computer miw. 125
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An Intelligent Tutor for General Chemistry Arlhur Eggert and Catherine Middlecamp University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, WI 53706 Elizabeth Kean University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68586 General chemistry has no shortage of learning environments: the lecture hall, discussion section, laboratorv, computer lab, library, formal and informal student groups, and individual work with a n instructor. Although each of these has its merits, individualized work offers some unique features that impact hoth on the learning and teaching process. When working with an instructor, students have access to someone who can actively diagnose and remediate their difficulties. In turn, the instructor has a nearly ideal teaching situation in which to both convey content and to foster the skills and attitudes necessary to undertake a professional career. Individual help sessions appear to he more important for the success of so& student; than others. From bur experiences at the Chemistry Tutorial Proaram for MinoritvlDisadvantaged students-such one-on-one sessions play-a key role in catching misconceptions early enough to prevent them from beroming roadhlocks to learning: For siudents who are under stress because of a lack of skills or background material, help sessions can also intervene in the cycle of frustration and failure that can effectively block certain career paths (I). ~ e w i n s t i t u t i o nhave s enough staff to offer one-on-one or small-group help t o more than a fraction of their students. Even if available, the help may not come a t the critical moment when such an intervention is needed. It is therefore logical to look to the computer as a means of making such individualized help widely available. This led us to the development of CHEMPROF, an intelligent tutor for general chemistry. As pui&d out in a recent monograph (2),"We stand on the threshold of exciting new applications for computers both within the field of education and elsewhere." CHEMPROF aims to p u t a new and more powerful mode of instruction a t the service of eeneral chemistrv students bv harnessing the power of a n k c i a l intelligenie techniques It is an ambitious project intended toeventually offer students individualized assistance with most first-year topics. It joins other recent software contributions that are utilizine artificial intelligence methods in order to strengthen the caching of concepts and problem-solving.in general chemistry (3-6). . Concepts of CHEMPROF Based on our interactions with students at the Chemistry Tutorial Program over the past 15 years, the following prin~ciples have guided ourdnsignc,fCHF:MPROF, an intelligent tutor:
(1) Individual Instruction-CHEMPROF
attempts to diagnose student problems and suggest how the student might best address these prohlems. As CHEMPROF learns more about a student, it uses this knowledge to tailor the presentation of new material to the student's demonstrated strengthsand weaknesses. (2) Shared Control of Instructional Flow-While CHEMPROF may rentrrct a student to areas where the studenr has demon~tratrda knuwledgeoitheprerequirites,natudent ran stillskip around within a section or hetwren section*. CHEMPROF has available complete instructions for each problem type, but students need not use it. If a student does not understand one exolanation. others will he attarnoted. . . (3) L'w I./ ~ x p d r r~ o d u l ~ r - ~ t u d r ncan t s either supply problems to CHEMPROF or work the ones that CHEMPROF provides. In either cnae. Exprrr M
