Diagnosis and Cognitive Support in Microworlds and Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Conceptualization, Realization, and Application to Real-World Learning Environments

Abstract

This paper explores methods for both diagnosing students’ understanding and cognitively supporting students’ problem solving efforts in microworld and intelligent tutoring learning environments. Special attention is given to how such aids for diagnosis and cognitive support are implemented within the microworld and intelligent system tools and the learning contexts in which such tools are applied. Student models are viewed as a subset of the larger set of methods used for diagnosis and cognitive support. Several examples, drawn from microworlds, intelligent tutoring systems and hybrid systems, illustrate these ideas in environments aimed at helping students develop scientific explanations (theories) or solve novel problems. The paper considers how developers of microworlds and intelligent tutoring environments might mutually benefit from each other’s work, and how all such development must co-evolve with the total learning environments in which the tools will be deployed.