SMILE: Simulator for Maryland Imitation Learning Environment

As robot imitation learning is beginning to replace conventional hand-coded approaches in programming robot behaviors, much work is focusing on learning from the actions of demonstrators. We hypothesize that in many situations, procedural tasks can be learned more effectively by observing object behaviors while completely ignoring the demonstrator's motions. To support studying this hypothesis and robot imitation learning in general, we built a software system named SMILE that is a simulated 3D environment. In this virtual environment, both a simulated robot and a user-controlled demonstrator can manipulate various objects on a tabletop. The demonstrator is not embodied in SMILE, and therefore a recorded demonstration appears as if the objects move on their own. In addition to recording demonstrations, SMILE also allows programing the simulated robot via Matlab scripts, as well as creating highly customizable objects for task scenarios via XML. This report describes the features and usages of SMILE.

Playing for Real: Designing Alternate Reality Games in Learning Contexts

Alternate Reality Game (ARG) represent a new genre of transmedia practice where players hunt for scattered clues, make sense of disparate information, and solve puzzles to advance an ever-evolving storyline. Players participate in ARGs using multiple communications technologies, ranging from print materials to mobile devices. However, many interaction design challenges must be addressed to weave these everyday communication tools together into an immersive, participatory experience. Transmedia design is not an everyday process. Designers must create and connect story bits across multiple media (video, audio, text) and multiple platforms (phones, computers, physical spaces). Furthermore, they must engage with players of varying skill levels. Few studies to-date have explored the design process of ARGs in learning contexts. Fewer still have focused on challenges involved in designing for youth (13-17 years old). In this study, I explore the process of designing ARGs as vehicles for promoting information literacy and participatory culture for adolescents (13-17 years old). Two ARG design scenarios, distinguished by target learning environment (formal and informal context) and target audience (adolescents), comprise the two cases that I examine. Through my analysis of these two design cases, I articulate several unique challenges faced by designers who create interactive, transmedia stories for – and with – youth. Drawing from these design challenges, I derive a repertoire of design strategies that future designers and researchers may use to create and implement ARGs for teens in learning contexts. In particular, I propose a narrative design framework that allows for the categorization of ARGs as storytelling constructs that lie along a continuum of participation and interaction. The framework can serve as an analytic tool for researchers and a guide for designers. In addition, I establish a framework of social roles that designers may employ to craft transmedia narratives before live launch and to promote and scaffold player participation after play begins. Overall, the contributions of my study include theoretical insights that may advance our understanding of narrative design and analysis as well as more practical design implications for designers and practitioners seeking to incorporate transmedia features into learning experiences that target youth.

School-Based Referrals to the Juvenile Courts: Prevalence and Characteristics in Several States

Effective school discipline practices are essential to keeping schools safe and creating an optimal learning environment. However, the overreliance of exclusionary discipline often removes students from the school setting and deprives them of the opportunity to learn. Previous research has suggested that students are being introduced to the juvenile justice system through the use of school-based juvenile court referrals. In 2011, approximately 1.2 million delinquency cases were referred to the juvenile courts in the United States. Preliminary evidence suggests that an increasing number of these referrals have originated in the schools. This study investigated school-based referrals to the juvenile courts as an element of the School-to-Prison Pipeline (StPP). The likelihood of school-based juvenile court referrals and rate of dismissal of these referrals was examined in several states using data from the National Juvenile Court Data Archives. In addition, the study examined race and special education status as predictors of school-based juvenile court referrals. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression and odds ratio, were used to analyze the data, make conclusions based on the findings and recommend appropriate school discipline practices.