Tom Carey

The state of user-centered design practice

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Learning Design Repositories: Adapting Learning Design Specifications for Shared Instructional Knowledge.

The IMS Learning Design specification provides a potential means for capturing units of instruction in a machine-readable, consistent way. However, in order for the IMS Learning Design specification to be used widely by educators and instructional designers for whom it is intended, we will need effective ways for users to contribute to, access and adapt the repositories where reusable learning designs are collected and stored. This paper describes a project conducted to develop and test a prototype search model for learning design repositories. We argue for development of a controlled vocabulary to describe and label learning designs. In this way, designs can be accessed according to a variety of pedagogical, as well as topical criteria specific to the instructional purposes and perspectives of the user.

Educational Rationale Metadata for Learning Objects.

Instructors searching for learning objects in online repositories will be guided in their choices by the content of the object, the characteristics of the learners addressed, and the learning process embodied in the object. We report here on a feasibility study for metadata to record process-oriented information about instructional approaches for learning objects, though a set of Educational Rationale [ER] tags which would allow authors to describe the critical elements in their design intent. The prototype ER tags describe activities which have been demonstrated to be of value in learning, and authors select the activities whose support was critical in their design decisions. The prototype ER tag set consists descriptors of the instructional approach used in the design, plus optional sub-elements for Comments, Importance and Features which implement the design intent. The tag set was tested by creators of four learning object modules, three intended for post-secondary learners and one for K-12 students and their families. In each case the creators reported that the ER tag set allowed them to express succinctly the key instructional approaches embedded in their designs. These results confirmed the overall feasibility of the ER tag approach as a means of capturing design intent from creators of learning objects. Much work remains to be done before a usable ER tag set could be specified, including evaluating the impact of ER tags during design to improve instructional quality of learning objects.

Extraction of Text Phrases Using Hierarchical Grammar

This paper presents an algorithm for extraction of phrases from text documents. The algorithm builds phrases by iteratively merging bigrams according to an association measure.Tw o association measures are presented: mutual information and t-test. The extracted phrases are tested in a document classification task using a tf/idf model and a k-nearest neighbor classifier.

Design evolution in a multimedia tutorial on user-centered design

New modes of lifelong learning in the workplace require interface designs which support new contexts for learning. We descnie here a workplace learning support system for instmction in User-centered Design [UCD]. The design evolution of this system illustrates how the “why, where, when and with whom” of use affects the “what and how” of the interaction design. The tutorial system includes a multimedia Case Study, a Methods Tour of UCD techniques, and a Test Drive in which users take simulated roles in a UCD project. This paper describes how the content and features were adapted as de target audience evolved from individual learners in a career curricula to collaborative groups within a project team.

TeleCHI: an on-line community for HCI professionals

This paper describes a new online community for HCI knowledge leaders across Canada. This community, TeleCHI, establishes a venue for experts and knowledge apprentices to network, practice and critique the tools and resources of HCI. TeleCHI events are discussed along with how this community is supported by a model for integrated telelearning communities.

Learning about user-centred design: a multimedia case study tutorial

This multimedia tutrial provides a learning support system for continuing education in HCI. The system includes an authentic case study of a design project, a guide to user-centred design concepts, active role-playing activities and links to the larger professional community.

Human-computer interaction

An interdisciplinary field focused on the interactions between human users and computer systems, inc…

Interactive narrative and knowledge stewardship

This workshop will bring together a diverse set of participants to explore the use of interactive narrative for knowledge stewardship. Participants will bring existing or proposed interactive narratives for analysis and review. The workshop will also develop a draft research agenda linking various disciplinary perspectives.

The Use of 'War Stories' in Intelligent Learning Environments

Stories occupy a central role in training and instruction, and in many professional contexts is an intrinsic element in the enculturation and education of novice practitioners. “War stories” are valuable pieces of information that experienced mentors share with trainees, and when appropriately selected, can illustrate a concept when the learner is in a position to best understand and apply that concept. Stories hold promise for instructional applications because: Stories are contextual: a story encapsulates ideas and concepts within a rich set of contextual cues that can render the ideas and concepts immediately accessible to the learner. Stories show utility: a story can not only illustrate a skill or concept, but also a set of conditions under which that skill or concept is appropriate (or inappropriate) to apply. Stories are real: abstractions are often difficult to master whereas a story is a real-life instantiation of some abstract set of principles. Stories are memorable: Human memory is organized experientially; we are more adept at logging away specific episodes than at memorizing facts and axioms. A story is more readily retained because it associates a set of concepts with a corresponding sequence of events. Stories are provocative: Much of human conversation entails telling stories. As we hear a story we naturally draw inferences, explain, pose questions, and get reminded of similar stories. Stories are believable: Reading a decontextualized explanation of a phenomenon is not nearly as convincing as hearing a credible mentor discuss first-hand knowledge of that phenomenon.