Going Remote: Actionable Insights from Indiana University’s Transition to Remote Instruction due to COVID-19

On March 10, 2020, Indiana University (IU) announced the suspension of in-person instruction due to COVID-19. At that time, the eLearning Research and Practice Lab, a laboratory within the Indiana University Pervasive Technology Institute, began preparing to conduct a full-census survey of all undergraduates and instructors across all IU campuses. The study’s purpose was to examine student and instructor experiences of the transition to remote instruction, and to identify actionable insights that may improve instruction during future semesters. This report was prepared and distributed internally at IU, in order to provide rapid evidence-based recommendations for instructional practice.This study was made possible by support from the IU Office of the Vice President for Research and from Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative co-founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt

Automatic Capture and Classification of Frog Calls

Global frog populations are threatened by an increasing number of environmental threats such as habitat loss, disease, and pollution. Traditionally, in-person acoustic surveys of frogs have measured population loss and conservation outcomes among these visually cryptic species. However, these methods rely heavily on trained individuals and time-consuming field work. We propose an end-to-end workflow for the automatic recording, presence-absence identification, and web page visualization of frog calls by their species. The workflow encompasses recording of frog calls via custom Raspberry Pis, data-pushing to Jetstream cloud computer, and species classification by three different machine learning models: Random Forest, Convolutional Neural Network, and Recursive Neural Network

NCGAS NSF Annual Report, September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020

NCGAS annual report for project year 9.National Science Foundation DBI-175990

Robot guided 'pen skill' training in children with motor difficulties

Motor deficits are linked to a range of negative physical, social and academic consequences. Haptic robotic interventions, based on the principles of sensorimotor learning, have been shown previously to help children with motor problems learn new movements. We therefore examined whether the training benefits of a robotic system would generalise to a standardised test of 'pen-skills', assessed using objective kinematic measures [via the Clinical Kinematic Assessment Tool, CKAT]. A counterbalanced, cross-over design was used in a group of 51 children (37 male, aged 5-11 years) with manual control difficulties. Improved performance on a novel task using the robotic device could be attributed to the intervention but there was no evidence of generalisation to any of the CKAT tasks. The robotic system appears to have the potential to support motor learning, with the technology affording numerous advantages. However, the training regime may need to target particular manual skills (e.g. letter formation) in order to obtain clinically significant improvements in specific skills such as handwriting.</p

Robot Guided ‘Pen Skill’ Training in Children with Motor Difficulties

Motor deficits are linked to a range of negative physical, social and academic consequences. Haptic robotic interventions, based on the principles of sensorimotor learning, have been shown previously to help children with motor problems learn new movements. We therefore examined whether the training benefits of a robotic system would generalise to a standardised test of ‘pen-skills’, assessed using objective kinematic measures [via the Clinical Kinematic Assessment Tool, CKAT]. A counterbalanced, cross-over design was used in a group of 51 children (37 male, aged 5-11 years) with manual control difficulties. Improved performance on a novel task using the robotic device could be attributed to the intervention but there was no evidence of generalisation to any of the CKAT tasks. The robotic system appears to have the potential to support motor learning, with the technology affording numerous advantages. However, the training regime may need to target particular manual skills (e.g. letter formation) in order to obtain clinically significant improvements in specific skills such as handwriting

Training compliance control yields improvements in drawing as a function of beery scores

Many children have difficulty producing movements well enough to improve in sensori-motor learning. Previously, we developed a training method that supports active movement generation to allow improvement at a 3D tracing task requiring good compliance control. Here, we tested 7–8 year old children from several 2nd grade classrooms to determine whether 3D tracing performance could be predicted using the Beery VMI. We also examined whether 3D tracing training lead to improvements in drawing. Baseline testing included Beery, a drawing task on a tablet computer, and 3D tracing. We found that baseline performance in 3D tracing and drawing co-varied with the visual perception (VP) component of the Beery. Differences in 3D tracing between children scoring low versus high on the Beery VP replicated differences previously found between children with and without motor impairments, as did post-training performance that eliminated these differences. Drawing improved as a result of training in the 3D tracing task. The training method improved drawing and reduced differences predicted by Beery scores

Transfer of learning between unimanual and bimanual rhythmic movement coordination: transfer is a function of the task dynamic.

Under certain conditions, learning can transfer from a trained task to an untrained version of that same task. However, it is as yet unclear what those certain conditions are or why learning transfers when it does. Coordinated rhythmic movement is a valuable model system for investigating transfer because we have a model of the underlying task dynamic that includes perceptual coupling between the limbs being coordinated. The model predicts that (1) coordinated rhythmic movements, both bimanual and unimanual, are organised with respect to relative motion information for relative phase in the coupling function, (2) unimanual is less stable than bimanual coordination because the coupling is unidirectional rather than bidirectional, and (3) learning a new coordination is primarily about learning to perceive and use the relevant information which, with equal perceptual improvement due to training, yields equal transfer of learning from bimanual to unimanual coordination and vice versa [but, given prediction (2), the resulting performance is also conditioned by the intrinsic stability of each task]. In the present study, two groups were trained to produce 90° either unimanually or bimanually, respectively, and tested in respect to learning (namely improved performance in the trained 90° coordination task and improved visual discrimination of 90°) and transfer of learning (to the other, untrained 90° coordination task). Both groups improved in the task condition in which they were trained and in their ability to visually discriminate 90°, and this learning transferred to the untrained condition. When scaled by the relative intrinsic stability of each task, transfer levels were found to be equal. The results are discussed in the context of the perception–action approach to learning and performance

The 50s cliff: perceptuo-motor learning rates across the lifespan.

We recently found that older adults show reduced learning rates when learning a new pattern of coordinated rhythmic movement. The purpose of this study was to extend that finding by examining the performance of all ages across the lifespan from the 20 s through to the 80 s to determine how learning rates change with age. We tested whether adults could learn to produce a novel coordinated rhythmic movement (90° relative phase) in a visually guided unimanual task. We determined learning rates to quantify changes in learning with age and to determine at what ages the changes occur. We found, as before, that learning rates of participants in their 70 s and 80 s were half those of participants in their 20 s. We also found a gradual slow decline in learning rate with age until approximately age 50, when there was a sudden drop to a reduced learning rate for the 60 though 80 year olds. We discuss possible causes for the "50 s cliff" in perceptuo-motor learning rates and suggest that age related deficits in perception of complex motions may be the key to understanding this result

On the stability and flexibility of walking patterns in 4–6 year olds and adults

Learning to walk is a protracted process lasting well into childhood. Extensive research has studied how infants and children control their bodies when walking in unobstructed environments. However, little is known about how young children manage to navigate in cluttered environments like when obstacles are located in the walking path. In this experiment, we aimed to explore the levels of stability (consistency) and flexibility (adaptability) in the walking patterns of children and adults. To do so, we placed three distinct barriers (a foam obstacle, a gap, and a single step up) in the walking paths of 4- and 6-year olds and adults and observed their walking patterns before they crossed the obstacles. We found strong age-related increases in walking pattern stability and flexibility. Our results support the dynamic systems perspective and indicate that movement flexibility emerges based upon the interactions between the constraints of the individual performer and the task demands. Likewise, our results suggest that it takes many years for children to be able to seamlessly adapt their movement patterns to accommodate the demands associated with navigating through a cluttered environment

Jetstream Annual User Survey - 2020 Summary Report

Summary report of data from the 2020 Jetstream Annual User Survey