We have created an electronic field investigation to help students discover the dynamics of river... more We have created an electronic field investigation to help students discover the dynamics of river processes using the example of the Tuolumne River, in Yosemite National Park. The experience simulates a field trip to Tuolumne Meadows, where the students make a series of visual observations based on ground and aerial photographs. We want them to build as full a set
OUR RESEARCH IS BROADLY CONCERNED WITH COMPUTATIONAL THEORIES OF EXPLAN- ATION AND THEIR APPLICAT... more OUR RESEARCH IS BROADLY CONCERNED WITH COMPUTATIONAL THEORIES OF EXPLAN- ATION AND THEIR APPLICATION TO COMPUTER-BASED "KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS" (WENGER 1987), E.G., ADVISORY AND TUTORING SYSTEMS WHICH SERVE AS A MEDIUM FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. IN THIS CONTEXT, EXPLANATION IS "THE ACT OR PROCESS OF MAKING PLAIN OR COMPREHENSIBLE; ELUCIDATION; CLARIFICATION" ("AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY"). EXPLANATION RESEARCH ACCOUNT FOR THE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF EXPLICIT COMMUNICATIONS, DIRECTED TOWARDS SPECIFIC INFORMATIVE GOALS. IT IS LESS CONCERNED WITH INDIRECT MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, SUCH AS DISCOVERY LEARNING OR SOCRATIC DIALOGUE TECHNIQUES. DIAGNOSTIC ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS THE MAINTENANCE OF A USER MODEL, FALL OUTSIDE ITS REALM, THOUGH A THEORY OF EXPLANATION SHOULD SPECIFY HOW TO USE THE RESULTING INFORMATION. IN THIS EXTENDED ABSTRACT, WE BEGIN BY ARGUING FOR ANALYZING EXPLANATION AT AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL LEVEL, OUTLINE THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WE ARE UNDERTAKING, AND USE AN EXAMPLE EXPLANATION TO ILLUSTRATE SOME OF THE ISSUES WE ARE ADDRESSING.
Proceedings of the 17th conference on ACM Annual Computer Science Conference, Feb 21, 1989
"Teams of Robots" (TOR) is a promising research topic of computer science that is curre... more "Teams of Robots" (TOR) is a promising research topic of computer science that is currently attracting attention from research computer scientists. A TOR explores how to organize two or more robots into one team, to enable them to cooperate with each other and to make them adapt to their environment and respond to changes in their world. A special Team of Robots which has a <b>time-constraint</b> in the cooperation procedure is called a "Real-Time TOR". Research on TOR results from advances in Distributed Systems and Artificial Intelligence. This large scale system is based on technology derived from the fields of robotics, distributed operating systems, distributed problem solving, large scale system theory, mechanical engineering and communication engineering. Different TORs might use different approaches to share the world. According to this view, we classify TORs into three model types. • World-Independent TOR In the world-independent TOR, each robot is related only to its own world and cooperates only in a limited way with other robots. In this model, the action of robot <i>i</i> can only change the world <i>i.</i> The change of world <i>i</i> does not directly affect the world <i>j.</i> The advantage of this model is that it is easy to implement and its disadvantage is that it is not very powerful. • World-Shared TOR In the World-Shared model, all robots within a TOR are connected to a shared world. If the action of robot (i) changes the world, then that change will affect the action plan of the other robots in the same TOR. Since all robots share the same world, their ability to affect that world is much greater than that of a single robot. The disadvantage is that the implementation is much more complicated and cooperative action needs to be synchronized to avoid conflicts. • Partially-Shared World TOR This model is between the World-Independent and the World-Shared Models. A node model for a TOR describes the software architecture of the individual robots in a TOR. The node model is hierarchical, and includes three levels of modules which are relatively independent of each other. Communication between two modules is only through interface commands between them. The top level module in each robot is the TOR Control Program Module. It is in charge of controlling the local robot's cooperation with other robots in the TOR. The middle-level module is the kernel of a distributed operating system(DOS) and the bottom-level modules include various function subsystems. DOS schedules the processes of both the top-level application programs and the bottom-level subsystems. The potential application, the communication subsystem, and the high level control and cooperation in TOR are discussed in detail in this paper. Many applications await the early appearance of the Team of Robots in the computer world marketplace. TOR must be fault-tolerant, difference-tolerant and uncertainty-tolerant. To implement a TOR, the distributed robot research group must include computer scientists (in both systems and AI fields), communication engineers, mechanical engineers, and anthropologists.
Publisher Summary Several teaching approaches are implemented in intelligent tutors. These approa... more Publisher Summary Several teaching approaches are implemented in intelligent tutors. These approaches are divided into three categories: those based on human teaching, informed by learning theory, and facilitated by technology. The first classification of teaching strategies is based on empirical models and human teachers' observations. The four teaching strategies based on human teaching include apprenticeship training, problem solving, tutorial dialogue, and collaborative learning. The second category of tutoring strategies used in intelligent tutors is based on models informed by human learning theories. Learning theories are selected based on a pragmatic viewpoint, including considerations of the domain, nature of the learning, and level of the learners. One of the tutoring strategies informed by human learning theory is derived from constructivism, which suggests that learners construct their own reality or at least interpret it based upon their perceptions of experiences. The final classification of tutoring strategies—those derived from technology, and includes pedagogical agents, and synthetic humans. Technology-based teaching methods are compelling, engaging, and effective as teaching aids, and provide exciting opportunities for future research.
We have created an electronic field investigation to help students discover the dynamics of river... more We have created an electronic field investigation to help students discover the dynamics of river processes using the example of the Tuolumne River, in Yosemite National Park. The experience simulates a field trip to Tuolumne Meadows, where the students make a series of visual observations based on ground and aerial photographs. We want them to build as full a set
OUR RESEARCH IS BROADLY CONCERNED WITH COMPUTATIONAL THEORIES OF EXPLAN- ATION AND THEIR APPLICAT... more OUR RESEARCH IS BROADLY CONCERNED WITH COMPUTATIONAL THEORIES OF EXPLAN- ATION AND THEIR APPLICATION TO COMPUTER-BASED "KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS" (WENGER 1987), E.G., ADVISORY AND TUTORING SYSTEMS WHICH SERVE AS A MEDIUM FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. IN THIS CONTEXT, EXPLANATION IS "THE ACT OR PROCESS OF MAKING PLAIN OR COMPREHENSIBLE; ELUCIDATION; CLARIFICATION" ("AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY"). EXPLANATION RESEARCH ACCOUNT FOR THE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF EXPLICIT COMMUNICATIONS, DIRECTED TOWARDS SPECIFIC INFORMATIVE GOALS. IT IS LESS CONCERNED WITH INDIRECT MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, SUCH AS DISCOVERY LEARNING OR SOCRATIC DIALOGUE TECHNIQUES. DIAGNOSTIC ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS THE MAINTENANCE OF A USER MODEL, FALL OUTSIDE ITS REALM, THOUGH A THEORY OF EXPLANATION SHOULD SPECIFY HOW TO USE THE RESULTING INFORMATION. IN THIS EXTENDED ABSTRACT, WE BEGIN BY ARGUING FOR ANALYZING EXPLANATION AT AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL LEVEL, OUTLINE THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WE ARE UNDERTAKING, AND USE AN EXAMPLE EXPLANATION TO ILLUSTRATE SOME OF THE ISSUES WE ARE ADDRESSING.
Proceedings of the 17th conference on ACM Annual Computer Science Conference, Feb 21, 1989
"Teams of Robots" (TOR) is a promising research topic of computer science that is curre... more "Teams of Robots" (TOR) is a promising research topic of computer science that is currently attracting attention from research computer scientists. A TOR explores how to organize two or more robots into one team, to enable them to cooperate with each other and to make them adapt to their environment and respond to changes in their world. A special Team of Robots which has a <b>time-constraint</b> in the cooperation procedure is called a "Real-Time TOR". Research on TOR results from advances in Distributed Systems and Artificial Intelligence. This large scale system is based on technology derived from the fields of robotics, distributed operating systems, distributed problem solving, large scale system theory, mechanical engineering and communication engineering. Different TORs might use different approaches to share the world. According to this view, we classify TORs into three model types. • World-Independent TOR In the world-independent TOR, each robot is related only to its own world and cooperates only in a limited way with other robots. In this model, the action of robot <i>i</i> can only change the world <i>i.</i> The change of world <i>i</i> does not directly affect the world <i>j.</i> The advantage of this model is that it is easy to implement and its disadvantage is that it is not very powerful. • World-Shared TOR In the World-Shared model, all robots within a TOR are connected to a shared world. If the action of robot (i) changes the world, then that change will affect the action plan of the other robots in the same TOR. Since all robots share the same world, their ability to affect that world is much greater than that of a single robot. The disadvantage is that the implementation is much more complicated and cooperative action needs to be synchronized to avoid conflicts. • Partially-Shared World TOR This model is between the World-Independent and the World-Shared Models. A node model for a TOR describes the software architecture of the individual robots in a TOR. The node model is hierarchical, and includes three levels of modules which are relatively independent of each other. Communication between two modules is only through interface commands between them. The top level module in each robot is the TOR Control Program Module. It is in charge of controlling the local robot's cooperation with other robots in the TOR. The middle-level module is the kernel of a distributed operating system(DOS) and the bottom-level modules include various function subsystems. DOS schedules the processes of both the top-level application programs and the bottom-level subsystems. The potential application, the communication subsystem, and the high level control and cooperation in TOR are discussed in detail in this paper. Many applications await the early appearance of the Team of Robots in the computer world marketplace. TOR must be fault-tolerant, difference-tolerant and uncertainty-tolerant. To implement a TOR, the distributed robot research group must include computer scientists (in both systems and AI fields), communication engineers, mechanical engineers, and anthropologists.
Publisher Summary Several teaching approaches are implemented in intelligent tutors. These approa... more Publisher Summary Several teaching approaches are implemented in intelligent tutors. These approaches are divided into three categories: those based on human teaching, informed by learning theory, and facilitated by technology. The first classification of teaching strategies is based on empirical models and human teachers' observations. The four teaching strategies based on human teaching include apprenticeship training, problem solving, tutorial dialogue, and collaborative learning. The second category of tutoring strategies used in intelligent tutors is based on models informed by human learning theories. Learning theories are selected based on a pragmatic viewpoint, including considerations of the domain, nature of the learning, and level of the learners. One of the tutoring strategies informed by human learning theory is derived from constructivism, which suggests that learners construct their own reality or at least interpret it based upon their perceptions of experiences. The final classification of tutoring strategies—those derived from technology, and includes pedagogical agents, and synthetic humans. Technology-based teaching methods are compelling, engaging, and effective as teaching aids, and provide exciting opportunities for future research.
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Papers by Beverly Woolf