Dale-Marie Wilson, Ph.D.

UNCC Software and Information Systems

About Me. My story

Dale-Marie Wilson

Dr. Dale-Marie Wilson

I am a native of a small twin island state called Trinidad and Tobago, which is located in the Caribbean. I was born on the island of Trinidad, where I spent my childhood and teen years. I migrated to the United States in 1991 and became a citizen in 2000. I received my Bachelor of Science Degree from New York University in 1995, where I majored in Mathematics and minored in Computer Science. I received my Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees from Auburn University in 2003 and 2006 respectfully. I am currently a Teaching Professor in the Department of Software and Information Systems at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. My research interests include Broadening Participaion in CS, Equitable Access to computing, Human Centered Computing (HCC), Advanced Learning Technologies, Virtual Agents and Speech Technologies.

Contact.

Email. Preferred method

DaleMarie.Wilson@charlotte.edu

Phone.

(704) 687-7988

Office. Woodward Hall 323A

Research. My background

My current research focusses on broadening participation in computing with a focus on Black students and addressing the structural challenges that are unique to them and may be best understood by others who have faced those challenges created by their intersectional identities. These inequities faced by primarily Black students in computing are structural and psychological. These barriers may include Threats to Belonging, “hidden curriculum”, capital inequities (social and economic) and Cultural/social relevance of research. As a researcher/academic who is also Black in computing, I believe that I am uniquely positioned to cultivate an inclusive environment for Black students, since our lived experiences reflect the same barriers. Mitigating issues of hidden curriculum will aid in the reduction of threats to belonging faced by Black students, potentially increasing their likelihood of persisting in the field of computing and going on to pursue culturally and socially relevant research to them and their communities and will provide transferrable interventions applicable to other underrepresented groups in computing. With respect to education, I am working on providing equitable access to computing. Initial work involves the development and implementation of a course that will serve as bridge to CS 1 for incoming freshmen with no programming experience. A course is currently be offered during the mini-Fall semester Pilot program at UNCC. Additionally, my research also includes virtual humans, advanced learning technologies and speech user interfaces. Virtual humans have been developed for use in many capacities. Some include using virtual humans as guides, tutors, patients, receptionists, game controllers and educators. My vision entails utilizing virtual humans in practically any scenario where human – human interaction is the prime option but is not possible. To that goal, I investigate human–virtual human interactions and the development of realistic, believable, embodied, virtual human agents in emotional, educational, commercial and/or social situations. My research projects all include to some level advanced learning technologies. I am interested in tailoring learning environments to meet the user’s personalized needs while still being accessible and available to the larger group. Especially in very large classrooms, I am excited about providing personalized instruction to the students, while motivating them and providing an enjoyable interaction. Additional benefits to my research interests revolve around their culturally and socially relevant natures, which has been shown to attract minority students which contributes to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups.

Current Projects. My legacy

AVARI (Animated Virtual Agent Retrieving Information)

Avari was developed at an REU program during summer '07. She answers general questions about the computer scientist faculty at UNCC. We are currently investigating the user interactions with Avari.

iTech (Interactive Technical Assistant)

iTech uses an animated agent to provide a more natural medium for manuals. iTech accepts natural questions about the vi editor and displays the solutions. iTech uses a new methodology for conversational question answering called Answers First (A1).

The Dr. C.H.E.S.T.R. Show

Dr. Chestr (Computerized Host Encouraging Students To Review) is the current summer REU project. Dr. Chestr is a virtual game show host. The topic for the game show is based on the introductory course to C++ at UNCC.

Download pdf version of my vitae


Dale-Marie Wilson, Ph.D.

University of North Carolina Charlotte

Department of Software and Information Systems

9201 University City Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28223

(704) 687-7988 (Office)

DaleMarie.Wilson@uncc.edu


Educational Background:

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science
2006
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama Title: I-Tech: An Interactive Technical Assistant
Focus: Databases, Human- Computer Interaction, Multimodal Interfaces, Voice Interfaces, Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Master of Science in Computer Science
2003
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama Title: Multimodal SQL - An Implementation and Usability Study
Focus: Databases, Voice Interfaces, Multimodal Interfaces, Human-Computer Interaction
Bachelor of Science
1995
New York University, New York, New York Science
Major: Mathematics Minor: Computer

Professional History:

Teaching Professor
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC) Software and Information Systems Department
2022 - Present
Teaching Associate Professor
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC) Software and Information Systems Department
2014 - 2022
Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC) Computer Science Department
2006 - 2014
Graduate Research Assistant
Auburn University (Auburn, AL), Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Fellowship (GAANN)
2003 - 2006
Graduate Research Assistant
Auburn University (Auburn, AL), NSF-ITR: New Approaches to Human Capital Development through Information Technology Research #0296269
2001 - 2003
Programmer
Sigma Computer Services, Inc. (New York, NY)
1996 - 2001

Certifications:

August 2017
Quality Matters
Independent Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR): (Statewide Systems)

Honors & Awards:

2023
CCI Special Contributions to Equity and Inclusion in Computing Award
2023
Outstanding Community Service Award - Alumni Achievement Award
2014
Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award
2011
Gray's College Bookstore Faculty Development Award
2008
Essam El-Kwae Student-Faculty Research Award
2004
International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces - (ICMI) Scholarship for the Doctoral Consortium
2004
Auburn University Outstanding Graduate Student Award
2004
Presidential Graduate Opportunities Program Fellowship
2003-2007
Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Fellowship (GAANN)
2002
The Coalition to Diversify Computing CDC Conference Support Program
2002
Grace Hopper Scholarship
1994
Dean's List, New York University

Books:

  • (10 - 19% Acceptance Rate) Wilson, Dale-Marie, Aquesha Martin and Juan Gilbert. Tech Open Science Open Minds.

Journal Articles:

  • (10 - 19% Acceptance Rate) Gilbert, J.E. & Wilson, D. & Gupta, P. (2005) Learning C With Adam. International Journal on E-Learning, 4,3, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. pp. 337-350.

Conference Proceedings:

  1. Marlon Mejias, Dale-Marie Wilson, Gloria Washington, Felesia Stukes, Jody Marshall, Luce-Melissa Kouaho (RESPECT 2022). A Social Justice Approach to Computer Science Research & Black Undergraduate Students. Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT), May 2022.

  2. Brearly, T.W., Sakpal, R., Wilson, D., Taber, K.H. (2016, March). Development of a mTBI virtual standardized patient: Enhancing diagnostic reliability through interactive training. Annual University of North Carolina-Charlotte Military Culture Conference, Charlotte, NC.

  3. Raghavi Sakpal, Kieran-Jordine, Dale-Marie Wilson. Emotion Generation for Virtual Agents based on PMC (Personality-Mood- Culture) Cognitive Rules, 6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2015), July 2015.

  4. Mohammed Ahmed, Raghavi Sakpal, Dale-Marie Wilson, David Cifu, Joel Scholten, Chloe A. Bomberger, Robin A. Hurley, Christine Elnitsky, Katherine H. Taber. (2014) Creating a Virtual Mild TBI Patient: Conceptual Design and Initial Database Development, American Neuropsychiatric Association 2014 (ANPA).

  5. Jordine, K., Wilson, D, and Sakpal, R. (2014) Logic Analyzer of Computer Programs using Relational Model, HCI International 2014.

  6. Jensen, A. S., Wilson, Dale-Marie, Jordine, K. and Sakpal, R. (2012) Detecting Elements of Culture Bias in Student Perceptions of Embodied Pedagogical Agents, World Conference on Educational Media and Technology, 26 - 29 June 2012.

  7. Jordine, K., Wilson, Dale-Marie, Jensen, A. and Sakpal, R. (2012) Embodied Conversational Agents in Online Collaborative Learning Environments, World Conference on Educational Media and Technology, 26 - 29 June 2012.

  8. Jensen, A. S., Jordine, K., Sakpal, R. and Wilson, Dale-Marie. (2012) Using Embodied Pedagogical Agents and Direct Instruction to Improve Learning Outcomes for Young Children with Learning Disabilities, Global Conference on Technology, Innovation, Media & Education, 7 February 2012.

  9. Sakpal, R. and Wilson, D.M. Can Culture Translate to the Virtual World?, HCI International 2011 - Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2011, Volume 173, Part III, 242-246, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-22098-2 49.

  10. Jensen, A. S., Jordine, K., Sakpal, R. and Wilson, Dale-Marie. (2011) Using Embodied Pedagogical Agents to Augment Learning and Cognition in Young Children with Special Needs, ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Child Computer Interaction Workshop, 7 May 2011.

  11. Sakpal, R., Wilson, D.M. Virtual game show host: Dr. Chestr, Virtual Reality Conference (VR), 2011 IEEE , vol., no., pp.237-238, 19-23 March 2011 DOI: 10.1109/VR.2011.5759486.

  12. Wilson, D.M., Martin, A. & Gilbert, J.E. (2010) 'How May I Help You'-Spoken Queries for Technical Assistance. ACM Southeast Conference, Oxford, MS, April 15-17, 2010.

  13. Wilson, D., Sakpal, R. (2010) Dr. C.H.E.S.T.R : Computerized Host Encouraging Students to Review, Computer Games, Multimedia and Allied Technology 09 Conference, Singapore, Japan, May 11 - 13, 2010.

  14. Cairco, L., Wilson, D., Fowler, V., LeBlanc, M. "AVARI: Animated Virtual Agent Retrieving Information" 47th ACM Southeast Conference (ACMSE '09), Clemson, SC, March 2009.

  15. Marshall B, Wilson, D. (2009). The Application of Aggregation Concepts for Effective Image Retrieval. The Tenth IEEE International Conference on Multimedia, Vancouver, Cananda, Jan 5 - 9, 2009.

  16. Wilson, D., Gilbert J. (2008) iTech: An Interactive Technical Assistant. 46th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, Columbus OH, June 15 - 20, 2008 (Submitted)

  17. Gupta, P., Seals, C. & Wilson, D. (2006) Design and Evaluation of SimBuilder. E-Learn World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Education, Honolulu, Hawii, Ocotber 13 - 17, 2006.

  18. Gilbert, J. E. & Wilson, D. (2001). Building Learning Architectures: Domain Instruction Server (DIS). In Proceedings of WebNet 01: World Conference on the WWW and Internet, Orlando, FL: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, pp. 422-426.

  19. Gilbert, J. E & Wilson, D. (2001). Domain Instruction Server (DIS). In Proceedings of ICALT 2001: International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Madison, WI: IEEE Computer Society, pp. 439-440.

Other Publications:

  • Bloom, J., Gilbert, J.E., Houwing, T., Hura, S., Issar, S., Kaiser, L., Larson, J.A., Leppik, D., Mailey, S., Mane, A., McTernan, F., McTear, M., Pollock, S., Shinn, P., Stifelman, L. & Wilson, D. Ten Criteria for Measuring Effective Voice User Interfaces, speechTECHNOLOGY, November/December 2005, pp. 31- 35.

Panels:

  1. (CCI Event in Honor of Women's History MonthPicture a Scientist UNCC Charlotte, NC (Mar 14, 2023)

  2. blackcomputeHer 2022 Conference) Computing & UShttps://blackcomputeher.org/2022-conference-agenda/

  3. (African American Researchers in Computing Sciences 2007 Conference - AARCS) Life of a New Professor, Auburn, Alabama (July 19 - 21, 2007)

  4. (Brothers of the Academy Think Tank 2006) Reaching In and Pulling Out, Atlanta, GA (October 4 - 7, 2006)

  5. (African-American Researchers in Computing Sciences 2006) The Post Ph.D. Job Search, Auburn AL (July 20 - 22, 2006)

  6. (Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference 2005) Making the Journey of Graduate School Your Own: Success at Your Own Risk, Albuquerque, New Mexico (October 19 - 22, 2005)

Poster Presentations:

  1. (CISE REU Sites Meeting 2009) Socially Relevant Computing Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Arlington, VA, March 12, 2009.

  2. (Industrial Advisory Board Poster Session 2005) I-Tech: An Interactive Technical Assistant, Auburn University (September 22, 2005).

  3. (6th International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces - ICMI2004) Multimodal Programming Environment for Students with Learning Disabilities, Penn State University ( October 14 – 15, 2004 ) Doctoral Consortium.

  4. (8th Annual Conference for African-American Researchers in the Mathematical Sciences – CAARMS8) African American Distributed Multiple Learning Styles System: A Culture-specific Approach to ELearning, Princeton University (June 18 - 21, 2002).

Invited Talks:

  1. Wilson, D. Tiffany Turnup Explores STEM careers Black History edition (Feb 28, 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH68G1qTjxY&feature=youtu.be

  2. Wilson, D. A Day is the Life of a Scientist UNCC's STEM Pre-College Academy (Oct 2022)

  3. Wilson, D. Answers First: A Human-Centered Approach to Call Centers, 2007 National BDPA Technology Conference, August 15 -18, 2007.

  4. (Presentation) iTech: An Interactive Technical Assistant, Baltimore County, Maryland (April 24 - 25, 2006) University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

  5. (6th Annual Arizona More Graduate Education at Mountain States Alliance (MGE@MSA) Student Research Conference and Graduate Fair) iTech: An Interactive Technical Assistant, Arizona State University ( April 21, 2006 ).

  6. (Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference 2005) I- Assist: An Interactive Technical Assistant, Albuqurque, New Mexico (October 19 - 22, 2005) Doctorial Consortium

  7. (5th Annual Arizona More Graduate Education at Mountain States Alliance (MGE@MSA) Student Research Conference and Graduate Fair) African American Distributed Multiple Learning Styles System: A Culture-specific Approach to ELearning, Arizona State University ( April 18, 2005 ).

Workshops:

  1. Wilson, D. Answers First: A Human-Centered Approach to Call Centers, 2007 National BDPA Technology Conference, August 15 -18, 2007.

  2. Gilbert, J.E., Wilson, D. & Gupta, P, Evaluating Voice User Interfaces Workshop, SpeechTEK Conference, August 1, 2005, (BDPA 2003 25th Annual National Conference).

  3. An Introduction to VoiceXML and SALT: Adding voice to data Philadelphia, PA (August 13 - 17 2003).

  4. (BDPA 2003 25th Annual National Conference) African American Distributed Multiple Learning Styles System: A Culture-specific Approach to ELearning, Philadelphia, PA (August 13 - 17 2003).