Fitting Free-Form Question-Asking and Spatial Ability into ITS Development

Nancy Milik, MSc. Student

Dept. of CSSE, University of Canterbury

Thu Dec 13 10:00:00 NZDT 2007 in Room 031, Erskine Building

Abstract

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are problem-solving environments that provide individualised instruction and are able to adapt to the abilities and needs of each individual student in order to maximise effective learning. They provide feedback on students' actions, but a problem arises when students do not always understand the feedback they receive. Therefore, it would be beneficial for students to be able to ask for additional clarifications at any time, and to receive feedback customised to their individual differences. This presentation will look at the potential of providing an additional help channel in ITSs where students are able to ask free-form questions, as well as accounting for the students' psychometric measure of spatial ability. We will present our approaches, analyses of the collected data from our evaluation studies, as well as our research contributions to the ITSs field. We will also portray a number of future directions that will contribute towards maximising the effectiveness of learning in ITSs.