Expert system verification and validation study. ES V/V guidelines/workshop conference summary

The intent of the workshop was to start moving research on the verification and validation (V&V) of knowledge based systems (KBSs) in the direction of providing tangible 'products' that a KBS developer could use. In the near term research will focus on identifying the kinds of experiences encountered during KBS development of 'real' KBSs. These will be stored in a repository and will serve as the foundation for the rest of the activities described here. One specific approach to be pursued is 'benchmarking'. With this approach, a KBS developer can use either 'canned' KBSs with seeded errors or existing KBSs with known errors to evaluate a given tool's ability to satisfactorily identify errors

Expert system verification and validation study. Delivery 3A and 3B: Trip summaries

Key results are documented from attending the 4th workshop on verification, validation, and testing. The most interesting part of the workshop was when representatives from the U.S., Japan, and Europe presented surveys of VV&T within their respective regions. Another interesting part focused on current efforts to define industry standards for artificial intelligence and how that might affect approaches to VV&T of expert systems. The next part of the workshop focused on VV&T methods of applying mathematical techniques to verification of rule bases and techniques for capturing information relating to the process of developing software. The final part focused on software tools. A summary is also presented of the EPRI conference on 'Methodologies, Tools, and Standards for Cost Effective Reliable Software Verification and Validation. The conference was divided into discussion sessions on the following issues: development process, automated tools, software reliability, methods, standards, and cost/benefit considerations

Expert system verification and validation guidelines/workshop task. Deliverable no. 1: ES V/V guidelines

The goals are to show that verifying and validating a software system is a required part of software development and has a direct impact on the software's design and structure. Workshop tasks are given in the areas of statistics, integration/system test, unit and architectural testing, and a traffic controller problem

Significant Results . Space Makes a Difference Increasing Student Academic Engagement Levels

Our team consisting of researchers, designers and a statistician are working to establish statistically reliable and valid survey instruments for use in post building occupancy for schools housing students and educators in grades nine to twelve. Two indexes are being created, a Student Engagement Index© and a Teachers Engagement Index©. Our research question is, “Can we demonstrate that the design of the built environment for grades 9-12 impacts student academic engagement levels?” The sample for this survey was four high schools in the USA, in fall 2017. A time-honored Post- Occupancy methodology was used. Findings had strong indicators showing the buildings’ design makes a statistically significant difference regarding student academic engagement levels. Results were excellent on reliability and have convergent validity, with the exception of the last two questions. Statistical evidence from students and educators across all schools, grades, and genders that the buildings’ designs impact their academic engagement levels (p<.0001). When active learning is used students recognize the impact. Concluded that for educators, the overall “culture” of the school is a far more important factor for teacher engagement than the physical layout. Seen as a real effect, all respondents acknowledged that the physical environment impacted engagement in their teaching and learning practices (p<.0001), significant result indicating that space makes a difference and increases student academic engagement levels

Expert system verification and validation study: ES V/V Workshop

The primary purpose of this document is to build a foundation for applying principles of verification and validation (V&V) of expert systems. To achieve this, some V&V as applied to conventionally implemented software is required. Part one will discuss the background of V&V from the perspective of (1) what is V&V of software and (2) V&V's role in developing software. Part one will also overview some common analysis techniques that are applied when performing V&V of software. All of these materials will be presented based on the assumption that the reader has little or no background in V&V or in developing procedural software. The primary purpose of part two is to explain the major techniques that have been developed for V&V of expert systems

Reframing Impairment? Continuity and Change in Media Representations of Disability through the Paralympic Games

This study, which examines key features of contemporary media representations of disabled athletes in the context of the Paralympic Games, engages with established literature on representations of disability in order to critically interpret recent trends in journalistic inquiry. The analysis of media coverage of the 2012 and 2014 Paralympic Games identifies salient themes concerning the representation of disability. This, along with an investigation of documentary evidence concerning attempts by key stakeholders including the International Paralympic Committee to influence the nature of representation, contributes to an interrogation of the disability narrative emerging from the Paralympic Games and a consideration of the extent to which media coverage has shifted significantly from previous representations of disability

Expert system verification and validation study

Five workshops on verification and validation (V&V) of expert systems (ES) where taught during this recent period of performance. Two key activities, previously performed under this contract, supported these recent workshops (1) Survey of state-of-the-practice of V&V of ES and (2) Development of workshop material and first class. The first activity involved performing an extensive survey of ES developers in order to answer several questions regarding the state-of-the-practice in V&V of ES. These questions related to the amount and type of V&V done and the successfulness of this V&V. The next key activity involved developing an intensive hands-on workshop in V&V of ES. This activity involved surveying a large number of V&V techniques, conventional as well as ES specific ones. In addition to explaining the techniques, we showed how each technique could be applied on a sample problem. References were included in the workshop material, and cross referenced to techniques, so that students would know where to go to find additional information about each technique. In addition to teaching specific techniques, we included an extensive amount of material on V&V concepts and how to develop a V&V plan for an ES project. We felt this material was necessary so that developers would be prepared to develop an orderly and structured approach to V&V. That is, they would have a process that supported the use of the specific techniques. Finally, to provide hands-on experience, we developed a set of case study exercises. These exercises were to provide an opportunity for the students to apply all the material (concepts, techniques, and planning material) to a realistic problem

Expert system verification and validation study: Workshop and presentation material

Workshop and presentation material are included. Following an introduction, the basic concepts, techniques, and guidelines are discussed. Handouts and worksheets are included

An attitude survey of dentists, ophthalmologists, and general medical practitioners towards optometry in selected cities of western United States and Western Canada

An attitude survey of dentists, ophthalmologists, and general medical practitioners towards optometry in selected cities of western United States and Western Canad

Experiences in improving the state of the practice in verification and validation of knowledge-based systems

Knowledge-based systems (KBS's) are in general use in a wide variety of domains, both commercial and government. As reliance on these types of systems grows, the need to assess their quality and validity reaches critical importance. As with any software, the reliability of a KBS can be directly attributed to the application of disciplined programming and testing practices throughout the development life-cycle. However, there are some essential differences between conventional software and KBSs, both in construction and use. The identification of these differences affect the verification and validation (V&V) process and the development of techniques to handle them. The recognition of these differences is the basis of considerable on-going research in this field. For the past three years IBM (Federal Systems Company - Houston) and the Software Technology Branch (STB) of NASA/Johnson Space Center have been working to improve the 'state of the practice' in V&V of Knowledge-based systems. This work was motivated by the need to maintain NASA's ability to produce high quality software while taking advantage of new KBS technology. To date, the primary accomplishment has been the development and teaching of a four-day workshop on KBS V&V. With the hope of improving the impact of these workshops, we also worked directly with NASA KBS projects to employ concepts taught in the workshop. This paper describes two projects that were part of this effort. In addition to describing each project, this paper describes problems encountered and solutions proposed in each case, with particular emphasis on implications for transferring KBS V&V technology beyond the NASA domain