Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Ill-Defined Domains - Philippe ...

Two Approaches for Providing Adaptive Support 6
support scenario, after students created a post on the discussion board, they submitted
it to the system. The support system ran the analysis module to determine where the
post fell along each of the three dimensions. It then followed the decision tree in Figure
1 to determine which type of feedback to provide. The system randomly selected
one feedback message from three with alternate wordings that were associated with
the location of the post in the tree. To develop these feedback strings, we interviewed
an expert to determine what experts focused on in writing feedback to posts. The system
then added several correct facts related to the categorization of the post topics
from a collection of facts about the issues presented in the video. If the post was offtopic,
the system simply suggested several facts from a variety of different relevant
topics. This feedback was presented to the student (see Figure 2), who was required
to make at least one modification to the post before being allowed to submit the final
version to the discussion board. Once the post was submitted, it appeared on the discussion
board and was available for the rest of the group to read.
In the moderator support scenario, the system used the moderator ratings to navigate
through the model hierarchy and identify which feedback type is appropriate.
The moderator was then presented with a feedback template to help in constructing
appropriate feedback. The template was again developed by consulting an expert and
consisted of both praise for the positive elements of the post and constructive criticism
for the negative elements of the post. The system also suggested three facts
about the culture that the moderator might want to incorporate into his or her post,
using the same algorithm as the individual adaptive support. Moderators were then
encouraged to fill the template in with specific details from the post they were replying
to, and use the additional facts that were provided. They then submitted their
feedback as a post to the discussion forum.
Figure 3. Feedback examples for the moderator and individual support (translated)