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Cristina Conati

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Cristina Conati

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Publications by Cristina Conati (bibliography)

» 2008 «

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Amershi, Saleema, Carenini, Giuseppe, Conati, Cristina, Mackworth, Alan K. and Poole, David (2008): Pedagogy and usability in interactive algorithm visualizations: Designing and evaluating CIspace. In Interacting with Computers, 20 (1) pp. 64-96

“Interactive algorithm visualizations (AVs) are powerful tools for teaching and learning concepts that are difficult to describe with static media alone. However, while countless AVs exist, their widespread adoption by the academic community has not occurred due to usability problems and mixed results of pedagogical effectiveness reported in the AV and education literature. This paper presents our experiences designing and evaluating CIspace, a set of interactive AVs for demonstrating fundamental Artificial Intelligence algorithms. In particular, we first review related work on AVs and theories of learning. Then, from this literature, we extract and compile a taxonomy of goals for designing interactive AVs that address key pedagogical and usability limitations of existing AVs. We advocate that differentiating between goals and design features that implement these goals will help designers of AVs make more informed choices, especially considering the abundance of often conflicting and inconsistent design recommendations in the AV literature. We also describe and present the results of a range of evaluations that we have conducted on CIspace that include semi-formal usability studies, usability surveys from actual students using CIspace as a course resource, and formal user studies designed to assess the pedagogical effectiveness of CIspace in terms of both knowledge gain and user preference. Our main results show that (i) studying with our interactive AVs is at least as effective at increasing student knowledge as studying with carefully designed paper-based materials; (ii) students like using our interactive AVs more than studying with the paper-based materials; (iii) students use both our interactive AVs and paper-based materials in practice although they are divided when forced to choose between them; (iv) students find our interactive AVs generally easy to use and useful. From these results, we conclude that while interactive AVs may not be universally preferred by students, it is beneficial to offer a variety of learning media to students to accommodate individual learning preferences. We hope that our experiences will be informative for other developers of interactive AVs, and encourage educators to exploit these potentially powerful resources in classrooms and other learning environments.”

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Conati, Cristina and Maclaren, Heather (2008): Exploring the role of individual differences in information visualization. In: Levialdi, Stefano (ed.) AVI 2008 - Proceedings of the working conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces May 28-30, 2008, Napoli, Italy. pp. 199-206. Available online

» 2007 «

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Amershi, Saleema and Conati, Cristina (2007): Unsupervised and supervised machine learning in user modeling for intelligent learning environments. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2007. pp. 72-81. Available online

“In this research, we outline a user modeling framework that uses both unsupervised and supervised machine learning in order to reduce development costs of building user models, and facilitate transferability. We apply the framework to model student learning during interaction with the Adaptive Coach for Exploration (ACE) learning environment (using both interface and eye-tracking data). In addition to demonstrating framework effectiveness, we also compare results from previous research on applying the framework to a different learning environment and data type. Our results also confirm previous research on the value of using eye-tracking data to assess student learning.”

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Bunt, Andrea, Conati, Cristina and McGrenere, Joanna (2007): Supporting interface customization using a mixed-initiative approach. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2007. pp. 92-101. Available online

“We describe a mixed-initiative framework designed to support the customization of complex graphical user interfaces. The framework uses an innovative form of online GOMS analysis to provide the user with tailored customization suggestions aimed at maximizing the user's performance with the interface. The suggestions are presented non-intrusively, minimizing disruption and allowing the user to maintain full control. The framework has been applied to a general user-productivity application. A formal user evaluation of the system provides encouraging evidence that this mixed-initiative approach is preferred to a purely adaptable alternative and that the system's suggestions help improve task performance.”

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Conati, Cristina, McCoy, Kathleen F. and Paliouras, Georgios (eds.) User Modeling 2007 - 11th International Conference - UM 2007 June 25-29, 2007, Corfu, Greece.

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Bunt, Andrea, McGrenere, Joanna and Conati, Cristina (2007): Understanding the Utility of Rationale in a Mixed-Initiative System for GUI Customization. In: Conati, Cristina, McCoy, Kathleen F. and Paliouras, Georgios (eds.) User Modeling 2007 - 11th International Conference - UM 2007 June 25-29, 2007, Corfu, Greece. pp. 147-156. Available online

» 2006 «

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Merten, Christina and Conati, Cristina (2006): Eye-tracking to model and adapt to user meta-cognition in intelligent learning environments. In: Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2006. pp. 39-46. Available online

“In this paper we describe research on using eye-tracking data for on-line assessment of user meta-cognitive behavior during the interaction with an intelligent learning environment. We describe the probabilistic user model that processes this information, and its formal evaluation. We show that adding eye-tracker information significantly improves the model accuracy on assessing user exploration and self-explanation behaviors.”

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» 2005 «

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Muldner, Kasia and Conati, Cristina (2005): Using Similarity to Infer Meta-cognitive Behaviors During Analogical Problem Solving. In: Ardissono, Liliana, Brna, Paul and Mitrovic, Antonija (eds.) User Modeling 2005 - 10th International Conference - UM 2005 July 24-29, 2005, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. pp. 134-143. Available online

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Conati, Cristina and Maclaren, Heather (2005): Data-Driven Refinement of a Probabilistic Model of User Affect. In: Ardissono, Liliana, Brna, Paul and Mitrovic, Antonija (eds.) User Modeling 2005 - 10th International Conference - UM 2005 July 24-29, 2005, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. pp. 40-49. Available online

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Conati, Cristina, Merten, Christina, Muldner, Kasia and Ternes, David (2005): Exploring Eye Tracking to Increase Bandwidth in User Modeling. In: Ardissono, Liliana, Brna, Paul and Mitrovic, Antonija (eds.) User Modeling 2005 - 10th International Conference - UM 2005 July 24-29, 2005, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. pp. 357-366. Available online

» 2004 «

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Conati, Cristina and Zhao, Xiaohong (2004): Building and evaluating an intelligent pedagogical agent to improve the effectiveness of an educational game. In: Nunes, Nuno Jardim and Rich, Charles (eds.) International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2004 January 13-16, 2004, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. pp. 6-13. Available online

“Electronic educational games can be highly entertaining, but studies have shown that they do not always trigger learning. To enhance the effectiveness of educational games, we propose intelligent pedagogical agents that can provide individualized instruction integrated with the entertaining nature of the games. In this paper, we describe one such agent, that we have developed for Prime Climb, an educational game on number factorization. The Prime Climb agent relies on a probabilistic student model to generate tailored interventions aimed at helping students learn number factorization through the game. After describing the functioning of the agent and the underlying student model, we report the results of an empirical study that we performed to test the agent's effectiveness.”

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Bunt, Andrea, Conati, Cristina and McGrenere, Joanna (2004): What role can adaptive support play in an adaptable system?. In: Nunes, Nuno Jardim and Rich, Charles (eds.) International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2004 January 13-16, 2004, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. pp. 117-124. Available online

“As computer applications become larger with every new version, there is a growing need to provide some way for users to manage the interface complexity. There are three different potential solutions to this problem: 1) an adaptable interface that allows users to customize the application to suit their needs; 2) an adaptive interface that performs the adaptation for the users; or 3) a combination of the adaptive and adaptable solutions, an approach that would be suitable in situations where users are not customizing effectively on their own. In this paper we examine what it means for users to engage in effective customization of a menu-based graphical user interface. We examine one aspect of effective customization, which is how characteristics of the users' tasks and customization behaviour affect their performance on those tasks. We do so by using a process model simulation based on cognitive modelling that generates quantitative predictions of user performance. Our results show that users can engage in customization behaviours that vary in efficiency. We use these results to suggest how adaptive support could be added to an adaptable interface to improve the effectiveness of the users' customization.”

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» 2003 «

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Zhou, Xiaoming and Conati, Cristina (2003): Inferring user goals from personality and behavior in a causal model of user affect. In: Johnson, Lewis and Andre, Elisabeth (eds.) International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2003 January 12-15, 2003, Miami, Florida, USA. pp. 211-218. Available online

“We present a probabilistic model, based on Dynamic Decision Networks, to assess user affect from possible causes of emotional arousal. The model relies on the OCC cognitive theory of emotions and is designed to assess student affect during the interaction with an educational game. A key element of applying the OCC theory to assess user affect is knowledge of user goals. Thus, in this paper we focus on describing how our model infers these goals from user personality traits and interaction behavior. In particular, we illustrate how we iteratively defined the structure and parameters for this part of the model by using both empirical data collected through Wizard of Oz experiments and relevant psychological findings.”

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» 2001 «

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Conati, Cristina and VanLehn, Kurt (2001): Providing Adaptive Support to the Understanding of Instructional Material. In: International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2001 January 14-17, 2001, Sanata Fe, New Mexico, USA. pp. 41-47. Available online

“We present an adaptive interface designed to provide tailored support for the understanding of written instructional material. The interface relies on a user model based on a Bayesian network, that assesses users' understanding as users read the instructional material and try to understand it by generating explanations to themselves. The user model's assessment is used by the interface to generate tailored scaffolding of further user's explanations that can improve the user's comprehension. After illustrating how the Bayesian user model assesses understanding from the user's explanations and from latency data on the user's attention, we discuss initial results on the effectiveness of the interface's adaptive interventions.”

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Bunt, Andrea and Conati, Cristina (2001): Modeling Exploratory Behaviour. In: Bauer, Mathias, Gmytrasiewicz, Piotr J. and Vassileva, Julita (eds.) User Modeling 2001 - 8th International Conference - UM 2001 July 13-17, 2001, Sonthofen, Germany. pp. 219-221. Available online

» 1992 «

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Slack, Jon and Conati, Cristina (1992): Effective Graphics: Accessing Spatial Relations. In: Monk, Andrew, Diaper, Dan and Harrison, Michael D. (eds.) Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers VII August 15-18, 1992, University of York, UK. pp. 175-189.

“Graphical interfaces derive part of their effectiveness from encoding to-be-communicated information as spatial relations. Encoding the information in this way facilitates the User's access to it by exploiting the rapid perceptual operations that identify and encode the spatial relations implicit in the visual array. The paper outlines a representation framework for the cognitive/perceptual encoding of graphically presented information. The processes that access the information by extracting and decoding spatial relations can be specified within this framework. These specifications provide a basis for costing the information extraction routines thereby enabling the notion of `effective graphics' to be quantified. An example is worked through in detail, showing how these ideas can be applied to the generation of the optimal graphical format for quantitative relational data.”

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Slack, Jon M. and Conati, Cristina (1992): Encoding Information through Spatial Relations. In: Advanced Visual Interfaces 1992 1992. pp. 85-99.

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Changes to this page (author)

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Publication statistics

Publication period:1992-2008
Publication count:17
Number of co-authors:17

Productive colleagues

Cristina Conati's 3 most productive colleagues in number of publications:

Joanna McGrenere:29
Kathleen F. McCoy:15
Giuseppe Carenini:13

Collaboration count

Number of publications with 3 favourite co-authors:

Andrea Bunt:4
Joanna McGrenere:3
Saleema Amershi:2

Other options

Learn more about Cristina Conati:
- Google Scholar
- ACM
- CSB

Conference Calendar

Mar 21

WritersUA Conf. for Software User Assistance

Mar 22

UX People

Mar 22

ETRA '10 - Eye Tracking Research & Applications Symp.

Mar 19

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Cristina Conati

Publications by Cristina Conati (bibliography)

» 2008 «

» 2007 «

» 2006 «

» 2005 «

» 2004 «

» 2003 «

» 2001 «

» 1992 «

What do YOU think?

Changes to this page (author)

Publication statistics

Productive colleagues

Collaboration count

Other options

Conference Calendar

Eva Hornecker on Tangible Interaction

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