Toward a Rapid Development Environment for Cognitive Tutors
Kenneth R. Koedinger, Vincent A.W.M.M · 2003
Abstract. We are developing a suite of Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) intended to make tutor development both easier and faster for experienced modelers and possible for potential modelers who are not experts in cognitive psychology or artificial intelligence programming. Our goal is to demonstrate a reduction in development time by a factor of three. We employ Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) methods and Cognitive Science principles to design development tools that are both useful and useable. Our preliminary analytic and empirical analyses compare use of CTAT with use of our current develop environment and indicate a potential reduction in development time by a factor of about two. Cognitive Tutors have been demonstrated to yield dramatic improvements in student learning. For example, evaluations of the Algebra Cognitive Tutor have demonstrated that students in tutor classes outperform students in comparison classes [4]. This tutor is being marketed and in use in over 1000 schools across the US (see www.carnegielearning.com). Despite the great potential of Cognitive Tutors to improve student learning in other areas, development of such systems is currently costly and has been limited to just a few research