VanLehn, K., Ohlsson, S., & Nason, R. (1994). Applications of simulated students: An exploration. Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 5(2), 135-175.

It is now possible to build machine learning systems whose behavior is consistent with data from human students. How can education use such simulated students? Applications that help three user groups are discussed. Teachers can practice the art of tutoring by teaching a simulated student. Teachers can see how their actions affect that student's knowledge, undo their actions, and try their skills on students with varying prior knowledge and learning strategies. Students can learn in collaboration with a simulated student that can be simultaneously an expert and a co-learner, scaffolding and guiding the human's learning in subtle ways. Instructional developers can test their instruction on simulated students, examining exactly what piece of the instruction caused what pieces of knowledge and thus help developers troubleshoot their instructional designs early in the design process. Inherent technical limitations, existing systems, and prospective systems are also discussed.

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