Providing adaptation and guidance for design learning by problem solving: The design planning approach in DomoSim-TPC environment

Experimental learning environments based on simulation usually require monitoring and adaptation to the actions the users carry out. Some systems provide this functionality, but they do so in a way which is static or cannot be applied to problem solving tasks. In response to this problem, we propose a method based on the use of intermediate languages to provide adaptation in design learning scenarios. Although we use some approaches which are familiar from other domains (e.g., programming tutors) they are novel as regards their application to a very different domain and as a result we have incorporated new strategies. The purpose of our proposal is to provide monitoring, guidance and adaptive features for PlanEdit, a tool for the learning of integral automation methods in buildings and housing by design. This tool is part of a collaborative environment, called DomoSim-TPC, which supports distance learning of domotical design. We have carried out an experiment to obtain some data which confirm that our position can be effective for group learning of domotical design, studying the relationship between the quantity of model work carried out and the errors made.     

Assessing problem solving in expert systems using human benchmarking

The human benchmarking approach attempts to assess problem solving in expert systems by measuring their performance against a range of human problem-solving performances. We established a correspondence between functions of the expert system GATES and human problem-solving skills required to perform a scheduling task. We then developed process and outcome measures and gave them to people of different assumed problem-solving ability. The problem-solving ability or “intelligence” of this expert system is extremely high in the narrow domain of scheduling planes to airport gates as indicated by its superior performance compared to that of undergraduates, graduate students and expert human schedulers (i.e. air traffic controllers). In general, the study supports the feasibility of using human benchmarking methodology to evaluate the problem-solving ability of a specific expert system.     

A problem solving oriented intelligent tutoring system to improve students' acquisition of basic computer skills

Personalization and intelligent tutor are two key factors in the research on learning environment. Intelligent tutoring system (ITS), which can imitate the human teachers' actions to implement one-to-one personalized teaching to some extent, is an effective tool for training the ability of problem solving. This research firstly discusses the concepts and methods of designing problem solving oriented ITS, and then develops the current iTutor based on the extended model of ITS. At last, the research adopts a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of iTutor in skills acquisition. The results indicate that students in iTutor group experience better learning effectiveness than those in the control group. iTutor is found to be effective in improving the learning effectiveness of students with low-level prior knowledge.     

Computer-based tutoring of visual concepts: from novice to expert

Abstract Computer-based tutoring of visual concepts is a largely unexplored area. The ability to classify images, to identify features and to describe abnormalities is a necessary part of training in many professions, such as radiology, anatomy, botany and geology. To a lesser level it is important for developing everyday skills such as identifying birds, trees, rocks, and flowers. The aim of this paper is to show how computers might be used in visual concept teaching, to store and display large stocks of exemplar images, to carry out a tutorial dialogue with the learner, and to provide learning aids such as concept maps, feature spaces, and structural models. The paper describes well-established methods for teaching visual concepts and indicates how computers can supplement the human teacher in tutoring students with differing levels of expertise.     

Report to the Alvey Directorate on a short survey of expert systems in UK business*

Simpler expert systems are practical and being implemented now by self-taught teams, with little risk at relatively low-cost, to produce modest but unusual gains. It is necessary to correct the impression, much heralded hitherto, that expert systems are inherently complex, risky and demanding. This impression is a handicap to competitive developments in the supply and usage of advanced information technology.     

The use of ICT to support the development of practical music skills through acquiring keyboard skills: a classroom based study

This paper concerns the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in music classrooms, with the focus on the secondary school music curriculum in the United Kingdom. In particular, it reports on a study of learners in a UK school using software designed to support practical music skills. The paper begins by briefly raising and summarising some key issues for the use of ICT in the UK music curriculum arising from current research and practice in music education. In this context the study is described, which was carried out in a British secondary school with 36 pupils in year 8 (aged ≈13). This study investigated whether a commercial CD-ROM entitled Teach Me Piano Deluxe, which was designed to teach music practical skills was able to support pupils’ acquisition of music keyboard skills.The results showed that there was a significant improvement in reading music (staff) notation and rhythm skills. The study suggests that this is one of the ways in which ICT may be useful for learning practical music skills in the music classrooms. Such potential improvement in practical skills may, in turn, enable pupils to approach music-based activities such as: composing, performing or listening in the classrooms, with greater confidence, a deeper level of understanding, and appreciation.     

Design and usability testing of a learning and plagiarism avoidance tutorial system for paraphrasing and citing in English: A case study

The prevalence of information and communication technology (ICT) has considerably converted the means of/for publication and circulation, as well as transforming academia and English pedagogy. However, with the availability and convenience of online resources, one of the critical issues emerged is that non-native English speakers are constantly accused of committing textual plagiarism: either intentionally or unintentionally. While many writing tools and plagiarism detectors are available to help solve the problem, none of them were customized for the great population of Chinese learners of English. Accordingly, DWright—a Chinese-interfaced online writing tutorial for paraphrasing and citing English—was developed in the hope of ensuring academic integrity through the avoidance of textual plagiarism.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the design and efficacy of DWright regarding plagiarism prevention and improvement of English writing. A questionnaire and semi-structured interview were administrated to participants to test DWright and its technology acceptance model (TAM) to identify the effect of perceived usefulness, usability and user attitudes of DWright. Results show that users of DWright were in high agreement regarding the content effectiveness of all DWright-based tasks, indicating the reading activities, multiple-choice exercises and paraphrasing practices were effective to help users enhance writing knowledge and skills to avoid plagiarism. Furthermore, perceived usefulness and system usability affected DWright user attitudes significantly and positively, which mirrors their attitudes toward continued use of DWright. In this study, DWright met its users' needs by extending their knowledge to avoid plagiarism while simultaneously enhancing their paraphrasing and writing skills. The conclusion suggests that tutorial designers, content experts and subject teachers should support effective communication to improve content usefulness, so as to help users achieve their writing goals with a research proven learning and plagiarism avoidance tutorial system.     

Learning how to write effectively for academic journals: A case study investigating the design and development of a genre-based writing tutorial system

Genre-based writing instruction (GBWI) has been used for English journal paper writing both in classroom teaching and in the development of materials utilizing move analysis and corpus-based analysis. Some writing systems and tutorials have also been developed to improve the writing of non-native English speakers (NNES), as well as to assist academics and researchers for their publications. However, most of these systems had been developed for certain aspects of academic journal writing, such as organizing references, preventing plagiarism, or finding appropriate collocations. Accordingly, EJP-Write, a Chinese-interfaced writing system for English academic journal writing, was developed based on GBWI to teach and assist journal writing in a user-friendly environment.The present study aimed to investigate the perceived usefulness (content effectiveness) and perceived usability (system functionality) of EJP-Write, and identify other factors that might influence user attitudes and continued usage intention. Data was collected via questionnaire (N = 35) and structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted for fitness estimation on the modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to collect additional information for usefulness and usability evaluation (N = 14). Regarding perceived usefulness, the results show that participants felt the EJP-Write content was useful and effective in teaching genre and move structure because of the aid of various forms of support and examples such as phrase and paragraph templates. Additionally, the learning materials for verb tenses and citation formats were informative and practical for the participants to avoid grammatical and technical errors. However, the move structure provided was limited to the discipline of e-learning and education; thus, move analysis for different fields was suggested. Regarding perceived usability, the citation-related features in EJP-Write were particularly well-regarded. Participants also provided suggestions to improve online editing and outline developing features in the system. Factors found to influence user attitudes, and thus the intention of continued use, were usefulness and usability, while writing anxiety and personalization had less impact.Findings of the quantitative and qualitative data analysis in the study suggest that EJP-Write can play multiple roles inside or outside of the classroom, both as a platform integrating most features essential for journal paper writing, and as a teacher providing guidance and learning materials necessary for this specific genre. It is anticipated that this study will contribute to the knowledge base about both content and interface design for journal paper writing in the discipline of e-learning and education. For program designers of web-based writing tutorials, the involvement of users in the development of move structure could both strengthen various GBWI approaches and solve issues related to disciplinary differences.     

Positive technological and negative pre-test-score effects in a four-year assessment of low socioeconomic status K-8 student learning in computer-based Math and Language Arts courses

Motivated by the Federal Title I program to improve the Math and Language Arts learning of underachieving students of low socioeconomic status, the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) at Stanford University has developed computer-based online Math and Language Arts courses for such students in elementary and middle schools. Using several large student samples, the four-year statistical assessment of state test performance is the focus of this report. The main statistical conclusion is that sustained and careful computer-based work, guided by motivated teachers, can be done by many, when taught on an individualized basis, at their current level of competence. The gains made by individual students are, to a large extent, monotonically increasing in their amount of net correct computer-based course work, and to an even larger extent monotonically decreasing as pre-test scores rise, a result that favors technological support of the more underachieving students.     

The design of a system to support exploratory learning of algebraic generalisation

This paper charts the design and application of a system to support 11–14 year old students’ learning of algebraic generalisation, presenting students with the means to develop their understanding of the meaning of generality, see its power for mathematics and develop algebraic ways of thinking. We focus squarely on design, while taking account of both technical and pedagogical issues and challenges, and provide an account of how we have designed and built a system with a very close fit to our knowledge of students’ difficulties with the subject matter. We report the challenges involved in building a system that is both intelligent and exploratory, a learning environment in which both student and teacher are supported without explicit tutoring.     

The worked-example effect: Not an artefact of lousy control conditions

Recently it has been argued that the worked-example effect, as postulated by Cognitive Load Theory, might only occur when compared to unsupported problem-solving, but not when compared to well-supported or tutored problem-solving as instantiated, for example, in Cognitive Tutors. In two experiments, we compared a standard Cognitive Tutor with a version that was enriched with faded worked examples. In Experiment 1, students in the example condition needed less learning time to acquire a comparable amount of procedural skills and conceptual understanding. In Experiment 2, the efficiency advantage was replicated. In addition, students in the example condition acquired a deeper conceptual understanding. The present findings demonstrate that the worked-example effect is indeed robust and can be found even when compared to well-supported learning by problem-solving.     

Data mining for providing a personalized learning path in creativity: An application of decision trees

Customizing a learning environment to optimize personal learning has recently become a popular trend in e-learning. Because creativity has become an essential skill in the current e-learning epoch, this study aims to develop a personalized creativity learning system (PCLS) that is based on the data mining technique of decision trees to provide personalized learning paths for optimizing the performance of creativity. The PCLS includes a series of creativity tasks as well as a questionnaire regarding several key variables. Ninety-two college students were included in this study to examine the effectiveness of the PCLS. The experimental results show that, when the learning path suggested by a hybrid decision tree is employed, the learners have a 90% probability of obtaining an above-average creativity score, which suggests that the employed data mining technique can be a good vehicle for providing adaptive learning that is related to creativity. Moreover, the findings in this study shed light on what components should be accounted for when designing a personalized creativity learning system as well as how to integrate personalized learning and game-based learning into a creative learning program to maximize learner motivation and learning effects.     

Access to specific declarative knowledge by expert systems: The impact of logic programming

As part of the operation of an Expert System, a deductive component accesses a database of facts to help simulate the behavior of a human expert in a particular problem domain. The nature of this access is examined, and four access strategies are identified. Features of each of these strategies are addressed within the framework of a logic-based deductive component and the relational model of data.     

Adaptive educational hypermedia accommodating learning styles: A content analysis of publications from 2000 to 2011

Implementing instructional interventions to accommodate learner differences has received considerable attention. Among these individual difference variables, the empirical evidence regarding the pedagogical value of learning styles has been questioned, but the research on the issue continues. Recent developments in Web-based implementations have led scholars to reconsider the learning style research in adaptive systems. The current study involved a content analysis of recent studies on adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH) which addressed learning styles. After an extensive search on electronic databases, seventy studies were selected and exposed to a document analysis. Study features were classified under several themes such as the research purposes, methodology, features of adaptive interventions and student modeling, and findings. The analysis revealed that the majority of studies proposed a framework or model for adaptivity whereas few studies addressed the effectiveness of learning style-based AEH. Scales were used for learning style identification more than automatic student modeling. One third of the studies provided a framework without empirical evaluation with students. Findings on concrete learning outcomes were not strong enough; however, several studies revealed that suggested models influenced student satisfaction and success. Current trends, potential research gaps and implications were discussed.     

Two approaches to developing expert systems: A consideration of formal and semi-formal domains

The conventional approach to developing expert systems views the domain of application as being formally defined. This view often leads to practical problems when expert systems are built using this approach. This paper examines the implications and problems of the formal approach to expert system design and proposes an alternative approach based on the concept of semi-formal domains. This approach, which draws on the work of socio-technical information systems, provides guidelines which can be used for the design of successful expert systems.     

Applying learning behavioral Petri nets to the analysis of learning behavior in web-based learning environments

This paper proposes the learning behavioral Petri nets (LBPN) to model learning behavior in web-based environments. Fully useful records of learning behaviors must contain their expended time and corresponding contents. Therefore, the LBPN extends the colored tokens of colored Petri nets to identify learners and learning contents, and raises the time variable to represent diverse learning times for individual learners. To verify the viability of the LBPN, this paper also proposes a LBPN-based learning behavioral model to simulate a situation in which many learners participate in an e-learning course, and then to generate their behavioral patterns. The experimental results illustrated in this paper confirm that (1) the generated behavioral pattern based on the LBPN-based model is very close to actual data, (2) the time and cost spent to verify the effectiveness of an ITS is substantially reduced, (3) adequate testing data for estimating the performance and accuracy of an ITS is easily acquired, and (4) the LBPN-based model can be built to recommend appropriate learning contents and to accomplish adaptive learning.     

The influence of student characteristics on the use of adaptive e-learning material

Adaptive e-learning materials can help teachers to educate heterogeneous student groups. This study provides empirical data about the way academic students differ in their learning when using adaptive e-learning materials. Ninety-four students participated in the study. We determined characteristics in a heterogeneous student group by collecting demographic data and measuring motivation and prior knowledge. We also measured the learning paths students followed and learning strategies they used when working with adaptive e-learning material in a molecular biology course. We then combined these data to study if and how student characteristics relate to the learning paths and strategies they used. We observed that students did follow different learning paths. Gender did not have an effect, but (mainly Dutch) BSc students differed from (international) MSc students in the intrinsic motivation they had and the learning paths and strategies they followed when using the adaptive e-learning material.     

Human factors in information technology: The socio-organisational aspects of expert systems design

This paper looks beyond the mostly technical and business issues that currently inform the design of knowledge-based systems (e.g., expert systems) to point out that there is also a social and organisational (a socio-organisational) dimension to the issues affecting the design decisions of expert systems and other information technologies. It argues that whilst technical and business issues are considered before the design of Expert Systems, that socio-organisational issues determine the acceptance and long-run utility of the technology after it has been implemented. It shows how four issues within the organisation can affect the design or the after-effects of the design and implementation of the technology. It also shows how the four issues can be considered within the structured phases of expert system development.     

The values of college students in business simulation game: A means-end chain approach

Business simulation games (BSGs) enable students to practice making decisions in a virtual environment, accumulate experience in application of strategies, and train themselves in modes of decision-making. This study examines the value sought by players of BSG. In this study, a means-end chain (MEC) model was adopted as the basis, and ladder method soft laddering was used to conduct in-depth interviews with students who had experience in using BSGs. The chain concept of “attribute-consequence-value” was used to understand students’ value cognition structures. Content analysis was used to analyze the attributes-consequences-values for BSGs players, then converted into a Hierarchical Value Map (HVM). The results showed that students consider teamwork and market diversity as the most important attributes, and the consequences of a cooperative approach and market diversity are emotional exchange and multi-thinking, with the ultimate value brought to users by exchanges between teams and constant thinking being interpersonal relationships and a sense of accomplishment.     

On the selection of equity securities: An expert systems methodology and an application on the Athens Stock Exchange

In this article we present an expert systems methodology for supporting decisions that concern the selection of equities, on the basis of financial analysis. The proposed methodology is employed for selecting the attractive equities, through the evaluation of the overall corporate performance of the corresponding firms. The crucial importance issue of the industry/sectoral accounting singularities was strongly taken into account. An elaborate review of coherent research studies is also provided. Finally, the validity of the proposed methodology is tested through a large scale application on the Athens Stock Exchange.