Kristine Nagel

The Family Intercom: Developing a Context-Aware Audio Communication System

We are exploring different forms of intra- and inter-home audio communication. Though much technology exists to support this human-human communication, none of them make effective use of the context of the communication partners. We aim to augment a domestic environment with knowledge of the location and activities of its occupants. The Family Intercom provides a test bed to explore how this context supports a variety of lightweight communication opportunities between collocated and remote family members. It is particularly important that context about the status of the callee be communicated to the caller, so that the appropriate social protocol for continuing a conversation can be performed by the caller.

Intra-group and intergroup: an exploration of learning with complementary collaboration tools

In this paper, we explore the learning that occurred in two types of collaborative learning environments in a seventh grade life sciences classroom: an intragroup environment and an intergroup environment. Students used both types of collaboration tools, each tuned to the needs of the task they were doing within or across groups. We found that the learning outcomes in the two collaborative settings were different. During the intragroup collaboration, students focused more on the structure and behavior of the designs. The inter-group environment on the other hand, led them to discuss the function/s of their models, ask for and provide justifications for the functions. We discuss the results and suggest integration of the inter and intra group tools.

Understanding the design space of referencing in collaborative augmented reality environments

For collaborative environments to be successful, it is critical that participants have the ability to generate effective references. Given the heterogeneity of the objects and the myriad of possible scenarios for collaborative augmented reality environments, generating meaningful references within them can be difficult. Participants in co-located physical spaces benefit from non-verbal communication, such as eye gaze, pointing and body movement; however, when geographically separated, this form of communication must be synthesized using computer-mediated techniques. We have conducted an exploratory study using a collaborative building task of constructing both physical and virtual models to better understand inter-referential awareness -- or the ability for one participant to refer to a set of objects, and for that reference to be understood. Our contributions are not necessarily in presenting novel techniques, but in narrowing the design space for referencing in collaborative augmented reality. This study suggests collaborative reference preferences are heavily dependent on the context of the workspace.

Studies on the Effectiveness of Virtual Pointers in Collaborative Augmented Reality

A critical component of successful collaboration is the ability for participants to generate and interpret effective reference cues. In collaborative augmented reality (AR), participants must be able to refer to the physical and virtual artifacts that surround them, as well as those that exist in remote workspaces. One of the most primitive referencing techniques that satisfy these requirements is a virtual pointer. In order to better understand its effectiveness in collaborative augmented reality, a two-part study was conducted that independently examines how individuals both give and interpret references using this technique, as well as factors that influence accuracy. A second study was conducted that explored the dynamics of group interaction and how virtual referencing techniques may support collaborative tasks. We present the results of these two studies in the context of designing support for demonstrative referencing in collaborative augmented reality spaces. Overall, we argue that when the probability of referential ambiguity is high, additional costs such as time, computational resources or alternative techniques will help reduce referential ambiguity.

Designing home availability services

We have explored the challenges of designing domestic services to help family and friends determine mutually agreeable times to call one another. In a prior study, we identified activities in the home that predict availability to an external interruption. In our follow-up study, we used a cooperative design activity to see which, if any, of these home activities the family member is willing to share when engaged in mealtime or leisure routine. The data people are willing to reveal is more detailed for mealtime, than leisure activities. Furthermore, the shared availability service needs to be accessible throughout the home, in either compact, portable form or integrated with other services in various room locations. Accuracy and reliability of the shared information, along with device independent caller identification are also essential design requirements. While not unique to the home, the desire to personalize and present a socially acceptable availability status is extremely important.

Transforming programming-intensive courses with course-embedded research

In this paper, we discuss the Software Engineering Research Project (SERP) initiated at GGC College, a public four-year institution in southeastern United States. The long-term goal of SERP involves motivating students to pursue graduate degrees, research careers, or challenging industry work. Before students can engage in software engineering research, they need to develop a deeper appreciation for professional practice, scholarly literature, and research paradigms. To that end, we have identified activities to embed in two junior-level programming-intensive courses: Software Development I and Advanced Programming. Our three-pronged approach includes attendance at professional events, participation in a research project, and exposure to computing research at a leading research university. In this paper, we detail our goals and objectives for the SERP program, illustrate a course redesign for two of the courses, and provide initial results from a pilot study.

Programming Boot Camp to retain women in IT: An experience report

Underrepresented students in computing can face critical challenges to retention including lack of prior exposure to programming and feelings of isolation due to a non-diverse classroom. Consequently, students may delay enrolling in programming courses, which interrupts progress towards their degree and decreases confidence in their ability to succeed in college and computing careers. One strategy to overcome the perceived and actual difficulties undergraduate students encounter in an introductory programming course is to participate in a summer Programming Boot Camp (PBC). PBC is a short-term, intense event focused on improving Java programming skills, providing career and professional development, and building a stronger network with faculty, peers, and industry experts. In this paper, we describe the structure and format of a weeklong PBC held at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) for female computing undergraduates. We report on the impacts of the program in terms of increasing confidence, improving programming skills, and encouraging student engagement.

Can Programming Boot Camp Help Under-represented College Students Succeed in Computing Degrees? (Abstract Only)

Programming Boot Camp is one strategy to overcome the perceived and actual difficulties undergraduate students encounter in an introductory programming course. It is estimated that of the over two million students starting computer science studies in universities and colleges all over the world in 1999, 33% dropped or failed their first programming course. Consequently, undergraduate students delay enrolling in programming courses, which interrupts progress toward their degree and decreases confidence in their ability to succeed in college and computing careers. Programming Boot Camp provides a combination of intense programming labs with professional development and community building activities to help increase confidence, create awareness of opportunities, and build a supporting peer network. How does this strategy work on different campuses with different demographics? Attendees will be able to connect with people who have implemented boot camp, are interested in sharing resources, and discussing how appropriate a boot camp would be for their students. Those who have already implemented a boot camp will be encouraged to share their curriculum, workshop strategies, and how effective they were in goals like: increasing the programming skills of the participants and their confidence in it, inspiring participants to persist in computing, and building a network of mentors and peers to support persistence in computing. Participants who seek to increase success in programming courses will be encouraged to discuss campus specific needs to gather input from those who have implemented boot camps and how they adapted the concept to their population and institutional culture.

Special Session: Perspectives on Adopting and Facilitating Guided Inquiry Learning

POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) is based on the principle that students learn more when they construct their own understanding. Instead of attending lecture, student teams work through POGIL activities to discover concepts on their own, while instructors circulate and facilitate learning. Students learn the material better, and this constructivist approach also teaches them important process skills, including critical thinking, team work, and leadership. In this special session, SIGCSE attendees will experience a POGIL activity for themselves, learn about the structure of POGIL activities (through a POGIL meta-activity), and hear perspectives from teachers who recently adopted POGIL activities available at http://cspogil.org. We will share classroom-tested guided inquiry activities and discuss how POGIL can transform CS classes at all levels, from high school to graduate-level classes, from small schools to large universities.

How to Plan and Run Summer Computing Camps: Logistics (Abstract Only)

This workshop will provide details on how to plan and run non-residential computing summer camps for 4th -- 12th grade students. Georgia Tech has been offering computing summer camps since 2004. These camps are financially self-sustaining and effective. Items used in past camps include: CS Unplugged, LightBot, Scratch, Alice, LEGO robots (WeDo, NXT, EV3, and Tetrix), EarSketch, and App Inventor. Georgia Tech helped start or expand other computing camps at eleven other colleges and universities in Georgia from 2007 to 2010 as part of Georgia Computes!. This last year as part of the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) NSF grant we have also helped institutions start or expand summer computing camps in South Carolina, Massachusetts, and California. The workshop will distribute a link to forms, a timeline, sample agendas, sample flyers, budget plans, a planning checklist, suggested projects, surveys, pre and post-tests, evaluation results, lessons learned, and more. Laptops Recommended