This paper investigates how virtual reality (VR) can foster empathy and ecological literacy for urban herpetofauna—reptiles and amphibians often overlooked in conservation. We present The Wetland Quest (TWQ), an immersive VR experience set in a Shanghai wetland that employs embodiment and scale-shift mechanics to situate users in the world of local species. In a mixed-methods study with 62 participants, TWQ significantly improved species literacy and attitudes toward herpetofauna, supported by large quantitative gains and qualitative themes of immersion, empathy, and reduced aversion. This work contributes to HCI and environmental communication by: (1) introducing TWQ as a design case of VR for underrepresented species; (2) providing empirical evidence that immersive perspective-taking can enhance literacy and pro-environmental attitudes; and (3) demonstrating a methodological protocol that combines knowledge tests, validated attitude scales, observations, and interviews, offering a transferable approach for future VR conservation research.

CS education should help students acquire programming skills and technical knowledge, while also learning to collaborate, listen, and articulate their viewpoints in teams. These abilities are essential for professional development and teamwork. In human-computer interaction courses, teamwork is crucial for product design and development, and diverse user perspectives underpin the understanding and improvement of user experience. Traditional teaching often relies on spontaneous interaction in group projects, which depends heavily on whether a team includes members with strong organizational skills. To help all students engage with peers' perspectives and prepare for subsequent projects, we designed a reflective learning activity that combines structured diary study with group discussions. Students first recorded their experiences with a designated application over two weeks to deepen understanding of user needs and interaction contexts. They then shared their thoughts in group discussions, linking individual reflection with collective exchange to broaden recognition of diverse viewpoints. This study invited 10 CS undergraduates. Results showed that students gave strong positive evaluations, reporting that the activity improved their understanding of collaboration and increased confidence in expressing and listening within groups. Many also believed that if they continued to work with their group members to develop new features or software, the diary and discussion experience would give them greater confidence and smoother collaboration. This study demonstrates the potential of combining diaries and group discussions as a feasible approach for computing education to foster collaboration and support student voice.

Ensuring consistent persona in interactive AI systems presents a significant challenge, especially in diverse application scenarios ranging from virtual assistants to customer service bots. Such capability is often constrained by the system's understanding of direct and explicit persona conflicts. Traditional approaches primarily focus on detecting discrepancies between machine responses and its predefined profile, or the contextual inconsistencies between the responses at the semantic level rather than the persona level. Due to the lack of a comprehensive persona-specific Commonsense Knowledge Graph, some indirect and implicit persona inconsistencies between machine responses can hardly be identified. In this paper, we build the first persona commonsense knowledge graph (PersonaKG), based on which we then construct a large-scale persona consistency dialogue dataset (PersonaCOM) containing both explicit and implicit persona conflicts between machine responses. With the guidance of the persona commonsense knowledge, we propose a Recognize-Rewrite framework (R2) which first recognizes the responses that are inconsistent in persona with the previous responses, and then rewrites them into consistent ones. The empirical study demonstrates that utilizing R2 method on PersonaCOM with PersonaKG results in a significant improvement of 12.20% in automatic metrics and 10.09% in manual evaluation compared to not using the R2 method and PersonaKG.

Published version

With the rapid advancement and widespread adoption of computer technology, it has become an indispensable component in the development of human society. Therefore, computer science education's focus extends beyond merely teaching students to read and write code; it is crucial to assist them in gaining an accurate and deep understanding of the applications of technology in the real world, its conveniences, and potential risks. Furthermore, it involves exploring how to design, improve, and innovate computer technologies to meet practical demands. Consequently, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has grown increasingly significant in the curriculum of computer science. However, research indicates that computing students face numerous challenges in learning HCI. To enhance students' ability to experience, discover, and understand user needs, the authors of this paper recommend incorporating diary studies in HCI education. In the field of HCI, diary studies are a method for collecting long-term data on user behavior and experiences in a natural environment. Participants are required to record their daily activities, product usage, encountered issues, and personal impressions over specific periods. This paper will detail the process and steps implemented in our diary studies and present student feedback and evaluations. Through this experience report, we hope to encourage more educators to adopt and refine the diary study methodology in their courses, thereby aiding computer science students in better understanding and embracing the concepts and knowledge of HCI.

Maintaining emotional connections and fostering meaningful communication among distant family members has long been challenging. Existing communication technologies, such as instant messaging, video-sharing, and social media enable quick exchanges but often lack mechanisms to initiate appropriate conversation topics and support in-depth emotional interactions. This study explores the use of digital diary-sharing in addressing these limitations. We conduct thematic analyses on diaries from a three-week study (N=22) using DailyBean, a diary app, to examine frequent patterns in users' sharing of outdoor experiences with distant family members. We identify five key mechanisms to support connections between distant family members: topic initiation, memory recall, shared moments, joint activities, and future planning. We also highlight frequent conversation topics that facilitate emotional engagement and reflection for distant family members. We conclude our study with design recommendations for effective diary-based family communication.

This innovative practice paper introduces a novel approach that combines the automated assistant system, Pack-back, with computer ethics education to enhance the quality of educational outcomes in this field. As digital technology rapidly advances, it becomes imperative for educators in technology fields to prioritize ethical considerations. This priority stems from the potential risks associated with technological advancements and the necessity to ensure that these advancements positively impact society. In this context, deepening the understanding of the impacts of technology through computer ethics education is particularly crucial. This paper explores how automated assistant systems can be effectively integrated into computer ethics instruction through the application of Packback, an online educational platform. Packback stimulates students' curiosity and critical thinking by providing a question-and-answer-based learning environment, encouraging students to pose deep, insightful questions and explore answers with the help of their peers. The platform employs various automated text and language-based algorithms to facilitate discussions, enhance writing skills, and build critical thinking capacities. Compared to traditional teaching methods, our approach utilizes the capabilities of automated assistants and incorporates diary study methodology to emphasize reflective and interactive learning of course materials. We introduce three Packback assignments: Packback Discussion Questions, Packback Deep Dive, and Packback Diary Study. We found that most students have a positive attitude toward their overall experience through the comprehensive end-of-term questionnaire surveys. Feedback highlights that Packback has deepened their comprehension of computer ethics, offered a venue for reciprocal learning and exchange, and improved their ability to write arguments. However, some feedback also pointed out areas for improvement in the automated system, such as its over-reliance on the length of essays, which compels students to artificially expand brief sentences, thereby affecting the efficiency and quality of learning. Therefore, by summarizing feedback and experiences, we aim to provide valuable suggestions and practical cases for future integration of computer ethics education with automated assistant systems.

In this research-to-practice full paper, we describe our approach to using diary studies and social games to help Computer Science students develop their understanding of how application design influences user engagement and behavior over time. Social games are an engaging target for junior and senior-level courses like Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Mobile Software Design. While guidelines for designing social games can be conveyed through lectures and course materials, research shows the value of student-centered, hands-on learning experiences in fostering deep understanding. Inspired by Constructivism, which emphasizes that people construct understanding and knowledge through lived experiences and reflection, we incorporated a diary study assignment into an undergraduate HCI course. Although demoing a technology in class, or even having students use it in a controlled short-term activity, can convey lessons about usability, feature intent, and slips and errors, long-term use provides a better understanding of how technologies remain engaging and enjoyable (or how this can fade over time) and how social connections can evolve through repeated engagements. Diary studies, an established approach to field research, offer researchers a reflective view of how technology use may evolve over time. When employed as a pedagogical tool, diary studies create opportunities for students to capture and critically analyze their experiences through the lenses of a user, researcher, and designer. The social games served as a vehicle for active engagement, prompting students to apply critical thinking and reflection skills within a controlled setting. Analysis of students' diaries and post-study focus group discussions revealed common themes that can be incorporated into learning activities to help students understand how to develop apps that encourage certain behaviors among users. We outline how these lessons would be difficult to convey with more short-term use and identify techniques useful for development of social games. This diary study assignment approach increased students' appreciation of diary studies as a research method for collecting qualitative data about user behaviors and experiences over time and enhanced their understanding of the practical challenges of using diary studies for such a purpose. Further, we observed that the experience also deepened students' understanding of designing for user retention and social connection, and the importance of considering real-life application challenges in game design, such as concerns associated with safe usage and privacy.