Glenn D. Blank

A design-first curriculum for teaching Java in a CS1 course

Pedagogies for teaching object-oriented programming in an introductory course are still under much debate. We present a design-first approach, which teaches problem-solving techniques using elements of UML. Objects are still introduced early in the curriculum. We also present two tools to support our curriculum: multimedia courseware to help students learn the basic concepts of objects and classes, and an IDE that includes both a UML interface and interactive tools to allow easy experimentation.

A finite and real-time processor for natural language

People process natural language in real time and with very limited short-term memories. This article describes a computational architecture for syntactic performance that also requires fixed finite resources.

Student modeling with atomic bayesian networks

Atomic Bayesian Networks (ABNs) combine several valuable features in student models: prerequisite relationships, concept to solution step relationships, and real time responsiveness. Recent work addresses some of these features but have not combined them, which we believe is necessary in an ITS that helps students learn in a complex domain, in our case, object-oriented design. A refined representation of prerequisite relationships considers relationships between concepts as explicit knowledge units. Theorems show how to reduce the number of parameters required to a small constant, so that each ABN can guarantee a real time response. We evaluated ABN-based student models with 240 simulated students, investigating their behavior for different types of students and different slip and guess values. Holding slip and guess to equal, small values, ABNs are able to produce accurate diagnostic rates for student knowledge states.

Individualizing Tutoring with Learning Style Based Feedback

To approximate more closely effective human tutors, intelligent tutoring systems should adapt not only to a students knowledge but also her learning style. We introduce a pedagogical framework that incorporates the Felder-Silverman learning style model and validated instrument for assessing individual learning style. The framework provides a feedback infrastructure based on the learning style model dimensions (such as visual, verbal, intuitive, sensor, etc.). It has been implemented as part of the DesignFirst-ITS, helping novices learn how to design a class in UML from a problem description. The system has been evaluated with high-school students and results show that learning style based feedback helps students realize higher learning gains.

An Intelligent Tutoring System to Teach Debugging

Although several Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have been built to teach students how to write programs, few focus on teaching students the skills required to debug faulty code. Indeed, outside of general debugging ad- vice, it is also a skill seldom outright taught in the classroom. This paper dis- cusses a web-based ITS to teach introductory level Computer Science students debugging skills, using and teaching case-based reasoning.

Constant-Time Pattern Matching For Real-Time Production Systems

Many intelligent systems must respond to sensory data or critical environmental conditions in fixed, predictable time. Rule-based systems, including those based on the efficient Rete matching algorithm, cannot guarantee this result. Improvement in execution-time efficiency is not all that is needed here; it is important to ensure constant, 0(1) time limits for portions of the matching process. Our approach is inspired by two observations about human performance. First, cognitive psychologists distinguish between automatic and controlled processing. Analogously, we partition the matching process across two networks. The first is the automatic partition; it is characterized by predictable 0(1) time and space complexity, lack of persistent memory, and is reactive in nature. The second is the controlled partition; it includes the search-based goal-driven and data-driven processing typical of most production system programming. The former is responsible for recognition and response to critical environmental conditions. The latter is responsible for the more flexible problem-solving behaviors consistent with the notion of intelligence. Support for learning and refining the automatic partition can be placed in the controlled partition. Our second observation is that people are able to attend to more critical stimuli or requirements selectively. Our match algorithm uses priorities to focus matching. It compares priority of information during matching, rather than deferring this comparison until conflict resolution. Messages from the automatic partition are able to interrupt the controlled partition, enhancing system responsiveness. Our algorithm has numerous applications for systems that must exhibit time-constrained behavior.

Bringing the breadth of computer science to middle schools

In order to garner more student interest in the pursuit of computer science as both a major and a career path, K-12 students need to be made aware of what computer science is and what it is about earlier in their education. Although students in many high schools can pursue introductory programming, high school is arguably too late to interest students who may have developed ill-informed attitudes about computer science. This paper documents curricular items developed for and taught to an audience of mixed ability 6th through 8th graders taking a local Technology Education class that attempts to showcase some of the more interesting, less stereotypical, aspects of computer science using a breadth approach in an effort to encourage interest in the field.

Reference Curricular Structures and Pedagogical Flexibility in Encouraging Reflective Practice in Technology-Enhanced Learning

This paper is concerned with the design of curricular structures and flexible teaching and learning approaches targeted at improving learning performance and enriching learning experiences. The Lehigh Valley Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (LV STEM) project is used as a case study. Findings indicate that reference curricular structures should be pre-instruction, during instruction and post-instruction at the first level; analysis, design, development and evaluation at the second level; instructional goals at the third level and relevance at the fourth level. Relevance is created through instantiations from this reference curricular structure, through identification of core and supplementary factors and by strategizing flexibility in navigation through derivation of best practices. Best practices in turn form the foundation for collaborative adaptations that provide tremendous potential for sharing and improving knowledge about technology-enhanced learning. Implications to the design of technology-enhanced learning are subsequently presented.

Semantic interpretation in linear time in the ATIS domain

People understand utterances in real time. Blank [1] described a natural language processor which also parses sentences in linear time. Like human performance, it stays within fixed and finite short-term memory—indeed, these limits prevent it from being overwhelmed by syntactic ambiguities. This paper reviews the parser and describes enhancements that allow it to perform morphosyntactic agreement and semantic interpretation—still within linear time and with predictable resources. The lexicon has been extended semi-automatically, using data from tagged corpora and WordNet, to cover the typical vocabulary of utterances in the domain of air traffic information service (ATIS). Comparing our interpreter with the performance ofPundits top down parser [2] for utterances in the ATIS domain, we get improvements of at least an order of magnitude and avoid asymptotic cases due toPundits unbounded backtracking.

PRIOPS: A REAL-TIME PRODUCTION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE FOR PROGRAMMING AND LEARNING IN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

The Prioritized Production System (PRIOPS) is an architecture that supports time-constrained, knowledge-based embedded system programming and learning. Inspired by the theory of automatic and controlled human information processing in cognitive psychology, PRIOPS supports a two-tiered processing approach. The automatic partition provides for compilation of productions into constant-time-constrained processes for reaction to environmental conditions. The notion of a habit in humans approximates the concept of automatic processing trading flexibility and generality for efficiency and predictability in dealing with expected environmental situations. Explicit priorities allow critical automatic activities to pre-empt and defer execution of lower priority processing. An augmented version of the Rete match algorithm implements O(1), priority-scheduled automatic matching. The controlled partition supports more complex, less predictable activities such as problem solving, planning, and learning that apply in novel situations for which automatic reactions do not exist. The PRIOPS notation allows the programmer of knowledge-based embedded systems to work at a more appropriate level of abstraction than is provided by conventional embedded system programming techniques. This paper explores programming and learning in PRIOPS in the context of a maze traversal program.