June 14, 2019
Azka Bukhari- Hogg Middle School: CS Educator
Prior Knowledge
The second week at Rice University’s PATHS-UP Research Experience for Teachers 2019-2020 has been quite eventful. I wanted to go ahead and summarize the extent of my research prior to starting the research. I googled the PATHS-UP RET page and found some interesting information. I tried to read the research on distancePPG; I understand that the whole concept of this project is to create a system of detecting vital signs in a non-invasive manner that is accessible to the under-served population. By reaching to teachers, the plan is to not only spread aware of STEM fields, but to educate, inform and encourage students about health in the under-served community.
Orientation & Yong’s Presentation
I presented my PPT early in the orientation and I met the rest of the team. Our mentor, Yong presented the research project that we would be working on- distancePPG. PPG stands for photoplethysmography which is an optical method to measure cardiac-synchronous blood volume changes in face, finger and earlobe. In broad strokes, Yong explained the procedure of distancePPG and the various tools and libraries used by distance PPG and some of the challenges of using distancePPG. In layman’s term, distancePPG uses webcam monitoring while shining a light on a person- as the heart pumps bloods, the volume of blood in the arteries and capillaries change, this leads to a small change in the skin color. DistancePPG measures this small change in skin color as the light shines on the person- some of the light reflect, some light is absorbed, the computer program calculates this light reflection.
Fig. 2: Overall steps involved in distancePPG algorithm for estimating camera-based PPG.DistancePPG: Robust non-contact vital signs monitoring using a camera Biomed Opt Express. 2015 May 1;6(5):1565-1588.
Python is the programming language that will be used and two specific libraries that were mentioned were OpenCV and NumPy. OpenCV (Open Computer Vision) is a library of programming functions that focuses on real-life computer vision; it is FREE! This week I downloaded OpenCV and I have tried a YouTube tutorial (*tutorial link attached) – as basic introduction on how to use OpenCV with Python. NumPy, the other library mentioned, adds support for large, multi-dimensional arrays and matrices, along with high-level mathematical functions to open on these arrays. My experience with NumPy is minimal and I look forward to learning late next week. It was quite unclear how I am going to be doing my own research at the moment.
Scalable Health Labs & Reading
We visited the Scalable Health Lab to see the extent of their research. Mary Jin presented one of her projects that might potentially lead to detecting cancer cells without a biopsy. While, Anil Kumar Vadathya summarized his project as F.L.A.S.H- which stands for Family Level Assessment of on-Screen Time at Home. His project idea was to help reduce negative health impact of over-exposure to technology by monitoring the total number of hours children were watching TV. This was really interesting as this is quite close to our project when he broke down the process- the face detection and gaze detection.
As a group, we came together on Thursday and summarized what we read in the research paper. We went over the pseudo-code to understand how the program works. We weren’t sure about how well we did- but it was a starting point to tackle a huge task.
Learning Python
Christina introduced the team to edX, I started with the Absolute Beginners Course for learning Python. However, Pamela recommended codeHS.com, I picked this course because I can use this with my advanced classes and this is an excellent chance for me to experience it myself. This week, I have managed to get halfway through the Python course- I realized that I know a lot of fundamental concepts such as loops, conditionals and functions.
Screenshot of my CodeHS progress
Later in the week, Jimmy brought his own device that he created **. I have attached a picture of this experience- I will try this in my own classroom. He decided to expose his students to a pulse oximeter that he purchased last year- this was followed by students creating their own pulse sensors using an Arduino and a pulse sensor bought from Amazon***. Although, it would be replicating what Jimmy did, I think my middle school students would be blown away by the real-life application of Computer Science in the field of Health.
Walkaways
I am leaving this week- a lot more energized. I realized that being confused in part of the process of research. I am not used to feeling ‘lost’ and ‘confused’ being a teacher- this usually leads to PANIC! I have decided to use my confusion as a learning experience- when I am confused in Python, I realize that this is how some students might feel when they are learning code. When I listen to Yong’s presentation and Jimmy’s implementation, I learned that that it is my job as an educator to expose students to ‘very difficult’ concepts- things they might not grasp straight away. If we want our students to grow, we must give them challenging tasks. I have two ideas about where I would like to go with my own research project. First, I would like to create face detection and later- face recognition program. Jimmy has already done this, but I would like to try this myself. I can create a lesson with pseudo-code that I could use with my middle-schoolers. My second idea is quite interesting, but might not be do-able! I would like to see what would happen if the R.O.I was flashed with different colored lights- how would this affect the data being collected.
I’m still a little unsure about how my research project and poster will look like. I have seen some examples, but I am feeling a little anxious that I won’t do well. Shout out to Yong for breaking down tasks for us to do next week! Best thing this week! I really appreciate Professor Yong. d
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY9f-6u2Q_c