VanLehn, K., Lynch, C., Schulze, K. Shapiro, J. A., Shelby, R.,
Taylor, L., Treacy, D., Weinstein, A., & Wintersgill, M. (2005). The Andes physics tutoring system: Lessons Learned. In International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Education
(pp.1-47), 15 (3).
Abstract
The Andes system demonstrates that student learning can be significantly
increased by upgrading only their homework problem-solving support. Although Andes is called an intelligent
tutoring system, it actually replaces only the students’ pencil and paper as
they do problem-solving homework. Students do the same problems as before,
study the same textbook, and attend the same lectures, labs and recitations.
Five years of experimentation at the United States
Naval Academy
indicates that Andes significantly improves
student learning. Andes’ key feature appears
to be the grain-size of interaction. Whereas most tutoring systems have
students enter only the answer to a problem, Andes
has students enter a whole derivation, which may consist of many steps, such as
drawing vectors, drawing coordinate systems, defining variables and writing
equations. Andes gives
feedback after each step. When the student asks for help in the middle of
problem-solving, Andes gives hints on what’s wrong
with an incorrect step or on what kind of step to do next. Thus, the grain size
of Andes’ interaction is a single step in
solving the problem, whereas the grain size of a typical tutoring system’s
interaction is the answer to the problem. This report is a comprehensive
description of Andes. It describes Andes’ pedagogical principles and features, the system
design and implementation, the evaluations of pedagogical effectiveness, and
our plans for dissemination.
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