Milton Rosenberg

Feedback Specificity and the Learning of Intercultural Communication Skills

The role of explicit feedback in learning has been studied from a variety of perspectives and in many contexts. In this paper, we examine the impact of the specificity of feedback delivered by an intelligent tutoring system in a game-based environment for cultural learning. We compared two versions: one that provided only “bottom-out” hints and feedback versus one that provided only conceptual messages. We measured during-training performance, in-game transfer, and long-term retention. Consistent with our hypotheses, specific feedback utterances produced inferior learning on the in-game transfer task when compared to conceptual utterances. No differences were found on a web-based post-test. We discuss possible explanations for these findings, particularly as they relate to the learning of loosely defined skills and serious games.

Situated Pedagogical Authoring: Authoring Intelligent Tutors from a Student’s Perspective

We describe the Situated Pedagogical Authoring (SitPed) system that seeks to allow non-technical authors to create ITS content for soft-skills training, such as counseling skills. SitPed is built on the assertion that authoring tools should use the learner’s perspective to the greatest extent possible. SitPed provides tools for creating tasks lists, authoring assessment knowledge, and creating tutor messages. We present preliminary findings of a two-phase study comparing authoring in SitPed to an ablated version of the same system and a spreadsheet-based control. Findings suggest modest advantages for SitPed in terms of the quality of the authored content and student learning.

Feature-preserving 3D thumbnail creation via mesh decomposition and approximation

We propose an innovative approach to feature-preserving 3D thumbnail creation in this research. The 3D thumbnail system aims to help the user efficiently browse 3D models in a large 3D database. The user can browse multiple 3D models with pre-generated 3D thumbnails, and view them from different angles interactively. The 3D thumbnail is a simplified version of the original model and requires much less memory and time to render. In the proposed system, we separate the framework into offline and online two processes for improving the run-time performance. Two types of descriptors of each 3D model are first generated offline and, then, the thumbnail result can be quickly rendered online using these pre-generated descriptors. Preliminary experimental results are given to demonstrate the proposed methodology.

Reflective tutoring for immersive simulation

Reflection is critically important for time-constrained training simulations that do not permit extensive tutor-student interactions during an exercise. Here, we describe a reflective tutoring system for a virtual human simulation of negotiation. The tutor helps students review their exercise, elicits where and how they could have done better, and uses explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) to allow students the chance to ask questions about the virtual humans behavior.

Technologies and the development of the Automated Metadata Indexing and Analysis (AMIA) system

The Automated Metadata Indexing and Analysis (AMIA) project aims to provide an effective digital asset management (DAM) tool for large digital asset databases. We began with text-based indexing since it is still the most reliable approach as compared with other content-based media features. AMIA not only searches for the text of the file name, but also utilizes embedded information such as the metadata in Maya files. The AMIA system builds a linked map between all dependency files. We present an approach of preserving previously established metadata created by the old DAM tools, such as AlienBrain, and integrating them into the new system. Findings indicate that AMIA has significantly improved search performance comparing to previous DAM tools. Finally, the ongoing and future work in the AMIA project is described.