CAREER: Smarter Educational Software through Sketch Recognition

在许多技术学科中，从电气工程到机械工程，最简单和最直接的沟通方式就是画画。 当图表与计算机模拟程序结合时，图表在教育中特别强大，因为与纸张不同，模拟程序允许学生探索物理系统的行为，例如电路或机械设备。不幸的是，这些程序的鼠标和键盘界面阻止了学生自由地绘制图表，迫使他们不断地查阅菜单来选择图表的片段。 在计算机上绘图的硬件存在;瓶颈是计算机无法理解图表。PI的中心研究目标是构建和部署能够理解学生手绘图表的计算机模拟工具。 自由素描识别研究的结果还不能被纳入最终用户的应用程序有两个原因。 首先，自由草图识别不够鲁棒，无法纳入有用的工具。 第二，如何建立可使用的接口，包括自由草图识别知之甚少，这项工作将弥合差距之间的自由草图识别技术和它的最终用户，专注于它的应用，本科工程设计。 这项工作的成果将是改进技术的自由草图识别，将自由草图识别到可用的接口，和教育草图为基础的模拟工具的指导方针。 该项目还包括一个重要的外联部分，旨在建立一个教育和技术研究人员社区，他们具有评估这些学习工具的有效性所需的综合专门知识，该研究项目直接支持PI的教育目标，即增加使用和开发技术的学生的数量和多样性。 首先，能够理解手绘图表的技术将为学生提供更熟悉的模拟程序界面，降低在课堂上使用技术的障碍，特别是对于计算机经验较少的学生，包括女性和代表性不足的少数民族。 其次，这项研究将在哈维穆德学院，一个完全本科机构进行。 学院规模小，师生比例低（1：9），将使PI与本科生密切合作，教他们进行研究的基础知识，并为研究生工作做好准备。

n many technical disciplines, from electrical to mechanical engineering, the simplest and most straightforward way to communicate an idea is to draw a picture. Diagrams are particularly powerful in education when they are combined with computer simulation programs because, unlike paper, simulation programs allow students to explore the behavior of a physical system, such as a circuit or a mechanical device. Unfortunately, the mouse and keyboard interface to these programs prevent students from drawing their diagrams freely, forcing them continually to consult menus to choose pieces of the diagram. The hardware to draw on the computer exists; the bottleneck is the computer's inability to understand diagrams.The PI's central research goal is to construct and deploy computer simulation tools capable of understanding students' hand-drawn diagrams. The results of free-sketch recognition research cannot yetbe incorporated into end-user applications for two reasons. First, free-sketch recognition is not sufficiently robust to incorporate into useful tools. Second, little is known about how to build usable interfaces that incorporate free-sketch recognition.This work will bridge the gap between free-sketch recognition technology and its end-users by focusing on its application to undergraduate engineering design. The outcome of this work will be improved techniques for free-sketch recognition, guidelines for incorporating free-sketch recognition into usable interfaces, and educational sketch-based simulation tools. This project also includes a significant outreach component aimed at establishing a community of educational and technological researchers with the combined expertise necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools on learning.This research project directly supports the PI's educational goal of increasing the number and diversity of students who use and who develop technology. First, technology that can understand hand-drawn diagrams will provide students with a more familiar interface to simulation programs, lowering the barrier to using technology in the classroom, particularly for students with less computer experience including women and underrepresented minorities. Second, this research will be performed at Harvey Mudd College, an exclusively undergraduate institution. The small size of the college and low faculty to student ratio (1:9) will enable the PI to work closely with undergraduates, teaching them the basics of performing research and preparing many for graduate work.