Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 14.1
Example screenshot of the iSTART Introduction Module. The teacher agent, Julie, is
providing an overview of the strategies to be learned to the student agents, Sheila and Mike
Using dialogue allowed us to break up the material into bite-sized units and at the
same time simulate the learning process via the two student agents.
The introduction module uses a classroom-like discussion that incorporates
examples of both good and poor performances to model each of the target strate-
gies. The interaction between the agents is modeled after the “lecture” portion from
SERT, and thus it still exemplifies the active processing that a student should use
when they provide their own self-explanations. During the interaction, the teacher
agent describes a strategy and the student agents ask questions and provide vari-
ous examples of that strategy (some good and some bad examples). The strategies
included in this introduction module are the same as those within SERT, with one
exception. In iSTART, the
logical inferences
strategy was combined within the
elaboration
strategy as part of using world knowledge and common sense. This
change was implemented because the distinction between elaboration using com-
mon knowledge (i.e., logic) and domain knowledge (i.e., elaboration) was confusing
to students. Thus, the strategies used within iSTART are as follows:
comprehension
monitoring
,
paraphrasing
,
prediction
,
bridging
, and
elaboration.
Formative quizzes were also incorporated after each of the strategies. After intro-
ducing a strategy, another agent (Merlin) asks a short series of questions that assess
how well the student understood the strategy that had just been covered. The quizzes
