Mehdi Najjar

A Cognitive and Logic Based Model for Building Glass-Box Learning Objects

In the field of e-learning, a popular solution to make teaching material reusable is to represent it as learning object (LO). However, building better adaptive educational software also takes an explicit model of the learner’s cognitive process related to LOs. This paper presents a three layers model that explicitly connect the description of learners’ cognitive processes to LOs. The first layer describes the knowledge from a logical and ontological perspective. The second describes cognitive processes. The third builds LOs upon the two first layers. The proposed model has been successfully implemented in an intelligent tutoring system for teaching Boolean reduction that provides highly tailored instruction thanks to the model.

Using human memory structures to model knowledge within algebra virtual laboratory

In this paper we describe our knowledge representation model embodied within an algebra virtual laboratory dedicated to Boolean reduction problem solving. The model is inspired by psychology theories that explain the human cognitive activity in terms of memory subsystems and their processes. During the problem solving, complex knowledge entities, built from primitive units of knowledge, are dynamically combined to represent the learner behavior. This has the advantage to offer a closely fine prediction of the mastery degree and the acquisition level of each element of the taught knowledge.

A computational cognitive-based approach to represent knowledge within intelligent tutoring systems

We present some characteristics of a new computational model to represent knowledge within intelligent tutoring systems. This model is inspired (1) by research in artificial intelligence on modelling, structuring and organising knowledge and (2) by theories of cognitive psychology which explain the human cognitive activity in terms of memory subsystems and their processes. Here, we describe one originality of our novel approach: the parsimonious use of cognitive structures suggested by psychology to encode the knowledge to be taught. Primitive units of semantic and procedural knowledge, chosen with a small level of granularity, are used to build complex knowledge entities which are dynamically combined in order to represent the learner cognitive activity. Traces of this activity are used as episodic knowledge which is specific to each learner. Episodic knowledge analysis allows to retrieve semantic and procedural knowledge and to establish their acquisition level in function of their context of usage.

Assisting elders via dynamic multi-tasks planning: a Markov decision processes based approach

This paper presents a novel planning approach to assist elders with memory deficit to carry out complex daily activities. The proposed planner uses Markov decision processes (MDPs) in dynamic multi-tasks planning to help memory-impaired elders achieving and finalising their activities of daily living (ADLs) already undertaken. The article also reports empirical results of the experimental validation and discusses distinctions between our approach and related works.

On Scaffolding Adaptive Teaching Prompts Within Virtual Labs

Despite a growing development of virtual laboratories which use the advantages of multimedia and Internet for distance education, learning by means of such tutorial tools would be more effective if they were specifically tailored to each student needs. The virtual teaching process would be well adapted if an artificial tutor can identify the correct acquired knowledge, recognise the erroneous learner’s knowledge and suggest a suitable sequence of pedagogical activities to improve the level of the student. This paper proposes a knowledge representation model which judiciously serves the remediation process to students’ errors during e-learning activities. The model is inspired by recent researches on computational representation of the knowledge and by cognitive psychology theories that offer a refined modelling of the human learning processes. Experimental results, obtained via practical tests, show that the knowledge representation and remediation approach facilitates the planning of tailored sequences of feedbacks that considerably help the learner.

DOKGETT - an authoring tool for cognitive model-based generation of the knowledge

In this paper we present an authoring tool milieu that permits modelling graphically any subject-matter domain knowledge and transposing it automatically into related XML files. Generated contents serve as a tutor reasoning support when interacting with students engaged in learning activities through virtual learning environments.

DEEPKOVER-AN ADAPTIVE ARTFUL INTELLIGENT ASSISTANCE SYSTEM FOR COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED PEOPLE

This article presents a novel modular adaptive artful intelligent assistance system for cognitively and/or memory impaired people engaged in the realisation of their activities of daily living (ADLs). The goal of this assistance system is to help disabled persons moving/evolving within a controlled environment in order to provide logistic support in achieving their ADLs. Empirical results of practical tests are presented and interpreted. Some deductions about the key features that represent originalities of the assistance system are drawn and future works are announced.

AURELLIO: A Cognitive Computational Knowledge Representation Theory

Encouraging results of the last few years in the field of knowledge representation within virtual learning environments confirm that artificial intelligence research in this topic finds it very beneficial to integrate the knowledge that psychological research has accumulated on understanding the cognitive mechanism of human learning and all the positive results obtained in computational modeling theories. This article introduces a novel cognitive and computational knowledge representation approach inspired by cognitive theories that explain the human cognitive activity in terms of memory subsystems and their processes, and whose aim is to suggest formal computational models of knowledge that offer efficient and expressive representation structures for virtual learning. Practical studies both contribute to validate the novel approach and permit to draw general conclusions.

Combining the learning objects paradigm with cognitive modelling theories a novel approach for knowledge engineering

A major challenge in the field of e-learning is to make teaching material reusable. A solution that became widely acknowledged is the learning object approach, and revolves about a set of principles that facilitate the reuse and the distribution of knowledge intended for teaching. Moreover, to build virtual learning environments that do not require the attendance of human teachers and that is able to provide highly tailored instruction, it is necessary to model the cognitive processes of the learner by means of cognitive models. However, these models often avoid the issues of knowledge engineering. Especially, knowledge reuse and knowledge distribution. This article proposes to unify principles of the cognitive modelling theories and those of the learning objects approach, in order to benefit from the advantages of each

Recalling Recollections according to Temporal Contexts Applying a Novel Cognitive Knowledge Representation Approach

In an experiment whose purpose is to model the interruptions phenomenon and its impact on tasks achievement, we show that in some cases, such as temporarily interrupted realisations of cooking recipes, the popular ACT-R knowledge representation approach cannot offer a model that is highly close to the natural human behaviour. We emphasize the incapacity of ACT-R to reproduce correctly the recall of information in a temporal context to achieve properly the action plan for a recipe realisation after a momentarily interruption. We propose an alternative knowledge representation theory, which uses additional knowledge structures that are inspired from the human memory, to faithfully reproduce a usual human behaviour in resuming correctly suspended activities