Browsing by Author "Kremer, Rob"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    A Descriptive and Explorative Case Study of a Scratch Programming Experience Involving the Creation of a Lunar Simulation/Model with Grade Six Learners
    (2016-02-08) Martin, Stephen; Jacobsen, Michele; Sengupta, Pratim; Kremer, Rob
    This mixed methods descriptive and exploratory case study examined the experiences of two classes in an elementary school (39 students) using the Scratch programming language to create a lunar simulation of the Earth/Moon System over six days. Using the Computational Thinking Framework developed by Brennan and Resnick (2012) the researcher examined the computational thinking (CT) concepts and practices students were exposed to. This study finds that all of the student groups experienced at least partial success in building their simulation. The researcher found that all of the groups explored the CT concepts of sequence, events, parallelism, conditionals and operators while building their simulation and more than 80% of the groups used data and loops. There is evidence that the students were involved in three of the computational practices: incremental and iterative, testing and debugging and, abstracting and modularizing. This study offers recommendations for practice and for future research.
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    A Hybrid Search Method for Evolutionary Dynamic Optimization of the 3-dimensional Personnel Assignment Problem and its Case Study Evaluation at The City of Calgary
    (2016-01-18) Niknafs, Arash; Ruhe, Guenther; Jacob, Christian; Kremer, Rob
    Evolutionary dynamic optimization is receiving more attention as it continues to deliver value in more application areas. In this thesis, an evolutionary dynamic optimization method for solving both static and dynamic personnel assignment optimization problems is proposed. This evolutionary method is based on the idea of genetic algorithms. Starting with the static scenario, I build an evolutionary algorithm that utilizes two variations of an OR-tree-based search method in generating the initial population and offspring. I then use the evolutionary algorithm for the static scenario as a framework into which I integrate two new strategies for tackling dynamism in the problem. In this thesis, I focus on the type of changes that require getting new (i.e. up-to-date) solutions as fast as possible right after the change. This type of changes has many applications in areas such as aircraft landing and take-off scheduling and mobile wireless network routing. Motivated by a real-world problem (at the City of Calgary), I focus on the changes in the availability of personnel in personnel assignment problems. I have two proposed solution approaches to the dynamism which utilize OR-tree-based search features and epigenetics mechanisms (both inside the evolutionary algorithm). Three additional strategies for tackling other types of changes are also presented. In this research, multidimensionality and dynamism are for the first time brought together into the personnel assignment problem. Using both real-world data (for the case study) and synthetic data (for additional evaluation) in the experiments, the experimental results prove the usefulness and responsiveness of my proposed solution approaches. Moreover, the feedback from the domain experts and higher level management in the case study show a strong preference for using my system and its outputs over the current practice. The case study took place in the Waste and Recycling Services business unit at the City of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The synthetic data was generated based on the real-world data.
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    Karta Siebenundzwanzig User s Manual
    (2006-02-15) Lim, Eunice; Sedach, Vladimir; Fraser, Kurtis; Kremer, Rob
    The basic use of a concept map is to illustrate and gain insight about the relationships between certain ideas or concepts . Concept maps are very useful visual aids; they are often helpful for understanding complex relationships very quickly. A basic concept map usually consists of some combination of nodes and arcs. A node represents a certain concept and an arc represents a relationship between two or more nodes. Arcs are also used to show relationships between relationships (arcs can be connected to arcs). Using nodes and arcs, very complex relationships can be demonstrated visually.
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    The Karta-CASA Framework: Concept Mapping and Multi-Agent Systems
    (2006-02-15) Sedach, Vladimir; Lim, Eunice; Fraser, Kurtis; Kremer, Rob
    This paper describes the Karta-Casa project, an attempt to design an agent framework that provides a flexible, extensible and easy-to-use base for constructing various single-user and distributed groupware visualization and concept mapping applications. The structure and the development process behind Karta-CASA are detailed, and several novel aspects of the system are described. Details of several applications based on the framework are provided. Further, this paper suggests several research directions for extending the Karta-CASA system into areas that have not yet been explored by other agent visualization systems.