Increasingly, machine learning is entertained as a mechanism for improving the efficiency of planning systems. Research in this area has generated an impressive battery of techniques and a growing body of empirical successes. Unfortunately the formal properties of these systems are not well understood. This is highlighted by a growing corpus of…

Overview of expert systems (intelligent computer applications that use data, a knowledge base, and a control mechanism to solve problems) highlights history of expert systems; construction (human element, knowledge acquisition and learning, system architecture); limitations; issues and trends; and implications for information science. Thirty-three…

Provides a summary of a series of research and development projects which investigated the reasons for failure in educational technology-based systems of instruction. Develops a new approach to the design of such systems and their subsequent implementation and control. A 17-item bibliography is included. (Author/CHC)

The PRODIGY/EBL system [Minton88] was one of the first works to directly attack the problem of strategy utility. The problem of finding effective strategies was reduced to the problem of finding effective rules. However, this paper illustrates limitations of the approach. There are two basic difficulties. The first arises from the fact that the…

In machine learning there is considerable interest in techniques which improve planning ability. Initial investigations have identified a wide variety of techniques to address this issue. Progress has been hampered by the utility problem, a basic tradeoff between the benefit of learned knowledge and the cost to locate and apply relevant knowledge.…

Describes an advice-giving computer system being developed for genetics education called MENDEL that is based on research in learning, genetics problem solving, and expert systems. The value of MENDEL as a design tool and the tutorial function are stressed. Hypothesis testing, graphics, and experiential learning are also discussed. (Author/LRW)