Building a persona-based conversation agent is challenging owing to the lack of large amounts of speaker-specific conversation data for model training. This paper addresses the problem by proposing a multi-task learning approach to training neural conversation models that leverages both conversation data across speakers and other types of data pertaining to the speaker and speaker roles to be m...

A new model of speech quality under delay is presented that includes conversational interactivity. It is based on two previously reported narrowband telephony conversation tests involving different delays, with subject-pairs judging overall quality after each conversation. The tests were conducted with different conversation scenarios targeting different levels of interactivity. The instruction...

Early emotional understanding is fostered by mother-child conversation in which mothers elaboratively enhance children's understanding. Little is known of the broader relational and risk factors influencing maternal discourse style, how discourse content and quality are associated with children's emotion language, and how these predict emotion understanding. In this longitudinal study of a high...

This explorative study contributes to research on relevance assessment by specifying criteria that are used in the judgment of information quality and credibility in internet discussion forums. To this end, 4739 messages posted to 160 Finnish discussion threads were analyzed. Of the messages, 20.5% contained explicit judgments of the quality of information and credibility in other messages. In ...

This study explores how student learning via asynchronous, threaded discussion boards may be managed successful. We examine the elements of course scaffolding on that affect student learning and engagement in discussion. We explore the role of the instructor in mediating learning. We base our findings on an analysis of 21 online courses in the IS domain, conducted by multiple instructors over a...

A dinner for healthcare leaders at the 6th National Conference on Quality featured a conversation with Maureen Bisognano, Executive VP and COO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). IHI is a leading source of innovation in the improvement of healthcare. The conversation was facilitated by G. Ross Baker, professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the U...

Most telecommunication systems are used for communication between two people which interact during a conversation. In general, the quality of conversational speech is the major indicator for telecommunication-service providers to evaluate their systems. In this context, not only the assessment of the overall quality but also the analysis of the conversational speech quality is essential. We pre...

Conversation interfaces (CIs), or chatbots, are a popular form of intelligent agents that engage humans in taskoriented or informal conversation. In this position paper and demonstration, we argue that chatbots working in dynamic environments, like with sensor data, can not only serve as a promising platform to research issues at the intersection of learning, reasoning, representation and execu...

A number of software environments have been developed as media to support collaborative knowledge building, typically featuring a Web-based threaded discussion facility. We have recently developed such a system, known as WEBGUIDE. The distinctive feature of this system is support for structuring collaboration and knowledge construction with personal, group and comparison perspectives. While pil...