Simulated Meeting development

"The Simulated Meeting" Development

The Simulated Meeting activity allows learners to participate in a simulated P&T committee meeting. The Simulated Meeting activity is divided into two components: the meeting and the follow-up analysis.

"MEETING" COMPONENT

Content Development for "Meeting"

Introduction text to activity
Case information
- career account (non-coded)
- committee member biographies
- candidate file
  - cv
  - letters of recommendation
  - peer review report
  - publications synopsis
- transcripts
  - Perez
  - Shen
  - Mansour
- References
  - ADEPT bibliography
  - GaTech resources
  - general comments
  - specific comments
  - topic list
  - keyword list or any other lists by which users may sort
Credits

Interaction Development for "Meeting"

Simulation engine - The simulation engine processes a branching conversation. The conversation proceeds linearly until the user is presented with a choice. When the user makes a choice the conversation then follows that branch linearly until the next user choice or the end of the conversation. During the first pass, the user can see the last statement, but cannot take a different course through the simulation. At the end of the first pass, the user is directed to the analysis portion. At the end of or during subsequent passes, the user has the option to start again, or start a new scenario. During the simulation, the learner may access the "Library" at any time.
- Each simulation will typically have three decision points
- User-controlled advance button
- Analysis starts at end of first pass
Implementation
- The ADEPT Social Simulation is implemented in Director, Lingo, Flash and XML. The engine is written in Director and Lingo interprets the an XML script which drives the conversation and lists bibliographic links for use in the analysis phase.
- The engine animates the current speaker (with a Flash animation) and displays the text of what they are saying. Depending on the script other meeting attendees may react to the speakers statement. Thus the engine may also trigger animated Flash reactions for any of these attendees.
- When it is the users turn, the engine prompts the user with up to four choices of what to say. All statements are stored in a transcript which is later used in the analysis portion of the ADEPT application.

Graphic Development for "Meeting"

The simulated meeting storyboard show the following graphic elements:

Introduction
- committee member screen
- candidate file screen with file parts (jpgs to come)
- case background information screen
Meeting
- background stage for meeting
- three animated characters
- speech balloon for each speaker
- background ministages for each choice statement
- advance button
- sidebar for future use

"ANALYSIS" COMPONENT

Content Development of "Analysis"

Commmittee Member users' parts
- Downloadable application
- Case information
  - career accounts (non-coded )
  - committee member biographies
  - candidate file
    - cv
    - letters of recommendation
    - peer review report
    - publications synopsis
  - transcripts (Perez , Shen , Mansour)
- References
  - ADEPT bibliography
  - GaTech resources
  - general comments
  - specific comments
  - topic list
  - keyword list or any other lists by which users may sort
- List of bookmarked references
Candidate users' parts (to come)

Interaction Development of "Analysis"

To enter the Analysis screen, the user clicks on the "Done" button. The user can access related content from this portion of the tool by clicking a statement from the transcript. Appropriate references are listed along with a general comment about the statement and specific comments about the references. References may be bookmarked for later access or to e-mail links by clicking on the radio button next to each item.

Graphic Development for "Analysis"

Current display of the transcript utilizes a conventional vertical scrollbar. Future versions will implement an "information visualization" of the complete transcript. This visualization will be a vertically compressed transcript with highlighted decision points. It will provide an opportunity for users to more quickly locate a specific statement by displaying it in the context of other statements. It will also more easily display and locate sections of the transcript that have changed due to the user selecting a different decision point in a subsequent pass.

Adjacent to statements that the user selects, the relevant bibliographic information is displayed. The user' mental model of commentary followed by justification is supported by showing general commentary to the statement, then following with a list of relevant references from the bibliography. If more than one reference applies, additional specific commentary for each reference is provided. The transcript is located in the left-hand column, commentaries and references are located on the right.

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Project Organization

ADEPT Goals
ADEPT Tool Design
ADEPT Tool Development
ADEPT Project Schedule
ADEPT Minutes
ADEPT Prototypes