Interactive Systems Auburn University

1. Interactive SystemsAuburn University

2. Computer Science Education HCI, AI, Game Design, Usability Projects Educational Gaming and CSDT development Mathematics & Technology Financial Literacy Alice & Lego Programming Project Study of Novice Programmer Techniques for Programming What level of materials for K-12 to keep them engaged? NSF IPY Visualization and Ice Sheet Modeling, Google API NSF BPC PAIRS Web Development to support educational digital library Seniors in Second Life application development iPhone Development Web Design and Development

3. User Interface DesignAuburn University

4. Good Design (our goal!) “Every designer wants to build a high-quality interactive system that is admired by colleagues, celebrated by users, circulated widely, and imitated frequently.” (Shneiderman, 1992, p.7) …and anything goes!…

5. The Good…

6. The Bad…

7. Why is this a better design?

8. The Ugly…

9. The Ugly…

10. The (really) Ugly…

11. What The…???

12. Closer to Fine Arts: A Philosophy …The human user of any system is the focus of the design process. Planning and implementation is done with the user in mind, and the system is made to fit the user, not the other way around….

13. The Design of Every Day Things “Understanding how to operate a novel device had three major dimensions: affordances, constraints and conceptual models”

14. Developing a Conceptual Model Object and Action Analysis Lexicon or Ontology Scenarios

15. Opportunities for Design Ubiquitous computing (mother of them all) Pervasive computing Wearable computing Attentive environments Transparent computing Real-World User Interfaces Software Agents Mobile/wearable computing Information Visualization Computer Augmented Environments Virtual reality Website/Web Application Design

16. Web Design When we begin creating a design, where do we begin. Like any creative effort, design is like art and for many it is terrible difficult to start with an empty slate. We need something to boost our creativity, like design templates. You can use templates if you are stuck, but best strategy is to build custom applications that fit you user needs.When we begin creating a design, where do we begin. Like any creative effort, design is like art and for many it is terrible difficult to start with an empty slate. We need something to boost our creativity, like design templates. You can use templates if you are stuck, but best strategy is to build custom applications that fit you user needs.

17. UID & Web Design

18. UID & Web Design

19. UID & Web Design

20. UID & Web Design

21. Interface Design Rules of interface design – Ben Shneiderman Strive for consistency, informative feedback Design dialogs to yield closure error prevention and simple error handling Support undo and reduce short-term memory load. First rule of usability? Don’t listen to users – Jakob Nielson Conducted series of experiments to become familiar with user population and gathered user task profiles Fun Learning Stagecast Creator. Seals, Rosson, Carroll, Lewis Community Design of Community Simulations. Rosson, Carroll, Seals Teachers as Simulation Programmers. Rosson, Seals

22. Universal Design & Auto Design We Are Getting Older I recently watched an elderly lady struggle to extricate herself from the front seat of a car. "Now there is a huge opportunity," I said to myself, "we live in an aging society, yet we still design for the young and able. Why not address this huge, important market?" There is a tendency to shy away from designing for the impaired. This is a special-interest group, it is feared, one that will drive away other customers. Wrong. Designs intended to make life easier for the elderly or handicapped can be useful for everyone.

23. Background: Simulations/Construction Kits Allow users to create interesting simulations, but the user is limited to preprogrammed behavior SimCity [www.simcity.com] Pinball Construction Set [Electronic Arts] Star Wars Droid Works [Lucas Learning] ActivChemistry [Salamander interactive] We want to provide the rich game-like feeling of a construction kit for ease of creation, but allow user the power to specialize simulation

24. Programming in AgentSheets Agentsheets main interface is a simulation microworld where objects interact. Users program by direct manipulation: dragging condition and action templates to the rule window.

26. Programming Studies of Alice 3D (Strickland, Seals) Consider the Minimalist Model Minimalist instructional model emphasizes rapid start-up and meaningful tasks “…uses the learner’s self-initiated efforts to find meaning in the activities of learning” (Carroll, 1990) Works well when there is no instructor present Turns errors into learning situations

27. Description of Research Alice 3D has an included tutorial implemented in training wheels technique Review the current instructional system tutorial Develop a minimalist instructional tutorial Utilize non-computer experts to help evaluate both training methods

28. Description of the Work, cont. Software is free 3D authoring tool Mature Easy to use by novices Programmers build interactive worlds Can run on any computer Easy to utilize tutorials

29. Alice 3D Training Session This is how the program appears after executing.This is how the program appears after executing.

30. Alice 3D Training Session,cont. In the working example, the user worked with an ice skater. The ice skater can move forward or backwards. The ice skater can spin and jump. Figure 3 shows a screen capture from the system tutorial. In the working example, the user worked with an ice skater. The ice skater can move forward or backwards. The ice skater can spin and jump. Figure 3 shows a screen capture from the system tutorial.

31. Methodology Compare two tutorials A 40-page included system tutorial AU created 16-page minimalist tutorial Two populations Youth (late elementary to middle school) Young adults (college students) Exposed to only one tutorial (i.e. Between-groups method) Sessions timed Errors logged Reasons for Selecting the Young Any younger than third grade and the children might be too immature and reading comprehension skills not be well enough developed to understand the language used within the two tutorials. Children between third grade and middle school have had some expose to computers, tended to be more mature, have better reading comprehension, and are eager to try out new things. Any older than middle school, then the person is “bringing to the table” the baggage of being a “teenager in love.” Reasons for Selecting College Students Alabama considers anyone including college students under the age of 19 as being minors and still subject to parental oversight. To avoid problems obtaining parental permission of young college student, only those who were 19 and older were invited to take part. Also, computer science majors were not invited since these individuals would have a better understanding of using computers than the typical college student. Reasons for Selecting the Young Any younger than third grade and the children might be too immature and reading comprehension skills not be well enough developed to understand the language used within the two tutorials. Children between third grade and middle school have had some expose to computers, tended to be more mature, have better reading comprehension, and are eager to try out new things. Any older than middle school, then the person is “bringing to the table” the baggage of being a “teenager in love.” Reasons for Selecting College Students Alabama considers anyone including college students under the age of 19 as being minors and still subject to parental oversight. To avoid problems obtaining parental permission of young college student, only those who were 19 and older were invited to take part. Also, computer science majors were not invited since these individuals would have a better understanding of using computers than the typical college student.

32. Tutorial Evaluation Pre-activity questionnaire User high-level background Computer User Experience (CUE) Paired computers The participant with Alice 3D The observer with Remote Assistance and SnagIt Post-activity survey Guage user acceptance of software Investigate whether training communicated basic programming concepts with knowledge test

33. Analytical Exploration and Experimental Assessment, cont. Expectations System tutorial participants Would understand the system better Would take longer to complete the tutorial Youth would be bored Minimalist tutorial participants Have little understanding of the environment Would finish the tutorial quickly Both age groups would do well Able to create new objects and methods immediately

34. Virtual Communities Creating Virtual Communities to Support novice users.Creating Virtual Communities to Support novice users.

35. Virtual Communities Creating Virtual Communities to Support novice users.Creating Virtual Communities to Support novice users.

36. Virtual Community:Teach Alabama

37. SimBuilder Science Cary Woods Elementary School Computer Science Education Research: Project at Cary Woods started in 2006 Study of Novice Programmer Techniques for Programming What level of materials are appropriate for 4th, 5th and 6th grade to keep them engaged? Have existing tutorials appropriate for their teachers Redesign after semester to have more kid friendly instructional manuals Research in Computer Supported Collaborative Work and Virtual Teacher Community (teachalabama.net)

38. Auburn University & Auburn City Schools Broadening Participation in Computing

39. The Need Among the Top 10 fastest growing jobs through 2014 20,000 American graduates with degrees in computing Impact America’s position in global economy

40. Projected Job OutlookFrom Bureau Labor Statistics

41. The Perception Scientists are boring. Scientists are uncool. Scientists are geniuses. Scientists are only white men.

42. The Ripple Effect A small pebble dropped in still water causes change. Excite the youngest Interest the oldest Watch college enrollment increase

43. Student Motivation Today’s student... wants to share knowledge interconnects working, learning, & play anticipates the next level of change (Whitehead, 2003)

44. After School Computer Club Use Carnegie Mellon’s free Alice 3D software (www.alice.org) Create a digital stimulation of a story Explore different literary genres

45. Screen to Turf Integrate programming & robotics Lego Mindstorms NXT Pilot at CWES 5th Grade Venture Pull-Out students

46. Game to Teach & Game to Learn : Benefits for CS Education Gaming is NOT a panacea or Holy Grail Will NOT solve the problems of CS education, such as dwindling enrollments, incorrect perception that there are few jobs because of outsourcing But can offer more interesting challenges May be attractive to students intrigued by games NCSU reported that 80% of their students became majors because they wanted to create computer games -R. Michael Young Center for Digital Entertainment Full Time occupation (Game Development) ElectronicArts (30-50% college hires), Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, SecondLife, LucasArts… Gaming and All CS/IT have lots of job opportunities Very new field of study Standard theory, practice & terminology still being formulated

47. Things Necessary in training Great Problem Solvers = Great Gamers Game vs. Play Need Strong Programmers with the following background Data Structures/Algorithms/Artificial Intelligence Graphics Networks/Parallel Processing Strong Science: Physics Strong Math: Discrete,3D Math vectors/matrices, etc. Introduction to Game Design (2D & 3D) Problem Solving Skills Team work in teams > 2 Work on larger code bases Game is objective Rule Bound PlayGame is objective Rule Bound Play

48. Intro to Game Design Intro with Visual Programming with RoboCode, Alice 3D, AgentSheets, AgentCubes, SimBuilder, GameMaker NL Game AI Game Design Engine 3D Game Studio for 2D & 3D creation with C++ Graphics Design for Character & Scene Development Maya and Blender Open GL (from Graphics class) Cg Game Theory & Multiple Project Components Apply Software Engineering & HCI Techniques Loads of programming Maya and Blender for Model building Open GL (from Graphics class)Maya and Blender for Model building Open GL (from Graphics class)

49. Gaming and CS ED Research Does the medium of game creation cause students to spend more time on their assignments? Spark a Spirit of Competition? Will it inspire them to learn more about computer science and the merits of being a proficient programmer & designer? Will it attract more students to Major, Minor or achieve a certificate in Gaming Technology? Will the students that take this type of course be prepared and competitive in the workforce, because of competitive incentives in class What type of games do girls like to play? Does gender influence gaming, Etc…

50. Game Projects Gaming for Education: Culturally Situated Design Tools Games to support CS Games to support High School AP CS Games to support K-12 mathematical concepts Games for Senior Citizens

51. Educational Games

52. Gaming in Computer & Information Sciences Games can give students incentives to spend more effort into assignments Increases spirit of competition Apply all your computing knowledge Gaming assignments, classes and affinity groups Games are a familiar medium for many students Possibility of attracting more students to Major Job Security Games can be used for training

53. Questions?