Dr.
Niels
Pinkwart
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
School of Computer Science
Institute for Human Computer Interaction
5000 Forbes Avenue
Room NSH A501
Pittsburgh PA 15213
USA
Tel: 1 - 412 268 5452
Fax: 1 - 412 268 1266
Email: nielsp@cs.cmu.edu
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Dissertation Project
My dissertation is rooted in the intersection of distributed systems, artificial intelligence, and software engineering, and related to computational modeling and knowledge representation.
The focus of my
thesis is on shared
visual representations with partial and heterogeneous
semantics. My approach allows elements from different graph based
visual languages like,
e.g., Petri Nets, Concept Maps, or System Dynamics, to be mixed and
used integratively, retaining the semantics and operational character
of the heterogeneous expressions as far as possible. In addition, the
specific requirements of distributed collaborative usage scenarios are
taken into account: the framework system
Cool Modes ("Collaborative Open Learning and MODEling System") which
implements the methodology contains flexible and fine granular
synchronization functions that rely on shared workspaces technologies.
This system allows models to be partially shared (i.e., each user works
on a model that consists of private and public parts), and guarantees
the semantic consistency of the shared parts.In the COLLIDE research group at the University of Duisburg-Essen (and beyond), Cool Modes has been used in a number of computer supported collaborative learning scenarios and projects - in fact, the motivation for the methodology and the framework system came with the wish and need to flexibly support collaborative modeling in educational settings. Please follow the following links in case you are interested in some practical aspects of the Cool Modes system:
- Manual (German) - written for system users
who want a short description of how
to use the basic Cool Modes functions
- Howto
- designed for programmers who want to develop their own plug-ins for
Cool Modes
- Some example use
cases for Cool Modes in the COLDEX project
- The Cool
Modes system with a "maze and robots" plugin used during a student's
workshop
Publications
closely related to my thesis work:
- Pinkwart, N. (2005). Collaborative
Modeling in Graph Based Environments. Berlin (Germany),
Dissertation.de - Verlag
im Internet.
- Pinkwart,
N. (2005). Synchronization Contexts as a Means to Support Collaborative
Modeling.
In H. Fuks, S. Lukosch & A. C. Salgado (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th
International Workshop on Groupware (CRIWG) (p. 145-152). Berlin
(Germany), Springer.
- Pinkwart,
N. (2003). A Plug-In Architecture for Graph Based Collaborative
Modeling Systems. In U. Hoppe, F. Verdejo, & J. Kay (Eds.): Shaping
the Future of Learning through Intelligent Technologies. Proceedings of
the 11th Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (p.
535-536). Amsterdam (The Netherlands), IOS Press.
- Bollen,
L., Pinkwart, N., Kuhn, M. & Hoppe, H.U. (2003). Interaktives
Präsentieren und kooperatives Modellieren. Szenarien akademischen
Lehrens und Lernens in Informatik und Naturwissenschaften (Interactive
Presentations and Cooperative Modeling. Scenarios of Academic Teaching
and Learning in Computer Science and Experimental Sciences). In M.
Kerres, & B. Voß (Eds.), Digitaler
Campus. Vom Medienprojekt
zum nachhaltigen Medieneinsatz in der Hochschule. (Reihe Medien
in der
Wissenschaft) (p. 295-304). Münster: Waxmann Verlag.
- Gaßner,
K., Hoppe, H.U., Lingnau, A., & Pinkwart, N. (2003).
Handlungsorientierte Kommunikationsmedien als "mind tools" (Hands-on
Oriented Communication Media as “mind tools“). In Künstliche
Intelligenz 2/2003, 42-47.
- Pinkwart,
N., Hoppe, H.U., Bollen, L., & Fuhlrott, E. (2002). Group-Oriented
Modelling Tools with Heterogeneous Semantics. In S. Cerri et al (Eds.),
Lecture Notes in Computer
Science 2363: Intelligent Tutoring Systems
(p. 21-30). Berlin (Germany), Springer.
- Bollen,L.,
Hoppe, H.U., Milrad, M., & Pinkwart, N. (2002). Collaborative
Modelling in Group Learning Environments. In P. Davidsen et al (Eds.), Proceedings of the XX
International Conference of the System Dynamics
Society (p. 53). Palermo (Italy), System Dynamics Society.
- Pinkwart,
N., Hoppe, H.U., & Gaßner, K. (2001). Integration of
Domain-specific Elements into Visual Language Based Collaborative
Environments. In M. Borges, J. Haake, & U. Hoppe (Eds.), Proceedings of 7th
International Workshop on Groupware (CRIWG). (p.
142-147). Los Alamitos (CA), IEEE Computer Society.