Upcoming SIGSOFT Webinar: Working with Non-Traditional Subjects; Lessons Learned from Using VR to Help Students with ADHD Focus
The next ACM SIGSOFT Webinar will be held online at 10 AM ET, July 30, 2025. The Webinar will be moderated by Andrew Begel, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
Abstract: Have you ever considered working with subjects other than traditional developers? For the past three years, we have done just that. We have found the journey full of new challenges and unexpected twists, but ultimately extremely rewarding. In this webinar we will detail our multi-year research project where we studied over 100 students with ADHD, helping them increase their focus on work using virtual reality headsets. Whether you are interested in studying students with ADHD, programmers with autism, or another non-traditional population, we walk you through the techniques and procedures, often outside of the typical computer scientists’ wheelhouse, that enabled our research. By the end of this webinar you will not only understand our findings on this particular project, you will understand what it takes to work with non-traditional subjects, populations that are often eager to engage with researchers and respond dramatically to the right interventions.
Bio: David Shepherd is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Louisiana State University. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science at the University of Delaware, and his B.S. in Computer Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. David has since worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, built sweat equity as employee #9 at Tasktop Technologies, and risen to Senior Principal Scientist at ABB Corporate Research. His research has produced tools that have been used by thousands, innovations that have been featured in the popular press, and practical ideas that have won business plan competitions. Dr. Shepherdcurrently serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Systems & Software.
Date: Wednesday July 30, 10–11am ET
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