The main objective of this paper is the conceptual design of a computational AI system that emulates human creativity. To do this, extensive research has been done on recent discoveries about the neural bases of human creativity. As a result, eleven neurocognitive factors have been identified on which the tremendous creative capacity of the human…

Advanced three-dimensional virtual environment technology, similar to that used by the film and computer games industry, can allow educational developers to rapidly create realistic online vir-tual environments. This technology has been used to generate a range of interactive Virtual Real-ity (VR) learning environments across a spectrum of…

Nowadays we need to teach students how to become flexible problem solvers in a dynamic world. The pace in which technology changes and complexity increases requires increased efficiency in learning and understanding. This requires the engineers of tomorrow to quickly gain knowledge and insight outside their prime area of expertise. To transfer…

The focus of this project was on characterizing and assessing design problem solving in the area of digital circuit design. Think-aloud protocols and computer traces of subject problem-solving behavior were used to elucidate the cognitive processes involved in designing combinational and complex sequential circuits by: (1) studying the differences…

This survey of the research into user interface design and its impact on the development of hypermedia users' mental models discusses various design issues including the functionality of the system, system purpose, differences in user background, and system usability. (Author/AEF)

Interacting cognitive subsystems (ICS) is proposed as a unified cognitive theory that can be used as the basis for representations in human-computer interaction, and two approaches based on the theory are described: one entails the description of cognitive task models, and the other entails the production of less complete diagrammatic notations.…

This report characterizes human problem solving in digital circuit design. Protocols of 11 different designers with varying degrees of training were analyzed by identifying the designers' problem solving strategies and discussing activity patterns that differentiate the designers. These methods are proposed as a tentative basis for assessing…

Work in the design and construction of virtual environments (VEs) is described from the standpoint of semiotic theory. It is advocated that well-constructed visual worlds can create in a person the feelings and cognitions that arise from being in the natural world and that interactions with computer-constructed VEs are mediated through signs. The…

This paper introduces and analyzes problems and issues in the design and use of cognitive tools in open, user-centered learning environments. It introduces a classification scheme for tool functions, and showcases several tools in a current educational hypermedia research and development effort. Information-seeking, information-presentation,…

Research in human-computer interaction is evolving a user-centered methodology for system design and instruction that focuses on integrating affective and cognitive user variables to increase productivity, creativity, and human growth. Discussion includes the survey approach, the experimental-ethnographic approach; theory-building; and the future…