Creating an Educational Tool for Computer Science Students Masters Project Defense Ben Stroud 1 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Project Goal  Introduction  Need Addressed  Technologies Used  Related Work  Lessons Learned  Challenges  Mistakes  Demonstration of Application  Future Work  Deliverables  Summary  Questions Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 2

 Create a tool to educate students about Wireless Sensor Networks ◦ Intuitive and Approachable GUI ◦ Interactive Scenarios ◦ Easy to Install ◦ Effective Demonstration of Wireless Sensor Network Deployment, Formation, and Execution  Quantifiable Results  Understand Effect of Software in Education Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 3

 Definition of a Wireless Sensor Network ◦ Similar to Ad-hoc networks ◦ Unique Challenges  Node “Death”  Conservation of Power  Project goal is to educate, not evaluate Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 4

 Educators Want to Impart Key Lessons from WSNs  How to Do This in an Interesting and Dynamic Way?  Software! ◦ Interactive ◦ Engaging  Existing Simulators Geared for Research/Development ◦ Intimidating ◦ Cumbersome ◦ Difficult to Install/Interact With Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 5

 Silverlight ◦ Multiplatform application framework ◦ Allows for interactive multimedia and animations on the front end ◦ Powerful traditional application or web oriented backend. ◦ Designed primarily for web based applications; ◦ Similar to Flash ◦ Created by Microsoft .NET Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 6

 Silverlight ◦ Backend:.NET (C#) –  Object Oriented.  Somewhere between C++ and Java – Makes creating applications for the web easy and increases the reusability of code.  Don’t have access to the complete C# codebase  Sliverlight limits the developer to a subset of libraries  Application is isolated from the OS  Debugging capability in Visual Studios 2010 is lacking ◦ Front-End: Silverlight and WFC controls  Traditional web technologies (Javascript, XML, HTML) wrap new Silverlight controls – based on older WFC technology  Fast Execution, but comber-some development 7 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 IDEs ◦ Silverlight 4 – Visual Studios 2010, Visual Web Developer 2008, MS Expression Blend  Coding ◦ Languages – any.NET or Dynamic (Ruby, Python etc) language, HTML, JS and more  Deployment ◦ Upload XAP (executable) Plus Support Files to Web Server. ◦ Client Side Execution 8 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Performance ◦ Back-End Computing  Calculating Prime Numbers ( )  Flash –1.259 seconds  Silverlight seconds ◦ Front End Animation  Displaying 50 Rotating Images  Flash – 64 fps 60% CPU  Silverlight – 100 fps 45% CPU  Took 80 images to get to 64fps ◦ For More Comparisons See Paper 9 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Implementation on More Platforms (Linux, Android, Windows Mobile, ect)  Hardware Accelerated 3D Support  64-bit support  More Advanced Networking Capability  Better use of Dynamic Objects  More Generic, Less Silverlight Targeted Code ◦ Combine WPF and Silverlight Programming Models 10 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Better Integration with Visual Studios  Better Debugging Capabilities  Include all C# libraries  More intuitive links between controls and code  More access to the client operating system  Make Deployment Application Behavior Exactly Like Development Behavior 11 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Comparative Study of Wireless Network Simulators ◦ Lessmann J. et al., ◦ Survey of Existing Wireless Network Simulators  Sensor Network Component Based Simulator ◦ Chen, G., Szymanski B., ◦ Compiled Research Oriented Simulator  JavaSim ◦ Java Based Generic Network Simulator ◦ Not tailored for WSNs  Current UCCS Wireless Network Simulator ◦ Static – not Interactive Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 12

 Mixed Findings  Meta Study by University of Michigan ◦ Analyzed 254 studies ◦ Shows that Computer Aided Learning usually Increases Test Scores ◦ Increase from 50th to 62nd Percentile  Study by DoE ◦ More Recent ◦ Analyzed ◦ Only Found One Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense13

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 Deeper WSN understanding  Limitations of Discovery Learning  Must be paired with instruction  Lack of Student Participation  Technology ◦ Debugging ◦ Creating Multi-Page Application ◦ Linking Front End Code to Backend ◦ Learning New Language ◦ Lack of Full C# codebase Support Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 15

 Discovery Learning ◦ Little to no instructor lead activities ◦ Student explores independently ◦ Advocates claim deeper understanding and higher level of engagement  Exclusive Discovery Learning has been shown in some studies to be less effective than traditional learning  Blending Discovery Learning with traditional learning has been shown to yield the best results.  This is the recommended approach when using this software as a teaching aid 16 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Learning new languages/technologies ◦ Lots of research ◦ Trial and error  Creating a reusable framework (Application Design) ◦ Well thought out OO approach ◦ Meaningful Objects and Lots of Documentation  Understanding relationship between education and software  Creating a meaningful assessment tool based on educational research ◦ Research – Bloom’s Taxonomy ◦ Unable to integrate into the Application 17 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 Assuming Creating Web Applications using Silverlight would be Similar to Creating Other Windows Applications  Not Enough Up-Front Focus on Educational Research  Assuming Classmates Would be More Responsive  Not Enough Focus on Early, Detailed Software Architectural Design 18 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense

 URL URL Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 19

 More Algorithms  More realistic/complex simulations ◦ 3d terrain ◦ Obstacles/Objects (Weighted lines) ◦ GPS capability  Lesson Plan to Include Application in Course  Integrate Survey with Application Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 20

 Proposal ◦ Document and Presentation  Software Requirements Specification  Design Documentation  User Documentation  Software ◦ Source Code and Deployable Web Components  Survey  Defense Presentation  Final Project Document  Presentation Viewgraphs Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 21

 Created an Educational Tool ◦ Helps Students Learn about WSNs ◦ Easy to Use ◦ Current Technology ◦ Extensible  Explored How to Evaluate Educational Techniques  Explored Effectiveness of Software in Education  Explored Best Practices for Utilizing Discovery Learning  Identified Additional Work to be Done Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense 22

 Questions? 23 Ben Stroud Masters Project Defense