The “Blakkat” Software for Tagging Online Language Learner Corpora: Issues in SLA Assessment and R
This paper aims at showing, through a case study, one possible application of Computer Learner Corpus (CLC) to Network Based Language Teaching (NBLT). Research has shown how CLC can be used both for Second Language Acquisiton (SLA) research and Foreign Language Teaching (FLT), especially if they are tagged, that is, if interpretative annotations are added to the corpus (e.g. error annotations). Online learning generally takes place inside virtual environments where learners exchange mainly writt
Mainstreaming AIED into Education?
What will Education look like in 2010, and what will be its problems? Will AIED have anything substantial to offer, and what can we do to maximise its contributions? We argue that Education is, for understandable reasons, the discipline of classroom teaching and learning, with some attention paid to learning by individuals but very little indeed to teaching that is effective in a one-to-one situation. Further, it is not strong in formulating precise theories of learning and teaching. It is there
ELM-ART: An Adaptive Versatile System for Web-based Instruction
This paper discusses the problems of developing versatile adaptive and intelligent learning systems that can be used in the context of practical Web-based education. We argue that versatility is an important feature of successful Web-based education systems. We introduce ELM-ART, an intelligent interactive educational system to support learning programming in LISP. ELM-ART provides all learning material online in the form of an adaptive interactive textbook. Using a combination of an overlay mod
Co-Lab: Research and development of an online learning environment for collaborative discovery learn
There are many design challenges which must be addressed in the development of collaborative scientific discovery learning environments. This paper presents an overview of how these challenges were addressed within Co-Lab, a web-based learning environment in which groups of learners can experiment through simulations and remote laboratories, and express acquired understanding in a runnable computer model. Co-LabÂ’s architecture is introduced and explicated from the perspective of addressing typi
Towards automatic glossarization: automatically constructing and administering vocabulary assistance
We address an important problem with a novel approach: helping children learn words during computer-assisted oral reading. We build on Project LISTEN's Reading Tutor, which is a computer program that adapts automatic speech recognition to listen to children read aloud, and helps them learn to read (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen). In this paper, we focus on the problem of vocabulary acquisition. To learn a word from reading with the Reading Tutor, students must first encounter the word and then l
Supporting Social Interaction in an Intelligent Collaborative Learning System
Students learning effectively in groups encourage each other to ask questions, explain and justify their opinions, articulate their reasoning, and elaborate and reflect upon their knowledge. The benefits of collaborative learning, however, are only achieved by active, well-functioning teams. This paper presents a model of collaborative learning designed to help an intelligent collaborative learning system identify and target group interaction problem areas. The model describes potential indicato
ML Tutor: An Application of Machine Learning Algorithms for an Adaptive Web-based Information System
One problem that commonly faces hypertext users, particularly in educational situations, is the difficulty of identifying pages of information most relevant to their current goals or interests. In this paper, we discuss the technical feasibility and the utility of applying machine learning algorithms to generate personalised adaptation on the basis of a userÕs browsing history in hypertext, without additional input from the user. In order to investigate the viability of this approach, we develo
Adaptive and Intelligent Web-based Educational Systems
daptive and intelligent Web-based educational systems (AIWBES) provide an alternative to the traditional “just-put-it-on-the-Web” approach in the development of Web-based educational courseware (Brusilovsky & Miller, 2001). AIWBES attempt to be more adaptive by building a model of the goals, preferences and knowledge of each individual student and using this model throughout the interaction with the student in order to adapt to the needs of that student. They also attempt to be more intelligen
MArCo: Building an Artificial Conflict Mediator to Support Group Planning Interactions
The emphasis on building co-operative/collaborative environments has brought out the matter of group interactions. This, in its turn, has highlighted the issue of conflicts, inherent to group problem solving. If well employed, conflicts can act as triggers of cognitive changes, and thus help to refine the group's solution to the task. In this paper, we present a computational framework for detecting and mediating Meta-Cognitive conflicts. The theoretical framework presented here enables a comput
Going Beyond the Problem Given: How Human Tutors Use Post-Solution Discussions to Support Transfer
Two studies investigated the role and effectiveness of post-solution, reflective dialogues in physics tutorials. The first study investigated the instructional roles of post-solution discussions, their relationship to problem-solving discussions, and features that predict learning. Seven tutors individually guided 15 students as they worked on problems in the Andes physics tutoring system. Tutors adapted the post-solution discussions to students' ability levels and their performance on the curre
STyLE-OLM: Interactive Open Learner Modelling
here is a strong argument in Artificial Intelligence in Education which advocates that computer-based learning systems need to adapt to the needs of learners if they are to provide for effective personalised instruction (Self, 1999a). Diagnosing a learner's cognitive capacity is a crucial issue in building adaptive systems. We have explored an interactive open learner modelling (IOLM) approach which conceives diagnosis as an interactive process involving both a computer system and a learner that
Synchronous computer mediated collaborative activities among collocated students: Conditions that ma
Synchronous collaborative activities are usually studied in conditions where teachers and students are physically separated. Is there any possibility to apply these activities when all participants are collocated? Does this collocated collaboration setting seems meaningful and for what reasons? Is the quality of learning and teaching process satisfactory high? Under what conditions? The present research explores the previous questions. More
specifically, it explores synchronous computer mediated
Confronting ideas in collaborative scientific discovery learning
This study investigated how collaborative knowledge construction within a scientific discovery (or inquiry)learning environment can be assisted with tools that aim to support studentsÂ’ proposition generation and testing
processes. Sixty-six fourth year pre-university education students participated in a kinematics learning task. The instructional goal of the learning activity was to develop studentsÂ’ understanding of one dimensional kinematics. All students completed a proposition test in whic
Student Modelling based on Belief Networks
Belief networks provide an important way to represent and reason about uncertainty – significant factors for modelling students. These networks provide a way of structuring such models, and allow a system to use a systematic approach when gathering information about the scope of the student’s knowledge. This work also provides a theoretically-sound way to update the student model, based on the concept of a dynamic belief network. The relationship to related research is discussed. Finally, the
Using just-in-time information to support scientific discovery learning about geometrical optics in
Many problems that learners regularly encounter during discovery learning with computer-based simulations have been identified. A number of studies have examined different ways of support for discovery learning by facilitating the learning process. This study examines the effect of facilitating access to prior knowledge through just-in-time information. It is expected that access to just-in-time information will foster learning but will not interfere with it. To test these hypotheses, an experim
An Algebra Subsystem for Diagnosing Students' Input in a Physics Tutoring System
To help a student in an introductory physics course do quantitative homework problems, an intelligent tutoring system must determine information of an algebraic nature. This paper describes a subsystem which resolves such questions for Andes2. The capabilities of the subsystem would be useful for any ITS which deals with problems involving complex systems of equations. This subsystem is capable of 1) solving the systems of equations at the level of introductory physics problems, 2) checking the
The Logic-ITA in the classroom: a medium scale experiment
This paper presents the experiment and consequent evaluation of introducing the Logic-ITA in a second year tertiary undergraduate class. The Logic-ITA is a web-based Intelligent Teaching Assistant system, aimed at alleviating some of the problems caused by large classes or distance learning. Its domain of application is the construction of formal proofs in logic. The system acts as an intermediary between teacher and students: on one hand, it provides students with an environment to practice for
Un dispositif web pour l'enseignement des mathématiques à l'université : quels impacts sur la per
De nombreuses universités en France ont créé des sites Web pédagogiques avec l'objectif de moderniser leur pédagogie et motiver les étudiants. Les étudiants apprennent-ils mieux avec ces dispositifs ? Sont-ils plus satisfaits et motivés pour apprendre ? Nous avons réalisé une étude expérimentale pour évaluer l'apport pédagogique d'un site Web lors de la réalisation de séances de TD en mathématiques pour les sciences de la vie. Contrairement à nos attentes, mais en accord avec d
Une expérience de construction de cartes conceptuelles dans un contexte de téléapprentissage univ
Nous décrivons une expérimentation de construction de cartes conceptuelles par des étudiants adultes dans un cours universitaire en sciences cognitives diffusé en ligne dans un contexte de formation à distance. Chaque étudiant est invité à élaborer une carte conceptuelle après lecture de textes. Les cartes conceptuelles sont réalisées à l'aide du logiciel MOT, permettant une représentation graphique des connaissances selon une technique de modélisation par objets typés. Les étud
Learning Design Repositories – Structure Ontology and Processes
We summarize here the results of a project called IDLD: Implementation and Deployment of the Learning Design specification. The main product of the IDLD project is a portal that provides a suite of tools and methodological aids to help build IMS-LD compliant learning designs. In this paper, we focus on a practical approach to build and extend a repository of learning designs. We present a more specific process where tools in the portal serve to extend the repository by building LD patterns extra
