THE GRAMMAR TUTOR Ben Parent Haibei Zhang Huong Huang Jasdeep Singh

Introduction  GA is a grammar tutor for non-native English learners / TOEFL test takers  One-to-one tutoring has been proven to be effective  Transfer

Theoretical Background  Intelligent tutoring system (ITS) is a computer program that simulates human, one-to-one tutoring

Theoretical Background  Learning by being told: Clear articulation Clear diagnosis

Theoretical Background  Structure: Expert knowledge module Student knowledge module Tutoring module User interface

Theoretical Background  Design principles of Anderson tutors: Production rules Immediate error-feedback Path-control actions

Theoretical Background  An example structure: Miss. Lindquist: Pre-test* Next question Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 r r r w w w “r” denotes “production rule based on a right answer” “w” denotes “production rule based on a wrong answer” ”*” indicates “correct answer detected, any more wrong answers are considered typos.” Level 0* r w w r Pre-test r w

Initial Design Concerns  Mimic TOEFL-style questions  Test one knowledge point per question  Fit into our model-tracing, multiple- choice scenario  “ Grammar & Structure ” Section

3-Part Structure  Pre-Test  Error-Logging Screen  Tutoring  Consistent with Anderson ’ s three main tenets of the model-tracing strategy  Production rules, Immediate error- feedback, Path-control actions

Version 1 screen shot  Log-in screen and welcome screen

Pre-Test  Short group of questions (20-30) drawn from all knowledge points  Designed to identify and make explicit the most common error category

Version 1 screen shot Pre-test question

Error-Logging Screen  Compares user ’ s answers with correct answers  Identifies main area of difficulty  Logs pre-test score for later review by either user, teacher or designer

Version 1 screen shot Error-Logging Screen

Tutoring  Each package designed to tutor one knowledge point  Consists of short lesson and a problem set  3 levels of difficulty

Version 1 tutoring structure Brief Lesson Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Congratulations Resources r r r r r r r w w ww w w w “r” denotes “right answer” “w” denotes “wrong answer”

Problems  Enormity of domain (grammar) with thousands of production rules  Not like Ms. Lindquist, which works in a very specific domain (symbolization)  Many rule exceptions, which are simply declarative knowledge points  Possible solution: limit knowledge points covered to “ most difficult ”

Problems  Informant design needed  Informant design necessary to determine “ most difficult ” points  Informant design would be necessary to develop an effective hinting structure

Problems  Program tutors only one knowledge point before exiting user  Virtually inconceivable that a user would need tutoring on only one knowledge point

Version 2: current design  Decision to limit knowledge points to “ most-difficult ”  Some informant design done  Pre-test elimintated

Version 2: current design  “ Rolling question ” approach that tests user on all knowledge points  determine a hierarchy of difficulty for the user (among knowledge points),  Focuses user first on the knowledge points he/she has the most difficulty with.

Rolling Question Approach  Top question level most difficult  User stays at top level until question answered wrong  # of correct questions record, once five of one category answered, that knowledge point drops out  When user gets a question wrong, he/she immediately drops into tutoring

Version 2 tutoring structure

Version 2 screen shot  Welcome screen

Version 2 screen shot  Initial question

Version 2 screen shot  If your answer is wrong …

Version 2 screen shot  Hinting screen

Version 2 screen shot  Now, try another simpler question

Version 2 screen shot  Congratulations, you get it correct!

Version 2 screen shot  Auxiliary function: user activity log

Version 2 screen shot  Auxiliary function: save/open user profile

Version 3: Proposed future design  Blah …

Version 3 tutoring structure  Blah …