PLAIT

Personalized Learning in

Applied Information Technology

Personalized Teaching Images

NEWS BOX

VSE's Story on Stephanie Olson. Read it here!

Members

 

Ioulia Rytikova, Ph.D.

Name: Ioulia Rytikova, Ph.D.
Title: Co-Founder, Co-Director
Specialization: Learning Sciences and Analytics,
Data Science and Big Data Analytics,
Health Information Technologies,
STEM Education,
Operations Research and Engineering (large industrial complexes)
Email: irytikov@gmu.edu
Website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~irytikov

 

Mihai Boicu

Name: Mihai Boicu, Ph.D.
Title: Co-Founder, Co-Director
Specialization:  
Email: mboicu@gmu.edu
Website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~mboicu

 

Stephanie Olson

Name: Stephanie Olson
Title: Director of Communication,
Graduate Researcher
Specialization: Data Analytics, Big Data
Email: solson7@gmu.edu
Website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~solson7

 

Priya Pelluru

Name: Priya Pelluru
Title: Undergraduate Research Assistant
Specialization:
Email: ppelluru@gmu.edu
Website:  

 

 

Ioulia Rytikova, Ph.D.

Ioulia Rytikova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology. She received a B.S./M.S. degree in Control Systems and her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from National University of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia.

In over 15 years of her career in higher education both in the US and Europe, Dr. Rytikova acquired significant work experience in providing leadership in the areas of innovative teaching and learning, instructional design, and distance education in a variety of STEM disciplines, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Dr. Rytikova designed and developed multiple interdisciplinary programs, concentrations, and courses in the emerging areas of data sciences and big data analytics, computer and information technologies, health information technologies, and statistical analysis.

Dr. Rytikova founded a Personalized Learning in AIT lab (PLAIT) and organized several workshops, as well as published and presented on the topics of learning sciences and analytics, innovative teaching and learning, data sciences and big data analytics, and decision-support and expert systems for large industrial complexes at multiple workshops and conferences.

For her exceptional efforts in the classroom and her contributions to the educational process, Dr. Rytikova received recognition not only from her outstanding students, colleagues, and industry partners, but also from the GMU Volgenau School of Engineering when she received the 2008 Outstanding Teaching Award, one of the most prestigious VSE awards.

Invited Talks

• I. Rytikova. Is It All Just About Feedback? Presented at a monthly seminar series “Faculty Development Lunch and Learn: Knowing what your students are learning” event organized by the Office of Distance Education, Center for Teaching & Faculty Excellence (CTFE), and Learning Support Services, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, April 8, 2015

• I. Rytikova, M. Boicu. Designing Active Learning Experience for Undergraduate Students. Presented at a seminar series "Discipline Based Education Research (DBER)", STEM Accelerated program, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, September 30, 2014

• I. Rytikova. Big Data in Higher Education: Developing a Student Profile. Presented at the workshop “Advancing Engineering Education”, National University of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia, January 10, 2014

Presentations

• I. Rytikova, “Big Data in Healthcare: Challenges and Opportunities “. Presented at the 2016 Oracle GMU Big Data Symposium: Breakthroughs in Big Data Analytics in the Public Sector, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, January 7, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyInthIWCyE

• I. Rytikova, M. Boicu. “Learning Is Fun! Wait … STEM Learning?” Presented at the 2015 Innovations in Teaching & Learning (ITL) conference, “The Science of Learning: Using Research to Improve Teaching”, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, September 18, 2015

• I. Rytikova. Making It All Work. Presented at the National Forum on Active Learning Classrooms, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 5 - 7, 2015

• I. Rytikova. Classroom Management in Active Learning Classrooms. Presented at the workshop “Making the Most of Your Active Learning Classroom” organized by the Center for Teaching & Faculty Excellence (CTFE), George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, June 3, 2015

• I. Rytikova. A Methodology for Personalized Competency-based Learning in Undergraduate Courses. Presented at the 15th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education and the 3rd Annual Conference on Research in Information Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, October 15 -18, 2014

• I. Rytikova. Competency-based Modular Approach in AIT database courses. Presented at the workshop “Mason Life-long Learning” at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, on November 1st, 2013

Publications

• I. Rytikova, M. Boicu. “Learning Is Fun! Wait … STEM Learning?”, in Proceedings of the 2015 Innovations in Teaching & Learning (ITL) conference, “The Science of Learning: Using Research to Improve Teaching”, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, September 18, 2015
http://journals.gmu.edu/ITLCP

• I. Rytikova, M. Boicu. A Methodology for Personalized Competency-based Learning in Undergraduate Courses, in Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education and the 3rd Annual Conference on Research in Information Technology, pp. 81-86, Atlanta, Georgia, October 15 -18, 2014

 

 

Mihai Boicu, Ph.D.

Dr. Boicu is the Associate Director of the Learning Agents Center since 2002 and Associate Professor of Information Technology in Applied Information Technology Department . He received the Ph.D. degree from George Mason University in 2003. He published over 80 scientific publications, including co-authoring two books, fourteen journal papers, and four book chapters. He was co-editor for workshop proceedings and a special issue of the Artificial Intelligence Magazine. He had contributions in several areas of Artificial Intelligence: Instructable Agents, Knowledge Engineering, Multi-agent Systems and Mixed-initiative Reasoning.

He received several awards for the research and educational activity performed. He received the Innovative Application Award at IAAI-2002, the Fourteenth Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, July 30-August 1, 2002, for the paper “Development and Deployment of a Disciple Agent for Center of Gravity Analysis,” by Tecuci G., Boicu M., Marcu D., Stanescu B., Boicu C., Comello J., Lopez A., Donlon J., Cleckner W. He received a Certificate of appreciation awarded by Colonel Jeffrey P. Hightaian, the Director of the Warfighting Center of Air University, for Outstanding Service to the Air War College Maxwell Air Force Base Alabama; several Certificates of appreciation and the Centennial Coin awarded by General Robert Ivany, the Commandant of the US Army War College; Certificate of Appreciation awarded by Prof. Douglas Campbell, Director of the Center for Strategic Leadership of the US Army War College. He also received Outstanding Graduate Student in Information Technology Award presented by Knowledge Consulting Group, George Mason University.

Publications

The research activity of Dr. Boicu resulted in over 80 publications. They include three textbooks for defense and intelligence courses that involve the use of the systems he has developed: Modeling Violent Extremists with TIACRITIS, Introduction to Intelligence Analysis: A Hands-on Approach with TIACRITIS, and Agent-Assisted Center of Gravity Analysis. He also co-edited the Special Issue of the AI Magazine dedicated to Mixed-Initiative Assistants, in which he co-authored the introductory article: “Seven Aspects of Mixed-Initiative Reasoning.” This special issue and this article are recommended by the most prestigious organization in Artificial Intelligence, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), as the good starting place to explore one of the main topics in AI: Interfaces – Intelligent Communication with Computers.

Dr. Boicu has published two book chapters, and 14 journal papers in prestigious journals. He has published in the following Artificial Intelligence and Software Development journals: AI Magazine, published by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and considered the “journal of record for the AI community,” Computational Intelligence, International Journal of Computational Intelligence Research, Studies in Informatics and Control, Journal of Software, and International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. He has also published in the following Intelligence-related journals: American Intelligence Journal, published by the National Military Intelligence Association, International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, and the Journal of Intelligence Community Research and Development. Previously he has published in following military journals: Military Review, published by US Army, and Army Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. One of his journal papers, An Innovative Application from the DARPA Knowledge Bases Programs: Rapid Development of a High Performance Knowledge Base for Course of Action Critiquing is recommended by Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), as a general reading article for one of the main topics in AI: Applications / Expert Systems. Dr. Boicu has presented his research and has demonstrated some of the developed systems at some of the most prestigious conferences in the area of Artificial Intelligence, including International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence, Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence, International Conference on Machine Learning, International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, National Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, AAAI Fall Symposium, International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications, International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management, International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man & Cybernetics, Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures, Ontology for the Intelligence Community, International Conference on Semantic Technologies for Intelligence, Defense, and Security, International Conference on Control Systems and Computer Science, Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society, Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, and Technology Enhanced Learning Conference.

 

 

Stephanie Olson

Stephanie Olson is a PhD candidate in Information Technology at George Mason University, working under the supervision of Dr. Mihai Boicu and Dr. Ioulia Rytikova. She holds an M.S. in Applied Information Technology (High Academic Distinction) with a concentration in Information Sciences & Technology and a B.S. in Information Technology (Cum Laude) with a double concentration in Information Security and Databases & Programming from GMU. She is also a Java programming Teaching Assistant and lab instructor, Director of Communications and Graduate Researcher for the Personalized Learning in Applied IT Laboratory, longstanding member of the Honor Committee and affiliate of the Community Adjudication Board in the Office of Academic Integrity.

 

 

Priya Pelluru

Priya Pelluru is a 4th year student at George Mason University and is currently pursuing a B.S. in Information Technology with a concentration in Database Tech and Programming. She is an Undergraduate Researcher working under the supervision of Dr. Ioulia Rytikova and Dr. Mihai Boicu and has previous knowledge and experience with Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Big Data. She was also an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for IT 214 (Database Fundamentals) in the Spring 2017 semester, has completed two summer internships with Infoorient Inc., a company based in Herndon, Virginia, and is a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).