Toward Evidence for Instructional Design Principles: Examples from Cognitive Tutor Math 6

Kenneth R. Koedinger

Annual Meeting [of the] North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education 2002 (2002)

There is a significant gap between theories of general psychological functions on one hand (e.g., memory) and theories of mathematical content knowledge on the other (e.g., content of algebra). To better guide the design of ground breaking and...

Exploring the Assistance Dilemma in Experiments with Cognitive Tutors

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Vincent Aleven

Educational Psychology Review Vol. 19, No. 3 (September 2007) pp. 239–264

Intelligent tutoring systems are highly interactive learning environments that have been shown to improve upon typical classroom instruction. Cognitive Tutors are a type of intelligent tutor based on cognitive psychology theory of problem solving...

Closing the Loop: Automated Data-Driven Cognitive Model Discoveries Lead to Improved Instruction and Learning Gains

Ran Liu; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Journal of Educational Data Mining Vol. 9, No. 1 (2017) pp. 25–41

As the use of educational technology becomes more ubiquitous, an enormous amount of learning process data is being produced. Educational data mining seeks to analyze and model these data, with the ultimate goal of improving learning outcomes. The...

An Architecture for Plug-In Tutor Agents

Steven Ritter; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 7, No. 3 (1996) pp. 315–47

Describes two systems that incorporate tutoring elements into pre-existing software packages: one supporting Geometer's Sketchpad and the other Microsoft Excel. An analysis of their similarities and differences provides a foundation for...

An Interview Reflection on "Intelligent Tutoring Goes to School in the Big City"

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Vincent Aleven

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 1 (2016) pp. 13–24

Our 1997 article in "IJAIED" reported on a study that showed that a new algebra curriculum with an embedded intelligent tutoring system (the Algebra Cognitive Tutor) dramatically enhanced high-school students' learning. The main motivation ...

Adaptive Intelligent Support to Improve Peer Tutoring in Algebra

Erin Walker; Nikol Rummel; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 24, No. 1 (January 2014) pp. 33–61

Adaptive collaborative learning support (ACLS) involves collaborative learning environments that adapt their characteristics, and sometimes provide intelligent hints and feedback, to improve individual students' collaborative interactions. ACLS ...

Designing Knowledge Scaffolds to Support Mathematical Problem Solving

Bethany Rittle-Johnson; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Cognition and Instruction Vol. 23, No. 3 (2005) pp. 313–349

We present a methodology for designing better learning environments. In Phase 1, 6th-grade students' (n = 223) prior knowledge was assessed using a difficulty factors assessment (DFA). The assessment revealed that scaffolds designed to elicit...

The Real Story Behind Story Problems: Effects of Representations on Quantitative Reasoning

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Mitchell J. Nathan

Journal of the Learning Sciences Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr 01, 2004) pp. 129–164

This article explores how differences in problem representations change both the performance and underlying cognitive processes of beginning algebra students engaged in quantitative reasoning. Contrary to beliefs held by practitioners and...

Designing Automated Adaptive Support to Improve Student Helping Behaviors in a Peer Tutoring Activity

Erin Walker; Nikol Rummel; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Vol. 6, No. 2 (June 2011) pp. 279–306

Adaptive collaborative learning support systems analyze student collaboration as it occurs and provide targeted assistance to the collaborators. Too little is known about how to design adaptive support to have a positive effect on interaction and...

Performance Factors Analysis -- A New Alternative to Knowledge Tracing

Philip I. Pavlik; Hao Cen; Kenneth R. Koedinger

14th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education 2009 (2009)

Knowledge tracing (KT)[1] has been used in various forms for adaptive computerized instruction for more than 40 years. However, despite its long history of application, it is difficult to use in domain model search procedures, has not been used to...

Automated, Unobtrusive, Action-by-Action Assessment of Self-Regulation during Learning with an Intelligent Tutoring System

Vincent Aleven; Ido Roll; Bruce M. McLaren; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Educational Psychologist Vol. 45, No. 4 (2010) pp. 224–233

Assessment of students' self-regulated learning (SRL) requires a method for evaluating whether observed actions are appropriate acts of self-regulation in theEv specific learning context in which they occur. We review research that has resulted in...

Using Intelligent Tutor Technology to Implement Adaptive Support for Student Collaboration

Dejana Diziol; Erin Walker; Nikol Rummel; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Educational Psychology Review Vol. 22, No. 1 (March 2010) pp. 89–102

Research on computer-supported collaborative learning has shown that students need support to benefit from collaborative activities. While classical collaboration scripts have been effective in providing such support, they have also been criticized...

A New Paradigm for Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Example-Tracing Tutors

Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren; Jonathan Sewall; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 19, No. 2 (2009) pp. 105–154

The Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) support creation of a novel type of tutors called example-tracing tutors. Unlike other types of ITSs (e.g., model-tracing tutors, constraint-based tutors), example-tracing tutors evaluate student behavior...

Problem Order Implications for Learning

Nan Li; William W. Cohen; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 23, No. 1 (November 2013) pp. 71–93

The order of problems presented to students is an important variable that affects learning effectiveness. Previous studies have shown that solving problems in a blocked order, in which all problems of one type are completed before the student is...

Learning Factors Transfer Analysis: Using Learning Curve Analysis to Automatically Generate Domain Models

Philip I. Pavlik; Hao Cen; Kenneth R. Koedinger

The International Conference on Educational Data Mining 2009 (2009)

This paper describes a novel method to create a quantitative model of an educational content domain of related practice item-types using learning curves. By using a pairwise test to search for the relationships between learning curves for these item-...

Automated Student Model Improvement

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Elizabeth A. McLaughlin; John C. Stamper

International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) 2012 (June 2012)

Student modeling plays a critical role in developing and improving instruction and instructional technologies. We present a technique for automated improvement of student models that leverages the DataShop repository, crowd sourcing, and a version...

Help Helps, but Only so Much: Research on Help Seeking with Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Vincent Aleven; Ido Roll; Bruce M. McLaren; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 1 (2016) pp. 205–223

Help seeking is an important process in self-regulated learning (SRL). It may influence learning with intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), because many ITSs provide help, often at the student's request. The Help Tutor was a tutor agent that gave in...

A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of an On-Line Formative Assessment and Tutoring System

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Elizabeth A. McLaughlin; Neil T. Heffernan

Journal of Educational Computing Research Vol. 43, No. 4 (2010) pp. 489–510

ASSISTments is a web-based math tutor designed to address the need for timely student assessment while simultaneously providing instruction, thereby avoiding lost instruction time that typically occurs during assessment. This article presents a...

Topics: Middle School Education

A Measurement Model of Microgenetic Transfer for Improving Instructional Outcomes

Philip I. Pavlik; Michael Yudelson; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 25, No. 3 (September 2015) pp. 346–379

Efforts to improve instructional task design often make reference to the mental structures, such as "schemas" (e.g., Gick & Holyoak, 1983) or "identical elements" (Thorndike & Woodworth, 1901), that are common to both the ...

Teaching the Teacher: Tutoring SimStudent Leads to More Effective Cognitive Tutor Authoring

Noboru Matsuda; William W. Cohen; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 25, No. 1 (March 2015) pp. 1–34

SimStudent is a machine-learning agent initially developed to help novice authors to create cognitive tutors without heavy programming. Integrated into an existing suite of software tools called Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT), SimStudent...

Improving students’ help-seeking skills using metacognitive feedback in an intelligent tutoring system

Ido Roll; Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Learning and Instruction Vol. 21, No. 2 (April 2011) pp. 267–280

The present research investigated whether immediate metacognitive feedback on students’ help-seeking errors can help students acquire better help-seeking skills. The Help Tutor, an intelligent tutor agent for help seeking, was integrated into a...

Language: English

Using example problems to improve student learning in algebra: Differentiating between correct and incorrect examples

Julie L. Booth; Karin E. Lange; Kenneth R. Koedinger; Kristie J. Newton

Learning and Instruction Vol. 25, No. 1 (June 2013) pp. 24–34

In a series of two

Language: English

The Rise of the Super Experiment

John C. Stamper; Derek Lomas; Dixie Ching; Steve Ritter; Kenneth R. Koedinger; Jonathan Steinhart

International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) 2012 (June 2012)

Traditional experimental paradigms have focused on executing experiments in a lab setting and eventually moving successful findings to larger experiments in the field. However, data from field experiments can also be used to inform new lab...

On the Benefits of Seeking (and Avoiding) Help in Online Problem-Solving Environments

Ido Roll; Ryan S. J. d. Baker; Vincent Aleven; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Journal of the Learning Sciences Vol. 23, No. 4 (2014) pp. 537–560

Seeking the right level of help at the right time can support learning. However, in the context of online problem-solving environments, it is still not entirely clear which help-seeking strategies are desired. We use fine-grained data from 38 high...

Accounting for Beneficial Effects of Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving

Ron J. C. M. Salden; Kenneth R. Koedinger; Alexander Renkl; Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren

Educational Psychology Review Vol. 22, No. 4 (December 2010) pp. 379–392

Recent studies have tested the addition of worked examples to tutored problem solving, a more effective instructional approach than the untutored problem solving used in prior worked example research. These studies involved Cognitive Tutors,...

Studying the Effect of a Competitive Game Show in a Learning by Teaching Environment

Noboru Matsuda; Evelyn Yarzebinski; Victoria Keiser; Rohan Raizada; Gabriel J. Stylianides; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 23, No. 1 (November 2013) pp. 1–21

In this paper we investigate how competition among tutees in the context of learning by teaching affects tutors' engagement as well as tutor learning. We conducted this investigation by incorporating a competitive Game Show feature into an...

Example-Tracing Tutors: Intelligent Tutor Development for Non-Programmers

Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren; Jonathan Sewall; Martin van Velsen; Octav Popescu; Sandra Demi; Michael Ringenberg; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 1 (2016) pp. 224–269

In 2009, we reported on a new Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) technology, example-tracing tutors, that can be built without programming using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT). Creating example-tracing tutors was shown to be 4-8 times as ...

Cognitive Anatomy of Tutor Learning: Lessons Learned with SimStudent

Noboru Matsuda; Evelyn Yarzebinski; Victoria Keiser; Rohan Raizada; William W. Cohen; Gabriel J. Stylianides; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Journal of Educational Psychology Vol. 105, No. 4 (November 2013) pp. 1152–1163

This article describes an advanced learning technology used to investigate hypotheses about learning by teaching. The proposed technology is an instance of a teachable agent, called SimStudent, that learns skills (e.g., for solving linear equations) ...