GVU Technical Report Series

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GVU Technical Report Series

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 29

Exploring Animation as a Presentation Technique for Dynamic Information Sources

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999) McCrickard, D. Scott ; Stasko, John T. ; Zhao, Qiang Alex

The constantly growing and changing nature of certain information sources creates new problems in presenting it to the user. While it may be desirable to maintain awareness of changes to this information, it is typically not a person's primary task. This article describes how animation can be used to communicate dynamic information in a limited space and with limited disruption to the user. We focus on a study on the preferences and reactions of twenty-five participants to tkscore, an application that presents NCAA Tournament game scores using a variety of different animated displays. Results from the study are provided along with future research directions.
Rethinking the Evaluation of Algorithm Animations as Learning Aids: An Observational Study

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999) Kehoe, Colleen Mary ; Stasko, John T. ; Taylor, Ashley

A number of prior studies have found that using animation to help teach algorithms had less beneficial effects on learning than hoped. Those results surprise many computer science instructors whose intuition leads them to believe that algorithm animations should assist instruction. This article reports on a study in which animation is utilized in more of a "homework" learning scenario rather than a "final exam" scenario. Our focus is on understanding how learners will utilize animation and other instructional materials in trying to understand a new algorithm, and on gaining insight into how animations can fit into successful learning strategies. The study indicates that students use sophisticated combinations of instructional materials in learning scenarios. In particular, the presence of algorithm animations seems to make a challenging algorithm more accessible and less intimidating, thus leading to enhanced student interaction with the materials and facilitating learning.
The Awareness-Privacy Tradeoff in Video Supported Informal Awareness: A Study of Image-Filtering Based Techniques

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998) Zhao, Qiang Alex ; Stasko, John T.

Media space applications that promote informal awareness in an organization confront an inevitable paradox: the shared video connections between offices and rooms that promote informal awareness also can rob individuals of privacy. An important open problem in this area is how to foster awareness of colleagues without the accompanying loss of privacy. One proposal put forward is to filter the communicated video streams rather than broadcasting clear video. In this article, we describe several image-filtering techniques that may provide awareness in informal group communication applications while blurring the details of an individuals activities, thus potentially preserving more privacy. We describe experiments to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the degrees of awareness and accuracy that these filtering techniques provide.
PML: Representing Procedural Domains for Multimedia Presentations

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998) Ram, Ashwin ; Catrambone, Richard ; Guzdial, Mark ; Kehoe, Colleen Mary ; McCrickard, D. Scott ; Stasko, John T.

A central issue in the development of multimedia systems is the presentation of the information to the user of the system and how to best represent that information to the designer of the system. Typically, the designers create a system in which content and presentation are inseparably linked; specific presentations and navigational aids are chosen for each piece of content and hard-coded into the system. We argue that the representation of content should be decoupled from the design of the presentation and navigational structure, both to facilitate modular system design and to permit the construction of dynamic multimedia systems that can determine appropriate presentations in a given situation on the fly. We propose a new markup language called PML (Procedural Markup Language) which allows the content to be represented in a flexible manner by specifying the knowledge structures, the underlying physical media, and the relationships between them using cognitive media roles. The PML description can then be translated into different presentations depending on such factors as the context, goals, presentation preferences, and expertise of the user.
The Information Mural: A Technique for Displaying and Navigating Large Information Spaces

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997) Jerding, Dean Frederick ; Stasko, John T.

Information visualizations must allow users to browse information spaces and focus quickly on items of interest. Being able to see some representation of the entire information space provides an initial gestalt overview and gives context to support browsing and search tasks. However, the limited number of pixels on the screen constrain the information bandwidth and make it difficult to completely display large information spaces. The Information Mural is a two-dimensional, reduced representation of an entire information space that fits entirely within a display window or screen. The mural creates a miniature version of the information space using visual attributes such as grayscale shading, intensity, color, and pixel size, along with anti-aliased compression techniques. Information Murals can be used as stand-alone visualizations or in global navigational views. We have built several prototypes to demonstrate the use of Information Murals in visualization applications; subject matter for these views includes computer software, scientific data, text documents, and geographic information.
Using Student-Built Algorithm Animations as a Learning Aid

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996) Stasko, John T.

The typical application of algorithm animation to assist instruction involves students viewing already prepared animations. An alternative strategy is to have the students themselves construct animations of algorithms. The Samba algorithm animation tool fosters such student-built animations. Samba was used in an undergraduate algorithms course in which students constructed algorithm animations as regular class assignments. This article describes Samba and documents our experiences using it in the algorithms course. Student reaction to the animation assignments was very positive, and the students appeared to learn the pertinent algorithms extremely well.
The Information Mural: Increasing Information Bandwidth in Visualizations

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996) Jerding, Dean Frederick ; Stasko, John T.

Information visualizations must allow users to browse information spaces and focus quickly on items of interest. Being able to see some representation of the entire information space provides an initial gestalt overview and gives context to support browsing and search tasks. However, the limited number of pixels on the screen constrain the information bandwidth and make it difficult to completely display large information spaces. The Information Mural is a two-dimensional, reduced representation of an entire information space that fits entirely within a display window or screen. The mural creates a miniature version of the information space using visual attributes such as grayscale shading, intensity, color, and pixel size, along with anti-aliased compression techniques. Information Murals can be used as stand-alone visualizations or in global navigational views. We have built several prototypes to demonstrate the use of Information Murals in visualization applications; subject matter for these views includes computer software, scientific data, text documents, and geographic information.
Visualizing Message Patterns in Object-Oriented Program Executions

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996) Jerding, Dean Frederick ; Stasko, John T. ; Ball, Thomas (Thomas Jaudon)

The dynamic behavior of object-oriented programs is difficult to design, implement, and modify. Understanding the interactions between classes and objects is necessary to create efficient designs and make safe modifications. This work seeks to identify, visualize, and analyze recurring message patterns in object-oriented program executions as a means for understanding and examining dynamic behavior. Our visualizations focus on supporting design recovery, validation, and reengineering tasks.
Using Animations to Learn about Algorithms: An Ethnographic Case Study

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996) Kehoe, Colleen Mary ; Stasko, John T.

A number of studies have found that using animation for explaining dynamic systems had less beneficial effects on learning than hoped. Those results come as a surprise to many instructors and students in computer science where animation is becoming an increasingly popular tool for teaching algorithms. This study takes an ethnomethodological approach, observing students using animations and other media to learn about an algorithm. We do not answer the question, "Do animations aid learning?" nor the question "How do they aid learning?" Rather, we gain some insight into how animations can fit into successful learning strategies. Finally, we present several key observations that we hope educators and researchers can use to inform their own work with algorithm animation.
Do Algorithm Animations Aid Learning?

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996) Byrne, Michael Dwyer ; Catrambone, Richard ; Stasko, John T.

Two experiments examined the general claim that animations can help students learn algorithms more effectively. Animations and instructions that explicitly required learners to predict the behavior of an algorithm were used during training. Post-test problems were designed to measure how well learners could predict algorithm behavior in new situations as well as measure learners' conceptual understanding of the algorithms. In Experiment 1, we found that when learners both viewed an animation and made predictions, their performance on novel problems improved comapred to a control group's, but the effects of the two manipulations were not distinguishable. In Experiment 2, no effect was found for conceptual measures of learning, but a marginally reliable effect similar to the one seen in Experiment 1 was found for procedural problems. The results from the two experiments suggest that the benefits of animations are not obvious and that in order to determine whether animations can truly aid understanding, teachers and researchers should consider a careful task analysis ahead of time to determine the specific pieces of knowledge that an animation can help a learner acquire and/or practice.