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Showing papers on "Intelligent tutoring system published in 1990"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An evaluation of Smithtown in two studies of individual differences in learning shows that Smithtown fared very well when compared to traditional instruction on economics and delineated the performance indicators which separated better from worse learners in this discovery environment.
Abstract: Smithtown is an intelligent tutoring system designed to enhance an individual's scientific inquiry skills as well as to provide an environment for learning principles of basic microeconomics. It was hypothesized that computer instruction on applying effective interrogative skills (e.g., changing one variable at a time while holding all else constant) would ultimately lead to the acquisition of the specific subject matter. This paper presents an evaluation of Smithtown in two studies of individual differences in learning. Experiment 1, an exploratory study, demonstrated that Smithtown fared very well when compared to traditional instruction on economics and delineated the performance indicators which separated better from worse learners in this discovery environment. Experiment 2 extended the findings from the exploratory study using a large sample of subjects (N = 530) from a different population interacting with Smithtown and showed that the performance indicators relating to hypothesis generati...

292 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An Intelligent Fuzzy Temporal Relational Database (IFTReD) is described, an intelligent system-independent SR which allows for almost any degree of individualization the designer wishes to incorporate and is anticipated that this IFTReD will provide a significant improvement over standard AI storage techniques for the SR.
Abstract: The student record (SR) is a major source of input for any decision making done by an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) and is a basis of the individualization in such systems. However, most ITSs still have “generalized” student models which represent a type of student rather than a particular one. Until the SR becomes truly representative of each individual student, the goal of providing individualized tutoring cannot be attained. In this paper we describe an Intelligent Fuzzy Temporal Relational Database (IFTReD), an intelligent system-independent SR which allows for almost any degree of individualization the designer wishes to incorporate. It is anticipated that this IFTReD will provide a significant improvement over standard AI storage techniques for the SR. These improvements will be realized in terms of: (1) intelligence; (2) greater storage efficiency; (3) greater speed in retrieval and query; (4) ability to handle linguistic codes, ranges, fuzzy possibilities, and incomplete data in student models; (5) friendliness of query language; (6) availability of temporal knowledge to give a history of past performance; and (7) a more holistic view of the student, permitting greater individualization of the tutor.

48 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: All domain‐dependent information is assembled into one component to be filled with actual domain information without changing the other parts of the system, which allows intelligent behaviour in the subject material during teaching and students’ modelling.
Abstract: All currently existing intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) suffer from their strong domain dependence. Another drawback, which prevents their wide usage in schools is that they are not adjustable to the demands of the teacher who will use them. They often try to eliminate the teacher from the teaching process. We propose a structure of ITSs where all domain‐dependent information is assembled into one component to be filled with actual domain information without changing the other parts of the system. This structure allows intelligent behaviour in the subject material during teaching and students’ modelling.

36 citations


Proceedings Article
29 Jul 1990
TL;DR: The planner implementation shows precisely how a blackboard architecture can be used to realize a dynamic instructional planner and how such a planner can be embedded in an intelligent tutoring system and what the respective roles of the different components of a planner-controlled tutor are.
Abstract: The Blackboard Instructional Planner is a blackboard-based dynamic planner for intelligent tutoring systems. It generates a sequence of lesson plans customized to a student's background, and adaptively replans to handle student requests and unexpected changes to the student model or time remaining. The planner is designed to be generic to tutors that teach troubleshooting for complex physical devices. It controls the Lower Hoist Tutor, a prototype tutor for the Mark-45 naval gun mount. This tutor teaches troubleshooting of the lower hoist, a complex hydraulic-electronic-mechanical assembly of the Mark-45. The tutor implementation demonstrates the planner's operation and means of integration. This research contributes to an understanding of dynamic instructional planners, planner-controlled tutors, and ITS control architectures. The planner implementation shows precisely how a blackboard architecture can be used to realize a dynamic instructional planner. Although experimental, the tutor implementation demonstrates how such a planner can be embedded in an intelligent tutoring system and what the respective roles of the different components of a planner-controlled tutor are. Finally, the analysis of the planner's use of the blackboard architecture clarifies requirements for control architectures in intelligent tutoring systems and trade-offs made in choosing alternatives.

35 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The artificial-intelligence-based microworld DiBi (disk billiard) and MULEDS, a multi-level diagnosis system are developed, which aims at gradually supporting and guiding the student in the construction of more and more powerful an sound domain representations.
Abstract: From a psychological point of view efficient teaching by means of an intelligent tutoring system necessarily involves that the communication of knowledge is adapted to the requirements of the learner: to her cognitive abilities, her pre-instructional knowledge and her learning capabilities. To tackle these topics in a precise way, we have developed the artificial-intelligence-based microworld DiBi (disk billiard) and MULEDS, a multi-level diagnosis system. The microworld DiBi sets up a learning environment which simulates elastic impacts as a subtopic of classical mechanics. DiBi enables and supports reasoning on different levels of mental domain representation ordered along the dimension ‘qualitative/quantitative’. This way of representing the domain provides a basis for passive adaptation in an advanced way. Correspondingly, active adaptation is supported by MULEDS, wherein student modeling is realized by assessing the student’s correct and/or incorrect domain-specific knowledge at these different levels. Within this psychological perspective, the use of instructional tools, such as the microworld DiBi and the computerized diagnosis system MULEDS, aims at gradually supporting and guiding the student in the construction of more and more powerful an sound domain representations. The progression through these levels of domain representation will enable the student to solve the problems posed by the domain in a flexible way.

33 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the concept of an electronic teaching theater is proposed, which takes advantage of hypermedia and collaborative work environments, and the aim is not to totally redesign the classroom and instructional interaction, but rather to facilitate it using well understood metaphors to lay out the dynamics of classroom interaction on the electronic media and to use the results from research in human/computer interaction to design the interface.
Abstract: The introduction of hypermedia into the classroom presents both an opportunity to expand the power of teaching through electronic facilitation of the media and a challenge to redesign the classroom and instructional environment to exploit the enhanced features of hypermedia. This paper briefly surveys the current state of computers in the classroom and then argues that a more integrated approach is required. To this end, the concept of an electronic teaching theater is proposed which takes advantage of hypermedia and collaborative work environments. The aim of the electronic teaching theater is not to totally redesign the classroom and instructional interaction, but rather to facilitate it using well understood metaphors to lay out the dynamics of classroom interaction on the electronic media and to use the results from research in human/computer interaction to design the interface. To facilitate the application of hypermedia, a model of instructional interaction among the students, the instructors, the course material, and the products of instruction is presented. A number of component models pertaining to course preparation, lectures, note taking, and other instructional activities are then discussed that should prove useful in designing the electronic classroom. The origin of these models is the mental representation of the interaction as perceived by the teacher and the student. The idea is to start with such models as a base metaphor, to instantiate the metaphors in the electronic classroom, and then to explore innovations in the technology that go beyond the strict application of the metaphor.

26 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
21 Mar 1990
TL;DR: A tutoring system that can be used to develop intelligent computer-assisted courseware without any previous programming experience is described and the design methodology of the authoring language is discussed.
Abstract: The authors describe a tutoring system that can be used to develop intelligent computer-assisted courseware without any previous programming experience. It can make a computer play the role of tutor or consultant. The lessons are interactive, so students get immediate feedback on their answers. The system has a built-in expert system which can be created and updated by instructors. It allows students to ask questions if they need help. It prepares and updates a student's 'profile'. Graphics can be used to give a clearer picture of objects and lesson ideas. The design methodology of the authoring language is discussed. >

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
03 Jan 1990
TL;DR: This paper presents a taxonomy of rhetorical devices commonly used in tutoring environment, and model the meaning of a class of rhetorical Devices in terms of their anticipated effect on a listener's knowledge, which are then used in planning computer‐generated discourse.
Abstract: Human discourse is fraught with rhetorical devices such as contradictions, illustrations, and analogies. These rhetorical devices carry important information which a listener uses to speed up the comprehension process. In this paper, we present a taxonomy of rhetorical devices commonly used in tutoring environment, and model the meaning of a class of rhetorical devices in terms of their anticipated effect on a listener's knowledge. These predictions are then used in planning computer-generated discourse. As a testbed for our ideas, a system called WISHFUL is being implemented to generate commentaries in the domain of high-school algebra within the framework of an intelligent tutoring system.

13 citations


Book
01 Dec 1990
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the quality of kindergarten environments with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and assess the effect of prior knowledge on the performance of children.
Abstract: General Introduction.- Learning environments: An introduction.- I: Classroom Environments.- Facilitating adults' learning by coaching: Development and evaluation of an andragogical model of continuing vocational education within industrial companies.- Concepts of schooling and the learning environment: A relationship tested in law faculties.- Work simulation: A natural environment for learning job skills and job attitudes.- Teacher enthusiasm: Congruence between ratings and behaviour.- Teacher praise and classroom climate: Another paradoxical relation.- II: Evaluation of Learning Environments.- Assessing the quality of kindergarten environments with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale.- School-provided measures against truancy and drop-out.- Some school effectiveness indicators and their relation to school characteristics.- III: Computer-Based Environments.- The use of a computer microworld as a learning environment to develop conceptual change in the field of mechanics.- Intelligent tutoring system for learning English.- A genetic model for tutoring addition and subtraction skills in an adaptive computer program.- A production system explaining errors in long division of learning disabled students in junior vocational education.- A computer simulation of the acquisition of a computational skill in a discovery-oriented microworld.- A systematic problem approach in business administration: A methodology to make knowledge explicit for Computer-Assisted Instruction.- On the surplus of computerized traffic education.- IV: Environments for Meta-Learning.- Metacognition: Learning to learn and learning to think.- General and differential effectiveness of learning-to-learn programs.- Teaching problem solving in higher education: From field regulation to self-regulation.- Executive control, self-regulation trained in mathematics.- Children's reflection on text-coherence during reading.- The Leittext method: Learning to learn in commerce and industry.- Training self-regulation in several educational fields.- V: Theoretical Issues of Learning Environments.- Measuring individual differences in cognitive processes: How a speed-accuracy methodology can improve the results.- The influence of topic interest, prior knowledge and cognitive capabilities on text comprehension.- Instructional implications of recent research and empirically-based theories on the effect of prior knowledge on learning.- Contributors' addresses.

13 citations


01 Dec 1990
TL;DR: Individual differences in learning Pascal programming skills using an intelligent tutoring system for learning criterion task showed that a large proportion (86%) of the learning criterion variance(transfer) was accounted for by just three factors: Working-memory capacity, domain-specific knowledge, and declarative-learning efficiency.
Abstract: : This paper investigates individual differences in learning Pascal programming skills using an intelligent tutoring system for learning criterion task. Data were collected from 260 subjects in the following categories: (a) incoming general and domain-specific knowledge; (b) cognitive ability measures (working memory capacity and information processing speed); (c) learning process measures (declarative and procedural); (d) transfer measures (retention, application, and generalization). Casual models of learning were tested linking incoming knowledge and abilities to learn processes and transfer. Finding showed that a large proportion (86%) of the learning criterion variance(transfer) was accounted for by just three factors: Working-memory capacity, domain-specific knowledge, and declarative-learning efficiency. Certain learning behaviors were also investigated in relation to transfer. Some influenced transfer performance early in the tutor while others had more impact later on. Implications of these finding are discussed in relation to individual differences research as well as to intelligent tutoring system design issues. (kr)

11 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 1990
TL;DR: The knowledge acquisition method is discussed, and how it was used to study human tutors and students in the medical problem-solving domain of immunohematology (blood banking), and several guidelines which appeared to drive the tutors' behavior.
Abstract: One reason that intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) are rarely found outside of the research lab has to do with the guidelines available to developers of these systems. First, some of these guidelines are stated as general, abstract goals such as “adapt to the student.” What ITS developers need, however, are specific strategies and techniques which can be implemented in an ITS to accomplish those goals. Second, not all of the guidelines have an empirical basis.One solution to both of these problems is to study human tutors. This paper demonstrates this approach, and discusses an empirical study of human tutors which was conducted to address these issues. Specifically, it discusses1) the knowledge acquisition method which we designed to capture the appropriate empirical data,2) how we used this method to study human tutors and students in the medical problem-solving domain of immunohematology (blood banking),3) several guidelines which appeared to drive the tutors' behavior (e.g., “limit the number of inte...

01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: The Ill-Formed Input Handling System (IFIHS) is designed for understanding ill-formed natural language input from first year medical students and is implemented on a Xerox 1108 AI Machine in the Interlisp-D language.
Abstract: This research focuses on the design and development of a subsystem for handling ill-formed input in an intelligent tutoring system. For this purpose, I built the Ill-Formed Input Handling System (IFIHS). The IFIHS system is designed for understanding ill-formed natural language input from first year medical students. The IFIHS system consists of a screen manager, spelling corrector, parser, and understander. The IFIHS system is implemented on a Xerox 1108 AI Machine in the Interlisp-D language. Fast response time and user friendliness were the most important considerations in the design. The screen manager provides a full screen editor and input tracer for an easy editing capability for the student. I made the screen manager as simple as possible because most medical students have little computer experience. My spelling correction program can handle most kinds of spelling errors including character case, order reversal, missing characters, added characters, and character substitutions. This spelling correction system also corrects unexpected abbreviations and word boundary errors without making extra lexical entries. This spelling correction system can detect most student spelling errors and correct them automatically. We stored the lexicon in a trie for fast searching. Each lexical entry contains orthographic, syntactic, and semantic information so that the system can retrieve information for both spelling correction and the parser/understander at the same time. The LFG parser and the understander are designed to handle most types of simple sentences, and some kinds of fragments, ellipses, anaphora, and semantic corrections. The LFG parser produces the c-structure and f-structure for each input sentence in turn. The understander produces the logical form using the f-structure and the dialog history, and passes the logical form to the controller of the intelligent tutoring system.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: This paper starts by attempting to shed some light on why evaluation has become such a taboo activity, not only in intelligent tutoring, but in artificial intelligence research in general, and reports on how it was appraised.
Abstract: Numerous intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) have been developed to date. However, one aspect of their development which is consistently ignored, judging from the literature, is the crucial activity of evaluation. It is also ironical that researchers generally agree that the benefits of this activity could be far-reaching. ITSs are often described to some degree of detail but an appraisal as to their (potential) usefulness is seldom given. The relative novelty of doing this was the main motivation for this paper, which starts by attempting to shed some light on why evaluation has become such a taboo activity, not only in intelligent tutoring, but in artificial intelligence (AI) research in general. It then overviews a tutor, the fractions intelligent tutoring system (FITS), and reports on how it was appraised. The approaches used are neither ideal nor generally accepted, but may well provide an adequate starting point in the belief that an attempt at an honest evaluation of any sort is better tha...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Office of Academic Computing and Instructional Technology at the University of Delaware committed itself to developing an intelligent tutoring system for drawing Lewis dot structures, and an early prototype collected considerable data about student performance.
Abstract: The Office of Academic Computing and Instructional Technology at the University of Delaware committed itself to developing an intelligent tutoring system for drawing Lewis dot structures. An early prototype collected considerable data about student performance, which revealed the relative difficulty of the required skills.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the design and development of an INTELLIGENT TUTORING system for ADULT LITERACY students is described, which is used for computer assisted language learning.
Abstract: (1990). THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM FOR ADULT LITERACY STUDENTS. Computer Assisted Language Learning: Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 69-81.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Mar 1990
TL;DR: The use of a combination of student modelling techniques, along with the rules governing the application of the different techniques is discussed, which provides a flexible and powerful student model for a keyboard scale tutoring system.
Abstract: The student modelling module of an intelligent tutoring system represents the student's internal cognitive structures of the relevant domain. The model is important because it assists the system in providing individualised instruction based on student requirements. The use of a combination of student modelling techniques, along with the rules governing the application of the different techniques is discussed. This provides a flexible and powerful student model for a keyboard scale tutoring system.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: FITS has been evaluated and shown to have improved on the shortcomings of existing tutors in the mathematics domain and is encouraged for more researchers to publish enough for others to be able to reconstruct their systems.
Abstract: This paper presents the anatomy of the Fractions Intelligent Tutoring System (FITS). FITS has been evaluated and shown to have improved on the shortcomings of existing tutors in the mathematics domain. The paper concludes with an encouragement for more researchers to publish enough for others to be able to reconstruct their systems.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
04 Nov 1990
TL;DR: A methodology for representing domain and pedagogical knowledge in an intelligent tutoring system is described and an implementation of the methodology in an instructional system that can train operators to troubleshoot a marine power plant is described.
Abstract: Implementation of an intelligent tutor for diagnostic problem solving in a complex engineering domain requires: (1) a large amount of domain knowledge organized to facilitate evolution of system states with time, (2) troubleshooting task knowledge, (3) knowledge to infer a student's possible misconceptions from observed actions, and (4) pedagogical knowledge to realize the tutoring objectives. The domain and task knowledge needs to be organized in a manner that is easily accessible and communicable to the student, and the instructional system requires a well designed interface to communicate this knowledge. A methodology for representing domain and pedagogical knowledge in an intelligent tutoring system is described. An implementation of the methodology in an instructional system that can train operators to troubleshoot a marine power plant is described. >

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The paper outlines the Computers in Teaching Initiative project and research currently in progress, which aims at the development of a CAL system for teaching undergraduate students of general practice and extends the CAL system to include an intelligent tutoring system.
Abstract: The paper outlines the Computers in Teaching Initiative project and research currently in progress. The project aims at the development of a CAL system for teaching undergraduate students of general practice. The scale of the project is small in terms of hardware and software but massive in its practical importance. The original aim was not only to simulate the specific disease entity but also to place the clinical situation within the appropriate context for the population which was being simulated. Now the research project aims to extend the CAL system to include an intelligent tutoring system. The product is a complete Medical Tutor consists of a collection of three sub-systems: the medical data-entry system. the CAL system, and the intelligent tutoring system.

01 Nov 1990
TL;DR: This project developed functional specifications for a computer-based tool, Mental Link, that allows the evaluative imaging of such mental models and has a high degree of flexiability and customizability to allow extension to other types of uses, such as front-end to an intelligent tutoring system, knowledge base, hypermedia system, or semantic network.
Abstract: The training process can be conceptualized as the student acquiring an evolutionary sequence of classification-problem solving mental models. For example a physician learns (1) classification systems for patient symptoms, diagnostic procedures, diseases, and therapeutic interventions and (2) interrelationships among these classifications (e.g., how to use diagnostic procedures to collect data about a patient's symptoms in order to identify the disease so that therapeutic measures can be taken. This project developed functional specifications for a computer-based tool, Mental Link, that allows the evaluative imaging of such mental models. The fundamental design approach underlying this representational medium is traversal of virtual cognition space. Typically intangible cognitive entities and links among them are visible as a three-dimensional web that represents a knowledge structure. The tool has a high degree of flexibility and customizability to allow extension to other types of uses, such a front-end to an intelligent tutoring system, knowledge base, hypermedia system, or semantic network.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: This chapter is concerned with enhancing human performance in complex systems and focuses on the central trade-off between providing the knowledge and skills that give personnel the potential to perform vs. augmenting performance directly through aiding.
Abstract: This chapter is concerned with enhancing human performance in complex systems. Discussion focuses on the central trade-off between providing the knowledge and skills that give personnel the potential to perform (via training) vs. augmenting performance directly (via aiding). Alternative approaches to training and aiding are discussed. Several methods for performing trade-off analyses are considered. The nature of training vs. aiding trade-offs are discussed in the broader MANPRINT context.


Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Jun 1990
TL;DR: SARAH a system devoted to the rehabilitation of aphasic patients has many features of an intelligent tutoring system and its origininality lies in the patient modelling method used to closely represent the patients' impairments.
Abstract: In this paper we describe SARAH a system devoted to the rehabilitation of aphasic patients. The system has many features of an intelligent tutoring system. Its origininality lies in the patient modelling method used to closely represent the patients' impairments. The patient model provide a means to adapt the rehabilitation sessions to a particular patient. The tests used to diagnose the patient's impairments and then to train him in order to make him avoid his troubles are generated and not retrieved from some knowledge base. This insures the flexibility such a system needs. Finally an expert system is used to schedule the tests during a session.

Book ChapterDOI
11 Jun 1990
TL;DR: The proposed framework useful for implementing the internal processes of an ITS in a way that enables it to act intelligently in such matters as choosing goals, tracking student progress, observing task behavior, anticipating-identifying difficulties, and offering help is found.
Abstract: This paper presents a framework for organizing knowledge in an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). We have found the proposed framework useful for implementing the internal processes of an ITS. in a way that enables it to act intelligently in such matters as choosing goals, tracking student progress, observing task behavior, anticipating-identifying difficulties, and offering help. The paper focuses on past and current work related to the implementation of WorldTutor, an ITS prototype that teaches word processing.


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 1990-ReCALL
TL;DR: The history of computer-aided language learning (CALL) dates back some 40 years and during this period two main types of system have been developed: frame-based and intelligent.
Abstract: The history of computer-aided language learning (CALL) dates back some 40 years. During this period two main types of system have been developed: frame-based and intelligent. These two types of programs are examined in turn below.

01 Oct 1990
TL;DR: An overview of theMITT system is presented, describing the evolution of the MITT software and the benefits of using the MITt system.
Abstract: Microcomputer Intelligence for Technical Training (MITT) uses Intelligent Tutoring System (OTS) technology to deliver diagnostic training in a variety of complex technical domains. Over the past six years, MITT technology has been used to develop training systems for nuclear power plant diesel generator diagnosis, Space Shuttle fuel cell diagnosis, and message processing diagnosis for the Minuteman missile. Presented here is an overview of the MITT system, describing the evolution of the MITT software and the benefits of using the MITT system.

01 Mar 1990
TL;DR: In this paper, the status of an ongoing project to explore the application of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) technology to NASA command and control languages is described, where the primary objective of the current phase is to develop a user interface for an ITS to assist NASA control center personnel in learning Systems Test and Operations Language (STOL).
Abstract: The status of an ongoing project to explore the application of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) technology to NASA command and control languages is described. The primary objective of the current phase of the project is to develop a user interface for an ITS to assist NASA control center personnel in learning Systems Test and Operations Language (STOL). Although this ITS will be developed for Gamma Ray Observatory operators, it will be designed with sufficient flexibility so that its modules may serve as an ITS for other control languages such as the User Interface Language (UIL). The focus of this phase is to develop at least one other form of STOL representation to complement the operational STOL interface. Such an alternative representation would be adaptively employed during the tutoring session to facilitate the learning process. This is a key feature of this ITS which distinguishes it from a simulator that is only capable of representing the operational environment.


Proceedings Article
20 Nov 1990
TL;DR: A report is given on a study to develop a fully interactive CAL system based on a novel approach to the teaching of signal analysis and related subjects in the first year of undergraduate courses in electronic engineering.
Abstract: A report is given on a study to develop a fully interactive CAL system based on a novel approach to the teaching of signal analysis and related subjects in the first year of undergraduate courses in electronic engineering. Following a successful prototyping stage, the 'final product' is expected to be in the form of a portable computer package that could run on an IBM compatible PC, Apple Macintosh or a Sun workstation. In addition, the software will be accompanied by an instruction manual as well as a stand-alone student textbook, suitable for distance learning and/or short courses. It is believed that, if successful, in the long term, this study could lead to similar CAL systems in other subject areas. >