Andrea Tartaro

Storytelling with a virtual peer as an intervention for children with autism

Story Listening Systems (SLS), a model of technology and literacy development, are shown to promote language skills development in children through storytelling with a virtual peer [4]. However, SLS make several assumptions about children:(1) they rely on childrens oral storytelling and communication skills;(2) they model social skills to engage children in peer play; and,(3) they enable imaginative play, allowing children to create their own meaningful content using physical artifacts.

Authorable virtual peers for children with autism

For my dissertation, I am designing, implementing and evaluating the use of a new kind of.authorable. virtual peer that allows children with autism to learn about reciprocal social interaction by building their own virtual humans. This work has three stages: (1) Study the verbal and nonverbal reciprocal social interaction behaviors of children with autism; (2) Use the results of the study to design and implement an authorable virtual peer for children with autism; and (3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the system in improving reciprocal social interaction behaviors of children with autism.

Designing virtual peers for assessment and intervention for children with autism

Our research focuses on the use and design of virtual peers (life-sized, computer-animated children) as intervention and assessment tools for the social and communication skills of children with social skills deficits, such as autism. To best design a virtual peer that simulates human interaction, we observe and analyze the behaviors of both typically-developing children and children with autism as they play with peers. Later, we apply these behavioral characteristics to the behavioral repertoire of the virtual peers. This analysis identifies the key design attributes of a virtual peer that best elicits the social and communication skills we are interested in evaluating and addressing during the assessment and treatment procedures.

Computer Scientists at the Biology Lab Bench

We present the development, implementation and evaluation of a new team-taught introductory computer science course focused on the topic of bioinformatics. Our course is unique when compared to other bioinformatics and interdisciplinary (biology and computer science) courses taught to undergraduates. Instead of analyzing data provided to them, students collect their own data at the biology lab bench and then analyze their data utilizing various bioinformatics tools in the computer lab. In addition, while other bioinformatics classes focus on programming, our course introduces other computer science topics relevant to the biological problems under investigation such as artificial intelligence, networks and databases. Our approach resulted in students acquiring an appreciation for how biology and computer science function synergistically.

Accessing Peer Social Interaction: Using Authorable Virtual Peer Technology as a Component of a Group Social Skills Intervention Program

Autism spectrum and related communication and social disorders can severely affect some childrens ability to engage in peer social interaction. In this article, we describe and evaluate an Authorable Virtual Peer (AVP), technology designed to help children access peer interactions by supporting them in developing critical social skills. Children interact with the AVP in three ways: (1) engaging in face-to-face interaction with a life-sized, computer-animated child; (2) creating new social behaviors for the AVP; and (3) controlling the AVP using a graphical user interface to select appropriate responses while the AVP interacts with another person. Our evaluation suggests that when an AVP is used as an activity during a social group intervention, a common intervention approach used with children with social and communication difficulties, that childrens use of specific social behaviors critical to successful social interaction increases during role-play of common social situations with another child.

Creative Language in a Student-generated Bioorganic Chemistry Wiki Textbook

We describe an approach to analyzing student-created content on wiki systems based on identifying creative linguistic content. We apply this approach to wiki entries written by students in an advanced chemistry course. We illustrate creative linguistic forms, how they change over time, and, based on in-depth student interviews, their value to student producers and consumers of wiki content.

Computer Science Topics in First- and Second- Year Seminar Courses

Valerie Barr Union College 807 Union St. Schenectady, NY 12308 +1-518-388-8361 barrv@union.edu Bryan Catron Furman University 3300 Poinsett Hwy. Greenville, SC 29609 +1-864-294-2953 bryan.catron@furman.edu Christopher Healy Furman University 3300 Poinsett Hwy. Greenville, SC 29609 +1-864-294-2233 chris.healy@furman.edu Kate Lockwood St. Paul Academy 1712 Randolph Ave. St. Paul, MN 55105 +1-651-696-1589 klockwood@spa.edu