Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. VIDEOCASSETTE IN ROTCH VISUAL COLLECTIONS. / Bibliography: leaves 90-93. / by Ann Ross Marion. / M.S.V.S.

Computer simulation and animation (CSA) has been receiving growing attention and wide application in the engineering education community. The goal of this dissertation research was to improve students' conceptual understanding and procedural skills for solving particle dynamics problems, by developing, implementing and assessing 12 interactive computer simulation and animation learning modules. The developed CSA learning modules integrate visualization with mathematical modeling to help students directly connect engineering dynamics with mathematics. These CSA modules provide a constructivist environment where students can study physical laws, demonstrate mental models, make predictions, derive conclusions, and solve problems. A mixed-method research was conducted in this study: quasi-experimental method (quantitative), and survey questionnaires and interviews (qualitative and quantitative). Quasi-experimental research involving an intervention group and a comparison group was performed to investigate the extent that the developed CSA learning modules improved students' conceptual understanding and procedural skills in solving particle dynamics problems. Surveys and interviews were administrated to examine students' learning attitudes toward and experiences with the developed CSA learning modules. The results of quasi-experimental research show that the 12 CSA learning modules developed for this study increased students' class-average conceptual and procedural learning gains by 29% and 40%, respectively. Therefore, these developed CSA modules significantly improved students' conceptual understanding and procedural skills for solving particle dynamics problems. The survey and interview results show that students had a positive experience with CSA learning.

This thesis develops and presents a design methodology that enables designers to work with the moving body in the design and evaluation of interactive, immersive environments built on motion-sensing technologies. The notion of making strange, that underpins the methodology, calls for designers to re-examine and revitalise their assumptions and conceptions of the moving body through bodily-based movement inquiries. This thesis addresses research questions about ways of understanding human movement, of describing and representing human movement and of accessing the felt experience of the moving body in the emerging field of movement-based interaction design. The research questions were explored through a series of three distinct, yet related, projects, each one focusing on different aspects of designing for moving bodies in interactive, immersive environments. The first project analysed an existing interactive product, Sony Playstation2c EyetoyTM, as a prototype of future movement-based interactive, immersive environments. The second project involved the design and development of a specific interactive, immersive artwork, Bystander. The third project worked with trained dancers and physical performers in a constructed design situation. The contributions of this research are first and foremost the design methodology of Moving and Making Strange: a design approach to movement-based interaction that prioritises the lived experience of movement by both designers and users and values the creative potential of the experiential, moving body. It consists of methods and tools for exploring, experiencing, describing, representing and generating movement that enable designers to shift between the multiple perspectives of the mover, the observer and the machine. It makes particular contributions as follows: • Laban movement analysis and Labanotation as a design tool. • Moving-Sensing schema: Suchman’s analytic framework adapted as a design tool. • Extension of existing human-centred design tools to explicitly represent moving bodies, in the form of movement-oriented personas and movementoriented scenarios. • Patterns of watching: a catalogue of audience behaviour in terms of movements and stillness in relation to engagement with a specific interactive, immersive artwork. • New methods for generating, enacting and experiencing movement, sourced from dance and movement improvisation practices.

This thesis is concerned with temporal factors from the perspective of the interactive designer/interface designer and usability as a construct for guiding design activity. The research reported herein examines the many factors which emerge when considering the name of interaction at the user interface. Temporal Aspects of Usability (TAU) is presented as a multivariate construct. It is neither a property that exists 'in the head alone' not is it an aspect of the system but rather an emergent property arising from task based interactions. From a theoretical perspective, it is argued that the inclusion of temporal considerations to the task model more fully specifies 'Usability' as a design construct. A model of TAU is evolved and validated utilizing situated interviews with designers. This resulted in an Enhanced model of TAU. A method for developing temporally informed task models, KAT-LITTER (Leveraging Interactions Through Effective Responses), provides temporal design heuristics as the confluence of, KAT (Knowledge Analysis of Task) a task analysis method, and the enhanced TAU model. As a method, KAT-LITTER is device independent, data centered, domain specific and necessarily independent of existing implementations. A process evaluation of KAT-LITTER showed that it influenced the design process in two significant ways: firstly, designers using KAT-LITTER spent more time reasoning about temporal issues than designers using KAT alone, and secondly these same designers considered a broader spectrum of temporal issues. The development of TAU, its accompanying method, KAT-LITTER, complete with a notational system for analysis represent a significant step forward.

This thesis develops and presents a design methodology that enables designers to work with the moving body in the design and evaluation of interactive, immersive environments built on motion-sensing technologies. The notion of making strange, that underpins the methodology, calls for designers to re-examine and revitalise their assumptions and conceptions of the moving body through bodily-based movement inquiries. This thesis addresses research questions about ways of understanding human movement, of describing and representing human movement and of accessing the felt experience of the moving body in the emerging field of movement-based interaction design. The research questions were explored through a series of three distinct, yet related, projects, each one focusing on different aspects of designing for moving bodies in interactive, immersive environments. The first project analysed an existing interactive product, Sony Playstation2c EyetoyTM, as a prototype of future movement-based interactive, immersive environments. The second project involved the design and development of a specific interactive, immersive artwork, Bystander. The third project worked with trained dancers and physical performers in a constructed design situation. The contributions of this research are first and foremost the design methodology of Moving and Making Strange: a design approach to movement-based interaction that prioritises the lived experience of movement by both designers and users and values the creative potential of the experiential, moving body. It consists of methods and tools for exploring, experiencing, describing, representing and generating movement that enable designers to shift between the multiple perspectives of the mover, the observer and the machine. It makes particular contributions as follows: • Laban movement analysis and Labanotation as a design tool. • Moving-Sensing schema: Suchman’s analytic framework adapted as a design tool. • Extension of existing human-centred design tools to explicitly represent moving bodies, in the form of movement-oriented personas and movementoriented scenarios. • Patterns of watching: a catalogue of audience behaviour in terms of movements and stillness in relation to engagement with a specific interactive, immersive artwork. • New methods for generating, enacting and experiencing movement, sourced from dance and movement improvisation practices.

Typescript (photocopy)

A new version of a Computer Aided Teaching System, CATSY-3, was created in order to allow greater flexibility and efficiency than older versions of CATSY. In the implementation of CATSY-3, the menu was transferred from the screen to the data tablet. In the process, the control structure of CATSY was rewritten to allow complete freedom of movement from one menu option to any another.A keyboard input feature (KEYIN) is also included in CATSY-3 in order to allow a more rapid mode of menu selection and to allow the option of precision coordinate input. Additional menu options are included in CATSY-3, namely, COPY, MOVE, REFRESH_OBJECT, interactive COLOR change, automatic set-up for input devices, among others.The history and description of various electronic chalkboard` implementations are also presented in this thesis.

The general problem of application development of interactive GUI applications has been addressed by toolkits, libraries, user interface management systems, and more recently domain-specific application frameworks. However, the most sophisticated solution offered by frameworks still lacks a number of features which are addressed by this research: 1) limited functionality -- the framework does little to help the developer implement the application's functionality. 2) weak model of the application -- the framework does not incorporate a strong model of the overall architecture of the application program. 3) representation of control sequences is difficult to understand, edit, and reuse -- higher-level, direct-manipulation tools are needed. We address these problems with a new framework design called Oregon Speedcode Universe version 3.0 (OSU v3.0) which is shown, by demonstration, to overcome the limitations above: 1) functionality is provided by a rich set of built-in functions organized as a class hierarchy, 2) a strong model is provided by OSU v3.0 in the form of a modified MVC paradigm, and a Petri net based sequencing language which together form the architectural structure of all applications produced by OSU v3.0. 3) representation of control sequences is easily constructed within OSU v3.0 using a Petri net editor, and other direct manipulation tools built on top of the framework. In ddition: 1) applications developed in OSU v3.0 are partially portable because the framework can be moved to another platform, and applications are dependent on the class hierarchy of OSU v3.0 rather than the operating system of a particular platform, 2) the functionality of OSU v3.0 is extendable through addition of classes, subclassing, and overriding of existing methods. The main contribution of this research is in the design of an application framework that uses Petri nets as the computational model of data processing in the synthesized application. OSU v3.0 is the first framework to formalize sequencing, and to show that complex GUI applications can indeed be quickly and reliably produced from such a framework. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Computer Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-77). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR45953

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a web-based strategic, interactive computer application (Fun Fraction) on the ability of middle school students with LD, who have mathematics goals on their IEPs, to solve word problems with fractions and multiplication including two factors of a whole number (less than or equal to 4) and proper fractions. A multiple-probe single case research design across subjects was applied for the study. Three middle school students with learning disabilities participated in baseline, intervention, and maintenance test sessions over a 13-week period. Findings showed that there was an experimental effect for all three students, tested on their instructional probes; students' performance improved from baseline to intervention phases after receiving instruction through Fun Fraction. John and Alec reached the mastery level of 80% on two of the three review days. The level of change from baseline to intervention phases ranged from 28.67% to 68.89%. Even through there was no immediacy effect for John, the trend of his data (10.33) revealed a substantial growth in general. Additionally, the percentage of data showing improvement between baseline and intervention phases was 70% for Tiffany, 56% for John, and 100% for Alec. In particular, the improvement trend of Alec's data was statistically significant (Tau[subscript novlap] = 1, p < .05, CI 90% = .341<>1.659). All of them reached 80% accuracy percentage on their one-time maintenance tests. Regarding the three problem types of combine, partition, and compare for each representation and equation question, students struggled the most with combine representation questions and showed relatively better competence in compare equation questions. A learning-related social validity questionnaire and usability questionnaire indicated that students liked learning through Fun Fraction and recognized well the useful interaction design features embedded in Fun Fraction. Cognitive and metacognitive strategy questionnaires also indicated that students liked the represent strategy that allowed students to manipulate the rectangular area model, and students expressed positive views on the thinking process through metacognitive strategies embedded in Fun Fraction. / text