Enhancing learning through self-explanation

Self-explanation is an effective teaching/learning strategy that has been used in several intelligent tutoring systems in the domains of Mathematics and Physics to facilitate deep learning. Since all these domains are well structured, the instructional material to self-explain can be clearly defined. We are interested in investigating whether self-explanation can be used in an open-ended domain. For this purpose, we enhanced KERMIT, an intelligent tutoring system that teaches conceptual database design. The resulting system, KERMIT-SE, supports self-explanation by engaging students in tutorial dialogues when their solutions are erroneous. We plan to conduct an evaluation in July 2002, to test the hypothesis that students will learn better with KERMIT-SE than without self-explanation

On-Line Student Modeling for Coached Problem Solving Using Bayesian Networks

This paper describes the student modeling component of ANDES, an Intelligent Tutoring System for Newtonian physics. ANDES' student model uses a Bayesian network to do long-term knowledge assessment, plan recognition and prediction of students' actions during problem solving. The network is updated in real time, using an approximate anytime algorithm based on stochastic sampling, as a student solves problems with ANDES.The information in the student model is used by ANDES' Help system to tailor its support when the student reaches impasses in the problem solving process. In this paper, we describe the knowledge structures represented in the student model and discuss the implementation of the Bayesian network assessor. We also present a preliminary evaluation of the time performance of stochastic sampling algorithms to update the network

Tutoring instrument flight: patterns of instructor and student communication

Individual tutoring has been successful in facilitating learning in domains such as LISP, physics, and algebra. These tasks are static in that problems do not change while the student is trying to solve them. Dynamic tasks such as flying, where the problem changes spontaneously over time, represent different challenges for tutors. To understand tutoring in dynamic tasks, we conducted a field observation of students being given messages by a flight instructor. Five low flight time student pilots were asked to perform nine instrument flight tasks while being tutored by an instructor pilot in both a virtual simulator flight and in a real airplane flight. The data from our study were compared to two prominent models of one-on-one tutoring. Only a small portion of the utterances made by the tutor or by the student matched previous accounts, suggesting that a new approach is needed to address tutoring during instrument flight instruction

Estudo das limitações do ensino a distância via internet

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação.A presente pesquisa se propôs a investigar as Limitações dos Software Tutores Educacionais Multimídia na Internet.O interesse despertado está ligado a nossa prática profissional como docente no SENAI-RO. A região norte carece de profissionais, que tenham formação profissionalizante, para desenvolver e ministrar cursos para a comunidade, devido aos custos de formação, e/ou contratação de profissionais de outras regiões. Partindo disto, buscamos analisar a contribuição qualitativa que este tipo de curso pode oferecer .A fundamentação teórica baseia-se na interação entre os vários níveis cognitivos do aluno em confluência com os vários recursos tecnológicos disponibilizados. Realizou-se pesquisa de campo no intuito de detalhar as características do universo estudado. O Curso de Ensino a Distancia - EaD, FOFO, ministrado pelo SENAI, foi utilizado como o estudo de caso que fora o método de procedimento adotado, os alunos veicularam as sua informações via Internet. Os professores, entretanto, esbarram em limitações como: tempo disponível para fazer frente às novas exigências, falta de um projeto institucional integrador das intenções e a carência de recursos técnicos para a exploração, em sala, dos benefícios dos software tutorial multimídia na Internet

A generic architecture for interactive intelligent tutoring systems

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 07/06/2001.This research is focused on developing a generic intelligent architecture for an interactive tutoring system. A review of the literature in the areas of instructional theories, cognitive and social views of learning, intelligent tutoring systems development methodologies, and knowledge representation methods was conducted. As a result, a generic ITS development architecture (GeNisa) has been proposed, which combines the features of knowledge base systems (KBS) with object-oriented methodology. The GeNisa architecture consists of the following components: a tutorial events communication module, which encapsulates the interactive processes and other independent computations between different components; a software design toolkit; and an autonomous knowledge acquisition from a probabilistic knowledge base. A graphical application development environment includes tools to support application development, and learning environments and which use a case scenario as a basis for instruction. The generic architecture is designed to support client-side execution in a Web browser environment, and further testing will show that it can disseminate applications over the World Wide Web. Such an architecture can be adapted to different teaching styles and domains, and reusing instructional materials automatically can reduce the effort of the courseware developer (hence cost and time) in authoring new materials. GeNisa was implemented using Java scripts, and subsequently evaluated at various commercial and academic organisations. Parameters chosen for the evaluation include quality of courseware, relevancy of case scenarios, portability to other platforms, ease of use, content, user-friendliness, screen display, clarity, topic interest, and overall satisfaction with GeNisa. In general, the evaluation focused on the novel characteristics and performances of the GeNisa architecture in comparison with other ITS and the results obtained are discussed and analysed. On the basis of the experience gained during the literature research and GeNisa development and evaluation. a generic methodology for ITS development is proposed as well as the requirements for the further development of ITS tools. Finally, conclusions are drawn and areas for further research are identified