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Publications

Publications by CSE

2012

A Multi-agent Recommender System

Authors
Jorge Morais, AJ; Oliveira, E; Jorge, AM;

Publication
DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract
The large amount of pages in Websites is a problem for users who waste time looking for the information they really want. Knowledge about users' previous visits may provide patterns that allow the customization of the Website. This concept is known as Adaptive Website: a Website that adapts itself for the purpose of improving the user's experience. Some Web Mining algorithms have been proposed for adapting a Website. In this paper, a recommender system using agents with two different algorithms (associative rules and collaborative filtering) is described. Both algorithms are incremental and work with binary data. Results show that this multi-agent approach combining different algorithms is capable of improving user's satisfaction.

2012

Implementing a regional spatial data infrastructure based on free software

Authors
Oliveira, L; Rocha, A; Coelho, A; Dias, L; Rodrigues, A; Sousa, M; Silva, D;

Publication
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract
Spatial data infrastructures (SDI) are extremely important in order to combine the technical and organizational elements required to promote the use of territory-based information in an interoperable way. In fact, geographic information has unique intrinsic features, which makes it a natural indexing mechanism for spatial data. Due to its high cost and upgrade dynamics, this information should be available for reuse and should be managed and maintained by those responsible for producing it as part of management interventions in the territory. Therefore, it is important that different spatial data infrastructures, developed at different hierarchical levels, coexist and communicate in an interoperable way so that they can constitute a spatial basis of reference that facilitates the integration with other sectorial applications. This ongoing work proposes the implementation of a regional spatial data infrastructure based on free software, in compliance with the principles of the EU INSPIRE Directive and with the OGC standards.

2012

Computing Semantic Relatedness using DBPedia

Authors
Leal, JP; Rodrigues, V; Queirós, R;

Publication
1st Symposium on Languages, Applications and Technologies, SLATE 2012, Braga, Portugal, June 21-22, 2012

Abstract
Extracting the semantic relatedness of terms is an important topic in several areas, including data mining, information retrieval and web recommendation. This paper presents an approach for computing the semantic relatedness of terms using the knowledge base of DBpedia - a community effort to extract structured information from Wikipedia. Several approaches to extract semantic relatedness from Wikipedia using bag-of-words vector models are already available in the literature. The research presented in this paper explores a novel approach using paths on an ontological graph extracted from DBpedia. It is based on an algorithm for finding and weighting a collection of paths connecting concept nodes. This algorithm was implemented on a tool called Shakti that extract relevant ontological data for a given domain from DBpedia using its SPARQL endpoint. To validate the proposed approach Shakti was used to recommend web pages on a Portuguese social site related to alternative music and the results of that experiment are reported in this paper.

2012

A distributed system for learning programming on-line

Authors
Verdu, E; Regueras, LM; Verdu, MJ; Leal, JP; de Castro, JP; Queiros, R;

Publication
COMPUTERS & EDUCATION

Abstract
Several Web-based on-line judges or on-line programming trainers have been developed in order to allow students to train their programming skills. However, their pedagogical functionalities in the learning of programming have not been clearly defined. EduJudge is a project which aims to integrate the "UVA On-line Judge", an existing on-line programming trainer with an important number of problems and users, into an effective educational environment consisting of the e-learning platform Moodie and the competitive learning tool QUESTOURnament. The result is the EduJudge system which allows teachers to apply different pedagogical approaches using a proven e-learning platform, makes problems easy to search through an effective search engine, and provides an automated evaluation of the solutions submitted to these problems. The final objective is to provide new learning strategies to motivate students and present programming as an easy and attractive challenge. EduJudge has been tried and tested in three algorithms and programming courses in three different Engineering degrees. The students' motivation and satisfaction levels were analysed alongside the effects of the EduJudge system on students' academic outcomes. Results indicate that both students and teachers found that among other multiple benefits the EduJudge system facilitates the learning process. Furthermore, the experiment also showed an improvement in students' academic outcomes. It must be noted that the students' level of satisfaction did not depend on their computer skills or their gender.

2012

Programming exercises evaluation systems: An interoperability survey

Authors
Queiros, R; Leal, JP;

Publication
CSEDU 2012 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Supported Education

Abstract
Learning computer programming requires solving programming exercises. In computer programming courses teachers need to assess and give feedback to a large number of exercises. These tasks are time consuming and error-prone since there are many aspects relating to good programming that should be considered. In this context automatic assessment tools can play an important role helping teachers in grading tasks as well to assist students with automatic feedback. In spite of its usefulness, these tools lack integration mechanisms with other eLearning systems such as Learning Management Systems, Learning Objects Repositories or Integrated Development Environments. In this paper we provide a survey on programming evaluation systems. The survey gathers information on interoperability features of these systems, categorizing and comparing them regarding content and communication standardization. This work may prove useful to instructors and computer science educators when they have to choose an assessment system to be integrated in their e-Learning environment.

2012

PETCHA: A programming exercises teaching assistant

Authors
Queiros, RAP; Leal, JP;

Publication
Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE

Abstract
This paper presents a tool called Petcha that acts as an automated Teaching Assistant in computer programming courses. The ultimate objective of Petcha is to increase the number of programming exercises effectively solved by students. Petcha meets this objective by helping both teachers to author programming exercises and students to solve them. It also coordinates a network of heterogeneous systems, integrating automatic program evaluators, learning management systems, learning object repositories and integrated programming environments. This paper presents the concept and the design of Petcha and sets this tool in a service oriented architecture for managing learning processes based on the automatic evaluation of programming exercises. The paper presents also a case study that validates the use of Petcha and of the proposed architecture. © 2012 ACM.

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