to counts on potato dextrose agar. The second level contained 30 parts per million aureomycin and 10 parts per million rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar. The mold counts with this level were compared with mold counts on the other aureomycin rose bengal agar and potato dextrose agar. The growth of five bacterial organisms on the 20 parts per million aureomycin and 20 parts per million rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar was studied. The results of the study show no statistical significant difference for yeast isolate, mold isolate, and yeast and mold on cottage cheese counts between the 20 parts per million aureomycin and 20 parts per million rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar and potato dextrose agar. Also, there was no statistical significant difference between the two levels of aureomycin and rose bengal in peptone dextrose agar and potato dextrose agar for mold counts. Tests for bacterial growth indicate there was no bacterial growth on aureomycin rose bengal agar

The Influence of Janissary Music upon Selected Composition of Ludwig Van Beethoven

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Humanities Department of Music at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Music Education by Jerry Len Weakley January 23, 1969

Mississippi Killing Zone: An Eyewitness Account of the Events Surrounding the Murders by the Mississippi Highway Patrol at Jackson State University

Twenty years later, Vernon Steve Weakley, one of the students wounded at Jackson State, recounts the horror of the shootings