Resumen de Design of a Knowledge‐Based Educational Advisor
During the last decade there has been a resurgence of support for the notions of open and student‐centred learning, extending far beyond the concepts originally pioneered by distance‐learning institutions such as the Open University. Hence current and projected requirements and constraints in the fields of training and education are placing a greater emphasis on programmes of self‐study, and many types of suitable materials are now available for such schemes, ranging from conventional books to sophisticated systems involving computers and interactive videodisc. However, the increasingly wide variations between students in terms of background experience and level of expertise can cause difficulties when specifying efficient study regimes. The solution proposed by this paper is the design of an adaptable knowledge‐based educational Advisor, capable of planning and executing suitable routes for each individual learner through a generalized topic‐space in order to achieve a specified set of didactic goals. The plan is generated by the computer according to a logical unfoldment of topics determined from the inter‐topic links and is continually reviewed and revised according to learning outcomes. Execution of the study‐route involves a further search as each stage is reached, this time within a database of study materials, in order to select those most appropriate for the student to achieve the learning goals. The individualized nature of the searches of the topic and materials spaces takes full account of data held about the student in a user model. The paper will first consider general design criteria for a system meeting such objectives and then present details of the implementation of a small working prototype Advisor developed in collaboration with Leeds University. Finally, our current work towards developing a more sophisticated design will be discussed.
