This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project will develop the ideas behind, and tools required for, a Rationale Management System that captures design decisions made during software development. The approach utilizes technology developed to support the Semantic Web, using Semantic Annotation to extract information so that it can be structured into an argumentation format for use in development and maintenance. The research and educational activities will impact our ability to leverage knowledge captured during the development of software projects to enhance those software projects. The project will also use rationale to enhance the educational experience of students. The relationship between argumentation-based rationale and student learning will be explored through the Rationale, Critical Thinking, and Creativity Project which evaluates the ability of rationale to assist students in moving to higher levels of cognitive and intellectual development. Partnerships with outreach organizations will provide learning opportunities for underrepresented groups and persons with disabilities.
