Desmond Bonner

Creating a Team Tutor Using GIFT

With the movement in education towards collaborative learning, it is becoming more important that learners be able to work together in groups and teams. Intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) have been used successfully to teach individuals, but so far only a few ITSs have been used for the purpose of training teams. This is due to the difficulty of creating such systems. An ITS for teams must be able to assess complex interactions between team members (team skills) as well as the way they interact with the system itself (task skills). Assessing team skills can be difficult because they contain social components such as communication and coordination that are not readily quantifiable. This article addresses these difficulties by developing a framework to guide the authoring process for team tutors. The framework is demonstrated using a case study about a particular team tutor that was developed using a military surveillance scenario for teams of two. The Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT) software provided the team tutoring infrastructure for this task. A new software architecture required to support the team tutor is described. This theoretical framework and the lessons learned from its implementation offer conceptual scaffolding for future authors of ITSs.

The Challenges of Building Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Teams

Intelligent Tutoring Systems have been useful for individual instruction and training, but have not been widely created for teams, despite the widespread use of team training and learning in groups. This paper reviews two projects that developed team tutors: the Team Multiple Errands Task (TMET) and the Recon Task developed using the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT). Specifically, this paper 1) analyzes why team tasks have significantly more complexity than an individual task, 2) describes the two team-based platforms for team research, and 3) explores the complexities of team tutor authoring. Results include a recommended process for authoring a team intelligent tutoring system based on our lessons learned that highlights the differences between tutors for individuals and team tutors.

The Team Multiple Errands Test: A Platform to Evaluate Distributed Teams

Teams have the ability to achieve goals that are unobtainable by individuals alone. However, there is little agreement on a standard model for researching the performance of distributed teams. Initial pilot results suggest that the Multiple Errands Test (MET), when adapted to a team in a virtual environment, is a platform for evaluating the impact of feedback characteristics. To demonstrate the potential of the Team MET as a platform for future team research in the broader CSCW community, an example study is described in which team members are given feedback in one of four conditions: individual private, team private, individual public, and team public.

Developing Game-Based Learning Requirements to Increase Female Middle School Students Interest in Computer Science

This paper presents work on the development of a Game-Based Learning (GBL) application’s requirements for female middle school students which teaches fundamental concepts of programming. Currently, there are not enough students who desire to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) career fields. Additionally, female are underrepresented in STEM fields, and increased female participation may help partially address this gap. GBL was used to encourage middle school student interest in STEM by allowing them to practice computer science concepts in engaging contexts outside the classroom. The game Sorceress of Seasons was built to teach fundamental programming concepts, and was based on six requirements specifically targeted at female middle school students. The game was tested with 15 middle school-aged students. Playing the game had a positive effect on students’ attitudes towards programming, with female students reporting a larger increase in computer science interest than males when compared with their previous attitudes. The results suggest that the game may be successful in increasing interest in STEM in these students. The requirements developed to guide the design of the game played a role in the game’s effectiveness, and may be useful when developing an educational tool targeting female STEM interest.

Operationalizing the C’s of Teamwork in an Intelligent Tutoring System

One of the difficulties in creating a team-focused intelligent tutoring system (ITS) is defining the measures used to assess the team’s performance. While the team research literature offers nine C’s of teamwork to consider, e.g., cooperation, communication, etc., it can also be difficult to implement these in real-world practice. This paper reviews the approach used in three team ITSs in which the C’s were used, offering guidance for future implementation of team tutors.