1988 Reports

Tutoring That Responds to User Questions and Provides Enrichment

Wolz, Ursula

An aspect of human tutoring that epitomizes individualized instruction, is the ability to take advantage of a situation to teach something new. This type of tutoring can be characterized as enrichment as opposed to tutoring that is in response to a particular need. At Columbia, we have developed a model for consulting in interactive environments that permits answers to queries to be both in response to a user's questions and as enrichment. Our demonstration system GENIE (Generated Explanations for Consulting in Interactive Environments) produces answers in the domain of Berkeley Unix Mail. Our emphasis is on skill rather than factual acquisition. Consequently, GENIE is able to answer questions about alternative plans for goals, and whether plans satisfy goals. We abandon stereotypes of both functionality and expertise, and choose the best plan for a goal based on the current context and what the user has previously done. Four tutoring strategies are used both in response and as enrichment. They are reminding, introducing, clarifying distinctions and elucidating misconceptions.