papers.html

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<h2>Publications</h2>
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            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"> Expanding Models for Physics Teaching: A Framework for the Integration of Computational Modeling</span>
                <span class="venue">Education Sciences 2024</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Rebecca Elizabeth Vieyra, Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz, Kathi Fisler, Benjamin S. Lerner, Joe Gibbs Politz, Shriram Krishnamurthi</span
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                Teaching computation in science courses can enhance
                science education, but doing so requires that teachers
                expand the vision of their discipline beyond the
                traditional view of science presented in most
                curricula. This article describes a design-based
                research (DBR) program that included collaboration
                among high school teachers and professional
                development leaders in physics and computer science
                education. Through three years of professional
                development and teacher-led development, field
                testing, and refinement of integrated curricular
                resources, we have combined instructional modeling
                practices, physical lab materials, and computer
                programming activities. One of the outcomes is a
                co-created framework for the integration of
                computational modeling into physics that is sensitive
                to teachers’ interests and expressed needs in addition
                to learning goals. This framework merges two
                evidence-based approaches to teaching:
                Bootstrap:Algebra, a web-based computing curriculum
                that emphasizes using multiple representations of
                functions and scaffolds that make the programming
                process explicit, and Modeling Instruction in physics,
                an approach that emphasizes the use of conceptual
                models, modeling practices and representational
                tools. In doing so, we uncover the need to balance
                teachers’ visions for integration opportunities with
                practical instructional needs and emphasize that
                frameworks for integration need to reflect teachers’
                values and goals.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
                <dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/8/861/pdf?version=1723799801">pdf</a></dd>
                <dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#edusci2024">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>
            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/plateau2021_repartee.html">Combining Interactive and
                  Whole-Program Editing with
                  <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Repartee</span></a></span>
                <span class="venue">PLATEAU '21</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Luna Phipps-Costin, Michael
                  MacLeod, Alex Vo, Tiffany Nguyen, Joe Politz,
                  Shriram Krishnamurthi and Benjamin Lerner</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                Interactive evaluation with a REPL (Read-Eval-Print
                Loop) is a feature of many programming environments, especially in
                environments for teaching programming. However, REPLs
                do have confusions and stumbles for beginners. We
                identify several weaknesses of REPLs with a worked
                example from an existing programming environment in
                active use, distilled from our experience with
                novices. We then present an updated programming
                environment that mitigates these weaknesses and
                discuss its overall design.Interactive evaluation
                with a REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) is a feature of
                many programming environments, especially in
                environments for teaching programming. However, REPLs
                do have confusions and stumbles for beginners related
                to navigating between programs and interactive
                evaluation. We identify several specific weaknesses
                of REPLs with a worked example from an existing
                programming environment in active use, distilled from
                our experience with novices. We then present an
                updated programming environment that mitigates these
                weaknesses by combining the program editor and REPL,
                so the user can benefit from the best of both.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="https://kilthub.cmu.edu/ndownloader/files/35978987">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#plateau2021_repartee">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/sigcse2022_ds_curriculum.html">
                  Integrated Data Science for Secondary Schools:
                  Design and Assessment of a Curriculum</a></span>
                <span class="venue">SIGCSE '22</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Kathi Fisler, Emmanuel
                  Schanzer, Steven Weimar, Annie Fetter, K. Ann
                  Renninger, Shriram Krishnamurthi, Joe Politz,
                  Benjamin Lerner, Jennifer Poole and Christine
                  Koerner</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                We propose that K-12 data science curricula should be based on four
                key ingredients: two are technical (programming and statistics, with
                visualization sitting at their intersection), while two are
                human-facing (meaningful domains, and civic responsibility). We
                describe their relationship and argue for their importance.

                Based on this, we then present a curriculum (currently in use; name
                anonymized). The curriculum is designed for integration into multiple
                disciplines and settings. It achieves this by letting different
                contexts choose datasets that are most meaningful, and creating
                artifacts that are authentic to the context. It recommends that the
                freedom to choose a dataset be further devolved to individual
                students, letting them choose personally meaningful data to spark
                engagement.

                Finally, we initiate the process of evaluating this curriculum. We
                create two assessment instruments, one to assess personalization and
                engagement and the other to evaluate learning. We believe these
                assessments can be adapted to other curricula too. We provide very
                preliminary data gathered from students and teachers, respectively,
                on the two instruments. 
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3408877.3432546?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#sigcse2022_ds_curriculum">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/sigcse2021_k12_curriculum.html">
                    Evolving a K-12 Curriculum for Integrating
                    Computer Science into Mathematics</a></span>
                <span class="venue">SIGCSE '21</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Kathi Fisler, Emmanuel
                  Schanzer, Steven Weimar, Annie Fetter, K. Ann
                  Renninger, Shriram Krishnamurthi, Joe Politz,
                  Benjamin Lerner, Jennifer Poole and Christine
                  Koerner</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                 Integrating computing into other subjects promises to
                 address many challenges to offering standalone CS
                 courses in K-12 contexts. Integrated curricula must
                 be designed carefully, however, to both meet learning
                 objectives of the host discipline and to gain
                 traction with teachers. We describe the multi-year
                 evolution of Bootstrap, a curriculum for integrating
                 computing into middle- and high-school
                 mathematics. We discuss the initial design and the
                 various modifications we have made over the years to
                 better support math instruction, leading to our goal
                 of using integrated curricula to cover standards in
                 both math and CS. We provide advice for others aiming
                 for integration and raise questions for CS educators
                 about how we might better support learning in other disciplines.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3408877.3432546?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#sigcse2021_k12_curriculum">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/snapl2019_acquired_taste.html">
                    The Next 700 Semantics: A Research Challenge</a></span>
                <span class="venue">SNAPL '19</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Shriram Krishnamurthi, Benjamin
                S. Lerner and Liam Elberty</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                 Modern systems consist of large numbers of languages, frameworks,
                 libraries, APIs, and more. Each has characteristic behavior and
                 data. Capturing these in semantics is valuable not only for
                 understanding them but also essential for formal treatment (such as
                 proofs). Unfortunately, most of these systems are defined primarily
                 through implementations,
                 which means the semantics needs to be \emph{learned}. We describe
                 the problem of learning a semantics, provide a structuring process
                 that is of potential value, and also outline our failed attempts
                 at achieving this so far.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="papers/snapl2019_acquired_taste.pdf">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#snapl2019_acquired_taste">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>
            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/programming2019_reactors.html">
                    Event Loops as First-Class Values: A Case Study
                    in Pedagogic Language Design</a></span>
                <span class="venue">&langle;programming&rangle; '19</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Joe Gibbs Politz, Benjamin
                S. Lerner, Sorawee Porncharoenwase and Shriram Krishnamurthi</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
		We revisit the <i>World model</i> of functional
		event-based programming and extract a new primitive,
		a <i>Reactor</i>, to enable programmatic control over
		these reactive programs.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~sk/Publications/Papers/Published/plpk-reactor-design/paper.pdf">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#programming2019_reactors">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>


            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/tacas2017_synth.html">
                    Synthesis of Recursive ADT Transformations from Reusable Templates</a></span>
                <span class="venue">TACAS '17</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Jeevana Priya Inala, Nadia
                Polikarpova, Xiaokang Qiu, and Benjamin Lerner, and Armando Solar-Lezama</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
		We expand the space of programs that can be
		synthesized from templates, and attempt to apply it to
		derive desugaring transformations for constructs in a
		lambda calculus.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper (Springerlink):</dt><dd><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-54577-5_14">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#tacas2017_synth">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/dls2013_tejas.html">TeJaS:
                    retrofitting type systems for JavaScript</a></span>
                <span class="venue">DLS '13</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Joe
                  Politz, Arjun Guha and Shriram Krishnamurthi</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
		We explore an extensible product line of type systems for
		JavaScript, and explain the engineering and ergonomic
		choices choices we made in designing this system.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2508168.2508170?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd> 
		<dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/dls2013_tejas.pptx">pptx</a></dd>
		<dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="http://brownplt.github.com">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#dls2013_tejas">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

	    <div class="paper">
	      <p class="byline">
		<span class="title">
		  <a href="papers/esorics2013_pbm.html">Verifying
		    Web Browser Extensions' Compliance with
		    Private-Browsing Mode</a></span>
		<span class="venue">ESORICS '13</span>
		<span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner and Liam Elberty and Neal Poole
		  and Shriram Krishnamurthi</span>
	      </p>
	      <p class="blurb">
		We develop a sound static type system for JavaScript
		to detect violations of Private Browsing Mode in
		third-party Firefox extensions.
	      </p>
	      <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="papers/esorics2013_pbm.pdf">pdf</a></dd>
		<dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/esorics2013_pbm.pptx">pptx</a></dd>
		<dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="http://brownplt.github.com">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Technical report:</dt><dd><a href="ftp://ftp.cs.brown.edu/pub/techreports/13/cs13-02.pdf">pdf</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#esorics2013_pbm">BibTeX</a></dd>
	      </dl>
	    </div>

	    <div class="paper">
	      <p class="byline">
		<span class="title"><a href="papers/ecoop2013_jquery.html">Combining
		    Form and Function: Static Types for JQuery
		    Functions</a></span>
		<span class="venue">ECOOP '13</span>
		<span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Liam
		  Elberty, Jincheng Li, and Shriram
		  Kirshnamurthi</span>
	      </p>
	      <p class="blurb">
		We develop a static type system for
		analyzing <a href="http://jquery.com">jQuery</a>
		client code for <i>query errors</i>, where jQuery
		results may contain too many, too few, or simply the
		wrong page elements, leading to unintended runtime
		behavior.
	      </p>
	      <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="papers/ecoop2013_jquery.pdf">pdf</a></dd>
		<dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/ecoop2013_jquery.pptx">pptx</a></dd>
		<dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="http://brownplt.github.com">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#ecoop2013_jquery">BibTeX</a></dd>
	      </dl>
	    </div>
            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/dls2012_overlays.html">Detecting
                Conflicts Among Declarative UI Extensions</a></span>
                <span class="venue">DLS '12</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner and Dan Grossman</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
		We define a model of <i>overlays</i> that dynamically
		compose declarative UI fragments onto a base document,
		and define conflict detection algorithms over this model.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2384577.2384590?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd>
		<dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/dls2012_overlays.pptx">pptx</a></dd>
		<dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="browser-extensions.html">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#dls2012_overlays">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/dls2012_s5.html">A
                Tested Semantics for Getters, Setters and Eval in
                JavaScript</a></span>
                <span class="venue">DLS '12</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Joe Politz, Matt Carroll,
                Benjamin Lerner, Justin Pombrio and Shriram
                Krishnamurthi</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
		We present S5, a semantics for the strict mode of the
		ECMAScript 5.1 (JavaScript) programming language.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
		<dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2384577.2384579?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd>
		<dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="http://brownplt.github.com">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#dls2012_s5">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/webapps2012.html">Modeling and Reasoning about DOM
                  Events</a></span>
                <span class="venue">WebApps '12</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Matt Carroll, Dan
                  Kimmel, Hannah Quay-de la Vallee and Shriram
                  Krishnamurthi</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
	        We define a concise, executable formal model of event
	        behavior in the DOM, with high fidelity to the DOM
	        specification.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
                <dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="papers/webapps2012.pdf">pdf</a></dd>
	        <dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="browser-extensions.html">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#webapps2012">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/thesis.html">Designing
                    for Extensibility and Planning for Conflict:
                    Experiments in Web-Browser Design</a></span>
                <span class="venue">PhD Thesis</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                I examine the challenges in supporting powerful,
                pervasive extensibility in web-browsers, and propose
                mechanisms for enabling better analytical tools.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
                <dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="papers/thesis.pdf">pdf</a></dd>
                <dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="c3/thesis-defense.html">html</a></dd>
	        <dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="browser-extensions.html">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#thesis">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/webapps2011.html">C3:
                    An Experimental, Extensible, Reconfigurable Platform
                    for HTML-based Applications</a></span>
                <span class="venue">WebApps '11</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Brian Burg,
                  Herman Venter and Wolfram Schulte</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                We present C3, an implementation of the HTML/CSS/JS
	        platform designed for web-client research and
	        experimentation, particularly the role of
	        extensibility throughout the platform.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
                <dt>Paper:</dt><dd><a href="papers/webapps2011.pdf">pdf</a></dd>
                <!--              <dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/webapps2011.pptx">pptx</a></dd> -->
	        <dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="browser-extensions.html">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#webapps2011">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/aplwaca2010.html">Language
                    Support for Extensible Web Browsers</a></span>
                <span class="venue">APLWACA '10</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner and Dan
                  Grossman</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                We argue that browser extensions are themselves an
                important facet of web applications, and are in need
                of serious programing-language attention.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
	        <dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1810139.1810146?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd>
                <dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/aplwaca2010.ppt">ppt</a></dd>
	        <dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="browser-extensions.html">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#aplwaca2010">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/oopsla2010.html">Supporting
                    Dynamic, Third-Party Code Customizations in JavaScript
                    Using Aspects</a></span>
                <span class="venue">OOPSLA '10</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Herman
                  Venter and Dan Grossman</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                We propose a language extension to JavaScript, based
                on dynamic aspect weaving, that would enable
                principled, semantically sound third-party
                modification of existing code.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
	        <dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1869459.1869490?cid=81318490369">pdf</a></dd>
                <dt>Presentation:</dt><dd><a href="papers/oopsla2010.pptx">pptx</a></dd>
	        <dt>Project page:</dt><dd><a href="browser-extensions.html">available here</a></dd>
		<dt>Citation:</dt><dd><a href="files/citations.html#oopsla2010">BibTeX</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/seminal_pldi2007.html">Searching
                    for Type-Error Messages</a></span>
                <span class="venue">PLDI '07</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Matthew
                  Flower, Dan Grossman, and Craig Chambers</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                We present a novel approach to <i>searching</i> for
                error messages in programs with type errors
                (currently, Caml and C++), that provides better error
                messages while simplifying compiler construction.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
                <dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><!--
             --><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1250734.1250783?cid=81318490369"
                    title="Full paper appears in PLDI 2007">pdf</a></dd>
                <dt>Slides:</dt><!--
             --><dd><a href="papers/seminal_pldi2007.ppt"
                    title="Presentation at PLDI 2007">ppt</a></dd>
                <dt>Citation:</dt><!--
             --><dd><a href="files/citations.html#pldi2007" 
                    title="Seminal citation in PLDI 2007">BibTeX</a></dd>
                <dt>Project&nbsp;page:</dt><!--
             --><dd><a
                    href="seminal.html" 
                    title="Seminal project page">available&nbsp;here</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>

            <div class="paper">
              <p class="byline">
                <span class="title"><a href="papers/seminal_ml2006.html">SEMINAL:
                    Searching for ML Type-Error Messages</a></span>
                <span class="venue">ML Workshop '06</span>
                <span class="authorsLine">Benjamin Lerner, Dan Grossman, and
                  Craig Chambers</span>
              </p>
              <p class="blurb">
                We present a new way to generate type-error messages
                in a polymorphic, implicitly, and strongly typed
                language.  This approach separates error-message
                generation from typechecking, and improves feedback to
                programmers.
              </p>
              <dl class="paperLinks">
              <dt>Paper (ACM DL):</dt><!--
             --><dd><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1159876.1159887?cid=81318490369"
                     title="Full paper appears in ML Workshop 2006">pdf</a></dd>
                <dt>Slides:</dt><!--
             --><dd><a href="papers/seminal_ml2006.ppt"
                    title="Presentation at ML Workshop 2006">ppt</a></dd>
                <dt>Citation:</dt><!--
             --><dd><a href="files/citations.html#ml2006" 
                    title="Seminal citation in ML Workshop 2006">BibTeX</a></dd>
                <dt>Project&nbsp;page:</dt><!--
             --><dd><a
                    href="seminal.html" 
                    title="Seminal project page">available&nbsp;here</a></dd>
              </dl>
            </div>