Edmund Furse Edmund FurseClearly much of human learning is in terms of what we already know, and I am thus mostly interested in the learning of knowledge rich tasks. However, in building computational models this creates a problem because one needs to build into the machine all the required prior knowledge. For this reason, much of my research has been in domains where little prior knowledge is used.
Research is being conducted into learning in a number of domains including mathematics, board games, computer programming and foreign languages. In each case the research aims to produce a computational model of how people learn the subject area with as little built in knowledge as possible. In each case the task drives the research and leads to the discovery of appropriate learning mechanisms.
The research into the learning of University level mathematics uses the the Mathematics Understander (MU) as the computational model of how students learn pure mathematics from textbooks. MU reads texts written in the Formal Expression Language (FEL), and its underlying cognitive architecture is the Contextual Memory System (CMS).
MU is an existence proof that Penrose's views on mathematics are incorrect. This is argued in the slide show on the web, known as Mathematics is Scruffy, but Computable
A computational model of learning procedures by imitation has been developed. It can learn any algorithm with at most one repeat loop and some algorithms with two repeat loops. See LAWE (Learning algorithms from Worked Examples).
There is a popular account of my Theory of Learning and Memory. There is also a popular talk entitled A Theology of Robots On 25 October the Pope announced that he believed in Darwin's theory of evolution, but was doubtful about reductionist models of the human person. See my letter Towards the first Catholic robot? published in the Independent newspaper.
For a full list of publications click here
For information on teaching click
here
Information on student projects for 1999/2000 can be found here
I like cooking and entertaining, enjoy listening to classical music, particularly early Church music. I play a reasonable game of tennis. I am a practicing Christian and currently the chairman of the Catholic Psychology Group. I am married with two children.
Suggestions to efurse@glam.ac.uk
Last updated 21 September 1999