Adapting learner evaluation by plans

Abstract

State of the art intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) provide ample opportunity for adaptability. Typically, they adapt single pages and contents to the learner's knowledge level and evaluate the learner based on his past and current behavior. However, to decide whether a learner behaves in a coherent manner, the learning system requires some means for anticipating the learner's goals and intentions. Thus, not only the structure of the tutoring process, but also the evaluation strategy should be adaptive. The ITS PLAIT reasons about and evaluates the learner's behavior according to a plan adapted for that purpose. To facilitate the adaptation, the plan is structured into a three-layered hierarchy. The topmost layer reflects the teaching objectives suggested by pedagogy and the psychology of learning; the middle one embeds domain-dependent refinement. The third layer represents the steps the learner has taken and should optimally take. © 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.