Serengul Smith

Teaching and learning queueing theory concepts using Tangible User Interfaces

Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) have emerged in the past years as effective computing platforms that intertwine digital information and visualization with physical interactivity. Whilst successfully capitalizing on these properties within primary education to engage and educate children in an entertaining manner, TUI systems have seen limited deployment in more complex scenarios. To this end, this paper investigates the aptness and effectiveness of implementing TUI systems to enhance teaching and learning within higher educational institutes in order to aid the understanding of complex and abstract concepts. The proposal augments mere simulation processes by developing a table-top architecture to allow the real-time interaction and visualization of queuing theory concepts. The paper describes the deployment of the TUI framework within an undergraduate computer networks degree whereby the quantitative effectiveness of this system is assessed from a teaching and learning perspective within an engineering pedagogy.

The aptness of Tangible User Interfaces for explaining abstract computer network principles

The technological deployment of Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) with their intrinsic ability to interlink the physical and digital domains, have steadily gained interest within the educational sector. As a concrete example of Reality Based Interaction, such digital manipulatives have been successfully implemented in the past years to introduce scientific and engineering concepts at earlier stages throughout the educational cycle. With difference to literature, this research investigates the suitability and effectiveness of implementing a TUI system to enhance the learning experience in a higher education environment. The proposal targets the understanding of advanced computer networking principles by the deployment of an interactive table-top system. Beyond the mere simulation and modelling of networking topologies, the design presents students the ability to directly interact with and visualise the protocol execution, hence augmenting their ability to understand the abstract nature of such algorithms. Following deployment of the proposed innovate prototype within the delivery of a university undergraduate programme, the quantitative effectiveness of this novel methodology will be assessed from both a teaching and learning perspective on its ability to convey the abstract notions of computer network principles.

An Active Tangible User Interface Framework for Teaching and Learning Artificial Intelligence

Interactive and tangible computing platforms have garnered increased interest in the pursuit of embedding active learning pedagogies within curricula through educational technologies. Whilst Tangible User Interface (TUI) systems have successfully been developed to edutain children in various research, TUI architectures have seen limited deployment in more complex and abstract domains. In light of these limitations, this paper proposes an active TUI framework that addresses the challenges experienced in teaching and learning artificial intelligence (AI) within higher educational institutions. The proposal extends an aptly designed tabletop TUI architecture with the novel interactive paradigm of active tangible manipulatives to provide a more engaging and effective user interaction. The paper describes the deployment of the proposed TUI framework within an undergraduate laboratory session to aid in the teaching and learning of artificial neural networks. The experiment is assessed against currently adopted educational computer software and the obtained results highlight the potential of the proposed TUI framework to augment students? gain in knowledge and understanding of abstracted threshold concepts in higher education.

Testing Literacy Educational Software to Develop Design Guidelines for Children with Autism

Abstract Multimedia computer programmes have been found to facilitate learning in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the effectiveness of these resources is limited due to poor design or a lack of consideration of the ASD cognitive profile, particularly at the lower functioning end of the spectrum. This article attempts to tackle the problem of the lack of design guidelines, with the aim of facilitating the development of effective educational programmes for children with severe ASD. The case study reported here evaluated two literacy educational computer programmes, by observing five low-functioning children with ASD, compared to five neurotypical children (control cases). The two types of reading-support software contrasted in the study presented different characteristics. The children’s data analysed here concern observations of child–software interactive sessions based on video recordings and coded for attention deployment to each programme, including motivation and engagement indicators.

Enabling the Effective Teaching and Learning of Advanced Robotics in Higher Education using an Active TUI Framework

This paper presents a tangible user interface (TUI) architecture to help mitigate the educational difficulties in teaching and learning abstract and complex concepts in Software Engineering and Robotics. The tailored design and development of this innovative framework address the unique challenges faced in higher education to actively engage students in technical concepts required to develop smart knowledge infrastructures. The novel integration of active tangible components on TUI tabletop architectures is presented within this paper and evaluated for its effectiveness as an educational technology to explain Robot Operating System (ROS) based sensor network topologies. Analysis of assessed results highlight the aptness and effectiveness of the proposed TUI framework in delivering a knowledge gain of 14.6% over traditional educational technologies. This illustrates the aptness and suitability of integrating tangible technology for abstracted software and robotic engineering concepts within higher educational institutions.