FlexiTrainer: A Visual Authoring Framework for Case-Based Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Ramachandran, Sowmya, Emilio Remolina, Daniel Fu · Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) · 2006
The need for rapid and cost-effective development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) with flexible pedagogical approaches has led to a demand for authoring tools. The authoring systems developed to date provide a range of options and flexibility, such as authoring simulations, or authoring tutoring strategies. This paper describes FlexiTrainer, an authoring framework that enables the rapid creation of pedagogically rich and performance-oriented learning environments with custom content and tutoring strategies. FlexiTrainer provides tools for specifying the domain knowledge and derives its power from a visual behavior editor for specifying the dynamic behavior of tutoring agents that interact to deliver instruction. The FlexiTrainer runtime engine is an agent-based system in which different instructional agents carry out related actions to achieve instructional goals. FlexiTrainer has been used to develop an ITS for training helicopter pilots in flying skills.