@article{MaierSchlattlGuessetal., author = {Maier, Robert and Schlattl, Andreas and Guess, Thomas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {CausalOps - Towards an industrial lifecycle for causal probabilistic graphical models}, series = {Information and Software Technology}, journal = {Information and Software Technology}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {0950-5849}, doi = {10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107520}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-73350}, abstract = {Context: Causal probabilistic graph-based models have gained widespread utility, enabling the modeling of cause-and-effect relationships across diverse domains. With their rising adoption in new areas, such as safety analysis of complex systems, software engineering, and machine learning, the need for an integrated lifecycle framework akin to DevOps and MLOps has emerged. Currently, such a reference for organizations interested in employing causal engineering is missing. This lack of guidance hinders the incorporation and maturation of causal methods in the context of real-life applications. Objective: This work contextualizes causal model usage across different stages and stakeholders and outlines a holistic view of creating and maintaining them within the process landscape of an organization. Method: A novel lifecycle framework for causal model development and application called CausalOps is proposed. By defining key entities, dependencies, and intermediate artifacts generated during causal engineering, a consistent vocabulary and workflow model to guide organizations in adopting causal methods are established. Results: Based on the early adoption of the discussed methodology to a real-life problem within the automotive domain, an experience report underlining the practicability and challenges of the proposed approach is discussed. Conclusion: It is concluded that besides current technical advancements in various aspects of causal engineering, an overarching lifecycle framework that integrates these methods into organizational practices is missing. Although diverse skills from adjacent disciplines are widely available, guidance on how to transfer these assets into causality-driven practices still need to be addressed in the published literature. CausalOps' aim is to set a baseline for the adoption of causal methods in practical applications within interested organizations and the causality community.}, language = {en} } @article{GrabingerHauserMottok, author = {Grabinger, Lisa and Hauser, Florian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {On the perception of graph layouts}, series = {Journal of Software: Evolution and Process}, journal = {Journal of Software: Evolution and Process}, publisher = {Wiley}, doi = {10.1002/smr.2599}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-62973}, abstract = {In the field of software engineering, graph-based models are used for a variety of applications. Usually, the layout of those graphs is determined at the discretion of the user. This article empirically investigates whether different layouts affect the comprehensibility or popularity of a graph and whether one can predict the perception of certain aspects in the graph using basic graphical laws from psychology (i.e., Gestalt principles). Data on three distinct layouts of one causal graph is collected from 29 subjects using eye tracking and a print questionnaire. The evaluation of the collected data suggests that the layout of a graph does matter and that the Gestalt principles are a valuable tool for assessing partial aspects of a layout.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SeebauerJahnMottok, author = {Seebauer, Stefan and Jahn, Sabrina and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Learning from Escape Rooms? A Study Design Concept Measuring the Effect of a Cryptography Educational Escape Room}, series = {2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON): 27-30 April 2020, Porto, Portugal}, booktitle = {2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON): 27-30 April 2020, Porto, Portugal}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON45650.2020.9125333}, pages = {1684 -- 1685}, abstract = {Experts predict that more IT-Security specialists will be needed in the coming years, but in current higher education in engineering disciplines, this topic is hardly addressed. Newer learning methods such as game-based learning (GBL) are enjoying an increasing popularity as their improvement in the education of subject specific topics can be proven by a variety of studies. We chose Educational Escape Rooms (EduER) as a GBL-tool to impart IT-Security in higher education of engineers. In our Escape Room (ER), the students try to solve puzzles and riddles with learned knowledge on the emphasis of cryptography. This paper first deals with a brief introduction to GBL and EduERs, followed by the design of our ER concept, containing different tasks with focus on the topic of cryptography. The tasks cover different cryptographic methods and hash algorithms, e.g. AES, RSA, SHA3. Afterwards the experimental study is presented. The study of the EduER was carried out with students from the bachelor's program in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the OTH Regensburg. The participants were divided into three groups of 5 to 8 persons each. They received a briefing with important information, followed by the ER execution, a debriefing afterwards and an exam-like evaluation sheet to test their learned knowledge. Finally, first basic results are presented.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KloppGoldVeerkampAbkeetal., author = {Klopp, Marco and Gold-Veerkamp, Carolin and Abke, J{\"o}rg and Borgeest, Kai and Reuter, Rebecca and Jahn, Sabrina and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Sedelmaier, Yvonne and Lehmann, Alexander and Landes, Dieter}, title = {Totally Different and yet so Alike: Three Concepts to Use Scrum in Higher Education}, series = {Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Software Engineering Education (ECSEE '20): June 2020, Seeon/Bavaria, Germany}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Software Engineering Education (ECSEE '20): June 2020, Seeon/Bavaria, Germany}, doi = {10.1145/3396802.3396817}, pages = {12 -- 21}, abstract = {Software process models are important in software projects in order to give the work of a project guidelines or a framework. However, teaching process models in higher education seems to be quite challenging. This has to do with the fact that undergraduates have no experience with projects in which process models are used. The theoretical mediation of process models is initially on a very abstract level. For this reason, we chose to combine two didactic approaches, namely problem-based learning and project work. Various traditional plan-driven process models have been expanded in courses in Software Engineering with agile process models. The Scrum Framework is the focus of consideration of this paper. Three Universities of Applied Sciences which cooperate in the EVELIN project focused on Scrum as a process model and integrated it into their teaching. Since the respective concepts of implementation differ, they should be presented and compared in this article to presents some practice approaches. The goal of this presentation of is a uniform evaluation in order to obtain insights from different perspectives. This comparison can draw conclusions for possible necessary improvements of the respective concepts.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{DentgenRennerMottok, author = {Dentgen, Manuel and Renner, Sebastian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Equally Distributed Bus-Communication Access Rights for Inter MCU Communication Using Multimaster SPI}, series = {Architecture of Computing Systems - ARCS 2020: 33rd international conference, Aachen, Germany, May 25-28, 2020, proceedings}, booktitle = {Architecture of Computing Systems - ARCS 2020: 33rd international conference, Aachen, Germany, May 25-28, 2020, proceedings}, editor = {Brinkmann, Andr{\´e} and Karl, Wolfgang and Lankes, Stefan and Tomforde, Sven and Pionteck, Thilo and Trinitis, Carsten}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-52794-5_15}, pages = {200 -- 212}, abstract = {With the rising complexity and processing power of modern computer systems, the amount of MCU on a single PCB also rises. These microcontrollers often need to communicate with each other to exchange payload and control information in a bidirectional manner. Today's well-established communication protocols in MCUs either do not fit modern transmission speed requirements or do have an inappropriate master-slave attribute, which does not allow the communication partners to have equal bus access rights. Therefore, this paper introduces an extension of the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) to allow an equally distributed access right for the communication interface between two microcontrollers. It simultaneously does fit modern transmission speed requirements of a common network interface, so that the message transmission does not constitute a bottleneck in data processing. Besides the protocol design, we do also provide a first prototype implementation, which constitutes a proof of concept.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{JahnMottok, author = {Jahn, Sabrina and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Work in Progress: Towards an Academic Secure Software Engineering Curriculum for Engineers}, series = {2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON): 27-30 April 2020, Porto, Portugal}, booktitle = {2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON): 27-30 April 2020, Porto, Portugal}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON45650.2020.9125210}, pages = {1713 -- 1717}, abstract = {In the age of the Internet of Things, it is becoming increasingly important to integrate knowledge about the development of secure systems (Secure Software Engineering) into academic teaching. However, teaching IT Security and Secure Software Engineering to non-computer scientists is rare. Therefore, we focus our research on the integration of IT Security into software engineering education of non-computer scientists, particularly electrical engineers, by means of inductive teaching- and learning-arrangements. After collecting students' preconceptions of IT Security and Secure Software Engineering in prior work, this paper now contributes with a first mapping of these preconceptions with corresponding learning content as well as suitable inductive teaching methods to be able to create new lecture and exercise units and improve academic learning and teaching in both areas.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{RennerPozzobonMottok, author = {Renner, Sebastian and Pozzobon, Enrico and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {A Hardware in the Loop Benchmark Suite to Evaluate NIST LWC Ciphers on Microcontrollers}, series = {Information and Communications Security: 22nd International Conference, ICICS 2020, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 24-26, 2020, Proceedings}, booktitle = {Information and Communications Security: 22nd International Conference, ICICS 2020, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 24-26, 2020, Proceedings}, editor = {Meng, Weizhi}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-61078-4_28}, pages = {495 -- 509}, abstract = {The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) started the standardization process for lightweight cryptography algorithms in 2018. By the end of the first round, 32 submissions have been selected as 2nd round candidates. NIST allowed designers of 2nd round submissions to provide small updates on both their specifications and implementation packages. In this work, we introduce a benchmarking framework for evaluating the performance of NIST Lightweight Cryptography (LWC) candidates on embedded platforms. We show the features and application of the framework and explain its design rationale. Moreover, we provide information on how we aim to present up-to-date performance figures throughout the NIST LWC competition. In this paper, we present an excerpt of our software benchmarking results regarding speed and memory requirements of selected ciphers. All up-to-date results, including benchmarking different test cases for multiple variants of each 2nd round algorithm on five different microcontrollers, are periodically published to a public website. While initially only the reference implementations were available, the ability of automatically testing the performance of the candidate algorithms on multiple platforms becomes especially relevant as more optimized implementations are developed. Finally, we show how the framework can be extended in different directions: support for more target platforms can be easily added, different kinds of algorithms can be tested, and other test metrics can be acquired. The focus of this paper should rather lay on the framework design and testing methodology than on the current results, especially for reference code.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{ReuterStarkSedelmaieretal., author = {Reuter, Rebecca and Stark, Theresa and Sedelmaier, Yvonne and Landes, Dieter and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Wolff, Christian}, title = {Insights in Students' Problems during UML Modeling}, series = {2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON): Proceedings}, booktitle = {2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON): Proceedings}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON45650.2020.9125110}, pages = {592 -- 600}, abstract = {UML (Unified Modeling Language) is the current de facto as well as de jure standard (ISO/IEC 19505:2012) notation to visualize models in software development. UML provides essential guidelines and rules to visualize and understand complex software systems. This is the reason why it has become part of curricula for software engineering courses at many universities worldwide. It is well known, however, that UML is hard to grasp for novices, mainly due to its complexity. In order to tackle the problem of teaching UML to novice students appropriately, it is inevitable to understand their needs and problems much better than we do now. This paper presents empirical insights into students' problems when developing common UML diagrams. Identified problems are generalized, giving rise to a problem catalogue that is derived from our empirical findings, thus establishing a basis for addressing these problems through focused learning arrangements.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GruberWolffMottoketal., author = {Gruber, Hans and Wolff, Christian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Bazo, Alexander and Hauser, Florian and Schreistetter, Stefan}, title = {Tutorial on Software Engineering Education in Co-Located Multi-User Eye-Tracking-Environments}, series = {Proceedings of the 32nd IEEE Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training: Munich, November 2020}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 32nd IEEE Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training: Munich, November 2020}, doi = {10.1109/CSEET49119.2020.9206170}, abstract = {We briefly describe a tutorial on the application of Eye-Tracking technology for Software Engineering Education. We will showcase our setup of a large-scale Eye-Tracking-Classroom and its usage for real-time improvement of traditional learning scenarios in Software Engineering Education. We will focus on the integration of gaze data into modern integrated development environments (IDEs) and demonstrate a complete workflow for its usage in co-located multi-user Eye-Tracking-Environments.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HauserStarkMottoketal., author = {Hauser, Florian and Stark, Theresa and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Gruber, Hans and Reuter, Rebecca}, title = {Deliberate Practice in Programming: How is it carried out by programmers?}, series = {ECSEE '20: Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon, Germany, June 2020}, booktitle = {ECSEE '20: Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon, Germany, June 2020}, isbn = {ISBN 9781450377522}, doi = {10.1145/3396802.3396815}, pages = {42 -- 46}, abstract = {This work in progress study examines through which activities programmers perform deliberate practice to improve their own skills in coding and programming. For this reason, a qualitative questionnaire was developed and conducted with a sample of 22 participants. The results indicate that programmers perform formal and informal forms of training and learning. Typically, a classical programming training in the context of a university course or for work-related reasons is a first step in the acquisition of expertise. Building on these basic skills, non-formal and informal learning activities are carried out by the learners. Especially the social interaction and the collaborative work with other programmers is of great importance in this context. The activities mentioned by the test persons fulfil the characteristics of deliberate practice and will be examined more closely in a further study.}, language = {en} } @article{DeubzerSchillerMottoketal., author = {Deubzer, Michael and Schiller, Frank and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Niemetz, Michael and Margull, Ulrich}, title = {Effizientes Multicore-Scheduling in Eingebetteten Systemen - Teil 1: Algorithmen f{\"u}r zuverl{\"a}ssige Echtzeitsysteme}, series = {atp - Automatisierungstechnische Praxis}, journal = {atp - Automatisierungstechnische Praxis}, number = {9}, pages = {60 -- 67}, abstract = {Eingebettete Systeme unterliegen neben den funktionalen Anforderungen besonders nicht funktionalen Qualit{\"a}tsanforderungen wie Effizienz, Zuverl{\"a}ssigkeit und Echtzeitf{\"a}higkeit. Mit steigendem Bedarf an Rechenkapazit{\"a}t k{\"o}nnen bisherige Konzepte zur Leistungssteigerung von Singlecore-Systemen jedoch nicht mehr eingesetzt werden - der Umstieg auf Multicore-Systeme wird erforderlich. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit werden eine m{\"o}gliche Prozessorarchitektur f{\"u}r zuk{\"u}nftige Automotive Multicore-Systeme und die Abstraktion der Software f{\"u}r diese Systeme vorgestellt. Nach einer Klassifkation von Multicore-Scheduling-Algorithmen pr{\"a}sentieren wir exemplarisch einen Algorithmus mit statischer Taskallokation und einen Algorithmus mit dynamischer Taskallokation. Bei beiden Algorithmen handelt es sich um eine {\"U}berf{\"u}hrung theoretisch behandelter Algorithmen auf Automotive Systeme.}, language = {de} } @article{DeubzerSchillerMottoketal., author = {Deubzer, Michael and Schiller, Frank and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Niemetz, Michael and Margull, Ulrich}, title = {Effizientes Multicore-Scheduling in Eingebetteten Systemen - Teil 2: Ein simulationsbasierter Ansatz zum Vergleich von Scheduling-Algorithmen}, series = {atp - Automatisierungstechnische Praxis}, volume = {52}, journal = {atp - Automatisierungstechnische Praxis}, number = {10}, abstract = {Eingebettete Systeme unterliegen neben den funktionalen Anforderungen besonders nichtfunktionalen Qualit{\"a}tsanforderungen wie Effizienz, Zuverl{\"a}ssigkeit und Echtzeitf{\"a}higkeit. Mit steigendem Bedarf an Rechenkapazit{\"a}t k{\"o}nnen bisherige Konzepte zur Leistungssteigerung von Singlecore-Systemen jedoch nicht mehr eingesetzt werden - der Umstieg auf Multicore-Systeme wird erforderlich. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wird ein simulationsbasierter Ansatz zum Vergleich von Multicore-Scheduling-Algorithmen vorgestellt, mit dem Algorithmen f{\"u}r Multicore-Systeme mit voller Migration und dynamischer Task-Priorit{\"a}t untersucht werden. Wir erweitern diesen Ansatz um ein Verfahren zur Untersuchung einer Tasksetmenge mit stochastisch beschriebenen Eigenschaften und vergleichen ihn mit den im Teil 1 beschriebenen Algorithmen BinPacking-EDF und P-ERfair-PD² f{\"u}r eine Gruppe von Automotive Powertrain Systemen.}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{AltmannBirknerHaeckletal., author = {Altmann, Andreas and Birkner, Wolfgang and H{\"a}ckl, Franz-Xaver and Hanner, Christopher and Liebhart, Peter and Metschl, Samuel and Weck, Florian and Farmbauer, Michael and Heiß, Manfred and Cuno, H.-H. and Fuhrmann, Thomas and Mandl, Roland and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Niemetz, Michael}, title = {Payload development and launch of a stratosphere balloon mission}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON 2014), 3-5 April 2014, Istanbul, Turkey}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON 2014), 3-5 April 2014, Istanbul, Turkey}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2014.6826065}, abstract = {During a student project a stratosphere balloon was developed and launched. This project included the definition of the balloon parameters and the scientific instruments for performing atmospheric measurements, the development of all mechanical and electronic parts, the administration of the project as well as the management tasks related to the balloon launch. The main challenge for the students was the high complexity of the project due to tasks involving many different knowledge domains and the long project duration from the initial definition to the launch.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GschossmannJobstMottoketal., author = {Gschossmann, Andreas and Jobst, Simon and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Bierl, Rudolf}, title = {A Measure of Confidence of Artificial Neural Network Classifiers}, series = {ARCS Workshop 2019; 32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, booktitle = {ARCS Workshop 2019; 32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, publisher = {VDE-Verlag}, address = {Berlin}, pages = {153 -- 157}, abstract = {Confidence in results of an Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is increased by preferring to reject data, that is not trustful, instead of risking a misclassification. For this purpose a model is proposed that is able to recognize data, which differs significantly from the training data, during inference. The proposed model observes all activations of the hidden layers, as well as input and output layers of an ANN in a grey-box view. To make ANNs more robust in safety critical applications, this model can be used to reject flawed data, that is suspected to decrease the accuracy of the model. If this information is logged during inference, it can be used to improve the model, by training it specifically with the missing information. An experiment on the MNIST dataset is conducted and its results are discussed.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{OklapiDeubzerSchmidhuberetal., author = {Oklapi, Erna and Deubzer, Michael and Schmidhuber, Stefan and Lalo, Erjola and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Optimization of Real-Time Multicore Systems Reached by a Genetic Algorithm Approach for Runnable Sequencing}, series = {2014 International Conference on Applied Electronics, Pilsen, Czech Republic}, booktitle = {2014 International Conference on Applied Electronics, Pilsen, Czech Republic}, doi = {10.1109/AE.2014.7011709}, pages = {233 -- 238}, abstract = {The deployment of complex real-time systems with everyday increasing demands and possibilities, is a challenging task for engineers when performance and efficiency have to be maximized while cost have to be minimized at the same time. For already designed systems it became necessary to perform different modifications in order to find optimal software architecture configuration by respecting all timing constraints which are essential when speaking of real-time systems. In this work, we present a model-based approach of optimizing the execution sequence of runnables within tasks in order to reduce the system's reaction times by improving the overall signal flow duration. Hereby, a genetic optimization algorithm is used to create and evaluate multiple solutions for the runnable sequencing problem. We conclude by demonstration the efficiency of the presented approach with experimental results.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{TomerHagelMottoketal., author = {Tomer, Amir and Hagel, Georg and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Alt, Dorit and Barak, Miriam I. and Hadar, Irit}, title = {CAPELLA: A conceptual framework for adaptive life-long learning}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 25-28 April 2017, Athens, Greece}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 25-28 April 2017, Athens, Greece}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2017.7943041}, pages = {1463 -- 1472}, abstract = {In this paper we describe a proposed framework for Cooperative Adaptive Personalized Education for Life-long Learning and Activation (CAPELLA). CAPELLA comprises four models: A Knowledge Organization Model, a Learning Process Model, a Community Collaboration Model and a Gaming Model. The underlying pedagogical approach is based on the four pillars of learning: Learning to know, learning to do, learning to collaborate and learning to be. Based on these models and principles, CAPELLA provides a theoretical framework that may assist IT developers to develop state-of-the-art educational platforms and advanced learning applications. Using an example of a UML Diagramming Workshop we demonstrate how CAPELLA incorporates the principles of Adaptive Learning.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{ReuterHauserMuckelbaueretal., author = {Reuter, Rebecca and Hauser, Florian and Muckelbauer, Daniel and Stark, Theresa and Antoni, Erika and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Wolff, Christian}, title = {Using augmented reality in software engineering education? First insights to a comparative study of 2D and AR UML modeling}, series = {Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) and 31st Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE\&T), January 8 - 11, 2019 Grand Wailea, Hawaii}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) and 31st Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE\&T), January 8 - 11, 2019 Grand Wailea, Hawaii}, doi = {10.24251/HICSS.2019.938}, pages = {7798 -- 7807}, abstract = {Although there has been much speculation about the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) in teaching for learning material, there is a significant lack of empirical proof about its effectiveness and implementation in higher education. We describe a software to integrate AR using the Microsoft Hololens into UML (Unified Modeling Language) teaching. Its user interface is laid out to overcome problems of existing software. We discuss the design of the tool and report a first evaluation study. The study is based upon effectiveness as a metric for students performance and components of motivation. The study was designed as control group experiment with two groups. The experimental group had to solve tasks with the help of the AR modeling tool and the control group used a classic PC software. We identified tendencies that participants of the experimental group showed more motivation than the control group. Both groups performed equally well}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BraunMottok, author = {Braun, J{\"u}rgen and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {The Myths of Coded Processing}, series = {IEEE International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC-ICESS-CSS 2015), 24-26 Aug. 2015, New York, USA}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC-ICESS-CSS 2015), 24-26 Aug. 2015, New York, USA}, doi = {10.1109/HPCC-CSS-ICESS.2015.24}, pages = {1637 -- 1644}, abstract = {Safety of embedded systems has the highest priority because it helps contribute to customer confidence and thereby ensures growth of the new markets, like electromobility. In series production fail-safe systems as well as fault-tolerant systems are realized with redundant hardware concepts like dual core microcontrollers running in lock-step-mode to reach highest safety requirements given by standards, like ISO 26262 or IEC 61508. In contrast to the hardware redundancy approach, there are also approaches available with information-, time-and/or software-redundancy since several years. One of them is known as coded processing or AN-codes. Coded processing is capable of reducing redundancy in hardware by adding diverse redundancy in software. But the breakthrough of coded processing never took place. One reason for this seem to be the myths which are widely propagated on this subject and the hereby associated uncertainties. In this paper some myths are busted, like the usage of prime numbers as transformation factor A, the myth that greater transformation factors are better or the myth about the residual error probability defined as 1/A. Some of them have been propagated since 1989. The aim of this paper is to provide more clarity and understanding for this technique, perhaps to pave the way for further functional safety concepts based on coded processing approaches.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{WeihererOsinskiMottok, author = {Weiherer, Kerstin and Osinski, Lukas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Software-Based Triple Modular Redundancy with Fault-Tolerant Replicated Voters}, series = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, booktitle = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, pages = {1 -- 8}, abstract = {New computing-intensive applications such as assisted or highly automated driving are rapidly expanding the domain of safety-critical embedded systems, driven by the vision of the driverless car. This development makes it necessary to use high performance multi-core systems which are commercially available and provide more parallelism in terms of redundant execution units, however, at the cost of being less reliable. With the continuous down-scaling of semiconductor technology, computing hardware exhibits an increasing vulnerability against random hardware faults. Since these high-performance controller provide less or no hardware redundancy to ensure a safe execution of the application, software-only fault tolerance approaches are under current investigation. Our Scalable Software Support for Dependable Embedded Systems (S3DES) approach achieves fault tolerance by utilizing software-based triple modular redundancy for computational and optimized arithmetic encoded voter processes to ensure fault detection and error handling on application level. In S3DES voters are replicated to allow the compensation of voting failures. However, new challenges with regard to error propagation and multiple voting result outputs are introduced by this extension. We describe how mutual voter monitoring and threshold value checks could be used to establish a hierarchy among the replicated voters without re-introducing a reliability bottleneck in the sense of a single point of failure and resolve the aforementioned challenges.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{JahnKaulMottok, author = {Jahn, Sabrina and Kaul, Nicolas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Using or Misusing? Introducing Misuse Cases in a Software Engineering Course for Undergraduate Engineering Students}, series = {ITiCSE '22 : Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Vol 1: July 8 - 13, 2022, Dublin Ireland}, booktitle = {ITiCSE '22 : Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Vol 1: July 8 - 13, 2022, Dublin Ireland}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, address = {New York, NY}, doi = {10.1145/3502718.3524823}, pages = {491 -- 497}, abstract = {Today's cyberphysical systems are increasingly prone to misuse. To secure existing and future software systems, introducing concepts of IT-Security and Secure Software Engineering (SecSE) in Software Engineering (SE) courses is essential for academic education of future software engineers. This is not only important for computer science students, but also for engineering students studying topics of computing and SE. However, only little research exists on integrating these topics into traditional SE courses, especially for engineering students in non-computer science majors. To narrow this gap, this paper contributes with the design and evaluation of an exercise on modeling misuse cases alongside use cases, based on the inductive teaching method problem-based learning (PBL). The exercise is part of an educational design research investigating which learning content and teaching methods are suitable for integrating IT-Security and SecSE topics into traditional SE education of engineering students to convey factual knowledge as well as raise awareness and interest for both topics during software development. We present the integration of the exercise design into a traditional SE course for engineering students and its evaluation to examine its suitability. We evaluated the exercise design regarding the suitability of the design components, the learning content of misuse cases and the intended learning goals as well as its impact on students' motivation, and their interest in IT-security. The paper then presents indications on the feasibility and success of the exercise design for teaching misuse cases to engineering students and sparking their interest in IT-Security.}, language = {en} } @article{RaabKraemerMottok, author = {Raab, Peter and Kr{\"a}mer, Stefan and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Reliability of data processing and fault compensation in unreliable arithmetic processors, Microprocessors and Microsystems}, series = {Microprocessors and Microsystems}, volume = {40}, journal = {Microprocessors and Microsystems}, number = {Februar}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.micpro.2015.07.014}, pages = {102 -- 112}, abstract = {In logical circuits, like arithmetic operations in a processor system, arbitrary faults become a more tremendous aspect in future. Modern manufacturing processes lead to less reliability and higher vulnerability of software execution to soft-errors. The correctness of certain results is important especially for safety-critical applications whose reliability depends on the fault-free execution of each single instruction and the dependencies between them. The more complex a software is the more unreliable the outcome is. But, there is a contrary effect. If the probability for multiple faults increases, there is also the chance that two faults compensate each other and the result is correct again. This paper presents the basic ideas for such a reliability evaluation of a software's data flow with arbitrary soft-errors and the effect of fault compensation. Further, this evaluation provides a possibility to compare different implementations of a data flow with respect to the reliability. This is shown by the comparison of two different error codes as alternatives for coded data processing.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KnorlSoskaSchrollDeckeretal., author = {Knorl, Susanne and Soska, Alexander and Schroll-Decker, Irmgard and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Reconstructing students' subjective theories on self-directed learning a qualitative research approach in Software Engineering education}, series = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, booktitle = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2015.7095990}, pages = {314 -- 317}, abstract = {Considering the claim of furthering self-directed learning in higher education in general and in Software Engineering education in particular, this paper deals with a new approach on understanding and facilitating self-directed learning. This approach involves the concept of subjective theories, which are expected to influence students' self-directed learning. Therefore this paper presents the intended qualitative research design for reconstructing these subjective theories and for developing ways of integrating them in didactical situations in higher education and especially in Software Engineering education.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SoskaMottokWolff, author = {Soska, Alexander and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Wolff, Christian}, title = {Playful learning in academic software engineering education}, series = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, booktitle = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2015.7095992}, pages = {324 -- 332}, abstract = {Within this thesis, we present our suggestions why playful learning in software engineering education is useful to mediate generic competences in academic teaching. Therefor we identified competences which are addressed by playful learning and mapped them to demanded generic competences in software engineering. Due to the well compliance, we analyzed current implementations of playful learning and their design regarding the mediation of required soft skills. Based on the lack of effective implementation, we close our paper with an exemplary design for playful learning.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{StudtWinterfeldtMottok, author = {Studt, Reimer and Winterfeldt, G{\"o}tz and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Measuring software engineering competencies}, series = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, booktitle = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2015.7096081}, abstract = {Measuring competencies may serve as a feedback mechanism as well as a judgment device for a lecturer. As measuring every competency from a catalogue of competencies is not very viable, the to-be-measured competencies are grouped in competency profiles. Further, assessment practices are shown and applied to a course in a study program. A discussion of useful practices concludes this contribution.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{YeTaoGuozhuLiuMottoketal., author = {Ye Tao, and Guozhu Liu, and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Hackenberg, Rudolf and Hagel, Georg}, title = {Just-in-Time-Teaching experience in a Software Design Pattern course}, series = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, booktitle = {2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 18-20 March 2015, Tallinn, Estonia}, pages = {915 -- 919}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SoskaMottokWolff, author = {Soska, Alexander and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Wolff, Christian}, title = {An experimental card game for software testing: Development, design and evaluation of a physical card game to deepen the knowledge of students in academic software testing education}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2016.7474609}, pages = {576 -- 584}, abstract = {Teaching software testing is a challenging task. Especially if you want to impart more in-depth and practical knowledge to the students. Therefore, most lectures still teach in a classic lecture format despite the fact that this way of instruction is in any case the optimal way of instruction for today's requirements anymore. In this paper we present our implementation of an active learning method to deepen the knowledge in academic software test education. We describe a card game for advanced learning that promotes students' collaboration and knowledge exchange in a playful and competitive manner. The design of the game is based on constructive and cooperative theories. A subsequent evaluation shows that the use of this card game for teaching software testing is a suitable method.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NivalaHauserMottoketal., author = {Nivala, Markus and Hauser, Florian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Gruber, Hans}, title = {Developing visual expertise in software engineering: An eye tracking study}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2016.7474614}, pages = {613 -- 620}, abstract = {Program comprehension and the ability to find program errors are key skills of software engineering. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the visual processes of novice and advanced programmers in authentic tasks. Fifteen novices and eight advanced programmers were given eight short pieces of code. Their task was to either identify an error or give the output of the code. Eye movements and keyboard activity were recorded. On average, the novices spent more time reading the code than composing the response, whereas the more advanced programmers started composing the response sooner and spent more time on it. In general, the advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccades. The results suggest that the advanced programmers are quicker to grasp the essence of the code and able to see more details in it. The advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccade lengths during the second phase which might indicate the process of chunking.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SailerDeubzerLuettgenetal., author = {Sailer, Andreas and Deubzer, Michael and L{\"u}ttgen, Gerald and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {CoreTAna: A Trace Analyzer for Reverse Engineering Real-Time Software}, series = {IEEE 23rd International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering (SANER), March 14 to March 18 2016, Suita, Osaka, Japan}, booktitle = {IEEE 23rd International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering (SANER), March 14 to March 18 2016, Suita, Osaka, Japan}, doi = {10.1109/SANER.2016.36}, abstract = {With the availability of the AUTOSAR standard, model-driven methodologies are becoming established in theautomotive domain. However, the process of creating models ofexisting system components is often difficult and time consuming, especially when legacy code has to be re-used or informationabout the exact timing behavior is needed. In order to tackle thisreverse engineering problem, we present CoreTAna, a novel toolthat derives an AUTOSAR compliant model of a real-time systemfrom a dynamic analysis of its trace recordings. This paper givesan overview of CoreTAna's current features and discusses itsbenefits for reverse engineering.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MottokMerkFalter, author = {Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Merk, Josef and Falter, Thomas}, title = {A multi dimensional view of the Graves value systems model on teaching and learning leading to a students-centered learning: Graves model revisited}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2016.7474600}, pages = {503 -- 512}, abstract = {A cultural change at the university eco-system is possible with diverse learning approaches in faculties. Diverse learning offers will cope with the diversity of students regarding their value systems. Currently teaching at universities is dominated by "teacher-centered teaching", also there are approaches to use different methods to accelerate and intensify the teaching and learning process. Nevertheless these approaches do often not show the desired impact with all students. This paper is offering insights how that comes using the Graves value systems model and is proposing a set of methods which fits to different value systems of students.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{TaoLiuMottoketal., author = {Tao, Ye and Liu, Guozhu and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Hackenberg, Rudolf and Hagel, Georg}, title = {Ranking task activity in teaching software engineering}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 10-13 April 2016, Abu Dhabi, UAE}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2016.7474678}, pages = {1023 -- 1027}, abstract = {In this research, we investigate the possibility of applying ranking task activity in teaching and learning software engineering courses. We introduce three types of ranking tasks, conceptual-, contextual- and sequential ranking questions, which cover most core topics such as requirement analysis, architecture design and quality validation in the course. We have also done experiments on a group of students to see if ranking tasks could increase their conceptual knowledge in specific areas. Assessments were given in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this activity, showing an obvious increase in complex conceptual understanding.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SoskaMottokWolff, author = {Soska, Alexander and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Wolff, Christian}, title = {Pattern oriented card game development: SOFTTY - A card game for academic learning of software testing}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 25-28 April 2017, Athens, Greece}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 25-28 April 2017, Athens, Greece}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2017.7942996}, abstract = {One of the biggest problems of educational games is the adequate integration of learning content into the game environment. Thereby the main challenge is to create a balance between gameplay and learning objectives and the correct transfer of learning principles into the game design. A useful approach is to identify game components and their specific learning constraints and the relationship between each other. By mapping learning elements to Game Design Pattern, we elaborate fundamentals for the concrete game design, focusing on card games. A shared description and an understanding of how the game design aligns with learning content facilitates the development of high quality educational games. A short illustration of our further developed implementation summarizes our experiences and shows an exemplary realization.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KampmannMottok, author = {Kampmann, Matthias and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {A 'laboratory' as an approach to foster writing skills at software engineering studies learning software engineering is easier when writing courses are directly dpplied to lecture's content and the problems and examples enrolled in}, series = {2018 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2018, Santa Cruz de Teneriffe, Spanien}, booktitle = {2018 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2018, Santa Cruz de Teneriffe, Spanien}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2018.8363326}, pages = {900 -- 908}, abstract = {Writing, with no doubt, is besides reading a core competency which allows us to "exploit" knowledge in general. It also makes possible the exploration of software engineering's core issues. Especially within this context it is necessary to master the reading of complex texts as well as to be able to write in an appropriate academic expression. With regard to studies in software engineering this seems to be obvious, but in fact the opposite is the reality. Therefore measures to improve these skills seemed to be necessarily applied. At the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH, University of Applied Sciences, Regensburg) a new format, the so called c*lab, was installed during the winter semester 2017. This was a course which followed the principle of "Writing Across the Curriculum" (WAC). Organized parallel to a lecture of learning how to program the language C, and addressing students of the first semester, the course was a complete voluntary offer in addition to the general standard courses and lectures of the faculty. Students who participated not only reflected on C and its principles, nor only on writing as a self purpose, but they also learned to express technical thoughts and ideas by the use of didactic methods. The idea to transfer also basic LTeX concepts to write a paper based on the IEEE bare_conf.tex-template were also planned. The course followed the idea of student's-centred learning. This paper presents the main structure, goals, and means of the c*lab, and the theory behind. It also embeds the course within the horizon of experiences of teaching writing skills at the Laboratory for Safe and Secure Systems (LaS 3 ) at the faculty of electronic and information engineering at the OTH Regensburg. First experiences have shown that participants increase writing skills and their idea of the importance of writing.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{OsinskiMottok, author = {Osinski, Lukas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Control Flow Errors: A Discussion of Different Injection Strategies}, series = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, booktitle = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, pages = {1 -- 7}, abstract = {Among the available dependability assessment techniques, fault injection (FI) is widely adopted and strongly recommended by safety standards for the validation that functional and technical safety mechanisms are implemented correctly and effectively. The main challenge in fault injection assessments is the increasing complexity of system-on-chips as well as the increasing size of memory, which leads to enormous efforts to test every possible fault introduced to the system. Therefore, a number of publicly available fault injection frameworks utilize fault space pruning techniques to reduce the overall fault space and consequently the overall experiment duration. Most of the fault space pruning techniques mainly discuss the reduction of the number of data errors which have to be injected into registers and memory locations. However, control flow errors represent a further domain of possible errors on the application level. Usually for the evaluation of effectiveness of fault tolerance mechanisms against data errors, a single fault assumption at microarchitectural level (e.g. bit-flips) is assumed. In most cases, this assumption is equivalently applied to the program counter to investigate possible control flow errors. Due to this approach, the error space is consciously or unconsciously reduced to the possible erroneous jump targets that can be reached by a specific set of bit-flips in the program counter at a specified time during the program execution. This approach is considered valid regarding the corresponding fault assumption, but leads to negative effects on the significance of the injection and the resulting effectiveness of the tested fault tolerance mechanism. In this paper, we discuss different strategies for the analysis and injection of control flow errors and the resulting differences by considering the single fault assumption at microarchitectural and application level.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{LaloWeberSaileretal., author = {Lalo, Erjola and Weber, Raphael and Sailer, Andreas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Siemers, Christian}, title = {On Solving Task Allocation and Schedule Generation for Time-Triggered LET Systems using Constraint Programming}, series = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, booktitle = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, pages = {1 -- 8}, abstract = {The amount of safety-critical embedded systems in automotive development is heavily growing. Ensuring their reliability not only increases the complexity of functions but also requires determinism at design and execution time, which is considerably challenging to fulfill and verify for multi-core processors. The Logical Execution Time (LET) is recently recognized in automotive industry as an approach for ensuring deterministic functional behavior. However, to decrease the manual design effort and time for deploying such complex systems to multi-core platforms and for ensuring their strict timing and safety requirements, automatic solutions are needed. This work presents a solution for allocating tasks to multi-core processors and generating a time-triggered schedule for embedded systems considering safety, timing, and LET semantics. The approach we propose solves both challenges by defining them as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP). To examine our CSP formulation, we use MiniZinc, which is a solver-independent constraint modeling language that can employ a variety of solvers. In a case study, we explore optimizations of an industrial system that are enabled by scheduling and task allocation design decisions. Further, the performance of the proposed solutions is evaluated based on large set of synthetically generated system models.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NagengastOsinskiMottok, author = {Nagengast, Christian and Osinski, Lukas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Synchronization Techniques for Parallel Redundant Execution of Applications}, series = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, booktitle = {32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS Workshop 2019, 20-21 May 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark}, publisher = {IEEE}, pages = {1 -- 8}, abstract = {In fault tolerant systems, applications are replicated and executed to enable error detection and recovery. If one replica application fails, another is able to take its place and provide the correct results. This concept can benefit from parallel execution on separate execution units. The rise of multicore platforms supports the development of parallel software, by providing the adequate hardware. However, this raises challenges regarding the synchronization of the redundant strings of execution. Replica determinism means that given the same input, identical programs provide the same output. To ensure replica determinism, requirements regarding the synchronization can be split in two domains: data and time. This paper examines the state of the art of synchronization techniques for parallel replicated execution in the context of fault tolerant systems. We analyze the requirements regarding synchronization within the time and data domain and compare different concepts of hardware (multicore, multiprocessor and multi-PCB) and software (processes, threads).}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HauserReuterGruberetal., author = {Hauser, Florian and Reuter, Rebecca and Gruber, Hans and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Research competence: Modification of a questionnaire to measure research competence at universities of applied sciences}, series = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 17-20 April 2018, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain}, booktitle = {IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 17-20 April 2018, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON.2018.8363216}, pages = {109 -- 117}, abstract = {This paper deals with the validation and modification of the German questionnaire "F-Komp". In its original version, it was intended to measure university students' research competences. In the beginning of this study, there were only a few tools available which were reliable. For the purposes of this study, they were not suitable. At the same time, there was no validated version of the F-Komp available, which made the whole validation process for further usage necessary. This questionnaire is based on a structure, which consist of different skills and knowledge and is focused on measuring research competence in general. The validation and modification of the F-Komp is therefore the aim of our contribution as well as a revised version of the questionnaire. We proceeded an explorative factor and a reliability analysis to do a general evaluation of the tool. Some modifications were done in the questionnaire to make it more suitable to the requirements of technical oriented universities of applied sciences [5]. Our revised version is slightly longer and contains several items to gather data about the participants demographics. The modified questionnaire is based on a more appropriate factor structure. This structure is more practically oriented and pays attention to ethical issues. In future cases, this questionnaire will be used in research oriented courses to measure students' progress in acquiring the knowledge and methods which are necessary to perform as a scientist in different research areas.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{DeMottokBrada, author = {De, Sangita and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Brada, Premek}, title = {Design Approach to Platform Agnostic Service API Modeling for Interoperability of Cross-enterprise Vehicle Applications}, series = {26th 2021 International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE): 7-8 September 2021, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republik}, booktitle = {26th 2021 International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE): 7-8 September 2021, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republik}, editor = {Pinker, Jiř{\´i}}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {978-80-261-0973-0}, doi = {10.23919/AE51540.2021.9542890}, pages = {1 -- 6}, abstract = {In the last few years, the collaboration of services between the service-oriented, cross-enterprise vehicle application frameworks has gradually increased to generate novel and more complicated vehicle services for the automotive industry. In these service collaboration scenarios, where heterogeneous application frameworks participate to realize complex vehicle services, a source of discord that emerges is that the service providers must always check, before the service deployment, whether the clients or service consumers on the other side of the communication link are compatible with a given service's API (Application Program Interface). While using standardized templates like ontologies for API's semantic specifications are crucial for a service discovery and semantic interoperability, nevertheless, accessing these service APIs' semantic data using a standardized and understandable syntactical specification template is also equally substantial to ease services interoperability. In fact, such complex service collaboration scenarios motivate this research work which proposes a design approach towards standardized, domain-specific, platform-agnostic semantic and syntactic specification of vehicle services API models. This paper also uses a typical vehicle domain case study to illustrate the design approach and a reference mapping between the platform-agnostic semantics specifications of a vehicle service API ontological model and its corresponding language-neutral, syntactic representation using the OpenAPI standard.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{DeMottokNiklasetal., author = {De, Sangita and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Niklas, Michael and Brada, Premek}, title = {Semantic Synergy Exploration in Interface Description Models of Heterogeneous Vehicle Frameworks: Towards Automotive Meta Interface Description Model}, series = {ARCS 2019: 32nd GI/ITG International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems May 20 - 21, 2019, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark Workshop, Proceedings}, booktitle = {ARCS 2019: 32nd GI/ITG International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems May 20 - 21, 2019, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark Workshop, Proceedings}, editor = {Trinitis, Carsten and Pionteck, Thilo}, publisher = {VDE VERLAG}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-8007-4957-7}, pages = {63 -- 70}, abstract = {This The vehicle is evolving to a complex network of heterogeneous subsystems of ECUs, sensors and actuators, each with different computational requirements. These sub-systems are connected via bus systems following different communication paradigms like e.g. signal based or service-oriented communications. This has led to the heterogeneous syntax of describing interfaces even though the semantics of the interfaces are similar. The wide variety of Interface Description Languages (IDLs) in automotive industry hinders partly with the efficient collaboration between different suppliers and the OEMs in the automotive industry. Given this wide variety of automotive IDLs, what could be more beneficial, from a software engineering point of view, is a generic automotive domain specific IDL that can satisfy all the fundamental requirements of the heterogeneous subsystems. This paper describes an approach to compare and correlate IDLs based on semantic similarities of the languages, considering the two aspects: application description and underlying message frameworks used in the different domains of given automotive subsystems. With the exploration of semantic synergies between the IDLs, various domain specific and domain-agnostic frameworks can be compared and correlated. The results can be generalized and abstracted to define a generic Meta IDL which could support use cases like e.g. domain-agnostic functional models and migration of software components between different kinds of automotive subsystems.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{ThomeczekAttenbergerKolbetal., author = {Thomeczek, Ludwig and Attenberger, Andreas and Kolb, Johannes and Matoušek, Vaclav and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Measuring Safety Critical Latency Sources using Linux Kernel eBPF Tracing}, series = {ARCS 2019: 32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems : workshop proceedings, May 20- 21, 2019, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark}, booktitle = {ARCS 2019: 32nd International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems : workshop proceedings, May 20- 21, 2019, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark}, editor = {Trinitis, Carsten and Pionteck, Thilo}, publisher = {VDE VERLAG GMBH}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-8007-4957-7}, pages = {8}, language = {en} } @article{SchmidFritzMottok, author = {Schmid, Michael and Fritz, Florian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Fine-Grained Parallel Applications in Real-Time Multiprocessor Systems}, series = {Journal of Systems Architecture}, volume = {124}, journal = {Journal of Systems Architecture}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.sysarc.2022.102393}, abstract = {Lately, parallel task models have received much attention in the development of real-time multiprocessor systems, as they allow highly compute-intensive tasks to have shorter deadlines which is very much required in modern reactive systems. However, missing modularity and portability can make parallel programming a cumbersome endeavor. As a consequence, compute-intensive sectors in the desktop and server segment have relied on parallelism frameworks such as Intel Threading Building Blocks, Cilk and OpenMP. These parallelism frameworks, however, are optimized for decent average case performance and consequently, do not meet the strict requirements imposed by real-time systems. In this paper, we present a proof-of-concept parallelism framework which was implemented in particular for soft real-time systems and having tight timing and safety requirements of such critical systems in mind. The proposed runtime system implements static memory allocation in a work-stealing environment that conforms to the strict space and tight probabilistic time bounds of work-stealing schedulers. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of this framework by conducting multiprogrammed benchmarks on a real-time embedded multicore architecture.}, language = {en} } @article{WeissPozzobonMottoketal., author = {Weiss, Nils and Pozzobon, Enrico and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Matoušek, V{\´a}clav}, title = {Automated Reverse Engineering of CAN Protocols}, series = {Neural Network World}, volume = {31}, journal = {Neural Network World}, number = {4}, issn = {1210-0552}, doi = {10.14311/NNW.2021.31.015}, pages = {279 -- 295}, abstract = {Car manufacturers define proprietary protocols to be used inside their vehicular networks, which are kept an industrial secret, therefore impeding independent researchers from extracting information from these networks. This article describes a statistical and a neural network approach that allows reverse engineering proprietary controller area network (CAN)-protocols assuming they were designed using the data base CAN (DBC) file format. The proposed algorithms are tested with CAN traces taken from a real car. We show that our approaches can correctly reverse engineer CAN messages in an automated manner.}, language = {en} } @article{DeNiklasBrianetal., author = {De, Sangita and Niklas, Michael and Brian, Rooney and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Brada, Premek}, title = {Semantic Mapping of Component Framework Interface Ontologies for Interoperability of Vehicle Applications}, series = {Procedia Computer Science}, volume = {170}, journal = {Procedia Computer Science}, number = {2}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.procs.2020.03.151}, pages = {813 -- 818}, abstract = {Over the past few years, ontology merging, and ontology semantic alignment has gained significant interest as research topics in automotive application domain for finding solutions to semantic data heterogeneity. To accomplish the complex and novel vehicle service requirements such as autonomous driving, V2X (Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication), etc. the automotive applications involve collaborations of several platform-specific data from heterogeneous enterprises component frameworks and consequently there has been increase in data interoperability issues. At the application component level, data interoperability relies on the semantic alignment or mapping between the various component framework interfaces data models represented as XML schemas (XSD). With the XML schemas being the preferred standard for the interface description exchange between most of the automotive application domain components, however, the data interoperability between the semantically equivalent but structurally different data constructs of multiple heterogeneous XSDs stands as a challenge in the absence of an ontology-based approach. To confront this crucial requirement for data interoperability and to increase in effect the reuse of existing components through their interfaces, we propose an approach to semantically map the various component framework interface data models when expressed as ontology schemas, based on the exploration of semantic synergies. The transformation between XSD and RDF (Resource Description Framework) schema representations and the use of queries over the ontology schemas for semantic mapping are demonstrated including a real-world case study.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SchmidMottok, author = {Schmid, Michael and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Response Time Analysis of Parallel Real-Time DAG Tasks Scheduled by Thread Pools}, series = {29th International Conference on Real-Time Networks and Systems (RTNS 2021): 07.04. - 09 04 2021, Nantes, France}, booktitle = {29th International Conference on Real-Time Networks and Systems (RTNS 2021): 07.04. - 09 04 2021, Nantes, France}, editor = {Queudet, Audrey}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, address = {New York}, isbn = {9781450390019}, doi = {10.1145/3453417.3453419}, pages = {173 -- 183}, abstract = {Modern high-end embedded systems nowadays have to process enormous amounts of data. In order to speed up the computations and fully exploit the resources of the underlying hardware architectures, software developers can avail parallelism frameworks such as Intel Threading Building Blocks or compiler extensions as OpenMP. They ease the development of parallel applications by providing interfaces for common parallel design patterns and by internally distributing the work among the workers of a thread pool. However, such frameworks and compiler extensions do not yet support the stringent timing requirements of real-time systems and therefore, an adaption of their computation model to the sector of real-time systems needs to be conducted. In this paper, we address the problem of scheduling parallel real-time directed acyclic graphs tasks on multiprocessor architectures where the subtasks are dispatched among and executed by the workers of a thread pool. In contrast to existing work in the state-of-the-art, we limit the maximum parallelism of real-time tasks not by the number of processors in the system, but by the number of worker threads used in the thread pool of each real-time application. For this model, we derive a worst-case response time analysis for task sets scheduled by a preemptive global fixed-priority scheduler. In order to evaluate the performance of our response time analysis, we further perform schedulability tests on generated task sets and compare the results to existing feasibility analyses in the current state-of-the-art.}, language = {en} } @article{GegenfurtnerBoucheixGruberetal., author = {Gegenfurtner, Andreas and Boucheix, Jean-Michel and Gruber, Hans and Hauser, Florian and Lehtinen, Erno and Lowe, Richard K.}, title = {The gaze relational index as a measure of visual expertise}, series = {Journal of Expertise}, volume = {3}, journal = {Journal of Expertise}, number = {March}, publisher = {Michigan State University}, issn = {2573-2773}, pages = {32 -- 40}, abstract = {Eye tracking is a powerful technique that helps reveal how people process visual information. This paper discusses a novel metric for indicating expertise in visual information processing. Named the Gaze Relational Index (GRI), this metric is defined as the ratio of mean fixation duration to fixation count. Data from two eye-tracking studies of professional vision and visual expertise in using 3D dynamic medical visualizations are presented as cases to illustrate the suitability and additional benefits of the GRI. Calculated values of the GRI were higher for novices than for experts, and higher in non-representative, semi-familiar / unfamiliar task conditions than in domain-representative familiar tasks. These differences in GRI suggest that, compared to novices, experts engaged in more knowledge-driven, top-down processing that was characterized by quick, exploratory visual search. We discuss future research aiming to replicate the GRI in professional domains with complex visual stimuli and to identify the moderating role of cognitive ability on GRI estimates.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MuchaMottokKraemer, author = {Mucha, Matthias and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Kr{\"a}mer, Stefan}, title = {Estimation of Worst Case Response Time Boundaries in Multi-Core Real-Time Systems}, series = {2017 International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE), 5-6 Sept. 2017, Pilsen}, booktitle = {2017 International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE), 5-6 Sept. 2017, Pilsen}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {978-80-261-0641-8}, issn = {1803-7232}, doi = {10.23919/ae.2017.8053598}, pages = {1 -- 6}, abstract = {We address a novel probabilistic approach to estimate the Worst Case Response Time boundaries of tasks. Multi-core real-time systems process tasks in parallel on two or more cores. Tasks in our contribution may preempt other tasks, block tasks with semaphores to access global shared resources, or migrate to another core. The depicted task behavior is random. The shape of collected response times of a task within a processing time is multimodal. Extreme Value approaches need unimodal response time distributions to estimate the Worst Case Response Time of tasks. The new proposed method derives a set of three task set shapes from the source task set. It is used to minimize the uncertainty of random task behavior by maximizing the coverage of possible Worst Case Response Times. The case study evaluates the new proposed estimation method by the use of dynamically generated random tasks with varying task properties.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{PozzobonRennerMottoketal., author = {Pozzobon, Enrico and Renner, Sebastian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Matoušek, V{\´a}clav}, title = {An optimized Bitsliced Masked Adder for ARM Thumb-2 Controllers}, series = {27th International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE): Sep 6, 2022 - Sep 7, 2022, Pilsen, Czech Republic}, booktitle = {27th International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE): Sep 6, 2022 - Sep 7, 2022, Pilsen, Czech Republic}, publisher = {IEEE}, doi = {10.1109/AE54730.2022.9919884}, pages = {4}, abstract = {The modular addition is used as a non-linear operation in ARX ciphers because it achieves the requirement of introducing non-linearity in a cryptographic primitive while only taking one clock cycle to execute on most modern architectures. This makes ARX ciphers especially fast in software implementations, but comes at the cost of making it harder to protect against side-channel information leakages using Boolean masking: the best known 2-shares masked adder for ARM Thumb micro-controllers takes 83 instructions to add two 32-bit numbers together. Our approach is to operate in bitsliced mode, performing 32 additions in parallel on a 32-bit microcontroller. We show that, even after taking into account the cost of bitslicing before and after the encryption, it is possible to achieve a higher throughput on the tested ciphers (CRAX and ChaCha20) when operating in bitsliced mode. Furthermore, we prove that no first-order information leakage is happening in either simulated power traces and power traces acquired from real hardware, after sufficient countermeasures are put into place to guard against pipeline leakages.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GrabingerHauserMottok, author = {Grabinger, Lisa and Hauser, Florian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Evaluating Graph-based Modeling Languages}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, publisher = {ACM}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593664}, pages = {120 -- 129}, abstract = {As humans, we tend to use models to describe reality. Modeling languages provide the formal frameworks for creating such models. Usually, the graphical design of individual model elements is based on subjective decisions; their suitability is determined at most by the prevalence of the modeling language. With other words: there is no objective way to compare different designs of model elements. The present paper addresses this issue: it introduces a systematic approach for evaluating the elements of graph-based modeling languages comprising 14 criteria - derived from standards, usability analyses, or the design theories 'Physics of Notations' and 'Cognitive Dimensions of Notations'. The criteria come with measurement procedures and evaluation schemes based on reasoning, eye tracking, and questioning. The developed approach is demonstrated with a specific use case: three distinct sets of node elements for causal graphs are evaluated in an eye tracking study with 41 subjects.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HauserGrabingerMottok, author = {Hauser, Florian and Grabinger, Lisa and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Something Short Gets Even Shorter: Adapting the LIST-K for the Use in an Online Learning Management System}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, publisher = {ACM}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593684}, pages = {65 -- 72}, abstract = {This study examines how Klingsieck's LIST-K questionnaire [22] can be shortened and adapted to the requirements of an online learning management system. In a study with 213 participants, the questionnaire is subjected to an exploitative factor analysis. In a next step, the results are evaluated in terms of their reliability. This process creates a modified factor structure for the LIST-K, comprising a total of eight factors. The reliability of the modified questionnaire is at an α of .770. The shortened version of the LIST-K questionnaire is currently being used on an experimental basis in different courses.}, language = {en} } @article{DePremekMottok, author = {De, Sangita and Premek, Brada and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Derivation of Optimized Threshold of Semantic Alignment Metrics for Intepretation of Interoperability and Reusability of Cross-enterprise Vehicle Service Interface Models}, series = {Informatica}, volume = {47}, journal = {Informatica}, number = {7}, publisher = {Slovenian Society Informatika}, issn = {0350-5596}, doi = {10.31449/inf.v47i7.4739}, abstract = {Over the past decade, cars have turned gradually into real cyber physical systems. The collaboration of services between the service-oriented, cross-enterprise vehicle application frameworks has increased to generate novel, smart and complicated vehicle services. Consequently, from an interoperability perspective, semantically mapping of vehicle service component's interface ontological models emerged as a big research interest in automotive application domain that manipulates several cross-enterprise synergy knowledge applications frameworks. The ontological metamodeling lays the foundation for building semantic bridge and exploring semantic associations between service components' interface models based on the domain knowledge for semantic interoperability. Also, several semantic quality metrics has been defined over time for the vehicle service interface ontological metamodels. The empirically evaluated values of these metrics can be used to assess progress in cross-enterprise interoperability between the service and the clients' APIs ontological models in vehicle domain. Despite potential benefits of semantic alignment quality metrics, the effective use of these metrics for vehicle service interface ontologies have proven elusive. Yes, such metrics can be used successfully for quantification, but then they mostly fail to provide adequate annotations in subsequent decision-making in the direction of semantic interoperability and reusability. The effective use of ontology semantic alignment quality metrics is basically hindered in the absence of the meaningful thresholds. In fact, the absence of an effective and meaningful threshold for the semantic similarity measure between various vehicle service interface ontological metamodels, motivates this research work which not only proposes a design approach to an optimized threshold for the semantic similarity metrics but also applies this threshold on few defined semantic alignment quality metrics. This paper also uses a real-world vehicle domain industrial case study to illustrate the design approach.}, language = {en} } @article{PozzobonWeissMottoketal., author = {Pozzobon, Enrico and Weiß, Nils and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Matoušek, V{\´a}clav}, title = {An evolutionary fault injection settings search algorithm for attacks on safe and secure embedded systems}, series = {Neural Network World (NNW)}, volume = {33}, journal = {Neural Network World (NNW)}, number = {5}, publisher = {Czech Technical University in Prague}, doi = {10.14311/NNW.2023.33.020}, pages = {357 -- 374}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BittnerHendricksHornetal., author = {Bittner, Dominik and Hendricks, Ricky-Ricardo and Horn, Luca and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {In-depth Benchmarking of Transfer Learning Techniques for Improved Bottle Recognition}, series = {2023 IEEE 13th International Conference on Pattern Recognition Systems (ICPRS), Guayaquil, Ecuador, 04-07 July 2023}, booktitle = {2023 IEEE 13th International Conference on Pattern Recognition Systems (ICPRS), Guayaquil, Ecuador, 04-07 July 2023}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {979-8-3503-3337-4}, doi = {10.1109/ICPRS58416.2023.10178995}, pages = {1 -- 6}, abstract = {An immense diversity in bottle types requires high accuracy during sorting for recycling purposes by breweries. This extremely complex and time-consuming procedure can result in enormous additional costs for them. This paper presents transfer learning-based algorithms for classifying beer bottle brands using camera images, applicable in individual sorting solutions for different use cases. The problem is tackled using customised EfficientNet, InceptionResNet and VGG models along with an augmented dataset. In addition, a detailed analysis of different model and parameter combinations is performed, enabling tailor-made technologies for specific conditions and resource limitations. In accompanying validations and subsequent tests, a test accuracy of 100\% in the recognition of beer brands could be achieved, proving the proposed method fully contributes to the solution of the problem.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HomannGrabingerHauseretal., author = {Homann, Alexander and Grabinger, Lisa and Hauser, Florian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {An Eye Tracking Study on MISRA C Coding Guidelines}, series = {ECSEE '23: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {ECSEE '23: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, publisher = {ACM}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593671}, pages = {130 -- 137}, abstract = {C is one of the most widely used programming languages - MISRA C is one of the most known sets of coding guidelines for C. This paper examines the usefulness and comprehensibility of the MISRA C:2012 guidelines in an eye tracking study. There, subjects encounter non-compliant code in four different code review settings: with no additional reference, with an actual MISRA C guideline, with a case-specific interpretation of a MISRA C guideline, and with a compliant version of the code. The data collected was analyzed not only in terms of the four presentation styles, but also by dividing the subjects into experience levels based on their semesters of study or years of work experience. Regarding the difference between actual and interpreted guidelines, we found that for interpreted guidelines the error detection rate is higher whereas the duration and frequency of visits to the guideline itself are mainly lower. This suggest that the actual guidelines are less useful and more difficult to understand. The former is contradicted by the subjects' opinions: when surveyed, they rated the usefulness of the actual guidelines higher.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MaierMottok, author = {Maier, Robert and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {BayesianSafety - an Open-Source Package for Causality-Guided, Multi-Model Safety Analysis}, series = {Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security, 41st International Conference (SAFECOMP 2022): Munich, Germany, September 6-9, 2022, Proceedings}, booktitle = {Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security, 41st International Conference (SAFECOMP 2022): Munich, Germany, September 6-9, 2022, Proceedings}, editor = {Trapp, Mario and Saglietti, Francesca and Spisl{\"a}nder, Marc and Bitsch, Friedemann}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Cham}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-14835-4_2}, pages = {17 -- 30}, abstract = {Development and verification of modern, dependable automotive systems require appropriate modelling approaches. Classic automotive safety is described by the normative regulations ISO 26262, its relative ISO/PAS 21448, and their respective methodologies. In recent publications, an emerging demand to combine environmental influences, machine learning, or reasoning under uncertainty with standard-compliant analysis techniques can be noticed. Therefore, adapting established methods like FTA and proper tool support is necessary. We argue that Bayesian Networks (BNs) can be used as a central component to address and merge these demands. In this paper, we present our Open-Source Python package BayesianSafety. First, we review how BNs relate to data-driven methods, model-to-model transformations, and causal reasoning. Together with FTA and ETA, these models form the core functionality of our software. After describing currently implemented features and possibilities of combining individual modelling approaches, we provide an informal view of the tool's architecture and of the resulting software ecosystem. By comparing selected publicly available safety and reliability analysis libraries, we outline that many relevant methodologies yield specialized implementations. Finally, we show that there is a demand for a flexible, unifying analysis tool that allows researching system safety by using multi-model and multi-domain approaches.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MaierGrabingerUrlhartetal., author = {Maier, Robert and Grabinger, Lisa and Urlhart, David and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Towards Causal Model-Based Engineering in Automotive System Safety}, series = {Model-Based Safety and Assessment, 8th International Symposium, IMBSA 2022: Munich, Germany, September 5-7, 2022, Proceedings}, booktitle = {Model-Based Safety and Assessment, 8th International Symposium, IMBSA 2022: Munich, Germany, September 5-7, 2022, Proceedings}, editor = {Seguin, Christel and Zeller, Marc and Prosvirnova, Tatiana}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Cham}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-15842-1_9}, pages = {116 -- 129}, abstract = {Engineering is based on the understanding of causes and effects. Thus, causality should also guide the safety assessment of complex systems such as autonomous driving cars. To ensure the safety of the intended functionality of these systems, normative regulations like ISO 21448 recommend scenario-based testing. An important task here is to identify critical scenarios, so-called edge and corner cases. Data-driven approaches to this task (e.g. based on machine learning) cannot adequately address a constantly changing operational design domain. Model-based approaches offer a remedy - they allow including different sources of knowledge (e.g. data, human experts) into safety considerations. With this paper, we outline a novel approach for ensuring automotive system safety. We propose to use structural causal models as a probabilistic modelling language to combine knowledge about an open-context environment from different sources. Based on these models, we investigate parameter configurations that are candidates for critical scenarios. In this paper, we first discuss some aspects of scenario-based testing. We then provide an informal introduction to causal models and relate their development lifecycle to the established V-model. Finally, we outline a generic workflow for using causal models to identify critical scenarios and highlight some challenges that arise in the process.}, language = {en} } @article{MaierGrabingerUrlhartetal., author = {Maier, Robert and Grabinger, Lisa and Urlhart, David and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Causal Models to Support Scenario-Based Testing of ADAS}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems}, publisher = {IEEE}, issn = {1524-9050}, doi = {10.1109/TITS.2023.3317475}, pages = {1 -- 17}, abstract = {In modern vehicles, system complexity and technical capabilities are constantly growing. As a result, manufacturers and regulators are both increasingly challenged to ensure the reliability, safety, and intended behavior of these systems. With current methodologies, it is difficult to address the various interactions between vehicle components and environmental factors. However, model-based engineering offers a solution by allowing to abstract reality and enhancing communication among engineers and stakeholders. Applying this method requires a model format that is machine-processable, human-understandable, and mathematically sound. In addition, the model format needs to support probabilistic reasoning to account for incomplete data and knowledge about a problem domain. We propose structural causal models as a suitable framework for addressing these demands. In this article, we show how to combine data from different sources into an inferable causal model for an advanced driver-assistance system. We then consider the developed causal model for scenario-based testing to illustrate how a model-based approach can improve industrial system development processes. We conclude this paper by discussing the ongoing challenges to our approach and provide pointers for future work.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MaierMottok, author = {Maier, Robert and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Causality and Functional Safety - How Causal Models Relate to the Automotive Standards ISO 26262, ISO/PAS 21448, and UL 4600}, series = {27th International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE): 06-07 September 2022, Pilsen, CZ}, booktitle = {27th International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE): 06-07 September 2022, Pilsen, CZ}, publisher = {IEEE}, doi = {10.1109/AE54730.2022.9920053}, pages = {6}, abstract = {With autonomous driving, the system complexity of vehicles will increase drastically. This requires new approaches to ensure system safety. Looking at standards like ISO 26262 or ISO/PAS 21448 and their suggested methodologies, an increasing trend in the recent literature can be noticed to incorporate uncertainty. Often this is done by using Bayesian Networks as a framework to enable probabilistic reasoning. These models can also be used to represent causal relationships. Many publications claim to model cause-effect relations, yet rarely give a formal introduction of the implications and resulting possibilities such an approach may have. This paper aims to link the domains of causal reasoning and automotive system safety by investigating relations between causal models and approaches like FMEA, FTA, or GSN. First, the famous "Ladder of Causation" and its implications on causality are reviewed. Next, we give an informal overview of common hazard and reliability analysis techniques and associate them with probabilistic models. Finally, we analyse a mixed-model methodology called Hybrid Causal Logic, extend its idea, and build the concept of a causal shell model of automotive system safety.}, language = {en} } @article{RoehrlStauferBugertetal., author = {R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Staufer, Susanne and Bugert, Flemming and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Hauser, Florian and Grabinger, Lisa and Bittner, Dominik and Ezer, Timur and Altweck, Ricardo and Graf, Sabine and Kriza, Thomas and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System}, series = {IEEE Access}, volume = {11}, journal = {IEEE Access}, publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)}, issn = {2169-3536}, doi = {10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3583975}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-83403}, pages = {1 -- 25}, abstract = {As the use of AI in education increases, addressing ethical concerns is essential for its responsible use and implementation. This study explores the ethical considerations of AI in education by analyzing a concrete application, the Pythia Learning Enhancement System, which enables personalized and adaptive educational experiences. In this case study, the concrete implementation of Pythia, contrary to high-level abstract analyses, provides practical insights into these ethical issues. To achieve this goal, we first define Pythia and outline its implementation. Using the various topics covered by Pythia, the ethical issues associated with each of these topics are outlined, resulting in a list of ten distinct ethical issues. Because there is overlap in issues covered by similar applications, they can benefit from this identification. An ethical (human rights) and didactic (constructivism) theoretical background is then provided as a basis for further discussion. This is used to build the arguments used in the main study. This consists of analyzing each of the issues and providing recommendations to mitigate potential harm arising from these issues. This helps to provide guidelines for future applications. In the analysis, the ethical discussion is mainly based on the human rights of the stakeholders involved, emphasizing human dignity. After the analysis, each of the issues is contextualized with the recent AI Act of the European Union, providing a novel mapping of the issues of AI in education to the AI Act. Finally, the limitations of the study are stated and a plan for future research is presented.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BugertStauferBittneretal., author = {Bugert, Flemming and Staufer, Susanne and Bittner, Dominik and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Ezer, Timur and Hauser, Florian and Grabinger, Lisa and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Ariadne's Thread for Unravelling Learning Paths: Identifying Learning Styles via Hidden Markov Models}, series = {2024 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 08-11 May 2024, Kos Island, Greece}, booktitle = {2024 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 08-11 May 2024, Kos Island, Greece}, publisher = {IEEE}, issn = {2165-9567}, doi = {10.1109/EDUCON60312.2024.10578825}, pages = {1 -- 7}, abstract = {Modern education through Learning Management Systems (LMSs) provides learners with personalized learning paths. This is achieved by first querying the learning style according to the theory of Felder and Silverman to recommend suitable learning content. However, a rigid learning style representation is lacking of adaptability to the learners' choices. Therefore, the present study evaluates the idea of providing adaption to the representation of learning styles by using Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). Thus, data is collected from participants out of the Higher Education Area. The Index of Learning Styles questionnaire is used to obtain the learning style based on the theory of Felder and Silverman. Also, a questionnaire that asks the respondents to create a preferred learning path with the sequence length of nine learning elements is provided. From the given data, we initially evaluate the probability relationships between learning styles and learning elements. Then, we use the Viterbi algorithm in HMMs to identify alterations in learning styles from the provided learning paths. The alignment is then quantified by introducing a metric called support value. The findings imply that our concept can be used to adapt the learning style based on the user's real choice of learning elements. Thus, the proposed model also offers a way to integrate a feedback loop within LMSs leading to an improvement of learning path recommendation algorithms.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HauserGrabingerMottoketal., author = {Hauser, Florian and Grabinger, Lisa and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Jahn, Sabrina and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna}, title = {The Expert's View: Eye Movement Modeling Examples in Software Engineering Education}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, publisher = {ACM}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593683}, pages = {148 -- 152}, abstract = {This study investigates the impact of eye movement modeling examples in Software Engineering education. Software Engineering is a highly visual domain. The daily tasks of a software engineer (e.g., formulating requirements, creating UML diagrams, or conducting a code review) require in many cases the use of certain visual strategies. Although these strategies can be found for experts, it has been observed in different eye tracking studies that students have difficulties in learning and applying them. To familiarize students with these visual strategies and to provide them with a better understanding for the cognitive processes involved, a total of seven eye movement modeling examples was created. The seven eye movement modeling examples cover relevant parts of an introductory Software Engineering lecture; they are focused on typical situations in which visual strategies are applied. The results of a questionnaire-based evaluation shows that students consider the eye movement modeling examples as useful, feel supported in their learning process, and would like to see more use of them in the Software Engineering lecture. Furthermore, the students suggested that eye movement modeling examples should also be used in other lectures.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BugertGrabingerBittneretal., author = {Bugert, Flemming and Grabinger, Lisa and Bittner, Dominik and Hauser, Florian and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Staufer, Susanne and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Towards Learning Style Prediction based on Personality}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, publisher = {ACM}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593682}, pages = {48 -- 55}, abstract = {This paper assesses the relation between personality, demographics, and learning style. Hence, data is collected from 200 participants using 1) the BFI-10 to obtain the participant's expression of personality traits according to the five-factor model, 2) the ILS to determine the participant's learning style according to Felder and Silverman, and 3) a demographic questionnaire. From the obtained data, we train and evaluate a Bayesian network. Using Bayesian statistics, we show that age and gender slightly influence personality and that demographics as well as personality have at least a minor effect on learning styles. We also discuss the limitations and future work of the presented approach.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BittnerHauserNadimpallietal., author = {Bittner, Dominik and Hauser, Florian and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Grabinger, Lisa and Staufer, Susanne and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Towards Eye Tracking based Learning Style Identification}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, publisher = {ACM}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593680}, pages = {138 -- 147}, abstract = {The dropout rate at universities has been very high for years. Thereby, the inexperience and lack of knowledge of students in dealing with individual learning paths in various courses of study plays a decisive role. Adaptive learning management systems are suitable countermeasures, in which learners' learning styles are classified using questionnaires or computationally intensive algorithms before a learning path is suggested accordingly. In this paper, a study design for student learning style classification using eye tracking is presented. Furthermore, qualitative and quantitative analyses clarify certain relationships between students' eye movements and learning styles. With the help of classification based on eye tracking, the filling out of questionnaires or the integration of computationally or cost-intensive algorithms can be made redundant in the future.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NadimpalliBugertBittneretal., author = {Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Bugert, Flemming and Bittner, Dominik and Staufer, Susanne and R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Hauser, Florian and Ezer, Timur and Grabinger, Lisa and Maier, Robert and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Probabilistic Machine Learning for Simulating Complex Learner Profiles}, series = {2024 21st International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET), 06-08 November 2024, Paris, France}, booktitle = {2024 21st International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET), 06-08 November 2024, Paris, France}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {979-8-3315-1663-5}, issn = {2473-2060}, doi = {10.1109/ITHET61869.2024.10837641}, pages = {1 -- 10}, abstract = {Data is the foundation of all machine learning applications. In education science, especially for the learner characteristics that drive personalized learning, it is difficult to collect and often uncertain. It is challenging to model, train, evaluate, and analyze the underlying algorithms when developing AI-based systems and having small sample sizes. To address these problems, we present a synthetic data generator utilising probabilistic models. This generator can effectively model and simulate complex learner profiles. To achieve this, we collected extensive data on learning styles, learning strategies, personalities, and preferred learning paths from 593 students over several semesters at a higher education level. Then, Bayesian networks, Hidden Markov Models, and Markov Chains are used to model the relationships between learner profiles. Using the Bayesian information criterion, and cross-validation with log-likelihood scores, we compare various models to select the best fitting one for synthesizing the data. The synthetic data is then evaluated using statistical validation techniques. In addition, we developed a simulation module with the option to simulate learner profiles based on manual user-defined inputs. The data and code used in this work are available as open source1110.5281/zenodo.13768136 [Titel anhand dieser DOI in Citavi-Projekt {\"u}bernehmen] contributing to open science and developers for customized simulated data. In the future, this data will refine the training, evaluation, analysis, and benchmarking of algorithms for personalized learning.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HammerMottok, author = {Hammer, Pascal and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Prototyping for high-performance random number generators for critical systems}, series = {2025 International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE), 08-09. September 2025, Pilsen Czech Republic}, booktitle = {2025 International Conference on Applied Electronics (AE), 08-09. September 2025, Pilsen Czech Republic}, publisher = {IEEE}, doi = {10.1109/AE66163.2025.11197780}, pages = {7}, abstract = {The security of modern cryptographic applications depends on the quality of their random number generators (RNGs). While physical true random number generators (PTRNGs) provide high-quality randomness, their performance is often insufficient for high-throughput applications. On the other hand, deterministic random number generators (DRNGs) offer better speed but lack true randomness. This paper presents an approach to developing a high-performance PTRNG. The research focuses on optimizing the digitization of analog noise signals. For this purpose, an ADC was selected that can digitize analog signals at a high clock rate. The functionality of the ADC could be verified by digitizing reference signals. Preliminary results by digitizing the analog noise signal demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach, but highlight challenges in achieving good results for Min-Entropy.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{StauferEzerRoehrletal., author = {Staufer, Susanne and Ezer, Timur and R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Grabinger, Lisa and Hauser, Florian and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Antoni, Erika and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Schaffer, Josefa}, title = {TYCHE ALGORITHM 2.0: Learning Paths from Questionnaire Responses and Learning Analytics}, series = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, booktitle = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, publisher = {IATED}, isbn = {978-84-09-78706-7}, doi = {10.21125/iceri.2025.0831}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-87846}, pages = {2562 -- 2572}, abstract = {The digitalization of learning processes has increased the need for adaptive learning paths tailored individually to learners. A novel algorithm for learning path generation is presented in this paper, namely Tyche 2.0. It extends the original Tyche approach after Staufer et al. - a Markov model for generating learning paths - by integrating additional learner data beyond learning styles (Index of Learning Styles (ILS)), including learning strategies (LIST-K questionnaire), personality traits (BFI-10 questionnaire), and learning analytics captured through screen recordings. In order to be able to use the screen recordings, a heuristic evaluates them. Furthermore, this enhanced algorithm employs Markov models to dynamically generate personalized learning paths. These are based on both questionnaire responses and real-time engagement data, the weights of which undergo dynamic adjustment over time. We made a small evaluation of Tyche 2.0 without the learning analytics influence, which shows that there is room for further improvements. Future research will focus on evaluating whole Tyche 2.0 in another university setting to further improve personalization and user engagement.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HauserStauferRoehrletal., author = {Hauser, Florian and Staufer, Susanne and R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Ezer, Timur and Grabinger, Lisa and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen and Falter, Thomas}, title = {LEVERAGING FIVE QUESTIONNAIRES TO ANALYZE STUDENT LEARNING STRATEGIES AND GENERATE AI-POWERED INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING PATHS}, series = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, booktitle = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, editor = {G{\´o}mez Chova, Luis and Gonz{\´a}lez Mart{\´i}nez, Chelo and Lees, Joanna}, publisher = {IATED}, doi = {10.21125/iceri.2025.0658}, pages = {1775 -- 1784}, abstract = {Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the shift toward online and blended learning in higher education, placing renewed emphasis on the individualization of learning content to meet diverse student needs. Even high-quality learning materials may fail to engage learners if they do not align with students' personal preferences and learning styles. Identifying these learner preferences, therefore, emerges as a critical challenge. Objectives: This paper presents ongoing work within a larger research project aimed at employing artificial intelligence to recommend optimal learning path for students in specific courses. Beyond mere optimization, the goal is to ensure the best possible fit between learning materials and individual learners. Sample \& Methods: A total of 27 students from technical degree programs took part in this survey. All participation was voluntary, and data were handled in full compliance with GDPR regulations. Although our broader project integrates fine-grained learning analytics from Moodle, the present abstract focuses exclusively on the self-report questionnaire results. Participants completed five instruments: 1. Index of Learning Styles (ILS) 2. LIST-K (Learning and Study Strategies Inventory - Short version) 3. BFI-10 (Big Five Inventory - 10 items) 4. Custom Preferences Instrument, capturing preferences for specific learning elements (e.g. instructional videos, lecture notes, summaries) and basic demographic data 5. Motivational Value Systems Questionnaire (MVSQ), piloted last semester to assess value orientations and motivational drivers Results: Preliminary analyses of the questionnaire data reveal: - Learning Styles (ILS): The majority lean toward the visual learning type (M = 5.740, SD = 3.430). - Learning Strategies (LIST-K): High scores on metacognitive strategies (M = 3.000; SD = 0.520) and collaboration with peers (M = 3.190; SD = 0.540). - Preferred Learning Elements: Summaries, overviews, and self-checks are most favored. - Value Orientations (MVSQ): Students are primarily driven by the pursuit of personal achievement (M = 4.400; SD = 11.140). Conclusion \& Significance: By integrating these five standardized questionnaires, we gain valuable insights into student learning preferences—insights that complement our Moodle analytics in the broader project. Observed trends suggest that learning materials should be concise and designed to facilitate peer interaction and knowledge deepening. These findings will guide the refinement of our AI-driven recommendation engine, enhancing its ability to deliver personalized learning paths that boost both engagement and effectiveness.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SchafferEzerRoehrletal., author = {Schaffer, Josefa and Ezer, Timur and R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Hauser, Florian and Staufer, Susanne and Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Grabinger, Lisa and Antoni, Erika and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {EYE TRACKING GLASSES IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS: GUIDELINES ON DATA QUALITY}, series = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, booktitle = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, editor = {G{\´o}mez Chova, Luis and Gonz{\´a}lez Mart{\´i}nez, Chelo and Lees, Joanna}, publisher = {IATED}, doi = {10.21125/iceri.2025.1419}, pages = {5027 -- 5038}, abstract = {Eye movement modeling examples, so-called EMME videos, are a valuable tool in education, helping learners better understand instructional content. Like conventional educational videos, EMME videos combine text, images, and voiceovers. However, they also display the instructor's or teacher's gaze, guiding learners attention to key elements. Although various approaches exist for creating EMME videos, there is currently no standardised guideline for ensuring gaze data quality. Eye tracking technology is essential to capture gaze behaviour, and in educational settings without a fixed computer monitor - such as when using blackboards or conducting live experiments - the usage of mobile eye tracking glasses is beneficial. An accuracy study is conducted using mobile eye tracking glasses to provide empirical guidance for the development of high-quality educational EMME videos and ensure that the instructor's or teacher's gaze is captured with high precision. The study uses the Tobii Pro Glasses 3 and involves a static and a dynamic setup with 34 participants. To gain insight into the effects of visual impairments on accuracy, we also include participants who wear contact lenses. In the static setup, participants are seated at a desk with a headrest and focus on a poster with nine fixation points. In the dynamic setup, participants are walking in a controlled half-circle around the poster while maintaining focus on its centre. Each setup is performed multiple times under varying lighting levels (300 lux, 700 lux) and distances between participant and poster (80 cm, 120 cm, 180 cm). This enables the simulation of diverse educational environments, including the possibility of a teacher's or instructor's movement. The study results will be evaluated regarding lighting conditions, the distance between the person wearing eye tracking glasses and the object, and possible influences of contact lenses. Based on these findings, favourable conditions for creating EMME videos in educational settings are collected, especially when working without a fixed computer monitor. The results address the outlined research gap by providing instructors and teachers with guidelines enabling them to produce high-quality educational EMME videos.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{EzerRoehrlMottok, author = {Ezer, Timur and R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Towards accurate eye tracking: quantifying error in linear pixel-to-degree conversion}, series = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, booktitle = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, editor = {G{\´o}mez Chova, Luis and Gonz{\´a}lez Mart{\´i}nez, Chelo and Lees, Joanna}, publisher = {IATED}, doi = {10.21125/iceri.2025.1841}, pages = {6709 -- 6717}, abstract = {Eye tracking has become a powerful tool for analyzing cognitive processes in educational research. Educators and researchers can utilize eye tracking to model learners by determining their gaze patterns. In addition, eye tracking can be used directly for teaching by extracting experts' gaze behavior in certain areas and learning from it. However, eye tracking data is captured in a variety of coordinate systems, which can differ across individual studies. Consequently, algorithms, such as eye movement classifiers, must frequently convert gaze data between different coordinate systems. In particular, the conversion from screen pixels into visual degrees is typically approximated by a linear conversion in current literature and standard practice. However, this approximation introduces inaccuracies, thus potentially obscuring eye movements relevant to educational research. This paper provides a detailed geometric and analytical examination of the commonly applied linear approximation, quantifying its error in comparison to the exact coordinate conversion from screen pixels to angular degrees. For this purpose, the exact conversion formulas are mathematically derived from geometric optics, enabling researchers and educators to use them in their work. Utilizing these derived transformations can improve the robustness of analyses, for example, when detecting subtle eye movements. The present work supports educational research using eye tracking to achieve more insightful findings that may have previously been obscured by measurement inaccuracies. Thereby, we provide an important contribution toward more reliable and valid research and educational practices in eye tracking.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{AlhulaibiFrauenschlaegerMottok, author = {Alhulaibi, Ayham and Frauenschl{\"a}ger, Tobias and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Towards Post-Quantum-Ready Automated Certificate Lifecycle Management in Operational Technology}, series = {SECURWARE 2025, The Nineteenth International Conference on Emerging Security Information, Systems and Technologies, 26.-30.10.2025, Barcelona}, booktitle = {SECURWARE 2025, The Nineteenth International Conference on Emerging Security Information, Systems and Technologies, 26.-30.10.2025, Barcelona}, publisher = {IARIA}, isbn = {978-1-68558-306-4}, pages = {112 -- 116}, abstract = {Operational Technology (OT) systems increasingly depend on robust and automated certificate lifecycle management to maintain secure operations across long device lifespans and constrained environments. As quantum-capable adversaries emerge, these systems must also support cryptographic agility and prepare for a seamless transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). This work presents a crypto-agile, post-quantum-ready testbed architecture that extends existing standards, such as Enrollment over Secure Transport (EST) and Bootstrapping Remote Secure Key Infrastructure (BRSKI), to support hybrid certificates, hardware-based key storage, and protocol flexibility for device bootstrapping and certificate management. A work-in-progress prototype implementation demonstrates support for both traditional and PQC algorithms across device types. Planned evaluations target performance on constrained devices, PQC readiness, and compatibility with alternative protocols. The system lays a foundation for secure and standards-compliant certificate management in future-proof OT deployments.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NadimpalliMaierStauferetal., author = {Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Maier, Robert and Staufer, Susanne and R{\"o}hrl, Simon and Ezer, Timur and Grabinger, Lisa and Hauser, Florian and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {EXPERT SURVEYS TO REAL TIME ADAPTATION OF LEARNING PATHS}, series = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, booktitle = {ICERI2025 Proceedings}, editor = {G{\´o}mez Chova, Luis and Gonz{\´a}lez Mart{\´i}nez, Chelo and Lees, Joanna}, publisher = {IATED}, doi = {10.21125/iceri.2025.1571}, pages = {5677 -- 5687}, abstract = {Learning management systems rely on adaptive algorithms that use learner preferences to personalize the instructional content in form of learning paths. However, these preferences are uncertain in nature, and change over time. The present solutions are either static or purely data-driven missing the dynamic adaption to changes in the preferences and infusion of pedagogical nuances respectively. This paper introduces an extended variant of Nestor, our Bayesian network engine that models personality traits, learning styles, and learning strategies. This extension overlays a lightweight rule-based mechanism whose "secret recipe'' lies in the infusion of expert-derived weights adapting learning paths dynamically whenever a learner selects new material in Moodle. To parameterise these rules, we conducted a structured survey with 12 hand-picked professors and researchers in educational science. Each expert responded to 4 demographic items and 12 item that are distributed across algorithm-overview, scenario-based, and example-based categories, thereby supplying the nuanced weightings that result the personalised recommendations. This hybrid system (Nestor plus the expert-infused rule layer) operated during the winter term of 2025. 18 students completed an end-of-term questionnaire. Although their learning gains were not recorded, the majority of respondents reported positive or neutral experiences with the dynamically adapted learning paths. The {Future work} will compare three engines: (i) the present dynamic, expert-infused rule layer on top of the static Bayesian network, (ii) purely data-driven machine-learning models that neglect expert weighting, and (iii) the original static-adaptation Bayesian network without rules. Analyses of log files, intermediate satisfaction surveys, and pre/post term surveys will clarify whether this on-the-fly adaptation and pedagogical nuance lead to measurable learning benefits.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NadimpalliHauserBittneretal., author = {Nadimpalli, Vamsi Krishna and Hauser, Florian and Bittner, Dominik and Grabinger, Lisa and Staufer, Susanne and Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Systematic Literature Review for the Use of AI Based Techniques in Adaptive Learning Management Systems}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Software Engineering Education, Seeon/Germany, June 19 - 21, 2023}, editor = {Mottok, J{\"u}rgen}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, address = {New York}, isbn = {978-1-4503-9956-2}, doi = {10.1145/3593663.3593681}, pages = {83 -- 92}, abstract = {Nowadays, learning management systems are widely employed in all educational institutions to instruct students as a result of the increasing in online usage. Today's learning management systems provide learning paths without personalizing them to the characteristics of the learner. Therefore, research these days is concentrated on employing AI-based strategies to personalize the systems. However, there are many different AI algorithms, making it challenging to determine which ones are most suited for taking into account the many different features of learner data and learning contents. This paper conducts a systematic literature review in order to discuss the AI-based methods that are frequently used to identify learner characteristics, organize the learning contents, recommend learning paths, and highlight their advantages and disadvantages.}, language = {en} }