1. Mark Chircop:
Airport Layout Design
Theme: Very promising idea - but might expect more references to EM papers relating to design
issues. There are several of these dating from around 1990.
Model: Well-conceived. Emphasis could be on 2D plan, 3D visualisation, or simulation of airport
interaction.
Comments: Capitalise "EM". Scope for concurrent engineering. Be careful to distinguish constraints
from dependencies.
2. Timothy Mutlow:
Empirical Music Composition Using Guitar Tablature as a Graphical Representation
Theme: Good potential but may need clarifying - need to be careful not to spread concerns too widely.
Model: Well-conceived topic. Several technical exercises identified - important to maintain EM focus.
May be performance issues in processing sound.
Comments: Was a related EM third year project last year. May be a role for Bome's midi translator.
3. Matthew Leeke:
Empirical Modelling: A facilitator for constructivist learning?
Theme: Need to be careful with a theme that is this broad. Might be more appropriate to have a more
explicit reference to a concrete learning problem in the title.
Model: Sorting algorithms is quite a useful case-study; good to consult some of the previous
sorting-related models, and other literature specifically related to that theme.
Comments: I'm not very comfortable with the rather explicit consideration of "what students will
know" before and after using the model. (This is in keeping with current educational thinking where
project proposals are concerned, but EM is primarily concerned with personal learning activities that
are difficult to describe and prescribe formally.)
4. Richard Baxter-Freeman:
Discrete Event Simulation: A comparative study using Empirical Modelling as a new approach
Theme: This is a theme that has been considered before (as your references to WEB-EM-02 indicate).
Important to accommodate the shift in perspective from that of an objective external observer to what
the agents observe and how they interact.
Model: There is always a tension here between the large-scale models that are possible when you take
an objective external observer viewpoint vs. the smaller models that can be built to illustrate the much
more detailed, human rather than system-centred, approach. The restaurantRoe model is an archetype
for the latter.
Comments: Always a challenge to make the connection between the EM and the Simul8 perspective requires some serious reflection and associated cameo model-building.
5. Hua Li:
Using Empirical Modelling to simulate a gas station
Theme: It's important to find a good theme for your paper that doesn't simply involve describing a
model. (Model description can be given in supporting documentation and is not intended to be a central
feature fo your paper.)
Model: This is a good case-study in that it has some links with the railway arrival-departure protocol.
It's important to try to orient your model to the role of the agents rather than merely making an abstract
simulation from an external observer viewpoint. You might consider providing an LSD account for the
agents here.
Comments: Your theme is set out with what look to be quotes from other sources that need to be
properly digested. You must indicate when you are quoting from other work, as you will otherwise be
penalised (or even charged with plagiarism). It might be better to adopt the term 'petrol station' for the
benefit of your UK audience.
6. Bhashit Trivedi:
Study of supply chain managment with EM perspective
Theme: Need to be careful of too abstract a theme - in general EM is most appropriate when applied to
a specific situation.
Model: You have an explicit context for supply chain management in mind, which is good. You will
ideally need to think about this with more reference to the kind of observables that are relevant (e.g.
explicitly modelling the impact of GPS and mobile phones on the traffic between warehouse and retail
outlet).
Comments: Take care with spelling - typo in the title. May be helpful to look at models such as
warehouseChen and perhaps even roadsysGardner1999.
7. Edward Kent:
An Educational Model for Teaching the Gas Laws
Theme: The experimental aspect of this proposal is somewhat "theory-based", and in this respect
limited compared with more open-ended construal.
Model: Simulating interactions between gas molecules is a topic that has been undertaken before (in
about 1999), and can be seen as an extension of the billiardsYung model. It is not an easy matter to
model large numbers of interacting objects in EDEN, but there may be scope to improve the interface
and performance with newer EDEN variants.
Comments: The nature of the interaction and interpretation involved is rather "tied down" in this
context - to get the best from EM, you may need to explore other angles - e.g. more context-specific
phenomena, such as condensation.
8. Vivek Kajaria:
Basic Mathematical Calculations and learning conversion of numbers into different bases using Empirical
Modelling
Theme: Your theme doesn't seem entirely well-aligned to EM for learning as it is described in EM
references relating to education. Experiential is OK, but the idea of "interfaces" for "ease-of-use" is at
odds with EM thinking.
Model: The specific theme of base conversion of numbers was very successfully addressed in a
submission to WEB-EM-01. Consulting that source will help to suggest ways in which EM can offer
something distinctively different from a specific educational program. You should look also at the
numerous EM models that are education related.
Comments: Spelling is rather erratic (e.g. "Benyon"!). It will be important to consult CS405 lecture
notes etc and the numerous recent papers on EM for educational technology to appreciate the primary
emphasis on construal, and on provoking thought.
9. Christopher Duggins:
Can Empirical Modelling Facilitate Learning? : Modelling Graphs to Assist in the Teaching of AI Search
Algorithms
Theme: Critical assessment is an excellent objective. Also like the emphasis on the scope for
misunderstanding of what is apparently simple.
Model: This will present an interesting challenge. You should be able to draw some inspiration from
the heapsortBeynon model and from other projects intended to produce notations for representing
combinatorial graphs.
Comments: It would be good to see this project doing for searching what previous models have done
for sorting.
10. Yu-Yang Chen:
A study of modelled environment and it's adequacy using wiimote
Theme: The idea of using the wiimote to make a direct sensory link between the model and the actual
environment is well-suited to EM.
Model: Promising to use something as simple as a pendulum with wiimote attached, You may find it
helpful to look at one or two other projects that have set out to link an EDEN model with sensory input
- one concerned with model railways and the other with car parking.
Comments: The title of your paper is not entirely correct ("modelled environment" is odd, and "it's" is
wrong).
11. Robert Hendy:
Using empirical modelling to demonstrate linear kinematics
Theme: There is something challenging about applying EM to theory-based experiment. It would be a
good thing to seek ways of highlighting the particular qualities of EM.
Model: Important in relation to EM to indicate to what extent (if at all) your model would differ from
Java applet you cite.
Comments: Capitalise EM. Your reflections on how the model might be used to frame exam
questions, or visualise answers to textbook questions, seem particularly interesting. This could be the
source of the "particular qualities of EM" that would differentiate your model from a Java applet.
12. Bharat Jethwa:
Oil Supply Chain Modelling
Theme: Good to draw on a topic of which you have first-hand knowledge through work experience.
Find the suggestion that you want "to try and minimise as far as possible the human interaction with
the model" at odds with EM's primary emphasis.
Model: From an EM perspective, it is appropriate to take the human out of the loop only after first
creating a model in which there is considerable scope for human interaction within the domain. (For
instance, allowing the modeller to act as a "super-agent" in the solving role.)
Comments: You identify many signficant factors that may impact on the supply chain. As in all
simulations using EM, it will be important to take explicit account of the way in which changes to
observables impact on agents in the supply chain rather than simply modelling the whole interaction
abstractly.
13. Enqing Guo:
Concurrent Interaction and Communication Empirical Models
Theme: Your theme needs clarifying. Simulation in EDEN is certainly not "the solution for huge and
complex systems". Important to look at specific simulation-style models to see what scale of problem
has proved feasible in the past.
Model: Like the idea that may use LSD here, but be careful to consult recent sources. You state that
"With the LSD notation, the observables of agents can be formalised by the specification", but Lecture
4 in the Concurrency section of the CS405 webpage cautions against making this kind of interpretation
in a naive way.
Comments: Beware of your first reference: "The LSD notation for communicating systems", which is
in urgent need of revision. (For instance, the telephone specification is out of date, and can be found in
modern form associated with Lecture 4 on Concurrency on the EM webpage.)
14. James Davis:
Investigating Cognitive Artifacts as part of the Human Computer Interface and the role of Empirical
Modelling in Teaching and Observation of this Process.
Theme: An interesting ideas here, that could prove to be the basis of a good paper. Need to beware of
the dangers of too abstract a treatment though.
Model: The idea of examining interaction in the context of a specific model is a good one; ideally best
if you can find something ready made in the EM archive. The challenge here is to create something
with integrity when you may be carrying out a number of discrete experiments.
Comments: It will be important to remember that the merits of EM relate to relationships between
observables that are in part amenable to experiencing through interaction, but are also 'hidden' in the
definitions within the model. Also need to be careful to appreciate that EM is not directly about "HCI"
in the narrow sense, since the idea of "use" is not primary, and interpretation can be open-ended.
15. Nicholas Booker:
Using an Empirical Model as a Tool for Visualising and Teaching Imperative Programming Concepts
Theme: A potentially interesting and ambitious theme. The difficulty here may be to identify clearly
what EM really offers that a traditional visualisation tool might not.
Model: Merely using dependencies to give visual expression to internal values in a data structure or
program is a rather limited application of EM. It could be useful to elaborate on why connections
between state such as the heapsort modelling exercise exposes are significant in program
comprehension. You should probably be looking at the correspondence between invariants of
procedural programs and states defined using scripts. There is a model called "scics" that may be of
interest in this connection (see the 2006-7 CS405 webpage).
Comments: Beware that merely making raw program state visible isn't necessarily very helpful. (There
are many tools that do this, such as the Jeliot visualisation tool for instance.)
16. Andrew Ingram:
Experimental Learning: An Empirical Modelling Problem?
Theme: Kolb and Kolb is a good source to explore, and one that has been identified as topical before
(as in Roe's PhD thesis). You need to be careful to make your grand theme concrete if you are to
exploit / illustrate the qualities of EM effectively.
Model: Not clear whether Towers of Hanoi can really sustain the kind of deep account of learning that
you have in mind. The actual repertoire of relevant state-changing moves is quite limited for instance,
and you may need to consider modelling what is going on in the mind of a learner who grasps the
recursive solution.
Comments: There is probably some relevant literature on learning about recursion that may be
relevant. Your proposal shows a strong affinity to that of Matt Leeke, both in terms of paper structure
and stance re defining what the learner knows before and after. The latter concern is not very
well-aligned to EM thinking.
17. Maria Ejaz:
The use of an interactive, observable model in Feature-Driven Development
Theme: This is a refreshingly different idea - good to see an attempt to relate EM to some other
practical project based on another paradigm. The notion of using EM to "provide space to create
features and relate them to each other" is well-matched to EM, but more detail is needed to explain
how this might work.
Model: It would be helpful to know where (if anywhere) you have encountered EM models that map
onto the application you have in mind. There is a model concerned with car design (studied and
documented by Rungrattanaubol in her PhD thesis) that might just be related.
Comments: From your description, it's not clear to me whether you are proposing to use EM to
visualise datasets derived from FDD, or whether you propose to seek a deeper link between EM and
features. A comparison between EM and FDD as processes may also be of interest, and could be
considered as a possible development / extension of your theme if necessary.
18. Nirali Shah:
New Advent of Education Technology using Empirical Modelling
Theme: This theme is well-aligned to recent papers on EM for educational technology; it would be
good to see the qualities claimed for EM illustrated in your educational example.
Model: You may find it helpful to consult the fractionsCronick model, as well as the screenshot from
Visual Fractions in the CS405 lecture relating to Imagine-d Logo. There is a challenge to be met in
understanding what roles are played by "well-conceived exercises illustrating EM principles" and
"visually appealing artefacts" in teaching at primary school level. EM is best oriented towards the
former concern.
Comments: Your writing shows some conviction and colour. There are some good precedents for
studies at this level in WEB-EM-01.
19. Lun He:
The Sodoku puzzle solving with EM model
Theme: The paper abstract doesn't read as if you have come up with a clear idea of your own - sounds
more like a review (if not in some places a direct repetition) of what has been said elsewhere. Your
intentions only become clear (and EM only becomes relevant) under the Model heading.
Model: You need to identify what possible advantages an EM solver might have over any other
program. Any advantages are likely to relate to how well-integrated the computer's activity is with
human solving activity, or to the manner in which a solver can be developed. The connections with
abstract algorithmic processes may be hard to establish.
Comments: Be careful with spelling: e.g. "sodoku" and "computor".
20. Thomas Copeland:
An educational system for modelling mechanics problems
Theme: Good indeed to see whether you can realise the objective of enabling teachers to build models
"with little or no programming knowledge". Statics might be in some way a better target than dynamics
because of the state based emphasis of EM. A previous WEB-EM model targeted the forces associated
with bridges.
Model: Important here that the merits of EM that you are targeting here relate primarily to the building
of the model, rather than to the experimental activity associated with it. (See the comments on
'theory-based' experiment made elsewhere.)
Comments: Capitalise EM. Need to beware that it has proved quite hard to make sophisticated EDEN
models of mechanics in the past.
21. Lee Herrington:
Supporting the Project: an investigation into the use of Empirical Modelling for Simple Project Management
Theme: A promising idea: think that the idea of visualising current state via a dashboard is
well-matched in principle to an EM perspective.
Model: Need to be careful to distinguish constraints from dependencies, when thinking about
observables such as your phases, tasks, costs and durations.
Comments: It would be good to include background on existing tools - possibly even some illustration
of how 'triggers and complicated summations' feature in these. References are a bit bloodshot:
"Baynon" and "Boyett", "Fernandees" etc.
22. James Tildesley:
Understanding Game Theory Through Empirical Modelling
Theme: This is a promising area for visualisation and would make a welcome extension to other
OXO-related models.
Model: You may find it useful to consult the EDEN version of the DMT that is described in one of last
year's CS405 labs: this might be a way to approach the generation and presentation of game trees.
Comments: There are quite a lot of typos in your text. May be worth looking at other notations that
have been developed for graphs, such as ARCA and Efstathiou's graph notation - if only to get useful
background and inspiration.
23. Dimitrios Karametos:
Order management system for food industry
Theme: Good awareness of the potential here. Would be good to make use of LSD and make
development from an LSD account the subject of your discussion. Whilst it's appropriate to have some
broad and ambitious goals - like "investigating the potential [no 's' needed] of EM in real world
business applications", it will be important to keep a narrower focus in your model-building activity.
Model: It's unfortunate that the automatic translation from ADM into EDEN is no longer as
well-supported as it was in the past, but the approach of thinking in LSD and writing in EDEN is still
valid.
Comments: Beware of your first reference: "The LSD notation for communicating systems", which is
in urgent need of revision. (For instance, the telephone specification is out of date, and can be found in
modern form associated with Lecture 4 on Concurrency on the EM webpage.) Your accounts of the
paper and model are tidy and concise, but there are one or two odd choices of word ("promoted" - for
"forwarded"? and "slitted" - for "split"?).
24. James Mills:
Modelling weights in an educational environment using Empirical Modelling (Key Stage 1)
Theme: This seems to be a well-pitched study that should prove fruitful if developed appropriately. It
would be helpful to illustrate the characteristics of the existing educational software that you are
deprecating.
Model: Your general plan for incremental development of the model is good. You may find the
submissions on educational themes in WEB-EM-01 particularly relevant and helpful. (It would be
particularly good to be able to include some empirical studies with learners that make use of your
models, if that is possible.)
Comments: This model offers an opportunity to make links with experiment in the world that could
add further depth and interest to your study.
25. Jonathan Gover:
Teaching trigonometry using Empirical Modelling
Theme: The general idea here is excellent. Will be important to write in a rather more focused way in
the final paper though.
Model: Putting the emphasis on the broader picture of how your model will fit into the classroom
context, and serve the teacher's needs well is a good plan. Your plan to use the EM presentation
environment is well-suited to this emphasis.
Comments: Need to be careful to use terms appropriately - for instance, "kinaesthetic" means more
than "interactive" and "spatial relationships" are not most appropriately applied to the trig functions.
26. Jin Shao:
EMPRICAL MODELLING FOR EDUCATION: MODELLING THE FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLER
Theme: You need to specify more details in order for your idea to be understood. For instance, the
term "tank controller" can have more than one meaning. Identifying a model-building exercise is not in
itself enough to identify a suitable theme for your paper, which should involve some reflection,
comparison or evaluation of your model.
Model: There is a model of a pendulum at ~wmb/public/projects/simulations/pendulum that is relevant
to the study of fuzzy logic control.
Comments: Spelling needs to be more careful - note the spelling error in your title, and the use of
"principle" for "principal".
27. Xiaofeng Li:
System Specification from the Empirical Modelling perspective
Theme: The comparison you propose to make in this paper addresses an interesting and difficult
theme. Making a good EM model of your proposed situation is perhaps the most important step
towards supporting your discussion and comparison.
Model: This is a model closley related to one that has been explored by Russell Boyatt and myself. It
would be useful for you/us to discuss this with Russell at some stage.
Comments:There are some strange words in your text e.g. is 'inherence' really meant to be 'inference'?
Your references are very grand - to meaty books. It will be important in practice to put your focus on
the specific case study.
28. Atanas Kozarev:
Empirical Modelling for Education: Supply-chain Models (OR DSS)
Theme: Your idea still seems rather hazy and undeveloped. It will be important to do more than build
a model in order to write a good paper. One way of expanding on your initial thoughts is to consider
how you would elaborate on statements such as "current teaching is limited to screenshots of software
packages or simple diagrams". What is the nature of these packages? and what kind of diagrams /
screenshots are typically used?
Model: In deciding what model to build, it will be important to envisage specific situations at which
the EM exercise can be directed.
Comments: EM does give a lot of scope for refining your ideas and focus as you make a model. On
the other hand, it is most (perhaps "can only be"?) effective where there is a specific referent to
stimulate the imagination. Conceiving a good referent is an essential step in shaping what abstract
issues you will be able to address.
29. Duy Pham:
An AI that can learn from experience
Theme: Your theme is very ambitious, and needs to be centred on a specific feasible modelling study
and grounded in the research literature. Some EM references, such as "EM and the Foundations of AI"
are certainly relevant, but it is also important to consult key references such as Rodney Brooks's papers
on Intelligence without Representation, Intelligence without Reason etc.
Model: The idea of looking at implementing an EM model that "learns" to play noughts-and-crosses is
a good one. You could look into the MENACE noughts and crosses playing machine developed by
Donald Michie (see http://www.adt.co.uk/html/noughts_and_crosses and
http://www.adt.co.uk/html/menace_simulation.html).
Comments: Be careful not to represent EM in ways that are not supported in our writings. For
instance, a statement such as: "The ultimate goal of EM is to create an interactive environment
identical to the real world" is not an accurate reflection of what has been written about EM. It's also
important to recognise that EM doesn't so much endorse pretentious ideas about how machines can be
like humans, but instead suggests an alternative perspective from which to critique thinking about
'intelligence', 'the real world' and 'ultimate goals'.
30. Bo Gao:
Modelling and Data visualisation of the Polyface Farm
Theme: Note that your two paragraphs are not really addressing the subjects requested. Your first
paragraph ("The Farm") gives factual information about Polyface Farm, but includes no reference to
EM or a "theme" for your paper. The second paragraph ("The Model") makes just one implicit
reference to an EM model - the other references to 'model' all refer to a farming practice. If indeed (as
you claim in the second paragraph) "the methods of EM are particularly useful in assistance to
popularising the model [of sustainability in organic farming]" this is not really the kind of claim that is
within the scope of the module assessment. You need to find something more concrete and specific to
explore in that context.
Model: The idea of modelling a farm as a multi-agent simulation is certainly an interesting one, if
ambitious. You need to focus more on how you would go about making such a model, and identify
modest objectives for evaluation that are within the scope of the assignment.
Comments: It's tempting to make a leap from speaking of EM as an "alternative computing" to seeing
it as a part of the idealised alternative culture. Whatever impact EM might have on computing and its
applications in the future (for which there is perhaps little evidence at present), the focus in your
assignment needs to be on EM as it is at present. It is a promising approach, but there are many
limitations of the current tools, and many ideas that still require further clarification, and you must
engage with it on these terms. Key sentences in your first paragraph are taken verbatim from Wikipedia
- it is very important that your abstract and paper should be in your words, though of course you may
include explicit quotations.