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Eric D. Scharff

Curriculum Vitae

Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG)
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000

sch.arff@atd.ucar.edu (Remove period from last name before sending)

Education

Ph.D., Computer Science (2002)
University of Colorado, Boulder
Advisor: Professor Gerhard Fischer

M.S., Computer Science (2000)
University of Colorado, Boulder

B.A., Computer Science (1996)
Cornell University
Concentration in Psychology

Professional Experience

January 2003-Present

Project Scientist, Environmental and Societal Impacts Group
National Center for Atmospheric Research

August 1997-December 2002

Research Assistant, Center for LifeLong Learning and Design
University of Colorado, Boulder

November 1999-April 2000

Programmer
AgentSheets, Inc.

August 1996-August 1997

Research Assistant, CU WRITE Group
University of Colorado, Boulder

June 1994-August 1994

System Designer
Telematrix, Inc.

Publications

Refereed Journal Publications

"Transcending the Individual Human Mind - Creating Shared Understanding through Collaborative Design" by Ernesto Arias, Hal Eden, Gerhard Fischer, Andrew Gorman, and Eric Scharff. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 7(1), pages 84-113, March 2000.

"Learning Technologies in Support of Self-Directed Learning" by Gerhard Fischer and Eric Scharff. Journal of Interactive Media in Education 98(4), December 1998. <http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/98/4>

Refereed Conference Publications

"Multilevel Design and Role Play: Experiences in Assessing Support for Communities of Interest" by Hal Eden and Eva Hornecker and Eric Scharff. In Proceedings on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '02): Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, pages 387-392, London, England, June 25-28, 2002.

"In MY situation I would dislike THAAAT! - Role Play as Assessment Method for Tools Supporting Participatory Planning" by Hal Eden and Eva Hornecker and Eric Scharff. In Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial Participatory Design Conference (PDC '02), Malmö, Sweden, June 23-25, 2002.

"Applying Open Source Principles to Collaborative Learning Environments" by Eric Scharff In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL 2002), pages 499-500, January 7-11, 2002.

"Meta-Design: Design for Designers" by Gerhard Fischer and Eric Scharff. In Proceedings on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '00): Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, pages 396-405, New York, NY, August 17-19, 2000.

"Beyond Access: Informed Participation and Empowerment" by Ernesto Arias, Hal Eden, Gerhard Fischer, Andrew Gorman, and Eric Scharff. In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL '99), pages 20-32, Palo Alto, CA, December 12-15, 1999.

Book Chapters

"Fostering Social Creativity by Increasing Social Capital" by Gerhard Fischer, Eric Scharff, and Yunwen Ye. In M. Huysman and V. Wulf (Eds.) Social Capital, 2003.

"Transcending the Individual Human Mind: Creating Shared Understanding through Collaborative Design" by Ernesto Arias, Hal Eden, Gerhard Fischer, Andrew Gorman, and Eric Scharff. In J. M. Carroll (Ed.) Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millennium, Boston. MA: Addison-Wesley, pages 347-372, 2002.

Research Systems

Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory (EDC)
Designer and Implementor
<http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~l3d/systems/EDC>

Behavior Exchange 2.0
Chief Designer and Implementor
<http://agentsheets.cs.colorado.edu>

University of Colorado Writing Revision Interactive Technology Environment (CU WRITE) 1.0
Chief Designer and Implementor
<http://www.colorado.edu/kines/cuwrite>

Teaching Experience

Spring 2002

Co-Instructor, Design, Learning, and Collaboration, with Gerhard Fischer
University of Colorado, Boulder (11 Undergraduate and Graduate Students)

Spring 2001

Co-Instructor, Designing the Information Society of the New Millennium, with Gerhard Fischer
University of Colorado, Boulder (12 Undergraduate and Graduate Students)

Fall 1998

Co-Instructor, Research Methods in Planning, with Ernesto Arias (Environmental Design)
University of Colorado, Boulder (20 Undergraduate Students)

Dissertation

Open Source: A Conceptual Framework for Collaborative Artifact and Knowledge Construction May 2002

Dr. Gerhard Fischer (Chair)
Dr. Kenneth Anderson
Dr. Michael Eisenberg
Dr. Tamara Sumner
Dr. Ernesto Arias, College of Architecture and Planning

Abstract

More than the development of high-quality low-cost software or the support of intellectual property agreements, open source pursuits are dynamic processes with social and technical components. Open source software communities provide examples of ongoing activities where people understand and solve problems of mutual interest. Participants work together to design, reflect upon, and extend software systems, a process that grounds complex problems in the design and continuous evolution of tools, collaborative processes, and even the participants themselves. Open source processes rely on the tight interrelationship between a group of participants, the system they produce, the collaborative process involved, and the collaborative technology used for communication and coordination. Understanding the features of open source collaborative processes can help understand existing projects and to design new collaborative activity.

This dissertation explores open source communities from a collaborative knowledge construction perspective. It presents a conceptual framework for understanding open source collaborative construction activities. It applies this framework to existing open source projects through several case studies of open source projects. These principles are then used in the design of a university course to enhance collaborative knowledge construction within that course. The principles are also applied to the creation of a computer system that supports collaborative problem solving in open-ended domains. Together, these activities explore the description of existing open source projects and the application of open principles to design new collaborative construction practice.

Professional Associations

Association of Computing Machinery
ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI)
ACM Special Interest Group on Programming Languages (SIGPLAN)

Professional Service

Contest Committees

Judge, ThinkQuest 1997 Educational Web Design Competition

Reviewing

2002 ACM Conference on Computer Human Interaction
2002 International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems
2000 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
2000 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
1999, 2001 ACM Conference on User Modeling
1999 ACM Conference on Creativity & Cognition
1998 International Conference on the Learning Sciences

Past Conference Activities

Object Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications (OOPSLA) 1999 Student Volunteer