Stéphane Talbot

Evaluation of verification tools for knowledge-based systems

Validation has emerged as a significant problem in the development of knowledge based systems (KBS). Verification of KBS correctness and completeness has been cited as one of the most difficult aspects of validation. A number of software tools have been developed to perform such verification, but none of these are in widespread use. One of the reasons for this is that little quantitative evidence exists to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tools. This paper presents an experimental study of three KBS verification tools: a consistency checker, a completeness checker and a testing tool (for correctness). The tools are evaluated on their ability to reveal plausible faults seeded into a complex, realistic KBS application. The cost of using the tools is also measured. It is shown that each tool is independently effective at detecting certain kinds of fault and that the capabilities of the tools are complementary?a result not revealed by previous studies.

Trace Analysis in Instrumented Collaborative Learning Environments

Observation activity, on instrumented collective learning situations, enables participants to appropriate themselves corresponding systems in their own practice. In this paper, we focus on the analysis stage of the observation process, but we underline the correlations between the different stages. We present an analysis model and a draft of trace description language. Finally, we explain in an example how an observer (e.g. teacher) can exploit collected information to understand particular episodes.

Helping in collaborative activity regulation: modeling regulation scenarii

The regulation was introduced into groupware in order to improve the actors collaboration. In our context, the regulation means the ability given to a group or a person that manages a group. This paper describes an approach of setting up about this regulation thanks to the concept of scenario. This last makes possible to describe the practical application common rules, which can be laid down within a group. These scenarios make possible to modify some actions of the actors, it becomes thus actions scenarized. For that, we will present a model of scenario and representation language

Learning PLM system with a Serious Game

Despite improvements in educational tools, teaching some elements in the field of production engineering is difficult. In this context, teaching PLM systems remains difficult from a motivation point of view. The purpose of this paper is to propose a highly innovative approach around serious gaming. In the PEGASE project, we have realized an environment for coupling a gaming platform and a content platform in order to enact learning scenarios. This article presents this integration environment which is based on the characterization of business activities within the PLM. Then, we describe the design of scenarios in this platform particularly dedicated to learning PLM systems. We then present the validation of our approach based on different experiments performed with students and with industrial partners.

Automatic Analysis Assistant for Studies of Computer-Supported Human Interactions

This paper presents a system architecture to bridge the gap between the users computing activity in collaborative platforms and the analysis of this activity which is carried out by researchers in human and social sciences. This research work tends to highlight the capacity of a computer-supported observation station, based on a theoretical model called TBS (Trace-Based System), to assist researchers automatically in their activity of analysis using a high abstraction level. We present the modules of a prototype of an observation station called CARTE (Collection, activity Analysis and Regulation based on Traces Enriched) which enable the interoperability between the collaborative platforms, where the users produce raw traces and the analysis environments, where the researchers study traces of a very high abstraction level.

Models and mechanisms for implementing playful scenarios

Serious games are becoming an increasingly used alternative in technical/professional/academic fields. However, scenario development poses a challenging problem since it is an expensive task, only devoted to computer specialists (game developers, programmers…). The ultimate goal of our work is to propose a new scenario-building approach capable of ensuring a high degree of deployment and reusability. Thus, we will define in this paper a new generation mechanism. This mechanism is built upon a model driven architecture (MDA). We have started up by enriching the existing standards, which resulted in defining a new generic meta-model (CIM). The resulting meta-model is capable of describing and standardizing game scenarios. Then, we have laid down a new transformational mechanism in order to integrate the indexed game components into operational platforms (PSM). Finally, the effectiveness of our strategy was assessed under two separate contexts (target platforms) : the claroline-connect platform and the unity 3D environment.

Mixed Reality Games

OUR RESEARCH WORK DEALS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW GAME-BASED LEARNING (GBL) ENVIRONMENTS. WE THINK THAT THE WAY OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE DURING A LEARNING SESSION IS SIMILAR TO FOLLOWING AN ADVENTURE IN A ROLE-PLAYING GAME AND WE APPLY THE METAPHOR OF EXPLORING A VIRTUAL WORLD, WHERE EACH STUDENT EMBARKS ON A QUEST IN ORDER TO COLLECT KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO A LEARNING ACTIVITY. IN OUR UNIVERSITY, WE HAVE SET UP NUMBERS OF EXPERIMENTS WITH STUDENTS USING GBL ENVIRONMENTS. THEY REVEALED WEAKNESSES FOR SPECIFIC LEARNING ACTIVITIES. SOMETIMES, LEARNERS SEEM TO ACQUIRE A SKILL IN THE GAME, BUT THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO REUSE IT EASILY IN THE REAL WORLD. THIS IS PARTICULARLY THE CASE FOR SKILLS THAT REQUIRE CONCRETE MANIPULATION OF REAL OBJECTS TO BE ACQUIRED. GBL ENVIRONMENTS THUS LACK OF MEANS TO LEARN KNOW-HOW ASPECTS. SOME OF THE LEARNING PROCESSES INVOLVING REAL WORLD OBJECTS ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO REPRODUCE IN GBL ENVIRONMENTS AND THERE IS AN ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUE IN MIXING VIRTUAL AND REAL ASPECTS IN GBL ENVIRONMENTS. IN THIS ARTICLE, WE DESCRIBE THE POSSIBLE PROBLEMS THAT CAN APPEAR WHEN USING THIS MIXED APPROACH, GIVE HINTS ON HOW TO AVOID THEM AND ILLUSTRATE OUR PROPOSITION WITH EXAMPLES ISSUED FROM THE ELECTRONIC DOMAIN. WE FOCUS ON ISSUES LINKED TO THE TRANSITION BETWEEN VIRTUAL AND REAL WORLDS AND WE EXPLORE HOW NEW ELECTRONIC FEATURES CAN FACILITATE THIS MIXED APPROACH, WHERE IDENTIFICATION, LOCALISATION AND UPDATE OF THE USER MODELS ARE KEY ISSUES.

Interactive Widgets for Regualtion in Learning Games

Learning with Computer Based Learning Environments changes habits, especially for teachers. In this paper, we want to demonstrate how to supply the teacher with understandable feedback on the on-going activity and to offer the appropriate tools to react on the environment. We propose to develop interactive indicators based on activity traces left by the users and use them to regulate the learning activity. This approach is illustrated through a learning game that we are developing in our team.

Activity regulation for building dictionaries on an on-line collaborative platform

This paper discusses automatic regulation in participative Web systems. We present a generic solution with an original trace-centered approach. We describe an experiment with a general trace-based system (TBS) called CARTE (Collection, activity Analysis and Regulation based on Traces Enriched) featuring a regulation mechanism and we couple this system with an on-line generic platform for managing lexical resources called Jibikipedia.