This case study shows how a student’s strategies and associated conceptions emerged and changed over the course of a 6-session tutoring curriculum designed to develop conceptual knowledge of linear functions. Using microgenetic and sequential analyses, we identify the student’s strategies and conceptions and describe how these changed. We show how the student did not erase his original concepti...

A methodology is presented for the design synthesis of metamaterials that act as thin multifrequency artificial magnetic conductors. These structures are realized by placing a frequency-selective surface above a conventional prefect electric conductor, separated by a thin dielectric layer. The frequency-selective surface design is optimized using a microgenetic algorithm to operate at multiple,...

In four experiments, participants had to detect symmetries or repetitions distributed over two depth planes, under presentation times of 200-1000 ms. Structurally corresponding elements were placed in different planes (Experiments 1a and 1b) or in the same plane (Experiments 2a and 2b). Results suggest (a) an ongoing interaction between regularity cues and depth cues, and (b) that efficient det...

As formative research for the development of a suite of middle school life science video games, we are adapting microgenetic research methods [15] that use repeated, small-scale task-based sessions with participants to document how reasoning and understanding can develop and change in short periods of time. In this study, we are working with students between the ages of 9 and 12, examining the ...

Primed matching was used to examine the microgenesis of perceptual organization for line configurations that vary in the connectedness between their four line components, and for hierarchical patterns composed of four outline closed figures. The results for the line configurations showed that the configural organization of the disconnected line segments was available for priming very early, and...

An important family of blind equalization algorithms identify a communication channel model based on fitting higher order cumulants, which poses a nonlinear optimization problem. Since higher order cumulant-based criteria are multimodal, conventional gradient search techniques require a good initial estimate to avoid converging to local minima. We present a novel scheme which uses genetic algor...

We created a socially assistive robotic learning companion to support English-speaking children’s acquisition of a new language (Spanish). In a two-month microgenetic study, 34 preschool children will play an interactive game with a fully autonomous robot and the robot’s virtual sidekick, a Toucan shown on a tablet screen. Two aspects of the interaction were personalized to each child: (1) the ...

Determination of optimal cutting parameters is one of the most important elements in any process planning of metal parts. This paper presents a multi-objective optimization technique, based on genetic algorithms, to optimize the cutting parameters in turning processes: cutting depth, feed and speed. Two conflicting objectives, tool life and operation time, are simultaneously optimized. The prop...