Category Archives: informatics

Invitation to Mirela Gutica’s PhD Defense

Designing Educational Games and Advanced Learning Technologies:
An Identification of Emotions for Modeling Pedagogical and Adaptive Emotional Agents

by
Mirela Gutica

Abstract: Emotional, cognitive, and motivational processes are dynamic and influence each other during learning. The goal of this dissertation is to gain a better understanding of emotion interaction in order to design Advanced Learning Technologies (ALTs) and Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) that adapt to emotional needs. In order for ITSs to recognize and respond to affective states, the system needs to have knowledge of learners’ behaviors and states. Based on emotion frameworks in affective computing and education, this study responds to this need by providing an in-depth analysis of students’ affective states during learning with an educational mathematics game for grade 5-7 (Heroes of Math Island) specifically designed for this research study and based on principles of instructional and game design.

The mixed methodology research design had two components: (1) a quasi-experimental study and (2) affect analysis. The quasi-experimental study included pretest, intervention (gameplay), and posttest, followed by a post-questionnaire and interview. Affect analysis involved the process of identifying what emotions should be observed, and video annotations by trained judges.

The study contributes to related research by: (1) reviewing sets of emotions important for learning derived from literature and pilot studies; (2) analyzing inter-judge agreement both aggregated and over individual students to gain a better understanding of how individual differences in expression affect emotion recognition; (3) examining in detail what and how many emotions actually occur or are expressed in the standard 20-second interval; (4) designing a standard method including a protocol and an instrument for trained judges; and (5) offering an in-depth exploration of the students’ subjective reactions with respect to gameplay and the mathematics content. This study analyzes and proposes an original set of emotions derived from literature and observations during gameplay. The most relevant emotions identified were boredom, confidence, confusion/hesitancy, delight/pleasure, disappointment / displeasure, engaged concentration, and frustration. Further research on this set is recommended for design of ALTs or ITSs that motivate students and respond to their cognitive and emotional needs. The methodological protocol developed to label and analyze emotions should be evaluated and tested in future studies.

Defense:
When: March 17, 2014 @ 9:00 am
Where: Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, UBC

Using Learning Analytics to Understand the Design of an Intelligent Language Tutor

Using Learning Analytics to Understand the Design of an Intelligent Language Tutor– Chatbot Lucy

by
Yifei Wang & Stephen Petrina

Abstract—the goal of this article is to explore how learning analytics can be used to predict and advise the design of an intelligent language tutor, chatbot Lucy. With its focus on using student-produced data to understand the design of Lucy to assist English language learning, this research can be a valuable component for language-learning designers to improve second language acquisition. In this article, we present students’ learning journey and data trails, the chatting log architecture and resultant applications to the design of language learning systems.

June Kaminski wins 2012 CASN e-Health Award

June Kaminski (Kwantlen Polytechnic University faculty member and UBC PhD student)
2012 Nursing Faculty e-Health Award

Congratulations to EDCP PhD Candidate June Kaminski, recipient of the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing’s (CASN) prestigious E-Health Award! June is an Instructor in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Faculty of Community and Health Studies. She has been an established national leader in e-health and nursing informatics throughout her career and this award recognizes her long-standing and ground-breaking achievements. She is completing research on e-health and informatics, and the challenge of innovation in nurse education. June works under the Supervision of Dr. Stephen Petrina within Technology Studies.

Kwantlen Press Release

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) nursing faculty member, June Kaminski, has been chosen as the recipient of the Nursing Faculty e-Health Award. This prestigious award was presented during the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing’s (CASN) Annual Award’s reception in Ottawa on November 13, 2012.

“I am very honoured and thrilled to receive this inaugural award from CASN and Canada Health Infoway, two organizations that I deeply respect and look to for leadership strategies for curriculum, e-health and informatics,” said Kaminski. “I wish to thank my nominators Dr. Noreen Frisch and Dr. Elizabeth Borycki from the University of Victoria, both creators of Inspire.net and our own Dr. Jean Nicolson-Church. Thanks too to our Dean, Dr. Tru Freeman for her continued support. I sincerely treasure the acknowledgement of my work and my passion for technology in nursing practice and education.”

The recipient of this award is a faculty member from a Canadian school of nursing who demonstrates exceptional leadership and commitment to e-health in nursing education.  Aside from national recognition, Kaminski also received a $2000 award for her dedication to effectively integrating the use of information and communication technologies, information and knowledge management, and related professional and regulatory accountability into pedagogical materials.
The 2012 Nursing Faculty e-Health Award is a component of the CASN-Canada Health Infoway – Nurses in Training project aimed at preparing nursing students to practice in modern, technology-enabled clinical environments when they graduate.

KPU’s community and health studies programs are grounded in the concepts of caring, collaboration, inclusion and development of healthier communities. Programs vary in length from four year bachelor degrees to five month citations. For more information on KPU’s community and health studies programs visit kwantlen.ca/health.

The SPRING 7th International Conference on Knowledge Generation, Communication and Management: KGCM 2013

Call for participation from the KGCM 2013 Organizing Committee, for the 7th International Conference on Knowledge Generation, communication, and Management: KGCM 2013

(www.2013iiisconferences.org/kgcm), to be held on March 19-22, 2013, in Orlando, Florida, USA. (image below from site)

Submission Deadline:

December 14th, 2012 (other deadlines are included in the conference web site)

**************** Special Tracks ****************

  • Case Studies and Methodologies
  • Interdisciplinary Research, Education, and Communication

• International Symposium on Integrating Research, Education, and Problem Solving

  • Action Research and Action Learning
  • Peer Reviewing

    Information about the general topics can be found at the conference web site

    Submissions for face-to-face and virtual presentations are both accepted. Best papers will be published in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics, and Informatics (JSCI)

    JSCI is indexed by Cabell, EBSCO, and DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), as well as in Google Scholar. (All papers to be presented at the conference will be included in the conference printed and electronic proceedings)

Details about the following issues have also been included at the conference web site (URL given above):

  • Pre- and post-conference virtual session
  • Virtual participation
  • Two-tier reviewing combining double-blind and non- blind methods

• Access to reviewers’ comments and evaluation average
• Waiving the registration fee of effective invited session organizers
• Best papers awards

Possible deadlines extension and information about the events being organized for the IIIS Summer Conference on July 9 – 12, 2013, in Orlando, Florida, USA, can be found at http://www.2013iiisconferences.org/current- deadlines.asp