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Rose garden promises of intelligent tutoring systems: Blossom or thornIntelligent tutoring systems (ITS) have been in existence for over a decade. However, few controlled evaluation studies have been conducted comparing the effectiveness of these systems to more traditional instruction methods. Two main promises of ITSs are examined: (1) Engender more effective and efficient learning in relation to traditional formats; and (2) Reduce the range of learning outcome measures where a majority of individuals are elevated to high performance levels. Bloom (1984) has referred to these as the two sigma problem; to achieve two standard deviation improvements with tutoring over traditional instruction methods. Four ITSs are discussed in relation to the two promises. These tutors have undergone systematic, controlled evaluations: (1) The LISP tutor (Anderson Farrell and Sauers, 1984); (2) Smithtown (Shute and Glaser, in press); (3) Sherlock (Lesgold, Lajoie, Bunzo and Eggan, 1990); and (4) The Pascal ITS (Bonar, Cunningham, Beatty and Well, 1988). Results show that these four tutors do accelerate learning with no degradation in final outcome. Suggestions for improvements to the design and evaluation of ITSs are discussed.
Document ID
19910011382
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Shute, Valerie J.
(Air Force Human Resources Lab. Brooks AFB, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: NASA, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Fourth Annual Workshop on Space Operations Applications and Research (SOAR 90)
Subject Category
Cybernetics
Accession Number
91N20695
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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