Discusses pedagogical issues for intelligent agents to successfully serve as mentors for educational purposes. Examines broader issues about the nature or persona necessary for an intelligent agent as mentor, incorporating usability and human-computer interaction issues such as the anthropomorphic qualities of the agent and the social relationship…

Discusses the need to improve the design of intelligent tutoring systems for young children and teenagers so they will develop information-processing skills and enrich their cognitive-emotional sphere. Gives an example of an experimental group in Moscow studying English as a second language. (LRW)

This paper is grounded in a large-scale, nine-year research project intended to design, develop, evaluate, and transfer intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) to public schools and workforce development settings. Discussion includes the implementation model; roles and responsibilities of the project team; evaluation results of the tutoring systems;…

A model of expert tutors' knowledge of applied statistics was used to create a web-based computer coach that emulates human tutoring. Cognitive assessments are obtained from records of students' actions as, with the computer tutor's help, they learn to apply components of procedural knowledge required to solve problems. Learning is evaluated by…

Reviews relevant professional literature concerning hypermedia environments and adaptive instruction for online learning for distance education and continuing education. Highlights include aptitude-treatment interaction; cognitive processes; navigational paths; log files; and intelligent tutors. Contains 125 references. (LRW)

This article discusses design and usability issues pertaining to context-sensitive "help" in computer-assisted language learning (CALL). As part of the discussion, we present a study in which we examined the effects of three independent factors on student usage of context-sensitive "help": feedback, exercise type, and language proficiency. Forty…

Having students express their understanding of difficult, new material in their own words is an effective method to deepen their comprehension and learning. Summary Street[R] is a computer tutor that offers a supportive context for students to practice this activity by means of summary writing, guiding them through successive cycles of revising…

While there has been a significant amount of research on technical issues regarding the development of agent-based learning environments (e.g., see the special issue of Journal of "Interactive Learning Research," 10(3/4)), there is less information regarding cognitive foundations for these environments. The management of control is a prime issue…

The paper outlines a new paradigm and its underlying rationales for implementing networked learning environments that is emerging from new technologies such as multi-user platform, virtual worlds, virtual learning community, and intelligent agents. The proposed paradigm of the networked learning environments is described as inhabited virtual…

We present COLLECT-UML, a constraint-based intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that teaches object-oriented analysis and design using Unified Modelling Language (UML). UML is easily the most popular object-oriented modelling technology in current practice. While teaching how to design UML class diagrams, COLLECT-UML also provides feedback on…

The complementary, but distinct, approaches of computer assisted instruction (CAI) and intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) are first summarized, then followed by a collection of papers discussing shared issues toward which these complementary approaches are directed. The purpose of this book is to foster a mutual understanding of shared issues and…

PROJECTTUTOR is an intelligent tutoring system that enhances conventional classroom instruction by teaching problem solving in project planning. The domain knowledge covered by the expert module is divided into three functions. Structural analysis, identifies the activities that make up the project, time analysis, computes the earliest and latest…

With the release of ShockWave, MacroMedia Director animations can now be incorporated directly into Web pages to provide high quality animation and interactivity, to support, for example, tutorial style questions and instantaneous feedback. This paper looks at the application of this technique in the translation of a traditional computer-based…

Interpreting information regarding health risks, crime statistics, and government polls requires some ability to use and interpret probabilities. Studies have shown that even after training or coursework in probability and statistics, people still have many difficulties solving probability problems. The thesis of this document is that helping…

A cognitive demands analysis of a learning technology, a term that includes the hardware and the computer software products that form learning environments, attempts to describe the types of cognitive learning expected of the individual by the technology. This paper explores the context of cognitive learning, suggesting five families of cognitive…