Use of learning theory in the application of artificial intelligence to computer-assisted instruction of physics

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5548826

Brown, S F

It was the purpose of this research to develop and test an artificially intelligent, learner based, computer assisted physics tutor. The resulting expert system is named ARPHY, an acronym for Artificially intelligent physics tutor. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase of the research, the system was constructed using Ausubel's advance organizer as a guiding learning theory. The content of accelerated motion was encoded into this organizer after sub-classification according to the learning types identified by Gagne. The measurement of the student's level of learning was accomplished through the development of questioning strategies based upon Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. The second phase of this research consisted of the testing of ARPHY. Volunteers from four levels of first-semester physics classes at North Texas State University were instructed that their goal was to solve three complex physics problems related to accelerated motion. Nine of the ten students correctly solved the three problems after being tutored for an average of 116 minutes. ARPHY's pedagogical parameters stabilized after 6.3 students. The remaining students, each from a different class, were tutored, allowing ARPHY to self-improve, resulting in a new tutorial strategy after each session.

• Research Organization: North Texas State Univ., Denton, TX
• OSTI ID: 5548826
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

659000 -- Communication
Education
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& Philosophy-- (-1987)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
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99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
EVALUATION
EXPERT SYSTEMS
LEARNING
MEASURING METHODS
PHYSICS