This study investigated the predictive value of time on-task and error scores on tests administered through Control Data Corporation PLATO interactive computer graphics simulation as predictors of errors and time on-task for inertial navigation system equipment operation. In addition, the correlation between simulated pass/fail error and time on-task scores, and subsequent pass/fail criteria using actual equipment was investigated.

The problem motivating this study is that database query facilities are not effectively meeting the needs of casual users. A solution to this problem is especially important due to the increasing number of potential casual users. There is considerable controversy revolving around the question of which elements and/or which combination of elements within the casual users' environment are necessary to provide an effective man/machine interface. The purpose of the study is to extend the basic knowledge relating to the effect of using different data models, the effect of cognitive style differences, and the interaction effects of these two independent variables on casual users' performance and confidence in writing database queries. The data models being investigated are the relational, hierarchical, and network models. The cognitive style classifications used are two of the Jungian dimensions, Sensing/Intuition and Thinking/Feeling.

This work explores the interactive documentary as a hybrid, emergent cultural form that has been shaped by the growth of digital interactive entertainment. Through investigation and analysis of the historical background of documentary, the research discusses the development of documentary film, examining the notions of truth, objectivity and authorship in factual media, and their relationship with existing understandings of interactivity. Critical parameters are then derived to objectify the process of deconstructing interactive and documentary media forms. An inclusive view is taken on the categorisation and classification of interactive documentary, informed by the fundamental constructs of both traditional documentary and interactive media. The constructs and structures of interaction and narrative are highlighted to facilitate the identification and examination of existing examples of factual interactive entertainment– from computer generated documentary games to navigable filmic forms. The thesis proposes a range of characterisation frameworks for the study of interactive documentary and these are applied towards case study analysis of sixteen interactive productions. The final work presented in this thesis proposes a theoretical framework for the analysis and development of immersive, interactive documentary experiences, encompassing the processes of content creation and consumption from the perspectives of both audience and director.

Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR) is a branch of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). CIR is the process by which people search for and retrieve information, working together and using documents as data sources. Currently, computer support for CIR is limited to single user systems. Collaboration takes place either with users working at different times or in different locations. Multi-touch interaction has recently seen a rise in prominence owing to a reduction in the cost of the technology and increased frequency of use. Multi-touch surface computing allows multiple users to interact at once around a shared display. The aim of this research was to investigate how multi-touch interaction techniques could be used to support CIR effectively in a co-located environment. An application architecture for CIR systems that incorporates multi-touch interaction techniques was proposed. A prototype, called Co-IMBRA, was developed based on this architecture that used multi-touch interaction techniques to support CIR. This prototype allows multiple users to retrieve information, using the Internet as a shared information space. Documents are represented as visual objects that can be manipulated on the multi-touch surface, as well as rated, annotated and added to folders. A user study was undertaken to evaluate Co-IMBRA and determine whether the multi-touch interaction techniques effectively supported CIR. Fifteen teams of two users each participated in the user study. High task completion rates and low task times showed that the system was effective and efficient. High levels of user satisfaction were reported in the post-test questionnaires. Participants rated the system as highly useful and several commented that it promoted collaboration and that they enjoyed the test. The successful implementation of Co-IMBRA provides evidence that multi-touch interaction techniques can effectively support CIR. The results of the user evaluation also enabled recommendations for future research to be made.

In recent years, the focus of cartographic research has shifted from the cartographic communication paradigm to the scientific visualization paradigm. With this, there has been a resurgence of cognitive research that is invaluable in guiding the design and evaluation of effective cartographic visualization tools. The design of new tools that allow effective visual exploration of spatial data and data quality information in a resource management setting is critical if decision-makers and policy setters are to make accurate and confident decisions that will have a positive long-term impact on the environment. The research presented in this dissertation integrates the results of previous research in spatial cognition, visualization of spatial information and on-line map use in order to explore the design, development and experimental testing of four interactive visualization tools that can be used to simultaneously explore spatial data and data quality. Two are traditional online tools (side-by-side and sequenced maps) and two are newly developed tools (an interactive "merger" bivariate map and a hybrid o f the merger map and the hypermap). The key research question is: Are interactive visualization tools, such as interactive bivariate maps and hypermaps, more effective for communicating spatial information than less interactive tools such as sequenced maps? A methodology was developed in which subjects used the visualization tools to explore a forest species composition and associated data quality map in order to perform a range of map-use tasks. Tasks focused on an imaginary land-use conflict for a small region of mixed boreal forest in Northern Alberta. Subject responses in terms of performance (accuracy and confidence) and preference are recorded and analyzed. Results show that theory-based, well-designed interactive tools facilitate improved performance across all tasks, but there is an optimal matching between specific tasks and tools. The results are generalized into practical guidelines for software developers. The use of confidence as a measure of map-use effectiveness is verified. In this experimental setting, individual differences (in terms of preference, ability, gender etc.) did not significantly affect performance. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This study adopts an experimental design to examine the use, in practice, of interactive computer simulations as educational tools. With the accelerated use of digital learning and the urgency of implementing sustainable development, the important role of interactive computer simulations is examined. While rooted in the digital humanities, the study focuses on ecopedagogy as a theoretical lens by which to assess critical learning. Drawing on previous research, ‘Shiny’ was used to develop a simple, interactive application consisting of a tool where users can calculate the cost and carbon emissions of energy production within a specific system. This application was used as part of a participatory experiment with 47 participants, and the data returned was analysed to examine its educational merit. The findings of the study indicate positive engagement with the simulation tool used, along with important lessons for further study.

Engineering Dynamics (ED) courses are known as challenging and demanding for undergraduate students majored in many engineering fields, such as mechanical and aerospace engineering and civil and environmental engineering. The course is built upon the foundation and framework of mathematics and physics and requires students to have strong abstract thinking and reasoning skills. Rigid body dynamics (RBD), the second part of ED, investigates kinematics and kinetics of rigid bodies and is considered as a difficult subject by many undergraduate students because the course requires them to visualize abstract objects in motions. Although there have been many studies reporting the uses of interactive computer simulation and animation (CSA) modules as visual learning tools in RBD instruction, the effectiveness of the CSA modules on student learning of RBD were not rigorously and adequately investigated. This study employs a mixed method (QUAN – qual) approach and nonequivalent comparison group design to investigate the effectiveness of CSA modules on student learning of RBD, and to explore students’ attitudes towards and experiences with these modules. One hundred and sixty-one students in two recent semesters participated in this study: 74 in one semester participated in the comparison group and 87 in another semester participated in the intervention group. While the intervention group students studied RBD with CSA modules along with traditional lectures, the comparison group students studied RBD with traditional lectures only. Students in both groups were assessed with pretests and posttests using 10 bonus homework assignments developed to address core knowledge areas of RBD. The study uses a set of nonparametric statistical tools to analyze the pretest and posttest scores, mean differences, and magnitudes of the differences in learning gains between the two groups. Research findings from this study reveal that the intervention group students showed a significant increase in learning gains of overall knowledge, conceptual understanding, and procedural skills with Cliff’s effect sizes of 0.49, 0.41, and 0.47, respectively. CSA modules increased the intervention group students’ confidence, but they did not increase students’ motivation of learning RBD. This study supports the use of CSA modules as an instructional intervention to improve students’ conceptual understanding and procedural skills in learning engineering dynamics.

This paper describes an interactive computer program that can be used as a design tool in assessing the shading effects of trees in relation to buildings. The program determines the area and position of the shadow cast by a tree or group of trees on a surface of a building which can have any orientation. The program outputs numerical and · graphical hourly results at any time of the day, for any day of the year, at any location on the earth, for any relative positioning between the tree and building, and estimates percent irradiation reductions on building surfaces resulting from tree shade. The program allows three different shapes of tree (elliptical, cylindrical, and parabolic) to be used. This program is being interfaced with a commercially available building energy analysis program.

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This dissertation presents and evaluates a method of managing spoken dialog interactions with a robust attention to fulfilling the human user’s goals in the presence of speech recognition limitations. Assistive speech-based embodied conversation agents are computer-based entities that interact with humans to help accomplish a certain task or communicate information via spoken input and output. A challenging aspect of this task involves open dialog, where the user is free to converse in an unstructured manner. With this style of input, the machine’s ability to communicate may be hindered by poor reception of utterances, caused by a user’s inadequate command of a language and/or faults in the speech recognition facilities. Since a speech-based input is emphasized, this endeavor involves the fundamental issues associated with natural language processing, automatic speech recognition and dialog system design. Driven by ContextBased Reasoning, the presented dialog manager features a discourse model that implements mixed-initiative conversation with a focus on the user’s assistive needs. The discourse behavior must maintain a sense of generality, where the assistive nature of the system remains constant regardless of its knowledge corpus. The dialog manager was encapsulated into a speech-based embodied conversation agent platform for prototyping and testing purposes. A battery of user trials was performed on this agent to evaluate its performance as a robust, domain-independent, speech-based interaction entity capable of satisfying the needs of its users.