I am interested in applications of artificial intelligence and cognitive theories of learning to educational problems. More specifically, I am interested in developing intelligent tutoring systems to facilitate students’ learning and to investigate cognitive models of teaching and learning. Working in the intersection of the learning sciences and artificial intelligence has had a great influence on the view and methods of my research. For example, I believe it is not only important to build AI applications for education, but also to explore how their use impacts cognitive principles and students learning. To attain this goal, I am fascinated with conducting empirical studies in the midst of cognitive science.
Tutoring is a complex human activity and as such there are many areas to explore in developing and evaluating intelligent tutoring systems. I have built and evaluated a number of intelligent tutoring systems in different domains. I usually begin by trying to understand the needs and challenges of students and teachers. What kind of difficulties do students have? What is missing in the teaching of a particular subject? What are the variables that make the difference in effectiveness and efficiency? Based on these parameters and more, I then design an intelligent tutoring system with the help of cognitive theories of learning and teaching. I also use artificial intelligence techniques to model domain expertise, pedagogical strategies, and students’ learning processes. Finally, I conduct an evaluation study to test the research question. I believe that the evaluation of the tutoring systems is the most important (although the most laborious) task throughout an entire project, because it is the actual data collected through the evaluation that creates new cognitive theories.
December 2004