Understanding mammals, hands-on

Understanding Evolutionary Computing: A Hands on Approach

|Evolutionary computing is the study of robust search algorithms based on the principles of evolution. An Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) searches a problem space in order to nd regions containing good solutions. Typically EA users judge the quality of their algorithms by the quality of the solutions found. This approach ignores the behavior of the search algorithm and concentrates solely on the ou...

Hands, hover, and nibs: understanding stylus accuracy on tablets

Although tablets and styli have become pervasive, styli have not seen widespread adoption for precise input tasks such as annotation, note-taking, algebra, and so on. While many have identified that stylus accuracy is a problem, there is still much unknown about how the user and the stylus itself influences accuracy. The present work identifies a multitude of factors relating to the user, the s...

Teaching Conceptual Understanding of Mathematics via a Hands-On Approach

From hands to minds: Gestures promote understanding

Gestures serve many roles in communication, learning and understanding both for those who view them and those who create them. Gestures are especially effective when they bear resemblance to the thought they represent, an advantage they have over words. Here, we examine the role of conceptually congruent gestures in deepening understanding of dynamic systems. Understanding the structure of dyna...

Hands-on experience can lead to systematic mistakes: A study on adults’ understanding of sinking objects

In line with theories of embodied cognition, hands-on experience is typically assumed to support learning. In the current paper, we explored this issue within the science domain of sinking objects. Adults had to make a guess about which of two objects in a pair would sink faster. The crucial manipulation was whether participants were handed real-life objects (real-objects condition) or were sho...