Toward the design of adaptive instructions and helps for knowledge communication with the problem solving monitor ABSYNT

Abstract

For approximately ten years computer aided knowledge communication disappeared from the research scene. Today, it has been reestablished under the abbreviations of ICAI (Intelligent Computer Aided Instruction) and ITS (Intelligent Tutoring Systems) with regular conferences, research journals and textbooks [1,2,3,4,5]. This paper offers contributions to CAI and ICAI in the framework of the problem solving monitor (PSM) ABSYNT. Our system — a special variant of an ITS — is designed with respect to a sequence of programming tasks in the visual functional computer language ABSYNT (ABstract SYNtax Trees). It provides the learner with a friendly environment including a help but no curricular component. First, we show that conventional instructions and helps can be improved by using existing AI methodology, visualization of information and cognitive modelling to make them adaptive to the knowledge state of the user. Second, we demonstrate the improvement of ICAI by an interactive help system which supports planning tasks of the user. It checks hypotheses postulated by the user, and gives feedback concerning imcomplete proposals.