Michael James Scott

On the Domain-Specificity of Mindsets: The Relationship Between Aptitude Beliefs and Programming Practice

Deliberate practice is important in many areas of learning, including that of learning to program computers. However, beliefs about the nature of personal traits, known as mindsets, can have a profound impact on such practice. Previous research has shown that those with a fixed mindset believe their traits cannot change; they tend to reduce their level of practice when they encounter difficulty. In contrast, those with the growth mindset believe their traits are flexible; they tend to maintain regular practice despite the level of difficulty. However, focusing on mindset as a single construct focused on intelligence may not be appropriate in the field of computer programming. Exploring this notion, a self-belief survey was distributed to undergraduate software engineering students. It revealed that beliefs about intelligence and programming aptitude formed two distinct constructs. Furthermore, the mindset for programming aptitude had greater utility in predicting software development practice, and a follow-up survey showed that it became more fixed throughout instruction. Thus, educators should consider the role of programming-specific beliefs in the design and evaluation of introductory courses in software engineering. In particular, they need to situate and contextualize the growth messages that motivate students who experience early setbacks.

Modelling the influence of personality and culture on affect and enjoyment in multimedia

Affect is evoked through an intricate relationship between the characteristics of stimuli, individuals, and systems of perception. While affect is widely researched, few studies consider the combination of multimedia system characteristics and human factors together. As such, this paper explores tpersonality (Five-Factor Model) and cultural traits (Hofstede Model) on the intensity of multimedia-evoked positive and negative affects (emotions). A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie clips) were evaluated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, threehe influence of personality (Five-Factor Model) and cultural traits (Hofstede Model) on the intensity of multimedia-evoked positive and negative affects (emotions). A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie clips) were evaluated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, three multilevel regression models are compared: a baseline model that only considers system factors; an extended model that includes personality and culture; and an optimistic model in which each participant is modelled. An analysis shows that personal and cultural traits represent 5.6% of the variance in positive affect and 13.6% of the variance in negative affect. In addition, the affect-enjoyment correlation varied across the clips. This suggests that personality and culture play a key role in predicting the intensity of negative affect and whether or not it is enjoyed, but a more sophisticated set of predictors is needed to model positive affect with the same efficacy.

The CP-QAE-I: A video dataset for exploring the effect of personality and culture on perceived quality and affect in multimedia

Perception of quality and affect are subjective, driven by a complex interplay between system and human factors. Is it, however, possible to model these factors to predict subjective perception? To pursue this question, broader collaboration is needed to sample all aspects of personality, culture, and other human factors. Thus, an appropriate dataset is needed to integrate such efforts. Here, the CP-QAE-I is proposed. This is a video dataset containing 144 video sequences based on 12 short movie clips. These vary by: frame rate; frame dimension; bit-rate; and affect. An evaluation by 76 participants drawn from the United Kingdom, Singapore, India, and China suggests adequate distinction between the video sequences in terms of perceived quality as well as positive and negative affect. Nationality also emerged as a significant predictor, supporting the rationale for further study. By sharing the dataset, this paper aims to promote work modeling human factors in multimedia perception.

Modelling Human Factors in Perceptual Multimedia Quality: On The Role of Personality and Culture

Perception of multimedia quality is shaped by a rich interplay between system, context and human factors. While system and context factors are widely researched, few studies consider human factors as sources of systematic variance. This paper presents an analysis on the influence of personality and cultural traits on the perception of multimedia quality. A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie excerpts) were rated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, three models are compared: a baseline model that only considers system factors; an extended model that includes personality and culture as human factors; and an optimistic model in which each participant is modelled as a random effect. An analysis shows that personality and cultural traits represent 9.3\% of the variance attributable to human factors while human factors overall predict an equal or higher proportion of variance compared to system factors. In addition, the quality-enjoyment correlation varied across the excerpts. This suggests that human factors play an important role in perceptual multimedia quality, but further research to explore moderation effects and a broader range of human factors is warranted.

Do Personality and Culture Influence Perceived Video Quality and Enjoyment

The interplay between system, context, and human factors is important in perception of multimedia quality. However, studies on human factors are very limited in comparison to those for system and context factors. This article presents an attempt to explore the influence of personality and cultural traits on perception of multimedia quality. As a first step, a database consisting of 144 video sequences from 12 short movie excerpts has been assembled and rated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, thereby providing a useful ground-truth for this (as well as future) study. As a second step, three statistical models are compared: (i) a baseline model to only consider system factors; (ii) an extended model to include personality and culture; and (iii) an optimistic model in which each participant is modeled. As a third step, predictive models based on content, affect, system, and human factors are trained to generalize the statistical findings. As shown by statistical analysis, personality and cultural traits represent 9.3% of the variance attributable to human factors, and human factors overall predict an equal or higher proportion of variance compared to system factors. Moreover, the quality-enjoyment correlation varies across the excerpts. Predictive models trained by including human factors demonstrate about 3% and 9% improvement over models trained solely based on system factors for predicting perceived quality and enjoyment. As evidenced by this, human factors indeed are important in perceptual multimedia quality, but the results suggest further investigation of moderation effects and a broader range of human factors is necessary.

Implicit theories of programming aptitude as a barrier to learning to code: are they distinct from intelligence?

Contemporary psychology has shown that self-theories can have a profound influence on affect and behavior. Entity-theorists, believing their traits are fixed, adopt maladaptive learning strategies in the face of difficulty. In contrast, incremental-theorists, believing their qualities can change, often adopt mastery-orientated strategies. However, can this concept be domain-specific? This poster presentation challenges the notion of a single dominant mindset. People can nurture a variety of beliefs about different traits, so in the minds of learners, programming aptitude may not be the same as intelligence. The results from a confirmatory factor analysis of 94 responses to an undergraduate programming experience survey indicate that beliefs towards aptitude are empirically distinct from those towards intelligence, suggesting that alternate self-traits should be considered when extending self-theories into specific domains.

Designing Accessible Games with the VERITAS Framework: Lessons Learned from Game Designers

Testing is important to improve accessibility. However, within the serious games area, this can sometimes rely on minimal testing with the use of heuristics and external assistive devices, with limited input from impaired users. Efficiency would be improved if designers could readily evaluate their designs with the assistance of virtual users. The VERITAS framework simulates and presents data on the impact of a virtual user’s impairments; thus, facilitating a more efficient approach to inclusive design. This article reports insights into the use of the framework by 31 evaluators from the serious games field. A log-file analysis highlights key areas of concern, which are then further explored through a questionnaire. The findings suggest that the background knowledge of designers should be considered in order to improve acceptance and usability. Specifically, by addressing challenges comprehending interface elements, following the simulation workflow, and reacting to feedback.

Designing for designers: Towards the development of accessible ICT products and services using the VERITAS framework

Among key design practices which contribute to the development of inclusive ICT products and services is user testing with people with disabilities. Traditionally, this involves partial or minimal user testing through the usage of standard heuristics, employing external assisting devices, and the direct feedback of impaired users. However, efficiency could be improved if designers could readily analyse the needs of their target audience. The VERITAS framework simulates and systematically analyses how users with various impairments interact with the use of ICT products and services. Findings show that the VERITAS framework is useful to designers, offering an intuitive approach to inclusive design.

A multimedia based laboratory course for environmental engineering fundamentals and process design

Many environmental engineering curricula across the nation are being redesigned to emphasize fundamentals of environmental engineering process dynamics and to acquire familiarity with the procedures for obtaining and determining design parameters for design of full-scale systems for treatment and remediation of water and wastewater. The objective of this proposal is to develop multimedia laboratory courseware to supplement these types of courses and provide students with an active learning environment in which conceptual theories can be visually observed and controlled.

Game Development for Computer Science Education

Games can be a valuable tool for enriching computer science education, since they can facilitate a number of conditions that promote learning: student motivation, active learning, adaptivity, collaboration, and simulation. Additionally, they provide the instructor the ability to collect learning metrics with relative ease. As part of 21st Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2016), the Game Development for Computer Science Education working group convened to examine the current role games play in computer science (CS) education, including where and how they fit into CS education. Based on reviews of literature, academic research, professional practice, and a comprehensive list of games for computing education, we present this working group report. This report provides a summary of existing digital games designed to enrich computing education, an index of where these games may fit into a teaching paradigm using the ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curricula 2013 [13], and a guide to developing digital games designed to teach knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to computer science.