This book constiutes the reviewed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Cognitive Te... more This book constiutes the reviewed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Cognitive Technology, CT 2001, held in Warwick, UK in August 2001. The 36 revised full papers presented together with six invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The book offers topical sections on: designing artefacts; cognition in robotic and virtual environments; presence in virtual environments; human activity and human computing; cognition in education and learning; narrative and story-telling; interfaces; cognitive dimensions; human work and communities; and the human-technology relationship. Contributors included: Andy Clark, Judith Donath, David Gooding, Steve Talbott, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Christopher Landauer and Kirstie Bellman.
In his essay ‘Does consciousness exist?’ William James identifies a commonly held (mis)conception... more In his essay ‘Does consciousness exist?’ William James identifies a commonly held (mis)conception: that consciousness is ‘one element, moment, factor — call it what you like — of an experience of essentially dualistic inner constitution, from which, if you abstract the content, the consciousness will remain revealed to its own eye’. This chapter shows how James's thinking, in association with an alternative foundational approach to computing, provides the basis for a treatment of the theme of music and consciousness that can embrace many varieties of musical experience and interpretation without compromising integrity. The chapter draws on professional background in computer science to highlight parallels between composing or performing music and Empirical Modelling (EM) — a specific way of using computing technology to build artefacts that has been developed under his direction over the past twenty years. The musical illustrations and references discussed are drawn from the German classical and romantic traditions, which are most salient in his own experience as a pianist and accompanist, with a particular interest in chamber music and songs. But while this reflects his area of relative musical competence, it should not necessarily be taken as indicating that the ideas developed apply only to the narrow musical culture of Western score-based tonal music on which the chapter focuses.
Abstract A modelling technique that relates concurrent system behaviour to agent interaction at a... more Abstract A modelling technique that relates concurrent system behaviour to agent interaction at a high level of abstraction is outlined. This exploits two complementary programming paradigms: agent-oriented and definition-based. The method is illustrated with reference to modelling and simulation of activity at a railway station
The role that computing has come to play in the contemporary world motivates two topical concerns... more The role that computing has come to play in the contemporary world motivates two topical concerns: how to develop and educate the next generation of computing specialists, and how to help computing non-specialists to understand the broader significance of computing in human and social terms. In this short paper, we discuss how research into 'making construals' may contribute to achieving both of these goals.
The role that dependency can play in developing programs is a longstanding topic of interest. The... more The role that dependency can play in developing programs is a longstanding topic of interest. The idea that spreadsheet principles are the key to new more accessible ways of programming continues to be a focus for current research. This paper further elaborates an idea whose development has been documented in several previous PPIG meetings: that programming can be best understood by construing human and automated agency in observational terms. Its main focus is on illustrating and discussing a new concept: a with-construct that has been introduced in a recently developed environment for making such construals (the ‘MCE’). Preliminary work indicates that introducing this concept has a transformative impact both on the practice of making construals and its relationship to conventional programming.
2016 8th International Conference on Knowledge and Smart Technology (KST), 2016
Summary form only given. Applications of computing are traditionally conceived in terms of develo... more Summary form only given. Applications of computing are traditionally conceived in terms of developing programs for devices that reliably implement computational rules. This conception is ill-suited to understanding computing in relation to the broader context of agency in the social and natural world. The challenges this poses have long been evident in traditional software development but are even more acute in contemporary applications, where human and machine agency are being blended in quite unprecedented ways. Empirical Modelling is an approach to computing applications that gives greater priority to the human perspective on agency in the world. Its focus is on developing interactive artefacts (`construals') that enable us to make connections which are grounded in personal experience. This gives broader scope for addressing meaning that is better suited to engineering and constructivist perspectives than traditional approaches. This short talk reviews applications of Empirical Modelling to topics such as digital TV, timetabling and the development of open educational resources, identifies key areas of application for making construals that are being promoted under the auspices of the ongoing EU Erasmus+ CONSTRUIT! project, and highlights those features of Empirical Modelling that promise to deliver computing applications with innovative potential.
This book constiutes the reviewed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Cognitive Te... more This book constiutes the reviewed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Cognitive Technology, CT 2001, held in Warwick, UK in August 2001. The 36 revised full papers presented together with six invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The book offers topical sections on: designing artefacts; cognition in robotic and virtual environments; presence in virtual environments; human activity and human computing; cognition in education and learning; narrative and story-telling; interfaces; cognitive dimensions; human work and communities; and the human-technology relationship. Contributors included: Andy Clark, Judith Donath, David Gooding, Steve Talbott, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Christopher Landauer and Kirstie Bellman.
In his essay ‘Does consciousness exist?’ William James identifies a commonly held (mis)conception... more In his essay ‘Does consciousness exist?’ William James identifies a commonly held (mis)conception: that consciousness is ‘one element, moment, factor — call it what you like — of an experience of essentially dualistic inner constitution, from which, if you abstract the content, the consciousness will remain revealed to its own eye’. This chapter shows how James's thinking, in association with an alternative foundational approach to computing, provides the basis for a treatment of the theme of music and consciousness that can embrace many varieties of musical experience and interpretation without compromising integrity. The chapter draws on professional background in computer science to highlight parallels between composing or performing music and Empirical Modelling (EM) — a specific way of using computing technology to build artefacts that has been developed under his direction over the past twenty years. The musical illustrations and references discussed are drawn from the German classical and romantic traditions, which are most salient in his own experience as a pianist and accompanist, with a particular interest in chamber music and songs. But while this reflects his area of relative musical competence, it should not necessarily be taken as indicating that the ideas developed apply only to the narrow musical culture of Western score-based tonal music on which the chapter focuses.
Abstract A modelling technique that relates concurrent system behaviour to agent interaction at a... more Abstract A modelling technique that relates concurrent system behaviour to agent interaction at a high level of abstraction is outlined. This exploits two complementary programming paradigms: agent-oriented and definition-based. The method is illustrated with reference to modelling and simulation of activity at a railway station
The role that computing has come to play in the contemporary world motivates two topical concerns... more The role that computing has come to play in the contemporary world motivates two topical concerns: how to develop and educate the next generation of computing specialists, and how to help computing non-specialists to understand the broader significance of computing in human and social terms. In this short paper, we discuss how research into 'making construals' may contribute to achieving both of these goals.
The role that dependency can play in developing programs is a longstanding topic of interest. The... more The role that dependency can play in developing programs is a longstanding topic of interest. The idea that spreadsheet principles are the key to new more accessible ways of programming continues to be a focus for current research. This paper further elaborates an idea whose development has been documented in several previous PPIG meetings: that programming can be best understood by construing human and automated agency in observational terms. Its main focus is on illustrating and discussing a new concept: a with-construct that has been introduced in a recently developed environment for making such construals (the ‘MCE’). Preliminary work indicates that introducing this concept has a transformative impact both on the practice of making construals and its relationship to conventional programming.
2016 8th International Conference on Knowledge and Smart Technology (KST), 2016
Summary form only given. Applications of computing are traditionally conceived in terms of develo... more Summary form only given. Applications of computing are traditionally conceived in terms of developing programs for devices that reliably implement computational rules. This conception is ill-suited to understanding computing in relation to the broader context of agency in the social and natural world. The challenges this poses have long been evident in traditional software development but are even more acute in contemporary applications, where human and machine agency are being blended in quite unprecedented ways. Empirical Modelling is an approach to computing applications that gives greater priority to the human perspective on agency in the world. Its focus is on developing interactive artefacts (`construals') that enable us to make connections which are grounded in personal experience. This gives broader scope for addressing meaning that is better suited to engineering and constructivist perspectives than traditional approaches. This short talk reviews applications of Empirical Modelling to topics such as digital TV, timetabling and the development of open educational resources, identifies key areas of application for making construals that are being promoted under the auspices of the ongoing EU Erasmus+ CONSTRUIT! project, and highlights those features of Empirical Modelling that promise to deliver computing applications with innovative potential.
"A construal is a physical object that supports sense-making through exploratory interaction and... more "A construal is a physical object that supports sense-making through exploratory interaction and interpretation. This notion was elaborated by the historian and philosopher of science David Gooding in his account of Faraday's experimental methods. The advent of computing technology has liberated the making of construals, but construal-by-computer is not well-served by the focus in computer science on principles and tools for developing programs.
In this talk, I shall present a prototype environment for creating construals by computer that exploits model-building with dependency such as is represented in spreadsheets and dynamic geometry environments. Our construals are made up of definitions that express dependencies between observables. As will be illustrated with reference to construing human solving of Sudoku puzzles, many kinds of human agency can be expressed through modifying the current set of definitions. The construal serves as a shared artefact with which developers, teachers and pupils can all interact concurrently in essentially the same way, each according to their role and experience. Preliminary experiments with schoolchildren highlight potential for rich and radically new kinds of learning experience and unprecedented scope for recording, monitoring and intervening in support of constructionist learning.
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In this talk, I shall present a prototype environment for creating construals by computer that exploits model-building with dependency such as is represented in spreadsheets and dynamic geometry environments. Our construals are made up of definitions that express dependencies between observables. As will be illustrated with reference to construing human solving of Sudoku puzzles, many kinds of human agency can be expressed through modifying the current set of definitions. The construal serves as a shared artefact with which developers, teachers and pupils can all interact concurrently in essentially the same way, each according to their role and experience. Preliminary experiments with schoolchildren highlight potential for rich and radically new kinds of learning experience and unprecedented scope for recording, monitoring and intervening in support of constructionist learning.
Background sources
David Gooding, Experiment and the Making of Meaning, 1990
The Empirical Modelling website: http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/modelling/
EM publications on educational themes: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dcs/research/em/applications/educationaltech/
Workshops relating to a Sudoku solving construal: http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~wmb/sudokuExperience/workshops/"
A video of this talk is available at http://portal.lsri.nottingham.ac.uk/Seminars/Lists/Events/DispForm.aspx?ID=156