Slides of the talk at the AI With The Best Online Conference #AIWTB, 25.09.2016

1. Challenging the Dual System:
Doing (AI) Undergraduate Research
at a University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Dagmar Monett
100 SPEAKERS - 2 DAYS - 4 TRACKS
http://ai.withthebest.com/

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AIWTB talk titles (100 most used words)
2

3. D. Monett
Speakers
3
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■ Inspiring and future-oriented advancements in Artificial
Intelligence research!

4. D. Monett
Challenge: AI future
4
■ Bright, promising, ubiquitous...
“[S]ubstantial increases in the future uses of AI technologies,
including more self-driving cars, healthcare diagnostics and
targeted treatments, and physical assistance for elder care can be
expected. AI and robotics will also be applied across the globe in
industries struggling to attract younger workers, such as agriculture,
food processing, fulfillment centers, and factories. They will facilitate
delivery of online purchases through flying drones, self-driving
trucks, or robots that can get up the stairs to the front door.”
Peter Stone et al. (2016, September). Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030. One Hundred
Year Study on Artificial Intelligence: Report of the 2015-2016 Study Panel, Stanford
University, Stanford, CA. Doc: http://ai100.stanford.edu/2016-report

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Challenge: STEM labor gap
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Apprenticeships
Masters and
technicians
Academics
Source: STEM Spring Report 2016 (Germany)
https://www.mintzukunftschaffen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/FINAL_MINT-Fruehjahrsreport_2016.pdf

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Challenge: demographics
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■ Older workers in STEM
professions
■ Proportion of age
segment, 55+ years
>19,9%
18,1% - 19,8%
16,9% - 18,0%
16,0% - 16,8%
14,6% - 15,9%
<14,5%
Source: STEM Spring Report 2016 (Germany)
https://www.mintzukunftschaffen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/FINAL_MINT-
Fruehjahrsreport_2016.pdf

7. D. Monett
Needed:
7
■ New, solid partnerships between academia and
industry
■ ... structural change of, rethinking the
traditional education settings
■ ... early training and education of tomorrow’s
workforce
■ ... research and tech skills strengthened
■ ... AI and beyond!
(in my opinion)

8. The (German)
Dual education system

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Dual education system
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David Liuzzo https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1276668
■ Founded in Baden-
Württemberg (1974)
■ Companies
claimed for more
praxis-oriented study
programmes...
■ ...and fostered their
development!

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Dual education system
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Higher
education
instruction
Compulsory
internships in
a company+
= 3 years of job integrated learning
University of Applied Sciences

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Cooperative studies
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■ The dual partners select their students themselves
■ They are responsible for the practice-oriented
part of the studies
■ Students are employed and paid by the
participating companies
 Employment contract over 3 years
 Monthly salary
 Over 80% of the students receive a job offer
from the cooperating company after graduation

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Cooperative studies
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■ Dept. of Cooperative Studies cooperates with
more than 650 companies
■ Administration partners at federal, state, and
local authority levels
■ Integrated semesters of work experience
■ Company Advisory Boards

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Cooperative studies
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Students selection by the companies
Possibility of practical
phase abroad
Term 6
Possibility of study
term abroad
Academic phase
Practical phase
Term 1 Term 2
Term 3 Term 4 Term 5
Term 6
New employment
contract

14. And where is the connection to
Artificial Intelligence?

15. D. Monett
Imagine the benefits...
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Students selection by the companies
Possibility of practical
phase abroad
Term 6
Possibility of study
term abroad
Academic phase
Practical phase
Term 1 Term 2
Term 3 Term 4 Term 5
Term 6
New employment
contract
AI
AI AI
AI AI
AI AI

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Why?
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■ Companies work on applied, cutting edge
research, they know better how tech is evolving
■ Academia provides the theoretical foundations
Robustly connecting
academic education and real world practices!

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Which skills?
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■ E.g. faster and deeper improvement...
 of technical skills (at the companies)
 of academic and research skills (at the
university)
 as well as of other hard/soft skills (at both)
■ …inside/outside the classroom
Clear focus on applied learning,
knowledge transfer!

18. Student research projects (SRPs)
and practical transfers (PTs)
as learning modules

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SRPs and PTs
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■ 3 PTs (1st, 2nd, and 3rd semesters)
■ 2 SRPs (4th and 5th theory semesters)
■ E.g., 1 SRP = 14 ECTS-credits
■ Topics mainly proposed by BSEL academic
supervisors
■ 3-month theoretical + 3-month practical phase
(ECTS: European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System,
1 credit point = 30 hours of study)

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Cooperative studies
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Students selection by the companies
Possibility of practical
phase abroad
Term 6
Possibility of study
term abroad
Academic phase
Practical phase
Term 1 Term 2
Term 3 Term 4 Term 5
Term 6
New employment
contract

21. D. Monett
SRPs
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■ To submit/present:
■ Partial results in an oral presentation at a
“projects’ week”
■ Written report of about 4000 words or 25
pages long
■ It could include (co-)writing a research paper

22. D. Monett
Imagine the benefits...
22
Students selection by the companies
Possibility of practical
phase abroad
Term 6
Possibility of study
term abroad
Academic phase
Practical phase
Term 1 Term 2
Term 3 Term 4 Term 5
Term 6
New employment
contract
AI
AI AI
AI AI
AI AI

23. The Dual education system
is not perfect, however

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Current situation
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■ Higher teaching workload (at least 2x the ‘big universities’
teaching workload)
■ No research professorships
■ No research and assistants staff
■ No PhD students (unless co-supervision in cooperation with
‘big universities’)
■ Lower salaries (compared to professors at ‘big universities’)
■ Insufficient financial support for research projects
(also fewer ‘dual’ professors on decision boards)

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Current situation
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Meanwhile...
Challenge:
How to change it, from inside/outside.

26. How to motivate undergraduate
students to be co-authors
of research papers?

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■ Start with topics for student research projects!
■ Stimulate research focusing on current, applied
areas!
■ Bring together research projects and teaching!
■ Work with real customers whenever possible!
■ Supervise in close interaction with students and
companies!
■ Network students from different courses!
■ Encourage early interest in publishing scientific
results!
How to motivate
(some of my lessons learned)

28. Examples of conference papers
co-authored by 2nd year
undergraduate students

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Multi-agent simulations
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NL-Analyzer: Enhancing Simulation Tools
to Assist Multi-agent Systems’ Teaching
D. Monett, R. Janisch, S. Starroske (2010).
In W. van der Hoek, G.A. Kaminka, Y. Lesperance, M. Luck, and S. Sen (eds.),
Proceedings of the Workshop Multi-Agent Systems for Education and Interactive
Entertainment, MASEIE 2010, at the 9th International Conference on Autonomous
Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 1-6, May 10-14, Toronto, Canada.
Planning experiments
with the NetLogo-
Analyzer

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Expert system modeler
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Research and Teaching with
Remo: Student research
projects and teaching for and
by undergraduate students
D. Monett, M. Sänger (2012).
In H.R. Arabnia, V.A. Clincy, and
L. Deligiannidis (eds.),
Proceedings of the 8th
International Conference on
Frontiers in Education:
Computer Science and
Computer Engineering, FECS
2012. CSREA Press U.S.A., Vol.
2, pp. 353-359, Las Vegas, NV.
Remo, a rule-based
expert system modeler

31. D. Monett
BDI, NetLogo
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Using BDI-extended NetLogo
Agents in Undergraduate CS
Research and Teaching
J. Wiens, D. Monett (2013).
In H.R. Arabnia, A. Bahrami, V.A.
Clincy, L. Deligiannidis, and G.
Jandieri (eds.), Proceedings of
the 9th International Conference
on Frontiers in Education:
Computer Science and
Computer Engineering, FECS
2013. CSREA Press U.S.A., pp.
396-402, Las Vegas, NV.
Agent-based Computational
Economics with beliefs-
desires-intentions agents

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STEM education
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Joint Software Engineering to support
STEM Education: Experiences before,
during and after a Children’s University
D. Monett, J. Greifenberg, A. Krautz, M. Stöhr, R. Ulbricht (2015).
In Proceedings of the Global Conference on Learning and Technology, Global Learn
2015. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, AACE, Vol. 2015,
Nr. 1, April 2015, pp. 357-365, Berlin, Germany.
Elementary school children
testing software developed
by HWR students

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Education, pedagogy
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Evolving Lesson Plans to Assist
Educators: From Paper-Based to
Adaptive Lesson Planning
D. Monett, T. Weishaar (2015).
In Proceedings of the Multidisciplinary Academic Conference on Education, Teaching
and Learning 2015, MAC-ETL 2015, 1st Edition, MAC Prague Consulting Ltd.
Prague, Czech Republic.
Activities related to
lesson planning

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Requirements Engineering
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Teaching Students Collaborative Requirements
Engineering. Case Study Red:Wire
D. Monett, S.-E. Kujat, M. Hartmann (2016).
In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Parallel, Distributed
Systems and Software Engineering, ICPDSSE 2016, Rome, Italy, May 02-03,
2016. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, Vol. 2, Nr. 5, pp.
1799-1806.
Red:Wire, a
documentation and a
requirements
management tool

35. Closing remarks

36. D. Monett
Possible? Possible!
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■ New, solid partnerships between academia and
industry (version of Dual system? A better Dual system?)
■ ... structural change of traditional education
settings (companies: important role!)
■ ... early training and education of tomorrow’s
workforce (applied learning, knowledge transfer!)
■ ... research skills included (from the 1st semester on!)
■ ... AI and beyond (future-focused!)
A new type of Dual education system?

37. D. Monett
Possible? Possible!
37
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+

38. D. Monett
Imagine the benefits...
38
Students selection by the companies
Possibility of practical
phase abroad
Term 6
Possibility of study
term abroad
Academic phase
Practical phase
Term 1 Term 2
Term 3 Term 4 Term 5
Term 6
New employment
contract
AI
AI AI
AI AI
AI AIIcons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC 3.0 BY
+

39. D. Monett
Contact
39
dagmar@monettdiaz.com
monettdiaz