[CogSci] Last call: hackathon for Pushkin experimental software (6/26-28)

[Jesse Storbeck]

Hello,

I'd like to submit a final call for an upcoming hackathon which may be of
interest to cognitive scientists who want to run large-scale online studies.
Announcement below:
___________________________

Want to run massive online experiments like those at gameswithwords.org,
testmybrain.org, or themusiclab.org? Already run massive online experiments
but are facing a difficult technical problem blocking your next study? Been
wanting to learn to use Pushkin (languagelearninglab.gitbook.io/pushkin), a
software package for massive online studies?

The Language Learning Lab at Boston College (l3atbc.org) invites
researchers interested in software for massive online experiments to
participate in a three-day hackathon to be held June 26-28 at the Endicott
House Conference Center (mitendicotthouse.org) in Dedham, MA. The hackathon
will start with a brief Pushkin tutorial and then turn to hands-on
projects, submitted by attendees. Propose a project you want to work on, or
simply volunteer to help with someone else's in order to get more familiar
with coding massive online experiments. Projects may range from setting up
a new online lab similar to gameswithwords.org, adding functionality for a
new kind of experiment, writing a new reusable experiment template, etc.

This is a small hackathon (~20 attendees), with ample opportunity to work
closely with the developers of Pushkin (Prof. Joshua Hartshorne and his
team). Funding is available for students and postdocs! See application
details below.

Details Follow:
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Massive online experiments (MOEs) use large samples of up to millions of
subjects, who participate not for money but because the experiments are
designed to be intrinsically motivating. Pushkin addresses the additional
challenges of MOEs relative to traditional online experiments, such as
handling spikes in web traffic and efficiently distributing large numbers
of items across large numbers of subjects. Pushkin also provides resources
for maintaining an internet laboratory: a website template, an interactive
forum, social media integration, and the ability for subjects to create an
account.

With this hackathon, we hope to grow the open-source community around
Pushkin, address missing functionality needed by users who might otherwise
build their own software from the ground up, and facilitate integration
with third-party software. As such, attendance would be most beneficial for
researchers with advanced programming skills, especially in JavaScript.

Funding to cover travel, food, and lodging is available to support some
trainees (students & postdocs). Funding will be awarded by application,
with an emphasis on supporting underrepresented populations. To apply — or
RSVP to attend without funding — please submit this form (
https://bostoncollege.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4KlgUNrekeL65g).
Questions can be directed to jesse.storbeck at bc.edu. (Exact cost for
unfunded applicants depends on number of funded applicants, but will likely
be in the range of $850, which includes food and lodging; any travel to and
from site is separate and up to you.) Applications will be processed on a
rolling basis.
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