1. KNOWLEDGE MODELING FOR READINESS SELF-ASSESSMENT Presented by: Fuhua Lin Aothors: Dunwei Wen, Ken Dickson, Fuhua Lin Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada For ICEB 2005, HONGKONG

2. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 2 A DISTANCE EDUCATION READINESS SELF-ASSESSMENT SYSTEM The AM I READY project  adaptive online readiness self-assessment system  helps prospective students understand requirements their readiness  for distance education studies at Athabasca University. Based on a set of integrated knowledge models  dynamically adjusts the contents of the self-assessment according to the interaction between the knowledge models the user’s responses.

3. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION KNOWLEDGE MODELING  User Model  Counseling Model  Process Model  Assessment Model SYSTEM STRUCTURE AND REALIZATION CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORKS

4. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 4 INTRODUCTION Online readiness self-assessments are widely used in universities that provide distant education services. Most current readiness self-assessment tools are online questionnaires. The shortcoming of those systems:  The same question set for different users  The same question sequence for every user  Less remedial information to help users

5. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 5 BASIC IDEAS User-oriented  Questions are filtered for different users Dynamic and adaptive  Next questions rely on users’ previous answers Remedial  Instant feedback and remedial assessment information

6. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 6 BASIC IDEAS - CONTINUED Technologies to model counseling knowledge  User Model  Counseling Model  Process Model  Assessment Model. Operators adopted according to the above models of a user:  Enabling some questions  Disabling some questions  Sorting questions by priorities of questions  Checking contradictory answers  Showing real time information

7. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 7 KNOWLEDGE MODELS/ARCHITECTURE

8. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 8 STATIC USER MODEL First assessment filter: Highest level of education Employment status Financial capability Computer skills Full or partial assessment

9. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 9 STATIC USER MODEL

10. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 10 DYNAMIC USER MODEL Records of a user’s response history are dynamically modified in real time as the assessment proceeds. The answer to each question The records of questions that are disabled, enabled, or have higher priority

11. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 11 COUNSELING MODEL Modeling questions  Categorized into eight fields  Fields further subdivided into sub-fields questions  Predefined answers Yes and No Yes, No and Not Clear Grades Multi-Checks Authoring instant information  Instant information (including descriptions, Web resources etc) can be arranged to each choice of a question. They will show whenever you make a choice.

12. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 12 Questions & Instant Info

13. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 13 FOUR KINDS OF RELATIONS Enable Disable Plus Contradictory. example: (Enable (answer(i) of question(j), ( question list ) (sub-field list) ) ) (Contradict (answer(i) of question(j), (list of answers of some questions)))

14. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 14 PROCESS MODEL Structured knowledge that controls the counseling process Actions:  Engages various system models as needed, including user model and counseling model  Changes question priority in real time  Sorts questions by priority  Filters questions

15. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 15 NEXT PAGE

16. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 16 ASSESSMENT Provides assessment information in response to user’s answers Two kinds of assessment information:  Question related  Question Group related example: (Assessment (i)  (answer(i 1 ) of question(j 1 ), (answer(i 2 ) of question(j 2 ), … ) )

17. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 17 ASSESSMENT

18. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 18 SYSTEM STRUCTURE

19. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 19 REALIZATION Input the knowledge  into PostgreSQL database (21 tables)  including rules, relations, facts and text information Determine the question sequence logic  which assessment question will SQL call next Interacting with users  Java/JSP based HTML Webpage Dialog

20. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 20 Process Interaction

21. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 21 CONCLUSION Innovative application of knowledge modeling, representation & reasoning  AM I READY project introduces new features to traditional self- assessment online questionnaire systems. Features:  Flexible question-sequencing assessment design  User oriented & user specific questioning  Innovative dynamic & adaptive self-assessment process  More effective and more natural self-assessment process  Real time guidance and remedial information to help improve the readiness of students for distance education

22. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 22 FUTURE WORK Knowledge Editor to enhance the speed, ease & accuracy of knowledge modeling, modification & upgrades to AM I READY. Graphical statistical information representation of users’ readiness in each self-assessment report. A Formal knowledge description and a SQL-based reasoning method for AM I READY to be published. Data mining for analyzing the question-answer pairs and their relations, and expanding the knowledge base. Distance education readiness self-assessment is only a first rudimentary step to a dynamic interactive general counseling system.

23. ICEB 2005 -- Knowledge Modeling for readiness self-assessment 23 THANK YOU! Questions?