Seminar Series--Ph.D. Lunch Seminars, Fall 2000

John Pane
Natural Programming: HCI in Programming Language Design

Computer programming is a very difficult activity, especially for beginners. Part of the problem is that programming languages have traditionally been designed without careful attention to usability. What would be different if languages were designed using HCI techniques, and how would this impact usability? I will begin the talk with a brief overview of our research on this topic. After this introduction, I will present one of our studies in detail. The study examined a problem that is common in programming languages as well as other computer-based tasks: the accurate expression of queries. The study revealed some very interesting quirks about the ways people use and interpret the boolean operators that are often used for queries, and demonstrated that our tabular method for specifying queries can improve accuracy.

Student only meeting to discuss future format of meeting and schedule topics for upcoming lunches.

Sonya Allin, James Fogarty, Jeff Nichols and others...
UIST Recap
User Interface Software and Technology 2000

All those attending the UIST conference will present things they found interesting. Faculty are invited for this discussion.

Neil Heffernan
Thesis Defense Practice
An Intelligent Tutoring System for Algebra Word-Problems

Neil will present the work that lead up to this new intelligent tutoring system, including the results of his cognitive science studies and a look at what an actual experienced human tutor does in this domain. Faculty are invited to this talk.

John Pane, Jeff Pierce, and others...
Sage Advice: Practical Knowledge from Experienced Ph.D. Students

Informal discussion about being Ph.D. students at CMU. This is a student only meeting.