COS 333: Project Ideas

Wed Jan 31 20:49:42 EST 2024

Overview

There are many individuals and groups on or near campus who have really interesting problems that could be profitably attacked by folks in COS 333. Here are some of them. They have come from a variety of sources on campus. Many of them have come from Princeton's Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES).

If you're interested in working on one of the proposed projects, then you should contact the proposing organization directly. Typically the organization will agree to work with the first project team that makes contact, so it's important that you make contact soon.

The first proposals are new this semester, and are listed in chronological order by time of submission. The others are hold-overs from previous semesters but still of interest.

(new) AI Spanish Language Tutor

Contacts

Professor Adriana Merino (amerino@princeton.edu), Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Portuguese, Princeton University

Ben Johnston (benj@princeton.edu) Senior Educational Technologist, Digital Learning and Design, McGraw Center, Princeton University

Background

This project seeks to explore the use of AI large language models to facilitate formative language assessment for learning, either within the context of a course of study or as self-regulated learning.

Providing students with frequent and varied opportunities to practice their language skills and to receive valuable, informative feedback is an essential part of second-language acquisition and often a difficult to integrate into traditional course curriculum. Given well-crafted prompts that include criteria for grading student writing, AI language models, such as ChatGPT, can provide students and instructors with useful information about the student's written language skills and guidance on how they might improve.

Minimal Viable Product

• A phone or web application that allows students to submit short passages of written text to ChatGPT or other available language model and receive corrections of that text and assessment of the text in several key criteria, such as grammar, fluency, lexical diversity.
• The application should allow instructors to input and save pre-written prompts that will be submitted to the language model along with the student writing. These prompts would outline the rubric upon which the students' writing should be assessed, requesting that the language model provide a numeric score on the various criteria.
• The application can parse the response from the language model, extracting numeric scores, and store these values. The entire interaction, including the student input text and the language model's response would also be saved.
• The application should store user information. Access to the application should be restricted to users (Princeton netIDs or email) that have been added by an instructor.

Stretch Goals

• Oral input. In addition to allowing for written textual input, a speech-to-text input that allows students to speak their input would be extremely valuable.
• Adding course information to the user management. This would allow instructors to establish a course in the system that would in turn have associated prompts and specific users
• Statistical analysis of numeric scores stored in the system.  For example, allowing an instructor to see data about student performance across all the student in a particular class or all students who have engaged with a particular prompt.

(new) ECO 100 Tutor Scheduling App

Contact

Kelly Noonan (knoonan@princeton.edu), Lecturer in Economics, Princeton University

Background

Introduction to microeconomics (ECO 100) is a large lecture predominantly taken by freshman. Last semester, the Economics department started to provide tutors for this class. For the fall semester, we utilized Google calendar for scheduling tutoring sessions but there were some issues with this interface. I would like to have an app or a web interface that would better suit the needs of students and tutors.

Minimum Viable Product

• A phone app (or a web app accessible through a mobile browser) that makes it easy for students in the ECO 100 class to sign up for tutoring sessions.
• There will be three users: students, tutors and an administrator. Below are the needs for each type of user.
• Administrators need to be able to:
• see all scheduling activity.
• update schedules when needed.
• pull weekly summary reports (for example, tutoring hours offered, tutoring hours utilized, etc.).
• Tutors need to be able to:
• set weekly tutoring hours.
• update schedule if needed.
• Students need to be able to:
• easily accessing all tutoring hours for a given week and be able to schedule 1 session per week.

Stretch Goals

• Enforce tutor constraints such as each tutor can only allow for a maximum of 8 hours per week of tutoring.
• Enforce student constraints such as only 1 hour per week of tutoring.
• Allow students to provide anonymous provide feedback on tutoring sessions.
• Allow students to schedule as a small group (this should only be done for students who would like a tutoring session with a friend or classmate).
• Integrate the scheduler with google calendar.
• Email notifications for cancellations.

(new) Social Circles

Contact

Dana Hughes Moorhead (danahmoorhead@gmail.com)

Organization Description

Social Circles is the brainchild of a third generation and life-long Princetonian, Dana, who connects people and networks to expand access to the arts, nature, wellbeing, educational events and other resources for communities of color and other marginalized people. Here's a short profile giving some context around Dana's work and engagement. Examples of the experiences she brings fellow Princetonians into, sometimes for the very first time in their lives, are: a hiking trip in Vermont, a college tour for students and their parents, a Broadway show, and a public lecture here on campus. Dana is a trusted messenger in the community and creates inclusive environments for her fellow Princetonians, many of whom haven't felt welcome in certain spaces. Venues or organizations ask her to share information about free or low-cost events especially to reach Princetonians who have not ever been to the venue or attended a particular type of event. Dana removes barriers and demonstrates to community members that they belong in and have access to all public spaces and opportunities.

Minimum Viable Product

A responsive app that can serve as a: 1) resource hub; 2) tool to facilitate (and maybe even automate some) communication through texts, emails, and notifications (if possible); and 3) calendar for community events.

Features include:

• Registration and profile creation for "members" (general users) who will:
• submit contact information;
• provide details about themselves and their household (e.g. newcomer(s) to the area, single person, family or parent with young children, caretaker of an elder with limited mobility, etc.) to allow Admin to filter recipients based on their profile information;
• be able to indicate their interests in various subjects, types of events, hobbies, etc. with an "other" option to allow them to fill out a write-in field;
• access the resources Dana compiles.
• Functionality to allow members to register for specific events, which sometimes have a size limit (e.g. Dana receives 25 free tickets to a show, so only 25 members can sign up for the event)
• Functionality to notify members if an event has been canceled or details (time, location) have been changed
• Admin-level user: Dana will be able to:
• manage the calendar, resources, and member sections of the app
• approve/accept members' profile submissions (and allow members access to the app via Google authentication) or not approve/reject submission
• input event information on a calendar and change it if needed see list of members who have registered for event
• add resources

Stretch Goals

• Functionality for Dana to:
• (high priority) See whole list of members to be able to filter and share event announcements with either the whole network or a filtered subset of members who have selected a certain category/tag in their profiles
• send reminders and last minute information to members who have registered for an event
• communicate with specific members who have registered for an event (i.e. send a message to some registrants but not all)
• send members who attended an event a thank you (and perhaps additional information if there’s any to share)
• prompt users to update, confirm profile information
• remove members
• (medium priority) A waitlist functionality; a member cancels registration and another member on the waitlist could get notified
• (low priority) Track attendance after an event (Did the member not attend due to illness? Transportation issue? No show? etc)
• (low priority) Third type of user = organizations who want Dana to list events and submit information such as times, address, link to event information, contact information specifically for the event and the contact information of the person submitting the request
• (low priority) Ability for members to:
• filter events in the calendar by interest (category/tag)
• pay in advance / get directed to another platform for payment
• forward public events to people who are not yet members
• indicate an interest in the event (but not register to attend)

(new) Solidaridad

Contacts

Neil D'souza, lead on app development, dsouzaneil@yahoo.com

Alan Paluck, main volunteer coordinator, apaluck31@gmail.com

Organization Overview

Solidaridad is a Central NJ volunteer organization assisting immigrants, whom they call Neighbors, with their asylum concerns and completing the I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, a Department of Homeland Security form. Each Neighbor is connected with a team of three volunteers.

The organization has approx. 40 volunteers. Some are professionals or retired individuals, some are students from Princeton University. The volunteers serve three roles:

1. Interpreter. Most Neighbors speak Spanish and limited or no English.
2. Interviewer. Ask the questions to the Neighbor via the Interpreter.
3. Notetaker. Captures the answers of the neighbor to form the required components, like the Past Narrative, Future Narrative and other details to complete the I-589.

As they continue to exponentially expand with requests from Neighbors and volunteers, Solidaridad needs a solution to make their operations more streamlined. Their current processes are manual, often done with spreadsheets, and not sustainable. There may be strong interest from other Solidaridad chapters on the web app you create as this could be a valuable tool for their counterparts in other regions.

Users

• Volunteers (Interpreters, Interviewers, and Notetakers who jointly work with Neighbors)
• Administrators (oversee this program; coordinate with volunteers and neighbors, provide access to Neighbors' data, etc.).

Minimum Viable Product/Request

A responsive web app for information input, scheduling, and progress tracking on an Asylum Application preparation process.

The app should allow Admins to:

• Create a profile for a Neighbor by doing Solidaridad’s intake process (structured Intake Form). Input information directly into the app (instead of using a Google doc as is currently the process.)
• (If Solidaridad determines it is able to assist the Neighbor) form a 3-person team of 3 Volunteers and match a Neighbor to the group, and a "case" is generated.
• Provide the 3-person Volunteer team access to a shared structured Intake Form that will allow the team to capture information shared by the Neighbor. See structured Intake form for a blank template of the structured Intake Form.

The app should allow Volunteers to:

• Create an individual profile with contact information, type of Volunteer role they are able and willing to assume, and other details (see below in "Notes on current process").
• Update profile information as needed.
• Input availability (time or vacation, etc.) on a monthly basis for the following month and edit if necessary.
• Record a Neighbor's responses.

The app should allow Volunteers and Admins to view and edit a checklist/progress bar piece to track the status of the team’s work (i.e., progress on which tasks/items have been completed to I-589 and required documents.

Notes on the current process:

• Volunteer profile information should include contact info like email, cell phone, etc., role type, languages spoken, and time constraints across time zones. This is captured in Excel.
• When a Neighbor contacts Solidaridad, one of the Administrators speaks with the Neighbor and collects information using a structured Intake Form (Google doc). A decision is made if Solidaridad can assist the neighbor or not. If the decision is made to assist, a volunteer team is assembeled.
• Typically, once a Volunteer team is assembled, an Administrator meets with the team to orient them to the Neighbor’s case and go over key points in the process.
• Prior to the first meeting with the Neighbor, the Notetaker creates a shared Google doc including the Neighbor’s intake information from the structured Intake Form; all information subsequently gathered is recorded in the doc.
• The team then meets with the Neighbor approximately 3-4 times to complete the required components of an Asylum Application; meeting times do not have to be the same time and day of the week; each meeting takes approximately 45 minutes to one hour over a 2 to 3-week period.
• When the case is completed, all of the text included in the Intake Form will be exported or PDF’ed to be added to their case folder, which is in a separate secure database file. All Neighbors’ documents and sensitive information, such as IDs, travel documents, videos of violence, etc., are securely stored and would not be in any way connected to this web app. (FYI, Volunteers have time-limited access to these files; COS 333 students wouldn’t need to “touch” any of them.)

Stretch Goals

• Automate meeting invitations on variables such as Neighbors' and Volunteers' availability and Volunteers by role. (Most Neighbors would use a phone to interact with the system.)
• Visibility of upcoming cases so volunteers can opt to work the case. (For confidentiality need to keep upcoming cases generic, that is, name, I-589 date, language and a couple more fields).
• Reminders / Alerts regd. availability, cases, meeting with Neighbors, etc.
• A way to signal/alert Solidaridad volunteer network that there is a discrete translation need.
• Communication system so that volunteers can coordinate with and provide updates to each other and the Neighbor.
• Reporting tool to view information on users (per user), attendees for groups, profile status (complete or incomplete), availability provided or not, progress of Neighbors' applications or make visible the missing elements, tracking clicks to link.

(new) NJ Rise

Contacts

Leslie Koppel, Executive Director (lkoppel@njrise.org)

Judy Frank, IT Volunteer Maven (hfjufra@gmail.com)

Organization Description

Established in 1967, NJ Rise has been working with the local community to meet the needs of their neighbors, or clients, in the East Windsor and Hightstown areas. Rise offers programs enabling participating individuals and families to “overcome obstacles and achieve their full potential by providing them with services and facilitating community partnerships.” No one seeking help, especially food, is ever turned away. Case managers at the Rise Home Office connect neighbors to resources such as food, healthcare, legal advising, translation services, and emergency assistance. Other programs include: the Rise Pantry with food and other household necessities; Rise Thrift, which offers an array of pre-loved clothes and more; and "uRise Powered by PenFed," which provides the Rise community with online content, classes, and one-on-one connections to empower users with new skills, tools to help manage their wellbeing, and opportunities for connecting to neighbors.

As Rise operates different programs in several locations, managing data securely and keeping information up to date is crucial. Some constraints or challenges in collecting, updating, and accessing program data include the various government funding regulations that dictate which neighbors are eligible for specific types of assistance and how often they can receive it.

Minimum Viable Product

A responsive web-app that allows staff and administrators to look up and edit client/neighbor information, such as when the last time the neighbor visited the Rise Pantry, any special needs that require different or additional resources and demographic and contact information for an individual and members of their household. For the time being, there will be two types of users.

Administrators: Executive Director and Senior Director of Case Management

• View all data.
• Approve new clients' profiles (after hard copy verification where government regulations require) or changes to existing clients' records.

Staff: Can enter and update data after Google authentication

• Query information about a client.
• Available function to NJ Rise staff at all organization locations.
• Enter a new client and assign a unique ID number. (Right now, this is done manually; IDs are used as a key.)
• Name, contact info (that helps determine what services the client can access if approved); household demographics, and other family members.
• The app should use validations to improve the accuracy of data entry.
• Update an existing client.
• Option to view the entire client list or use a search term or terms.
• See what services/resources the client is eligible for.
• Submit information, at which point the Admin users are notified of changes.

Stretch goals

• (High priority) Administrators can run reports.
• (Medium priority) Calendaring feature that allows staff members to schedule appointments (and then sends reminders to clients).
• (Medium priority) Scanned documents can be stored in the database.
• (Low priority) Formatted reports (instead of purely CSV files).
• (Low priority) A dashboard view with real-time data.

(new) Neighbours, Inc.

Contacts

Cherry Oakley, Executive Director of Support Coordination (cherryoakley@neighbours-inc.com)

Ted Hannes, Lead Support Coordinator (theodorehannes@neighbours-inc.com)

Description

Neighbours, Inc. supports individuals with disabilities in New Jersey by connecting them to resources so that they can make their own decisions about how to live, love, learn, work, play, and engage in their communities.

Minimum Viable Product

A central information hub for individuals with disabilities to share and search a variety of accessible activities and resources in their communities, such as contractors for various services, classes for hobbies, interest-specific organizations or clubs, or recreational sports. Some listings are geographic in nature, some are temporal, and some are both.

Users:

• General/public: information seekers looking for accessible activities/programming/events for adults, and other resources such as contractors that have experience making rooms/buildings accessible.
• Public users should be able to filter listings by county and category tags.
• Public users need to be able to print filtered results.
• Contributors: individuals who submit listings (which need admin-level approval to be posted), individuals who wish to flag an entry as having inaccurate or obsolete information.
• These users should need to provide an email address (but might not necessarily need to generate a profile to log in to communicate to admin-level users).
• The listings should be:
• Dated with dates the listing first appeared and was last updated.
• Specified regarding location and/or online
• Events listings should have an expiration date
• Admin-level: staff or dedicated volunteers/stakeholders with login credentials who can add entries to the hub after vetting them, and receive notifications of a new submission.

Stretch Goals

• Allow clients to view temporal listings on a calendar.
• Allow clients to view geographic listings on a map.
• Users would also be able to filter listings within certain geographical distances (5, 10, 20 miles away).
• A Neighbours, Inc. client could get login credentials to also make requests for resources (i.e. an individual is interested in playing broomball but doesn't see anything listed; this person could enter a request in a text field, submit it, and an Admin would get notified and follow up with the request).
• Allow vendors, especially contractors, to specify the regions that they serve. Perhaps display the regions on a map, or perhaps simply provide textual information.

Princeton Gerrymandering Project

Samuel S. Wang, Professor of Molecular Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute

See a description of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.

Art Museum Services

Stephen Kim, Associate Director for Information and Technology

• "Art of the Day": A service that introduces users to a single object from our collection each morning. Relevancy to the user could be built off a variety of potential sources (see next bullet point).
• "Tinder . . . for Art": An application that presents a pair of objects relatively devoid of context and asks for a simple thumbs up, thumbs down (or swipe left, swipe right). Then repeat "n" times, resulting in a visual "taste" profile driven by machine learning for the user.
• "Oh, that's what that's called?": A geo-driven tool that identifies the nearest pieces of campus art (the over 600 sculptures, portraits, and other objects outside the Museum building around campus) to the user's current location.
• "Scavenger Hunt": A service that leads users (could be students or all levels, both University and K-12) via clues to art objects around campus. Could be integrated with augmented reality or machine vision experiences.
• "Virtual Museum": A service that allows users to curate their own digital exhibition and share with others. Could include a virtual reality component.

Communities of Interest App: letting citizens talk back to redistricters

Sam Wang, Neuroscience

Citizens have opportunities to testify about their communities in public hearings. But that testimony is qualitative, and there is no way to integrate the comments in a unified way. It would be useful to have a graphical application for individuals to (a) draw their communities of interest (COI's) on a state map, (b) store the shapes in a standard format such as GIS, and (c) annotate the shapes with comments. Then, after citizens have participated, it would be useful to display all of the communities of interest in a single map for inspection.

An additional feature might be reduction of redundancy by combining highly overlapping communities in a single consensus graphical display object.

Dynamic Frist Displays

Abby Klionsky '14, Office of the Executive Vice President

There is actually documentation of all of this, in a very old-school, circa-2000 website that pairs photos of the quotes with photos and bios and explanations of the people who they are quoting: http://princeton.edu/frist/iconography.

This also covers the images in Cafe Viv and some of the Princeton-y flotsam that adorns the halls and walls. It would be GREAT if this could actually be a site that made people interested in looking at it!

Could we build a system that showed these images much more dynamically, perhaps with a rotating sequence of pictures that always showed something interesting. For each one, perhaps there could be a QR code that pointed to more details. Or maybe a touch screen would make it easy to get more details. Would it be possible to add new images and new text very easily without having to be an expert? Are there other things that would make the displays more appealing and encourage people to look at them more carefully?

Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative

Jill Stockwell, McGraw Center

Managing maps and geospatial data

Wangyal Shawa, Map and Geospatial Information Center

We are planning two projects to create and manage our scanned maps and create geospatial data. One project is related to creating a batch georeferencing tool that will georeference scanned topographic maps that are the same size and the same scale. There is one system called QUAD-G (open source) to process the United States Geological Survey 1:24,000 scale maps but this software does not work well if you have a smaller scale map series. We need to customize the QUAD-G software to work with smaller scale maps using the same programming language or redesign it with a different programming language using similar workflows.

Another project is to design an open source software system that will extract georeferenced scanned maps to vector geospatial data.

These projects will benefit many researchers and libraries.

Princeton Sustainability

Ijeoma D. Nwagwu (ijeoma.nwagwu@princeton.edu), Office of Sustainability

The Office of Sustainability's Campus as Lab (CAL) program facilitates the use of Princeton's campus for sustainability research and experiential learning to advance the Sustainability Action Plan. Explorations into the social, physical, and operational dimensions of Princeton can generate new knowledge to help advance sustainability on campus, in our broader community, and around the world. Over the years COS 333 students have worked on several CAL projects and can support the Office of Sustainability on campus-based projects by developing:

• a way-finding app to help the campus community quickly identify the nearest water refilling stations to encourage use of Drink Local/reusable water bottles.
• an app that educates, tracks, and rewards proper recycling/actions through a year-long competition.

Data collection and presentation for student outcomes

Jed Marsh, Vice Provost for Institutional Research

Themed historical tours of campus

Abby Klionsky '14, Office of the Executive Vice President