Some History and a Biased Perspective of Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Speaker
Dexter Fletcher
Institute for Defense Analyses

When
-

Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)

Description

This presentation traces design strategies and functional capabilities in computer based instructional systems from some primordial (1950s and 1960s) systems to current practice. “First generation” drill and practice, “second generation” tutorial, and “third generation” tutorial dialogue approaches are contrasted but all are shown to (a) accommodate individual students’ rate of progress; (b) adjust the difficulty and sequence of instructional content to each student’s needs; and (c) adjust to each student’s preferred learning style. Some rarely noted but unique capabilities of intelligent tutoring systems are identified and discussed. These capabilities attracted the attention of the funding agencies and motivated them to support the early development of these systems. These motivations remain viable today both in distinguishing intelligent tutoring systems from other forms of computer based instruction and in the specification and development of sharable instructional objects. Implications for the current Department of Defense Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative are discussed.

Speaker's Bio

J. D. Fletcher is a Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses where he specializes in manpower, personnel, and training issues. He holds graduate degrees in computer science and educational psychology from Stanford University, where, as a research associate, he directed numerous projects for the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences. He has held university positions in psychology, educational psychology, computer science, and systems engineering. He has held government positions in Navy and Army Service Laboratories, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In the latter position he helped develop national plans, programs, and policies for education and training. He has published widely and has served on the editorial boards of professional journals in psychology, instruction, and human factors. He has also served on various Department of Defense and National Research Council science advisory panels. He has designed computer-based instruction programs used in public schools and training devices used in Defense training.

Host
Albert Corbett