Diplom/Masterarbeit mit USA-Aufenthalten zu vergeben
The "Collaboration systems and CSCW" group at Clausthal University of Technology is looking for a motivated and skilled student (Computer Science or Information Systems) who is interested in conducting his Diploma/Master's thesis research within a DAAD-funded research cooperation between Clausthal University of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Within this German/US research cooperation, an existing Intelligent Tutoring System for legal argumentation (called "LARGO") is currently being redesigned so that it engages students more actively and thus benefits students in regular classroom usage. The following four factors play a role for the redesign:
1. Leading students from analyzing arguments to making arguments
2. Providing more interactivity in argument diagram construction
3. Fostering group discussions about arguments
4. Offering a game-like environment in which students can compete about a "best argument"
In this context, the Diploma/Master's thesis will involve the following tasks:
- Technical requirements analysis for the system redesign
- Revision of the LARGO user interface to allow for different forms of interaction (such as collaboration, competition and argument analysis vs. creation) over the WWW
- Development of scripting and deployment options for the system in order to make it more flexible and facilitate the remote usage and setup of the system
- Conducting pilot tests with the revised system version
Within this thesis project, you will have the opportunity for two research visits to the cooperation partners in Pittsburgh (for requirements analysis and pilot testing) that are fully paid for by DAAD. Besides your involvement in the described international research project, you will also be affiliated to the DFG project "LASAD" (conducted jointly by Clausthal University of Technology and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) which aims at creating a generalized framework and methodology for the construction of argumentation support systems to help students learn argumentation in different domains.
For this thesis, we are seeking candidates with good programming skills (at least in Java, preferably also in other programming languages) and good communication skills in German and English language. Experience with Web 2.0 technologies, collaboration systems, human-computer interaction or empirical studies would be a plus, but are not required.
The concrete start date for the thesis has not been fixed yet: you can apply if you plan to begin with your thesis work next year. For exceptionally talented candidates, this project could also (with reduced tasks) be offered as a Bachelor's thesis.
If you are interested, then please send your application (including at least your curriculum vitae and a list of the grades you achieved in your studies so far) to Prof. Dr. Niels Pinkwart (niels.pinkwart@tu-clausthal.de) by December 1st, 2008.