:: ICCM 2013 ::

Call for Tutorial Proposals
International Conference on Cognitive Modeling
11 July 2013

Tutorial proposals due: 20 March 2013
Notification of submission acceptance: 20 April 2013 (approx)

Previous tutorial programs are available at
http://acs.ist.psu.edu/iccm2012/tutorials.html and http://acs.ist.psu.edu/iccm2010/tutorials.html

Page Contents

Introduction

Format

Upon Acceptance

Duration

Proposal

Tutorial Notes

Attendee Background

Description

Compensation

Topics

Extended Abstract

Submissions

Review Process

Requirements List

Important Dates

Program of accepted tutorials will be available approximately 1 May 2013.

Introduction: The Tutorials program at the International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM) 2013 will be held on 11 Julyl 2013. It will provide conference participants with the opportunity to gain new insights, knowledge, and skills from a broad range of areas in the field of cognitive modeling. Tutorial topics will be presented in a taught format and are likely to range from practical guidelines to theoretical issues or software. Tutorials at ICCM have been held many times before, and this year's program will be modelled after them and after the series held at the Cognitive Science Conference.

Tutorial participants will either be doing cognitive modeling or be interested in learning more. They will be looking for insights into their own areas and summaries of other areas providing tools, techniques, and results to use in their own teaching and research.

Tutorials must present tutorial material, that is, provide results that are established and to do so in an interactive format. They will tend to involve an introduction to technical skills or methods (e.g., cognitive modelling in Soar or ACT-R, statistical "causal" modelling, or methods of analysing qualitative observational data). They are likely to include substantial review of material. The level of presentation can assume that the attendees have at least a first degree in a cognate area. Tutorials are welcome to assume a higher level if necessary. On the other hand, tutorials about "last week's results from your lab" are not acceptable.

Duration: Each tutorial is designed to be a half-day or full-day in duration. Half-day tutorials are about 3 hours long (not including breaks). Full day tutorials are about 6 hours long (not including breaks). Please indicate the duration of your proposed tutorial in your application.

Audience: The background of attendees assumed by the tutorial should be described explicitly and in detail in the proposal form. Include any pre-requisites such as knowledge of processes and procedures. State any skills that are needed to understand tutorial content or to complete the exercises.

In addition, state whether the tutorial is intended to introduce participants to an area, or whether it is intended to further develop the expertise of participants who already have some knowledge or experience in a particular area.

Most tutorials should be at the introductory graduate school level or slightly higher. That is, the tutorials should be accessible to postgraduate students, but should assume a first degree in one of the cognitive sciences.

Topics: Tutorials can cover any topic in cognitive modeling, and most tutorials offered at the Cognitive Science Conference may also find an audience here that are related to cognitive modeling. A small survey at Cognitive Science 1998 suggested numerous topics. These include: hidden Markov models; Advanced Bayesian inferencing/Bayesian nets; Computer program for real-time experimentation; Distinguishing among production system models - ACT, EPIC, Soar; Introductions to specific cognitive architectures; Introduction to Philosophy as it pertains to issues relevant to Cognitive Science; Verbal protocol analysis; Cognitive task analysis; Learning to code prosody and phonology; Social cognition; Designing fMRI studies; Qualitative/observational methods and their analysis. Programs on cognitive architectures are encouraged and quite appropriate.

Review Process: Tutorial proposals will be evaluated by the tutorial committee on the basis of their estimated benefit for prospective participants and on their fit within the tutorials program as a whole.

The proposal form is available as a plain text file. Please fill it in with plain text and submit in the body of an email.

Factors considered in the selection process include: relevance, importance, and audience appeal; suitability for presentation in a half-day or full-day tutorial format; use of presentation methods that offer participants direct experience with the material being taught; teaching a skill or covering a topic that would not have another outlet; and past experience and qualifications of the instructors with their tutorial. Selection is also based on the overall distribution of topics, approaches (overview, theory, methodology, how-to), audience experience levels, and specialities of the intended audiences.

Format: Submissions for ICCM Tutorials must include two documents, the proposal (including contact details, abstract, and proposal details), and example material (which can be a link).

The cover page and proposal must be submitted by email as plain ASCII text (no rtf, no word files, no postscript, no MIME, no pdf, no troff, no attached text file) or any method suggested by Click and Clack (e.g., on the back of $21 bill, US or Canadian or Canadiene) or on the autographed cover page of Newell & Simon (1972), or embossed into the side of a Mac SE+ with 256k RAM and a 10M disk drive.
(Please, submissions as plain text allows us to pass it to committee members more quickly and takes less space).

The example material may be submitted by email as binhexed Microsoft Word .doc files (5, 6, 98, 2004, or rtf, not docx) or as HTML (URL or text), or as PDF, otherwise, 2 copies on A4 or larger paper are required. Do not submit docx or zip files.

  • Case for support: Prepare a proposal, using the form, for review. The case for support should:

    describe in detail the material that will be covered in the course

    justify the tutorial for a cognitive modeling audience

    explain how the tutorial will be conducted

    give a schedule of events with time allocations

    describe and provide samples of materials that will be included in the tutorial notes (or refer to these materials on the web or on the submitted hardcopy).

    If the proposed tutorial has been given previously, the proposal should include a brief history of where the tutorial has been given and how it will be modified for the International Conference on Cognitive Modeling.

    Proposal form for downloading and filling in and sending back via email to the chair (noted below).

  • Description: A description of your tutorial useful for putting into conference flyers, between 100 and 300 words, 200 words suggested maximum.
  • Extended Abstract: A one page overview suitable for inclusion in the conference proceedings. It may reference your own URLs, or another page for dissemination of additional useful material.
  • Requirements List: As part of the proposal, prepare a list of requirements for running the tutorial. Include any supplies required for each participant, restrictions or conditions on offering the tutorial, and other information that the review committee should know in considering the proposal. Please include here your audio-visual and computing equipment requirements.

    Tutorials may specify the use of computers; and your proposal must note what computing resources you will need, including software and hardware. We believe that it is a reasonable assumption to have tutees, appropriately paired, to share a computer. Alternatively, you may just specify a computer projector to display information. Computers do not have to be used.

    We will work with you to provide support. If your software runs on multiple platforms, please state the range and tradeoffs as clearly as you can. You will be responsible for installing and removing any software you use.

    Based on previous year's experience, you can assume that participants will be able to bring laptops. We will work with you to provide the software to the laptops. It is likely, but subject to confirmation that there will be internet connections available, for either the tutors or participants. This is subject to confirmation and there may be other possibilities available.

Upon Acceptance: Tutors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by the deadline below. Acceptance is conditional upon the tutors' compliance with deadlines and requirements.

Abstracts of accepted tutorials will be included in the calls for participation for the conference and in the proceedings.

Instructors should prepare course material specifically for the Cognitive Modeling Conference tutorial session. Presentation materials used by the instructor for other courses or projects must be current.

Tutorial Notes: Attendees at other conferences have indicated that the tutorial notes are a valuable benefit of taking a tutorial. Consequently, proposed tutorials are accepted contingent upon receipt of high-quality tutorial notes.

The notes should serve as reference materials for attendees and should support the presentation of material during the tutorial. The tutorial notes should include such items as:

an introduction to the topic

copies of all overhead transparencies and slides

an annotated bibliography

copies of relevant background material or scholarly papers (for which the instructors have obtained any necessary reprint permission)

tutorial exercises, as appropriate

Instructors either should provide copies of handouts for the tutees directly, or if they provide notes for the conference to reproduce are providing permission to do so.

Compensation: A budget of about $150 is available for each half-day tutorial, and double that for each full-day. If a tutorial has two or more instructors, the budget will be shared among them. The budget can only be applied to registration fees, meals, and housing costs at the conference. Tutors can and should bring a tutorial assistant (TA) to the tutorial at no cost. Tutors and assistant are not charged for attending their own tutorial.

Notes on Submissions: Submissions that arrive after the deadline might not be considered.
Your submission should contain no proprietary or confidential material and should cite no proprietary or confidential publications.
Responsibility for permissions to use video, audio or pictures of identifiable people rests with you, not the conference.
We strongly suggest the use of email, express mail, or a courier service for speedy delivery. Customs labels should bear the words "Educational materials with no commercial value."

Important Dates

  • 20 March 2013: Tutorial submissions due, 17:00 (5:00 pm) local time at the receiving address (EST, zulu -5)
  • Mid April 2013: Notification of acceptance or rejection
  • 15 May 2013: Camera-ready abstract copy due for inclusion in proceedings and advertisements.

Committee members [all tentative]

Frank E. Ritter (Penn State, Co-Chair)

Thierry Bellet (IFSTTAR, INRETS, F)
Jim Davies (Carlton, CA)
Olivier Georgeon (CNRS and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, F)
Randolph M. Jones (Soar Technology, ME)
Ion Juvina (Wright State)
Matthew Kelly (Carleton, CA)

Send Proposal Submissions via email: frank.ritter@psu.edu

Further contact details:

Frank E. Ritter
College of Information Sciences and Technology
University Park, PA 16802
Tel: +1 814 865-4453
frank.ritter@psu.edu

General Contact: contact@iccm2012.com

last updated 28 March 13

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