Ana Paula Ambrosio

The linguistic level: contribution for conceptual design, view integration, reuse and documentation

Abstract This article presents the linguistic level of KHEOPS, describing its structure and the information it contains. Even though natural language specification interfaces are a main aspect of the KHEOPS environment we limit our discussion to the paraphrasing, view integration, and schema reuse aspects, presenting their main characteristics and how they make use of the said level. In fact, the major problem in these procedures, is the need to understand the schema semantics. To help in this sense, the linguistic level of KHEOPS offers semantic relations, Fillmores semantic cases and Sowas conceptual graphs stored in semantic electronic dictionaries.

Evaluating the impact of PBL and tablet PCs in an algorithms and computer programming course

The introductory undergraduate course on Algorithms and Computer Programming, commonly known as CS1, has always presented a challenge when considering student failure and drop out rates. Despite this, it is acknowledged that this is a foundational course for a large part of the CS curriculum. In this paper we present the results of a project that combines the use of mobile, pen-based, computing technology and Problem-Based Learning in the redesign of an introductory computer programming course. The course redesign focused on the integrated use of tablet PCs to assist in the several activities involved in the use of the PBL method in the classroom. The results show a promising future for the methodology, also pointing to the need for some important adaptations in order to make its use more effective to teach and learn this particular discipline.

A Toolkit for Reuse in Conceptual Modelling

This paper proposes a toolkit for applying Reuse in Conceptual Modelling. The main objective is to cope with the problems of complexity in the Conceptual Modelling activity. In a long-term perspective this proposition intends to settle the basis for a larger application of Reuse in Information System development. While research in Software Reuse has revealed that the application of Reuse in software development is extremely difficult, Conceptual Modelling appears as a more promising area because it manipulates simpler objects: conceptual schemas.

Digital ink for cognitive assessment of computational thinking

Cognitive testing is concerned with quantitative and qualitative evaluation of an individuals intellectual functioning in its broad sense. Tests for evaluating cognitive components are based on submitting the subject to a given task and then assessing performance according to an established set of reference parameters. In order to analyze subjects behavior and test results, a software tool was developed based upon digital ink technology, which permits the digitalization of the assessment procedure, from the undertaking of the test to the production of the assessment results. By doing so, the test procedure is computerized and its data is saved in InkML format and processed to analyze tasks previously defined by the evaluator. We have used this tool to develop a Computational Thinking test defined within the Cattell-Horn-Carroll CHC framework of intelligence. Further investigating the relationship between fluid intelligence and computational thinking allows a better understanding of the main set of cognitive skills which need to be developed by students and professionals that aim to work in this domain. Moreover, it is suggested that assessments, independent of their context, may benefit from using the InkML tool, mainly due to the richer set of information that can be collected.

Use of Twitter and Semantic Resource Recovery in the Educational Context

The advance and popularization of the Internet have introduced significant changes to the traditional methods and styles of teaching, learning and studying. Through the use of computer-mediated communication tools, virtual learning environments and online social networks are increasingly present in everyday life, showing great potential in education. This paper presents a context-sensitive Moodle plugin which allows semantic recovery of tweets and resources from external repositories. The result of the information retrieval process is a list of resources ordered by degree of relevance to the query and to the users interest. Context definition is undertaken by identifying the Moodle discipline in which the user is interacting, along with a discipline associated ontology.

TaskBoard - Using XP to Implement Problem-Based Learning in an Introductory Programming Course

Introductory courses on Algorithms and Computer Programming typically present high failure rates. The lack of motivation and the difficulty encountered by some students are among the factors that lead to poor achievement. This paper presents a new teaching methodology for CS1, integrating PBL with the flexibility of Extreme Programming, creating a more collaborative, challenging and dynamic learning experience. The method also contributes to raise the quality of code and to enhance students’ abilities by using best practices from Software Engineering. In order to implement the method we developed an application called TaskBoard, which assists groups of students in the process of XP-based problem solving, facilitating the development, management and persistence of the solutions and related artifacts.

Knowledge Management in Virtual Communities of Practice

Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) are groups of people who get together to discuss and share their knowledge on a given domain using a virtual environment. Experiences are exchanged within the community. Members use community knowledge to solve their own problems and share the solution with the community. Thus, the more the community helps its members, the more its knowledge grows, and the more it becomes attractive to new members. Key to the concept of VCoPs is the management of knowledge acquired or developed by the community, which must be indexed and stored as to be easily retrieved. This is not an easy task since knowledge is stored in peoples mind. It is therefore difficult to capture, to represent and to make persistent so other people can use. The creation of VCoPs is well aligned with a strong tendency of the modern world, which presents a shift from an industrial society paradigm to that of a knowledge society. In this type of society, where knowledge is the sole really meaningful resource, it is important to have spaces for the representation and sharing of information that reflect the thought of professionals, researchers, teachers, students, etc.. On the other hand, the was designed to support resource sharing at a global level. It has, however, many limitations. The Semantic Web appears as a possible solution for some of these limitations. It represents a revolution in information processing and, consequently, a revolution in the way knowledge is organized. The Semantic Web requires all available resources to have enough expressiveness so machines and/or software agents are able to “understand” the real meaning of data. The use of these Semantic Web technologies can be very useful in the construction of tools to support VCoPs. The central idea of this chapter is to structure the concepts of knowledge representation and retrieval, as well as to characterize how semantics can contribute in the management of knowledge within a virtual community of practice. The first part of the chapter is an introduction to knowledge management. It describes some basic domain concepts, showing the relation between data, information and knowledge. The second part, discusses Virtual Communities of Practice and the role of knowledge in this environment. Since the domain of a VCoP characterizes a shared interest, each member 7

Moodle Predicta: A Data Mining Tool for Student Follow Up.

Educational data mining (EDM) aims to find useful patterns in large volumes of data from teaching/learning environments, increasing academic results. However, EDM requires previous and deep knowledge of data mining methods and techniques, involving several computing paradigms, preprocessing and results’ interpretation. In this paper, Moodle Predicta, an educational data mining desktop tool is presented. This software is developed in Java and enables non-expert data mining users to enjoy benefits from EDM, within the Moodle system. Divided in two modules, Moodle Predicta allows: (i) visualization of Moodle courses data; and (ii) predict students’ performance.

Use of Augmented Reality to Support Education - Creating a Mobile E-learning Tool and using it with an Inquiry-based Approach.

Education is the basis of human development. In recent years working professionals have demonstrated a considerable interest in new technologies, searching to enhance teaching quality. Tools such as e-learning, cellphones, video-conferences, web quests and others are becoming popular options to help motivate and enrich the knowledge of students. Now, with modern technology, society requirements for knowledge have gotten more specific and accumulated, but the traditional teaching model has not been able to keep up. This paper presents a mobile software educational tool for children, using the Jigsaw methodology and augmented reality (AR) technology, aiming to improve teaching experience. The proposed software contains an AR marker reader, a game library and a digital quiz module. By presenting book contents in three dimensions, together with the use of Jigsaw learning, we create an interactive and fun environment for learning, that can help increase the interest and motivation of students.

Written Assessments with Digital Ink

This paper proposes the use of digital ink, along with task analysis techniques as an enhanced method to assess individuals. The use of digital ink for evaluation purposes allows access to additional data, beyond the actual written answers. Such information may be used to complement and enrich assessments, as well as allowing automatic data analysis techniques to be used on the stored data. This work presents a tool that allows digital ink traces to be captured, stored and reproduced. The tool was used to implement two applications in the psychology domain. A second research phase proposes the application of task analysis on the trace data.