Exploring the Assistance Dilemma in Experiments with Cognitive Tutors

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Vincent Aleven

Educational Psychology Review Vol. 19, No. 3 (September 2007) pp. 239–264

Intelligent tutoring systems are highly interactive learning environments that have been shown to improve upon typical classroom instruction. Cognitive Tutors are a type of intelligent tutor based on cognitive psychology theory of problem solving...

An Interview Reflection on "Intelligent Tutoring Goes to School in the Big City"

Kenneth R. Koedinger; Vincent Aleven

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 1 (2016) pp. 13–24

Our 1997 article in "IJAIED" reported on a study that showed that a new algebra curriculum with an embedded intelligent tutoring system (the Algebra Cognitive Tutor) dramatically enhanced high-school students' learning. The main motivation ...

Advancing Development of Intercultural Competence through Supporting Predictions in Narrative Video

Amy Ogan; Vincent Aleven; Christopher Jones

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 19, No. 3 (2009) pp. 267–288

Most successes in intelligent tutoring systems have come in well-defined domains like algebra or physics. We investigate how to support students in acquiring ill-defined skills of intercultural competence using an online environment that employs...

Interleaved practice in multi-dimensional learning tasks: Which dimension should we interleave?

Martina A. Rau; Vincent Aleven; Nikol Rummel

Learning and Instruction Vol. 23, No. 1 (February 2013) pp. 98–114

Research shows that multiple representations can enhance student learning. Many curricula use multiple representations across multiple task types. The temporal sequence of representations and task types is likely to impact student learning. Research ...

Language: English

Improving Intercultural Competence by Predicting in French Film

Amy Ogan; Vincent Aleven; Christopher Jones

World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2005 (October 2005) pp. 3101–3106

This paper describes an instructional tool to be demonstrated that tests the hypothesis that predicting the next event in a feature film at "teachable moments" that reveal cultural distinctions will improve students' intercultural competence. This ...

Different Futures of Adaptive Collaborative Learning Support

Nikol Rummel; Erin Walker; Vincent Aleven

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 2 (2016) pp. 784–795

In this position paper we contrast a Dystopian view of the future of adaptive collaborative learning support (ACLS) with a Utopian scenario that--due to better-designed technology, grounded in research--avoids the pitfalls of the Dystopian version...

Does supporting multiple student strategies lead to greater learning and motivation? Investigating a source of complexity in the architecture of intelligent tutoring systems

Maaike Waalkens; Vincent Aleven; Niels Taatgen

Computers & Education Vol. 60, No. 1 (January 2013) pp. 159–171

Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) support students in learning a complex problem-solving skill. One feature that makes an ITS architecturally complex, and hard to build, is support for strategy freedom, that is, the ability to let students pursue...

Language: English

Concepts, Structures, and Goals: Redefining Ill-Definedness

Collin Lynch; Kevin D. Ashley; Niels Pinkwart; Vincent Aleven

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 19, No. 3 (2009) pp. 253–266

In this paper we consider prior definitions of the terms "ill-defined domain" and "ill-defined problem". We then present alternate definitions that better support research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Education. In our view...

Automated, Unobtrusive, Action-by-Action Assessment of Self-Regulation during Learning with an Intelligent Tutoring System

Vincent Aleven; Ido Roll; Bruce M. McLaren; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Educational Psychologist Vol. 45, No. 4 (2010) pp. 224–233

Assessment of students' self-regulated learning (SRL) requires a method for evaluating whether observed actions are appropriate acts of self-regulation in theEv specific learning context in which they occur. We review research that has resulted in...

Constructing Causal Diagrams to Learn Deliberation

Matthew W. Easterday; Vincent Aleven; Richard Scheines; Sharon M. Carver

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 19, No. 4 (2009) pp. 425–445

Policy problems like "What should we do about global warming?" are ill-defined in large part because we do not agree on a system to represent them the way we agree Algebra problems should be represented by equations. As a first step toward building...

Evaluating an Intelligent Tutoring System for Making Legal Arguments with Hypotheticals

Niels Pinkwart; Kevin Ashley; Collin Lynch; Vincent Aleven

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 19, No. 4 (2009) pp. 401–424

Argumentation is a process that occurs often in ill-defined domains and that helps deal with the ill-definedness. Typically a notion of "correctness" for an argument in an ill-defined domain is impossible to define or verify formally because the...

Help Helps, but Only so Much: Research on Help Seeking with Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Vincent Aleven; Ido Roll; Bruce M. McLaren; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 1 (2016) pp. 205–223

Help seeking is an important process in self-regulated learning (SRL). It may influence learning with intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), because many ITSs provide help, often at the student's request. The Help Tutor was a tutor agent that gave in...

Using Dual Eye-Tracking to Evaluate Students' Collaboration with an Intelligent Tutoring System for Elementary-Level Fractions

Daniel Belenky; Michael Ringenberg; Jennifer Olsen; Vincent Aleven; Nikol Rummel

36th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 2014 (July 2014)

As learning technologies proliferate, it is important for research to address how to best align instruction to educational goals. For example, recent evidence indicates that working collaboratively may have unique benefits for facilitating the...

Improving students’ help-seeking skills using metacognitive feedback in an intelligent tutoring system

Ido Roll; Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Learning and Instruction Vol. 21, No. 2 (April 2011) pp. 267–280

The present research investigated whether immediate metacognitive feedback on students’ help-seeking errors can help students acquire better help-seeking skills. The Help Tutor, an intelligent tutor agent for help seeking, was integrated into a...

Language: English

A New Paradigm for Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Example-Tracing Tutors

Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren; Jonathan Sewall; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 19, No. 2 (2009) pp. 105–154

The Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) support creation of a novel type of tutors called example-tracing tutors. Unlike other types of ITSs (e.g., model-tracing tutors, constraint-based tutors), example-tracing tutors evaluate student behavior...

Examining Self-Efficacy during Learning: Variability and Relations to Behavior, Performance, and Learning

Matthew L. Bernacki; Timothy J. Nokes-Malach; Vincent Aleven

Metacognition and Learning Vol. 10, No. 1 (April 2015) pp. 99–117

Self-regulated learning (SRL) theorists propose that learners' motivations and cognitive and metacognitive processes interact dynamically during learning, yet researchers typically measure motivational constructs as stable factors. In this study,...

Accounting for Beneficial Effects of Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving

Ron J. C. M. Salden; Kenneth R. Koedinger; Alexander Renkl; Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren

Educational Psychology Review Vol. 22, No. 4 (December 2010) pp. 379–392

Recent studies have tested the addition of worked examples to tutored problem solving, a more effective instructional approach than the untutored problem solving used in prior worked example research. These studies involved Cognitive Tutors,...

Triggering situational interest by decorative illustrations both fosters and hinders learning in computer-based learning environments

Ulrike I.E. Magner; Rolf Schwonke; Vincent Aleven; Octav Popescu; Alexander Renkl

Learning and Instruction Vol. 29, No. 1 (February 2014) pp. 141–152

Do decorative illustrations in computer-based learning environments trigger interest and engagement in learning or do they distract? In a pre-study (

Language: English

The Expertise Reversal Effect and Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving

Ron J. C. M. Salden; Vincent Aleven; Rolf Schwonke; Alexander Renkl

Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences Vol. 38, No. 3 (May 2010) pp. 289–307

Prior research has shown that tutored problem solving with intelligent software tutors is an effective instructional method, and that worked examples are an effective complement to this kind of tutored problem solving. The work on the expertise...

Metacognitive support promotes an effective use of instructional resources in intelligent tutoring

Rolf Schwonke; Anna Ertelt; Christine Otieno; Alexander Renkl; Vincent Aleven; Ron J.C.M. Salden

Learning and Instruction Vol. 23, No. 1 (February 2013) pp. 136–150

We tested whether the provision of metacognitive knowledge on how to cope with the complexity of a learning environment improved learning. In an experimental setting, high-school students (

Language: English

Authoring Tools for Collaborative Intelligent Tutoring System Environments

Jennifer K. Olsen; Daniel M. Belenky; Vincent Aleven; Nikol Rummel; Jonathan Sewall; Michael Ringenberg

12th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems 2014 (June 2014)

Authoring tools have been shown to decrease the amount of time and resources needed for the development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs). Although collaborative learning has been shown to be beneficial to learning, most of the current...

On the Benefits of Seeking (and Avoiding) Help in Online Problem-Solving Environments

Ido Roll; Ryan S. J. d. Baker; Vincent Aleven; Kenneth R. Koedinger

Journal of the Learning Sciences Vol. 23, No. 4 (2014) pp. 537–560

Seeking the right level of help at the right time can support learning. However, in the context of online problem-solving environments, it is still not entirely clear which help-seeking strategies are desired. We use fine-grained data from 38 high...

Example-Tracing Tutors: Intelligent Tutor Development for Non-Programmers

Vincent Aleven; Bruce M. McLaren; Jonathan Sewall; Martin van Velsen; Octav Popescu; Sandra Demi; Michael Ringenberg; Kenneth R. Koedinger

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education Vol. 26, No. 1 (2016) pp. 224–269

In 2009, we reported on a new Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) technology, example-tracing tutors, that can be built without programming using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT). Creating example-tracing tutors was shown to be 4-8 times as ...

Towards Sensor-Free Affect Detection in Cognitive Tutor Algebra

Ryan S. J. d. Baker; Sujith M. Gowda; Michael Wixon; Jessica Kalka; Angela Z. Wagner; Aatish Salvi; Vincent Aleven; Gail W. Kusbit; Jaclyn Ocumpaugh; Lisa Rossi

International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) 2012 (June 2012)

In recent years, the usefulness of affect detection for educational software has become clear. Accurate detection of student affect can support a wide range of interventions with the potential to improve student affect, increase engagement, and...