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Using the Student Model to Control Problem Difficulty

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User Modeling

Part of the book series: International Centre for Mechanical Sciences ((CISM,volume 383))

Abstract

We have created a student model which dynamically collects information about a student’s problem solving ability, acquisition of new topics and retention of earlier topics. This information is provided to the tutor and used to generate new problems at the appropriate level of difficulty and to provide customized hints and help. Formative evaluation of the tutor with 20 students provides evidence that the student model constructs problems at the correct level of difficulty. The problem generation technique is extensible for use in other problem-based domains. This paper describes the design and implementation of the student model and illustrates how the tutor adjusts the difficulty of a problem based on the student model.

The work is supported through the National Science Foundation, under contract HRD-95555737. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Wien

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Beck, J., Stern, M., Woolf, B.P. (1997). Using the Student Model to Control Problem Difficulty. In: Jameson, A., Paris, C., Tasso, C. (eds) User Modeling. International Centre for Mechanical Sciences, vol 383. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-2670-7_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-2670-7_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-211-82906-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-2670-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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