Intelligent Tutoring System For Learning Object Oriented Programming Language
ABSTRACT
Taking Nigeria as a case study, most educational institutions, be it at the primary, secondary or tertiary level are faced with the challenge of over population of student’s in a single classroom. Also, the teacher who teaches an over populated class finds it quite difficult to have a one on one interaction or communication with each student in order to learning challenges. As a result of that, most students find it difficult to understand in the classroom.
This research is concerned with the study of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to support smart and adaptive learning.
This research project examines challenges faced by both the students and the teacher in an over populated class that inhibit adequate learning and proposes a solution, not entirely a new solution though, by developing an ITS for learning an Object Oriented Programming (OOP) language, case study, Java programming language.
Keywords: Intelligent Tutoring System, Object Oriented Language, Domain module, Student module, communication module, pedagogical module, cognitive tutors, adaptive learning.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iv
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. v
LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… viii
LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. x
CHAPTER ONE ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
1.1 Background of the Study …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
1.2 Problem Statement ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
1.3 Aim and Objectives …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
1.3.1 Aim ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
1.3.2 Objectives …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
1.5 Limitation of Study / Scope ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
1.6 Thesis Outline …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
CHAPTER TWO ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
2.2 Different types of ITS from different types of personalization procedures ………………………… 6
2.2.1 Cognitive Tutors (CT) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
2.2.2 Constraint Based Models (CBM) ………………………………………………………………………………. 8
2.2.3 Curriculum sequencing ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
2.3 New challenges for personalization ……………………………………………………………………………….. 12
2.3.1 Emotions, motivation and disengagement ………………………………………………………………. 12
2.4 ARCHITECTURE OF A TYPICAL ITS SYSTEM ……………………………………………………………. 14
2.4.1. The Domain model: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
2.4.2. The Student model: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
2.4.3. The Tutoring model: ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
2.4.4. User Interface model: …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
2.5 BAYESIAN APPROACH FOR ITS SYSTEMS ………………………………………………………………. 16
2.5.1 Case Study on Data Structures- Graphs …………………………………………………………………. 17
vii
CHAPTER THREE ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
METHODS AND DESIGN ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
3.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19
3.2 Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
3.3 Research Design …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 20
3.4 Research intervention/ Proposed System …………………………………………………………………. 22
The diagram bellow is a flowchart representation of an Intelligent Tutoring System. …………… 24
Fig. 5 Intelligent Tutoring System Flow chart ……………………………………………………………………….. 26
3.5 Requirements ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
3.5.1 Software Requirement …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
3.5.2 Hardware Requirement …………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
CHAPTER FOUR ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS ………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
4.1 Presentation of Results ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
4.2 Implementation of the system Application …………………………………………………………………. 27
4.2.1 Coding of the Program ………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
4.2.2 Processor Module Object Classes …………………………………………………………………….. 27
4.2.3 Program Interface Design Screen Shots ……………………………………………………………….. 28
4.3.1 Class: Domain module: …………………………………………………………………………………………. 33
CHAPTER FIVE ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND FUTURE WORK ………………………… 37
5.1 Summary and Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
5.2 Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 39
5.3 Future Work …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 40
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
APPENDIX I ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
What is an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS)?
ITS are programs that possess a wide knowledge on certain matter, and their intention is to transmit this knowledge to the students by means of an interactive individualized process, trying to emulate the form in which a tutor or human teacher would guide the student in his learning process (Millán, Agosta & Pérez, 1999).
ITS systems are emerging styles of teaching which will help boost the learning and understanding of a student in relation to a particular subject matter.
Knowledge of programming is a fundamental component of any Computer Science curriculum. It is also applied and used in other fields such as Business, Finance and Accounting as a result of its widespread application in industry. But then, some beginning students find programming a challenging course. This is shown by the fact that many students either drop out or fail programming courses (Miliszewska & Tan, 2007). Hence, it is crucial to find means of assisting students with programming. A large percentage of the population of students show interest in learning programming. They differ in many aspects such as age, gender, educational level and aptitude for solving logical problems. I once lectured Computer Science students at the polytechnic level and I noticed that it is quite challenging to create a single course that meet the needs of all the different students. A way to address this problem is to provide a face to face single human tutor for a student. But then, the finance to do that can be a problem.
That is why we need an Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS).
2
1.2 Problem Statement
Students are always faced with one or more learning problems or challenges within a traditional teaching classroom. Problems such as over population in classes can make students not to be able to always express themselves in class thus, it limits their understanding in class. The teachers on the other hand mostly do not always know the emotional state of each student, the learning style of each student, the progress rate of each student etc. in order to determine the right teaching strategy i.e. pedagogical strategy to use for teaching each student.
It is imperative to understand that not all students have the same learning style or capability. Some student are fast learners while some are slow learners. Some learn better with pictures / diagrams while some learn better with video tutorials. Also, students’ knowledge level with respect to a subject matter differ. Knowledge level could be at the Beginner level, intermediate level or advanced level.
Haven said all that, it is obviously quite difficult for a teacher teaching in an over populated class to be able to fully understand the learning needs of each student and to provide them with the best teaching strategy all at once. Which means that each student will need an adaptive and personalized form of learning so that they can be more knowledgeable with respect to a particular subject.
1.3 Aim and Objectives
1.3.1 Aim
This project aims to develop a solution, which is an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) for learning an Object Oriented Programming language (OOP), case study, Java
3
programming language, so as to help in enhancing students’ learning and provide adaptive learning to each student.
1.3.2 Objectives
The main objectives of this research work are:
i. Give a practical and vivid explanation of the main components or architecture of an ITS system and how it works.
ii. To propose and develop an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) for learning an Object Oriented Programming Language (OOP), case study, Java programming language, which will hopefully provide an efficient solution or a better approach towards providing personalized and adaptive learning to students without requiring any human intervention.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE
Research in Intelligent Tutoring Systems has been growing in momentum over the past few decades. Yet, ITSs are not a concept that is known extensively by educators. One of the main reasons for this is that, although many ITSs have been built, only a few are used in practical teaching situations. This indicates that there is significant room for improvement in the field of ITS. This research attempts to improve on existing ITSs at least to a certain degree. Existing ITSs teach in many different domains, from primary school reading to programming and electronic circuit design.
It is essential that any ITS should be able to guide the student through the nitty-gritty he/she needs to know with the respect to the subject being taught.
4
This research focuses on an ITS system that can teaches its users object oriented programming. A user is distinguished in to three (3) major levels based on his/her current knowledge level of java. The three (3) different levels are:
Beginner: The user at this level will be taught and worked through on the foundation topics of java programming language. Also, the ITS system provides the curriculum that will be followed to teach the user at this level. There is also a platform to assess the user and another platform to keep track of the user / student performance. Tracking progress is also personalized / customized.
Intermediate: The user at this level will be taught and worked through on the topics that are a little above the foundational topics of java programming language. Also, the ITS system provides the curriculum that will be followed to teach the user at this level. There is also a platform to assess the user and another platform to keep track of the user/student performance. Tracking progress is also personalized / customized.
Advanced: The user at this level will be taught and worked through on the topics that are higher than the Intermediate level topics of java programming language. Also, the ITS system provides the curriculum that will be followed to teach the user at this level. There is also a platform to assess the user and another platform to keep track of the user/student performance. Tracking progress is also personalized / customized.
1.5 Limitation of Study / Scope
The scope of this research study is constrained to proposing a developed software for an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) for learning an Object Oriented Programming Language (OOP), case study, Java programming language.
5
The ITS contains a student module which provides personalized interaction for the current student. To achieve this, the system must have very good knowledge about the student, including features such as his/her names, gender, age, capabilities, emotions and other features. The target of this project is not totally geared towards design of the student module only. Hence, the student module consists of various categories that a student needs for learning in line with the subject matter being taught: student profile, a gallery that consists of video tutorials and slides, an assessment platform and a chatting platform. Another use of many ITS is to provide feedback to the student. The feedback in this system is provided using several levels. The feedback would support better learning if the level of feedback provided was personalized/customized based on the current knowledge level of the student.
1.6 Thesis Outline
The entire research is divided into five chapters. Each chapter highlighted different topics and subtopics as follows:
Chapter 2 discusses the basic concepts and literature review related to Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS).
Chapter 3 explains the material and methods used in our research.
Chapter 4 presents the performance results and discussion.
Finally, Chapter 5 contains summary, conclusion, recommendations, and future work.
IF YOU CAN'T FIND YOUR TOPIC, CLICK HERE TO HIRE A WRITER»
