Abstract
In this work, we compared two hint-level instructional strategies, minimum scaffolding vs. maximum scaffolding, in the context of conversational intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs). The two strategies are called policies because they have a clear bias, as detailed in the paper. To this end, we conducted a randomized controlled trial experiment with two conditions corresponding to two versions of the same underlying state-of-the-art conversational ITS, i.e. DeepTutor. Each version implemented one of the two hint-level strategies. Experimental data analysis revealed that pre-post learning gains were significant in both conditions. We also learned that, in general, students need more than just a minimally informative hint in order to infer the next steps in the solution to a challenging problem; this is the case in the context of a problem selection strategy that picks challenging problems for students to work on.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aleven V., Popescu, O., & Koedinger, K. R. (2001). Towards Tutorial Dialog to Support Self-Explanation: Adding Natural Language Understanding to a Cognitive Tutor. In J. D. Moore, C. L. Redfield, & W. L. Johnson (Eds.), Proceedings of AI-ED 2001 (pp. 246-255). Amsterdam, IOS Press
Alonzo, A. C., & Steedle, J. T. (2009). Developing and assessing a force and motion learning progression. Science Education, 93, 389-421.
Boyer, K.E., Phillips, R., Ingram, A., Ha, E.Y., Wallis, M.D., Vouk, M.A., & Lester, J.C. (2011). The International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (IJAIED), Vol. 21 No. 1, 2011, 65-81.
Cade, W., Copeland, J., Person, N., & D’Mello, S. (2008). Dialog modes in expert tutoring. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Montreal, Canada, 470-479.
Chi, M. T., Siler, S. A., Jeong, H., Yamauchi, T., and Hausmann, R. G. (2001). Learning from human tutoring. Cognitive Science, 25 (2001) 471–533.
Chi, M., VanLehn, K., Litman, D. and Jordan, P. (2011). Empirically evaluating the application of reinforcement learning to the induction of effective and adaptive pedagogical strategies. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction. Special Issue on Data Mining for Personalized Educational Systems. Vol. 21, Numbers 1-2, pgs 137-180.
Di Eugenio, B., Kershaw, T. C., Lu, X., Corrigan-Halpern, A., and Ohlsson, S. (2006). Toward a computational model of expert tutoring: a first report. The 19th International conference of Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society. (2006). pp. 503–508.
Doignon, J.P. and Falmagne, J.C. (1999), A Practical Application: The Aleks System, Knowledge Spaces, Berlin, Heidelberg, and New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 9–10.
Graesser, A. C.; VanLehn, K.; Rose, C. P.; Jordan, P.; and Harter, D. (2001). Intelligent tutoring systems with conversational dialogue. AI Magazine, 22(4), 39-41.
Graesser, A. C., D’Mello, S. K., and Person, N., (2009). Meta-knowledge in tutoring. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky, & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Metacognition in educational theory and practice (pp. 361-412). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hestenes, D., Wells, M., and Swackhamer, G. (1992). “Force concept inventory,” Phys. Teach. 30, 141-158 (1992).
Jeong, H., Gupta, A., Roscoe, R., Wagster, J., Biswas, G., & Schwartz, D. (2008). Using hidden markov models to characterize student behaviors in learning-by-teaching environments. In Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Vol. 5091. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (pp. 614-625). Montreal, Canada: Springer.
Lehman, B., D’Mello, S., Cade, W., & Person, K. (2012). How Do They Do It? Investigating Dialogue Moves within Dialogue Modes in Expert Human Tutoring. In. S. A. Cerri, & B. Clancey (Eds.), Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS 2012) (pp. 560-565). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Rowe, J., Mott, B., McQuiggan, S., Robison, J., Lee, S., and Lester, J. (2009) Crystal Island: A Narrative-Centered Learning Environment for Eighth Grade Microbiology. In Proceedings of the AIED’09 Workshop on Intelligent Educational Games, Brighton, UK, pp. 11-20, 2009.
Rus, V., D’Mello, S., Hu, X., & Graesser, A.C. (2013). Recent Advances in Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems, AI Magazine, 34(3):42-54.
Rus, V., Graesser, A.C., & Conley, M. (2014). The DENDROGRAM Model of Instruction, Design Recommendations for Adaptive Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Adaptive Instructional Strategies (Volume 2), (Eds. Sottilare, R.), Army Research Lab.
Rus, V., Stefanescu, D., Baggett, W., Niraula, N., Franceschetti, D., & Graesser, A.C. (2014). Macro-adaptation in Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Matters, The 12th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, June 5-9, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Rus, V., Maharjan, N., & Banjade, R. (2015). Unsupervised Discovery of Tutorial Dialogue Modes in Human-to-Human Tutorial Data, Proceedings of the Third Annual GIFT Users Symposium (Eds. Sottilare, R. and Sinatra, A.M.), Army Research Lab, June 2015, pp. 63-80.
VanLehn, K., Jordan, P., and Litman, D. (2007). Developing pedagogically effective tutorial dialogue tactics: Experiments and a testbed, Proceedings of SLaTE Workshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education (ISCA Tutorial and Research Workshop).
VanLehn, K. (2011). The Relative Effectiveness of Human Tutoring, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, and Other Tutoring Systems, Educational Psychologist, 46:4, 197-221.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this paper
Cite this paper
Rus, V., Banjade, R., Niraula, N., Gire, E., Franceschetti, D. (2017). A Study On Two Hint-level Policies in Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems. In: Popescu, E., et al. Innovations in Smart Learning. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2419-1_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2419-1_24
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2418-4
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2419-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)