Liz Bacon

Learning Programming at the Computational Thinking Level via Digital Game-Play

This paper outlines an innovative game model for learning computational thinking (CT) skills through digital game-play. We have designed a game framework where students can practice and develop their skills in CT with little or no programming knowledge. We analyze how this game supports various CT concepts and how these concepts can be mapped to programming constructs to facilitate learning introductory computer programming. Moreover, we discuss the potential benefits of our approach as a support tool to foster student motivation and abilities in problem solving. As initial evaluation, we provide some analysis of feedback from a survey response group of 25 students who have played our game as a voluntary exercise. Structured empirical evaluation will follow, and the plan for that is briefly described.

A case based reasoning approach for the monitoring of business workflows

This paper presents an approach for the intelligent diagnosis and monitoring of business workflows based on operation data in the form of temporal log data. The representation of workflow related case knowledge in this research using graphs is explained. The workflow process is orchestrated by a software system using BPEL technologies within a service-oriented architecture. Workflow cases are represented in terms of events and their corresponding temporal relationships. The matching and CBR retrieval mechanisms used in this research are explained and the architecture of an integrated intelligent monitoring system is shown. The paper contains an evaluation of the approach based on experiments on real data from a university quality assurance exam moderation system. The experiments and the evaluation of the approach is presented and is shown that a graph matching based similarity measure is capable to diagnose problems within business workflows. Finally, further work on the system and the extension to a full intelligent monitoring and process optimisation system is presented.

Understanding Computational Thinking before Programming: Developing Guidelines for the Design of Games to Learn Introductory Programming through Game-Play

This paper outlines an innovative game-based approach to learning introductory programming that is grounded in the development of computational thinking at an abstract conceptual level, but also provides a direct contextual relationship between game-play and learning traditional introductory programming. The paper proposes a possible model for, and guidelines in support of, this games-based approach contextualized by an analysis of existing research into the issues of learning programming and game based learning approaches. Furthermore, the proposed game-based learning model focuses not only on procedural and applied knowledge and associated skills acquisition in computational thinking, but also provides contextualised theoretical knowledge on Computer Science concepts. By way of illustration, the authors introduce a game prototype currently being developed to combine a puzzle solving game-play that uses Computer Science concepts as the game elements.

Developing a smart environment for crisis management training

Despite the growth of advanced communication technologies, smart devices etc. the main approach to training strategic planners for crisis management (Gold Commanders) continues to be a paper-based, collective group dynamic exercise. The Pandora project has developed an advanced smart environment for the training of Gold Commanders which uses AI planning techniques to provide a crisis scenario modelled as an event network. This includes points of decision for trainees managed by automated rules from a knowledge base, behavioural modelling of the trainees, and ambient management of the environment to provide affective inputs to control and manage trainee stress. In this context, the system controls and reacts to trainee performance in relation to the events and decision points and can dynamically remodel and reconfigure the event network to respond appropriately to trainee decisions. Trainees can also be pressurised through compression of the timelines or ambient management of the multimedia information presented within the environment, causing them to make decisions under stress or with inadequate information. The environment can also represent any missing trainees within the scenario, which provides the potential to offer a completely autonomous facility for scenario design and test, and potentially a decision support facility, based on a build-up of empirical evidence from real world and training situations. In summary, the Pandora system integrates its computational intelligence, with the intelligence of the trainer and the trainees, to provide an emotionally engaging, augmented reality/virtual reality training environment for crisis managers.

Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing 2010

th The purpose of the 11 Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking, and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD 2010) held on June 9 11, 2010 in London, United Kingdom was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers and students to discuss the numerous fields of computer science, and to share ideas and information in a meaningful way. Our conference officers selected the best 15 papers from those papers accepted for presentation at the conference in order to publish them in this volume. The papers were chosen based on review scores submitted by members of the program committee, and underwent further rounds of rigorous review. In Chapter 1, Cai Luyuan et al. Present a new method of shape decomposition based on a refined morphological shape decomposition process. In Chapter 2, Kazunori Iwata et al. propose a method for reducing the margin of error in effort and error prediction models for embedded software development projects using artificial neural networks (ANNs). In Chapter 3, Viliam imko et al. describe a model-driven tool that allows system code to be generated from use-cases in plain English. In Chapter 4, Abir Smiti and Zied Elouedi propose a Case Base Maintenance (CBM) method that uses machine learning techniques to preserve the maximum competence of a system. In Chapter 5, Shagufta Henna and Thomas Erlebach provide a simulation based analysis of some widely used broadcasting schemes within mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) and propose adaptive extensions to an existing broadcasting algorithm.

Towards the Design of a Portal Framework for Web Services Integration

Web services based systems have recently found their way into many applications such as e-commerce, corporate integration and e-learning. Construction of new services or introducing new functions to existing services requires composition of web services. Current approaches to service composition often require major programming effort; this is time consuming and requires considerable developer expertise. In this paper, we explore the real and rich scenarios found in e-learning where education services are offered through the Internet by networked universities to potentially millions in the world. These services are derived from existing/emerging business operation processes and commonly offered through a web interface, combined with other services such as email and ftp services, to support partial/full business processes. We identify the requirements for a generic portal framework for easy integration of existing expertise and services of individual institutions (enterprises). We examine the existing technologies and standards, and point out the gaps to be filled in designing the architecture of the framework.

Cyber Security Countermeasures to Combat Cyber Terrorism

In this chapter we first consider what constitutes cyber terrorism, to distinguish such events from other forms of cybercrime, and to establish a rationale for that distinction. We discuss some of the characteristics of cyber terrorist events in comparison with cybercriminal events, and the changes that have occurred, socially and technologically, that make such events both more likely and more damaging. We then go on to consider three key aspects of cyber terrorist attacks, cyber attacks on physical systems, malware specifically developed for such attacks, and insider threats to enable or support such attacks. Next, we look at the countermeasures that can be adopted by organizations and individuals to address such threats, highlighting the significant human component of such systems through the need for standards-based policies and protocols, good security hygiene, and the training of system users at all levels. We also consider some issues of physical systems upgrade, and some software measures that can be used to identify and isolate cyber threats. Finally, we consider the future in terms of the likely further growth of cyber terrorist events, and the threat they pose to critical infrastructure and the systems on which, socially and technologically, we increasingly rely.

On the persistence of computer dreams - an application framework for robust adaptive deployment

The anticipated rewards of adaptive approaches will only be fully realised when autonomic algorithms can take configuration and deployment decisions that match and exceed those of human engineers. Such decisions are typically characterised as being based on a foundation of experience and knowledge. In humans, these underpinnings are themselves founded on the ashes of failure, the exuberance of courage and (sometimes) the outrageousness of fortune. We describe an application framework that will allow the incorporation of similarly risky, error prone and downright dangerous software artifacts into live systems - without undermining the certainty of correctness at application level. We achieve this by introducing the notion of application dreaming.

Using Emotional Intelligence in Training Crisis Managers: The Pandora Approach

Multi-agency crisis management represents one of the most complex of real-world situations, requiring rapid negotiation and decision-making under extreme pressure. However, the training offered to strategic planners, called Gold Commanders, does not place them under any such pressure. It takes the form of paper-based, table-top exercises, or expensive, real-world, limited-scope simulations. The Pandora project has developed a rich multimedia training environment for Gold Commanders, based on a crisis scenario, timeline-based, event network, with which the trainees and their trainer interact dynamically. Pandora uses the emotional intelligence of the trainees, through a behavioural modelling component, to support group dynamic and decision-making. It applies systemic emotional intelligence, based on inferred user state and rule-based affective inputs, to impact the stress levels of the trainees. Pandora can impose variable stress on trainees, to impact their decision-making, and model their behaviour and performance under stress, potentially resulting in more effective and realisable strategies.

Supporting real-time decision-making under stress in an online training environment

Multi-agency crisis management represents one of the most complex real-world situations, requiring rapid negotiation and decision-making under extreme pressure. However, the training provided to Gold Commanders (strategic planners) typically lacks the stress of a real crisis, while research tells us that behavior and decision-making are significantly affected by stress. It is, therefore, vital that training puts trainees under the pressure of a real crisis situation as far as possible. The Pandora+ system, developed from an EU FP7 research project, provides a unique, original, realistic, immersive, and augmented reality training environment in which the stress of each individual trainee can be managed by the trainer, during a training event, with the support of system intelligence. The system uses AI planning techniques to model an unfolding crisis scenario, realized as an event network, which can be dynamically updated by the trainer during a training event. This modeling includes points of decision for trainees managed by automated rules from a knowledge base, behavioral modeling of the trainees, and dynamic management of the environment to provide affective inputs to control and manage trainee stress. In this context, the system controls and reacts to trainee performance in relation to the events and decision points and can dynamically remodel and reconfigure the event network to respond appropriately to trainee decisions. The environment can also represent any missing trainees within the scenario and has the potential to provide training in any domain where a timeline-based scenario of events is required for training. This entire approach is completely novel in crisis training and has been rigorously tested in several trials, the most recent involving close to 150 participants, and has the potential to transform online learning in many domains, not just crisis management.