Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

What Is Answer Set Programming To Propositional Satisfiability, Yuliya Lierler

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Propositional satisfiability (or satisfiability) and answer set programming are two closely related subareas of Artificial Intelligence that are used to model and solve difficult combinatorial search problems. Satisfiability solvers and answer set solvers are the software systems that find satisfying interpretations and answer sets for given propositional formulas and logic programs, respectively. These systems are closely related in their common design patterns. In satisfiability, a propositional formula is used to encode problem specifications in a way that its satisfying interpretations correspond to the solutions of the problem. To find solutions to a problem it is then sufficient to use a …

Expectation-Centered Analytics For Instructors And Students, Suzanne L. Dazo

Student Work

Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts. An outcome and primary goal of learning analytics should be to inform instructors, who are primary stakeholders, so that they can make effective decisions in their courses. To support instructor inquiry, I apply theory on reflective practice to learning analytic development. Articulating an instructor's pedagogical expectations is one way to begin facilitating a reflective practice. Expectations based on instructor goals serve as a natural next step and the springboard from which data can be collected. I hypothesize that a learning analytic that encodes and …

Myth Or Reality? Crowdsourcing As A Complex Problemsolving Model: Evidence From Software Developed By The Crowd And Professionals, Abhishek Tripathi

Student Work

Crowdsourcing is a problem-solving model. Conventional theory suggests that solving complex problems is a province of professionals, people with sufficient knowledge about the domain. Prior literature indicated that the crowd is also a great source for solving complex problems. However, there is a lack of experimental research to support that crowdsourcing is a useful model for complex problem-solving (CPS), especially in the software development context. The broad goal of this dissertation is to address this research gap and improve understanding of crowdsourcing as a viable and effective CPS model. This research proposed and tested a research model of perceived quality …

Assessing Data Quality In Citizen Science, Margaret Kosmala, Andrea Wiggins, Alexandra Swanson, Brooke Simmons

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Ecological and environmental citizen‐science projects have enormous potential to advance scientific knowledge, influence policy, and guide resource management by producing datasets that would otherwise be infeasible to generate. However, this potential can only be realized if the datasets are of high quality. While scientists are often skeptical of the ability of unpaid volunteers to produce accurate datasets, a growing body of publications clearly shows that diverse types of citizen‐science projects can produce data with accuracy equal to or surpassing that of professionals. Successful projects rely on a suite of methods to boost data accuracy and account for bias, including iterative …

Determining The Interruption Of Services While Performing V2i Communication Using The Spmd Prototype, Binaya Raj Joshi

Student Work

The use of Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle to Roadside Unit (V2R) and Vehicle to Other (V2X) communications are increasingly applied over existing and upcoming transportation means by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and other federal agencies. From previous statistical data, these technologies would primarily avoid or mitigate vehicle crashes and would provide more safety, mobility and various other benefits on the roads (“Traffic Safety Facts 2012,” 2013; “Traffic Safety Facts 2013” 2014). During the communication processes between vehicles, infrastructures and roadside units’ various sensitive data such as positions and speed of the vehicles, …

Identification Of The Emergent Leaders Within A Cse Professional Development Program, Tracie Evans Reding, Brian Dorn, Neal Grandgenett, Harvey Siy, Jon Youn, Qiuming Zhu, Carol A. Engelmann

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The need for high quality, sustainable Computer Science Education (CSE) professional development (PD) at the grades K-12 level is essential to the success of the global CSE initiatives. This study investigates the use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify emergent teacher leaders within a high quality CSE PD program. The CSE PD program was designed and implemented through collaboration between the computer science and teacher education units at a Midwestern metropolitan university in North America. A unique feature of this specific program is in the intentional development of a social network. This study discusses the importance of social networks, …

The Value Of Crowdsourcing For Complex Problems: Comparative Evidence From Software Developed By The Crowd And Professionals, Abhishek Tripathi, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Crowdsourcing is a problem solving model. In the context of complex problems, conventional theory suggests that solving complex problems is a province of professionals, that is, people with sufficient knowledge about the domain. Prior literature has indicated that the crowd, in addition to professionals, is also a great source for solving problems such as product innovation and idea generation. However, this assumption has yet to be tested. Adopting a quasi-experimental approach, this study uses a two-phase process to investigate this question. In the first phase we compare the development of a software by the crowd and professionals. In the second …

Smt-Based Constraint Answer Set Solver Ezsmt (System Description), Benjamin Susman, Yuliya Lierler

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Constraint answer set programming is a promising research direction that integrates answer set programming with constraint processing. Recently, the formal link between this research area and satisfiability modulo theories (or SMT) was established. This link allows the cross-fertilization between traditionally different solving technologies. The paper presents the system EZSMT, one of the first SMT-based solvers for constraint answer set programming. It also presents the comparative analysis of the performance of EZSMT in relation to its peers including solvers EZCSP and CLINGCON that rely on the hybrid solving approach based on the combination of answer set solvers and constraint solvers. Experimental …

Is Quality Control Pointless?, Markus Karuse, Margeret A. Hall, Simon James Caton

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Intrinsic to the transition towards, and necessary for the success of digital platforms as a service (at scale) is the notion of human computation. Going beyond ‘the wisdom of the crowd’, human computation is the engine that powers platforms and services that are now ubiquitous like Duolingo and Wikipedia. In spite of increasing research and population interest, several issues remain open and in debate on large-scale human computation projects. Quality control is first among these discussions. We conducted an experiment with three different tasks of varying complexity and five different methods to distinguish and protect against constantly under-performing contributors. We …

Learning Loops: A Replication Study Illuminates Impact Of Hs Courses, Briana B. Morrison, Adrienne Decker, Lauren E. Margulieux

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

A recent study about the effectiveness of subgoal labeling in an introductory computer science programming course both supported previous research and produced some puzzling results. In this study, we replicate the experiment with a different student population to determine if the results are repeatable. We also gave the experimental task to students in a follow-on course to explore if they had indeed mastered the programming concept. We found that the previous puzzling results were repeated. In addition, for the novice programmers, we found a statistically significant difference in performance based on whether the student had previous programming courses in high …

Creation Of A Conceptual Model For Adoption Of Mobile Apps For Shopping From E-Commerce Sites–An Indian Context, Vandana Ahuja, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

The changing marketing landscape has seen the advent and adoption of new tools like shopping apps for consumers. The conventional models which have studied Information Technology (IT) acceptance and adoption by consumers have found that adoption is a function of perceived usefulness and ease of usage. Other models have emphasised Quality, Enjoyment and Trust as significant determinants of the adoption of IT by consumers. Evolution in IT, changing consumer habits, changing demographics and consumer traits make it imperative to rethink pre-existing theories of acceptance and adoption of IT in the context of e-marketing. This paper focuses on the growth of …

A Study Of Norm Formation Dynamics In Online Crowds, Nargess Tahmasbi

Student Work

In extreme events such as the Egyptian 2011 uprising, online social media technology enables many people from heterogeneous backgrounds to interact in response to the crisis. This form of collectivity (an online crowd) is usually formed spontaneously with minimum constraints concerning the relationships among the members. Theories of collective behavior suggest that the patterns of behavior in a crowd are not just a set of random acts. Instead they evolve toward a normative stage. Because of the uncertainty of the situations people are more likely to search for norms.

Understanding the process of norm formation in online social media is …

Constraint Answer Set Programming Versus Satisfiability Modulo Theories, Yuliya Lierler, Benjamin Susman

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Constraint answer set programming is a promising research direction that integrates answer set programming with constraint processing. It is often informally related to the field of Satisfiability Modulo Theories. Yet, the exact formal link is obscured as the terminology and concepts used in these two research areas differ. In this paper, we make the link between these two areas precise.

A Dynamic Run-Profile Energy-Aware Approach For Scheduling Computationally Intensive Bioinformatics Applications, Sachin Pawaskar, Hesham Ali

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

High Performance Computing (HPC) resources are housed in large datacenters, which consume exorbitant amounts of energy and are quickly demanding attention from businesses as they result in high operating costs. On the other hand HPC environments have been very useful to researchers in many emerging areas in life sciences such as Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics. In an earlier work, we introduced a dynamic model for energy aware scheduling (EAS) in a HPC environment; the model is domain agnostic and incorporates both the deadline parameter as well as energy parameters for computationally intensive applications. Our proposed EAS model incorporates 2-phases. In …

Understanding The Role Of Information Technology For Sustainable Development In Small Businesses And Micro-Enterprises, Jie Xiong

Student Work

Small businesses, including micro-enterprises, represent the majority of all firms in the world. This study investigates how Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) can impact the performance of small businesses, including micro-enterprises. This research introduces an updated Information Technology for Development (IT4D) framework to investigate the key factors that influence the adoption of technology in small businesses. Through structural equation modeling (SEM) and factor analysis of 118 microenterprises in China, facilitating conditions, attitude toward using technology, and anxiety is positively related to the behavior intention to use IT. Also, the usage of ICTs and human capital have a positive effect towards …

Application Of Group Testing For Analyzing Noisy Networks, Vladimir Ufimtsev

Student Work

My dissertation focuses on developing scalable algorithms for analyzing large complex networks and evaluating how the results alter with changes to the network. Network analysis has become a ubiquitous and very effective tool in big data analysis, particularly for understanding the mechanisms of complex systems that arise in diverse disciplines such as cybersecurity [83], biology [15], sociology [5], and epidemiology [7]. However, data from real-world systems are inherently noisy because they are influenced by fluctuations in experiments, subjective interpretation of data, and limitation of computing resources. Therefore, the corresponding networks are also approximate. This research addresses these issues of obtaining …

On Abstract Modular Inference Systems And Solvers, Yuliya Lierler, Miroslaw Truszczyński

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Integrating diverse formalisms into modular knowledge representation systems offers increased expressivity, modeling convenience, and computational benefits. We introduce the concepts of abstract inference modules and abstract modular inference systems to study general principles behind the design and analysis of model generating programs, or solvers, for integrated multi-logic systems. We show how modules and modular systems give rise to transition graphs, which are a natural and convenient representation of solvers, an idea pioneered by the SAT community. These graphs lend themselves well to extensions that capture such important solver design features as learning. In the paper, we consider two …

Training Learnings To Self-Explains: Designing Instructions And Examples To Improve Problem Solving, Lauren E. Margulieux, Briana B. Morrison, Richard Catrambone

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this experiment, we integrated two learning methods – subgoal learning and constructive learning – to explore their interactions and effects on solving computer programming problems. We taught learners to solve problems using worked example and practice problem pairs with one of three kinds of instructional design that either did not highlight the subgoals, described the subgoals, or prompted participants to describe the subgoals for themselves. In addition, we varied the distance of transfer between the worked example and practice problem pairs. We found that instructions that highlighted subgoals improved performance on later problem solving tasks. The groups that performed …

Information Seeking Practices Of Parents: Exploring Skills, Face Threats And Social Networks, Betsy Disalvo, Parisa Khanipour Roshan, Briana B. Morrison

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Parents are often responsible for finding, selecting, and facilitating their children's out-of-school learning experiences. One might expect that the recent surge in online educational tools and the vast online network of information about informal learning would make this easier for all parents. Instead, the increase in these free, accessible resources is contributing to an inequality of use between children from lower and higher socio-economic status (SES). Through over 60 interviews with a diverse group of parents, we explored parents' ability to find learning opportunities and their role in facilitating educational experiences for their children. We identified differences in the use …

Graph Mining For Next Generation Sequencing: Leveraging The Assembly Graph For Biological Insights, Julia Warnke-Sommer, Hesham Ali

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Background: The assembly of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) reads remains a challenging task. This is especially true for the assembly of metagenomics data that originate from environmental samples potentially containing hundreds to thousands of unique species. The principle objective of current assembly tools is to assemble NGS reads into contiguous stretches of sequence called contigs while maximizing for both accuracy and contig length. The end goal of this process is to produce longer contigs with the major focus being on assembly only. Sequence read assembly is an aggregative process, during which read overlap relationship information is lost as reads are …

The Ezsmt Solver: Constraint Answer Set Solving Meets Smt, Benjamin Susman

Student Work

Constraint answer set programming is a promising research direction that integrates answer set programming with constraint processing. It is often informally related to the field of Satisfiability Modulo Theories. Yet, the exact formal link is obscured as the terminology and concepts used in these two research areas differ. In this thesis, by connecting these two areas, we begin the cross-fertilization of not only of the theoretical foundations of both areas but also of the existing solving technologies. We present the system EZSMT, one of the first solvers of this nature, which is able to take a large class of constraint …

Patterns And Signals Of Biology: An Emphasis On The Role Of Post Translational Modifications In Proteomes For Function And Evolutionary Progression, Oliver Bonham-Carter

Student Work

After synthesis, a protein is still immature until it has been customized for a specific task. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are steps in biosynthesis to perform this customization of protein for unique functionalities. PTMs are also important to protein survival because they rapidly enable protein adaptation to environmental stress factors by conformation change. The overarching contribution of this thesis is the construction of a computational profiling framework for the study of biological signals stemming from PTMs associated with stressed proteins. In particular, this work has been developed to predict and detect the biological mechanisms involved in types of stress response with …

Temporal And Contextual Dependencies In Relational Data Modeling, Rajvardhan Bhaskar Patil

Student Work

Although a solid theoretical foundation of relational data modeling has existed for decades, critical reassessment from temporal requirements’ perspective reveals shortcomings in its integrity constraints. We identify the need for this work by discussing how existing relational databases fail to ensure correctness of data when the data to be stored is time sensitive. The analysis presented in this work becomes particularly important in present times where, because of relational databases’ inadequacy to cater to all the requirements, new forms of database systems such as temporal databases, active databases, real time databases, and NoSQL (non-relational) databases have been introduced. In relational …

Robustness Of Multiple Indicators In Automated Screening Systems For Deception Detection, Nathan Twyman, Jeffrey Gainer Proudfoot, Ryan M. Schuetzler, Aaron Elkins, Douglas C. Derrick

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

This study investigates the effectiveness of an automatic system for detection of deception by individuals with the use of multiple indicators of such potential deception. Deception detection research in the information systems discipline has postulated increased accuracy through a new class of screening systems that automatically conduct interviews and track multiple indicators of deception simultaneously. Understanding the robustness of this new class of systems and the limitations of its theoretical improved performance is important for refinement of the conceptual design. The design science proof-of-concept study presented here implemented and evaluated the robustness of these systems for automated screening for deception …

A Personalized People Recommender System Using Global Search Approach, Chun-Hua Tsai, Peter Brusilovsky

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The goal of people recommender system is to generate meaningful social suggestion to users. The abundant data are the key factor in fulfilling a recommendation task, but the cost of user data in a real-world system is high. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that integrates a global search result with a personalized people recommendation system. Our approach utilizes the user identity as a query keyword and processes the search results through five different customized parsers. This approach solves the cold-start issue in recommendation systems and leverages the crossdomain information in order to provide a better recommendation result. …

Man Vs. Machine: Investigating The Effects Of Adversarial System Use On End-User Behavior In Automated Deception Detection Interviews, Jeffrey Gainer Proudfoot, Randall Boyle, Ryan M. Schuetzler

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Deception is an inevitable component of human interaction. Researchers and practitioners are developing information systems to aid in the detection of deceptive communication. Information systems are typically adopted by end users to aid in completing a goal or objective (e.g., increasing the efficiency of a business process). However, end-user interactions with deception detection systems (adversarial systems) are unique because the goals of the system and the user are orthogonal. Prior work investigating systems-based deception detection has focused on the identification of reliable deception indicators. This research extends extant work by looking at how users of deception detection systems alter their …

Creating A Better World With Information And Communication Technologies: Health Equity, Sajda Qureshi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

When news broke on 23rd July 2014, that a case of the deadly virus Ebola had been confirmed in Lagos, home to about 21 million people and a major transportation hub, the World held its breath. If not contained, this virus could spread quickly killing a multitude of people around the World. By 15th October, cases of Ebola had been recorded around the World: Liberia reported 4249 cases with 2458 deaths, Sierra Leone reported 3252 cases with 1183 deaths, Guinea 1472 cases with 843 deaths, Nigeria reported 20 cases with 8 deaths, the USA reported 3 cases and 1 death, …

Anchored Discussion: Development Of A Tool For Creativity In Online Collaboration, Georg J.P. Link, Dominik Siemon, Gert-Jan De Vreede, Susanne Robra-Bissantz

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Open innovation and crowdsourcing rely on online collaboration tools to enable dispersed people to collaborate on creative ideas. Research shows that creativity in online groups is significantly influenced by the interaction between group members. In this paper, we demonstrate how theory can be effectively used to design and evaluate a tool for creative online collaboration. Specifically, we use the body of knowledge on creativity support systems to inform the development of a tool to support anchored discussions. Anchored discussions represent a new mode for creative interaction. In anchored discussion every comment is tied to some aspect of an idea. We …

Optimizing Campus Mobility With A Focus On Sustainability: A Graph Theory Approach To Intra-Campus Transportation Networks, Quinn Nelson, Donald Steffensmeier, Sachin Pawaskar

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The idea of public transportation is supported by most in theory but often heavily criticized by users when put into application. There are common tensions that are related to public transportation, as described by frequent users: unreliable, too crowded, and slow. The University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) is a growing metropolitan institution that uses a shuttle system to transport students among their three campuses daily. As of 2015, the current total student enrollment is approximately 16,000; UNO plans to enroll 20,000 students by 2020. The expected student growth is also reflected by the current construction of new buildings and expansion of …

Do We Choose What We Desire? – Persuading Citizens To Make Consistent And Sustainable Mobility Decisions, Christopher Lisson, Margeret A. Hall

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

A dilemma in urban mobility with tremendous effects on citizens’ wellbeing is the unconscious antipode between their short- and long-term goals. People do not anticipate all consequences of their modal choices and thus make decisions that might be incoherent with their desires, e.g. taking their own car due to convenience but causing a congested city. Omnipresent Information Systems on smartphones provide the necessary information and coordination capabilities to support people for sustainable and individually coherent mobility decisions on a mass scale. Building upon extant work in travel behavior and social psychology, a framework is proposed to coordinate research efforts in …