Bruce R. Maxim

Dimensionality, internal consistency and interrater reliability of clinical performance ratings

Summary. A total of 6444 ratings of the financial performance of 424 third‐ and fourth‐year medical students were made by house officers and attending teachers during 12 separate internal medicine rotations. Ratings were based on 13 behaviourally anchored rating scales. One rating was randomly selected per student per evaluator type (house officer and attending teacher) during each of the 12 rotation periods. Ratings were factor analysed separately within each rotation period. Two factors emerged consistently, and congruence coefficients across the 12 occasions were high (0.88 or greater). The factors were labelled ‘problem‐solving (10 items) and ‘interpersonal skills’ (three items) on the basis of their content. Internal consistency coefficients of the indices constructed from items in the two factors and the total of the 13 items were high (0.9 or greater) and did not differ substantially when computed separately on the ratings from house officers and attending teachers. Interrater reliabilities on the individual items ranged from 0.14 to 0.33.

Attracting K-12 students to study computing

There is general agreement that the need for computing professionals in the near term is increasing, while enrollment in computer science degree programs is decreasing. We hope to address this situation by attracting pre-college students to study computer science and information technology at the collegiate level through participation in short term events focused on different aspects of computing technology. The authors hosted several one-day events on our campus (computing workshops and competitions) during the past three years. The event activities allow participants opportunities to experience the engineering design process, use their programming skills, and create multimedia content using software tools. Participants were self selected pre-college students. Participants completed an established attitude scale before and after each event to assess the impact of the project activities on their attitudes toward computing and their future plans to take information technology courses. This paper investigates which if any short term events create favorable participant attitudes toward the study of information technology. Initial data analysis indicates significant positive attitude changes toward the study of computing and technology on the part of many participants.

Teaching programming algorithms aided by computer graphics

Effects of operations on abstract data objects are often difficult for students to comprehend. Visual models can be helpful to students, when the connections among the data object models, virtual machine representations of data objects, and algorithms operating on the data objects are made clear to the students. This paper discusses the design criteria used to develop a series of Pascal programs, implemented on widely used microcomputers, which make use of graphics to illustrate the effects of programming algorithms on common data structures. These programs were designed to be used in classroom demonstrations and by individual students working in the computing laboratory.1 A non-machine specific design of an algorithm teacher is proposed. It is a programmed environment to help students in a beginning computer science course learn problem solving skills. This paper provides an overview of the problem, a motivation and justification, followed by a brief description of what the program should provide the student.

Identification of web service refactoring opportunities as a multi-objective problem

We propose, in this paper, to consider the problem of Web service antipatterns detection as a multi-objective problem where examples of Web service antipatterns and well-designed code are used to generate detection rules. To this end, we use multi-objective genetic programming (MOGP) to find the best combination of metrics that maximizes the detection of Web service antipattern examples and minimizes the detection of well-designed Web service design examples. We report the results of an empirical study using 8 different types of common Web service antipatterns. We compared our multi-objective formulation with random search, one existing mono-objective approach, and one state-of-the-art detection technique not based on heuristic search. Statistical analysis of the obtained results demonstrates that our approach is efficient in antipattern detection, on average, with a precision score of 94% and a recall score of 92%.

Analyzing the efficacy of using digital ink devices in a learning environment

There has been increased interest on the impact of mobile devices such as PDAs and Tablet PCs in introducing new pedagogical approaches and active learning experiences. We propose an intelligent system that efficiently addresses the inherent subjectivity in student perception of note taking and information retrieval. We employ the idea of cross indexing the digital ink notes with matching electronic documents in the repository. Latent Semantic Indexing is used to perform document and page level indexing. Thus for each retrieved document, the user can go over to the relevant pages that match the query. Techniques to handle problems such as polysemy (multiple meanings of a word) in large databases, document folding and no match for query are discussed. We tested our system for its performance, usability and effectiveness in the learning process. The results from the exploratory studies reveal that the proposed system provides a highly enhanced student learning experience, thereby facilitating high test scores.

Work in progress - Introducing information technology through game design

There is general agreement that the need for computing professionals in the near term will continue to increase, while enrollment in computer science degree programs is decreasing. Many middle school and high school students want to know how to construct their own computer games. The enabling technologies that support game design include many fundamental areas of information technology. The authors offered two summer game camps to attract pre-college students to study computer science at the collegiate level. Middle school and high school aged participants used a game development environment to create original multimedia computer games. Participants experienced the complete game development life cycle. Participants completed an established attitude scale was administered before and after camp attendance to assess the impact of camp activities on student attitudes toward computing and their plans to take future information technology courses. Initial data analyses indicate significant positive student attitude changes toward the study of computing technology.

Work In Progress: Use of Interdisciplinary Teams in Game Development Classes

The development of computer games is labor-intensive. Modern game development requires the effort of a team of skilled professionals to integrate multimedia content with complex software. Producing high-quality software game products requires large teams to rely on high levels of communication, organization, and planning to avoid costly delays and failures. The author created a two-semester sequence of courses focusing on the application of software engineering principles in the design and implementation of computer games. ABET accreditation guidelines require students to participate on interdisciplinary teams to solve engineering problems. Students in the authors advanced game design course work with game animation art students from a neighboring art college. This paper summarizes the content of this course and the authors experience in teaching this course during its first offering using interdisciplinary teams. Student evaluations of this interdisciplinary team course offering indicate high levels of satisfaction

Introducing parallel algorithms in undergraduate computer science courses (tutorial session)

We encounter problems demanding efficient algorithmic solutions in all spheres of computer science. What then defines an “efficient” algorithm, and how do we design such an algorithm? Turns out that the answers to these questions depend on multiple factors, including the nature of the problem and the input, the computational model being used and the constraints under which our solution must operate, amongst others. In this topic we will explore a number of key factors and considerations relevant to these problems.

An agile software engineering process improvement game

Many computing students do not receive adequate training in software quality management. Some students do not have the opportunity to practice software process improvement activities even if they do see the topics covered in their course lectures and textbooks. Serious games are gaining popularity as a means of instruction in higher education. Some excellent prescriptive software process simulation games have been created, as well as a few software engineering drill and practice games. In general, these games do not allow students to create agile process models or experiment with process improvement strategies. We are creating a serious game that will serve as a virtual learning environment to allow students to explore agile process improvement practices. Our game is designed as a single-player game where the player takes the role of software team leader and plays against an AI (artificial intelligence) opponent representing the customers interests and needs. Players are rewarded for developing project strategies that allow for completion of projects on time, within budget, and meet the necessary software quality requirements. It is our intention to create a game with sufficiently detailed instructions to allow instructors to introduce hands on practice with agile process improvement activities without requiring additional class time.

Domain-Independent Design System

This paper describes the Domain-Independent Design System (DIDS). DIDS provides a set of tools capable of rapidly constructing configuration-design systems from a library of reusable software elements, called mechanisms. The power of DIDS comes from its model of configuration design that enables reusable mechanism to be identified. DIDS contains four components. The first component, the Problem-Solving-Method (PSM) Editor builds PSMs by combining mechanisms. The Code Generator, DIDS’s second component, generates a problem solver from the PSM description created in the editor. The third component, the Knowledge-Acquisition Tool Generator builds a knowledge acquisition (KA) tool that interviews the domain expert to gather the knowledge required by the DIDS-generated problem solver. The final component, the Debugging Tool, monitors the execution of the problem solver to uncover errors made during KA, and to improve the performance of the design tool. This paper presents a scenario demonstrating how DIDS will be used to build configuration systems.