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An Approach to Designing and Implementing Intelligent Tutors in Immersive Virtual Environments

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Abstract

This paper discusses the issues in designing intelligent tutors, and presents an intelligent tutoring system developed for an educational bioscience game, called Virtual Cell, which is an immersive 3-dimensional environment that helps students learn Cellular Biology. A comprehensive and adaptable goal system capable of meeting the requirements of students with different knowledge levels is proposed. Our solution is characterized by: (1) supporting multi-user collaborations and competitive play; (2) leveraging novel data mining techniques specifically tailored to meet our needs; and (3) incorporating mini-games as complementary tutoring resources. The overarching aim is to make informed tutoring decisions, and improve student learning and efficiency, as they work through each module in the game.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH Award #R44RR024779. The content is the responsibility of the authors, and not the official views of the National Center for Research Resources or the National Institutes of Health. Special thanks to Dr. Hyunsook Do for her participation in software testing and the Crushinator project and to Katy Cox for 3D modelling and screen captures.

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Correspondence to Peng Yan .

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Yan, P. et al. (2016). An Approach to Designing and Implementing Intelligent Tutors in Immersive Virtual Environments. In: Spector, J., Ifenthaler, D., Sampson, D., Isaias, P. (eds) Competencies in Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership in the Digital Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30295-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30295-9_20

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