Jean H. French

Automatic affective video indexing: Sound energy and object motion correlation discovery: Studies in identifying slapstick comedy using low-level video features

No longer is video creation and storage solely in the hands of professionals. Video repositories are growing at an astounding rate due advances in multimedia technologies. The vast size of video repositories presents challenges for users attempting to identify preferred content. Automated methods for content discovery are necessary to meet the needs of users. One of the more challenging areas of video content discovery is in identifying affective, or emotional, video content. Automatic affective video indexing techniques attempt to use computer-based methods to automatically identify content in videos that is affective in nature. This is the first known automatic affective video indexing study that focuses on slapstick, one of the most popular types of humor techniques. The study shows positive results and contributes to the field by identifying the targeted affective content without relying on actual human emotional responses.

A living lab approach for collaboration and innovative thinking in the CS curriculum

Living Labs provide a novel approach to foster innovative thinking within a user-centric environment. Living Labs are traditionally industry-based however they are gaining momentum in the educational arena. This paper explores the implementation of Living Labs as a teaching approach in an undergraduate computer science curriculum. The various approaches to implementing Living Labs are explained. Results show that Living Labs show positive acceptance when implemented for use in undergraduate education to support innovative thinking to solve real-life problem-solving skills.

Implementing a communication-intensive core course in a CS curriculum: a survey of methods (abstract only)

While a focus on programming and mathematical skills is second nature to computer science faculty, perhaps equally important should be the recognition of the need for students to master communication skills. This poster presents the measured results of various methods used in the implementation of a communication-intensive core course into a CS curriculum at a small liberal arts university. The communication intensive core course is a CS1 introduction to computer science which is required to implement both oral and written assignments. Five key areas of success were implemented to help support the communication-intensive CS curriculum. They are: (1) communication skills need to be integrated within the CS curriculum, (2) communication skills should begin to be developed early in the students academic career, (3) communication skills include a broad range of categories, (4) communication skills need to be supported by feedback, and (5) communication skills can be taught in the CS curriculum without sacrificing CS content. The results are provided on a four-point scale and focus on both student success and grading complexity. Scores are provided for each of the methods used since the course was first implemented in 2007. Such a comprehensive evaluation aims to assist in determining which methods are best suited for implementing a core communication that stresses continuous improvement in communication skills.

The identification of slapstick comedy using automatic affective video indexing techniques

The research presented herein provides exciting findings in the field of automatic affective video indexing. Because advances in multimedia technologies have resulted in extensive digital video libraries, automatic methods are needed to assist users in finding videos with the content they desire. A growing area of research in the field is affective video indexing. This area of research attempts to identify video content that is affective, or emotional in nature. Slapstick comedy is a widely popular humor technique found in videos. Slapstick has features that make it a desirable target for automatic affective video indexing strategies. This research is the first of its kind to use computer-based methods to not only identify slapstick comedy in videos, but to pinpoint the location of the slapstick event. The key break-through of the research is that the targeted content was identified using the low-level video characteristics, rather than relying on human-generated labeling. This study provides positive results along with approaches to future research that are aimed at expanding the field of automatic affective video indexing.

Exploring self-directed study via programming boot camps

Computer science departments have implemented various techniques to help improve student performance. One such technique is to transform traditional lecture-led CS0 programming courses into programming boot camps. This study indicates that the use of the boot camp approach can be successfully implemented as self-directed study. By changing the way CS0 programming courses are taught, faculty resources can be focused in other areas of need.

E-Assess: A Web-Based Tool for Coordinating and Managing Program Assessment (Abstract Only)

This poster describes the operation and implementation of the E-Assess web-based program assessment tool. The E-Assess tool provides a centralized management system for generalized program assessment and has been used to support ABET program assessment within the CS/IS department at Coastal Carolina University for the past two years. This system defines multiple roles for several different assessment activities -- allowing individual faculty to operate independently, yet still providing an always up-to-date view of the process to assessment coordinators. Coordinators provide mappings between overall program objectives and specific measurement points across the curriculum. At the conclusion of a class, the instructor enters the assessment measures specific to the course. When all course data has been added, the E-Assess system automatically compiles the overall assessment data into summary reports that are used to evaluate program progress and to inform the continuous improvement process.

Implementing a living lab approach to foster innovation in an advanced software engineering course (abstract only)

The living lab concept promotes innovation by solving problems in an open, user-centric environment. A living lab approach was implemented in an undergraduate, advanced software engineering course to develop applications for the Leap Motion. The Leap Motion is a novel device that provides touch-less interaction with computer systems. Sixteen students worked toward the common goal of developing applications for the Leap Motion. All aspects of the project were supported in the student-led, open environment, from initial research to implementation. Because the Leap Motion device was not available until shortly before the semester, students had no prior experience in application development for the technology, adding to the difficulty and uniqueness of the task. This poster provides the details of the living lab implementation as the project progressed through the semester.