Jacqueline Bourdeau

Advances in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

The idea for this book on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) was sparked by the success of the ITS08 international conference. The number of presentations and their quality bore witness to the vitality and maturity of the field, and the enthusiasm of the participants held out a promise of sustainability and innovative research. Long life to ITS research! The book is divided into five parts. The introductory chapters to these parts, which summarize foundations, developments, strengths and weaknesses in each of the areas covered, are addressed to all readers. For those who want more in-depth knowledge, we give the floor to researchers who present their work, their results, and their view of what the future holds. It is our hope that all readers will find the book informative and thought-provoking.

Collaborative Ontological Engineering of Instructional Design Knowledge for an ITS Authoring Environment

Intelligence in an ITS authoring system could rely on content-based engineering of instructional design (ID) knowledge, i.e. based on principles such as conceptualization, standardization and theory-awareness. An ontology-based architecture with appropriate ontologies has been proposed for a theory-aware ITS authoring system. Ontological engineering (OE) as a collaborative process jointly conducted by an OE expert and an ID expert is presented as a step on a roadmap towards a theory-aware ITS authoring system.

Ontological support for a theory-eclectic approach to instructional and learning design

Enhancement of learning with technology has been accelerating thanks to the advancement of information technology (IT) and the development of IT standards for learning. The purpose of this study is to build a still more advanced engineering infrastructure of utilization of instructional and learning theories for practitioners in line with such development. This paper discusses a modeling framework for instructional and learning theories based on ontological engineering and the compliance of IMS LD to theoretical knowledge.

Modeling Tutoring Knowledge

This chapter introduces Part II on modeling tutoring knowledge in ITS research. Starting with its origin and with a characterization of tutoring, it proposes a general definition of tutoring, and a description of tutoring functions, variables, and interactions. The Interaction Hypothesis is presented and discussed, followed by the development of the tutorial component of ITSs, and their evaluation. New challenges are described, such as integrating the emotional states of the learner. Perspectives of opening the Tutoring Model and of equipping it with social intelligence are also presented.

Structurization of Learning/Instructional Design Knowledge for Theory-Aware Authoring Systems

Currently, there are little guidelines on building quality standard-compliant learning courses. Although educational theories can be guidelines, there are difficulties in the practical use. An approach to the problem is to build a theory-aware and standard-compliant authoring system based on an ontology that establishes a multi-paradigm conceptual basis for learning/instructional theories. This paper discusses the feasibility of building such an ontology, as well as the functionality of a theory-aware authoring tool based on it.

Introduction: What Are Intelligent Tutoring Systems, and Why This Book?

This introductory chapter opens the doors to the field of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) and ITS research. A historical perspective provides insight into the genesis of the field, which is a prerequisite for understanding the recent advances presented in the book. Challenges specific to the field are introduced, and the community and its dynamics are described. The chapter ends with a presentation of the book’s contents and organization.

Selecting Theories in an Ontology-Based ITS Authoring Environment

This paper introduces the rationale for concrete situations in the authoring process that can exploit a theory-aware Authoring Environment. It illustrates how Ontological Engineering (OE) can be instrumental in representing the declarative knowledge needed, and how an added value in terms of intelligence can be expected for both authoring and for learning environments.

Ontology-Based Formal Modeling of the Pedagogical World: Tutor Modeling

This chapter discusses an ontological approach to tutoring actions design as a special case of target-world modeling. Although a lot of research on the learner model has been done to improve the adaptivity of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), the modeling of tutoring actions has not been sufficiently investigated. The authors have been performing ontological modeling of learning/instructional theories to remedy this situation. Intelligent tutoring systems must have a good number of primitive actions to generate intelligent actions. Paying close attention to the importance of modeling tutoring actions, we have developed an ontology of learning/instructional theories, named OMNIBUS, in the ITS domain. Drawing on our long experience in ontological engineering research, this chapter discusses the modeling of tutoring actions as well as target-world modeling per se, using an example of learning/instructional actions from the OMNIBUS/SMARTIES project.

Building Intelligent Tutoring Systems: An Overview

This chapter addresses the challenge of building or authoring an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS), along with the problems that have arisen and been dealt with, and the solutions that have been tested. We begin by clarifying what building an ITS entails, and then position today’s systems in the overall historical context of ITS research. The chapter concludes with a series of open questions and an introduction to the other chapters in this part of the book.

Toward a Learning/Instruction Process Model for Facilitating the Instructional Design Cycle

Many instructional design models have been proposed and their benefits are evident. However, there is lack of a common and formal notation to describe the product of the design. This causes difficulty in evaluating the product (the course) in the development. To eliminate the difficulty, we need a formal framework which has enough semantics for keeping the consistency of the product. Thus, this work aims at proposing a unified modeling framework for learning and instruction based on ontologies that has the potential to support some phases of instructional design. Furthermore, we give an example of how one-to-one instruction and collaborative learning are modeled on the proposed framework.