Browsing by Subject "Interaction"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Digital Struggles: Fostering Student Interaction in Online Writing Courses
    (2013-07) Virtue, Andrew David
    Online pedagogical environments present a new set of challenges to instructors who teach them. One of those challenges, often present in online writing courses, is the lack of interaction between students with each other, the instructor, and the course itself. Instead, there is often a certain sense of isolation in online writing courses to the point in which they can feel like modern day correspondence courses. This dissertation provides an overview of a computer mediated discourse analysis conducted during the fall of 2012 of a writing class that employed a combination of independent small groups and a rotating group moderator role. More specifically, each group of students (consisting of 4 members) was invisible to the rest of the class. The groups were used to increase the students&rsquo perceptions of visibility within their groups/course and to increase student agency through the group moderator role. My dissertation focuses on the results from a pre/post survey, three focus groups, and the textual analysis of class forums, peer reviews, and a group project. Using Vygotsky's concept of &ldquozone of proximal development&rdquo as theoretical foundation, I will attempt to answer two research questions: 1) How do small groups and group moderators affect student interaction in online writing courses and 2) What course design choices lead to positive student interaction in online writing courses? Although I cannot provide any general claims based on the small sample size of the participants in this situation, I can illustrate how an online writing course changes when it is configured using small groups and assigning group roles. Additionally, I hope to provide insight into how online writing courses can better facilitate course goals by configuring the online environment in certain ways including ideas on course scheduling, repurposing Web 2.0 technologies, and revising class assignments/activities.
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    Using LED Gaze Cues to Enhance Underwater Human-Robot Interaction
    (2022-05) Prabhu, Aditya; Fulton, Michael; Sattar, Junaed, Ph.D.
    In the underwater domain, conventional methods of communication between divers and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are heavily impeded. Radio signal attenuation, water turbidity (cloudiness), and low light levels make it difficult for a diver and AUV to relay information between each other. Current solutions such as underwater tablets, slates, and tags are not intuitive and introduce additional logistical challenges and points of failure. Intuitive human-robot interaction (HRI) is imperative to ensuring seamless collaboration between AUVs and divers. Eye gazes are a natural form of relaying information between humans, and are an underutilized channel of communication in AUVs, while lights help eliminate concerns of darkness, turbidity, and signal attenuation which often impair diver-robot collaboration. This research aims to implement eye gazes on LoCO (a low-cost AUV) using RGB LED rings in order to pursue intuitive forms of HRI underwater while overcoming common barriers to communication. To test the intuitiveness of the design, 9 participants with no prior knowledge of LoCO and HRI were tasked with recalling the meanings for each of 16 gaze indicators during pool trials, while being exposed to the indicators 3 to 4 days earlier. Compared to the baseline text display communication, which had a recall of 100%, the recall for most eye gaze animations were exceptionally high, with an 80% accuracy score for 11 of the 16 indicators. These results suggest certain eye indicators convey information more intuitively than others, and additional training can make gaze indicators a viable method of communication between humans and robots.
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    Viewpoint: Toward a new generation of land use transport interaction models
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2015) van Wee, Bert
    Land use transport interaction (LUTI) models are often developed to model the interaction between the land use and transport systems for relatively large-scale spatial developments, like new residential or office areas, new main roads, or railway lines. In this paper I argue that we need a next generation of LUTI models that model trends such as peak car; decline in population, shops, services, etc.; impact of information and communications technology (ICT) on activity patterns and travel; and cycling policies. The current generation of LUTI models cannot adequately answer the policy questions raised by these trends. However, a major problem is that the future of these trends is uncertain, and we lack empirical research into the dynamics between these trends and their wider impact on land use and transport systems. Nevertheless, LUTI models can, by utilizing what-if calculations, help explore future trends and their implications. Other challenges for LUTI models include the calculation of a wider set of accessibility indicators, the inclusion of interactions between key actors in the transport and land-use system—serious gaming may prove a useful way to explore these interactions—and the development of dynamic visualizations.